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      Friday, April 04, 2014


catstuff
09:48 AM - 04/04/2014

The topic: So, I’m in the garage
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Waiting for Bobby to finish doing his spray thing against the blue plastic tarp that covers the porcelain tile we bought for the floor remodel over a decade ago (still have the living room and office to do). 

Bobby sprays high. He's a short cat and easily doubles his height in that urine stream. Just in case any other cats or predators come by, they'll be intimidated by how tall that cat was that left that calling card. 

I was holding a frozen bag of chicken in my hands (I boil chicken and give it to the special cats; Jackie, who has no teeth and I keep trying to put metronidazole in it and Georgie, who is twenty years old and loves chicken). Since Bobby (and his urine stream) was in my path, I stopped and waited until he was finished (I'll yell in the house, but not in the garage - and honestly, we've had so many cats with urinary problems, I welcome a strong spray and the garage is an easy clean). 

Sagwa, who has been incredibly needy this morning, wanting to be held and attention given, did not wait.

He ran into the house shaking his head. I pretty sure he got a little of that golden shower. I started laughing. Brian asked why, I told him. Sagwa ran over to Brian to be picked up and Brian did, then remembered the pee. He put him on the floor and told him to go clean himself.

Cats. Gotta love em.

      Sunday, April 06, 2014


catstuff
12:09 PM - 04/06/2014

The topic: I was a little annoyed with Walmart
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When the two flash cards I ordered for the video cameras I wrote about last week arrived. The box was huge.

 

But then, Spot showed me that it wasn't such a bad thing, boxes can be recycled.

 

Mario wholeheartedly agrees.

Okay, Walmart, I'll forgive you for over packaging this time. 


otherstuff
12:31 PM - 04/06/2014

The topic: Last week, another wild hair was appearing….
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I'm sure you've all heard the old saying...

I want to do some time lapse photography. My Canon 40D does have a timer on it, but if I remember correctly, it doesn't have a setting for ten minutes between shots. I'd followed a link to Amazon, but didn't want to spend sixty dollars on a timer attachment, so I headed over the eBay and looked for something from China.

I found one that said I'd be getting it Tuesday (April 8). Yay! I ordered it. Late Friday, two days after I'd placed my order, I got an email from the seller, that they were out of stock and my money would be refunded. But hey, here's a coupon code for a whopping 5% discount on your next order, as long as you place it within the next two months! Oh, and if you happen to look at the auction, don't be alarmed that I've raised the price considerably.....

Curious, I looked. Yeah, up from $13.19 to $113.19! Hmmm....and the auction was still active, even though there was none in stock....bigger hmmmm.....

Okay, now I'm not happy. A negative feedback is on it's way for this seller. I'll do this Saturday. Saturday shows up, my refund isn't in my PayPal account. I contact the seller. I get my refund. I ask on Facebook what I should say in my feedback. Got some great ideas. And I was advised to report the seller for bad practices. Not delisting an  out of stock auction, but raising the price. 

I wonder if this is SOP for this seller. I go check out the feedback. In the first two pages of negatives (85 in a month - it's a power seller and I can't leave feedback for a week, I'm supposed to "try to work it out"), I find eight instances of this same pattern. Yeah, that's not right. One poor sap even bought it at the inflated price! And complained that he'd never received it. 

So, I look for a way to report a seller. Their online reporting won't allow any input, so I use the call reporting. There was only room for three auctions in the complaint form, so she took  three auction numbers. I told her I have more! But she didn't want them.

We'll see what happens.

      Monday, April 07, 2014


otherstuff
07:51 AM - 04/07/2014

The topic: Back in 2005 or 2006
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Somewhere in there...you know the grasshopper days, before the recession, back when Brian was making a ton of money  (singing...those were the days my friend, so many toonas to spend....), we bought a laptop. 

Why? I dunno. It's not like we ever used it all that much. But I wanted it. I needed it. I thought. Maybe I thought it would make my life complete (I've been coming to terms with this aspect of my personality now that we don't have lots of discretionary income and I'm finding all this stuff I got back when we had quite a bit of it - as I said before, it's a kind of fun finding things I had no idea I'd bought - no clothes, though; never clothes - and I wonder what made me buy this particular item?).

Well, I've been getting the ducks in the row to start using that embroidering sewing machine I got back in those days and since the netbook I use (my most adorable little netbook, I <3 it so much) probably isn't the ideal way to run the software for the machine, after all, the netbook doesn't even have a disk player in it, this weekend I cleaned up the hard drive on the laptop. Oh, my goodness! So many old, old, old programs. A few of them aimed at making the dialup connection better. Dialup? Geez, that's so twentieth century..... 

For sure it was a trip back in time. I removed old unused programs, updated new programs, started to put the newest version of the Silhouette software on it (until I read the reviews...whoa! stop the download! stop the download! not gonna happen! reading reviews on new software is a GOOD thing), got the latest version of the old software installed instead, opened up the netbook and found the files for my Silhouette library on that, saved it to a memory card and copied that information to the laptop, so I think I'll be good to go.

I declare the laptop to be my official crafting computer! 

Today I hope to get the sewing machine set up to run on the laptop, but that means I have to set up in the family room. I don't have a dedicated crafting space (thanks, kitty cats!) so everything has to be portable. But that's okay, I love the kitties. I love the kitties. I love the kitties. 

But I'm looking forward to having the grasshopper days finally pay off. Maybe not monetarily (which would really be nice), but keeping me busy and not bored (which is probably a big part of the answer to why I spent so much money in the past; I was bored).

downer

      Tuesday, April 08, 2014


otherstuff
08:43 AM - 04/08/2014

The topic: Proud of me
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Since the last time I had tons of paperwork to do because I hadn't done it in a timely manner, I've been keeping on top of it. I input payments as they're received, I send out invoices as soon as the product has shipped (I usually do this when Brian's taking the boxes down to UPS). 

And amazingly, I've got all of this free time! I guess the idea that I had so much to do before was just hanging over my head so I didn't feel like I could be doing whatever I wanted to do; the guilt that I should be doing paperwork...I've always been weird that way, I guess the remnants of whatever neurousis my mom carried. Like when we go for our morning walk and the neighbor's gates are wide open - that really bothers me. It makes a ripple in my universe (yet the mess in my drawers and closets doesn't bother me).

We have enough money in the bank to pay the federal taxes, the house payment is coming due, there's money for that and I like that feeling. 

So, I'll be reconciling both bank accounts this morning, paying a few little bills and doing the little bit of filing this will leave me. 

Then I want to make a new shirt. You know how I've talked about getting advanced screening passes to movies? Well, we've got one to go to this week (Draft Day) and since we wait in line for so long, I want a specialty shirt. I think the FaceBook thumbs up icon with "free movies" below that. I have to decide on colors, I need to check my stock of vinyl before picking out the shirt color.

It's nice to think I can do this and not be worried about the paperwork that's piling up.


catstuff
08:54 AM - 04/08/2014

The topic: I have to say it
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Charlie's an asshole.

The past few days he's been in a mood. There've been lots of little fights and it's really annoying. 

He had a black cat cornered in the living room a few days ago. He and Bobby were getting into it on the lawn last night. This morning after four, there was a fight in the bedroom.  Since we got out of bed, he's gone after Katie, in a basket in the sleep center, and one of the calicos outside the garage door, Rory or Lorelei, not sure which (the girl ran into the house before I had a chance to see which one it was).

Charlie has gotten his second happy pill (Xanax) this week.

Man, I hate when he's acting up.

      Saturday, April 12, 2014


graphicsstuff
04:07 PM - 04/12/2014

The topic: There’s a lunar eclipse coming up
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On the 15th. 

I want to photograph it. I want to time lapse photograph it. Or something along those lines.

Last week I did some research and found that I'd need a timer for the camera. I checked the link to Amazon and it was almost sixty bucks. Nah, can't justify that. So, I head over to eBay for a cheap one from China. Found one, ordered it, the seller is a bad seller, didn't have any in stock and refunded my money. Which isn't what makes him a bad seller, no, the bad seller part is that he didn't delist the auction, he just raised the price a hundred bucks so no one would buy the timer. And checking his feedback, it was a definite pattern of behavior. One poor sap bought something at the inflated price and then was upset when he didn't get it. When I was finally able to leave feedback (eBay wouldn't let me leave any for a week since it's a high powered seller), of course it was a negative and the seller contacted me and offered five bucks to change my feedback. Nope.

There are a lot of these timers on eBay so I got one from a different seller and it arrived on Thursday. 

Yesterday I tried it out. I'm looking forward to playing with this, for sure. I found some other stuff on Amazon that will help do the time lapse (for instance my biggest compact flash memory card is only 4 GB, can't take hours of RAW images at five second intervals with that). Luckily, there's plenty of off brand stuff now and the reviews sure help find what would be best for my situation.

Of course, if the clouds come in on Monday night, there won't be much use for this stuff, but there will be more lunar eclipses, hopefully at some point I'll take some great shots of them.

Here's my first time lapse movie taken with my Canon.

 


catstuff
04:24 PM - 04/12/2014

The topic: Brian’s gone today
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He went to Valley Center to help a customer install his top and tilt kit on his tractor. We talked about him taking the Vivitar cameras (the head mounts got here yesterday) and take video of the installation, but we never got around to testing them out.

So, today, I tested one out. My subject was Jackie, feeding him chicken. I boil chicken breasts and most of the cats get some of it, but Jackie and Georgie get the most. Georgie's gotten chicken on a fairly regular basis since his pancreatitis years ago and Jackie's been getting it since his neuter last year. It makes him appreciate me more, because I'm the person who gives him yummy stuff.

In the beginning of the video he's by the dining room table, then when he knows the chicken is on its way, he books to the top of the cat center. That red cat in the way is Opie. 

I was pretty happy with the quality. The sound is tinny, but I can live with that. The camera wasn't heavy at all on my head. When I'm handing Katie food, you can see her looking at me. She didn't know what to think about this thing on my head. I figure for less that sixty dollars (camera, head mount and memory card)  this was a decent investment. And I think it will be pretty easy for Brian to use for his installation videos.

Without further ado, here's Jackie:

 

      Wednesday, April 16, 2014


otherstuff
08:27 AM - 04/16/2014

The topic: I have a lot to share
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Which I'll get into in later posts. It's been a very eventful week and it's only Wednesday. Don't worry, it's all good. sick (Hey, if I'm breathing, it's good, right?)

Last night we're eating dinner and because of stuff I was doing Monday, Brian fed the cats for me. I knew we were low on cat food so I asked him "how much cat food is left? How many days worth?" He looked at me and said "how many cans do they get for dinner?" ("The same amount you fed them last night?" was what was on the tip of my tongue, but instead I said "two".) He said one. So, we had enough food for the cats for dinner last night.

And none for Miss Elizabeth and Georgie in the morning. Well, we'll figure something out for them. (And we did, they both got chicken, George got his in the kitchen by his box (I'll have to tell you about his box) and Miss got hers in the bathroom - but when I checked on her, little Potter came running out of the bathroom, I never even saw him go in, so I was pretty sure she didn't get very much, I gave her more, but I digress...what's new?)

We're laying in bed this morning, it's a little before six and I said we may as well get up now. And one of us mentioned going shopping this morning, Brian said "how about now?" We got up, he took his shower, I brushed my teeth and did my morning stuff and off we went to WalMart. Got six twelve can cases of Friskies, three large bottles of Gain fabric softener (price drop...take advantage when we can) and some more containers (Rubbermaid Take Alongs) for the food I send over to his mom. They have some that have dividers in them, they're not huge, but it's perfect for the meat and starch on one side and the veggie in the small spot. 

We drove through Jack's and got breakfast sandwiches and coffee that's how our day started.

It was nice being out so early. The weather's been on the warm to hot side and it's cool this morning, lots of humidity, even some fog coating the taller hills. Reminded me of drill team camp when I was in high school up in San Jose.  I was going to school at Desert High on Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, so early morning humidity wasn't very common.

Good memories.

Anyway, I need to decide what I'm going to do next. Or what I'm going to post next, I need to get photos in order.


entertainmentstuff
09:06 AM - 04/16/2014

The topic: Last week
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We had the opportunity to see two movies in advance. On Tuesday, we saw "Draft Day" with Jennifer Garner and Kevin Costner. On Thursday, we did not see "Heaven is for Real" because we were too far back in the line. We were supposed to have been given passes to another showing, but so far, that hasn't happened.

About "Draft Day". It's about football. Let me preface this by saying we used to watch football. We used to have season tickets to the Chargers a long time ago. It got to be a real pain to go to the games. So much time sucked out of the day (we rode the bus), so much money...my last game was when the jerk sitting behind me sneezed and got a ton of snot in my hair and never said "excuse me" or anything. 

We'd watch the games on television, though, it was just what you did on a Sunday in the fall. I was raised like that and not watching your home team play, well, it just felt like the universe was somehow out of whack. 

*Climbs up on soapbox*

Then Michael Vick got arrested. Then Michael Vick got kicked out of football. Then Michael Vick got back in, with open arms. And millions of dollars. And then he was named the Subway Sportsman of the Year. And I said "f*ck this s*it". Never watched another game. (And before someone starts telling me "he did his time, he should be forgiven", he most certainly did NOT do ANY time for animal cruelty. Those charges were dropped. He did time for racketeering.

That's when I started paying attention to the calibre of the players of the NFL.

There've been so many problems with NFL players and the law (check out the Union Tribune's NFL player arrest database to see how bad it is) over the past years, these men who have so much and obviously feel they have the right to be thugs. Okay, fine, be a thug, but if that's how you want to live your life, you shouldn't be rewarded. It's my opinion that the NFL should have a zero tolerance policy. You know, it's not like there aren't plenty of great players who have good ethics and morals. Recruit those guys. Dump the dirtbags, I don't care how accurately and how far they can throw a football. The players should be someone to be proud of, someone you want your kid to emulate, to look up to. 

So, we quit watching football. The advertisers will make no money from this household. Not as long as they back the National Felons League.

*Steps down from soapbox*

So, back to the movie.

We loved this movie. Absolutely loved it. Brian was surprised, he didn't think it would be nearly as good as it was. It was well told and exciting. In the end, there were tears. 

I had no idea how the draft worked, and I learned a lot from this film. Trading draft picks for players and future draft picks and countdown times and geez, it was so involved it made my head spin. Even if you're not a fan of football, you'll be entertained by this movie, I promise.

We'll be seeing this movie again. 

It almost made me miss football. 


otherstuff
10:31 AM - 04/16/2014

The topic: The lunar eclipse
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I learned something that night. Something very important. If you're going to do something that you can't do very often, like take the most awesome photos of an awesome celestial happening, learn how to use your equipment. Become familiar with your equipment. Like camera settings.

Because if you don't, it doesn't matter that the way cool timer takes a picture every thirty seconds. I doesn't matter that the electrical adapter for the camera does a great job and you don't have to worry about running out of battery power. It doesn't matter that you go outside and walk down the steps to the camera set up every fifteen minutes for hours, while your husband is in bed fast asleep, to carefully wipe the late night/early morning dew off of the camera lens, carefully because you don't want to change the angle of the camera. 

Because if you don't learn how to properly use your equipment and get the settings right, when you know you'll be too excited about the photos you just took, how wonderful they'll look, so wonderful that you just know you'll be too excited to sleep so you really should download them straight away, at one fifteen in the morning, a little sad that it's well before the eclipse is officially over, but the clouds have covered the moon...

And you download the lot of them, hundreds and all you see are black rectangles....

Well, you know the lesson to be taken from this...know your equipment, you dolt! 

I was dead tired Tuesday. I went to bed four hours after my normal bedtime. I went up and down those stairs poolside countless times. I couldn't walk. I fell asleep on the sofa after breakfast. Woke up a couple of hours later to find that Brian had made the bed and done the dishes. He had to leave to help his mom with the financial folks and I took a shower, then drove over and joined them. 

And fell asleep early on the sofa and was in bed before 9:30 last night.

And all I can say is "learn your equipment".


catstuff
01:06 PM - 04/16/2014

The topic: Okay, now the big news.
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Last weekend, an old acquaintance contacted me on Facebook. She used to live across the street. They had moved to a bigger property and house a few miles from here. We cat sat for them a few times, but then just lost contact, for whatever reason. She was the neighbor who trapped a very pregnant Lonee Gail so long ago; she's where Lonee got her middle name. 

Well, life goes on and circumstances change. She's single now and lives up in the Los Angeles area. She recently had her elderly parents move in with her. Her mom has a nine year old cat named Rocky and the landlord does not want the cat in his condo. He wants it gone. He'd told her that if he gave her a twenty-four hour notice, he could enter the premises and remove the cat. Well, that's illegal as all get out, he couldn't remove the cat. But he could evict her. He wanted the cat gone within twenty-four hours. 

She asked if I knew of anyone who could help her (okay, okay, just keep your thoughts to yourself right now, we all knew how this was going to turn out, so just shut up about it, okay? boxing). I put out feelers on Facebook. A photo and a plea and a "please share" note. And rescuers know it's all about the backstory. Sad backstory, better chance that kitty will have a home.  This is what I posted on Facebook, along with a photo of him last Saturday:

 

Rocky needs a home, can you help? He's in Sherman Oaks, California.

Rocky is a nine year old kitty who needs a home. His owners have to give him up. They had to move in with their daughter. His dad is in hospice. His mom dearly loves him and is heartbroken, but the landlord doesn't want him there and has told them that as long as he gives them a 24 hour notice, he can enter the premises and remove this kitty.

They've tried local rescues, but the rescues all say he's too old for them to take, that it's too hard to place senior kitties. (As someone with three twenty year old cats, this just amazes me...nine years old? Senior?)

He's neutered, an affectionate lap kitty (and at fifteen pounds, it sounds like he can fill a lap) and seems to get along well with the daughter's Yorkie.

Please help him find a forever home.

There was a lot of sharing and one solid offer by Sunday. But things were getting scary up in Sherman Oaks. She has ten months left on a twelve month lease. Her landlord is an obvious asshole (a human asshole, not the same as Charlie) and has no sympathies for her situation. 

Lots of messaging between Gail and me. I'm in tears. I feel so badly for her mother, I know how much my mom loved her cats. At times, I think they were the only things keeping her alive (well, beer, too, that kept her alive). And she loved the hell out of Bobby, I watched the two of them together the day before her brain melted. He made her laugh like I hadn't heard in years. So, I know how important these little furry four footed critters are. So, Sunday night,  Brian said "he can come here" (was there really ever any question about this happening?). Because we know he'll have a good home, I'll keep in contact with Gail (and by association, her mother). I'll post pictures and stories and updates on my weblog and on Facebook (all of my blog entries go to FB, too). I tell her.

There was some back and forth and originally, she was to bring him down on Wednesday, but the fear of the landlord brought them down on Monday. It was a three hour trip, one way, a long drive for humans, longer for a kitty cat in a carrier. Her mom hadn't wanted to come inside, but I felt it would be good for her to see where her beloved Rocky was going to live. And to see the backyard, where he could chase whatever he felt like chasing. We let him out of the carrier right away (don't do long introductions here).

I think she was as happy as circumstances allowed. We'd let them know that if they moved and lived in a place where cats were allowed, Rocky could go back to them. That's only right.

So, Rocky checked out a couple of rooms, there was some hissing and growling. He spent a few minutes under my desk on some boxes (and threw up). He went into Brian's bathroom and lay on the shower floor.He got on the bed and laid down on a blanket. He growled. He growled at me when I petted him. He was very upset, very afraid. He ended up in the office, on top of the stereo. He spent twenty-four hours awake. I don't know if he got down during the night, because yesterday morning, he was back on the stereo. I got a step stool and tried to get him to eat, but he was having none of this. So, I got out the big guns. We quit giving the cats food with fish in it last year. Fish is NOT good for cats. But in a pinch, tuna is very tasty and has flipped the appetite on switch in many a difficult situation. This was one of them. With stepstool in place and open can of tuna in one hand, I rubbed a little tuna juice on his lips. He licked it off and turned his head away from me. I took out a very small piece of tuna and put it on his lips. He licked it off, looked the other way. I gave him another piece. He didn't turn his head this time, but he started to eat the few pieces in front of him. 

He ate a fair amount, then I backed off, taking tuna and stepstool out of the office. And an hour or so later, he was fast asleep. No longer on guard. He finally relaxed.

Some photos. As always, clicking on them will take you to a bigger photo. If you want to see it even bigger, click on the photo you're taken to...(updated and changed software).

Yesterday afternoon

This morning he starts to relax

Yeah, he's just chillin' now...

 

And then there's this little video:

 

 
He's gonna be okay.
 

rocky   

      Thursday, April 17, 2014


catstuff
03:43 PM - 04/17/2014

The topic: Cats are out of the office
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and Rocky has the room to himself. Let's see how things progress now. He'll be able to sniff them through the screen door that leads to the patio.

I really don't want him living on top of the stereo, he needs access to food and water and the litterbox. It's not like when Red lived in the rafters. There was plenty of room to put that stuff for his convenience.

There probably won't be a lot of action on the catcam.

I may just do this in the evening and night and let the cats be in here during the day. We'll see how it goes.

      Friday, April 18, 2014


otherstuff
09:54 AM - 04/18/2014

The topic: Sitting here, looking at Amazon
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Drooling over camera lenses. Thinking to myself, I say out loud "if I had a thousand dollars to spend on anything I wanted" and before I finished the sentence, Brian just bust out laughing.

Yeah, I guess having a thousand bucks to spend on anything is kind of funny at this point in time.

*sigh*

I remember those days.....


catstuff
09:57 AM - 04/18/2014

The topic: Well, Rocky seems to be
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More interested in the house activity this morning. 

He ate last night and I actually heard him purr. He was rubbing his face all over.  With him the only cat in the office and watching him have a hard time navigating all of the stuff that's piled up on top of the file cabinet over the years, I moved a bunch of it and made it easier for him which makes it better for me since I won't be worried he'll hurt himself.

He'd only eaten half of what I brought in last night, so I moved the bowls to a place where he'd have to get down off of his tower. This morning all of the bowls were empty. Good on him!

I left the office window open for him to watch if he so desired. At one point while I was still in here, I watched him looking outside and he was so intense his body was vibrating. Seriously, that's the only way I can describe it. It was amazing to watch.

Sadly with the office door closed overnight, Mario has gone back to under the sofa, which makes absolutely no sense. He slept in the bedroom under the bed after weeks of sleeping ON the bed. mad

I don't think the door will be closed for long, though. The other cats are really showing almost no interest in Rocky. That will probably change when he comes down. But if he gets to a place where he knows he's safe and won't be attacked, it really shouldn't take long for the integration. 


catstuff
01:56 PM - 04/18/2014

The topic: Brian’s going to the bank
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to deposit the house payment and then over to Home Depot (I added floor wax to his list). He says "I'm leaving!" and I yell back "bring me ice cream!" (A couple of weeks ago we agreed to not have ice cream during the week - Monday through Thursday and so far it looks like Sunday ice cream isn't a good idea, either, which leaves Friday and Saturday. Unless we go to Disneyland during the week. We can have ice cream at Disneyland any day of the week. Except Saturday. And that's just because our passes don't get us in to the parks on Saturday. Or major holidays.)

He tells me "no ice cream".  I want ice cream! "Well, I'm gonna sit here until I get my ice cream" I respond. He says "then you'll be sitting there for a while". 

Great! Now I have an excuse!

      Saturday, April 19, 2014


catstuff
08:02 AM - 04/19/2014
I'm watching Saturday morning Rifleman on AMC

The topic: Got the package with Rocky’s information yesterday
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Probably my rescue friends would have a better grasp on this, but it's pretty interesting. This package includes all of his adoption information as well as his vet records.

He was born on May 15, 2005.  He's a seal point Himalayan. He wasn't neutered until October 24, 2012. He was adopted out on December 8, 2012. 

And before he was neutered and in rescue, he spent lots of time being boarded at the vet's office. A week here, ten days there, and he got buspar while being boarded on a regular basis. 

No mas of that stuff. No more boarding. 

Last night I left the door to the office open. The only growling was the asshole Charlie in the bedroom.  Rocky stayed in the office and since there was no hissing or growling, I'm going to assume that everything was fine back here. He did start talking early, early this morning. He has the sweetest voice. 

He's spending more time off of the stereo and on the shelf looking out the window. I gave him some kibble this morning and he inhaled it, he was a hungry boy.  He's making great progress with us, if he's on the stereo and I start talking to him, he jumps down to a place that's more amenable to being petted. But he's not making it the other four feet to come to me, he's a man of compromise, I suppose. He'll gladly meet me half way....

It hasn't even been a week and he's doing quite well.

And Mario actually slept on the sofa last night, next to Sagwa (remember, Sagwa beat up Mario when Mario first got here and we had a trip to the vet).

Things are running pretty smoothly, all things considered.


otherstuff
09:53 AM - 04/19/2014

The topic: About those advanced screening movies
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We went to one where Brian had to take our cellphones and put them back in the car. Or else we could have put them in bags and put our information on them and picked them up after the movie. They checked us going into the theater. 

Well, now we just leave them in the car, don't even bring them in with us. But what about the time? Sometimes I have to "powder my nose" as my father used to say and if it's close to the end of the film, I can wait. But how do I know how long until the end of the film? Of if it's a movie like Her and I can't wait for it to be over and wonder how much longer I'll have to suffer through this drivel?

I used to have watches that had dials that lit up. One of them quit working (even after a new battery). I don't know where the other one is. I have tons of watches, that all need batteries, but in the dark, I need light to see them.  So, I did a search on Amazon and found a few. Some were fancy light up watches, glitzy blingy light up watches. Not what I was looking for. Most were digital. Nope, not what I want. I want analog.

And I found one. An Armitron at a very fair price. It got here yesterday, it fits, the numbers are readable (don't need glasses to see them) and I'm happy with it. It will be my "movie watch" and I shall only take it to movies. I pulled the stem out so the battery won't wear down, I'll set it before we leave. 

Yay!

      Sunday, April 20, 2014


catstuff
08:00 AM - 04/20/2014

The topic: As much as I hated doing it
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I blocked access to the top of the stereo this morning. I'd like to see him walking around the house and as long as he's up there, I don't think he'll be in any big hurry. 

I did find a huge poo in the litterbox this morning, but I can't be sure it was his. Even though I've not seen a big poo like that in recent months. shade_smile

Since he hasn't been able to access that spot, he's been doing a fair amount of grooming, something he didn't have room to do when he was up there. Let's get back to some normal kittycat behavior, okay?


catstuff
08:05 AM - 04/20/2014

The topic: Charlie has a name change
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Well, more of a nickname change. Instead of Charlie Tunafish Piano, he's now Charlie Aholé (a HOLE ay).

Yeah, you know what that stands for....


catstuff
08:46 AM - 04/20/2014

The topic: Well, after Rocky got up there
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and behind the stereo and disconnected the speaker and starts crying and crying, the stuff has been moved from the top of the stereo and he once again has access to up there.

I'm okay with that, I guess, as long as he's going potty. I just don't want him to be making himself sick by holding it.

      Monday, April 21, 2014


catstuff
08:48 AM - 04/21/2014

The topic: Rocky is out of the office
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We had a couple of fun minutes with him last night. He found his way behind the stereo. You know, back where the power strip is located. 

So, I got him out of there, Brian got one of the boxes he uses for shipping (they're six inches wide and twenty-nine inches long) and he put that up there to keep Rocky from getting behind.

This morning I let the cats out at 4:30 and checked on Rocky, he was on the shelf next to the window. It was a little chilly so I closed the window. Went back to bed.

When I got up, he was behind the stereo again. Laying on the power strip. The box, the one that was supposed to prevent him from going behind, was still in place. question

Got him down again (I use a stepstool that we keep in the garage; othewise I can't reach him....lots of climbing these past few days). I opened the window a bit and he was okay with that. He looked out the window and seemed to be back to normal, not that I know what "normal" is for him). 

I tried to communicate with him that if he wants to go out, there are two doors that allow the cats access to the yard that are unlocked during the day. And if he wants to go out, he's going to have to learn the house (I remember with Mario how happy I was when he went out the garage cat door, then ran back in the garage cat door when he got started outside...he knew where "safe" was). I didn't think my discussion with him worked, but within a half hour he was off of the shelf and has been under the bed for the past hour. Well, at least he's in motion. 

      Tuesday, April 22, 2014


catstuff
02:25 PM - 04/22/2014

The topic: Rocky today
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Well, yesterday after being under the bed all morning and most of the afternoon, Rocky discovered the joy known as the bedroom window. You know, the one with the big soft pile of blankets and a view outside and a great breeze coming in through the screens. Some of the other cats would jump up there, but then leave as soon as they realized it was a new cat up there. 

He did start crying around three this morning, behavior I've only seen with cats who knew the outdoors.  Hmm....

Anyway, he did go back to sleep finally, then when we got up this morning, he was under the bed. Where he hung out for a few hours, then he was back up in the window. 

I'd much rather he was in the window than on top of the stereo.

I brought the box back into the office that Mario had been sleeping in and Mario immediately jumped into it and took a nap.

Very little growling today.

Yay!

      Wednesday, April 23, 2014


catstuff
09:09 AM - 04/23/2014

The topic: I hate making deals with the cats
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Then they keep to their end.

One of the conditions for the cats going outdoors is they are able to negotiate a cat door (we do have a few who don't/can't, but they've been here since kittens and just never learned). When we got back from our walk this morning, Rocky was outside. Where he still is. And he's digging it.

When we got home from the movie last night, it was around 9:30. Rocky was in the bedroom window.  I got all of the cats in and fed them. I guess Spot got annoyed that he couldn't get up in the window, so he did. And Rocky got down. Rocky started checking out other rooms in the house. And ended up in the garage. Where he was this morning when we got up. One of the first things I do in the morning is open all of the cat doors and I'm sure he saw cats going in and out and he followed suit.

And I'm pretty happy with how things are going. I saw him pee in a litterbox last night (in the living room), I saw him eating out of the feeder in the garage this morning and I saw him poop outside in the dirt this morning (boy, did he go to town scratching in the dirt, he looked like he was having a great time). He's doing all the things he needs to do. The other cats aren't bothering him much, more curious than anything. He's been a little jumpy when Brian's equipment kicks on, but it won't be long before he's accustomed to all of the different sounds here.

Yay!

      Thursday, April 24, 2014


catstuff
09:43 AM - 04/24/2014

The topic: Rocky today
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He's in the garage. He knows the cat door. 

Yesterday, he spent the day outside, a lot of it under the pool pump. I didn't want to be outside in the dark looking for him, so I got a squirt bottle and got him from under the pump. He ran off. I'd thought he'd gone inside, but I couldn't find him. The next hour or so I spent looking for him outside. But he'd been in the whole time. He's found a spot in the garage and since I've seen him there for two days now, I imagine he's claimed that spot as his.

This morning I've seen him outside a couple of times and when he sees me, he runs back inside. This is a good thing, he knows where "safe" is. 

This morning's outings have him closer to the house. Yesterday he checked out along the fence. I have a feeling in another few weeks, it will be like he's always been here

There's a definite difference between Mario's moving in and Rocky's moving in. Like in the garage, Mario was in hiding. Rocky isn't. He's just trying to find his way.

Like I said, I don't imagine it will be taking him too long.

      Saturday, April 26, 2014


catstuff
08:50 AM - 04/26/2014

The topic: Rocky is in his element
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This cat is used to outside. He reminds me of Bobby when he came here, just not as bad. He slept in the garage all day, then when the sun went down, he wanted OUT.  

I'd set the cat doors to in only, but he started pulling at the door. In the garage, when we get the kitties in at night, the door is set to in only and a baby gate is placed diagonally in front of the door so that it can open in, but it's a lot harder to stand in front of the door and pull it inwards, allowing outdoor access that way (hey, cats are smart). Last night, Rocky actually laid between the cat door and the gate. No other kitty could come in. Brian had to watch the door and keep Rocky away from the door so the other cats could come inside. Once all kitties were in, the door was blocked completely with the baby gate. Since he kept pulling at the gate, Brian put a trashcan in front of it.

So, Rocky came inside and laid in front of the cat door in the laundry room. When he figured that wasn't going to work, he started wandering the house and crying a little. 

A storm blew in last night, it was cold, windy and rainy. When I woke up at 4:30 this morning, I opened the sliding door and unblocked the cat door in the garage. I  believe Rocky made it outside. He was back in the garage when we got up for the day. He went out and a lilttle while later, I watched him run down along the bank, back to the side of the shop and dig a little in the wet dirt. I called his name and he came over to me, keeping just out of finger reach, then he went racing across the yard and up the tree (they can't get far, access is blocked to the branches). Then he went back to the side of the house where the garage door is.

He's getting the hang of the cathouse. And it looks like he's going to fit right in.

mail

      Monday, April 28, 2014


catstuff
08:36 AM - 04/28/2014

The topic: We have a cat named Rocky
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Yep. I think he likes it here. Still getting used to his new digs, but every day I see him doing something that shows he's integrating.

I saw him yesterday morning, then he went invisible. I hate that. I NEED to know where they are. I spent hours looking for him with no luck. I climbed the bank and looked down on the ferns, I turned the water on by the pool to flush him out of the foliage. I checked the rafters with a flashlight. I checked under the sofa and loveseat with the flashlight. 

Nothing. Cloak of invisibility.

Finally, I saw him glancing around the corner of the house. Okay. He's here. He's walking. He's okay. And I quit looking.

He spent the day in a basket in the garage, then went out for a little bit late in the afternoon, early evening. He was inside when it was time for dinner.

I blocked the door again and like the day before, opened it when I opened the sliding door at four in the morning. After I got out of bed and was dressing for the day, I looked outside and he was right behind Bobby on the lawn. During the past hour I saw him eating the kibble I toss out on the patio in the morning. Rory was doing the same thing. When I talk to him or he hears a noise, he turns to run back inside, but at least now he waits to see if he really needs to do this. And when he realizes he doesn't, he returns to his previous business.

Here's some video I took of him yesterday, so you can hear how sweet his voice is.

 


catstuff
08:53 AM - 04/28/2014

The topic: And then there’s Charlie
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I got some video of him yesterday, I'm going to try to get more. He can be a really bully, but when he's not wound up, he can be quite the clown. 

He helps make the bed. Somehow he's got this linen closet radar and when those doors are open, he's so fast you don't see him coming, he's laying on the clean towels before you know he was even around. 

I took this yesterday. He's reaching for the camera strap. He was playing, just look at his eyes. His pupils are normal.

 


entertainmentstuff
09:18 AM - 04/28/2014

The topic: “The Other Woman”
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We were able to see this last Tuesday at an advanced screening. 

I made a new shirt to wear.

It took me two tries, the first one was an epic mess. I had used two different types of media, a sparkle print on paper for the thumbs up and sparkle vinyl for the text. (I got lots of stuff during the grasshopper days....) On the first shirt, I centered them both from the middle of the shirt, but the hand isn't as big as the text, so the hand was way off center and the entire print was too far to the left. To top it off, when I did the hand, I'd forgotten to pull the backing off of the printed part so it peeled right off of the material. Epic fail. I tried again and this time I took everything into consideration. This is the result.

Sparkly!

 

Since we found out with our first advanced screening movie last year (the latest installment of Riddick) that eating theater food that late in the day was not a good idea, we eat before we go. I start dinner early and clean up the kitchen while Brian showers. This time, we actually went out to dinner. We had a coupon for a free sandwich with the purchase of a combo meal. We had to buy the drinks, but that's okay. I really like their chicken sandwiches, it's chicken breast and the barbeque sauce is really good. Brian has sliced beef. 

 

 

We got there early (two hours, but we learned with "Heaven is for Real" that an hour early isn't good enough (we didn't get in, we could have, but it would have been front row and it's possible we wouldn't have been able to sit together). They gave out tickets from a roll (like raffle tickets) and when the line was officially forming, we'd have our place in line. So, we didn't have to stand there for two hours, we could do whatever. The whatever we did was go back to the car, opened up the windows and moon roof.

I pulled my jacket from the backseat so I'd be all ready to go when it was time.

 

 

Brian snoozed.

 

Then it was time to go take our place in line. We took our seats, the theater was packed. They were asking people to move in so that the empty seats were together. I didn't move, I wanted that end seat. Because I have this bladder thing after drinking two fill ups of root beer at dinner, over twenty ounces of water with Zip Fizz added, then even more just plain water. I'm not going to climb over people, that's why we sit on the end. 

The movie finally started and I liked it right off. I enjoyed this movie, it was a buddy movie for women. I've read reviews that didn't like it, but it was way better than most of the male buddy movies (like the Hangover series...really?)

I liked every female character, there was none of the usual cattiness between female characters. It was refreshing to see this.

In parts, I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe. The scenery was awesome.

Yes, it was formulaic, yes, it was inane, but we go to movies to be entertained, not to be taught lessons, you know? 

We were entertained and we both give it two thumbs up. 

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

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