Help! I'm a bug!

this morning i wrote a post on our local small town facebook page about smokey and his origins in response to the (comments off) post by the concerned lady who is threatening to take my cat to the humane society for neglect and he is now a local celebrity. i was at the licensing office today and the dude helping me said he knows smokey and the saga of his complicated existence. i feel like its blowing up our quiet life but im hoping it can change some minds about how we approach contentious social topics (indoor cats only etc.) and how we interact online vs in person. however during my 1.5 hour trip to the DMV smokey had slipped off the boat and broke his collar in the process (a good thing as opposed to getting stuck). i had checked the tracker while i was out and thought to myself "what a lazy bum!" but of course panicked upon seeing his collar lying on the deck of the boat. i walked around calling his name in his usual haunts and then made my way to the tavern, where everyone was quick to tell me that the concerned local old lady was just here worried about smoke cuz he was out without a collar... which is of course karmic justice that i posted that hes all good, collared tracked and chipped and within hours he is out roaming looking like a stray. smokey was out back on the deck hanging with some customers, who were quick to tell me how awesome my cat is. we walked home together, slowly in the summer rain, smokey taking his time traversing the covered dry spots like a maze. neal has been gone for 24 hours (on his PNT backpacking extravaganza) and things are happening. i want to diary more because i forget these little moments of petit drama that make life worth living.