Daughter1 is visiting today and we are going to see the new Twilight movie - just so that we can discuss with our students! She just phoned and said that she is bringing a treat for morning tea! Why the excitement? The Boy is employed by a company that makes cakes and desserts fo restaurants, McDonalds McCafe, Dominos etc. so when Daughter1 says that she is bringing a sweet treat it is something VERY VERY NICE! I think this is going to be a good day.
It is also possible I need to get out more....
While watching Zach give the cats a good workout by means of a high-power laser pointer, a thought occurred to me:
When used in a particular way, a laser pointer is essentially a virtual tether with which one can literally slam a cat against a wall.
You can also fling a cat down the stairs or even into a hapless victim’s lap as he sits distracted by his game of Super Smash Bros. Fact is, a cat will pretty much go anywhere a glowing red dot goes. They'll even do it in teams!
Whenever all four of us have to be away from the house at the same time, we make sure all the kittehs are closed off downstairs mainly because Dioji is a moody terrier and cannot be trusted. This past Thanksgiving Day was one of those times and Zach was assigned pet segregation detail. He proceeded to do this, believe it or not, by leading them all down in one big group with his laser pointer.
I was hell of impressed.
Alright, I know the title of the post made it sound like some major scientific breakthrough had been discovered. And sure, adding “major” might be too much, but Zachary’s discovery really is quite a breakthrough!
Have you ever tried to herd cats?
Or something like that.
We have had it a week now. It washes well. Not too keen on the rack layout though. Bugger.
And we actually have - wait for it - some Good News.
Our cooker is about 12 years old. It has lost two knobs, one of the igniters does not ignite, and the door is a bit loose. So I phoned the insurance company and booked a service visit.
The day after Disaster Day, Belling (who make the cooker) rang the house. They spoke to Husband:
B: Sorry, we are going to cancel the Engineer.
H: Oh, why?
B: Because we cannot get the spare parts anymore. A lot of the companies that make them have gone out of business,. It's a recession, you know.
H: Oh. I see.
B: So we called the Insurer. They are going to write it off, as we cannot repair it. They are going to give you vouchers to get a new cooker.
H: Oh. Thanks for letting me know.
So, come February when we get a new Kitchen (planned for last year, on hold, now going to be installed at the same time as the redecorating caused by Disaster Day) we will have a bright, shiny new cooker to go with it,
Sometimes life gives you honey to sweeten the lemons.
I've acquired some awesome new neighbors since last Winter Solstice. I want you all to stick around, so I feel I should give you a warning. I have a reindeer obsession. Yes, every year I become a wide-eyed freak over the critters.
I'm not much of an ungulate person. I mostly study small carnivores, ground dwellers and birds. Beginning December 1st, I run around stores blindly grabbing every reindeer ornament and throw pillow in sight (I eventually calm down and put them back before the store clerks call Security).
Blame my old college friend for making me watch Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, I guess. She watched it every year and yes, she used to cry during the movie. I love the Island of Misfit Toys and King Moonracer as much as anyone, but.....
I don't usually distinguish between caribou (wild ungulates) and reindeer (domesticated caribou) although I think reindeer are a bit cuter and fuzzier with their decorative blankets. I hope I don't bore everyone with my reindeer and caribou rants.
Greenpeace Finland's Reindeer page
Sorry for the blurry yellow! Damn office lighting
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It's Star Trek, it's a story about Klingon history, I enjoyed it.
I'm a political moderate. Most people think that means that my beliefs are boring as cardboard. I just want everyone to get along. Compromise. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. When I express my belifes, I usually manage to tick off everybody.
I don't like Obama's health care plan. He needs to ditch it and try again later. Although I'm 100 percent pro choice, I actually agree that taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for abortions. Let's fact it, except for special circumstances, pregnancy is not usually an illness.
The right-wing has tried to ban birth control and sex ed. In high schools, sex ed programs teach boys and girls what it's like to care for a baby, and how to avoid pregnancy. By killing the single payer option, conservatives have ensured that underprivileged women might want an abortion.. They make sure that poor pregnant women and children will not have access to vital health care.
And by the way I have a new favorite politician. Congressman Kucinich. Despite the temporary setback on health care, he knows we're headed in the right direction with this. Here is a petition he drafted - it calls for Universal Health Care for America. Thanks a million to everyone who's contributed to my health care blogs, and thanks to Lil Treva for alerting me to the Congressman's greatness. I think Obama could use a wake up call, don't you? No nation in its right mind would allow children to go without medical care.
**I should add that as a biologist I see my role as preserving life. Pregnancy is the beginning of life. I would like to see free women's health care clinics, free birth control (I mean really, Viagara is covered by health insurance!!) and better adoption services. Why don't we ever hear about these issues when we discuss abortion?
From the Cover:
As punishment for a crime he didn't really commit, Matt was given a choice: go to jail or go live with an old woman named Mrs. Deverill in a remote town called Lesser Malling.
He should have chosen jail.
A strange and sinister plan is coming together made in Lesser Malling, with Matt at the center of it all. People who try to help him disappear . . . or die. It all ties to an evil place named Raven's Gate - a place whose destiny is horrifyingly intertwined with Matt's own.
Not bad, if a little simplistic. But then, I think as I get older, I have read so many books, I guess most plots before I get very far into the book. Takes something to surprise me these days!
Recommended - oh, and they made it into a film. Not sure that would be good, actually.
From the Cover:
The planet had fallen off the map. When Karl Altman's spaceship
crashed, he had only one question: "HOW THE HELL DO I GET OUT OF HERE?"
When his
spaceship crashes on an unknown and forgotten planet, scientist Karl
Altman discovers himself hunted by an ancient race. The descendants of
a Viking race have reverted to a savage culture of sacrifice, pillage
and violence. Karl has only
one goal: escape. But escape is a distant dream on this nightmare
planet.
FILE UNDER: Science Fiction [Starship Crash / Abandoned
Colonists / Alien Slaughter / Hell Planet]
Now this I really enjoyed. Lots of twists and turns, well plotted and a good science base. Intriguing characters (not many books get written from an Icelandic viewpoint!) and lots of action.
Highly recommended for those who like the genre (see above)
matt and i have written a couple e-mails back and forth. we're getting together next week wednesday for drinks. he says he has a nervous brick in his stomach - not quite sure why. i told him that i thought i was the one with the nervous brick in my stomach given that the situation we find ourselves in was not my idea.
i have no idea how he's feeling about me other than what he's told me - that he's been thinking about the last six weeks that we've been apart constantly since we just started e-mailing again...is he thinking that he has been content the last six months without me or that he's realized his life without me sucks? not sure. but i guess i'll find out.
in any case, seeing him will be really weird. it's been so long and the last time we were in front of eachother, he was walking out our front door and i was standing in the middle of the living room floor sobbing. we haven't communicated in any way other than letters and e-mails, so i haven't heard his voice in six weeks either.
*
in an effort to keep my options open - just in case matt has no interest in getting back with me - i've been dabbling in internet dating and i actually met a guy that i think is pretty cool.
his name is bryan - he's 29, 6' tall (i'm not fond of short guys because i'm kinda tall so i'm glad he's a good height), he is in sales for a wine distributor and was in ska bands back in the day, which is actually why i started talking to him - because i was in a ska band in high school. turns out that one of the guys that was in my band, was in two of his previous bands so we have a mutual friend.
we became facebook friends the other day and yesterday he started up a chat with me on facebook...we chatted for about 45 minutes. it was really good...he seems totally normal and we're into the same bars, we have the same sense of humor, he uses smiley faces, and we both hate talking on the phone. i know for a fact he has a car, a job and he has roommates so he has an apartment.
we made plans to get together saturday night to grab a drink or two. or three.
i'm not counting on bryan and i hitting it off AND matt wanting me back, but if that ended up being the case, i think i'd have a problem. i almost didn't want to get together with this guy until i met up with matt, but i didn't see the point in that. that would mean i'd be counting on matt to want me back and i've come to the conclusion that i'm fine either way...if he doesn't, i've already become fine with that because i've had to - if he does, then there's a lot of work that needs to be done and it would take a long time for this to become what is was.
