callie is home from the vet

Good news, she is FIV/Feline Leukemia free. She is about 2 years old, and has been spayed. So, we don't have an unwed mother. The only suprise she had was a belly full of tapeworms, which she received an injection to take care of, with a follow up in 2 weeks. Fortunately, the tapeworms wshe will be shedding over the next few days are not contagious to humans or other cats. (They're just disgusting when still alive. I promise to NOT post any pics of them.) She received all of her vaccinations - Rabies, Feline Distemper, Feline Leukemia. In about 3 weeks she has to go back to the vet to get a booster for the Feline Leukemia vaccination.



Poor Callie became incontinent in her carrier on the way home, so it was easier to go ahead and give her a full bath rather than clean her up any other way. Fortunately for me, she was very calm for her bath, and it helped her coat get nice and clean, which it needed from her being a stray.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to giving Callie a home. Here is what she looked like after her trip to the vet. While I was there, I was reminded that Noah, Eep, and McCullough are all due for their vaccinations, too. So, if you can please continue to donate to the Keep the Cats Healthy Fund AKA the Give Callie a Home Campaign. It's all the same donation box. Thanks to everyone who has helped in any way.

when i know, you'll know

Callie has not had her appointment yet. It's at 4:00 CST, had to wait until my husband could get off work to take us. So, as soon as I get back from the vet, I'll post the news, and some pics of one pissed off cat.

friday catblogging

Here you go, something a little different.



A Mac in the Box.

thursday cat poetry blogging

The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

- T. S. Eliot
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, 1932

So, I'm trying to pick Callie's second name. Callie is her practical, sensible, everyday first name. I'm trying to find her second, individual name, with no success so far. For now, the only clue she has given me is that is Celtic or Gaelic in origin. Unhelpful cat, being all coy.

in rememberance

Happy Birthday, Papaw. Gone but never forgotten.

Also, not forgotten are those who died on this day in 1941, in Pear Harbor. Thank you for your service to our country, and your sacrifice.

callie has a home

Tonight Callie is indoors. It's currently 25°F (-4°C) outside, which is much too cold for a kitty. So she is now living in the utility area of the basement, which is heated and is about 1/4 of the total area of the house. She is absolutely thrilled to be in a warm house, and has even relaxed enough to start playing, and enjoying a little catnip.





She has a vet appointment on Friday, so in the mean time she will live inside, separated from the other cats, so they can get accustomed to each others' scent. Assuming she is disease free, after her appointment she will be able to join the rest of the cats. Callie and I thank everyone who has helped give her a home.

thank you, catbloggers

I want to thank the Catbloggers who are helping spread the word to help get Callie a permanent home. Here are the Catbloggers that I know of so far that have helped spread the word. If you have helped get the word out and I have mised you, please leave a comment and I'll add you to the list.

• The Meowers of Death of When Cats Attack! who hosted this week's Carnival of the Cats, and to Michelle who also gave Callie her own headline today
  
• Laurence, Frisky, Piper, and Nardo of This Blog Is Full Of Crap

Thank you again everyone for your help. So far enough money has been raised to cover Callie's initial FIV and Feline Leukemia test, and assuming those are negative, it will cover the rest of her exam, all of her vaccinations, and de-worming medications if needed. If she is pregnant, then I will let her have her litter and the fund will be used to cover her pre and post natal care. My parents want one of her little girls, having met Callie over the weekend and still missing their beloved George, and the rest will go up for adoption through Challenger's House. After Callie is spayed, the remainder of the fund will go toward the rest of the cats of the Oubliette, their vet care, and anything else they may need. And of course, any other passing cats in the neighborhood will have food given to them.

And for anyone who is wondering about Tux, the neighborhood male tuxedo cat, I think someone already snatched him up and gave him a home. Strays don't stay strays long in this neighborhood, the get taken in by somebody and given a home.

medical update

Well, after having been put on another medication for the vertigo and still not having anything to go on except central and periphral Neuropathy (disease of the nerves) as a diagnosis, I'm going to get some more tests run in 10 days, when I see my Rheumatologist again. The next round of testing is for Lupus, and I've been showing enough symptoms of it that it's a viable suspicion since MS was ruled out. Right now the only thing keeping the intense vertigo episodes at bay are 2 medications, both of which have the "may cause drowsiness" warning which translates to "will knock you on your ass". I know it's been a while since my last update, but there's been nothing to report. No new information. The only good thing is now that it's cooler, I'm not quite as easily fatigued. Just walking outside in the summer heat would do me in for the day, and still if I'm not careful, a hot shower will do the same.

On a somewhat related note, my shoulder is pretty much healed finally, from the fall in the bathtub I had about 2 months ago. I ended up with a badly sprained rotator cuff, and a month in Physical Therapy. My shoulder is still pretty weak, but at least I have full range of motion again with no pain. So now I'm working on strengthening it at home, to get back to 100% of what it was before I fell. Fortunately, the shoulder has taught me to be a lot more careful, and I haven't had any more falls since October. Now I just have to make it through the Christmas snows in Indiana with no falls...

thank you

The Give Callie a Home Campaign is already up to $25 after only 12 hours. Thank you to those who have contributed, and so here is another picture to show why I want to help this kitty.



Callie is snug in her heated bed, and it even matches her coat, which she needed overnight since it is currently 33°F outside and raining. She has food, water, and a warmed bed, but I can't bring her inside until I know she isn't carrying any infections which would harm the other 5 cats in the house already. Please keep the donations coming, and I'll keep posting pics of her.

carnival of the cats #89

This week's Carnival of the Cats is up at When Cats Attack! and The Meowers of Death did a great job of putting up the carnival.

And if you can't get enough cats, you can always check out The Friday Ark, and all the other critters there each week.

help give callie a home

I'm starting a campaign to give Callie a home. She is a stray, and after having talked to a neighbor, it seems she wanders from house to house looking for a meal or a place out of the wind. Right now she is living in our garage, and eating like she's starving, which she was, but fortunately now is putting on a little weight.

So, if you can, donate a buck or two to the Give Callie a Home Campaign, through my Amazon.com tipjar. I will not bring her into the house without a full vet check-up. The last time I did that was with Eep, and she ended up giving me the scare of my life, that I may have infected all of my other cats with FIV. You understand, then, as sweet as she may be, Callie cannot come into the house without a full Vet checkup, which I cannot afford. To make matters worse, I think Callie may now be carrying kittens, explaining her weight gain and appetite. (I'm not the best at feline pelvic exams, so I'm not sure if I was feeling kittens or organs.)

Here's what I will do: Callie (or whatever her name is changed to) will get a full Vet check-up and her vaccinations, then a permanent loving home in the Oubliette with the other kitties, so she will have a human and a feline family. If she is pregnant, I will let her have her kittens before getting her spayed. I will let her raise her kittens here, in the house, and when they are weaned one will go to my parents', while the others will go up for adoption through Challenger's House, a local no-kill cat shelter, the shelter where I adopted Noah from. You can be assured that there will be many beautiful pics of Callie on the furniture, and if she is indeed pregnant, there will be many pics of her babies.

So please help out and give what you can to the Give Callie a Home Campaign. Any extra money raised will go to the other Cats of The Oubliette, in the form of toys, treats, and whatever they may need. Any of my regular readers will know that I have been out of work since April, so I cannot afford to take in Callie without help from you, my readers. Thank you for your help.






To remind you who you will be doing this for. Callie has a warm bed for now in our garage, complete with heater, food and water, but she is a sweet cat who deserves real home. For more pics of Callie, look at this post.

apologies

If anyone received a AOL IM from me this evening that was a "Christmas Card" ignore it, and ignore it in the future. It's some kind of friggin IM virus, you get from someone on your IM list, then it sends to everyone on your IM list. DO NOT CLICK THE FRIGGIN LINK! If I infected you, I apologize for not noticing and shutting AIM down faster. (ducks) Please don't throw stuff at me, it was an accident. If I wanted to infect your computer with a virus, I think I could come up with a better method. (ducks again) Not that I would. Promise!

friday catblogging

I swear there is an invisible sign on our yard somewhere that says "Cat Hotel"





This is Callie, another neighborhood cat of questionable ownership. When she started eating here, my cousin, a vet tech, too, a look at her and said she hadn't been cared for in a long time. Part of her hair was matted, and she was so emaciated that my cousin could wrap her fingers around Callie's spine (just in front of her pelvis) and almost touch one finger to the other. That's extremely thin. So, she eats the dry kibble we leave out for any cats that feel like having a little. Fortunately, she is putting on some weight. She also would love nothing more than to come inside and be a house kitty.

damn anti-vertigo meds

Last week I started on a new anti-vertigo med, to take in addition to the one I'm already on, so let's say I spend parts of my day looped. Sunday evening I went into the kitchen with my big 32oz water cup, which has a lid and straw to keep the cats from drinking my water. All 5 would try to drink my water without a lid and straw, and even with it, Noah and Maleficent are starting to figure out what straws are for. At least it keeps their paws out of my water.

But I digress. I filled up my cup from the in-door water on the refrigerator, sat the cup down on the island, sealed the lid, and looked for something to munch on. Not finding anything, I pick up what I though was my cup, but was actually a canister of Clorox Clean-up Wipes, and the thing running through my head was "Where did my straw go?" (sigh) Yes, I did finally get my water cup and just went back to my recliner, where I am not a threat to myself or others.

This is why when my husband and brother-in-law are at work during the day, I'm forbidden to do certain activities, like pretty much anything other than getting simple food for myself (as in at most boil water), watching TV or a DVD, going to the bathroom, playing on the laptop, and sitting in my recliner. It's safer for me that way. Even going outside solo is risky, since that is how I badly injured/damn near broke my wrist. So, I'm going to be good, and just here and rest, and try to not be a danger to myself.

carnival of the cats #88

The Carnival of the Cats is up at IMAO, and as with anything at IMAO, it's a little offensive and a whole lot of funny.

For those of you who made your way here from Instapundit, welcome. Feel free to poke around, leave comments, and make yourself at home. Unfortunately, my graphics server is down right now, so you don't get the added enjoyment of my custom graphics.

birdfeeder watching

Today seem to be the day for the birds to start using the feeders, and so far today I've had the following visitors:

Carolina Chickadee
House Finch
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Northern Cardinal

Also, the Tufted Titmouse decided that he/she needed a bath, and the dent in the lid of our county-issued garbage dumpster (it's designed for the robot arm trucks, and holds about 100 gallons) which had filled with rain water over night made a pretty good birdbath. I so love Titmice, their antics are always amusing, and they thing they are about twice as large than they really are. Their actual size is 6", including their tail feathers. I think my husband and I are going to have to find a bird bath on clearance, so they can all have a real bath.

When I get some pictures of my visitors, I'll post them here. Today is not the best day for taking a picture of a brown bird in a brown tree, it's completely overcast here. When it is sunny, I hope to get some good photos of my visitors.

saturday catblogging

McCullough finds the perfect place for a nap.



Yep, human legs. My brother-in-law's, to be specific. Maleficent settles for a vain attempt at finding a sunbeam.

remembering the forgotten

I was watching History Channel International last night, for background noise, when a program came on about the last mass execution in the U.S., held in 1945. At Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, 7 German POWs were executed for the murder of a fellow POW who they, and many other German POWs, had discovered was a spy. Now, first let me say I do not oppose the death penalty, there are some people who should not be allowed to live. That's not what disturbed me. What disturbed me is the fact we violated the Geneva Convention in many ways with these 7 young German men, one of whom is probably a cousin of mine, although I cannot confirm this. Yeah, it's personal.

From what I saw in the program, the 7 U-Boat officers who confessed to the murder of the spy were treated horribly. Their confessions were tortured out of them using various methods including being forced to sit nude on a hot radiator, or having a gas mask with crushed garlic put on their faces then having the air inlet closed and the mask left on until the prisioner passed out. At their trial, they were all represented by a single US Army officer, who most likely had no legal background. All were found guilty and sentenced to death. They were sent to Ft. Leavenworth to await their executions. The U.S. Government notified the German Government that they were going to execute the prisioners, however Germany responded that if the U.S. executed the 7 POWs, they would start to execute U.S. POWs slated for execution unless the U. S. provided the transcripts of the trial. Of course, the U.S. didn't want to, because we had violated the Geneva Convention, and we didn't want to give Germany an excuse violate the Geneva Convention with our boys. Then the war was over, Hitler had committed suicide, the Allies had liberated the POWs and Concentration Camps, and we still had the 7 U-Boat officers sitting on death row.

While sitting on death row, they were only allowed contact with each other while under supervision of the Chaplain, a Roman Catholic Priest. They all converted to Catholicism, since they had been denied anything other than the Nazi Religion in Germany. On August 25, 1945, beginning at midnight, the 7 prisioners were executed by hanging, starting with Helmut Fischer, 22 years old, who is very likely a distant relative of mine. Then, adding insult to injury, their graves were all oriented North-South, instead of the traditional East-West, preventing their souls from finding peace. It is also rumored that they were all buried face-down, everything possible done in death to desecrate their burials and ensure their souls would never find peace. They were executed 3 months after the war with Germany was over, mainly because of a need for vengance for the Concentration Camps.

Yes, Helmut was a Nazi, just like everyone else who wanted to live a relatively normal life at that time in Germany. The U-Boat service was "voluntary", but had the highest mortality rate of any modern military service, 75-80% mortality. Helmut and the others most likely had only the choice of serve in the military or die. We cannon fault the common soldiers for the horrors the leaders of the Nazis implemented. It saddens me that many of the notes left for Helmut forget this, and those who never met him leave only words of hate.

May your soul find rest, Cousin. I know you were not much more than a child, and did what you had to do, to protect our family in Germany. I am an American who hates what the Nazi leadership did, but cannot hate all Nazis, because so many of you had no choice. I hope that when we meet in the Summerlands, Cousin, that your soul is as noble as I belive it to be.

little boy makes an encore appearance

Due to popular demand, Little Boy is making an encore appearance here.



Once again, my brother-in-law to give a sense of scale.

graveyard poetry

This is from a monument in The Protestant Cemetery, Rome.

The bud was opened
To show the rose
Our Savior smiled
The bud was closed

- Anonymous

I have always thought this was beautiful poem, and wanted to share it.

cat-horse hybrid

Here's a couple of pics of the cat that owns my friend the Voodoo Queen.


Little Boy with my husband, for a sense of scale, who is 6 feet tall. Little Boy is a 26 pound monster of a cat, mountain lion, whatever.


With Little Boy is Cleopatra, structurally a normal sized but fat cat. My brother-in-law for scale. And yes, Little Boy wants to be a lap cat. Omph.

harry potter movie #4

Well, I have some mixed feelings on the new Harry Potter movie. Honestly, about half of the book was left out, it focused on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and the re-birth of Voldemort. Now, if you haven't read the book yet, I can't really suggest which to do first, read the book or watch the movie. I guess it all depends on what version of imagery you want in your head, the movie version, or your own. Of course I had my own version of the Quidditch World Cup stadium, which was promptly replaced forever by the beautiful computer-generated version.

Overall, I really liked the movie. It's no substitution for the book, it simply has so much more story. But the graphics were beautiful, and it was much more of an action movie than the previous ones. Very satisfying, although I'm waiting for the Peter Jackson style Extended Edition, with an extra hour or so of movie. Maybe that's too much to hope for.

And how did I go to see the movie tonight? Just like this, Death Eater all the way, and a proud member of Slytherin.


Lumos!

I so love Photoshop. I guess I could make one with me casting the Killing Curse, get that nice green color going. Oh, and just FYI, whenever I take a Sorting Hat type quiz, I'm a Ravenclaw. But it's so hard to pass up being a Death Eater for a day. Or maybe I'm one of the evil Ravenclaws. Maybe I'm yet another double agent, in the event Snape screws up his assignment as a spy.


Avada Kedavra!

Or maybe I'm not such a nice Ravenclaw after all.

friday catblogging

Here's what Noah thinks about today being his mommy's birthday


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Ungrateful cat.

happy b-day to me

This time, it's Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, I'm gonna see Harry Potter 4 today, Happy Birthday to me.

And to prove great minds think alike, both Mom and Irene sent me this Hallmark E-Card. Independently. Scary, huh?

And on the same lines, here's a little movie commentary for you.

yesterday's interesting weather

A tornadic thunderstorm cell moved over Decatur, Al, yesterday, catching everyone by suprise. It spun up out of the blue, and was pretty impressive.


A shot from the TV showing the storm on TV from yesterday. The hook at the end of the storm is where the rotation is located.



Dopplar radar showing the shear and speeds. Also, add 30mph for the velocity of the storm towards the radar site, for a total of 77mph of wind shear. (You ignore the negative number and just all them all together)



The clouds from that storm as it made it's way from Decatur to my house. Fortunately it had weakened, and had was no longer tornadic, but it still was ugly, or beautiful, depending on how you look at it.

Radar imagery from WHNT Channel 19, Huntsville, Alabama.

watching tv

I'm watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and characters keep commenting what "5 by 5" means, as in "Are you allright?" "5 by 5." Ok, so here my geekiness is starting to show again. It's how you reply when someone asks for a radio check. "How are you receiving?" "5 by 5", meaning receiving strong and clear. Ok, yes, I'm a HAM radio operator, tech level, no code. End geekiness.

in rememberance

To all of the men and women in our Armed Forces, past, present, and future.

Also, one day late, Happy Birthday, Grandad, and to all other Marines, past, present, and future. Semper Fi!

friday catblogging

It's getting cold around here, so what happens?



Maleficent prepares to hibernate.

aiee!

This is who I would be stuck with on Atlantis?


McKay: Shut up and think quick, if you lived on Atlantis you'd be spending your time with Dr. Rodney McKay and neither of you would have a moment to spare if you're working on some doohickey with the potential to determine life or death...

Oh, Hell, I really am a nerd! Then I took the quiz over, thinking about the questions a little more, and just changing 2 of my answers gets me this buddy:


Beckett: Hope a little bit of blood and guts doesn't bother you. If you lived on Atlantis, you'd be spending most of your time in the infirmary alongside Dr. Carson Beckett, where you'll face many weird diseases... and Rodney McKay's bad temper.

Who would be your best Stargate Atlantis buddy?
brought to you by Quizilla

Holy crap! I'm still a nerd, just a more medical one this time. Big shock from the she who is an EMT - blood and guts? Been there, done that, have the T-shirt. But I still can't escape Dr. McKay! Wait a minute, I hope "spending most of my time in the infirmary" doesn't mean as a patient, I get enough of that already. My luck I'd be the one with the weird diseases.

life mirrors art

I had no idea when I was bitching about CBSs Category 7, that later that night the deadly tornado would hit Southern Indiana. Evansville is pretty close to where I grew up, so seeing the storms on radar, before the tornado touched down, was pretty hair-raising. I heard the next morning that aside from the Evansville tornado, there were several other small tornadoes in Southern Indiana, so I was concerned about those. Finally I found out that nobody in my family was hit, no property damage.

watching tv

I'm watching Category 7: The End of the World on CBS, and well, the writers didn't get their data right. They obviously wrote the script over a year ago. This is a quote from one of the "TV Meterologists" - "I've never seen anything like this before, this must be a Category 5 hurricane. The wind gusts must be over 150 MPH. If this isn't Hell on Earth, I don't know what is".

Hmm, now, last I checked a Category 5 hurricane was 155+ sustained winds. Hell, we've seen three of those so far this year, and last I checked 2 had with 175 MPH sustained winds at some point, with gusts of 195 MPH. I think the 2005 Hurricane season gave us all a crash course in hurricanes.

I think this show really should have been called: Been There, Seen That, Have the T-Shirt. Or "My Brother-In-Law Went To Biloxi As Military Relief Effort and I Didn't Even Get a Lousy Casino Chip".

sunday catblogging

How did the cats respond to our return from our short vacation?


Maleficent: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Noah: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Mac: Are the food dishes full?


McCullough: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Eep: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Yeah, whatever, was the general consensus. As long as the food dishes were kept full, they could have given a crap.

getting back to blogging

Ok, so I needed a whole day yesterday to recover from my vacation. Back to blogging now. First, no kitty blogging, but here are some photos that are a bit different.


We were driving along Rich Mountain Road, when we saw this walking towards us on the road. Immediately we stopped, and with windows rolled down, waited to see what would happen.


The canine in question paused, then walked along the driver's side of the our car, not fearful, merely cautious.

There is some question to what exactly this animal is - a Red Wolf (Canis rufus floridanus), a Coyote (C. latrans), or a hybrid of the two, with maybe a little domestic dog (C. lupus familiarius) thrown in for a little variety. I believe this individual is a female, due to the lack of obvious external genitalia. (It had no nuts, for those of you who feel I'm getting a little too scientific here.)


She was oh, so concerned about our presence.


So concerned, in fact that it's nap time. She stretched out her front paws, and shifted her butt back and forth to get comfy.


Really, it was nappy time, and she was only 10 feet from the rear bumper of the car. She stayed there until some yahoo came tearing down the road, skidding to a stop on the gravel, jumping out of the car to get a photo or two, scaring the poor she-wolf (since coyotes are a type of wolf) off and down the valley.

normal blogging to resume friday

Right now, I'm writing this post from Pigeon Forge, TN, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Yay, vacation! I will take plenty of pics, have no fear, but since this motel has only dial-up, I won't be uploading many to Flickr until I get back home and have my high-speed access again.

Monday's adventure was getting out of town, and finally getting to the Mountains. My husband and I are on this little getaway, and tonight we went straight up to the top of the ridge, and stradled the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, at Newfound Gap. The stars were amazing, for the first time in many years I could look up and see the Milky Way stretching across the sky, no artifical lights (aside from the occasional car) for miles. We were cold, since the Park got about a foot of snow last week at the higher elevations, and we were up at something like 5500', over a mile up. There was still snow in the shady places, and neither of us were really prepared for the cold. Later this week, we'll dress warmer and take some shots of the night sky. In the mean time, it's a text version of the day.

Red wolves have been re-introduced to the Park after having been exinct from the area for years, to add another predator back into the mix. We reached the Park about sundown, and went up to the top of the ridge, Newfound Gap, to look at the stars, which were absolutely amazing. We saw one trotting up the road on our way up to Newfound Gap, then one at the Newfound Gap parking lot. Stay tuned to find out what other kind of animals we see...

hurricane blogging

I know there some to many of you are wondering what happened to the hurricane blogging from afar. Well, I have been keeping track, but have gotten behind in uploading the saved images to Flickr. I've been saving them to the computer, but have been kinda busy. Have no fear, I'm still watching the tropics, and looked earlier at something that looked like it has the potential to become Tropical Storm Gamma. I think at the end of this month, and therefore the end of this year's season, I'll do a nice recap of all the major storms, plus anything from the Greek alphabet, since this is the first year the National Hurricane Center has run out of names, and had to move onto Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta, etc.

friday catblogging

AKA going on strike.



Popcorn theif. So that's where it all went. Her stray roots are showing again.


And yes, I'm going on strike. Show some appreciation for this site, and I'll post more. Oh, yeah, and family is in town, so posting will be even more limited. Be happy you got Friday Catblogging.

alrighty, then

Blogger swore it ate the 2 posts from yesterday about my shoulder, but now they've mysteriously shown up. Whatever. Lets see what else pops up.

shoulder update

First, let's see if Blogger will eat this post or not.

My shoulder isn't torn, it is simply badly sprained and strained. So, no surgery, just physical therapy and pain management. At least I know I don't break or tear, my soft tissue injures aren't that severe, they just hurt like hell. Unfortunately, a rotator cuff injury can take a very long time to heal. When Mom injured hers, it took 18 months to completely to heal her injury. Oh, joy.

shoulder update

The good news is there is no tear, just a sprain/strain of the tissues of my rotator cuff. So, it's physical therapy and pain management while my shoulder heals. Unfortunately, I heal slow, and when Mom injured her rotator cuff it took her 18 months to heal completely. Whee, just what I needed. At least I don't break and tear easily, I keep telling myself that. It still hurts like hell, though.

shoulder update

Good news, I have no tears, all the problems with my shoulder is simply a bad sprain/strain of the rotator cuff. I'll be starting physical therapy sometime in the next week for it, but unfortunately I know I'm in for a long ride in healing. I heal slow, I know this, and when Mom injured her rotator cuff she said it took 18 months for it to return to normal. Oh, joy. At least nothing is broken or torn. That's what I keep telling myself. It takes more than that to really injure me.

friday catblogging

My brother-in-law's cats, both together in one shot.





Kitty Mac Boing Boing, a.k.a. Mac and Maleficent. Mac has taken refuge from somebody, probably Noah, and well Maleficent is being a couch potato, and could give a crap about what is going on.

shoulder scan

Well, this afternoon I get a MRI of my left shoulder to find out how badly I injured it last week. Yes, I fell again, this time in the shower. I have a shower chair, and was sitting in it, when I leaned forward to adjust the water temperature when the slipped backwards and I landed in the tub on my ass. As I fell, I tried to catch myself with my left arm, grabbing the rim of the tub, and succeed only in jamming my arm up, injuring my shoulder. Friday I went to the doc, who had it x-rayed, and it didn't show any fracture, so all the damage is soft tissue. Until I know what is wrong, I'm popping my pain medication, since it hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. Here to hoping it's just badly strained and sprained.

in memoriam

In Memoriam – George

As a tiny kitten you were found
Lying abandoned upon the hard ground
Your brother your only companion
Until by chance you found a champion

Saved from death by an approaching car
In my sister’s shirt, she carried you far
A caring home awaited both of you
Time passed, we watched as you grew

Though you never bore kits of your own
You were mother to any younger born
Mother and friend you were to them
Buddies until death made you lonely again

George, my beauty, who I fed with a bottle
When you followed me in a kitten toddle
An elegant lady you grew into
And stole the hearts of all who saw you

In your elder years another companion you found
Laps suitable for my lady’s naps began to abound
And though the years slowly passed by
You remained kittenish, feeling spry

On one afternoon you heard the call of Bastet
And you went outside, your fate you met
Looking into to the setting sun
The Goddess called you, you did not run

To the Summerlands you went, ushered upon the wind
Reunited with your adopted daughters and your long missed twin
All those who passed before were there waiting to greet
A reunion for you, while we miss you and weep

We miss you, knowing all will be united once more
Parting is not forever, ever since the days of yore
Meeting and passing in a cycle since time began
Sadly we part and merrily we meet again












George
July 1, 1993 - October 12, 2005

friday catblogging

This one is for Lair.



Kitty Butt Elephant!

too funny, and too true

Foamy the Squirrel reports from New Orleans on Katrina. Oh, so true.

feasting is over

Now that the feasting from yesterday's Leif Erikson celebration has come to a close in my mighty Mead-Hall Sessrúmnir, and all the trenchers and horns have been cleaned, all of the meat and mead has been consumed, normal blogging may now resume. Wait, I just found a little more mead. Skál!

i'm a cute little critter

You Are A: Bear Cub!

Bears are strong and independent creatures who roam in the forest in search of food. Bears are usually gentle, but anger one and be prepared for their full fury! You won't back down from a fight, you have a bit of a temper -- classic attributes of a bear. Intelligent and resourceful, though lazy at times, you are a fascinating creature of the wild.

You were almost a: Duck or a Monkey
You are least like a: Groundhog or a ChipmunkWhat Cute Animal Are You?

happy leif erikson discovered vineland day!

Ya know what, screw Columbus and his Federal Holiday. Anyone who got Monday off should have because it was Leif Erikson Day, not the other holiday. There is more than enough archeological evidence to say, yes Leif Erikson was the first European that we know the name of to set foot in the Americas, some 500 years before Columbus.

So let us all eat, drink, and be merry, and lift another horn of mead to Leif Erikson, Viking Explorer, the first pale-face to set foot in Vineland! Skál!

watchin tv

I never watch reality TV shows, but tonight I made an exception. I had to watch tonight's episode of the Amazing Race, half of the show was here in Huntsville, so I made an exception. What were the teams doing here? Going through the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, of course. What else would people be doing in the Rocket City? The Huntsville Times reported that the teams and crew were filming in July, and based on the generally crappy night, weather wise, I'm guessing they were all enjoying the beginnings of Dennis, before the center of the storm made it's way about 50 miles from the City of Huntsville proper.

The online edition of the Huntsville Times.

The Wikipedia article on Huntsville. I think I'll make each little part of the article a subject for a blog post, because oh, the stories I can tell...

the 2005 hurricane season breaks another record

Tropical Storm Vince made landfall after passing south of Portugal and making landfall in Spain. Vince was the first tropical system on record to ever make landfall on the Iberian Penninsula. Gotta love this year. So when is Wilma gonna make her debut?

back up and running

The server has finished having it's networking hissy fit, so the pretty graphics are back up. Whee! Yay! And there was much rejoicing.

murphy always wins

It's Happy Blogiversary to me, and my image server thinks there is no network. "I can't see, there is no world. I'm blind!" So, no pretty background images while it has it's little hissy fit in it's corner. Fine, it can have it's little hissy fit, and you get plain solid color. At least the content is here.

happy b-day to me

Today is my 1 year anniversary as a blogger, and what a year it has been. Looking through my archives is interesting, to say the least. Yeah, now you're saying, "there's stuff dated from October 1-9, too". Yep, that's where I hide stuff I don't want cluttering up my index page, like my 100 Things list.

just one to go

Portugal, prepare for the wrath of Hurricane Vince.



Ok. So Portugal will end up getting something more like tropical stormy wrath of Vince. But hey, at least it's on the other side of the pond. Oh, what does the National Hurricane Center have to say?

HURRICANE VINCE DISCUSSION NUMBER 2
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 PM EDT SUN OCT 09 2005

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A HURRICANE... IT PROBABLY IS... DESPITE ITS
ENVIRONMENT AND UNUSUAL LOCATION...

Gotta love the scientific accuracy in all of this. So, when do we meet Wilma?

sunday catblogging

Hey, better late than never, right?





No big hurry with anything around here. The light changes, McCullough shifts a little, and life moves at a cat's pace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're not satisfied with a cat's pace, then this week's edition of the Carnival of the Cats is up at Gina's Rantings. It's her first Carnival, and it's a fine one.

Also, you can head over to Modulator for this week's edition of the Friday Ark. Life moving at the cat's pace it is around here, I finally got my butt in gear and posted my boardings for the week.

battlestar galactica marathon

Here I am today, doing some sketching, watching the Battlestar Galactica marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Original Battlestar Galactica. Now, I've become a huge fan of the new series quite by accident, by watching it with my brother-in-law. I've been highly impressed by the story arc, the eye candy, and how well the series is made. Now I'm watching the original series, and it's interesting to see how the new series is trying to be true to the old, without so many plot tangents.

In the old series each episode is a string of single stories, set within the BG universe, while in the new series, each is intertwined, a braided story heading toward a single end, each a chapter in a longer story. I wonder, in 20 years, when I watch the current BG series, will I think "how corny is this, look how bad the effects are" or will I be thinking "it's still as good as it was 20 years ago"? It's hard to tell, and only time will tell.

I'm glad to have come across the old Battlestar Galactica marathon, since I was a very young when it was on the air originally. In my mind for years, I had it meshed with Buck Rogers - Apollo, Starbuck, Buck Rogers, and Hawk, all on the same ship, plus the Cylons. I'm glad to have that tangle out of my head now, although I don't remember any specific episodes of either show. At least things are a little less confused in here, in my mind.

Oh, and a last little bit of trivia. Frack was used in the original series, as well as the new one, as a curse word. In one episode of the new series, Commander Adama is seen shaving in this mirror:



It's from Ikea, and it's the Frack model. I can't make this shit up.

welcome visitors

Hello to the readers directed here from Instapundit. I finally figured out why my numbers over the past two days jumped. Have a good look around, let me know what you think.

more from the tropics

Just 2 more to go before Tropical Storm Alpha...



Yay, more rain in Alabama. Image from the National Hurricane Center.

All that is left is Vince and Wilma.

how fast a year can pass

In 5 days is my 1 year anniversary as a blogger. I never guessed this site would have become as well read, in 1 year, as it has. Consider this an open thread, what do you want to see more or less of. Not that you'll get your wish, but I want to know what my readers think. Comment away.

i know you're out there

I just checked Sitemeter, and am preparing to do some other meter reading. I know you are out there, I know I have readers. For some reason, yesterday was my all time high in number of hits in a single day, and I may break it today. Feel free to comment, people. Yes, I have enabled verification for commenting, to keep the spambots away. There have already been 104 of you here today. You don't have to just lurk.

And Orion, if you've been on, you can say hi. It's allowed. I know someone from Kessler AFB at Biloxi has been on here a few times. Even if you're not Orion, drop me a line, tell me how things are going down there. It's not like I have anything better to do right now.

a little skywatching

I went outside the other night, at about 3am to get something out of my car, but then I looked up, and got distracted.


Orion, the great hunter, high in the southern sky. Before I went inside to get my camera, I even saw a meteor go across the entire width of Orion's shoulders. For a meteor to go acoss the entire width of the constellation, it was about the size of a grain of sand. Nothing more.

The bright star just to the left of the tip of the utility pole is Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius, or α CMa (alpha Canis Major), is the second brightest star in the sky, second only to our own sun.

We are now in the Dog Days of summer, so called because it's so hot only dogs are crazy enough to be outside in the sun. It is also when Sirius is visible at night, so it became the Dog Star, a celestial indicator of the weather.



Then I looked up even higher and saw the Pleiades, not a constellation but an open cluster of stars, with 6 stars visible by my naked eye, which is amazing, for an urban area. The Pleiades in this photo are the small dipper-shaped cluster of blue-white stars just above the center of this photo. The bright "star" below the Pleiades (the brightest point in this photo) isn't a star at all, but Mars. Just below it, is a small vertical streak with a bright point on one end. That is a meteor I caught on film, the bright spot at the end of the line when the meteor finally completely burned up. With it being so small, it was nothing more than a dust speck, dying a glorious death in the atmosphere. I never would have been able to see it with the naked eye, it's too small.

Now, due to the rotation of the Earth, the stars all appear to be streaks, all moving in the same direction. If my exposure time was longer, you would be able to see long arcs, and if I point my camera at the North Star, which doesn't move, all other stars appear to rotate around it. So, in these two photos, the stars all appear to be streaks, more or less horizontal.

You can click on each photo to be taken to the Flickr page for each. If you have an account, you can scroll down a little, and click on "different sizes" on the right side, to see the full resolution image of each, or any other of my photos on Flickr.

For these two, here are the links for the full resolution pics:
The Pleiades, Mars, and a meteor
Orion and Sirius

some more health news

Yesterday I went to the pulmonologist, for allergy testing and asthma testing, to see if my respiratory infections were caused by. The results - no asthma. I couldn't do the allergy testing, I took some medication for nausea Sunday night, which is also an antihistamine. On the control test on my arm, the saline reacted equally to the pure histamine. So, in 2 weeks I go back for allergy testing. Yes, I realize I'm probably going to be allergic to cat dander. Oh, well, I'll get over it.

The other great revelation from yesterday is (and I know anyone who is a regular reader/chatter will be absolutely shocked by this) that I have a supressed immune system, and am susceptible to infections. I also have a very low pneumococcal antibody count, which means that I have no antibodies to Pneumococci ssp. bacteria, and my immune system just lets it run wild. So I received a pneumococcal vaccination yesterday, will get another antibody count in 4 weeks, and probably get another vaccination. No big deal. So, I just have to try to not get infections...

carnival of the cats #80

The 80^thedition of the Carnival of the Cats is up over at Music and Cats. When you're done here, surf on over and check out the picks of the resident cats, Lyra, Sergi, and Sasha.

And if you can get enough kitty goodness, head over to Modulator for this week's edition of the Friday Ark. There's plenty more over there to feed that nasty cat dander addiction. You know who you are.

the solar powered cat

Behold, the cat of the future, completely solar powered.



Oh, wait. They're already solar powered. Nevermind. Noah's simply enjoying the lack of tropical activity in the area while it lasts.

it's official

It's been over 6 months since I had to go on medical leave, and I am now considered unemployed. While I won't name the company I work for, I am grateful that the CEO decided to extend my benefits more than twice as long as legally required. It is a small business, so I know my employer well, and I am thankful for her decision. I know that my job as a Graphic Designer/Emergency Response Team Coordinator/Jack-of-all-Trades will be waiting for me, when I can return to work.

Until then, I will keep in touch with my co-workers, and the corporate client I worked for. They have all been very suportful of me, and kept me in their thoughts and prayers. For reasons of anonymity, of myself and my family, I won't reveal the name of either organization. Let's just say both are great organizations, with great people. I look forward to the day when I can return to my work families.