Nyla Stays

I've known for a week or so now that the cat would be staying. I didn't really come to this decision myself, so much. It was more or less decided for me. My boss and my peer at work suggested that I'd be keeping it, then the Office Ninja came in and sealed the deal.

So far it's worked out okay. Nyla and I have come to a reasonable arrangement. I have to work her out in the evenings before I go to bed until she's exhausted, then I get to sleep until 6:00-6:30 when she unfailingly wakes me up. I work her out with this little mouse on a string. For only $1.50, I get to sleep peacefully every night! TOTALLY worth it! She jumps like mad and is extremely agile. I've shown videos to long-time cat-owners and they're extremely wowed by her ability. I'm rather scared myself, and thankful she doesn't have opposable thumbs.

What's most unique is that she fetches. And rolls over. I'm still working on getting her to sit and wave. She knows where her food is and knows when she gets fed, and knows exactly where the treats are too. She's nearly killed me three times - once in my sleep when she was kneading my neck, and twice by getting under my feet when I'm walking. She randomly goes insane every day between 6:30am and 10:30am for about a half an hour, at which point she'll attack anything that moves, and a gamut of things that don't, including walls, corners, desks, windows, mirrors, cords, the couch, and...well, anything. I find it's best just to get out of the way at that point until the insanity passes. Oh, and socks are a must at all times now, as she does enjoy nibbling a toe. A human toe. MY toe. Dear God, kitty fangs are sharp!!!!

She loves running water. Loves it. So much so that she made the mistake of swiping at the water while i was rinsing out my razor. OOPS! She only barely scratched one of the pads of her front paws, thankfully.

She hasn't quite figured out mirrors yet, and loves to watch basketball from an upside-down perspective while laying on top of the entertainment center. Everything else she watches from the ground, but especially video games. She LOVES to watch video games.

And goes everywhere I do.

And continues to be jealous of the keyboard while I type.

But Ima keep her. Nyla Jean Goodrich.

P.S. She hates collars. Literally fights to make her head smaller until she rips them off. Not sure how I'm ever gonna take her for a walk like that.

Finally MySpace is put to good use

I just wish it hadn't happened to John McCain. I rather like him.

Read about the Immaculate Hack here.

Well done, Mike Davidson! Well done...

Hotter than 98.6

The calendar tells me it's winter. This tells me the calendar is full of crap.

Winter. Pshhh....

Mmm...clean!

I cleaned my whole apartment today (except for dusting because it didn't need it). Bathroom, kitchen, laundry, windows, floors, trash.

It shouldn't be that hot or that tiring to clean, and I really wish cleaning chemicals didn't singe your skin off, but they DO clean so I guess it's acceptable.

There's something nice about showering in a freshly cleaned bathroom, sleeping on crisp fresh sheets, and walking on clean, mopped floors. :-) BTW, if you ever need anything cleaned, just ask someone in the Navy/Marines - they may be in the military and trained to kill, but trust me, them folks can wield a mop and a scrub brush! And bleach can kill you so I guess that still counts.

Nyla - the first few days

She's a handful, she is.

The first night was hell. She kept head butting me (seriously) and purring and meowing and walking on me and digging and everything BUT sleeping. I got about three hours total sleep that night in half-hour spurts, then went to work the next day looking and feeling like a zombie.

She absolutely has an infatuation for the computer desk which really terrified me the next day while I was at work because I was afraid she'd knock everything off or break something, but she didn't. Still scares the crap out of me, though. She likes the catnip mouse (i like watching her reaction...heeelarious! kitty pot!) well enough, but REALLY digs the mouse-on-a-string. The second day I also gave her an empty cardboard box to play with that she seems to enjoy as well as an empty paper towel tube - she attacks that thing with all the ferocity that a 7-month old kitten can muster until it gets it teeth stuck in the tube.

I originally thought I wouldn't let the cat in the bedroom. That thought was dismissed quickly. Errr...more like eradicated. Evidently my sleep is dependent upon her being in the bedroom at night, or at least having access to it.

The third night I introduced Nyla to the water spray bottle. She woke me up by kneeding my neck. I wasn't havin' any of that. How am I supposed to know that she's not actually trying to strangle me in my sleep?

Did I mention the cat is insane? Every now and then she'll be sitting/laying down, then make a strange noise and bolt full speed at absolutely nothing at all until she pummels herself into the wall. It's like she's hallucinating that something's there. She also VERY rarely actually just lays there while you're petting her or rests in your lap like other cats. Instead she kneads and moves and head butts me. Neet!!! In fact for the first time today she actually just laid in my lap and fell asleep as apposed to circling 'round and 'round. While normally I'd be in favor of this, I really wanted to keep her awake so that maybe she'd sleep through the night.

Cleaning/changing the litter isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I actually researched the litter a lot to make sure I wasn't allergic to it, it was effective, and easy on the cat. Of course it's one of the most expensive litters, but litter's not all that expensive so no biggie.

Hmmm...this cat is almost sounding like an infant in some ways...

Grrr...!!!!!

The slow lane and the gas pedal are both on the right.

Pick one and use it!!!

(People that drive the speed limit or lower in the fast lane make me crazy, and even more so when they speed up so you can't pass them)

How can you NOT know?

I call shennanigans!

When you've given birth to a child before, how can you NOT know that you're pregnant with another full-term child? Did the missed periods not give an indication that something was awry? Did you not get sick whatsoever? Did you really eat so much and/or so poorly that you thought the weight gain and/or body shape change were due to your eating habits?

When the contractions started, she went to the hospital with "really bad back pain." Back pain, eh? I've never had contractions before so I have no idea what that feels like. But she has! Maybe she's got a faulty memory stick installed in her head? Did her "back pain" not ring any bells from a similar prior experience?

Then, when asked how this happened, she replied, "I don't really know how this happened!" Really? You're really not sure how this happened? So that means you didn't know how it happened the first time, either, and you never bothered to ask; or that you believe it's an immaculate conception (it's possible she believes this); or that you're full of it.

I'm going with the full of it bit. If you wanna tell an outrageous story, fine. I'm up for a good tale every now and then. Just please don't maintain a bs story over a period of 9 months and hose everyone over, including yourself and your child, in the process. In fact, it might honestly be better if the child were given up for adoption.

The Nyla Experiment

Today I did what I said I'd never do.

I got a cat. Sort of. Meet Nyla...

She's a spayed, declawed, female orange tabby, about 7 months old. I'm trying her out for a week or two to see if it works living with her. If so, great. If not, it's back to the friend's house she goes.

So far she's jumped on my lap and/or the desk three times while writing this blog. That's not kool, kitty...not kool at all, 'specially since I'm talkin' about you.

This could work out really well (make that 4 times)...or really not. We'll see!

The Feline Flu?

I was at a sports bar/night club this past Friday for some food, fun, and alkeehol. All three were had in excess, but I might have come away with cougar flu.

We got there around 7:30, started with the food and drink. A descent little cover band started playing around 9:00, I stopped drinking around 9:30 because I knew I'd end up being the dd for my buddy. By 10 my friend is three sheets to the wind as are a couple of the other guys in our group and they're all up dancing. Soon my friend finds me and pulls me up into the crowd, and very shortly after that various women - almost all of which are over 40 - start dancing around me and/or with me. The around me I didn't mind so much. When these women started grabbing me and pulling me close...yeah, that was uncomfortable. One told me I had beautiful eyes and kissed me on the cheek. Multiple girls rubbed my head and giggled as they danced around me. One of these girls ended up kissing me on the top of my head and left a lipstick mark. She looked at me and said "Sorry, I'm a hairdresser...had to do it!" I looked at her strangely and said, "Okay sure, but I don't have any hair...how's that work?" She smiled and went back to her beer.

In any case, if I was cougar hunting I could have had a full house. But I wasn't, and I barely made it back to my house awake as it was. We left at 2:00, I finally got back to my place after dropping my friend off at about 3:00, didn't fall asleep until 4. I woke up around 8 feeling like I was the punching bag in a boxercize class or something. And with a lipstick mark on my head still. At the end of the day I still feel the same, minus the lipstick. Throat is raw and swollen. So either I danced just a wee bit too much and sang a touch to loud, or I'm mildly sick.

Hmmm...cougar flu, maybe?

1000 Hits!

(If only they were the album kind...)

My blog reached 1000 hits today....neet!!!

I was the 1000th hit....stupid.

Stuff

I've said it before - I'm not a "stuff" guy. Some folks want a lot of stuff. I don't have much need for it. I'd like a few more gadgets and toys, sure, and there are a couple big things I'd like to have - a Corvette and a little place by the water, with a little boat - but that's really it.

The stuff that I really want is immaterial and can't be bought for the most part, so what I do have may as well be shared. My friends understand this. Many of my friends, at some point, have had free reign on my gear and my food, such as my college roommate. A very select few still have that privilege.

The thing is, you can't take it with you. And I'm in a position right now that I have nobody else that I'm responsible to. No spouse. No children. Almost no family whatsoever. So I have the freedom to make such decisions, and what little I have is meaningless unless it's shared with others. If I'm not gonna do anything with my stuff, others I love may as well get joy out of it. I've bought people all sorts of things and never looked back, never regretted it. If I ever have a family of my own someday then things will need to change. Until then...

Stock

Woohoo!!!

I'm a stockowner now! Nothing major...just a few shares of an up-and-comer. It's just neat to be able to say I own stock now.

I am a shareholder, a (micro-fraction of a) business owner. And from this I shall build my empire leading up to world domination!

Or maybe just a Corvette and a little place on the coast.

I can say that??? :-D

As part of the recurrent management training program at my workplace all management staff are required to sit through semi-annual harrassment and discrimination prevention seminars. Although the topic is rather dry, our presenter/lawyer is quite good and it's always a good time. Here are a few of the more memorable tidbits from this most recent session...

- "The f-bomb is gender neutral."; you cannot be successfully sued for gender discrimination for use of the word in the workplace

- "It is generally inadvisable to moon your customers...Because the company was aware of it's employee's mooning proclivity prior to the offense and did nothing to address said tendencies at the workplace, the company was held liable for damages."

- As said about the Las Vegas showgirls he was counseling immediately after they finished their topless revue performance: "They were really a handful."

I bet they were...ironic chioce of words for a harrassment prevention seminar, though.