It's not my fault!
I am peeved. Last night, we went to a fair/ carnival type deal at the Pumpkin Daddy's workplace. When we got home, I saw something sparkle under the Pumpkin Daddy's car as I backed mine into our covered parking area. I went back later with a flashlight and I discovered that the sparkly things were four pairs of kitten eyes.
I did research on the internet and found out that mother cats will leave their kittens alone for hours to hunt for food, so I thought perhaps that was what had happened to these kittens, and that they would be best off left to themselves.
Well, it's been 16 hours and there has been no sign of mother cat. Since their eyes and ears are open and they will walk for short distances, I think they are about 3 weeks old or so, if what I'm reading on the net is true. I'm beginning to think that they were deliberately left here, after their mother's owner decided he didn't want them. I don't think they would have survived out in the open for three weeks by themselves, and I don't recall seeing any mother-ish cats during the past few days.
The plan for now is to look after them as best I can until Monday (I've whipped up some homemade kitty formula from an online recipe) and fed them from a squeeze bottle), when the Pumpkin Daddy will notify the Health Department. Yes, they will probably end up being euthanized after the three day holding period, but we can't keep them and it's probably more humane than dying a slow and painful death from hunger or dehydration.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do, besides two parents with full time jobs and a 2 year-old with a non-kitten proofed house adopting four kittens? In the US, this is where I would call an animal shelter, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find one. The usual solution is to leave them be and wait for them to go away, but I don't think they are mature enough to do that, so if they starve or die of exposure, they will likely do it under my car (which is where they are now after the Pumpkin Daddy took his to the auto shop for a quick repair job) or on my front porch (which is as far I have caught them venturing).
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
"Yatto ochitsuita."
Finally settled
OK, got the old blog posts copied and pasted, and am now ready to leave Yahoo! for Blogger as my primary blogging site.
It's been seriously hot and humid these past couple of days. Today, I was walking down the hall with my co-worker, and she asked "Is it just me, or is it foggy?" And it did seem like visibility was slightly impaired. We went into one of the rooms, and the air seemed to clear. The rooms are air conditioned, and the halls are too, but since the hallways can't be completely shut off from the exits, it seems the outside heat and humidity are more severe in the halls than the rooms. I have been finding myself planning my trips through the hallways to limit exposure to the heat and humidity ("I think I'll cut through that room instead of walking down that hall, and while I am there, I will grab my book and laptop") .
I keep falling asleep as I type this. I think I will turn in early tonight.
OK, got the old blog posts copied and pasted, and am now ready to leave Yahoo! for Blogger as my primary blogging site.
It's been seriously hot and humid these past couple of days. Today, I was walking down the hall with my co-worker, and she asked "Is it just me, or is it foggy?" And it did seem like visibility was slightly impaired. We went into one of the rooms, and the air seemed to clear. The rooms are air conditioned, and the halls are too, but since the hallways can't be completely shut off from the exits, it seems the outside heat and humidity are more severe in the halls than the rooms. I have been finding myself planning my trips through the hallways to limit exposure to the heat and humidity ("I think I'll cut through that room instead of walking down that hall, and while I am there, I will grab my book and laptop") .
I keep falling asleep as I type this. I think I will turn in early tonight.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Entry for August 03, 2008
"Kanashiku nacchata!"
(I) felt really sad!
Yesterday, I saw a woman who was emaciated, as in, I just came from a Subsaharan African village plagued by drought for the past two years emaciated. She didn't seem the least bit concerned about this, as she wore shorts that showed brittle-looking skin stretched over the bones and tendons in her knees. Eating disorder, I thought to myself, as someone ill with cancer or other disease would not be so cheerfully showing her body like that or be walking outside in the intense summer heat. I felt so sad that this woman wasn't getting the help that she needed, or if she were getting help, it wasn't, well, helping. Which happens sometimes, and it's no one's fault, not any more than it is when someone loses a battle against cancer even though they were fighting with everything in them and getting the best possible care.
Then, I saw two boys, who looked to be about eight or nine, calling this woman mom. They were both morbidly obese, as in, seriously at risk for diabetes and heart disease obese. Behind me, a couple of average looking boys about the same age were pointing at the kids and snickering and saying "Pigsy!"
I had this image of this woman's struggle with food, to want to eat but not being able to, and channeling it toward her children, who consume all the junk food that she sets in front of them. I had an image of the boys struggling daily with their weight, how it keeps them from normal physical activity, sets them up as a bullying target, and puts them at risk for all sorts of health issues now and on into adulthood.
I know that I shouldn't be slapping psychiatric diagnoses and creating imaginary family dynamics about people I don't know, unless they are fictional characters. But this family made me very very sad.
(I) felt really sad!
Yesterday, I saw a woman who was emaciated, as in, I just came from a Subsaharan African village plagued by drought for the past two years emaciated. She didn't seem the least bit concerned about this, as she wore shorts that showed brittle-looking skin stretched over the bones and tendons in her knees. Eating disorder, I thought to myself, as someone ill with cancer or other disease would not be so cheerfully showing her body like that or be walking outside in the intense summer heat. I felt so sad that this woman wasn't getting the help that she needed, or if she were getting help, it wasn't, well, helping. Which happens sometimes, and it's no one's fault, not any more than it is when someone loses a battle against cancer even though they were fighting with everything in them and getting the best possible care.
Then, I saw two boys, who looked to be about eight or nine, calling this woman mom. They were both morbidly obese, as in, seriously at risk for diabetes and heart disease obese. Behind me, a couple of average looking boys about the same age were pointing at the kids and snickering and saying "Pigsy!"
I had this image of this woman's struggle with food, to want to eat but not being able to, and channeling it toward her children, who consume all the junk food that she sets in front of them. I had an image of the boys struggling daily with their weight, how it keeps them from normal physical activity, sets them up as a bullying target, and puts them at risk for all sorts of health issues now and on into adulthood.
I know that I shouldn't be slapping psychiatric diagnoses and creating imaginary family dynamics about people I don't know, unless they are fictional characters. But this family made me very very sad.
Entry for July 25, 2008
"Aisareteiru"
(I am) loved
I'm posting this from a McDonald's on the way from one outside gig to another. I feel like such a high-tech person. It took me a few tries to get connected to the Wi-Fi, but here I am.
The other day, I was trying to get connected to the Wi-Fi at work. We're not actually supposed to have it, so please don't tell anyone. Shhhhh. One of the ubergeeks at work brought in a Wi-Fi device and connected it to the LAN network without official permission. It's there until one of the network people figure it out and decide it's a problem, or it breaks. Anyway, ubergeek A transferred to a different gig, and no one I asked knew the password or how to get connected. About four different co-workers kept trying to help me (did you try this and this? Did you ask so-and-so?) and they were very nice about it (some of them had semi-ulterior motives, as they had tried before to get connected and failed. They were hoping if I figured it out, I would help them). It didn't work, so I decided that I would ask ubergeek A when I ran into him.
The next day, I went into work and there was a sign taped to the Wi-Fi device that said "password: riceandpickles" ("riceandpickles" isn't the actual password, I'm just using that as a random example). One of the people who were trying to help me ran into ubergeek A and told him I wanted the password. I thought it was so sweet of ubergeek A to do that (if unsafe from a security POV) and so sweet of the co-worker to remember my problem and ask ubergeek A about it. I really felt loved.
Or maybe they are scared of me and don't like it when I am in a bad mood and make it a point to do everything in their power to prevent it.
(I am) loved
I'm posting this from a McDonald's on the way from one outside gig to another. I feel like such a high-tech person. It took me a few tries to get connected to the Wi-Fi, but here I am.
The other day, I was trying to get connected to the Wi-Fi at work. We're not actually supposed to have it, so please don't tell anyone. Shhhhh. One of the ubergeeks at work brought in a Wi-Fi device and connected it to the LAN network without official permission. It's there until one of the network people figure it out and decide it's a problem, or it breaks. Anyway, ubergeek A transferred to a different gig, and no one I asked knew the password or how to get connected. About four different co-workers kept trying to help me (did you try this and this? Did you ask so-and-so?) and they were very nice about it (some of them had semi-ulterior motives, as they had tried before to get connected and failed. They were hoping if I figured it out, I would help them). It didn't work, so I decided that I would ask ubergeek A when I ran into him.
The next day, I went into work and there was a sign taped to the Wi-Fi device that said "password: riceandpickles" ("riceandpickles" isn't the actual password, I'm just using that as a random example). One of the people who were trying to help me ran into ubergeek A and told him I wanted the password. I thought it was so sweet of ubergeek A to do that (if unsafe from a security POV) and so sweet of the co-worker to remember my problem and ask ubergeek A about it. I really felt loved.
Or maybe they are scared of me and don't like it when I am in a bad mood and make it a point to do everything in their power to prevent it.
Entry for July 20, 2008
"Tabechatta!"
(it) ate it!
Yahoo's been eating my blog entries. I had always realized stability had been an issue, but I'd never been affected by it until now. I have started copying and pasting posts to a Blogger account I'd started for posting comments on my friend's blog. I will make sure to post the URL to the account in question if I drop Yahoo entirely for Blogger.
(it) ate it!
Yahoo's been eating my blog entries. I had always realized stability had been an issue, but I'd never been affected by it until now. I have started copying and pasting posts to a Blogger account I'd started for posting comments on my friend's blog. I will make sure to post the URL to the account in question if I drop Yahoo entirely for Blogger.
Entry for July 20, 2008
"Aru imi yokatta to omou."
It was good in a way.
Today I went to pick up my new glasses with the Pumpkin Princess and Pumpkin Daddy. The Pumpkin Princess kept wanting to try on the children's frames and come show me what she looked like in them. I'm hoping the positive attitude toward eyewear lasts, because, let's face it, with both parents needing glasses to do desk work, the kid is pretty much doomed to a life of myopia.
Then we went to the new big electronics store. We couldn't park on the premisis but we did manage to find cheap parking space nearby. The Pumpkin Daddy found a Mac compatible Wi-Fi connecter, or so he thought. They were out of stock and it was kind of like watching a Three Stooges episode when the sales people tried to find one with the same functions in a similar price range. The Pumpkin Princess started getting cranky, so I looked in my bag for her sippy cup and found the barley tea had leaked out completely and drenched the bag. The Pumpkin Daddy asked me if my cell phone got wet, which it had, and he quickly turned it off, removed the battery, and dried it as best he could with his handkerchief. So, to explain today's phrase, at least it was barley tea and not something like orange juice, and aren't I lucky to be married to someone who knows what to do when your mobile phone gets wet?
So now the Pumpkin Daddy's iPod touch and my new MacBook are now connected to Wi-Fi. The Pumpkin Palace is now a high-tech location...sort of.
Gardeing update: I had thought I'd uploaded this picture before, but it apparently it hadn't worked the first time.
It was good in a way.
Today I went to pick up my new glasses with the Pumpkin Princess and Pumpkin Daddy. The Pumpkin Princess kept wanting to try on the children's frames and come show me what she looked like in them. I'm hoping the positive attitude toward eyewear lasts, because, let's face it, with both parents needing glasses to do desk work, the kid is pretty much doomed to a life of myopia.
Then we went to the new big electronics store. We couldn't park on the premisis but we did manage to find cheap parking space nearby. The Pumpkin Daddy found a Mac compatible Wi-Fi connecter, or so he thought. They were out of stock and it was kind of like watching a Three Stooges episode when the sales people tried to find one with the same functions in a similar price range. The Pumpkin Princess started getting cranky, so I looked in my bag for her sippy cup and found the barley tea had leaked out completely and drenched the bag. The Pumpkin Daddy asked me if my cell phone got wet, which it had, and he quickly turned it off, removed the battery, and dried it as best he could with his handkerchief. So, to explain today's phrase, at least it was barley tea and not something like orange juice, and aren't I lucky to be married to someone who knows what to do when your mobile phone gets wet?
So now the Pumpkin Daddy's iPod touch and my new MacBook are now connected to Wi-Fi. The Pumpkin Palace is now a high-tech location...sort of.
Gardeing update: I had thought I'd uploaded this picture before, but it apparently it hadn't worked the first time.
Entry for July 15, 2008
"Sensei no e wo kaku!"
I'm going to draw a picture of my teacher!
This is what the Pumpkin Princess announced five minutes before we were going to leave for day care. I did a very rapid assessment of my options.
1) Tell her no and deal with the consequences.
2) Give her a pen and a sheet of paper and have another cup of coffee.
I decided 2) was going to get us to day care faster, with less stress for both of us. She finished her picture in about five minutes (her pictures of people actually have eyes and noses and mouths these days) and we headed for day care. When we got to day care and she got out of the car, she was holding the picture she drew very tightly.
I noticed I didn't have phrases for the last two entries. Oops!
In my endeavors to "Increase my Productivity Tenfold," I read a work related magazine during the "between times" (gaps of time between times I actually did work). When you think of the work that goes into making magazines, including but not limited to the time the author spends researching the subject manner (this is probably the most time consuming of all), choosing the words and phrases and pictures to share the information involved, the editor going through what the author has sent him and giving feedback, the author revising according to said feedback, the editor re-checking the author's work, the senior editor looking over what the junior editors have sent her (I checked, the senior editor for this particular mag is female), everything going to the printers, everything being printed on reasonably high-quality paper with reasonably high-quality ink so that the pictures show up reasonably clearly, and the printed magazine being sent to bookstores and individual subscribers, you're getting quality information for pretty darned cheap. The authors are all experts in their respective fields, so if they were being paid hourly what they usually make hourly, there is no way the magazine would break even. I think the quality of the informative author depends at least partly on the quality of his work when he is not writing. Full time informative authors are probably less likely to give you quality information because they must get you to buy their information, and they are more prone to be tempted to embellish and sensationalize it. The part time informative author will be prone to care less about how much money he will make writing and more about writing something that won't discredit his usual work.
(When I say "part-time informative author", I am talking about economists who write about economics and engineers who write about engineering. When I say "full time informative author", I am talking about someone like Robert Kiyosaki. I think full time authors who write to be entertaining (including but not limited to novelists) are probably more likely to produce entertaining material than those who do it on the side. Journalists are probably another breed altogether.)
I'm going to draw a picture of my teacher!
This is what the Pumpkin Princess announced five minutes before we were going to leave for day care. I did a very rapid assessment of my options.
1) Tell her no and deal with the consequences.
2) Give her a pen and a sheet of paper and have another cup of coffee.
I decided 2) was going to get us to day care faster, with less stress for both of us. She finished her picture in about five minutes (her pictures of people actually have eyes and noses and mouths these days) and we headed for day care. When we got to day care and she got out of the car, she was holding the picture she drew very tightly.
I noticed I didn't have phrases for the last two entries. Oops!
In my endeavors to "Increase my Productivity Tenfold," I read a work related magazine during the "between times" (gaps of time between times I actually did work). When you think of the work that goes into making magazines, including but not limited to the time the author spends researching the subject manner (this is probably the most time consuming of all), choosing the words and phrases and pictures to share the information involved, the editor going through what the author has sent him and giving feedback, the author revising according to said feedback, the editor re-checking the author's work, the senior editor looking over what the junior editors have sent her (I checked, the senior editor for this particular mag is female), everything going to the printers, everything being printed on reasonably high-quality paper with reasonably high-quality ink so that the pictures show up reasonably clearly, and the printed magazine being sent to bookstores and individual subscribers, you're getting quality information for pretty darned cheap. The authors are all experts in their respective fields, so if they were being paid hourly what they usually make hourly, there is no way the magazine would break even. I think the quality of the informative author depends at least partly on the quality of his work when he is not writing. Full time informative authors are probably less likely to give you quality information because they must get you to buy their information, and they are more prone to be tempted to embellish and sensationalize it. The part time informative author will be prone to care less about how much money he will make writing and more about writing something that won't discredit his usual work.
(When I say "part-time informative author", I am talking about economists who write about economics and engineers who write about engineering. When I say "full time informative author", I am talking about someone like Robert Kiyosaki. I think full time authors who write to be entertaining (including but not limited to novelists) are probably more likely to produce entertaining material than those who do it on the side. Journalists are probably another breed altogether.)
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