Ya Can Take the Cat out of the Jungle, But Can’t Take the Jungle Out of the Cat!

This is my mighty hunter perched on the windowsill, with her head through the cat door flap, surveying her territory. Five pounds of Queen of the Apartment Complex.

Yes, my kitty reverted to her jungle roots once again. She burst through her little cat door in the window with a bird in her mouth.

I yelled and threw my jacket at her.

It worked—she dropped the bird.

I chased the cat and actually caught her then walked out the front door and onto the deck still clutching her in my arms.

Now what do I do with her!?

My neighbors saw me, asked what I was doing, and when I told them about the bird, they laughed at me. I threatened to toss her over the railing, but no one believed me.

Still clutching the cat, I went back inside and spotted the bird now fluttering around the furniture. The cat went nuts trying to get out of my arms. I tossed the cat in the bathroom and firmly closed the door.

Al and I are now cheering for the non-dead bird flitting around the living room and laughing at the cat yowling from behind the bathroom door.

The poor bird finally found its way out through the open storm door. I watched it fly down into the parking lot. It was stunned, but it did fly away to safety.

We let the cat out of the bathroom and laughed as she hunted around the furniture, sniffing behind every piece of furniture and knick-knack that the bird had landed upon. It really was amazing to wonder just how the cat only checked the places that the bird had been. Just how much scent could that bird have left in just the few moments of flitting around the room and briefly landing on random furniture?

And the cat actually sulked for a few days. She would NOT come near either of us. Did not want us to pet her, would not answer when we called.

But don’t worry, a few days later she found a mouse.

Sigh.

Winter Storm Names 2014-15

The following is from the Weather Channel, www.weather.com. They have again chosen 25 names to be used for storms in the 2014-2015. Their web site even has a challenge to vote on the name for “W”: Warren, Wilda, Willie, Woden or Wolf.

Ocean Effect Snow !?!?

Today was a Nor’easter called Damon, pretty easy on Central Jersey, but did wreak havoc everywhere else, including airlines. It had the usual: high winds, biting cold and torrential rain, and SNOW! It also gave us the new term Ocean Effect Snow!? I even Googled it and I think the weather people are just screwing with us.

Astro (as-tro) – In Greek, it means star.

Bozeman – In honor of the Miss Shupe’s Bozeman High School Latin class, which provided the 2013-2014 list of winter storm names.

Cato (cay-to) – The name of a Roman statesman and his great-grandson, who were both known for integrity.

Damon (day-mon) – From Greek mythology; known for his loyalty.

Eris (air-is) – From Greek mythology; the goddess of discord.

Frona (froh-na) – Greek, short for Sofronia; related to the word for wise.

Gorgon (gore-gon) – From Greek mythology, one of three monsters; serpentine humanoids.

Hektor (hek-tor) – From Greek mythology, the Trojan champion who was killed by Achilles.

Iola (eye-oh-la) – From Greek mythology, a variant spelling of Iolë, a beautiful woman who Hercules wanted to marry, but could not.

Juno (joo-no) – From Roman mythology, a goddess who looked after the women of Rome.

Kari (care-ey) – A Finnish name derived from the Greek name Makarios from old-Greek meaning blessed or happy.

Linus (ly-nus) – From Greek Mythology, a son of Apollo known as a great musician.

Marcus (mar-cuss) – An Ancient Roman name referring to Mars, the god of war.

Neptune (nep-toon) – From Roman mythology, the god of the sea.

Octavia (ok-tay-vee-a) – The sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, who was also known as Octavian.

Pandora (pan-door-a) – From Greek mythology, the first human woman created by the gods.

Quantum (kwan-tom) – From the Latin word quantus, meaning how much.

Remus (ree-mus) – From Roman mythology, one of the founding brothers of Rome, along with Romulus.

Sparta (spar-ta) – Prominent Greek city that was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War.

Thor (thor) – From Scandinavian mythology, god of thunder and rain.

Ultima (uhl-tee-ma) – From Latin, feminine version of ultimus meaning last, furthest, final.

Venus – From Roman mythology, the goddess of love.

W ??? – Help us choose! Take the poll on this page.

Xander (zan-der) – Dutch form of Latin name, Alexandrus.

Yuli (you-lee) – Basque for the Latin name, Julius.

Zelus (zell-us) – From Greek mythology, personifies dedication, envy, jealousy, and zeal.

Respect the Handicapped Placard!

For those of you who live out of the United States (and I thank you for browsing), those people who are legitimately handicapped, may order a blue placard to hang from the car’s rear view mirror. This will entitle the driver to use specially marked parking spaces by the front door. These spaces are clearly marked with bright blue lines and a large sign warning of fines and community service.

And yes, when the police officer pulls up and questions you for parking there, faking a limp will not help.

However these parking privileges are for those who are handicapped, not for the entitled idiot driving the car. This includes those who grab the best spots, because the ‘driver’ NOT the handicapped person, doesn’t feel like walking. So they use the spots and leave some helpless person to fend for themselves.

That being said…

I pulled into a local business and spotted a healthy woman walking away from a car parked in the handicapped spot. Yes, the tag was there, but I was curious.

Inside the business, the woman turned to me and began chatting.

Drat, I knew her. SHE is NOT handicapped, her husband is, however, he was not with her. She has always complained about her weight, well maybe walking just a little farther will help her walk the fat off her butt!

My Cousin

Several years ago, my cousin (who has secondary Polio) told me a great story about a sports car that took up 2 handicapped spots outside a restaurant.

So when my cousin legally parked in the only 2 handicapped spots, he blocked the entitled idiot in!

The offender loudly complained to the manager, that he only came in to use the payphone, and that WHOEVER blocked him must move their car NOW!

My cousin and his friend enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while watching the entitled driver attempt to maneuver his car around my cousin’s car.

Score one for the good guys.

Sadly, this will not be the only post on those who abuse this privilege.

Cat Tech Support

Pets are like 2-year-olds: they either try to help or just need to under your feet and be center of your world.

It had been a frustrating day trying to hook up new computer equipment and it did not go well. Then after a lengthy conversation with the cable company’s tech support, they admitted that they sent the wrong equipment! Even the Tech Support guy was annoyed that they keep shipping this equipment. AAAARRGH!

However, EVERY cable, EVERY component had to be re-packaged and returned, and sadly, all these pieces were mixed in with my cables, cords and even my old Linksys box.

Everything was spread over the bed, and a friend was helping me re-sort and re-package the mess.

And the cat wanted to help.

We threw her off the bed.

She came back.

She batted at the cords as we wound them up.

She knocked the little boxes to the floor.

I wanted to box HER UP! She is NOT cute anymore. Sigh.

She just needed to remind us that she is in charge.

BoBo, More than a Pet

Such sad news, this has taken me over a month to post. Last month was the end for BoBo, my Lab/Rotweiller mix.

He had the bark and waggle of a Rottweiler, but the face and heart of a Lab. So much more than a pet, he was the apartment building's mascot, followed me into every unit while working and supervised me while working in the gardens. That was his favorite, laying in the front yard while watching the world stroll by. Whenever anyone walked down the block, he would wag and smile at them like they were his best friends, however at 100 pounds, many people would cross the street.

He was a self-walking dog, as we caught him many times pushing the storm door open, trotting downstairs to do his thing, then pulling the storm door back open and flopping on the rug beside me, but sometimes, he would just stroll outside and lay on the deck to peruse his domain. Although sometimes while he was supposed to be helping me out back, he would become bored and stroll home on his own, sparking a few panic phone calls to see if he arrived home.

He would chase a tennis ball forever. He knew which cabinet the new can of tennis balls was kept in and would freeze, studying my every move, hoping that I would open the can and give him a new tennis ball.

One night his hips simply collapsed and we knew it was time to let him go. God bless my neighbors, as EVERY man I texted for help, responded immediately: Two of them carefully carried him down to my car in a sling made from my sheets and gently placed him in the backseat of my car.

The last morning when I let him out, he was so bad! He walked around the fence around the front yard, and strolled on my lawn (he was banned from there), smelled all the flowers and I swear he peed on the No Doggie sign, then he leapt over the mini fence and walked back up the stairs as if to say, “I still got it!”

On his last morning he dined on hotdogs, Burger King (including onion rings), peanut butter (his favorite), and lots of cookies. If I had fudge in the house, he would have had that too!

Pets steal our hearts and rule our homes. What a blessing they are!