(Old) Buddying With Allies in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Yes, Spot is a very cute and amusing cat, but he’s gotten several thread titles recently, so IMO other Mumpets should step up and take a turn. :slight_smile:

For newer MMPers, I have two cats: Allie is 14 and we met her in late 2011. Buddy is estimated to be about 8 and was a “community cat” (apparently the current euphemism for “stray”) around our apartment complex, until he decided to move in with us almost three years ago now.

As far as DH and I can tell, Buddy wants to be friends with Allie, but she’s typically not at all pleased by his presence. Yesterday, when he was up around godawful-o-clock, DH caught a rather unusual situation:

Imgur

Hopefully, this means our cranky little old lady might be mellowing out a bit toward her kid brother.

Hijack away, and everyone have a great week!

2

First!

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 3c/38f with a predicted high of 4c/40f, and drizzle. Weather app says “It’s fucking raining like to cows pissing on a flat rock.” Not that bad, it’s drizzly but we’re predicted only a 17% chance of precipitation.

We have three cats in the house - Shadow is the last of our “original” cats, he’s around 21 years old now. We had him as an adult unneutered stray, the vet guessed his age at about 8 years old based on his teeth and his overall condition. He’s now having regular arthritis shots along with thyroid meds and weighs just under 4kgs but he’s doing well and living a pretty good life.

Then we fostered two littermates, Cherry and Blossom. They were 2 years old when we had them, and eventually we decided to adopt them as they’d settled in well and seemed happy enough. They’re a funny pair, sometimes affectionate but at other times terrified! They’re indoor-only cats at the moment, they need vaccinations before they can go outside but I haven’t been able to get them to the vet yet.

Off to do some irk…shoulder hurts still, so that’s enough typing for now.

3

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 62 Amurrkin out and partly cloudy with a predicted high of 73 and cloudy for the day. We shall indulge in a day of high RDOS inactivities as is our wont. Sup will be beastloaf, steamed cabbage, Mac & cheese and cornbread due to a gnawin’ and a cravin’ on my part.

Nettie that’s a great pic of Allie and Buddy! They look so serene. Then again, for all I know, Allie slapped Buddy upside the haid right after the pic. You know, usual siblin’ rivalry stuff.

And now this…

< AHEM > CLEARIN’ THROAT < AHEM >

HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY DEEEAAARRR DDDOOOGGGGGGIIIOOO!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.

Happy Moanday Y’all!

4

If she did, DH didn’t mention it :slight_smile: . He does have a minor wound on his face now that doesn’t appear in the picture. Since he hasn’t been out roaming, my best guess is that Allie took exception to being pounced on and whapped him. I never see any injuries on her, but Buddy’s been sporting minor face wounds lately that we think are his sister’s doing.

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So I’m to conclude that Allie is the Siamese-ish one on the left who’s deigning to allow orange Buddy on the right to actually touch fur with her? But just barely?

Looks / Sounds like a perfect metaphor for my recent unlamented marriage.

No pets to share here. But I do have some exciting news in general to share. But first the obligatory weather report. :slight_smile:

A few minutes before sunrise here it’s mostly clear with a cloud here or there. The twilight colors were very pretty but have just about faded now. The NWS says it’s 68F/20C on the way to 81F/27C. Which is a bit warm for this time of year, but pleasant. Been this way about 10 days now. ETA: The sun has risen from a clear smooth sea right on time and all is well.

This is tourist weather, and boy are we having quite the infestation this year. It’s like when all the cicadas emerge. But instead of a steady soothing droning noise it sounds more like the crowd on a NYC subway, all shouting in that horrific accent at each other to be heard over the other people shouting at one another. Spare me.

My news:

Wednesday morning BB and I fly from Miami to Bergen Norway for a 2-week arctic cruise up the Norwegian fjord coast. We hope to see the Northern lights from out in the boonies and out at sea. The weather is cooperating insofar as temps, being forecast for 15/-10 to 25F/-4. That’s about 30F/15C warmer than it can be at those latitudes. Now we just need both the clouds to no-show and the solar radiation to do its thing too and give us a nice display.

After the cruise gets done going north making stops in interesting cities and towns along the way, it zooms nonstop back south to first Amsterdam for a day, then across to London where it ends and we’ll fly straight home to sun and warmth. That’s right at the end of Feb. Yaay!

And then, assuming we haven’t had a massive spat, she will begin moving into my place as her primary residence. I’ve spent the last week-ish making preparations for storing her stuff in addition to mine. She’ll be keeping her house where her ancient mother still lives, so her retreat isn’t foreclosed if this doesn’t work out. But we’re both pretty confident it will. Hard to believe it’ll have been about 11 months since we met by the time she gets settled here. She’s really a great friend as much as a great love(r). That trifecta seems to be mutual, and IMO that’s what great relationships are made of.

The idea of her taking a traveling job elsewhere and me tagging along isn’t dead. But at least right now, there are no jobs on offer that pay a compelling premium vs the downsides of leaving her current local employer. We do still have applications out and recruiters looking for opportunities for her/us. At the opposite pole, we are exploring WFH admin jobs so she has less blood and gore and death in her daily diet. And less commuting.

And thus begins another great adventure.

Speaking of opposite poles, a couple days ago I put a deposit down on an Antarctic cruise for next Feb. This is run by National Geographic and ought to be amazing too.

ETA2: Happy Birthday to dear Doggio!!1! I’m sure Spot has some special treats in store for you.

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Yep, Allie’s the Siamese mix, Buddy’s the orange one. About 80% of orange cats are male, BTW. Allie has never been thrilled about having a kid brother, and doesn’t usually tolerate him being that close to her without a few rude remarks.

Knowing cats, “special” might not equal “pleasant”. :wink:

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My thoughts exactly, but I was too polite / genteel to point that out directly. :slight_smile: You, a grizzled fellow cat owner, have leeway to say such things. Not I.

My trusty clock tells me it’s just past 4am where you live. What are you doing posting now? Are you traveling someplace more easterly? Is this the very belated end of your Sunday or the very early start of a Monday?

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Just nocturnal at the moment. At home in Sacramento, slept way late yesterday, so still haven’t hit the point where trying to go to bed would actually be at all useful.

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First off, Happy doggio Day!! :birthday: :beers: :sparkles:

I was looking at those a while back - they do look amazing! Heck, even our Princess cruise where we never touched Antarctic soil was amazing. Will you start/end in Ushuaia? We really liked our brief stop there. I’m gonna envy you deeply.

I got brave last night and removed the bandaid from the healing toe because it was itching like crazy. It still itches, but I got thru the night without causing any damage to the healing digit, so YAY! And even tho I didn’t drop off till after midnight, I didn’t wake till 7-ish, so I’ll take that as a win.

When I’m done with my computer time then showered and dressed, I’ll head out to the grocery store. We need milk and I need to figure out something I can take to feed the kids this evening. Fallback is mac-n-cheese but I feel like they need something healthier. Dunno - I’ll figure something out.

Both Tobias and his dad were feverish over the weekend, and both unceremoniously emptied their stomachs, then felt better. Daughter tells me there’s a stomach bug going around. Anyway, by yesterday afternoon, both were feeling much better, so today’s plans are on. I need to get to their house before 3:30. Tobias won’t be going to school today, just in case, so he and I will meet Roxy at her bus around 4. Then I’ll make some sort of supper for them and get them to bed by 7, I think. Daughter is supposed to leave me a list with their evening routine.

This basketball game is arranged thru SIL’s work - it’s a bus trip for sailors on base, and there was space for Daughter. That’s a relief, because I was concerned about them driving anywhere near DC. They’re supposed to call me when they’re about half an hour from home so I can call FCD to fetch me. That’s my plan for the evening.

I have no cat photos to share. Ziva is too weird to sit still for me, or at least sit facing me. I’ve gotten several shots of her walking away. She’s the last of our critters - I don’t want any more because I end up doing all the work involved with them and I’m tired of it. And I can’t count on FCD to make sure there’s food and water and all the other things one must do. Plus the vets we’ve had since forever have decided that they’ll no longer do pets - they’ve changed to a farm animal vet as their current pet patients die off. So we’ll get our critter fix via grand-dog Trevor.

I got 3 emails from “PayPal” this morning about verifying a purchase. Good for them, but I don’t have a paypal account. I didn’t bother opening any of them, but the previews were identical. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, or maybe something hinky is going on. I’ve been changing passwords and we’re going to get a new router, since I noticed several of the wifi options on ours have no password and we can’t seem to change that. Plus it is a pretty old router. We’re thinking we should get mesh routers to replace it.

And with luck, the credit union will be quick about sending out our new VISA so I can change all the accounts that are paid on the card. At least I have a spreadsheet with the info about what’s paid on VISA, after the last 3 times our cards were compromised. I’ve used my debit card to change the two accounts that will come due this week, and the rest can wait till I get the new card.

My life is soooooooo hard! < pose of woe >

Anyway, Happy Moanday!

10

No. This one is different from most in that you start out by flying from southern Chile to Antarctica to meet the ship there. The ship stays along the Antarctic coast and no time is wasted traversing 600+ miles of open and nasty rough ocean each way.

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:partying_face::champagne::birthday::HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOGGIO!!!:birthday: :champagne::partying_face:

from last week:

Me too.

It was on cable station AXS.
It was great, particularly liked his duets with Carole King and Shelby Lynne.

Yay for Car(e)less. Was this a case of even a blind squirrel?

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Happy birthday Doggio. May you have the day you want.

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Howdy, mumpers! It’s 16 degrees F outside, and warmer in here. Allie and Buddy look momentarily serene is the pic. No doubt, they are plotting to take over the world. I gather that something large happened last night, having to do with bowling or soup. I missed it, but I really didn’t.
Be of good cheer, y’all!

14

One summer when I was in college, living in a big house where I met Hubs, I took in a stray kitty who really needed someone. I named her Antoinnette. Everyone called her ‘crazy little kitty’ because some arsehole had given her mother a hit of LSD and Antoinnette’s paws were just not right and her actions were not quite right. One night when I was at work, someone let her onto the porch and then she was gone, never to be seen again.

pilot Your trip to see the Northern Lights sounds wonderful! Have a great time. Also very glad that your relationship with BB is going so well.

15

things have settled a bit in philly. parade prep has started. my neighbourhood will be a mess for a bit.

our shuttle got one block from the building and hit into traffic due to trucks bringing in barricades and facilities.

due to weather later this week, it is looking like friday will be parade day.

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Good morning all. Up about 7am and feeling a little more lively than yesterday. Shopping and sammich this morning and swim and sauna this afternoon. Only getting to 53F today and rain is due tomorrow, so some typical English weather per boo fae’s descriptions.

Hippo Birdies two ewes, Doggio

Pilot, enjoy the trip to Norway, I’ll be going with a group in June, but only 1 week. And not cruising the Drake Passage? Getting bounced around for days on end is part of the fun! :wink: :grin:

Nettie, looking at Allie and Buddy and your subsequent comments made me thing of a trip to Africa on ‘safari’ I took nearly 25 years ago. We came upon a male and female lion lying on the ground dozing. Our truck woke them and the male then commenced…uh…amatory pursuits. The female allowed it for a bit, then growled, turned over a bit, and swatted him hard in the nose. The male then backed off, took a couple steps, and laid down to go back to sleep.

Felines of all types seem to be related…

That said, never had a cat when I as young or old, seem to get along with them ok, just never part of my plans. But love your stories.

FCM, got to spend an extra day in Ushuaia and took a tour, along with visiting the museum they had in a old prison there (Ushuaia was kind of like Devils Island or Alcatraz for Argentina, far away and nearly inescapable). Enjoy your afternoon with the kiddos.

And that’s all for the morning report. Have a good week everyone.

17

ROFLMAO good quote.

To extend the metaphor, it was a case of a blind squirrel having a seeing eye dog. S.M. was right there with him the whole time - they “split” the ovens - and she did a beautiful job watching his pies as well as hers, communicating what needed to happen, and they were very smoothly swapping pans amongst themselves as available space allowed.

It was a thing of beauty to behold, although if you don’t work there I’m sure it was a lot of people calling inscrutable codes to each other.

Here’s a sample; everyone I work with would understand ezzactly what’s being said, and yes, these (or slight variants) are heard multiple dozens of times during a shift.

“What’s the zuc on this half-pineapple?”

“I got a small well-done for ya; where do you want it?”

“Okay, ma’am, you have a doublemushroomnogreen, that’s a crispy one.”

“There’s a ham on this, uh, { squints } chicken-bacon … thing? Why?”

“Birthday cake, comin’ out!”

“Where’s my timed order? No, not that one; the one for six o’clock.”

… and that’s just the convos swirling around the oven area.

@dogbutler may you have the day that you deserve and while I usually mean that in a bitchy, passive-aggressive kind of way, in this case, it comes with warmth & love.

Well, hey, look what the cat dragged in.

Your trip sounds marvelous and your blossoming relationship even better!

I LOL’d.

Um … you DO know where you are, right?

Concur.

Any good ideas here? (Just the first likely-looking collection I found..)

18

happy birthday, dogbutler!

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Happy birthday, Doggio - I hope Spot allows you to have a fabulous day!

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Happy Birthday, Doggio!

I think I’ve mentioned the heavy, 8.25-inch KitchenAid non-stick frying pan that I bought 20, 25 years ago, and that it’s been not so non-stick for about six months now. A new (less) heavy, hard-anodised, 8.25-inch KitchenAid non-stick frying pan arrived yesterday. I think I’ll try it out with some ground hog and a cackleberry.