…wearing a ‘clinic’ free mask I found in a coat pocket meanwhile. And when mine come black, fabric—I’m going to have Jane paint or embroider a ‘smiling kitty’ nose on it. Those of you with cats are free to copy. 🙂 And dog fanciers, maybe a doggy nose with a lappy tongue?
Getting a new mask soon
by CJ | Apr 9, 2020 | Journal | 151 comments
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I’ve been trying to get an Amazon Fresh order through for a couple days. I’ve kept the same cart and items, though one item was removed for unavailability. No delivery available for two weeks.
At 12:40am PM, or earlier, many slots opened up, and I got the order through for the cool of Friday morning. Amazon says it opens slots throughout the day, but that doesn’t seem to be the way the scheduling actually works.
Amazon Fresh now has a notice that changing your order once scheduled is suspended for now. Too bad I didn’t try to add that item back in before I submitted, but it’s maybe better that I didn’t.
I think the best explanation for the difference with Houston is that Amazon was already expanding here when the coronavirus hit. Demographics is another possible factor: most jobs here are capable of telework, or they’re closed storefronts and many restaurant jobs. Political consensus may be another possible factor, but that’s probably not suitable for discussion here. The only other factor that comes to mind is Houston’s superabundance of unlucky black cats! 😉 I joke, BCS; I joke….
CJ, it’s good to be with you in Greater Cascadia. 😉 California, Oregon, and Washington are coordinating coronavirus response, now:
https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/washington-oregon-and-california-announce-western-states-pact
Well, but there are 7 of them. OK, one is black-and-white tuxedo and 13 years old. Well, anyway, I’m saying 7 counteracts the unlucky…. Hahaha, I don’t think I could be an atevi counting superstitious person.
Funny thing, they said people should try Whole Foods Market in their area, or online, but no, same results, that still tells you it’s unavailable for now and asks you to sign up.
Walt, I hope you and others using Fresh will be OK. Half a month or more of this, if they extend it. — So far all I’ve heard are rumblings about reopening, with health pros pushing back, saying no, too soon, that risks more rounds of contagion passing along. Meanwhile, folks at my apt. complex seem to be ignoring the social distancing. The kids are playing together and the adults are hanging out at their usual times.
I feel a little better, but too soon to know if it’s letting up or temporary. I am still guessing it’s allergy and sinus. not the virus. — Note, a day r two ago, our district congresswoman and the mayor and others said so far, the testing has been upwards of 10K for a city / metro area over 2.6 million people. (Bigger than some countries.) Therefore, vastly under-counting so far. The congresswoman said she’d keep fighting for help, but, meh, who knows. It’s the same story nationwide.
—–
Such things aside, the kittens have been tumbling around in the bathtub, playing, and of course, they discovered the shower curtain. I checked it tonight, and…hmm, yeah, I really need a new shower curtain. LOL. I ordered two, due Saturday, nothing exciting about them. (One is monochrome grays, bleh. As long as they will last while the kittens are still here, haha.
Word is, a Petco delivery made it to my front door, but I never heard anything. My hearing is OK. I can miss things at times if I’m working on something in another room. So I hope it’s still there in the morning. And I’ll need to divert the cats so I don’t have to deal with cat herding. No idea yet if I’ll get the ride scheduled for the kittens to get their 2nd round of shots. I I don’t get my friend tomorrow, I’ll try to schedule it myself, but hmm, no luck with that half the time, and he’s seen the same issue.
I can recommend the Benihana frozen Japanese entrées. Very tasty, probably about as healthy/unhealthy as any other prepackaged meals. But oh, the taste was welcome.
The Glad or Ziplock storage containers were not shaped right to serve as food bowls for the cats; too deep and not wide enough diameter. So I’ll use them for, hey, food storage like hey were designed. Or small odds and ends. — I’ve ordered (pricer) cat bowls. Maybe they’ll get here quick enough. Feeding the cats in individual bowls is working out better than a few plates as before, as long as I make sure everyone gets to a bowl and isn’t nosed out of reach.
They all hung out with me yesterday, but only Goober is sleeping with me. I am still not sure if the kittens have bonded with me like I’d thought, but nearly all f them do like being petted and half of them like being held a few minutes, when they are in the mood. I’m still hoping to see if Dubhan / Beige Boy and Wizard want to stay, or if they would rather get new homes too. I’m feeling kinda rough about that, disappointed that I don’t see obvious signs like before that they do want to stay. Possibly, the whole crew are so used to being here now that they don’t think about it, I’m just part of their world by default. You know, that familiar, part of the furniture stay of relationships, heh.
But we are doing better. No further mishaps with getting claws caught or feelings hurt or aggressive tendencies. Possibly, mama and kittens are learning how to deal wit me as I am with them. I still am careful, because I don’t want to step on anyone or sit on them, and that is a possibility, as most cat owners (staff) are aware, cats underfoot or in chairs, etc.
I need to get their tags n them and write down for the vet who is in what collar, as those have changed. They are not yet in adult collars, but that could be any day now. Their necks are still too small for the adult collars, but they are growing fast. It’ll also soon be hard for me to tell the kittens apart from mama. I’ve discovered that getting collars so it’s easy for me to tell at glance who’s who is not so easy. There are a variety of styles and colors, but the range is not as wide as you’d think, I practice, if your color perception has become limited or your vision isn’t acute enough. One kitten is on he third collar.
Dubhan is about to get his second, and the others have all switched. I still haven’t found where Wizard’s stars-and-moons kitten collar went to, but it’s somewhere here and should turn up eventually. — The “unicorn” kitten collar from Good2Go brand, through Petco or Petsmart, “smells funny” and retains that artificial plastic / funky smell. I haven’t found another collar with unicorns or that I like a much, but she is wearing a red plaid collar which is nice, but too similar to one Pinky is wearing. So they have to switch to another collar for one or both.
Collars seem to be a way to make a buck, as both kittens and cats will scratch, nibble, or lick their collars while cleaning or daily living, and so the collar gets to looking too disreputable after a few weeks. Sometimes it only needs to be washed and reused. The kittens, though, are hard on theirs, with all their playing and grooming.
Hmm, and cat bowl price vary wildly, but getting bowls for 7 cats when you only had a few to rotate for two cats before…costly, but this will gt me set for the remainder of their stay.
Pet shelters are still closed for intake, as far as I can tell from websites and calling. So I will he the kittens and mama until at least the start of May., still, and perhaps beyond.
Same for the new house, no idea yet if I’ll get to do that at the start of the month. I’m worried, budget-wise, and yet having to spend on things for them and me. :-/ Groceries will have to happen at the end of the month, too. Plus rent and utilities and storage fees again, expected, to cover until I can close and move. :-/ Anxious, here, and motivated I hope to keep packing and cleaning. I want to have everything done, reduced down, and all clean and ready to go. There should still be time to do that, but I keep delaying, either things take too long or I feel unmotivated and let it go. Must get through this and be organized and ready to go.
And here I am, awake in the middle of the night. I wish I could sleep through the night like a normal person. Or day. Anything. This business of two to four hour naps is not good living. I’m too tired and draggy too often. But I am making it, I am keeping on. Telling myself it will all work out, just do better, don’t wimp out, be an adult. :-/
I feel burdened by having mama and five kittens, and yet I am also enjoying them. If my income were good, I would not feel so saddled with it, but the chores, mostly litterbox duty get old fast. — Still, they are what passes for family for me, roommates, anyway. I do wish Goover and the crew got along better.
So I hope one or two kittens will want to stay and I hope Goober will decide he likes having them with him, friends. I can’t tell for sure , which means I don’t quite think they are, and so…I wanted to keep one at least, and I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I might end up with just Goober. I wish Dubhan and Wizard would want to stay. So I am trying to tell if they do or not.
I need to look ack at official paperwork, but everything went into shutdown, so, no telling yet. I’ll know again once I sit down and review it. I am so out of sorts. Not cabin fever, but discouragement. Trying to get myself motivated and feeling good about things. Got to cook soon too.
Take care, everyone. Wishing you all well. Hoping my neighbors and local friends stay well too. Word is, we haven’t peaked yet here and it could e a long while yet. So please be well and feel good about things, all of you.
COVID-19: There are only a few ways out of this mess we’re in.
The best is a vaccine, which is what high risk people need–like many here. The earliest credible schedule I’ve heard is ready for healthcare workers in fall, and wide distribution in early 2021.
The next safest is to keep in isolation until the virus is extinct in the US. “Crush the curve.” The difficulty is that it’s now been confirmed that people are contagious before they’re symptomatic and some people never have symptoms, at least that they can distinguish from allergies or colds. So, unless we’re going to quarantine all visitors for a week on entry to the US, we’re going to get infections from people coming into the country, even if they’re returning US citizens. Given the heterogeneity of the US and the various States’ policies, somewhere there’s likely to be a hotspot burning away, ready to set the general population alight again. At one point the US peaked doubling cases every 2 days, about 1000x for a month, and with so many people who have not gotten the virus, that could happen again if we’re not careful.
A fairly popular plan is to “push” at least the working population through getting the virus and getting immune–such immunity is not proven yet!–at the highest rate the hospitals can stand until we reach herd immunity at something like 200M cases. If we take the probably optimistic assumption of 10% of cases actually counted, then the US’s 1M hospital beds can handle 10M cases at a time, so 20x 2-5 weeks in hospital, and again we’re talking about 2021 and many lives lost. Also, the limiting factor may be ICU beds or PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), so it may take longer.
Then some people, who are presumably not going to put themselves at risk, want to just go back to normal in a rush and let people die, one presumes to get rid of the excess population. [Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol]
___
While this company is selling cat “foraging toys”–food dispensers cats have to play with to get their food–the top video also has some hints on DIY toys from soda or water bottles. Given the energy of kittens, I’d be tempted to put down a foundation of objets trouvé and cat toys, add a pyramid of delivery boxes, and top with some tippy cups of dry cat food, then let the kittens figure out how to get the food. The lazier cats can just snipe dry bits falling to the floor. Eventually, the kittens will eat it all, and they’ll love hunting in and around the boxes.
https://www.fundamentallyfeline.com/shop/foraging-toys/
I wonder if colored reflective tape would help with collar identification.
You might try costco.com for cat food. Huge bags might be in order.
Costco carries quantities of both canned and dry cat fud, and kitty litter too. On the mainland, if you have a Costco membership, getting it delivered might not be hard.
I haven’t bothered renewing my Costco membership since it expired in January, though perhaps in line with Amazon Fresh or Prime, they’ll be tightening that.
Do as little as you can get away with, turn it over to the governors to pick up the pieces, then incite protests to liberate the “flyover” states. Let the amped-up disbelievers do their rallies, see whomever they want whenever they want, while the believers cautiously stay home as much as possible, socially distance as much as possible, and let’s see who’s still standing come election day. Sounds like a suicidal strategy to me.
Also: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/health/cat-owner-separation-anxiety-problems-wellness-scn/index.html
PS: My inner editor:
“Additionally, female cat owners tended to be more affectionate and doting, said Ingrid Johnson, a certified cat behavior consultant for more than 20 years.”
Owners of female cats or females who own cats. Female is not usually used for humans in common prose.
I would love to know how I just lost my Wacom stylus. It’s (probably) somewhere here in the apt. Somewhere. But a search didn’t turn it up. Good thing I have a spare. Ordered another one.
Peppercorn managed to get out when I opened the door, and I hadn’t noticed yet. Good thing she meowed! Or it would have been a while before I noticed. So she is back in and happy about that, properly greeted and apologized to, and I am happy she’s back in too. I had done a nose count, so I knew the kittens and Goober were in, but I’d thought she was in too.
Besides ordering a shower curtain, haha, the kittens went wild over boxes I’ve set aside to throw out. — LOL, oh, my inner editor just flagged that as a real non-sequitur. No, the kittens did not order a shower curtain. But they would if they could, I feel sure.
Hmm, the moist food I’d ordered earlier — turns out two of those boxes are in pouches, not in cans. Messy. I do hope they will pronounce them edible. So those are going to be used up ASAP.
Now back to what I’m supposed to be doing, packing, rebooting, reducing, cleanup. Laundry and changing the bed needs to happen. I will be happier if I get some things finished and organized, and gain some empty space. — I wonder when and where the stylus and Wizard’s first kitten collar will turn up. This could be fun. Maybe?
All 5 kittens plus mama and Goober have new name tags, and Dubhan and Wizard got new collars because theirs were problematic and Dubhan’s was getting shabby at the flex / elastic part, though the faux-leather was still fine. However, now it’s harder to tell everyone apart by feel or at a glance. Goober’s new tag matches the style and shape of the others’, which was maybe not such a good idea, but I’m trying it. Wizard’s new collar actually goes back to the stars-and-moons kitten collar design, after an interim with another. Ducky, the most pudgy of the group, had his collar girth extended, as did one other, and Wizard’s and Dubhan’s collars got adjusted. This took a little longer than I’d thought. OK, quite a bit longer. But it turned out fine, and no problems with anyone, not even feisty Peppercorn, or springer Unicorn. They were resting, and I was smart to remove each one’s collar, add the at, then put the collar back on. Much less tugging and fussing for them and me.
The kittens then celebrated by getting in the window above the bed and playing with the blinds. Remarkably, so far, the blinds are OK. One hopes fervently they will remain so. But the kittens had a grand time and I had a nice time with them on the bed, and a little bonding with all of the cats.Even Ducky is starting to like time t be petted. Dubhan is maybe enjoying my company again. Wizard is not quite as sure. But all in all, doing well, all of them.
I had ordered a set of tags that slide or hook onto the collar, but I’ve since discovered the kind that hook all four corners over the collar are not so good: they can come loose if the cat works at it even a little. So a belt loop slider type, where there is no cutout for the corners, would have to work instead. That would not fit over most collars I’ve seen, so the dangling pendant style tags are the way to go, I now know. Before they’re given away, I’ll remove their tags but they’ll get collars in good shape or new.I am going to look to see if there are the key tags in plastic which might work, if they are small and have the hole for a metal ring to attach to the collar. That way, they can have their names on the tags without my info, so the staff can identify who’s who with the vet records. They may all be in new or adult collars by then.
Goober decided if I was going to be on the bed fiddling with the kittens, he wanted to be there too, and so he’s snoozing (possessively but silently) on the chef’s coat I got out of the closet. White coat, back and white cat and all-black mama and kittens, heh. I’m not going anywhere, so it’s fine. I will look to see if the other chef’s coat is around.
I made sure to give Goober good attention, both for him and to make a point with him and the kittens, that Goober has his place and is loved, so don’t mess with him. He wa more amenable to them today.
Why didn’t I order apples with my grocery order? Some fresh fruit will go on the next order.
My sinus has been OK today, hardly doing much, healing up some. About dang time.
Between the cats and the missing stylus search, I didn’t get as much done so far as I wanted to, so I still feel behind. I hope the vet visit will happen tomorrow without a hitch. Don’t know yet.
I intend to get Goober a smart little bow tie collar, with the bow tie removable, for dress-up occasions. I figure since he wears a tuxedo anyway, he’ll look extra dapper that way. I did take the bow tie off one of the kitten’s collars. I also figure those are only for special occasions, as the bow tie would tend to get bedraggled too fast for eery day wear.
I am not aware of a fez or suspenders (braces) for cats, however. Also, I doubt I could convince even Goober to wear a cat shirt or costume, haha.
Huh, now I need to rewatch the TOS Catspaw and Gary-7 episodes to see what the cat’s collars had in those. A silver or gold rhinestone collar would work for a tabby like Jake from the Cat From Outer Space. Yes, I was a kid when that movie came out, along with the two 70’s Witch Mountain movies. Way more fun as a kid than as an adult, but still OK for a popcorn rewatch.
BTW, Monday of last week, I got tired of my hair getting too long and shaved my head again, down to below crewcut but not completely bald. It’s now grown out to just under crewcut length or thereabouts. It had been long enough that a good trim would’ve been fine if places were open, and I had planned to get a pro cut so I’d look good in case we did a closing in person. — But now, it’ll be at a short but nice-and-neat look by the end of the month. I may need to shave the bottom of the back and sides, though. I lack confidence in my self-hairstyling skills, haha. — This short, my hair is lighter, more of an ash blond. My beard has gone pale (or toward silver-gold) the past couple of years, no longer dark blond. Them’s the breaks. — But it looks like I’ll be like my uncle and keep my hair, unlikee my dad, who had an ever-increasing bald spot starting in his late 30’s, around when I was a toddler. — And I don’t hit I’ve really lost much weight, yet I have lost a little around the waist, enough so that I’m not sure I can fit a 36 waist much longer. A 3 waist is definitely too big now. I wore a 34 waist until around my mid-30’s. I don’t think I’m back to that yet, and not sure I want to be. If I get down to 155 lbs or 165, I’ll think that’s enough. I don’t have scales, so I’m guessing. At the house, I did have, and was around 185 to 190 at my heaviest. That’s far less than my mom or dad. So I’m not stressed, but will be glad when clothes fit me better again. I’m not doing much to change my eating habits or exercise, it’s just happening with slight changes in habits lately, so maybe it’ll stay that way with a little effort.
Eegad, in less than 11 months, I will be eligible for that over-55 discount and AARP. I am not at all used to this yet. Heh.
Going OK, all in all.
Still thinking of collars. You mentioned rhinestones. Is your vision such that you could get a crafting kit and string your own collars with beads or sparklies? They might be far more durable, though they have to break rather than strangle the kitty, of course. Though, maybe a magnetic closure?
Heh, the aftermath of feeding time and not always diligent self is kibble on the kitchen floor. They are not eating the dry food much / enough; it’s available constantly. (They are, however, “helping” Goober eat his bowlful of dry. It empties fastest of all of them. Likewise his moist food.) I’ve moved to moist food twice a day; i.e., mornings and evenings, for moist food for them, the usual adult schedule I use. Heh, and lo, the mad dash and mob to get the food.
Ah, one seeks to avoid that scene with the lions in the Serengeti in the holographic playroom. Ahem. — It isn’t that bad, but whew, they act as though they are starving. Yet they are occasionally no longer licking the platters clean. So they’re OK on portions. Each gets a 3 oz. (Fancy Feast or other) size portion, or the 5 oz. regular cans. The moist kitten food is in those 3 oz cans, while the adult food I’m also getting is in either 3 or 5 oz cans. When I was feeding them on common platters, that went from two with a 5 and a 3 oz can to 3 platters. Now with individual serving bowls, Each cat or kitten gets the luck of the draw, 3 or 5 oz. In an effort to get them to eat the dry more, I switched to separate bowls for that too. Whole lotta bowls, that. Goober still gets fed separately. Once mama and whichever kittens are given away, I’ll go back to integrating Goober with the remaining kittens, if any. I have not so far tried to integrate Goober into the group for feeding, bu I may attempt that this weekend, with him at a little distance, possibly with a kitten or two near. IF that works and mama doesn’t chase him and the kittens don’t try to run him off from his food, then we can try him closer to them. I’m reluctant to do that, because what we have is working, although the kittens still come back to his feeding station to steal his food, and I carry them back to the kitchen for the first couple of attempts. Usually, it’s only two or three of the kittens; the otterss don’t do that to him. Mama notably doesn’t try to steal his food, but if he’s well away from the bowl and it’s in between feeding times, she will eat dry or leftover moist food. I try to be sure he gets as much access as he wants, so he isn’t cheated out of all his food. Typically, he gets full and leaves it, so there’s no big problem except in boundary respect. He lets them do this. He could hiss or swat more than he does. He could be more aggressive, but he doesn’t want to. So he’s a tolerant male, a good honorary uncle.
I will check the foraging toys. Something might be a hit.
On the collars: colored reflective tape? Huh, that could help, I’ll look. Hadn’t known about it. Wh didn’t I guess?
Rhinestones or other sparkles: I’d be concerned they could pull off a rhinestone (etc.) secured by a silicone hot glue gun, but I could still do something like that. I’d tend to go with a strap or band of something like nylon, the thing most collars are made of. I have wondered about looking for YouTube craft videos on this. Crimp and seal of the ends of nylon bands (webbing) or cotton, and adding the buckle and keeper / slide, the hardware, are probably all there is to it. A small metal ting for a bell (very small jingle bell) and ID tag. I doubt it takes a lot to make cat collars. — Beads on a line or cord would have to have a pretty thick cord, more so than the little beads used in those bandana crafts a few years ago. Otherwise, a cat could bite through or pull it loose, beads everywhere then.
But there are possibilities there, I think.
The nylon or cotton or other mesh bands are from 3/8 to 5/8 wide, I think, and not too thick, maybe les than 1/8 inch. Kitten collars run from a 6–8 inch size, and cat collars from 7–11 inches. I don’t know what preprinted / woven cord / bands styles are available through craft supply stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, etc.) but I’d guess there are a number of choices.
The little rectangular or ring or D-ring metal findings and jingle bells should be easily available for crafting, but I’m not sure about the metal or hard-plastic findings used for the breakaway buckle closure and the slider and so on. A buckle with prong and notched belt, like an old-style dog collar or a human’s belt, would need a flexible elastic or other band, so a cat can get free without choking. (CollarDirect has collars like these, but in practice, having the cat or kitten hold still and wait while you get the buckle into the right notch, small as it is, is asking too much of most cats’ patience. But the company has some nice fat-leather (polyurethane or vinyl) collars like that, including their kitten sized collars.
One brand of reflective collar with a stripe in the middle of a color band, is OK, but I’ve found the more active kittens or cats will keep at that so the middle band can war off as the fairc frays with licking and scratching and other activity normal for any cat. But these are OK for a couple of weeks or more, depending on how determined about it and how active the cat is.
I’ve seen a few brands now to know what I like in the design (structure) and what I feel doesn’t work well. The main issue is to get something that will show up if the cat gets out, particularly to cars; and enough room (two fingers under) to allow the collar to stay on, but to slip over the head or else open the clip so the cat doesn’t choke if in some trouble, given how they will climb or move in between places.
I’ve been meaning to look anyway, but this has me more curious about DIY it.
— Oh, hey , the orange juice arrived early!
Note: the little jingle bells: a very small size works best for kittens or cats. Much larger and it’s too heavy or unwieldy, too big for them. I’ve found out the hard way, on a couple of collars that used the wrong size bells, advertised for cats but more suitable for small dogs.
Hot glue isn’t very strong. I was thinking pre-drilled beads and “gems”.
I’ll want to look at what’s available and how people make cat collars. Usually, I wouldn’t do a “gem” or glittery collar, but hmm, if it worked out as salable on Ebay or Etsy…. I’ll e looking.
I found, via Amazon, the plastic buckle and slider findings and various colors of the nylon webbing, so I bought a packet of each, in case. I expect to need a crimping tool and maybe scissors, heavy duty. Probably the little bells and D-rings.
But my main thing was, I discovered (to my great horror) that the “pouches” wet food was on Subscribe and Save. And oh, no, we do not want! Plus it looked like I’d miscalculated on quantity in the Petco food order. Luckily, I caught myself before ordering Purina Pro Plan Kitten Food though Amazon, as it was twice the cost of the same amount of Fancy Feast Kitten food. The bigger packages of the regular 5 oz cans (usual brands) are mostly unavailable reliably regularly. And I don’t find packs of 24 from Petco’s website for some reason. So Amazon it was, for 24 packs, and I found one 40 pack of the regular 5 oz cans. Bought enough to make sure I’m OK and overlap the next delivery. I may decide against Petco’s delivery for food, as it looks like there’s either no savings or a markup compared to Amazon.
Ordered some pet bowls in a good size and shape, but not any cheaper the others, only available sooner. So, whew, I should be caught up, but dang, going to have to re-figure how fast I’ll be using current plus incoming deliveries, to make sure I am not under-supplied in case of weirdness.
Plus, I need my friend to go by the office to pickup packages. I am underwhelmed with Uber’s insistence that oh, we won’t wait or do round-trips. This does not help me, to have to wait around on a pickup when it would make more sense to have a cabbie wait and do a round-trip.
Still not sure the ride will be available for the vet appt. this afternoon. So it may be tomorrow, postponed, if things don’t et scheduled right.
Still have the sinus, and I mfound and then misplaced a spare shower curtain, which would have been for the new house, but now will get used here.
Very glad for the orange juice, Tropicana 10 oz. pack of 24.
Gosh, my world feels too small lately. It was fun having the kittens playing and snoozing, but they really need to be adopted out. I will have to check to be sure, but I think they are around 3-1/2 months now, getting big and into everything, both a joy and a risk. They and mama are doing well lately, less worries on mishaps. Mama seems to have given them and me more leeway and freedom. — She has definitely stopped nursing; they’re weaned, several days now. — I believe Wizard still has, ah, undescended, not dropped his balls. So the little guy is somehow in-between or simply male but with his hormones or biochem not working quite like the average / norma male kitty. My inclination is still to keep him and Dubhan. Trying still to see if they are really bonded to me or if it’s just me wishing for that.
Goober is doing better with them and vice-versa. I wouldn’t say he and the kittens and mama are really on friendly terms yet, but he is sometimes OK sharing the bed with them now, at lest the kittens. Mama Peppercorn still doesn’t hang out on the bed any.
The window blinds above my bed are still OK. A knitted (store-bought) Mexican-style throw blanket will never be the same, but they like it. It’s folded up near the bed. So that’s fine, I’ll get another at some point.
So…nothing unusual, same-old, same-old.
I’m going to checkck YouTube for DIY cat / dog / pet collar making videos. I note that for 10 yards of the collar strap nylon webbing and the findings, minus the D-rings and jingle bells, that costs about the same as two store-bought collars. I’d guess 12 inches of strap for one adult collar, when you include needed folds. So roughly 30 collars from one 10 yard roll of webbing. No idea if cotton webbing such as is used in military / scouting style web belts is available in sizes for pet collars. I didn’t yet find any plaid or preprinted patterns for the webbing. I did find reflective tape and glow-in-the-dark tape, but I’m not sure about using those on collars. I’d want anything on the collars to be impossible for a cat, dog, baby, etc. to break off and swallow, non-toxic items used. But this is an idea well worth a look.
Additionally, I have wondered a few times, what would be involved in creating print designs for fabric printing. To make it feasible, you’d need a place that does cloth / fabric printing. But I wouldd think that could be done in most cities. Maybe not. For the webbing for pet collars, the would be more specialized, of course. I have no idea yet where to look.
@Tommie, do I recall correctly that you work / used to work for a cloth store or hobby store? Any idea on fabric printing? Just wondering. If you don’t know, that’s cool. Just musing aloud at this point anyway. Plus, I don’t have funds to sink into a full business, but small runs on the side to start up, maybe so. Anyway, this is worth a look-see for cots and feasibility.
The kittens’ appt. has been postponed until Monday, with a tentative reschedule for the Monday after that. It seems my friend managed to lose his card and has ordered a replacement. Meanwhile, I went through to setup the Uber app for my iMac, iPhone, and iPad, each time jumping through hoops with text messages for verification codes plus a reset of my old password, and possibly I have it set up. — But it does not show my apartment number, only the Main Street address, and nowhere did it prompt to save a card. By then, I’ve looked at multiple screens multiple times, squinted at thin, tiny type and an error message I could only guess at, too light bright red and too small. Also by then, I’d missed my window to get the cats loaded and out the door and to the vet’s, very nearly. That, and I’ve discovered the cords for my iPhone and iPad are somehow not compatible, despite that I think they’re supposed to be. I’ve ordered a new charger and longer cords for the too-short iPad cord, and hope that will help. So I’m frustrated at the further delay when I’d though this was going to be worked out by today, and by my own eyesight, and by the overly nutty technology that wants to send to a different device than the one you’re on, and…. Oh, why oh why can’t we have an easier way to authenticate and setup things, and a standard cable connector, or better yet, no need for a power and/or data cable? No kidding, multiple minutes to attempt to get it setup for a single user / account for computer, phone, and tablet. Each one had some stumble in the process, and each one wanted a verification code sent to my phone. And dang, Uber’s interface uses thin, small text.
So I called to reschedule with the vet’s office. They were patient and understanding. (Ah, double-entendre pun not intended, sorry.) But…dang.
Ooh, if I could see normally and see to drive. So aggravating so much of the time. The simplest things can turn complicated and inordinately frustrating or impossible or need to be scheduled way in advance, or end up rescheduled or else waiting interminably for what would normally be a simple thing.
— Every one of the pet collar making videos I’ve checked so far involves some degree of sewing through thick webbing or fabric. That is definitely not happening here. So I’ll keep ordering from stores or crafters.
If I could see to sew and had a sewing machine, I could do that, with a few supplies. Hah, and for the nylon or polypropylene crd, they all say to singe / melt the edges with a lighter or match or other heat source. That would seem to require good control.
However, I’m still curious about the fabric printing idea. Just not sure I can still handle a drawing app. But the process should be learnable, for turning a vector drawing or paint-type image into printed fabric, whatever kind of material.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in Self-Isolation performs Higher and Higher.
Notably, the background singers doing falsetto sing higher than the lady singing alto in the lead. And they do it with great commitment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm65dbcietQ
It might brighten your day. Or evening. Midnight? Hmm.
These folks are having fun. Looks like their other videos are fun too.
How you get from mac and cheese to spaghetti à la enchilada. Or quarantine living 101. Oh, and bonus language note: that’s three Romance languages in a row: Italian, French (à la), and Spanish. But no real French influence on the recipe, sorry.
I wanted Mac & Cheese. Turns out, I’m out. Don’t know how this happened, a serious oversight, surely. I mistook a box of Velveeta cheese sauce packets for Mac and Cheese, I think. Hmm, so, I have spaghetti noodles, I have tricolor rotini, I may still have rotini somewhere. But a lot of spaghetti from a mistaken bulk purchase. So I used that. Mac and Cheese packets (the spellchecker keeps insisting on capitalizing Mac, so I’m capitalizing Cheese, even though there’s no earthly reason…). Ah, so, a Velveeta cheese packet once the pasta was done. Hmm, that’s not enough for that much pasta. (I used about a cup or 1.5 cups of spaghetti broken into quarters, roughly.) I had an older package of grated Mexican-style cheese blend. Cool, use half in the bottom of a big container, but not mixed into the spaghetti and Velveeta in another container.
On the stove, the remainder, about half a pound, of cooked hamburger, leftover, into the pot. Add a larger (15oz?) can of Southwestern style corn. (Corn, black beans, red and green bell peppers, diced.) Add a large can of store-bought cheap enchilada sauce. I haven’t tried it before. I was going to make the enchilada sauce homemade for the other recipe. Yes, I could’ve / should’ve put the burger meat wrapped in corn tortillas in a casserole baking dish, but we started out to make Mac and Cheese, you see. Just go with it.
The enchilada sauce was way too thin before adding the undrained corn. OK, let that reduce down on simmer, loosely covered, stir often. When it’s reduced to a medium-thick sauce, it’s ready.
Pour the sauce over the grated cheese in the container and stir thoroughly. Discover you have room enough to pour in the pasta, just enough. But the Velveeta had thickened, so now you have to separate the noodles and stir this in with the sauce and cheese, but that was the intention anyway. Decide you should’ve added both cheeses on top of the sauce and blended, not the other way around, and not on the pasta. But there, it’s ended up fine, spaghetti all loose through the sauce and cheese, everything coating the noodles, and a good thickness, not runny.
Taste tet. Is this concoction edible? Oh, hey, that’s actually pretty good. Hmm, a bit too hot/spicy (caliente) for me, but it may mellow once it’s cooled in the fridge and reheated. I may add a small can of tomato paste or a couple of ounces of milk, or both.
This is not overly cheesy with the other ingredients, just about right, it’s in there for flavor and thickenening, body. About the right amount of beef too. So this tastes like a chili and spaghetti mix, closer to medium hot/spicy than to hot. The enchilada sauce, canned, store-bought, was supposed to be mild, but once concentrated down, it’s hotter. This would likely benefit from a homemade enchilada sauce. CJ and Jane might want it spicier; maybe add a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chiles or whatever their favorite is. — I have no idea how this compares to the chili and pasta they like to fix at the holidays.
Oh, the package of shredded Mexican-style cheese was large, bigger than 8 oz, either 16 or 32 oz. I used half the package, plus one pouch of Velveeta cheese sauce. I was also surprised the shredded cheese was not past the use-by date.
So ahem, not really fine cuisine, but maybe you all have all but the can of enchilada sauce, which I think is 16oz, a typical big can of it. I’d say there’s plenty of room to adjust this thrown-togethr thing to your liking. I’m very glad it tastes good. It’s surprisingly good, in fact. Good thing, because now I have a large container of it for the weekend.
I have one or two salads left from the recent grocery order, and not sure if I have Cole slaw. If I recall, I didn’t get the carrots I ordered; they were out. So it’ll be frozen veggies or canned something, which doesn’t really suit the dish, but we’ll do fine.
Why I didn’t just do enchiladas, rather than fix spaghetti noodles, I don’t know. But this turned out so well, I may do it again.
When I g et more hamburger, I’ll fix the homemade enchilada recipe, everything but the tortillas from scratch.
Note: If I had bell peppers, I might want a bell pepper diced and added to this.
Huh…this could be used as a filling for bell peppers or maybe a mild to not-too-hot pepper like a poblano? I don’t recall how hot a poblano pepper is. But this could work as a spicier Mexican-style (loosely) filling for peppers. Omit the pasta, substitute Mexican-style rice, maybe? Hmm….
¡Buen apetito! Salud y pesetas, prosperidad y felicidad.
I woke up at 3:00am, either on my own or the cats. I had Goober and all the kittens on the bed or by it last night. This was fine, actually, I liked it. They’re welcome.
So everyone including me got an early breakfast, there is food cooked for the weekend at least, and I think I’ll put half in freezer containers. The cats will get the remainder of the pouches for the evening and morning feedings, and we’ll be done with that exceedingly messy proposition.
I intend to work on the packing today, plus a load of laundry and the sheets.
If I get sufficiently caught up today, I may attempt to restart my website over the weekend, but likely it’ll be Tuesday instead.
I wonder what might make a good side dish or two for this. I feel like a fresh salad would be the thing, or maybe some roast Aramaic veggies. For some reason, I’m stuck on wanting oranges. I may need to order canned oranges in the meantime. Add Mac and Cheese to the list. Carrots with an orange glaze for a side dish for this? Hmm, it needs something as a veggie companion.
Take care, everyone. Hey, this helped my sinuses too. Hurray.
Head against wall… Oh, kitty…. Wizard somehow slipped his collar (and new tag) while playing or tussling with the other kittens. It and its predecessor are somewhere in the apartment. Where? I haven’t found them yet. I’m guessing around the same place. — So I’ve ordered another tag and a couple of collars, because I’m having trouble telling the two plaid collars apart at a glance, and Ducky’s collar is nearing the fuzzy, disreputable stage. I’m not getting another stars-and-moons collar for Wizard, but another style, pending finding the almost-new one.
Something that came up in a search for ID tags on PetSmart’s site, which I haven’t seen elsewhere yet: A fob or pendant described for dogs, Nite Ize LED something or other. One style can be set to flash or glow; the other can be set on/off glow. I’d guess those are too big and heavy for a cat or kitten or a small dog or puppy, but now I wonder if there’s something like it for cats. It might be handy for me at night. Motion activated, the cat’s motion, might be handy.
Kitten collars: Oh, you can get a few styles in a 6 to 8 (or so) size, so it’s not going to double over and be a kitten hazard, but hmm, some are hard to tell apart or don’t quite suit, and the color choices, to suit any given cat fur color / pattern, such as black, don’t always show up well. (Dark blue agains a black cat’s fur? Nope; dark colors in general, nope.) — For reasons unknown, certain bright colors don’t happen and any brownish color is hard to find. (For Dubhan / Beige Boy, I’ve tried that or olive or camo, and a camel / sandy plaid adult size collar is due.) I would’ve thought there’d e even more variety in patterns. And I’m trying to find ones that will ship quickly. So I’ve ordered, and these may get here next week. So for a while, the kittens are harder to tell apart, and Wizard’s collar and tg is somewhere in the apartment. I’ll keep looking. Darn cats. Only a couple of days…. I am not doing very well in avoiding expenses.
Haven’t gotten much done since I was sidetracked.
You know, I wish there were a way to easily do ID tags or pet collars at home, without the fuss of sewing, which I can’t do,. A metal or plastic tag blank that could be stamped or printed cheaply at home, not an expensive engraving machine, something like a Demo labeler for pet ID tags or human dog tags…. I bet a 3D printer could do something like that, but would it be durable for cats and dogs in their daily activities? Or what if you could print fabric at home? Maybe one setting for most fabrics, another for thicker and tougher ones like denim or faux-leather or nylon / polypropylene bands such as are used in pet collars, or the cotton webbing used in military belts…. Dang it, occasionally I get ideas like that, but I have no idea how to develop something like that. I’d think it wold be cool for fabric and sewing and crafts/hobby stores, t-shirt printing, and so on. Or theaters doing plays. Or maybe home crafters, if it were not too pricey.
Doing OK. I saw Mystic today, but by the time I got back with food, he’d gone off. He looks good. I thought it was Goober I heard this evening, but as it turned out, I think it was Mystic outside, or another cat. But opening the door with Peppercorn and 5 kittens there was not a good idea. Mystic or whoever it was missed out. But I’ll find a way to get some dry food out there. I am not sure if Mystic now has another home or not.
Still haven’t found Wizard’s recent collar and brand new tag. So it’s a good thing I ordered.
The spaghetti and enchilada dish — Trying that tonight, I see it needed less pasta or more sauce and meat. The spaghetti absorbed the liquid. This still tastes great but needs a bit of adjustment for another try, a better result.
The Texas governor outlined plans to reopen business and medical and other public services and gatherings, in stages from now through past May 1st. Some of these may sense IMHO, and others do not. But he’s claiming it will be well thought out and using data and medical science / doctors’ advice, along with public / business leaders. — Schools at all levels, primary, secondary, college / university, are closed through the end of the semester and until summer, with further announcements forthcoming.
This in some ways is sensible, and in others, feels like tempting fate from lifting quarantine too soon. I hope it goes fine. Meanwhile, I hear at least two states have extended the quarantine until May 15th.
I don’t know what’s ahead for closing on the new house and moving, or for giving away the kittens and mama to a shelter for adoption. Wait and see.
Perhaps because I have risk factors, my take is that until I can get at least an N95 mask–or there’s a cure or I take a reliable test that says I’ve improbably had COVID-19, or COVID dies out–I’m staying isolated. I don’t care what any level of government says.
I think if I had children, especially dependent children, I’d feel even more strongly.
And that mask for anyone at risk is a bargain: one mask to protect someone or dozens of masks if they’re hospitalized. And maybe an ICU bed, a ventilator, and a dialysis machine.
I’m certain it’s different for Houston’s oil and chemical industries, but my area is pretty white-collar, so most people can work from home. They aren’t going to come out and spend money in places with strangers close by–restaurants, theaters, stadiums, Disneyland…–until they feel very confident. So, the bulk of the money is going to stay in their pockets. And on the whole, they’re saving the time and money of commuting, and getting more time with family–sure, sometimes maybe too much.
One problem is, “The Curve.” That curve is theoretical and aspirational. Once you level off and start down, you don’t necessarily keep going down. Instead, if people start getting close enough to pass the virus, you go back to exponential growth: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024,…. Earlier, cases in the US were doubling as fast as every 2 days; much of the time, every 3 days. A month can mean 1000x. If we flip-flop between loosening and re-tightening, people will get confused and frustrated and angry, I think.
This isn’t like most disasters. It doesn’t act like a storm or an earthquake. It’s more like a fire: it burns until everything has burnt. You don’t get a fire 90% or even 99% contained and say, “Well, good enough: we’ll send the firefighters home now.” If you do, the fire leaks out and burns everything it can reach. Even the fire analogy has the flaw that weather can work against the fire, pushing it back on the burnt area; we have no such ally against the virus. The virus expands in all the directions a path exists. Studies have confirmed that people spread COVID-19 best before they have symptoms. Oh, and the doctors and nurses can’t yet go out and vaccinate people: as long as that’s true, they are not the firefighters, we are.
___
We had a red tide locally, a high population of often smelly, rarely toxic algae in the ocean. Sometimes, the algae is bioluminescent. And in this case, very bright and beautiful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvob6L8q3I8
Wow, Walt, that is a beautiful video of an extraordinary sight!
Thanks for sharing it.
I think it was in Calc I or II that we had a small number of exercises on exponential growth and financial problems. There was no real explanation for the financial equations, but there was a simple explanation for one of the exponential growth problems, involving how fast a certain bacterium doubled in something like 15 to 30 min. We were told to determine the total population, and I don’t recall if there was a certain target or a subtraction for how fast they died or were otherwise consumed. The figure was truly astounding, even though I knew about how fast the powers of two become huge, and that’s just two, not say, ten or larger.
But yeah, even without a summation, if they double every 2 days, then that’s 2^15 for a month, which is something like 32768 from a single virus specimen. 2^16 = 65536. Funnily enough, those are basic numbers from 16-bit integers. But 2^32 is either 2 or 4 billion and something, and that’s again not a summation, only the high value after two months and two days. In two months and four days, you have way more than 8 to 16 billion, plus all those viruses still around from previous generations / iterations. So from a single virus, you have, in less than two months and a week, way more than enough to infect every single human on the planet.
Of course, some quantity of those get destroyed by various means, and some number of people will have better, faster immunity and will be less affected or develop immunity. On the other hand, some number of people will become seriously ill, possibly with lasting or permanent after-effects, and some number of people will die from the virus. And that’s the curve again. Some people will get infected quickly, some late, and maybe somehow, some population distributed worldwide will never bet it, by random chance or careful precautions or isolation. Again, that curve. That’s a simplistic summary, I’m sure.
On the third hand (huh? lol), there is also how fast people, once infected, develop immunity. Some won’t get it again once they have developed immunity. Some might get it twice or more times. (Colds, flu, chicken pox, others can be gotten more than once.) But that population that becomes immune, the more that increases, the better chance of that “herd immunity” growing. Meanwhile, we need an estimated 18 months, I think it was, to develop a vaccine; and I’ve heard they have a promising lead in a very primitive form of vaccination, passing blood plasma from people who’d developed immunity after having the virus, to people who were uninfected. That harkens back to how vaccinations were first developed, but would need to be greatly refined, if it works, into a vaccine. Meanwhile, new mutations can pop up from the virus or from others.
All in all, it’s a wonder how well our bodies, any living complex organisms, are able to create antibodies and thus immunity, once an invading virus or bacterium hits an individual.
For all our modern technology, science, medicine, engineering, and so on, we are not as advanced as we like to think we are. A natural disaster or a biological risk like an epidemic or pandemic, and we are still thrust into severe trouble capable of damaging or slowing entire cities, right down to, as we’re seeing, whole countries.
Meanwhile, I continue having sinus and allergy symptoms. At least that’s what I think they are. As a kid and young teen, I had some respiratory illness (cold, flu, bronchitis) every winter, but into adulthood, that became rare. Somehow, the last few years, I’ve rarely been really sick, but have had things a few times, respiratory or gastrointestinal bugs. So maybe my system has built up a good amount of immunity, such that it might be better able to fight off similar but not identical crud. Or maybe I just have had less risk factors from what amounts to being almost a hermit at times.
The people at my apartment complex still gather, adults and kids. The kids in particular play, inside and especially outside. That hasn’t really lessened any. Parents are, I guess, desperate for relief, or they aren’t heeding the risks. Both, likely.
Well, in the long run, most people are going to be exposed at some point, sooner or later By isolating, that greatly reduces the chance for the stuff to spread, and increases the chances for it to be cut off from paths of contagion and growth, while it also gives us a chance to develop immunity in the population and a vaccine to be developed.
I intend to self-isolate by default, through this. I’ll still have to go out for the kittens’ vaccinations, and at the end of the month, hopefully places will reopen so I can give the kittens and mama away. Past that, I still hope for the chance to close on the house and move in. Then I’m into a new phase, but still likely mostly isolated.
Things do have to reopen at some point, either the start of May or mid-May or June…or in stages, likely. At some point, we have to be able to return to normalcy. But there is no need to rush that. It would be really foolish to go back to normal contact too soon and fan the flames, so to speak. That would only boost the curve back into exponential growth. I’m for keeping things quarantined at lest through the end of April and possibly into mid-May. — But aargh, please let there be one or both no-kill shelters open so I can give the cats away. I love ’em dearly, but I can’t do this forever, 7 cats is too many, and they’re going to need neutering next, in only a couple of months. For one or two, OK, sure, but five…eek…and the food and litter bills….
Anyway, I’m hoping most people will be smart about this and listen to good advice, instead of rushing headlong into restarting disaster.
Ah, I am indeed glad my friend brought by toilet paper, and I would surely like to get all my groceries in the next few orders. But still, smarter is better in the long run.
Huh, the masks I ordered still show mid-May for delivery. The alcohol wipes arrived. Still awaiting the gloves. — And I have no idea yet if I’ll be frantically rerouting May’s Amazon Pantry delivery to the new house, or still awaiting it here, along with other May deliveries.
Riding it out here in my apartment. I hope everyone does well where they are, and stays well and happy.
@BCS, from what I understand, the plasma infusion is not a vaccine, it’s a treatment. The antibodies in the plasma do not replicate, nor do they stimulate your own immune system to make more of these antibodies.
As long as they are active in your blood they can attack the virus, so if you have a bad Covid-19 infection and your own immune system isn’t fighting it off strongly enough, those borrowed antibodies can support your own immune response, but they do get used up doing so. So if you’re regularly in a virus-rich environment you can’t count on them keeping you safe for long – very different from an effective vaccine response.
They also degrade over time, like all cells, even if they don’t get used up. I don’t know how long they last but I’d be a bit surprised if it was more than 6-8 weeks (and maybe much less – some kinds of human cells are replaced in six days, some every 3 or 6 weeks, others last several months, IIRC).
@BCS, from what I understand, the plasma infusion is not a vaccine, it’s a treatment. The antibodies in the plasma do not replicate, nor do they stimulate your own immune system to make more of these antibodies.
I am not a doctor, I may have gotten the details wrong!
With that warning, this is what I understand of how it works.
As long as they are active in your blood they can attack the virus, so if you have a bad Covid-19 infection and your own immune system isn’t fighting it off strongly enough, those borrowed antibodies can support your own immune response, but they do get used up doing so. So if you’re regularly in a virus-rich environment you can’t count on them keeping you safe for long – very different from an effective vaccine response.
They also degrade over time, like all cells, even if they don’t get used up. I don’t know how long they last but I’d be a bit surprised if it was more than 6-8 weeks (and maybe much less – some kinds of human cells are replaced in six days, some every 3 or 6 weeks, others last several months, and some last years IIRC).
If the antibody-producing cells of your own immune system are producing them, they will keep on replenishing them. Those antibody-factory cells learn what they need to make antibodies against by helper cells bringing them bits of the invaders’ coats: see, this bit of invader-coat doesn’t belong here, so if you factory-cell now make a specially-shaped bit of protein that exactly fits with that and will latch on to it, that bit (the antibody) can either disable it or signal to other immune cells to come along and clear this rubbish out.
Those factory cells live a long time; I once was told by my physician that once they’ve been trained to produce a certain kind of antibodies (like against cat dandruff) you have to go 30 years without encountering that stimulus for those factory cells to forget, before the last factory cell with the training to produce that antibody died out (i.e., before I could try again to keep a cat – and as not meeting cats for 30 years was not going to happen, the chance of growing out of my allergy was slight. I’m just lucky that Persian cats don’t produce the specific protein I react to…). If you do encounter the stimulus (e.g. a measles bacterium) again while the original antibody-producing factory cells are still active, this means both that you don’t get sick (the antibodies deal with it before if does much damage), but also that younger antibody-producing cells get trained to continue that response – hence, life-long immunity.
This is probably an awful oversimplification, from my memories of teenage biology lessons and what I’ve read over the years.
If anyone has better knowledge, please correct me.
Please disregard my first comment below, it was posted accidentally while half completed and I don’t know how to remove it!
I mean the first one that starts with
@BCS, from what I understand, the plasma infusion is not a vaccine, it’s a treatment.
Grrr, why can’t I edit the first line? Why does it get the fat black bar overlaying it so I can’t see it?
It’s the first comment of the rwo above this, not below…
@CJ, if you read this and want to unsnarl my triple posting here, you could delete this one and the first of these three, leave just the middle one.
Spooky, when technology is not quite as good as you think it is. — I was humming along, doing laundry folding, and came back in the room to hear “…has been issued for your location,” in a male computer voice similar to Siri, presumably from one of my Apple devices. — Er, huh, wait, what? Please don’t let that be emergency services, there’s no need, was my first thought. — I looked at my iPhone’s notifications, and text-messages, and phone-messages, and then thought of the Weather apps. No text echo and no note about the weather showed up. Huh. — Some minutes later, it got dark-ish outside and did rain briefly. But the forecast steadfastly shows no great chance of rain or flood, so…huh. — All previous weather or emergency alerts have been text with a warning tone. — But this is my best and only guess as to what happened. I don’t think my phone or iPad or computer got bumped, and no sirens or other pandemonium has ensued, so I think I’m fine. But gee, there’s nothing like wondering what was going on, when you were going right along, having a good time, doing chores, very mundane, and you expected nothing untoward. — Ah, at least the pod bay doors didn’t open.
Got a little done, but it was mostly weekly chores and some organizing toward the move. So, good, but I’m still not done. I’ll be continuing steadily, likely, but leaving time when I get up or during the evening, unless I feel especially motivated and can be quiet about it so I don’t bother neighbors.
That neighbor’s little girl…someone needs to sit on that child. Whine, cry, yammer loudly, either she’s getting in trouble or thinks someone or something else is getting her in trouble, just about constantly, wanting attention, I think, and being a brat, misbehaving A LOT. And I can hear this through the windows any time she’s outside. I think the mom tries, but maybe doesn’t follow through enough with punishment to make a lasting impression. I’ve heard the mom talk to her daughter reasonably. I’ve heard the mom lose her cool. I’ve heard the mom make serious threats to kick the girl’s butt or to make her go to her room if she doesn’t behave. Her brother and aha, that other name is indeed her big sister, are often targets of supposed wrongdoing by them against the little girl. Sometimes that’s true, but more often, it sounds like just bickering or — the little girl taking offense and starting a big commotion, whine, cry, tell mommy, etc. (The girl is between toddler and kindergarten age, I’d guess, from seeing her.) I feel for the mom, who sounds smart and decisive, together, with it. I guess the little girl just hasn’t learned better yet, and is very, oh very, headstrong and into everything. And fussy, bratty, like anything, too. — I think the mm and friend / boyfriend / male relative are nice people. I have some sympathy for the two older kids, who are young too, and have to endure this plus their own childhood misbehaviors and good times. — And dang, there is so little social distancing / isolation going on there. Just, aargh, it gets to me at times more than others, but it’s almost daily.
The cats are fine. I onearly miscalculated about moist food, and I think I may have overdone it to compensate, but it will get used, when it arrives. Hah, and the kittens have been wanting more time with me. They’ve discovered they like being petted and they like sleeping with me or near me, or in the room when I’m awake and busy. Mama Peppercorn spends most of her time in the living room or spare bedroom. — I missed Mystic today and think it was him I heard this afternoon once. — Goober has been alternately putting up with and fussing at the kittens, but also has been tolerating them near him to nap or hang out. He has even braved he bed with them on it, to get attention, petting, from me, though he still doesn’t always stay to sleep past that when they are there. Sometimes he has. I’m counting this as progress. — Unicorn has been better about jumping / climbing at feeding time, hough she isn’t yet cured of that bad habit. And three times in the past couple of days, kittens (different ones) have thought investigating m lap, getting some petting, maybe snoozing a while, were good ideas. Hurray, they are finally really socializing. They may be learning better manners about playing with humans. They haven’t had any severe problems with that, so I feel good about their chances of adoption now. Peppercorn has maybe mellowed a bit. She is learning she can get petting too, that I tend to give her a little attention now more than I was since before she was spayed, and for a while there after, while she was still testy. She still surely has that aggressive side in there, but I think she’s learning better about how to read me and avoid problems of either of our making. This is most, most welcome, if it’s indeed what I hope I’m seeing. She has gotten out the front twice, but has been fine with me bringing her back in. Heh, I think she decided that this inside thing is a really cushy deal, much safer and nicer than being outside, plus she wants t be around her kittens still, a good mom, though now they are more independent and she likes that too. I suspect her milk is still drying up, given what I see of her belly. I haven’t had a good look at her incision, but from all other indications, she’s ben fine, not worrying at it, clean, and healthy, healing up on track. I am very glad she likes being in and is mellowing. I hope she’ll get an understanding owner who can get past any initial or periodic aggressive tendencies in her protecting herself, adapting to her new home, when that happens. Despite that strong alpha aggressive tendency when she feels she needs to protect herself, she is otherwise good, sweet, and learning, I think.She’s a good cat, a good mama, and I want her to get a very good home and family / owner. I can only hope.
So, inching forward on progress. I just hope I get more done so I’m all ready by the time I’m ready to move. — My best guess is, it’ll be the week after May 1st at earliest, if they reopen May 1st. Eegad, the longer this goes, the closer it is to my else coming up for renewal. But until I know I’m packed, I will need to get more done.
So, all told, doing OK, just very ho-hum everyday goings on, here.
BCS, didn’t you turn off alerts a few days ago? That might be something. And since you use an iPhone, try searching the app store for sleep. I think you’ll probably find a free white noise generator to help you sleep. Seriously, I find white noise is the best sleep aid short of a mallet, and doesn’t lead to headaches.
All in the US might keep checking on Amazon Fresh. Product availabilty seems better, though delivery slots are still difficult. I don’t know why Amazon doesn’t just hold the order and email when slots become available.
I habitually have shopped at Trader Joe’s, but they don’t offer delivery or even pickup. One thing I notice about groceries, especially cheese, is that it’s like the taste is turned down to 3 when I’m used to 7-10. Sharp cheddar tastes like mild; mild, like American cheese.
This morning I found the culprit. It was the iPad doing the speech weather alerts. A severe thunderstorm alert came through several times, and so I found out where it was coming from. — And whew, when it hit, that was indeed some storm. It hit something nearby, some grounding point, lightning rod, something. Startled me and the felines took off, then decided I was the safest choice. All of them, including Goober and Peppercorn, have been hanging out in the bedroom with me since then. Before the storm hit, I had, ah, call it an enforced voluntary work break, LOL. Two kittens, Wizard and Unicorn, thought my lap was a great spot for a nap. This is a big step. Dubhan also tried, but then got in the window. Everyone left when the lightning hit; and then they came back when they all decided I was the safest bet. I feel very flattered that they’ve come to trust me that much. I’m surprised, though, that they didn’t hide under the bed.
After the lightning hit, I frantically shut down the computer and unplugged everything. — And decided to replace the old surge protector. — And I can’t find the spare battery charger for the 18650 batteries, so I’ve ordered another, even though I’m sure the spare is here somewhere. — Then the wrist strap on my pocket flashlight (one of them) broke. I found wrist straps of the kind I need, cheap, so that’s good. — The charger is a Snapo 4 bay universal charger with a USB cord. The ones with a regular wall outlet plug are twice as expensive; why, I don’t know.
The storm has passed, and I’m back to watching videos, “Boruto: Naruto Next Generation,” although I haven’t ever watched all of the original Naruto or the Shippuden after. I’m liking’s Boruto, but it could almost be Naruto instead, with only a couple of changes in powers. Heh.
— Wizard’s collar and tag showed up. I’m going to wash the collar and save it, and continue with the current one a while. His first collar still is somewhere in the apartment, but wasn’t with the second one. I’m glad to have the second one and his tag. His new tag is due by the weekend, next one, that is.
I wonder how often now the kittens will want to be in my lap. The others haven’t tried it yet, but now I think they might. I’m counting it as a milestone for trust and socialization. Also, Ducky thought it was safe enough early this morning that he could roll onto his back for a tummy rub, which surprised me. So they are doing well. Peppercorn may have mellowed just a fraction too.
I’ve eaten up the salads, which means I’m again out of fresh veggies, since carrots and other items didn’t get delivered. Too soon to put in another order, though.
White noise, I may try an app.
We hadn’t thought of a white noise phone app. I bought one of the small white noise generators for babies; it has several sound settings. We eventually settled on one that sounds like surf. It satisfactorily drowns out cats yelling at oh-dark-thirty.
Sounds like you’re going to need a bigger lap. 😉
The reason an AC charger is more expensive is that USB provides 5 volts DC (Direct–unchanging–Current, like a battery), which is suitable for charging batteries with no more than a cheap resistor to drop voltage if that. It just looks like a cable.
An AC charger has to take 120 volt AC (Alternating Current, like a generator–alternating from +120V to -120V in a sine wave 60 times a second*, which would probably fry the battery and wouldn’t charge anything because it nets out to zero volts), drop it to the charging voltage with a transformer, rectify it (so it no longer alternates; with a diode bridge [qv], ideally), and possibly smooth out the sine wave bumps. That’s what’s in the “brick” in a device charger.
* +240V to -240V 50 times per second in Europe and much of the world.
(I described a classic AC to DC converter. Another is a switching power supply [qv]–what your computer certainly uses. It’s also more expensive than the almost nothing in a USB charger, but I don’t know which is in bricks these days. Wikipedia suggests switching power supplies are nearly universal now.)
It’s kind of a rerun of Edison vs. Westinghouse, only Edison wins; qv:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_currents
And Wikipedia can give you as much as you want on any of this–but, you have to know what to call it to look it up. 😉
We had an odd alert sound, going off on weekends only, at 6 AM. Looked on the phones, iPad, computers, etc. Found nothing,
And then, I realized that our “old people” clock was to blame. More specifically, it has 3 alarms that provide “daily”, “weekdays’, or “weekend” alarms. Somehow (the user interface buttons are on the back, but display is front, so setting is awkward), probably at daylight savings change-time, alarm 3 was enabled. For, you guessed it, weekends at 6.
It’s off now.
PS. This thing is great, highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XVP2HS6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Heh. The clock on my headboard is a simple digital alarm clock. when I moved into my former house, I had trouble getting clear radio signals because of a problem with the house antenna. For a while there, I tried various alarm clocks, clock radios, and whoa, a couple of models with CD players. I came to the conclusion that no two digital clocks (or watches) are set the same way. The interface buttons and sequences are always weird. I discovered this February and March that my current two digital watches, purchased within the last 10 years, can’t automatically handle leap years. Their chips must be really old and simple.
In one of the boxes that did make it to my apartment is a wall clock similar to that one, Aja Jin. Thank you. Although that one may be nicer. It’ll likely get hung at the new house. I’m still assuming the new house will happen. (Sigh.) Thanks, Aja Jin.
Walt thanks for that explanation. That was easy enough for me, without EE training, to understand. LOL, “old people’s clock,” as Aja Jin put it. I wear a wristwatch because that still makes practical sense to me. My “smart” phone is so overworked with other functions, yet its screen can be hard to read in bright light or low light, and lately, almost no one seems to use a physical keypad for, you know, basic phone functions, the main pint of the thing. I sincerely with phone designers would take a step back and think of practical usability. One of my first cell phone models wasn’t perfect, but it had a good keypad and a readout for a few lines of text, including the phone number, visible most of the time.
“These kids today” (under 30 or so) and a lot of us “old(er) people” have gotten to where we rely on our cell phones for a watch, phone, etc., etc. — But reading an ebook or watching a video or surfing a website on a phone is, for me, just about impossible: the screen’s too small. (My current iPhone has a larger screen. My iPad has the nice larger screen. The last I saw, the Kindle tablets don’t yet offer a really big letter / magazine size screen.) — I wonder at what point they’ll realize making a rugged product with a robust interface that’s easier to use, makes more sense than so much of what we’ve got currently. Products need to do their most basic functions, no matter what: lighting conditions, poor outages, wifi outages, easy controls, you name it. — But there is good stuff out there, they do keep innovating, and the ability to carry around an entire music library or book library or video library, as long as you can store or download the content when you want, is really, really miraculous.
(I am not in love with my iPhone. When the previous model got full and then refused to update or to delete whatever content it thought made it full, so much so that its phone functions wee compromised, I was, oh, not happy. But I didn’t know if I’d like an Android phone or be able to figure out the interface fast enough.)
I can’t be the only one who gets frustrated with the weirdly spotty state of current technology, and the rapid outdating of it, planned obsolescence, dead file formats or physical media, and so on.
Hah< had to order a cord for one of my devices, and had to figure out which dang cord it took, and hope it's indeed the right one, even though it says compatible. We've gotten so many cord types, and so many proprietary hardware models for consumer electronics….
Meh, is this the computer age version of "medaling kids, get off my lawn?" Hahah.
(It has been strangely quiet of cats outside at night lately. I haven't seen Mystic since two or three days ago.)
Alas, nothing will drown out the upstairs neighbors moving around. — At midnight and at 3am last night, and then this evening. Don't know what they were doing at night, but this evening, it was again the herd of elephants, which is, I presume, the kids playing.
I attempted to sleep just now, but couldn't relax enough to do so. So I'm up and going to watch video again before trying to sleep after 11pm or so.
Still not sure if the cab ride will work for the vet appt. tomorrow. It may end up pushed to next Monday instead. I'll find out tomorrow morning sometime.
A friend went from iPhone to Android. His only problem was the different keyboard; once I showed him how to switch the layout, no problem. (It’s on the keyboard, so he would have stumble on it eventually.)
Turning the phone to landscape may make some things bigger. And often you can “unpinch” to zoom in.
I’ve only had a smartphone for a couple years, from not having any particular use for one. Then I had a use, and I found Android easy to use. And…it is useful for navigation; easier and less distracting than a map. (I think Google Maps can give walking directions, though I haven’t really tried it. Also, mass transit. I think Maps is available on iPhone, but I’m not sure.) And I alway have my shopping lists, to-do lists, etc.
Apple’s “Walled garden” and high prices rub me the wrong way.
Most important feature: “Okay Google! … Set a one second timer.” A good way to find my phone when it disappears.
Ducky “disappeared” his collar and tag overnight. I haven’t located it yet. Sigh. I’ve ordered another tag and another collar. I am going to put in for spare tags for the other three kittens. Sigh.
EeAaRrGgHh. One of the kittens, I don’t know who, apparently peed on the bed, unnoticed, sometime yesterday, probably evening. I didn’t smell it; both stuffy nose and not-so-smelly kitten stuff. I’m changing the bed once I get them fed. The load will have to wait, in a trash bag so it doesn’t add smell where it sits, until the load in the washer is rewashed. Dadgum darn kittens…. I am counting this a mistake, and I don’t know which one to punish for it, and I slept overnight on the other side, unknowing. Sigh. Aarrgh.
Dubhan and possibly Wizard, or else another one, slept with me last. night. Goober stayed a little while but then left. He raised no comment about the bed. EEgad.
Otherwise doing OK. Using up the last of the dreaded messy pouch cat food this morning, because I’d fed them regular a couple of times over the weekend. I don’t know if others feel this way, but the wet food pouches, to me, are messy and you don’t get all the food out, no matter how you squeeze or shake. So the gain in less bulky trash is lost to this. Also, how can plastic foil pouches be more recyclable than cans, which are definitely recyclable? Moot point, since my apt. complex does not separate recyclables at all It all goes in the dumpster, and heaven help anyone doing anything with that.The kittens are otherwise doing fine, and I would’ve said ell behaved. — I made a small dent in things yesterday, but hope to get more done this week. I don’t know if I’ll get it all finished this week, but hoping to be faster and more diligent with it.
Boruto – I only found one season on Amazon and nothing on Netflix for it, but apparently, it is a few years old too. So I’m left with a cliffhanger. Oh well, on to other shows, including a rewatch to get back to wherever I was on the first Naruto.
I am in the mood to rewatch Firefly.
I discovered I needed to be able to concentrate in order to listen to the rest of the Dreaming Tree. Only a few chapters left. Presently not looking too good for our heroes, and something major is surely going to happen.
I wish Cloud’s Rider and Rider at the Gate were in audiobooks. I also wish so for Merchanter’s Luck and Finity’s End.
Ah, got to feed the cats. They’re running around, letting me know they’re restless and hungry.
Off the topic of masks for a moment,
Nice podcast interview with Betsy, talking mainly about her father, with a really great CJ vignette at about 53 minutes (a story I’d never heard). They mention CJ’s initial sales to Don, also talk publishing in general (Don’s time at Avon, Ace, and DAW), and Philip K Dick in particular, hence the podcast name “Dickheads”.
Betsy said she is currently 200,000 pages “behind” on editing. Wow.
Hello, Dickheads. Shut-in as we are against the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we were still able to get together on Google Hangouts and have a great conversation with the President, co-Publisher, and co-Editor-in-Chief of science fiction and fantasy publisher DAW Books, Betsy Wollheim. She shares some of her vast knowledge with us built out of a lifetime in the publishing industry after being taught the ropes by her famous (and sometimes infamous) father, Donald Allen Wollheim. Enjoy.
https://soundcloud.com/dickheadspodcast/interview-15-betsy-wollheim-daw-books-donald-a-wollheim