I’ve been real bad about blogging lately.
I don’t like to let that long a time pass but, I’ve been doing some other writing and also getting the catalogs done has really kept me busy. The big book went out on Tuesday and I shipped drafts of the smaller book yesterday.
Bluelines come in tomorrow for Fat Man and Little Boy should get one more round before shipping early to mid next week.
Phew! Now, shark like, I have to keep moving and look for my next meal.
There’s been a bunch of other things going on both good and bad lately. Surprisingly, some of the stuff (which could be viewed as very, very bad) doesn’t seem to have the same kind of impact on me as it used to. I don’t know why. Maybe, it’s age.
The funny thing is there also seems to be a fair amount of good stuff happening too (people calling, getting referrals for work from friends) it makes a big, big difference. There is some kind of big balance which is going on right now and all in all I am grateful for it.
Oct 30, 2003
Oct 24, 2003
Your tax dollars at work:
Federal agents raided Wal-Mart's headquarters and 60 of its stores across the country Thursday, arresting more than 300 illegal workers in an immigration crackdown at the world's biggest retailer.
I just want to get this straight, groups of men from Saudi Arabia wander around the country for years on expired student and tourist visas, taking flying lessons (not how to land!), sending thousands in cash back and forth from the Middle East through Western Union, buying one way plane tickets in cash before flying planes into the World Trade Center.
All the machinery of Federal law enforcement (CIA, NSA, Secret Service, FBI, ATF, Customs) doesn’t seem to notice this and no alarms are set off before it happens.
Billions of dollars are commandeered from the National Budget to create a department of Homeland Security. The result, they arrest the poor bastard who smuggled himself over the border to make $3 an hour waxing WalMarts floors.
F**king terrific!
I just want to get this straight, groups of men from Saudi Arabia wander around the country for years on expired student and tourist visas, taking flying lessons (not how to land!), sending thousands in cash back and forth from the Middle East through Western Union, buying one way plane tickets in cash before flying planes into the World Trade Center.
All the machinery of Federal law enforcement (CIA, NSA, Secret Service, FBI, ATF, Customs) doesn’t seem to notice this and no alarms are set off before it happens.
Billions of dollars are commandeered from the National Budget to create a department of Homeland Security. The result, they arrest the poor bastard who smuggled himself over the border to make $3 an hour waxing WalMarts floors.
F**king terrific!
Awhile back I had sent out an email asking people about which superpower they wanted if they could have a superpower. People put waaaayyyyy more thought into it than I would’ve liked but at least they responded (which I was glad for - thank you for those that indulge me).
People generally thought about what the “right” answer would be – more along the lines of the pc answer. “If you were a superhero...”
They missed the point.
When we’re children, it’s easy to make-believe, to fantasize and to indulge yourself in fantasy - tie a towel around your neck and run real fast pretending you’re flying. As we get older, become jaded and more cynical the quality is often lost - the joy, the freedom to explore, to dream, gets stomped out of us as time takes its toll on the imagination.
Instead of being indulgent, we can only think of the responsibility we have, to ourselves, to others, to society. I wanted to see if I could get that knee-jerk response, that first response that comes without much thought, the response that only speaks to the freedom and joy birthed by imagination.
I still have all the responses and the project has metamorphosized (due to the responses) into more of a piece on America today and how the world beyond our borders affects us (about as vague as I can get without letting the cat out of the bag).
Anyway, I thought about it myself - I had opted for the powers of The Flash - why, I can’t say really. I find myself just, for some reason liking the Flash a lot. Always have.
The truth is though I would probably Bob Burden’s be more like Mr. Furious from the Mystery Men.
People generally thought about what the “right” answer would be – more along the lines of the pc answer. “If you were a superhero...”
They missed the point.
When we’re children, it’s easy to make-believe, to fantasize and to indulge yourself in fantasy - tie a towel around your neck and run real fast pretending you’re flying. As we get older, become jaded and more cynical the quality is often lost - the joy, the freedom to explore, to dream, gets stomped out of us as time takes its toll on the imagination.
Instead of being indulgent, we can only think of the responsibility we have, to ourselves, to others, to society. I wanted to see if I could get that knee-jerk response, that first response that comes without much thought, the response that only speaks to the freedom and joy birthed by imagination.
I still have all the responses and the project has metamorphosized (due to the responses) into more of a piece on America today and how the world beyond our borders affects us (about as vague as I can get without letting the cat out of the bag).
Anyway, I thought about it myself - I had opted for the powers of The Flash - why, I can’t say really. I find myself just, for some reason liking the Flash a lot. Always have.
The truth is though I would probably Bob Burden’s be more like Mr. Furious from the Mystery Men.
Oct 22, 2003
I think of myself as a cynical patriot (if such a thing is possible). I recognize our system is an imperfect one but, still has much to offer and has a great deal of potential...
One of the foundations of our society, is the framework set up to insure citizen’s personal liberties. A lot of people in our country take these liberties for granted but, in these days of Patriot Acts, global terrorism and a thousand other buzzwords designed to put fear in people’s hearts, now more than ever, we need to be aware of what we would sacrifice in the name of being “safe.”
I find it unfortunate people would buy into the whole concept of being “totally safe,” I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect world and even if it were possible I think many of us would find the price for it far to high to pay.
It is in such a context, I find myself once again musing over the insidious nature of things like EZ-Pass. Under the guise of saving the average commuter time, people actually find themselves now giving the government a way to monitor their movement. I’ve resisted the urge to get EZ-Pass for a long time now. Yes, I see the cars moving through the toll plaza and am somewhat envious but, I smile wryly when I see the report on the news about people being sent warnings for moving through toll plazas at a high rate of speed and being threatened with summons upon their next infraction.
When the government tries to take away your freedoms, they won’t do it in big sweeping movements but, in little seemingly painless ways akin to the heat of the water being turned up when a lobster is in the pot as opposed to plunging the beasty into a pot that’s already boiling. It’s a slow process - one we have to guard against.
Then I come across things like this:
TIA may be the closest thing to a true "Big Brother" program that has ever been seriously contemplated in the United States.
When reading through it, I can’t help but be fascinated by the way technology which can be put to such wonderful purposes can at the same time be abused.
Think EZ-Pass is inocuous?
The TRANSMIT system uses transponders issued as part of the EZ Pass electronic toll-collection systems. TRANSMIT has installed a number of readers along specified roadways with the capability of identifying the vehicles equipped with transponders at periodic intervals. Current Status: Operational. Due to extreme success of system, it will be expanded.
One of the foundations of our society, is the framework set up to insure citizen’s personal liberties. A lot of people in our country take these liberties for granted but, in these days of Patriot Acts, global terrorism and a thousand other buzzwords designed to put fear in people’s hearts, now more than ever, we need to be aware of what we would sacrifice in the name of being “safe.”
I find it unfortunate people would buy into the whole concept of being “totally safe,” I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect world and even if it were possible I think many of us would find the price for it far to high to pay.
It is in such a context, I find myself once again musing over the insidious nature of things like EZ-Pass. Under the guise of saving the average commuter time, people actually find themselves now giving the government a way to monitor their movement. I’ve resisted the urge to get EZ-Pass for a long time now. Yes, I see the cars moving through the toll plaza and am somewhat envious but, I smile wryly when I see the report on the news about people being sent warnings for moving through toll plazas at a high rate of speed and being threatened with summons upon their next infraction.
When the government tries to take away your freedoms, they won’t do it in big sweeping movements but, in little seemingly painless ways akin to the heat of the water being turned up when a lobster is in the pot as opposed to plunging the beasty into a pot that’s already boiling. It’s a slow process - one we have to guard against.
Then I come across things like this:
When reading through it, I can’t help but be fascinated by the way technology which can be put to such wonderful purposes can at the same time be abused.
Think EZ-Pass is inocuous?
The TRANSMIT system uses transponders issued as part of the EZ Pass electronic toll-collection systems. TRANSMIT has installed a number of readers along specified roadways with the capability of identifying the vehicles equipped with transponders at periodic intervals. Current Status: Operational. Due to extreme success of system, it will be expanded.
I’ve been really, really busy lately. As a result, I’ve been very lax about the whole blog thing - I’m caught up in getting catalogs out the door. Everything goes out by next Wednesday - every time I think I’m ahead of the curve something happens to spin everything out of orbit but, I guess that’s how it always is.
I finally got around to doing the whole disc maintenance thing the other day. You know the routine, scan, fix, optimize. I’m never really sure if I’m accomplishing anything other than sitting watching the stupid animation that goes along with the disc optimization program. Anyway, I did it on the “surfing” machine and the laptop.
The laptop keeps making these nasty, nasty noises telling me the drives’ days are numbered. They’ll be times when it’ll just hang up and freeze. I can always hear the drive just clicking away - everyday I take the precaution of backing everything up onto one of the two external drives I have hooked up to it.
I got another drive but, I haven’t been able to find the time to transfer everything over yet. It’s just a matter of time though and believe me I do have my fingers crossed.
I finally got around to doing the whole disc maintenance thing the other day. You know the routine, scan, fix, optimize. I’m never really sure if I’m accomplishing anything other than sitting watching the stupid animation that goes along with the disc optimization program. Anyway, I did it on the “surfing” machine and the laptop.
The laptop keeps making these nasty, nasty noises telling me the drives’ days are numbered. They’ll be times when it’ll just hang up and freeze. I can always hear the drive just clicking away - everyday I take the precaution of backing everything up onto one of the two external drives I have hooked up to it.
I got another drive but, I haven’t been able to find the time to transfer everything over yet. It’s just a matter of time though and believe me I do have my fingers crossed.
Oct 21, 2003
1. Every once in awhile there’s a story like this on the news. This is just another one for the Darwin Awards. I may appear heartless but, this is the kind of thing that falls under the definition of Dumbass - maybe they’ll be a lawsuit against the Transit Authority - you know after all, no one is responsible for their actions in our society anymore.
2. When the earth farts in the bathtub, you better not be on a boat.
3. “I coulda been a millionaire, instead of a garbage man which is what I am.” Another example of the stupid lawsuit syndrome.
Oct 18, 2003
Just for the fun of it.
I know I have 99, 96, 86, 83, 82, 78, 69, 62, 51, 50, 48, 47, 45, 41, 40, 39, 36, 27, 25, 24, 22, 21, 20, 18, 15, 14, 10 and 2 in among the records, cassettes and CDs I have amassed.
Plus, I have an affinity for 85, 71, 57, 34, 33, 31, 30, 16, 3 and 2.
Makes me want to break them out and listen to them all.
I know I have 99, 96, 86, 83, 82, 78, 69, 62, 51, 50, 48, 47, 45, 41, 40, 39, 36, 27, 25, 24, 22, 21, 20, 18, 15, 14, 10 and 2 in among the records, cassettes and CDs I have amassed.
Plus, I have an affinity for 85, 71, 57, 34, 33, 31, 30, 16, 3 and 2.
Makes me want to break them out and listen to them all.
Oct 17, 2003
Alright, so the Yankees won.
Somehow, someway they did it. Last night I didn’t even bother to watch the game knowing somehow they would win and when I awoke this morning they had.
Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose which is something the Cubs and the Red Sox proved this year. Grady Little probably sealed his fate by leaving Pedro Martinez in too long and from what I understand (and have read) the Red Sox could be overhauling their roster between now and next year. I figure Kim is gone (since he was left of the post season roster and greeted the beantown fans with the one finger salute) but, I would be focusing on pitching if I were Theo Epstein. Colon, Maddux and Schilling are all out there for the taking. Arizona wants to get rid of Schilling to free up money and Maddux and Colon are free agents. The Yankees have had great success pitching up older stud pitching and patching together a good rotation.
I found it interesting both the Marlins and the Yankees shot their wads in those two game sevens each team played. It makes me wonder what the pitching will be like in the World Series. Each manager choose to use starting pitching over going to his bullpen. The Marlins of course have younger guys. In last night’s game JT managed to pitch Clemens, Mussina and Wells. Only Andy Petite escaped having pitched 7 innings the day before. Who’s pitching Saturday? It seems like each team should be emotionally exhausted after the League Championships series.
Still, I can’t see the Marlins beating the Yankees, no matter what. Is there anyone who believes they will? If they did, what would it mean to the Yankees? Who’d take the fall?
I’m not even going to comment at this point on the Zimmer/Martinez thing or the actions of the infamous “Bartman” who will soon be calling a moving company I’m sure.
Oh, and as far as the Mets go - I’m glad Gerry Hunsicker didn’t get the job - if I was the Wilpons, I’d be doing everything in my power to pry Omar Minaya back from the Expos.
Somehow, someway they did it. Last night I didn’t even bother to watch the game knowing somehow they would win and when I awoke this morning they had.
Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose which is something the Cubs and the Red Sox proved this year. Grady Little probably sealed his fate by leaving Pedro Martinez in too long and from what I understand (and have read) the Red Sox could be overhauling their roster between now and next year. I figure Kim is gone (since he was left of the post season roster and greeted the beantown fans with the one finger salute) but, I would be focusing on pitching if I were Theo Epstein. Colon, Maddux and Schilling are all out there for the taking. Arizona wants to get rid of Schilling to free up money and Maddux and Colon are free agents. The Yankees have had great success pitching up older stud pitching and patching together a good rotation.
I found it interesting both the Marlins and the Yankees shot their wads in those two game sevens each team played. It makes me wonder what the pitching will be like in the World Series. Each manager choose to use starting pitching over going to his bullpen. The Marlins of course have younger guys. In last night’s game JT managed to pitch Clemens, Mussina and Wells. Only Andy Petite escaped having pitched 7 innings the day before. Who’s pitching Saturday? It seems like each team should be emotionally exhausted after the League Championships series.
Still, I can’t see the Marlins beating the Yankees, no matter what. Is there anyone who believes they will? If they did, what would it mean to the Yankees? Who’d take the fall?
I’m not even going to comment at this point on the Zimmer/Martinez thing or the actions of the infamous “Bartman” who will soon be calling a moving company I’m sure.
Oh, and as far as the Mets go - I’m glad Gerry Hunsicker didn’t get the job - if I was the Wilpons, I’d be doing everything in my power to pry Omar Minaya back from the Expos.
I’ve been focusing on getting the bigger of my two catalogs out this week. It’s been amazingly painless and we’re in the home stretch now (just a final round before release). I’ve been putting in my hours but, it hasn’t been overwhelming even though I’m putting together a 100 page book.
I like this.
I like this.
Oct 14, 2003
I’ve been extremely remiss lately about my blogging (which is bad). I am currently enmeshed in catalog time and as a result find most of my time occupied with getting the catalogs out the door.
The larger book went from 60 some odd pages up to almost 100! Basically, the larger book is being turned around in a shade over two weeks. It wouldn’t have been that much of a hassle at all if I hadn’t had to redesign the backlist section (think financials). I realize while doing it that I had the benefit of some very good teachers through the years so, I have to tip my hat to all the very good designers and proofreaders I have worked with, some of the whole methodology took.
The smaller book is sitting there waiting for me. I’m in the home stretch on the bigger one and I’ll be relieved when I get everything out the door.
The larger book went from 60 some odd pages up to almost 100! Basically, the larger book is being turned around in a shade over two weeks. It wouldn’t have been that much of a hassle at all if I hadn’t had to redesign the backlist section (think financials). I realize while doing it that I had the benefit of some very good teachers through the years so, I have to tip my hat to all the very good designers and proofreaders I have worked with, some of the whole methodology took.
The smaller book is sitting there waiting for me. I’m in the home stretch on the bigger one and I’ll be relieved when I get everything out the door.
Oct 9, 2003
I know I’m not a Yankee fan anymore...
I was a big, big fan of the Yankees through ’95, something like 12 or 13 years. I’d go to a bunch of games each year, take friends. I even had my own little rituals going to games (like getting a box of Popeye’s chicken to bring in with me from the chicken place on the corner of 161st St and River Avenue). The Yankees sucked big time in the early nineties (when Stump Merrill, Dallas Green and Bucky Dent were managers) but, going to the Stadium was actually fun because the only people who would turn out would be the true baseball fans. It was sad that as the team got better, there would be more and more groups of rowdy, loud, expletive mouthing drunks in the stands.
My sister’s boyfriend was a batboy for the Yankees when I was a kid (and didn’t like baseball altogether that much) and I never appreciated getting those autographed programs with Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Thurman Munson and other Yankee greats on it. We would go to the games and it was a bit of an imposition.
Now, I watch the games and I root for the Yankees to lose. I’ve just gotten sick of listening to their fans over the last few years.
Well, we’re one step closer to my dream World Series this year which would be Red Sox versus the Cubs. I looked back at my picks for the first round and I did okay. I picked the Red Sox and the Cubs (I even got the number of games right with the Cubbies). The Yankees just walloped the Twins at home (which surprised me a bit) and the Marlins pulled off some magic (becoming the Cinderella story of the post season). I wasn’t sure the Marlins could do it but, I did think it would make a great story if they did and it has.
So, what are my picks for the next round?
The Cubbies and the Marlins are even at this point but, I’m still figuring the Cubbies will grab it in six games. The Red Sox won tonight (with Wakefield pitching of all things!) but, the Twins won the first game to and that didn’t stop the Yankees. I’m going to go out on a limb here and pick Boston in six as well.
Either way, I know I spent most of the weekend watching the games on TV. There was just some flat out great baseball to watch. The Marlins/Giants series was tough and the A’s/Red Sox series was just packed with excitement. Kerry Wood, Pedro Martinez, Mark Prior, Roger Clemens, Andy Petite, David Wells, Derek Lowe, Mike Timlin, Barry Zito - there’s just been tons of great pitching to watch. It’s turning into a decent post season even though the Mets sucked a big one this year.
I was a big, big fan of the Yankees through ’95, something like 12 or 13 years. I’d go to a bunch of games each year, take friends. I even had my own little rituals going to games (like getting a box of Popeye’s chicken to bring in with me from the chicken place on the corner of 161st St and River Avenue). The Yankees sucked big time in the early nineties (when Stump Merrill, Dallas Green and Bucky Dent were managers) but, going to the Stadium was actually fun because the only people who would turn out would be the true baseball fans. It was sad that as the team got better, there would be more and more groups of rowdy, loud, expletive mouthing drunks in the stands.
My sister’s boyfriend was a batboy for the Yankees when I was a kid (and didn’t like baseball altogether that much) and I never appreciated getting those autographed programs with Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Thurman Munson and other Yankee greats on it. We would go to the games and it was a bit of an imposition.
Now, I watch the games and I root for the Yankees to lose. I’ve just gotten sick of listening to their fans over the last few years.
Well, we’re one step closer to my dream World Series this year which would be Red Sox versus the Cubs. I looked back at my picks for the first round and I did okay. I picked the Red Sox and the Cubs (I even got the number of games right with the Cubbies). The Yankees just walloped the Twins at home (which surprised me a bit) and the Marlins pulled off some magic (becoming the Cinderella story of the post season). I wasn’t sure the Marlins could do it but, I did think it would make a great story if they did and it has.
So, what are my picks for the next round?
The Cubbies and the Marlins are even at this point but, I’m still figuring the Cubbies will grab it in six games. The Red Sox won tonight (with Wakefield pitching of all things!) but, the Twins won the first game to and that didn’t stop the Yankees. I’m going to go out on a limb here and pick Boston in six as well.
Either way, I know I spent most of the weekend watching the games on TV. There was just some flat out great baseball to watch. The Marlins/Giants series was tough and the A’s/Red Sox series was just packed with excitement. Kerry Wood, Pedro Martinez, Mark Prior, Roger Clemens, Andy Petite, David Wells, Derek Lowe, Mike Timlin, Barry Zito - there’s just been tons of great pitching to watch. It’s turning into a decent post season even though the Mets sucked a big one this year.
Oct 7, 2003
A couple of weeks back, I was having a discussion with the Big S about a situation at her job. Her company had been approached by another company wanted to cross promote a project between the two (how hard is this to talk about without going into details).
Unfortunately, the property they wanted to cross promote wasn’t something under the direct control of Big S’ people. The Big S came away feeling as if she was being viewed as a bit of a Negative Joe but, her concerns actually were right on spot and some people weren’t really thinking things through.
We talked about it and during the conversation I came up with a decent solution which would probably wind up satisfying all parties without stepping on anyone’s toes - long story short it wound up being one of those ideas everyone loved, her company is going ahead with it and they anticipate making 100k from it.
So, I did wind up getting credit for my idea and now the publisher who’ll realize the benefits of the revenue derived from the idea has offered to treat me to a lunch - which actually makes me pretty happy.
It’s not the first time I’ve come up with a really good idea but, it could be one of the few times I’ve gotten credit for the idea without someone else trying to grab the spotlight. I’m pretty satisfied to get the recognition and if I’m disturbed it’s only by the fact that for all the good ideas I’ve had, I have yet to be able to find a way to make them pay off so I don’t have to worry all the time about finding work and making money.
Unfortunately, the property they wanted to cross promote wasn’t something under the direct control of Big S’ people. The Big S came away feeling as if she was being viewed as a bit of a Negative Joe but, her concerns actually were right on spot and some people weren’t really thinking things through.
We talked about it and during the conversation I came up with a decent solution which would probably wind up satisfying all parties without stepping on anyone’s toes - long story short it wound up being one of those ideas everyone loved, her company is going ahead with it and they anticipate making 100k from it.
So, I did wind up getting credit for my idea and now the publisher who’ll realize the benefits of the revenue derived from the idea has offered to treat me to a lunch - which actually makes me pretty happy.
It’s not the first time I’ve come up with a really good idea but, it could be one of the few times I’ve gotten credit for the idea without someone else trying to grab the spotlight. I’m pretty satisfied to get the recognition and if I’m disturbed it’s only by the fact that for all the good ideas I’ve had, I have yet to be able to find a way to make them pay off so I don’t have to worry all the time about finding work and making money.
Oct 4, 2003
You look up and a bunch of days go by without you even realizing it.
I had started writing an entry last night only to crash in the midst of it.
Yesterday was my day for computer problems though. The drive on my beloved laptop is starting to go. I could hear the heads clicking yesterday - an experience similar to watching dark storm clouds move in on the horizon.
I tried rebuilding the desktops on the various drives hooked up to the machine. It was a process that took quite a bit of time. I’m a real big one for leaving folders out on the desktop (which can’t be good) until I can organize things (which never happens often enough). Also, I just don’t do disk maintenance as religiously as I used to and add to it the fact I do have retrospect but, haven’t found the time to set up a cohesive backup schedule.
So, my catalogs are starting up so of course this would be the time for things to go awry. I’ve already lost one drive in the laptop and gone through the horror of losing what was on it so, you’d think I would know better.
I pulled the keyboard off of it and let it cool down. Last time this had happened (when the previous drive went blooey) was right after I discovered the cat decided the closed, sleeping laptop was the ideal warm, heat radiating kitty bed. The combination of kitty getting to the laptop (walking over the keyboard and moving it out of sleep mode), her lying on top of it for long periods of time, combined to make things very, very hot in the case. It couldn’t have helped the drive.
Well the recent cold snap around here has found kitty discovering the oh-so-comfortable spot once again. I found her a few days back sitting sweet as you please upon the closed laptop, catching some zzz’s. I thought it was a chance event but, it turned out I wasn’t the only person who had chased her from atop her favorite perch. Then the drive started making those noises again yesterday.
It’s probably the wear and tear on the drive really, things happen for reasons we can’t fathom but, don’t we all need to assess blame on someone during these moments.
Time to pull back, and deal.
Later that evening as I was searching the web trying to figure out if I was going to just order a replacement internal drive or if I was going to take the plunge and order a close out laptop, the little creature came down to secure a stop on another favorite perch of hers... my lap when I’m sitting at the station downstairs I use for web surfing.
She just looked up at me and made this weak meow as if to say “Don’t hate me because I get cold!” I hate to say how big a part of my heart the cat has staked out for herself and this is an animal who introduced herself to me by biting me in the back of my foot shortly after meeting me.
“Oh, how cute! Kitty’s playing!”
Yeah, at that moment I was thinking about playing using kitty as the ball but, those things never go over well (kitty football anyone?).
Anyway, over time we have come to a mutual understanding the cat and I. I pretty much make sure she gets fed and her litter is cleaned when the Big S is away but, she doesn’t run my life quite the same way she does other people’s. I mean to say the cat doesn’t jump up on the bed at an ungodly hour of the morning and start hitting me to wake me up to feed her the way she does to the Big S.
There are other things she does do though. I’ll talk to the cat during the day and lots of times she talks back (to the amazement of the other people in the house). If she’s up to something, I don’t have to track her down I just use “the voice” on her which more often than not works. We spend a lot of time sleeping together as I don’t toss much when I sleep and I run pretty hot for the most part so, I’m an ideal place for her to nap (plus over the last few years I’ve developed lots of extra padding that kitties just love). She’ll lick my arm when she’s particularly happy (which she doesn’t do with anyone else).
It’s not quite what Richard used to be able to do with his cat (he would get down on the floor and the cat would roll over on its back in front of him) but, it’s quite nice.
Which brings me to another subject. The cat does really have a way of expressing herself that works with all of us here. There’s something the varying timbre and pitch of her cries convey to us which seems to quite clearly convey what she’s feeling at a given moment.
If a cat is alone, away from other cats for most of its life, does it know how to communicate with other cats? Is there a cat language? Is the language instinctual - hardwired into the cats’ brain? Would the cries the cat uses with us work when communicating with other cats? I was just thinking if someone were brought up without any other human contact would they develop a language and if so what would it be?
As far as the laptop goes, I would probably get a new one if they looked as cool as my G3 did - I don’t like the titanium ones as much.
I had started writing an entry last night only to crash in the midst of it.
Yesterday was my day for computer problems though. The drive on my beloved laptop is starting to go. I could hear the heads clicking yesterday - an experience similar to watching dark storm clouds move in on the horizon.
I tried rebuilding the desktops on the various drives hooked up to the machine. It was a process that took quite a bit of time. I’m a real big one for leaving folders out on the desktop (which can’t be good) until I can organize things (which never happens often enough). Also, I just don’t do disk maintenance as religiously as I used to and add to it the fact I do have retrospect but, haven’t found the time to set up a cohesive backup schedule.
So, my catalogs are starting up so of course this would be the time for things to go awry. I’ve already lost one drive in the laptop and gone through the horror of losing what was on it so, you’d think I would know better.
I pulled the keyboard off of it and let it cool down. Last time this had happened (when the previous drive went blooey) was right after I discovered the cat decided the closed, sleeping laptop was the ideal warm, heat radiating kitty bed. The combination of kitty getting to the laptop (walking over the keyboard and moving it out of sleep mode), her lying on top of it for long periods of time, combined to make things very, very hot in the case. It couldn’t have helped the drive.
Well the recent cold snap around here has found kitty discovering the oh-so-comfortable spot once again. I found her a few days back sitting sweet as you please upon the closed laptop, catching some zzz’s. I thought it was a chance event but, it turned out I wasn’t the only person who had chased her from atop her favorite perch. Then the drive started making those noises again yesterday.
It’s probably the wear and tear on the drive really, things happen for reasons we can’t fathom but, don’t we all need to assess blame on someone during these moments.
Time to pull back, and deal.
Later that evening as I was searching the web trying to figure out if I was going to just order a replacement internal drive or if I was going to take the plunge and order a close out laptop, the little creature came down to secure a stop on another favorite perch of hers... my lap when I’m sitting at the station downstairs I use for web surfing.
She just looked up at me and made this weak meow as if to say “Don’t hate me because I get cold!” I hate to say how big a part of my heart the cat has staked out for herself and this is an animal who introduced herself to me by biting me in the back of my foot shortly after meeting me.
“Oh, how cute! Kitty’s playing!”
Yeah, at that moment I was thinking about playing using kitty as the ball but, those things never go over well (kitty football anyone?).
Anyway, over time we have come to a mutual understanding the cat and I. I pretty much make sure she gets fed and her litter is cleaned when the Big S is away but, she doesn’t run my life quite the same way she does other people’s. I mean to say the cat doesn’t jump up on the bed at an ungodly hour of the morning and start hitting me to wake me up to feed her the way she does to the Big S.
There are other things she does do though. I’ll talk to the cat during the day and lots of times she talks back (to the amazement of the other people in the house). If she’s up to something, I don’t have to track her down I just use “the voice” on her which more often than not works. We spend a lot of time sleeping together as I don’t toss much when I sleep and I run pretty hot for the most part so, I’m an ideal place for her to nap (plus over the last few years I’ve developed lots of extra padding that kitties just love). She’ll lick my arm when she’s particularly happy (which she doesn’t do with anyone else).
It’s not quite what Richard used to be able to do with his cat (he would get down on the floor and the cat would roll over on its back in front of him) but, it’s quite nice.
Which brings me to another subject. The cat does really have a way of expressing herself that works with all of us here. There’s something the varying timbre and pitch of her cries convey to us which seems to quite clearly convey what she’s feeling at a given moment.
If a cat is alone, away from other cats for most of its life, does it know how to communicate with other cats? Is there a cat language? Is the language instinctual - hardwired into the cats’ brain? Would the cries the cat uses with us work when communicating with other cats? I was just thinking if someone were brought up without any other human contact would they develop a language and if so what would it be?
As far as the laptop goes, I would probably get a new one if they looked as cool as my G3 did - I don’t like the titanium ones as much.
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