Chaos Kitties They must be entering their teenage years.

Exhibit 1. They've been trying to climb me every day. OUCH. I can reverse my choice not to have you declawed, you know. I've got scratches on every limb.

Exhibit 2. They broke into J's vitamin pill box because they had fish oil capsules in them. We don't think they ate anything but fish oil, but the pills were scattered far and wide and broken apart. Well, now they'll have healthy hearts. They seem unaffected by whatever they ate.

Exhibit 3. They got the probe from my meat thermometer. It's in pieces, ruined. I don't know if I can replace it. It probably smelled like turkey.

Exhibit 4. Today, when I went to the bathroom, I didn't close the door completely. I lifted the toilet seat, but before I could sit down, in comes a cat at full speed, and she jumped into the toilet. Stunned for a moment, but only a moment, she jumped out again, but I still haven't stopped laughing about that. Luckily, it was just water.

I tell you, I'm making that appointment to get them fixed as soon as they'll let me. It's a good thing that I love them.

Labels: cats

  ¶ 9:01 AM 0 comments

  Thursday 13: Random. 13. Low tires suck. I thought my tire was a little low, and filled it on Thursday. However, it's a Presta valve, and I'm still a little unsteady on how exactly I'm supposed to open and close them. It's kind of dumb. So, on Monday, the tire was low again, and I worried about the valve not being shut completely when I did it on Thursday. Or having gotten a piece of glass it in. Or something else equally bad. But it wasn't flat. It was low. So low that I could feel every bump and crack. I felt wrong riding it, so it was me hoofing it. Luckily, it wasn't far from where I'd dropped J off, and I knew of a bike shop not very far away. I got there pretty easily. Surely, a bike shop would have an air hose!

And they did. But they didn't have a presta valve adapter. And I'd left mine at home. Grrr....

I tried another bike shop and they didn't have an air hose. I headed to a third, after dropping off a few things at work. Surely they would have an air hose! I didn't see a thing. Frustrated and cold and ..oh yeah, this happened on Monday, so sleepy, I pushed my bike into their new bike showroom, and there was an air hose! Turns out they'd brought it inside for the winter, and I bought a couple of Presta adapters there just for the future use. Luckily, the air seems to be holding, so I'm betting the problem was just me not twisting the cap into place.

12. The turkey we did this weekend, which turned out great, came with the normal innards. I cooked up the heart, liver and gizzards and minced it up in the food processor. Georgy loved it. Bella not so much. I think that Georgy loves anything new, and Bella hates change in any way. We just bought some of the "old" kitten food because Bella seems to prefer it. Already we are catering to them.

11. We have LOTS of leftover turkey. So far, we've been eating turkey sandwiches and turkey burritos. I have fixings to use up a bunch of turkey in a chili. And turkey with gravy and biscuits planned for another day. Did I say we have lots of turkey? J is "turkey'ed" out.

10. Kitties have learned to take off their collars. Smart little beasties.

9. I think I've come to the conclusion that car exhaust smells like burnt toast, especially in the evenings during rush hour.

8. The kitties can get into the bathroom by leaning on the door. J has taken to pushing a chair up against the door to keep them out.

7. We broke into our dill pickles and they are zingy. But they taste like pickles. I even threw a couple garlic pieces in there, and they even taste pickley.

6. I keep seeing Thanksgiving events on Facebook. I wonder if our fake Thanksgiving has gone viral.

5. Most of my winter clothes comes from the lost and found in my building. That's why a lot of my mittens and gloves don't match. J finally asked why the gloves I gave him don't match.

4. Christmas time is coming. Today I had three people ask me for my opinion on a personal computer purchase. You know, I don't know anything more than the guys at Best Buy do. In fact, I think they probably know more. I'm partial to just buying a Mac and being done with it. But based on the fact that J just bought a computer, I have a little more exposure than I used to, so I can answer simple gaming questions.

3. I ran a 10:30 minute mile yesterday on the suckmill. Only 7 days to the Berbee Derby. I also tried to do a chest press of 75 pounds. And failed. Got to work on that.

2. J and I have been pricing tickets to Taiwan/Thailand. Prices are very good right now; $900 to Tai Pai, and $275 from there to Thailand. Still trying to see if J's friends over there will be around in March. And pondering what sorts of costs we are dealing with. And wondering about cat care. Lots of things to figure out before we do the final deed.

1. I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new floor in the hallway, the kitchen and the bathroom. I'm thinking a nice basic ceramic tile. I'm not so thrilled about doing it myself; we'll have to see how much it would cost to have them do it.

Labels: update

  ¶ 7:46 PM 1 comments

  Thursday 13: Random 1. I was doing a little yoga on Wednesday night and Georgy was very interested. He wanted to climb on me, and he jumped on my back and chewed on my hair. While I was trying to do upward dog and then child's pose. I kept grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and putting him down.

2. While I was filling up my bike tire, Georgy slipped outside and met one of our neighbors, who pronouced him "precious". I was thinking precocious.


3. J and I have been tracking the kitties weight in an Google Doc spreadsheet. So we can graph like this.

4. My neighbor told me about her pet cat who had an allergic reaction to a rabies shot and got cancer. Kitties are getting their rabies shot on ... Friday.

5. When I sit on the couch, I'm usually curl on my side, on my hip. The kitties like to sleep under my butt. This is why we don't let them into our bedroom. This is a unique kind of kitty paralysis. I can't move!

6. TiVO picked up a stray episode of Flight of the Concordes on HBO. It's like Christmas!

7. Frozen turkey has commenced thawing. T minus 2 days and counting.

8. I downloaded an identity checker program from work. It was absolutely astounding to find out how many pieces of sensitive information that I found on my machine. Passwords, credit cards, social security numbers -- things that I had no intention leaving in my computer. The next time I ask a prof if they have sensitive information on their machine, I'm going to run this program before they assure me that there is no way that they could have any data exposed.

9. This weekend, we met a friendly dog, a dog the owner identified as s Shih-shu. Except it walked kind of bowlegged. So today, we came across someone walking a bulldog.

J mused that maybe our Shih-shu friend had some bulldog in him.
I replied "Would that make it a Shih-bull?"
"No, that would make it a bull-shih".
(Say it out loud. It's funnier that way.)

10. Bought more CSA beef home and make Salisbury Steak, Potato and Celery Root Puree, and Carrots for dinner. Delicious!

11. I'm treading the fine line of wanting to stay far away from J's computer and wanting to poke it and see what it can do. I do that all day at work, you see, and even though I try not to do that at home...it's a new computer! It's got cool whatsits!

12. Rode home tonight in the dark. I have a lot of lights, so I can see. Used to be, a few years ago, that would have terrified me. The things that scare me now...cars that might not see me, being blinded by headlights, the inevitability of the path gates being closed, deer on the path and noticing them til too late, but riding the path, not scary. In fact, I realized as I rode that I was smiling. A broad ear to ear grin. After today, this bike ride was a relief.

13. Tomorrow J and I go to go see The 39 Steps. I'm a huge mystery fan, and Hitchcock never disappoints. Then we have the Thanksgiving party on Saturday, and then brunch at Sardine on Sunday. Crazy weekend ahead! Land ho!

Labels: update

  ¶ 7:41 PM 0 comments

  J's New Computer "Notice how the other side is getting yelled at while your guys are getting awards?"

Uh huh.

"And look, her skin is actually streams of numbers."

Uh huh.

"She's actually got eyelashes! Look at how they gave her eyelashes!"

Uh huh.

"These controls are messed up."

Uh huh.

"The 180 turn control is not as sensitive here as it was on my old computer."

Uh huh.

"Oh, the games starting already."

Uh huh.

Well, J's new computer is here. I plan on visiting the gym a lot while J breaks her in. I expect we will start having non-gaming related conversations again sometime in February.

Labels: computer, gaming

  ¶ 9:15 PM 0 comments

  Sunny November Day Remember that song by Guns and Roses called November Rain? That's kind of how I imagine November to be. Cold and wet and rock stars cry in a cold november rain next to their hot model girlfriend's grave when she dies. My, wasn't that a tad melodramatic?

Today, it was 68 degrees. Sun was shining, the birds (the few that are left) were singing, and there were signs of life. Everyone looked at the sky and gasped. People rushed for their shorts, recently packed into the back of the closet for yet another season. I myself pulled out my red corduroy skirt and even (gasp!) shaved my legs.

(Shaving my legs is really hard now that I have scratches all over them from certain little beasties who delight in trying to jump all over me. It was not a pretty sight.)

I hopped on the bike myself, after a few errands, and set off in search of a way to enjoy this gorgeous day.

This route is what I came up with; only 12 miles, but it was great to be outside this late in the season.

There are no leaves on most of the deciduous trees; just evergreens here and there. The corn fields are all just yellow stalks, and what grasses remain are brown. You'd think there wouldn't be much to look at, but even without a lot of foilage, the rolling hills give a breathtaking view.

I tried not to go down into granny gear, and stuck to some of the middle gears on some of the tougher hills; not a easy thing to do! My poor bike is already going to need a new gear set; I'm really hard on my bikes!

Part of my ride took me along the Epic campus, which they are (STILL) building. That has been under construction for years, and I'm told there's still more to do. They are very pretty buildings through; no expense spared.

I saw this sign, on some farmland;

Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.

It made me laugh, then giggle nervously, then twitter, and then ride a lot faster.

Get out and enjoy this weather today!

Labels: bike ride, fall

  ¶ 3:00 PM 0 comments

  Thursday 13: Random 1. Things my kitties have taught me #1. Nothing is so engrossing that you can't stop abruptly and pounce on something.
2. Things my kitties have taught me #2. It is a lot of fun to break into the bathroom when people are trying to use it. They like to pull down the towels from the towel rack, investigate our toilet, check out the bathtub, and generally stick their noses where they don't belong.
3. When I can get to the gym, I have no problem staying from 45-60 minutes and feel great afterward. I went to a deep water aerobics class on Tuesday and just did a half aerobic/half weights workout on Wednesday. I went by myself because J was home "sick".
4. Those quotes are because I didn't think he was sick enough to stay home.
5. Of course, I go to work all of the time unless I'm dying. And he doesn't get so sick that he's dying like I do, so maybe he's onto something.
6. He went to work today. He'll be going over to a buddy's house to play Axis and Allies after work, and I'll be riding my bike home.
7. I hate Axis and Allies, and encourage him to find others to play with.
8. My nephews have requested that J bring Axis and Allies for them to play during our Thanksgiving visit. Yeah, more people who J can play that game with.
9. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I went and signed up for the Berbee Derby on Thanksgiving morning. It's only a 5K run/walk, so I think we can get that done before we hop in the car to head north.
10. I also signed J up for the Berbee Derby. I don't think he was pleased about that. Too bad. Run/Walking 3 miles on Thanksgiving is preventative medicine in my mind.
11. Our Fake Thanksgiving is fast approaching! Have you RSVP'ed? J wants to try to make the turkey, so I think this weekend will be the gathering of the ingredients, the beginning of the thawing, and assorted other tasks.
12. This weekend, we pick up our 15 lbs of organic beef, and on Sunday, I have the book club brunch at Tuvalu Coffee. Woo hoo!
13. I'm half tempted to try to arrange to give blood this weekend, but I wonder if I'm well enough. I'm still coughing up goop that has been trapped in my sinuses. Yes, that's kind of gross. It's not in my lungs, just my sinuses. Otherwise, I feel pretty good.

Labels: update

  ¶ 8:18 AM 0 comments

  Missed Messages Yesterday, after posting that I was not going to be deterred by J's excuses of going to the gym, I rode back to where I parked my car. J and I have been parking way off campus and biking to our respective places of employment. When J is ready to leave his work, he calls and a few minutes later I depart. It mostly works.

I got to the car earlier than I usually do, and I swung my bike in and proceeded to turn on public radio and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

It was getting dark.

Maybe he had some problems with his bike.

I got out of the car and started to walk back along the route we take. It's along the SouthWest bike path. This is the only way he would take.

I walked and walked. I watched for people dressed like him. I got to the end of the path near Camp Randall and turned back. I could not have missed him.

I walked back, hoping all of the way that he'd pass me on his bike. Nothing.

I got back to the car, then started to circle the neighborhood. Again and again, I circled the bike path, stopping along multiple bridges and running to see if I could see him in the failing light.

I returned to where I had parked the car, hoping he might be there waiting.

He wasn't.

I tried not to panic. I drove to the bike shop. If there was a problem, what would he do? I cursed myself for leaving my cell phone at home. I had my iPod touch, but without a wireless signal, I couldn't get anything.

He wasn't at the bike shop. I sat in the parking lot and contemplated what to do. I was 2 blocks from the hospital and 2 blocks from my work. If he'd been in an accident, he might be at the hospital. If he'd been waylaid in some other way, there might be a message for me somewhere, and I could get them at work.

I returned to work.

I parked in the parking garage and ran quickly up to my office. There, in my email, in my voice mail, were frantic messages from him. Flat tire. Waiting at work. Come and get me. Several of them.

If only I had my cell phone. If only I had been able to check my messages.

I called, and we connected. I was relieved, but stressed. How could we have done this differently? J explained that once he had sent the 1st message that he'd wait at work, he was reluctant to try to start to walk and just confuse the issue. He explained that he kept hoping I just had my phone turned off, and at some point, I'd get the messages. I suggested that perhaps, in the future, we can choose a central location to meet. He didn't think that was necessary. He also denied the need for him to get a cell phone. After all, if I didn't have my cell phone, he couldn't call me.

And after all of that, "I don't think we can make it to the gym," said J.

Sigh. I guess we can't. We just wasted two hours trying to find each other in downtown Madison. And I did end up walking a good bit looking for him. I'll have to count that as my exercise and go tomorrow. And I will go tomorrow.

Labels: bike, communication, commute

  ¶ 7:54 AM 0 comments