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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Cat Ready for a Day at Work

Zyelena sitting in a briefcase, ready to go to work.

For my wife the hardest part of every day was leaving for work. Her cat, Zyelena, would do everything she could to keep her from leaving. The cat would do everything she could to slow Toni down as she got ready. In the sweetest possible way, of course, so how could you scold her? She'd try to distract Toni, cuddle with her during breakfast, lead her away from the door, and block the door.

Finally, when it was clear that Toni was going to leave, she'd get the most hurt little expression on her face. She not only looked disappointed, she looked heartbroken. You could tell she felt betrayed. But she would keep looking at Toni, as if waiting for a last minute change of heart. It was wrenching to have to close the door on that sweet little face.

Day after day she'd try one thing after another. Of course, nothing worked. Sometimes Zyelena could get mom to come back to her for a few moments, but never to stay.

Then one morning Zyelena had an idea.

Toni was ready to go. She steeled herself for the heartbroken looks she'd get as she headed for the door.

Instead, the cat had a bright, happy look on her face. She trotted over to Toni's briefcase and hopped in. She looked up at Toni as if to say, "I'm all ready, let's go!"

After all, she knew mom was going to leave. And the briefcase would go, too. So all Zyelena had to do was get in the briefcase and she could go with mom!

Friday, July 25, 2008

You Want to Name the Cat WHAT?

The new kitten, needed a name.

King of the Hittites?

I got a new kitten and now he needed a name. I like to give my cats royal names, as suits their demeanor. Most of my prior cats had classical names, like Alexander the Great. Now I wanted to get names from a bit further afield.

Among my many historical interests is the Hittites. They were one of the Great Empires of the ancient world. They managed to fight the mighty Egyptians to a stalemate in Syria, they marched on the Babylonian Empire and sacked Babylon, and so on. They were big, once.

Also, they had one of the most egalitarian outlooks of any of the ancient empires, spoke an early Indo-European language I found interesting to study, and were in an area which is modern-day Turkey before the period of the classical "Greeks" who lived there. Fun stuff for a history buff.

So I thought I'd name my new kitten for a Hittite king. I thought I'd call him Supiluliamas, maybe? I mentioned it to my wife, and you can imagine the look I got.

OK, there's no good short form for that one, anyway. People would look at me funny if I was calling my cat "Soup". How about Muwatallis? My wife gave me another look down the nose.

Fine, Muwa wouldn't be a good nickname, anyway.

I might as well have said "rubber baby buggy bumpers" three times fast.

She didn't give me a sour look over that name. Then she tried to say it. The syllables wouldn't come out in the right order. We tried and tried.

OK, maybe not.

Not Arnuwandas. I don't want a cat with "Arnie" for a nickname. So I didn't even bring that one up.

Tudhaliyas? My wife couldn't say that one, either. And having 'Tude as a nickname may be appropriate for a cat, but I wasn't sure I liked it.

King Telepinus was a jerk, and that name would sound dirty, anyway.

Mursilis sounds just like "merciless." Easy to say, but who'd know it was a Hittite king name rather than a name better suited for a pit bull?

We tried Hattusilis again. I coached my wife for several days. It never came out right. OK, still not a good idea. If my wife can't manage it how well would the family and the vet do?

So...he wasn't going to be named after a Hittite king. None of the other names we hadn't tried really did it for me.

So we went with the eminently more pronouncable "Phillip of Macedon." Heck, some people even know who that was!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

How Cats Direct Our Lives: A Different Pair of Shoes

We decided we'd walk into town yesterday instead of driving. It's not too far, only about a mile and a half. There's a big uphill slope going in to town that means the decision takes a bit of resolve, though.

Since it was a warm day, I decided I'd wear a pair of tennis shoes rather than my usual boots. I have three pairs of tennis shoes, because when I find a shoe that works for me I go back and buy more--I never know when I'll find more that fit. I then work them into use one pair at a time. So at any time I've usually got one pair of really ratty tennies, one pair that's in decent shape, and a pair that still look nice and new.

I didn't want to wear the new pair on this walk, I wanted to keep them looking reasonably nice. I didn't want to wear the ratty pair. The soles are still in good shape but I'd worn them out onto a section of our property that really requires boots--the shoes were full of stickers. So I started looking for my "middle" pair.

I didn't see them in the usual places. Then I remembered. I had removed them while sitting at my computer. I went to the computer to get them. There they were.

Unfortunately, there was also a cat sprawled on top of them, sound asleep. He had his paw over his eyes, and his nose stuck in the opening of one shoe. The cat was completely boneless, and in a deep sleep.

I gave his ears a rub to see how deep he was sleeping. No response. So now I had a dilemma. Do I wake the poor old cat and leave him bereft of his happy, warm spot to get my shoes, or do I leave him and wear something else.

I went and started picking stickers. After 20 minutes of work, I consoled myself that at least the cat had given me a reason to finally clean up the shoes, they weren't in such bad condition once the stickers were out.

My cat Menelaus sleeping on my shoes.

My cat Menelaus with my shoes. He was originally on top of the shoes, but by the time I took this picture he had shifted them around to a more comfortable position.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Cat Ambivalence: Come Here, Come Here...Hiss! Hiss! Go Away!

Our new cat, Zyelena, curled up with Phillip in 1987.

Phillip and Zyelena, 1987

We had a new kitten. Well, cat. She was about six months old and she was a beautiful little girl, very slender, with a black coat, white tummy and chin, and white mittens. We got her to replace our wonderful little dog, Amber, who we'd decided really needed a family that could give her the full-time attention she deserved. My wife and I were both working full time, and the poor puppy spent too many hours alone. She was a bright and active dog, so that meant that when she was bored she started getting into trouble. After a while, and some painful soul-searching, we decided to give her up. My wife found a home for her with a coworker who had kids. As it turned out, his retiree parents fell in love with Amber and ended up taking her home with them. It was the right thing to do, but it hurt at the time.

To fill the hole left by Amber, and to keep Phillip company, we went to the pound to find a new cat. I had seen a beautiful little orange tabby about Phillip's size when I was at the pound earlier. My idea was that we should get another cat about Phillip's size since he was a rambunctious little boy, and the other cat should be big enough to stand up to him.

When we got there, the orange tabby wasn't there any more. She was a gorgeous, friendly little thing, so hopefully someone took her home (I expect so, since she was in the unavailable section when I saw her before and the time until we came back may not even have been enough time for her to become available.) At any rate, we looked at the cats that were available.

I was approaching the process in a more or less logical fashion. I did a once-over on all the cages looking for signs of health problems, injuries, and other potential problems. Then I started looking at size and form. Then I started assessing the sociability of the cats as best I could under the circumstances.

My wife, however, had no such approach. She had already fallen in love with the cat who was to become our Zyelena. I had already eliminated her in my assessment as too small, likely to be bullied by Phillip. The cat had immediately reacted to Toni when she went by the cage. She had rubbed up against the bars and looked deeply into Toni's eyes and purred for her.

I suggested another cat or two to Toni, and she humored me by having a look at them, but in each case she wanted the little black cat more. We briefly discussed coming back another time, but she wasn't willing to risk losing a chance at the little black cat.

So, logic to the breeze, we took home the little black cat.

We took her straight home, we wouldn't have a chance to take her to the vet until the next day since we'd picked her up in the evening. When we got there we pulled her out of the box and let her get acquainted with her new home. It's always hard to do the right thing. You want to hold them and pet them and get acquainted with them yourself, but you have to stay back and let them take things at their own pace.

Phillip was immediately curious, of course. The black cat avoided him at first, but after she'd made a circuit of the living room she stood and looked at him, then quivered her tail.

Phillip walked up to give her muzzle a sniff. He no sooner got within sniffing range than she turned into a fireball, hissing and scratching and yowling at him. Phillip ran away, then turned and gave us a hurt look, as if to say, "What did I do?"

We spoke to her, I stayed away since she seemed leery of me, but she was immediately friendly with Toni. She brushed up against Toni's hand and purred. Then she suddenly seemed to notice Phillip. She made eyes at him and quivered her tail again.

Phillip came slowly over. She reached her nose out toward him. He stretched his neck out to give her a sniff. Again she transformed. She hissed, spit, scratched, and howled. Phillip leaped and raced away, hiding behind the couch. Once he was there and sure he wasn't being followed he looked over toward me. His expression was mournful. He looked confused and frightened.

The black cat continued her inspection of the house. Phillip followed at a distance. He was still very curious about her, but also much cowed by her treatment of him. Three more times as we went through the house the scene repeated itself. She would see Phillip, stand and invite him over, then go berserk the moment he was near.

"I suppose she needs some space," I said, "too much excitement or something." I made preparations to separate the cats for the night. I set up cat boxes and dishes in our bedroom and checked the box in the hall to make sure it was fit for use. We kept Zyelena in the bedroom with us that night, and poor Phillip was left outside in the hall. He cried a little and dug at the door a little, but overall he held up well. I went out and visited with him a couple of times during the night.

The next day Toni dropped off both cats at the vet. We had an appointment for Phillip as well as for our new cat. Toni mentioned the odd interaction the two cats had had the prior day. Later that afternoon, she got a call from the vet that explained it.

Zyelena was in her first heat. They learned this when they did the spay on her. I hadn't seen any of the signs either before or after we got her. I had thought of the possibility but her size made me think she may still be too young, and there hadn't been any signs of it--other than her behavior toward Phillip.

Phillip had already been neutered. So here she was, attracting him as a possible mate only to have some cat who didn't smell right for the job come walking up!

After we got them both home from the vet, though, they tried again. Zyelena stood and quivered her tail. Phillip wasn't sure what to do. Finally, his desire for friendship won out over his fear of claws, hissing, and spitting. He walked up, stopped. Then extended his nose. She reached out her nose. They gave each other a good sniff. Then she stepped forward and rubbed against him. he rubbed back, then started to get too curious about her backside. She drew back, and he froze. His eyes were nearly closed and his ears were rocked back like he was waiting for a storm.

She turned around and gave him a head bump. He relaxed, and gave her a lick on the forehead. Everything was OK.

Until ten minutes later, when she went and hid under the bed for two days. But that's another story.

Our Two Old Cats, Phillip and Zyelena, over seventeen years later.

Phillip and Zyelena, 2004

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Our Little Hula Dancer

Amber dancing for a treat.

Amber dancing for a treat.

We had our dog trained to perform tricks for her treats. We would have her sit up a lot, but for the best treats, she had to dance.

We'd call her, then when she arrived we'd hold up the treat about shoulder high and say "dance, dance, Amber!" She'd get up on her hind legs and bounce up and down with her front paws waving in the air in unison. It was very cute. Sometimes she would get her front paws going from side to side as well as up and down as she danced on her hind legs.

Our gray cat, Phillip, was jealous. He was jealous of the attention Amber got when she danced, and he was often jealous of the really good treats she was getting. Sometimes he'd try to steal her treats. But when she'd earned her treat, we were firm. She got the treat, he had to stay away.

One of the most coveted treats was meat trays. The little styrofoam trays from underneath roasts and hamburger were fun for them to lick clean. Fortunately neither of them showed a tendency to chew on them at all. Usually, I would make Amber dance for the meat tray, then Phillip would get to lick any juice off my fingers.

One night when I started dinner, the cat and the dog took up their usual positions. Phillip curled up on one of the chairs at the table in the kitchen and Amber laid just outside the kitchen with her head just in far enough that she could see me. She knew that she wasn't allowed in the kitchen unless invited (we like to keep pets and hot oven doors away from each other), but she knew it was OK if she kept her body on the carpet outside and stuck in her head to watch (with her soft puppy ears perked up for when I called her.)

I was making up a pot roast. I'm sure both of them recognized what I was doing as soon as I pulled out the roasting pan and started the oven. I washed the potatoes and carrots, cut them up and put them in. I prepared the onions and sliced them and put them in the pot. Then the meat came out of the fridge.

I could sense the anticipation as I pulled it out of the wrapper and put it in the pot. Amber's head was inching a bit further into the room. Phillip wasn't making a point of having no interest in what I was up to, he was sneaking a sidelong look at me.

I put the pot in the oven, then made sure the meat tray was clear of any plastic or absorbent pads or anything.

She came in like a shot. I saw Phillip watching with open interest. His eyes were locked on the meat tray.

I picked up the meat tray and said, "Dance, dance, Amber!"

She hopped up and gave me a really good dance. But I saw Phillip move, too.

I looked up, and saw him sitting up on the chair. He was raised up on his hind legs, with his front paws held up and out in front of him. He was dancing!

He couldn't do the up and down bouncing very well, but his rotund little belly was swinging from side to side. He looked like a chubby little hula dancer.

The cat got the meat tray. I apologized to Amber and let her lick my fingers, then gave her a doggie treat. But this time, Phillip got the meat tray.

Phillip in the kitchen chair.

Phillip in the kitchen chair. The fluffy rump in the lower left is Amber.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Rags and the Gerbils

We had a fluffy little calico cat. She was named Rags because she looked like a little bundle of rags when she curled up into a ball. She was a lovable little cat, but prone to loneliness when everyone was out of the house at work or school.

Shortly after we got her, we were given a pair of gerbils along with their cage, water bottle, and so on. They were a pair of females who were promptly named Laverne and Shirley. They were industrious little things. You could drop some pieces of newspaper into their cage and they'd tear it all into neat little strips and build a beautiful little nest out of it in a short while.

Rags was fascinated by the gerbils. She sat watching them intently. She would jerk her head and twitch her whiskers with every move they made. We worried about whether she would attack them. The mesh on their cage was pretty small, there was no way Rags could get a paw in, but we still worried about her hooking them with her claws through the mesh.

She never made a move to attack them that we saw, even when we left the dining room and sat in the living room where we could watch her without appearing to watch her.

Day after day, Rags sat entranced by the gerbils. In the morning we would pull a newspaper out of the pile underneath the coffee table, take a section of it, then put it in the cage for Laverne and Shirley. We'd take out the old nest, and they'd have a day's activity ahead of them (if we left the old nest they'd build a new one and use the old one for their potty.)

Having the gerbils seemed to lighten Rags's mood after she was home alone all day. She was less sulky when we came home. We'd always check on the gerbils. They were never harmed.

In fact, it looked like Rags was getting playful. We kept finding the newspapers spread out from underneath the coffee table across the floor, and sometimes torn a bit. We figured she was working off her excitement from watching the gerbils by dashing around and playing rough while we were away.

One day, after stacking the papers back up under the coffee table and sitting down at the couch to read a book, I heard the sound of paper tearing. Then I heard more tearing, like the newspaper was being torn off in a strip. I looked under the table, and there was Rags with a section of newspaper under her paws, tearing off a strip with her mouth.

"What's this crazy cat doing?" I thought. I left her to it, figuring I'd clean up the mess later. She kept tearing. I figured she was rending the gerbils in effigy.

Later, my mother came in the room. She heard Rags tearing the paper. "What is she doing?" she asked.

"Killing newspapers," I said, "I guess."

My mother kept watching her. I hadn't checked in on Rags in a while. I was engrossed in a Doc Smith book from the Skylark of Space series.

"She's building a nest!" said my mother.

I put down my book and came to see. Sure enough, Rags was building a newspaper nest underneath the coffee table. She had been tearing off strips of paper, and arranging them in a circular pile. We watched her in amazement for a while. After another half hour or so, Rags had a loosely-built, but recognizable nest. It was a larger version of the nests Laverne and Shirley built.

"All this time she's been watching them, we thought she was hunting them," my mom said. "She's been learning from them."

Rags kept making her nests for as long as we had her. Her nests got better and better as she kept building them. She tore the strips finer, and arranged them so that they lay in nice interwoven bunches in a round pile, just like the gerbils' nests. We cleaned out her nest about once a week, and learned that if you wanted to read a newspaper you didn't lay it under the coffee table.

I have no idea if Rags thought she was a gerbil or not. She still liked to play with strings and such like a normal cat. But she could make the neatest newspaper nest you ever saw.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

My Best Birthday Present

When my wife and I got married, it was just the two of us and her dog, Amber, in a little house that had formerly been base housing for a nearby Air Force base. It was a nice place, and we did well in general, though we struggled financially while I was trying to get a new job. I had left my old job and moved over 300 miles so that she could keep hers.

While I was looking for work or only on spotty contract jobs in a town where I didn't know anyone but my wife, I got to spend a lot of time with the dog. She was a bright little golden fluffball, about 35lb. and very active. I trained her to do all sorts of tricks. She could sit up, dance on her hind legs with her front paws waving in the air, jump over things on command--even my leg if I held it out--or through a hoop. She'd also sit, stay, and "guard"--sitting while looking alert, though she wasn't actually guarding. She'd also wait to eat until told to,and balance treats on her nose.

One night I was on the couch with a book when my wife came home. She poked her head in the front door and said, "Close your eyes!"

It was my birthday, so I wasn't entirely surprised. I closed them and said, "OK!"

I heard her bustle through the room, then I heard the bedroom door close. After a minute, I figured I could open my eyes.

A few minutes later, she popped out of the bedroom with a small box in her hands with a ribbon around it. She carried it like it was explosive. She put it in my lap and said, "Open it quick!"

I undid the ribbon and pulled at the lid. No boom. When I removed the lid there was a furry little gray face with bright yellow eyes looking up at me.

I was completely choked up. Tears started to run down my face as I drank in the look of the sweet little kitten's face.

After some time I managed to choke out, "It's...a kitten."

My wife was silent. I lifted the kitten out of the box and held him. Then I turned to my wife, still barely able to speak, and said, "Thank you."

My wife let out the breath she'd been holding all this time.

"You're happy?" she asked.

I nodded. The little gray kitten was standing in my lap now, giving my hands a good sniffing.

"Oh, good," she said, "I was afraid you'd be angry!"

Then, while the kitten and I got to know each other she told me about how she'd heard me talk about my prior cat, a big gray and white fellow named Alexander, and seeing me with the dog she could tell that while I loved the dog there was a need the dog wasn't filling. So she decided to get me a gray kitten. She'd had to call around to several places--vets, the Humane Society, etc.--to find a place that had kittens (in August.)

When she got to a place that had kittens they didn't have any gray ones. Then a woman who was there spoke up and said she did. So my wife followed her home to a house filled with pets and kids. One of the kittens was a boxy little gray fellow. The kids were disappointed to see "Smokey" leave, but the woman was probably glad to reduce the number of pets to more manageable levels.

She brought him home to where she'd prepared a box and ribbon then hidden them under the bedcovers. He'd been pretty noisy on the drive home, and was wiggly as she put him in the box, so she'd expected him to give himself away before I opened the box. When she actually got him in the box, he surprised her by being still (and he hadn't cried out since coming in the house.)

I didn't find out that he'd been called Smokey until I had given him a name of my own choosing. And, though he didn't have Alex's white muzzle and mittens he was a beautiful cat. Powder gray all over except for little white patches on his chest and belly. His fur shone gold in the sun.

Phillip, as I later named him, and I had very nearly twenty years together. Since I got him for my 24th birthday he'd been with me almost half my life when his time came to an end.

He's the best birthday present I ever got.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Cats and Cutting Boards

I have an image in my mind. In a factory somewhere, where they make the cutting boards that are used for sewing, there's a stage in the process that comes after the board itself has been printed, cut, and pressed to fold properly. It comes before they put the cutting board into its wrapper and package it up for shipping.

I can't say whether this step involves some sort of printing, or marking with a scent, or what. But at this station in the production line they treat the cutting board in such a way as to mark it clearly as belonging to cats.

I know it happens, because I see the results every time there's a cutting board pulled out in our house.

As soon as the cutting board is out, no matter whether its on a table, or the floor, or a bed, the cats come from all corners of the house. Immediately they begin to walk on it and lay on it. They know that it's theirs.

A cat that would never think of setting a paw on the dinner table (at least not while a human's looking--I have no illusions about how "good" my cats are when I'm not nearby) will immediately hop up on to the table and stroll across it like they paid for it themselves the moment that a cutting board has been placed on it. They'll even be careful not to put a paw on the tabletop itself, but the top of the cutting board is fair game.

When the hard working seamstresses drive the cats off the cutting boards the indignation is so thick in the air you can bite pieces off and chew it. "How dare those humans drive me off my board!" "Of course I own it, can't you tell?" "If you didn't want me on it, why did you lay it out?"

Then the battle of wills begins.

What, exactly constitutes being "on" the cutting board?

  • If you're laying so close that some of your fur just happens to hang over one edge of the board is that "on" the board?
  • If the fur is touching the board but no weight is being placed on it, is that "on" the board?
  • If one paw just happens to come to rest on the board when your attention is someplace else entirely is that being "on" the board?
  • Is it OK to lay on the board while you're out of the room pressing fabric or pattern pieces?
  • Is it OK to move on to the board if you put fabric or a pattern in front of your face so that you can't see me?
Not to mention that stretching a piece of fabric out on the board is a clear invitation. "Ah, now I see. You took me off the board so that you could spread out this wonderful new fabric and make it more comfortable! Lift me off and I'll take the fabric with me! These claws aren't just for looks, you know. You paid how much a yard? Well, I'm worth every penny of it, wouldn't you agree?"

This is how it goes. Funny, but nobody ever seems to plan an extra 20 minutes into their sewing time to account for dealing with the cats.

One of our cats, Zyelena, had a wonderful game she liked to play. After she'd been taken off the cutting board she'd clear out to a good way away. She'd usually sit where she could keep an eye on things but whoever was sewing couldn't see her. She'd wait until some delightful crinkly pieces of pattern got set out on the board.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, she'd come running and leap on to the pattern pieces and go sliding wildly across the cutting board, chased by shrieks and howls. She'd fly off the far end of the board, pattern pieces still attached to her feet. Then she'd leap and spring and disappear.

And watch some more...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Cats Know Their Color

My wife is getting dressed for work in the morning. She takes a wool skirt, fresh from the dry cleaner, and lays it on the bed for a moment then turns to pull a blouse out of the closet. When she turns back around, the gray skirt has a gray cat on it.

When she acts shocked to see him there, he gives her a look as if to say "Why are you surprised? I've been here all morning!"

Another day, in the evening, this time it's a black dress. My wife turns away for a moment to adjust a piece of jewelry. Turns back, and there's a black cat curled up on the dress, sound asleep. Been there for hours, you can tell by how settled in and sound asleep she is.

A new couch is delivered. A battle begins. Only one cat will fit on a 9 foot couch, you see. And that cat is the gray one. The couch is gray, he's gray. Obviously it's his couch! The black cat huddles on a black briefcase that's been left on the floor. But she's got her eye on the couch. Doesn't that stupid gray cat see that the couch isn't gray? It's black and white, just like her. With very narrow stripes.

The orange cat admits defeat, and waits for an orange towel to appear with the laundry basket. The mottled tabby is watched carefully by all. He'll lay on anything. No sense of color.

Amber Wanted to Be Good, But...

Three days earlier, we'd banished the dog from the bed. It wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right thing to do. We were still training Amber to sleep at the foot of the bed. She had tried coming to the sides of the bed, but a pet was as good as an invitation, so we had to make her stay at the foot of the bed.

About a half hour after we settled in, Amber started whining.

"Amber, be quiet," I said.

Five minutes later, she started whining again. It sounded like she was trying to be quiet, but she was still whining.

"Amber, hush!"

I'd just drifted off about five minutes later when I woke to the sound of quiet whining. Do I ignore it and hope she'll give up after a while? Maybe paying attention to her when she whines is making her keep at it?

I wait a while, the whining continues and gets louder. I sigh, and pull myself up and over the bottom of the bed so I can shake my finger at her.

She's looking up at me with the most mournful face, as if to say "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself!"

I see a hint of something in the darkness, near her backside. I pull myself over further to get a better look.

The cat is there, nearly invisible in his gray coat. He's got Amber's back leg in his mouth, and he's happily chewing away with his sharp little teeth.

Amber with Phillip napping on her back legs.

Phillip and Amber Together. Phillip isn't chewing on Amber's leg right now.

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Monday, June 30, 2008

Larceny: The Finest Spice

Cats have a definite preference when it comes to food. Stolen food tastes better. No matter what they are given, and no matter what is in the other cat's dish, the food in the other cat's dish is going to taste better than what's in their own. And the more the humans protest and try to keep them out of the other cat's dish, the better it will taste.

Somehow, they can tell when you're "gaming the system" by giving the wrong dishes to the wrong cat, or making false protests when they're "stealing" from the dish you really want them to eat from.

It's especially tricky when medications are being given or when there's a special food needed. No matter what measures you take, it seems, you're doomed to failure.

One cat needs a special food or medication, so you try to feed them while keeping the other cats away. "No way," says the cat, "I'm not eating. The other cats aren't here, that's weird, you're up to something, so I'm not eating."

It seems to help, in my experience, if you've made them "earn their meal." They're more willing to eat out of their own dish, and defend it to some degree rather than go steal from someone else (at least right away.) We have had two cats that we've trained to sit up for their dish. They'll at least eat the top off their own food before going elsewhere. The problem is, that once you start making them sit up for their dish, you've got to keep making them do it. If they learn that they don't have to, then they won't.

Another approach is to set down the food, and bide your time.

I manage to get the right drugs in the right cat by setting down the dishes, and waiting. Each will eat some of their own, then wander away from the dishes. Apparently paying no attention to the food at all. I'm doing a bit of moving around myself, also paying no attention to the cat food. Then, casually, almost as an afterthought, I'll put some drops in the dish that I know the right cat is going to head for when my back is turned, seeking the rich, fine flavor of larceny.

After a few moments of "distraction", I can be sure that when I turn around the drops will be gone, along with some of the "forbidden" food, with perhaps the sight of a completely innocent paw leaving around the corner.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Star Cat

orange tabby cat
Among my hobbies is astronomy. This is part of why we bought a house way out in the Sierra foothills. The altitude and distance from any cities gave me clear skies for my hobby. You could walk out in the back yard and see the Lagoon and Trifid nebulas just by looking up to the south at the right time of year. It was a great place to take a telescope out at night and enjoy the sights in the sky.

Of course, being way out in the boonies has a downside, too. We shared our yard with any number of animals. Skunks, rattlesnakes, bears, and mountain lions were all in the area and any of them would be enough to ruin a night's observing session. Still, I usually made sure I made plenty of noise when I set up and then again every so often to try to convince any critters around to keep their distance so that we wouldn't end up surprising each other.

One night I was out, seeing if the atmosphere had cleared enough from the effects of Mount Pinatubo's eruption to start observing galaxies again. The ash from the volcano had been in the upper atmosphere for over a year. It had enough of an effect on what I saw that I'd given up observing galaxies, except for the brightest ones, since a couple of weeks after the eruption. It was finicky work, particular since my telescope was of a quality that was only marginal for viewing dimmer galaxies in the first place.

I was trying to see if I could make out any distinguishing features in the fuzzy gray patch of a particular galaxy when I heard something moving nearby. I stopped looking through the scope and looked into the darkness around me to see if I could make anything out.

I made some sounds and listened. Still nothing. I went back to my scope.

Trying to see detail in something that is barely brighter than the background glow of the sky around it is hard work. There are a number of tricks, though. Among them is looking a bit to one side of the object itself. It's called "averted vision." The center of your field of view is best suited to seeing bright things in the daytime. Just a bit off the center of your field of view, however, is where you are most sensitive to minor variations in brightness, since this is where there is the density of rods on your retina. It takes time and patience. I stood stock still at the scope, with the telescope's drive motor keeping the galaxy in place, trying to see whether I could make out any spiral arms and dark lanes between them in the galaxy I had in the scope. It seemed like there might be something I could make out, but it was hard to be sure.

Suddenly something hit me in the back of the leg. I about jumped out of my skin. I trotted a few steps from the telescope, and fumbled for a red LED light in my pocket. I didn't hear anything, and couldn't see anything. I made some noise. Still nothing. I got the red LED light, and shined it back toward the scope. It didn't show much. It was better for reading maps than seeing anything around you. I kept trying to see with it, though, shining it in different directions.

Suddenly something pressed against the back of my legs.

Outside, I was stock still. Inside, I jumped up about eight feet. I realized that it felt familiar. I put a hand down, and felt a familiar furry back press up into my hand.

"Oh, Menelaus! It's just you!"

Menelaus was an orange tabby who had just joined us a few months before. Normally he slept through the night, but I guess having me out with my telescope was too much fun to miss.

I pet him for a while and talked to him. Then I went back to my telescope and made sure the galaxy was still being tracked by the scope before I spent some more time with him. Then I went back to observing. He pressed against the back of my legs again, and I pet him some more, then he trotted off, and I went back to observing.

While I was observing, I heard a sound in the darkness. Coming at me from one side, and approaching closer quickly, I heard a trilling sound.

"Tri-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill!" said Menelaus as he ran by in the dark.

Then, from another direction, "Tri-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill-ill!"

I called to him and told him he was a cute boy. He ran by me, trilling all the way, about another half dozen times.

Then he walked up to one side of me, said "Prrt?" and sat down at one leg of the scope's base. I pet him for a short while, then he stayed there as I went back to observing one object after another. Every time I moved the scope from one part of the sky to another, he'd stand up, get some pets, then go back and lay down.

I realized that he made a pretty good indicator of whether there was anything else around, and it was nice to take a "cat break" every now and then during observing. Though I had to make sure to keep the cat hair off my optics.

A couple more times that night he ran off and went dashing by me, from one side to another, from random directions in the dark, trilling as he ran.

On later nights it became a routine for us. I'd set up the scope, he'd run around past me, dashing past and trilling as he ran. He'd come sit near me at other time, and be ready for pets whenever I was moving the scope or changing eyepieces. Occasionally he'd bump me in the calves if he felt I was giving the sky a bit too much attention.

A few times something else did wander across the yard. When this happened he'd press against my legs and make an unhappy sound. He'd stay with me while I clapped my hands and called out to scare it off. I could tell when it was gone when he'd relax again, going back to his spot at the base of the scope, or when he'd start to patrol around me and the telescope, making sure the coast was clear.

He became my constant companion at my observing sessions, and I started calling him my "star cat." The trilling and dashing in the dark never got old.

Menelaus himself has gotten a lot older, though. He's gone into retirement and become a house cat now. We spend a lot of time together, but when I'm out late in the dark with my telescope I still get a smile from the memories of him dashing around and trilling for me.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Biiig Toys!

black and white tux cat

One day I was doing some yard work, specifically, I was working on putting up a deer fence around our garden area on one side of our house. I started out by carrying some fence poles from one side of the house to the other. I saw our "little girl", Zyelena, watching me out the back window. She was a little black and white "tux cat", black all over with a white chin and belly, and white mittens.

At this time Zyelena was a still very skittish around me, particularly if I was handling something, the larger it was the more scared she would be. So I would try to be pretty circumspect whenever she was around to help her get over her skittishness.

She had a bit of concerned look on her face as I was hauling fence posts from one side of the house to the other. She was curious about what I was up to, but obviously thinking about running away and leaving the windowsill. I was careful not to look at her directly as I went by and following a path that didn't make it look like I was coming at her as much as possible. After a few times back and forth, it looked like she was settling in and getting more comfortable with keeping an eye on me.

After I'd finished moving the fence posts, I had the fencing wire to move. The fencing wire was in a in a roll, a column about four feet high and three feet thick. It was too heavy to pick up and carry, so I put it on its side and started to roll it.

As Zyelena saw me coming with the roll of fencing wire, I saw her sit up and look frightened. I was rolling it about as far from the window as I could, but going farther from the window would take me down a hill slope, and I didn't want to have to roll the wire down the slope, then roll it back up again. Nonetheless, I turned the roll a bit downslope to get a bit farther from the window. I glanced at Zyelena to see how she was taking things, and the roll of wire started to get away from me and roll down the hill.

I quickly ran down and got in front of the roll of wire, and stopped it. My motions had been pretty sudden, so I thought "Great, now I've frightened the cat and she'll probably avoid me all night tonight."

When I looked back up at the window, I saw that Zyelena was still there, sitting up tall. Her entire nature had changed, she was radiating intense curiousity. I saw a play of emotions across her face when she noticed me looking at her--a moment of fear, then she looked down at the roll of wire and I saw her look change to one of realization.

"Oh!" she seemed to say, "it's a game!"

Her entire body relaxed, and she threw me a number of benign looks as she settled back onto the window sill. I started to push the wire back up the hill, along the path toward where I was putting up the fence. As I got close to the house, it looked like she was playing vicariously as I shoved the wire uphill. Zyelena would often bat her paws in the air as she watched our other cats playing with their toys, she was doing something like this with me.

Suddenly her eyes got big, and she sat up again. Had I pushed too close to the house? Was I going to scare her off after all?

No, the look on her face seemed to say, "Oooh, Daddy plays with biiiig toys!"

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Royal Names for Royal Animals

The first cat I had that was really my own cat, as opposed to the "family" cat was a gray Persian mix with a white muzzle and white mittens that I got when I was 13. I've had a sense of the royal bearing of cats for as long as I can remember, so I felt he deserved a royal name.

The lady I got him from had similar ideas. My cat's mother was named Cleopatra. She was a large white Persian with flecks of black in her fur, she looked like she was covered in royal ermine. The lady also owned another Persian, named Julius Caesar. Julius wasn't around when Cleo was in heat, though, he'd gone walkabout for a week or two. Another cat showed up, though, a springy white shorthair that she gave the appropriate moniker of "Marc Anthony." He was my cat's father.

I considered naming my kitten Ptolemy, but he was such an energetic and domineering little kitten among the others of his litter that I decided he should be called "Alexander the Great."

Since then I've had cats with names like Phillip of Macedon, Menelaus of Sparta (pronounced men-uh-lay-us), and, a bit off the track, Yuri Gagarin.
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Friday, August 17, 2012

Interviews are fun!

Haven't done one of these in awhile. Sometimes doing an interview sorta makes you cringe just a little bit at the thought of having to explain every aspect of your career, but this one was honestly sort of refreshing. If you want to know how I got started and some of the processes I use, check out this interview with Gennifer Carragher I recently did for her "Featured Artist" section. Lovely blog she has.

Check it out here:

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Smart Tips On Purchasing A Donor Car For Your EV Conversion Project

Home/Donor Car/Smart Tips On Purchasing A Donor Car For Your EV Conversion Project

Smart Tips On Purchasing A Donor Car For Your EV Conversion Project

When buying a used car, what should you look for as there are endless possibilities? Most of the times people who look for a used car have apprehensions about the condition of the car. You are buying a car “as per “the condition, since you are not aware about the condition of the vehicle car, it may in fact become an expensive buy.

If the condition of the car is not good, you may to make frequent visits to the garage to get it repaired. Before you think of buying a used car for your electric car conversion project, here are some guidelines which will help you to get a good deal, this will ultimately save your time and money.

Before you actually buy the car, you may approach a dealer; dealer can be of great help in finding you a quality vehicle. If you do not have any idea about a reputed dealer, you must ask your friends and relatives about the dealer. If this does not work, you check with Better Business Bureau to find a trustworthy and reputed dealer.

Once identified, you can check the cars available with the dealer, this will save your time as you will not have to run from one place to other. A good and trustworthy dealer has many used vehicles for sale, you can choose from the several vehicles available at the dealership. Ask for the history of vehicle, most dealers have complete history of the vehicle, you must see that the vehicle you are looking for is accident free.

If you purchase from a private seller, you may to get the history of the vehicle yourself and this will cost you extra money, you may also be looking at extended warranty. Extended warranty is available only with the dealer, the private seller cannot give you extended warranty. The extended warranty will ensure that in case of any major breakdown, you are assured of repairs, this will save you from spending extra money on the repairs.

Before you sign on the dotted line, you must read the fine prints of warranty and understand it fully and see what dealer has to offer. You must see what is covered under warranty and what has been left out. You must carefully see in case of repairs, how much will be the cost you if not covered under warranty.

Now is the time to test drive the vehicle, ensure there is no clanking or banging noise, this means that the car needs repairs. You can also see from the rear mirror any unusual smoke from the exhaust; this could signs of faulty engine.

Apart from checking the vehicle from outside, equal attention should be paid to the interior of the car. Check everything like air conditioning, automatic windows, locks and radio. If possible check the pre maintenance records, such records will make it easy to judge the condition of the car.

You must remember you spending hard earned money and to ensure that you get a good vehicle should be your priority.

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Prostate Biopsy (TRUS/Biopsy)

Prostate Biopsy

This is easily done in the clinic under local anaesthesia to confirm prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is suspected when the PSA (prostate specific antigen) level is > 4 ug/L or an abnormal nodule is felt on the prostate.

An ultrasound probe slightly larger than a finger is inserted into the anus. After measuring the size of the prostate, local anaesthesia is injected around the prostatic nerves. Some 10 to 12 biopsies are taken using a small spring-loaded needle. The whole procedure takes 15 to 20 minutes and the histology results is ready by the 3rd day.

Normally, the accuracy rate of detecting prostate cancer is > 95%. However, repeat biopsy may still be needed if the PSA continues to rise over the years, as the cancer may initially be so small that it can be missed at the first sampling.

mri fusion Prostate Biopsy

MRI-US fusion biopsy

To improve the accuracy rate, the ultrasound image can be fused with the MRI image to target the suspicious areas. This makes the biopsy more precise and reduce the number of samples that need to be taken.

A special software program is required for this and the MRI scan done beforehand. It takes longer to do and costs more because of the added cost of the MRI.

Complications include:

  • infection. This is more common in diabetics and if there is underlying prostate infection. With antibiotics, the risk of severe infection should be < 5%. The symptoms are burning pain during urination, blood in the urine and high fever. If this happens, hospital admission for intravenous antibiotics is needed.
  • bloody urine. This usually clears by the 3rd day but if excessive bleeding occurs, the blood clots can block the bladder leading to painful retention of urine. If this happens, catheterisation and washout of the clots is needed..
  • bleeding from the anusThis tends to occur in those who have pre-existing piles. It usually stops the next day.
  • acute retention of urine. .This is more likely to occur if the prostate is large and if the patient has untreated bladder obstruction. It is due to prostate swelling which then compresses the urethra to block the bladder. A foley catheter will need to be inserted for a few days if this occurs

Desired outcomes:

  • minimal pain during biopsy
  • minimal anal bleeding
  • no clot retentionof bladder
  • no severe sepsis needing hospitalisation (<1% occurrence)


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It’s big. It’s beautiful. It’s … not at all practical as a mobile controller. It’s the Abletonator: Ableton Live on a PC with custom controller and casing, transformed into an arcade game cabinet form-factor. Why? Because. (Thanks to comments by Gavin for the tip!) So, if you liked the Ambassador Live controller with arcade buttons, but wanted a full cabinet so it’s impossible to lift, you’ll love this.

The creator is Jr Savage, who evidently created this in 2006. Install MAME on this, and you’ve got an all-Live, all-vintage-gaming dream machine. Specs:

  • Custom-built plywood cabinet
  • PC running Windows XP, Ableton Live 6 (hmmm… may want to upgrade the cabinet), with a 8×8 audio card
  • 19″ LCD monitor
  • Custom control surface: 8 channels, joystick navigation (of course!), touchpad and mouse
  • 2-octave keyboard

You actually can get Jr Savage to make one of these bad boys for you, for about GBP2500.

“Coin-op electro shock.” I love it.

Abletonator project page

Off-topic, but fun if you like arcade cabinets: our friends at Retro Thing show off a Doctor Who Tardis DIY project, and a video of building their own cabinet if you want to try this yourself.

And don’t miss one of my Favorite Things Ever, Gav’s own audiovisual arcade table, a kind of VJ Hero you can play with your mates and set beers on, to boot:

VJing, The Game: The AV Arcade Table, Powered by VJAMM [Create Digital Motion]

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Wild animals' right to privacy; where do rights come from?

Now this is just silly. Some guy in Britain (a "senior lecturer in the School of Film and Television Studies") thinks wild animals have an intrinsic right to privacy that documentary producers are violating. Jesus, dude. Wild animals don't even have the right not to be torn limb from limb by a predator.

One distinction I make among people is between humanists and transcendentalists on the question of where rights come from.
  • A transcendentalist would likely say either that they come from god (e.g., "endowed by their creator") or that they just are; they are embedded in the universe. They are part of natural law.
  • A humanist (as I am) would say rights are conventional. People in a culture decide what rights they each have, not necessarily through formal action (as in the Bill of Rights) or legislation but more often by what collectively feels right to us, which is some complicated mix of genetic and epigenetic factors and synapses caused by our parents and friends and what we see on the news. Since people vary in all these factors, it is not surprising that some of us care about animal privacy and some do not.
Blacks and Chinese and American Indians used to not have rights in the US. It wasn't that they had rights that were denied to them; they just didn't have them. Now they do. Good.

And as a mild biological determinist, I can't hold it against the transcendentalists that they are so horribly wrong. They can't help being wrong, just as I can't help feeling right on this issue.

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Tag Archive | "Sand Lake firefighters"

Firefighters honored

spaghetti dinnerThe Sand Lake Firefighters were honored guests Saturday, February 26, at a spaghetti dinner put on by Alice Duke, Mary Gordon and their co-workers at Mildred Houting Leisure Acres in Sand Lake.

“It was to thank them for the things they do—coming and taking people out, shoveling snow, and other things,” explained Mary.

The leftover food was donated to God’s Kitchen.

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• Project
  • Host
  • How to Apply

Project Highlights:

  • Tropical lakes are important centres of biodiversity and hotspots of nutrient cycling but remain understudied
  • Crater lakes in Western Uganda cover a range of lake types, size and recent catchment history
  • This project combines field limnology and palaeolimnology to address this critical data gap in a key ecoregion

Tropical freshwater lakes are critical natural systems of global importance, yet are scientifically under researched. Their catchments provide vital ecosystem services to some of Earth’s fastest growing and most vulnerable human populations, but the provision of fundamental ecological and life-supporting services is under threat due to the impact of human activities acting at the landscape-scale in the current Anthropocene (Butzer, 2015). Separating anthropogenic impacts from natural variability on aquatic systems is a key challenge to understanding their past and present development in the Anthropocene, and so for managing livelihoods in East Africa into the future (e.g. NERC HyCRISTAL project).

Human activity often drastically alters both nutrient cycling and biodiversity in lakes and their catchments (Mills et al. in press). Lakes are now seen as hotspots of biogeochemical dynamics (e.g. for carbon, silicon, phosphorus) within their landscapes, especially in small lakes, which have the highest rates of nutrient cycling. Very little work has been carried out on productive tropical lakes, which are often undergoing rapid catchment and environmental change, with largely unknown impacts on these

This PhD will address this gap, in the lake-rich region of equatorial western Uganda, where there are ~100 crater lakes in 4 lake districts varying from shallow and saline, to deep and fresh (Mills & Ryves 2012), together comprising one of the world’s top 200 most biologically valuable ecoregions (Fig. 1) and acting as a natural aquatic laboratory. These freshwater lakes are important resources for drinking, irrigation and nutrition (e.g. fishing), as well as centres of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, within landscapes often heavily impacted by human activity (Fig. 1). Anticipating how ecosystems change in space and time is crucial to understanding the future resilience of these systems at a time when anthropogenic impacts increasingly drive global environmental change.

This PhD project combines contemporary and palaeolimnology across a suite of contrasting crater lakes in western Uganda with the aim of characterising environmental and ecological change over the recent past (Ryves et al. 2011; Mills et al. 2014), to link changes in lake functioning as hotspots of both biodiversity and biogeochemistry (e.g. C and Si burial) in the last ~100-150 years. Specific objectives include addressing the extent to which catchment land use change over this period has affected aquatic (especially algal) biodiversity and productivity, lake sedimentation and nutrient dynamics (e.g. C, Si), and critically testing the linkages between these using new sediment records collected within the project. Outcomes of this project will have great relevance for management of these crucial freshwater resources.

Top: Lake Wandakara, western Uganda, heavily impacted by agriculture in the catchment (Photo: O. Bennike)

Crater lakes from western Uganda in different landscape settings and experiencing different recent histories in both forested and deforested catchments, i.e. both within and outside Kibale Forest National Park, will be targeted. Water chemistry profiling will be carried out at selected lakes over two field seasons and a number of short sediment cores collected for analysis (including 210Pb dating) from these lakes.

Sediment samples will be analysed for a range of biogenic and physical proxies (e.g. diatoms, biogenic silica, charcoal, organic C flux) to characterise recent changes in lake ecology and environment. This will be combined with analyses of contemporary water chemistry. There is scope to apply additional proxies to explore contemporary processes and recent change, such as analysis of pollen, GDGTs, fingerprinting anthropogenic pollutants, or stable isotopes indicative of nutrient cycling within the lake and catchment (e.g. 13C, 30Si) (BGS).

Training and Skills

CENTA students will attend 45 days training throughout their PhD including a 10 day placement. In the first year, students will be trained as a single cohort on environmental science, research methods and core skills. Throughout the PhD, training will progress from core skills sets to master classes specific to the student's projects and themes.

The PhD student will be fully supported during fieldtrips to Uganda by the supervisory team and MUBFS, spending up to two periods of 4-6 weeks in the field in western Uganda over the course of the PhD. The student will primarily stay at the Makerere University Biological Field Station (MUBFS) near Fort Portal within Kibale Forest National Park (http://chapmanresearch.mcgill.ca/Kibale/Facilities.html).

Training in diatom analysis, (palaeo)limnological and palaeoecological analysis and chosen proxies will be provided by LU or BGS. There will also be full training in appropriate health and safety issues, including first aid and boat handling.

Year 1 (2017-18): With PhD supervisors, establish research strategy and plan for fieldwork in Uganda. Arrange research permits from Ugandan Government, Uganda Wildlife Authority, and MUBFS and undergo all health and safety training. First main fieldwork period to coincide with dry season (during June – August 2018) accompanied by supervisory team.

Year 2 (2018-19): Plan and undertake second main fieldwork period with supervisors in Jan – Feb 2019 or June – July 2019 (dry seasons). Analyses continue in UK of samples collected from Uganda.

Year 3 (2019-20): Analysis of samples finishes and thesis writing. Major conference targeted for presentation of key findings in Year 3.

Partners and collaboration (including CASE)

The project will be in collaboration with Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and the PhD student will be staying at MUBFS (co-managed by Profs Colin and Lauren Chapman, McGill). Through Dr Mills, there is scope for collaboration with other BGS staff, for example Dr Chris Vane (organic geochemistry) and Prof Melanie Leng (stable isotopes), and elsewhere.

Further Details

For further information about this project, please contact Dr David Ryves (D.B.Ryves@lboro.ac.uk).

For enquiries about the application process, please contact Susan Clarke, Department of Geography, Loughborough University (S.N.Clarke@lboro.ac.uk).

Please quote CENTA when completing the application form: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research/.


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Recent comments

  • Reply to: Evanston Police and Fire Foundation annual golf outing at Canal Shores   9 months 2 weeks ago

    Matt Keenan with the fire explorers

    For those who don't golf and want to be part of the activites, join us for an after party from 6-9 for a drink and Little mexican Cafe appetizers. At $20 a ticket it's going to be lots of fun.

    EPFF raises funds to support programs between our police and fire departments and the community. Like Fire Explorers for our youth 14-21.

  • Reply to: Your chance to comment on current issues...   1 year 5 months ago

    This proposed project is very detailed.  To understand its impact to the Evanston residents and our shoreline, check out our facebook page at

  • Reply to: Your chance to comment on current issues...   1 year 5 months ago

    These massive rock and steel structures will promote invasive species and damage down drift public and private properties.  Please also send comments to the US Army Corps of Engineers ( In order for them to accept your comments, please provide your full name and address.

  • Reply to: Your chance to comment on current issues...   1 year 5 months ago

    Those who enjoy walking along the public lakefront will find their progress obstructed. Swimmers and paddlers will be subjected to hazardous conditions due to structurally controlled riptides. Please send objection comments to the IDNR.

  • Reply to: Central Street Neighbors Association Position Statement on Harley Clarke Mansion   2 years 1 month ago

    Back in 1963 the  city council made a wise decision and invested $255,000 for a 4 acre parcel of lake front land which today would have a market value far in excess what Evanston  afford or  dream to  purchase. All up and down the North Shore, without a doubt,  the most expensive land  sold is on Michigan Shores lake front. There is no private commercial ventures on the Ilinois. Shoreline-Evanston prides itself on it's lake front beach and parks  and would hopefully continue to do so.

    The Lighthouse Landing site is one of four parcels on the lakefront which include, 1. The Historic Light House ( Light House Park District) 2.Light House Landing and Harley Clarke (Evanston Park District) 3. Lawson (Light House Park District 4. Noahs Park (Evanston Park District) these parcels form a beautiful natural place for residents and visitors and should be kept it the public domain.

    Back in the 1960s The beach was developed and the parkland used and enjoyed  by 10s of 1000s each year. The 1963 city council made a wise investment when they purchased this valuable land to use a public asset . Our Council has the opportunity to make a wise decision an implement a sincere effort make this site a regional model of commitment to public lands and public use.

    If the council can approve the expenditure  $315,000 in 2015 to purchase and update the the former Boo Coo  cafe without an end user/ tenant in sight, then they can surely find the funds to preserve our valuable lakefront parkland. The code compliance issues are approximate $250,000-$500,000 depending on which city report one chooses to quote.


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Friday, March 26, 2010

Why Christine Lagarde is right about Germany

Greece’s recent fiscal travails have, slightly unexpectedly, thrown the spotlight on Germany’s current-account surplus. In mid-March, France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, urged Germany to do more to boost domestic demand – a call echoed by the European Commission’s president, José Manuel Barroso. The German government and media are bemused and indignant. How can it be, they ask, that corruption and profligacy in Greece has turned in to a trial of German discipline and rectitude? Anyway, what right do French politicians – and, for that matter, Anglo-Saxon commentators – have to lecture Germany? Wouldn’t they be better advised attending to their own countries’ manifold economic problems?

On one thing, everyone agrees. Germany’s current-account surplus is vast. In 2009, it amounted to $169 billion – or 5.2 per cent of German GDP. In absolute terms, this was the world’s second largest current-account surplus after China’s. Measured as a share of GDP, Germany’s surplus was even larger than China’s. A number of countries have even larger external surpluses relative to the size of their economies than either China or Germany. These include European states like Sweden and Switzerland, Asian ones like Malaysia and Singapore, and oil-producing countries like Norway and Saudi Arabia. But because the absolute size of their surpluses is larger, China and Germany have inevitably attracted the most attention.

At issue is what these current-account surpluses represent – and what, if anything, the countries that run them should do about them. Many policy-makers and commentators in Germany believe that their country’s external surplus reflects the ‘competitiveness’ of its economy. A Bundesbank official likened Germany to a country holding top spot in a football league. Pursuing the same analogy, Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said it would never occur to him to ask an opposition team to weaken its side to make life easier for the one he supports. And the FT Deutschland’s response to British commentators who expressed sympathy with Lagarde’s position was to ask what on earth Germans were being expected to import from the UK: Walkers crisps, Doc Martens boots or Marmite?

A few years back, a former chief economist of the OECD, David Henderson, coined the term “do-it-yourself (DIY) economics” to describe “firmly held intuitive economic ideas and beliefs which owe little or nothing to textbooks, treatises or the evidence of economic history.” DIY economics, Henderson believed, was ubiquitous. It was as likely to inform the world view of political figures, top civil servants, chief executives, commentators and eminent professors as that of the general public. DIY economics remains as prevalent as ever, as recent German responses to Lagarde’s intervention surely prove. These responses are permeated with assumptions and beliefs that sound plausible to the uninitiated, but are just flat wrong.

The most pernicious of all – because it is the source of so much nonsense – is the tendency to think of countries as if they were companies, and of trade balances as if they were profit and loss accounts. The German economy, on this view, can be thought of as if it is Volkswagen. And its trade surplus shows that Germany is winning the ‘battle for global market share’. But it takes only a moment’s reflection to realise why this is an absurd way of thinking about the matter. One of the world’s most productive economies, the US, runs a large external deficit, while some of the most dysfunctional and least productive, from Russia to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), run surpluses. No one is surely suggesting that the US should make itself more ‘competitive’ by emulating the DRC.

Far from being signs of external strength, countries’ current-account positions can be symptoms of domestic weakness. And here’s the rub. Many of the countries that have run large current-account surpluses over the past decade have suffered from weak domestic demand. One of these countries is Germany. If it had been a closed economy, it would have been in a prolonged slump. As it was, Germany was rescued by the profligacy of foreigners. Between 1999 and 2007, 70 per cent of the growth in its GDP was accounted for by net exports. However, the foreigners that kept the German economy afloat are now mired in debt. In many countries, households and governments are over-extended and need to ‘deleverage’. The question now is whether Germany accommodates this process or resists it.

For the time being, the German government shows every sign of resisting it. It rightly urges the deficit countries to become ‘more German’. But it fails to recognise that this is an impossible task if Germany does not become ‘less German’. This does not mean, as Wolfgang Schäuble claimed, that Germany is being asked to reduce the quality of its products so that other countries can ‘compete’ (a ludicrous move that would only lower the living standards of foreigners who bought German products). It does mean that fiscal consolidation and private-sector deleveraging in previously profligate countries must, as a matter of arithmetic, be accompanied by a fall in Germany’s external surplus. The odd thing about Germany’s domestic debate is that few politicians or commentators seem to recognise this.

The notion that trade and current-account surpluses are badges of economic success is deeply pernicious – not just because it is false, but also because it damagingly portrays international trade as a zero-sum competition between countries. The world economy suffers from huge macroeconomic imbalances that need to be corrected. It should be obvious that this cannot happen if countries like Germany (but also the Netherlands and Sweden) are not prepared to allow their external surpluses to decline. Germany was not to blame for the recklessness of countries like the UK. No-one is asking it to reduce the quality of its excellent manufactures. But Germany must stop fetishising its trade surplus and accept that the chronic weakness of its domestic demand is a problem for itself and the world economy.

Philip Whyte is a senior research fellow at the CER

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

What should NATO’s new strategic concept say about Russia?

by Tomas Valasek

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO has strived to reduce mutual suspicions with Russia and to build a more co-operative relationship. So it is vexing that 20 years on, Russia continues to view NATO as a hostile alliance. Moscow competes with NATO for influence in Eastern Europe, it seeks to halt NATO’s eastward enlargement and its recent security proposals for a new European security architecture were aimed in part at weakening NATO's role in European security. Moscow’s policy worries the Central European members of NATO, who have been demanding that the alliance draft defensive plans for the unlikely, but not unthinkable, possibility of a conflict with Russia.

The alliance's new strategic concept - its key guiding document, an update of which is due in the autumn – will not fundamentally change Russia's views. But many speakers at a recent seminar which the CER co-organised with NATO's public diplomacy division concluded that the document could be instrumental in unifying the allies' views on Russia, and in clarifying NATO's intentions towards Moscow.

The document should make two important points regarding Russia, several speakers argued. The first message is one of reassurance to the Central and Eastern European members of NATO who worry about Russia, especially after the war in Georgia in 2008. Their anxieties are eroding solidarity in NATO. Some are seeking bilateral security assurances from Washington in the form of US bases on their territory - but this would leave the 'have-nots' more vulnerable than the ‘haves’. It would therefore be better if the strategic concept sent a clear message that the alliance's mutual defence clause – Article V – remains as valid as ever. NATO should also underpin this message with the minimum necessary military planning and exercises.

The second message concerns Russia itself. No NATO ally wishes a conflict with Russia – least of all those on the alliance's eastern fringes, who know they would be more secure if Russia enjoyed a co-operative relationship with NATO. The alliance has repeatedly made this point in its communiqués, to little avail. But some speakers at the CER seminar argued that NATO should try again, and that this time the allies should go for a full ‘reset’: that is, tell Moscow that NATO is open to Russian membership, should it decide to join and meet the accession criteria. This would allow the Russian military – historically focused on a possible conflict with the West but now in the midst of deep reforms – to pay greater attention to the far more real threat of terrorism on its southern border, in the North Caucasus. It would also strengthen the hand of those in the Russian government who argue for an economic and political modernisation of Russia and for a closer relationship with the West.

In essence, NATO would follow a two-pronged approach: showing strength and solidarity vis-à-vis Russia but, at the same time, sending a message of inclusiveness to Moscow. The idea is not novel; the alliance pursued a similar ‘dual track’ approach for most of the 1970s and 1980s. But would it work in this day and age? Can the twin messages of reassurance and reset be reconciled?

Several speakers at the CER seminar argued for a positive answer, though they acknowledged the difficulties. The Russian government would view any new reassurance measures such as military exercises in Central Europe as a sign of ill intent. That would weaken the effect of any positive words the strategic concept may have for Russia.

Other speakers emphasised that reassurance measures should calm the relationship. By increasing solidarity among the allies, NATO would take away the opportunities – and the incentives - for the Russian government to pit one NATO member against another, as it has been doing in recent years. Moreover, reassurance measures would make the new allies feel more secure and therefore more willing to support a bold new outreach to Russia. Reassurance, several speakers said, is a precondition for reset.

Would a message of inclusion change Russia’s view of NATO? It is a tall order: the newly released Russian military doctrine calls the enlargement of NATO the most significant danger to the country's security. The Russians seem more and more concerned about NATO; the number of those worried about a conflict with ‘a major country’ – presumably western – has increased 12 per cent year-on-year in 2010 in one respected poll (though this could also reflect rising anxiety about China).

NATO’s ability to change this mindset is limited. The alliance carries so many negative associations in Russia that its capacity to aggravate tensions far outweighs its ability to induce positive change in Russian thinking. Nor is it obvious that the current government in Moscow is unhappy with the current situation – as one speaker at the seminar suggested, it suits some Russian elites to paint NATO as an enemy: doing so stimulates nationalist sentiment that may strengthen public support for the government.

Even so, a clear offer of reset from NATO could bring long-term benefits. The economic crisis has made Russia less certain and self-assured. While the regime is too inflexible to change in the short term (as Katinka Barysch argues in her recent CER policy brief, it also seems more introspective than at any time since the boom years of the mid to late 2000s. As Dmitri Trenin argues in his recent study http:// today’s bluster often hides uncertainty about the country’s economic and political future.

To overcome the mistrust between NATO and Russia, the country’s leaders would have to rethink some of the most fundamental bases of their foreign policy. NATO by itself cannot bring about that change. But it can create space for Russia’s independent thinkers and for the more reform-minded parts of the government to entertain the possibility of a future without a hostile relationship with the West. That could be a significant benefit of NATO’s new strategic concept carrying a message of reset.

Tomas Valasek is director of foreign policy and defence at the Centre for European Reform.


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Campaign Finance Bibliography

 Party Campaign Contributions Come with a Support Network
TypeConference Paper
CitationMasket, Seth E., Party Campaign Contributions Come with a Support Network. MPSA Annual Meeting 2013.
AbstractContributions to candidates from the parties’ congressional campaign committees are thought to have a “multiplier effect” in terms of generating contributions from political action committees. Using structural equation modeling and timed direct contribution data from the 1992 to 2012 general election cycles, I uncover a complex system of relationships within each party network. After controlling for the competitiveness of the race, I find party contributions to challengers and open-seat contestants early in the election cycle positively and significantly predict interest group contributions to those candidates in the period after Labor Day. A number of important differences between the Democratic and Republican Party networks and between the pre-BCRA and post-BCRA time periods are also uncovered.
CategoriesDeterminants of Campaign Contributions


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Friday, November 13, 2009

Random Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for the ability to work. I think that having that ability, even if it isn't our favorite thing to do, it it important. Our work ethic says a lot about each of us. I think that some of you are the hardest workers I know. I think that we all work hard at something.

This morning, my husband got called in to work. I say yay!, but only because he never gets overtime any more. Plus it isn't for all day. I am very thankful that he has the ability to work and that there is extra for him to do today.

I am also thankful that we get to go tonight and watch Monroe High School play Wyoming High School in the Football Semi-Regional game at Kings High School. Another Friday Night Lights for us!

I am thankful that my children are doing well in school and caught up in the marching band. Next weekend they will march in the Monroe Christmas Parade, both of them. That excites them both. There again, they are both working on something exciting.

Today seems to be full of random thankfulness. But sometimes, that is a good thing. Being random keeps us fun!

Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

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CFPCA's Student Senate Representative

Erika Ruch

Erika Ruch is a third year BS Dance major and BA Marketing Management major here at Wayne State. She has been a member of WSU Dance CompanyONE and To Sangana, in addition to performing at the International Association of Blacks in Dance, American College Dance Festival, Tap City, Masters of Tap and Motor City Tap Fest. The 2016-2017 school year is her first year serving on Student Senate. Outside of school, Erika is an adrenaline junky and travel addict.

Wayne State Student Senate
395 Student Center Building
(313) 577-3416

Visit the Student Senate on Facebook.


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UEFA Champions League Trophy

The European Cup is the trophy awarded to the club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The first UEFA Cup was donated to the competition by L’Équipe, the French sports newspaper that originally proposed the pan-European competition. The original trophy was awarded to Real Madrid in 1967, when they claimed their 6th Champions League winners’ title.

The design of the European Cup was modified when the original trophy was replaced. The new European Cup was cast in silver in a workshop in Switzerland at a cost of 10,000 francs. The trophy sports an urn-like shape with two large handles that have earned it the title ‘La Orejona’ in Spain due to the handles’ similarity to a pair of oversized ears. The trophy is also unusually large, standing 74cm in height.

Since the first European Cup was replaced in 1967, the trophy has been recast several times as top European clubs have claimed it permanently as they won the tournament either three times in a row or have notched up their fifth title in the history of the competition.

Besides Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam, Liverpool and AC Milan, Bayern Munich has also been awarded permanent ownership of original Champions League trophies. Liverpool was the last club to achieve this feat after claiming their fifth title in 2005. Each new trophy is engraved with the names of the previous winners.

Besides being allowed to retain an original trophy these five clubs have the right to wear ‘badges of honour’ on their football jerseys which indicate the years in which the relevant club won the title on a patch bearing an outline of the Champions League trophy.

Other teams winning the UEFA Champions League trophy are allowed to retain the trophy for 10 months, and are then awarded a scale replica to hold permanently. Clubs are also permitted to cast their own replicas provided these replicas are scaled down versions of the original trophy.

Over recent years the UEFA Champions League trophy has become something of a celebrity attraction in its own right and has toured the world extensively, appearing at exhibits throughout Asia and Europe. When the UEFA Champions League trophy arrives in the host city of the UEFA Champions League final it tends to draw enormous crowds as it is paraded through the city.


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Tag Archives: Jeffrey Tambor

A long-awaited ‘Development’

Jason Bateman and Liza Minnelli
Seven years after Fox canceled the Emmy-winning and critically acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development, the battling Bluths are back in 15 new episodes, available for streaming starting today on Netflix.
The new episodes, which the service cheekily presents as “A Netflix Semi Original Series,” reunites all the original principal players from the show’s original 2003-06 run as well as bringing back several guest favorites (hello, Liza Minnelli as Lucille Two and Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez!). This time around, though, series creator Mitch Hurwitz is less interested in telling a conventionally linear story than in filling us in on each individual member of the extended Bluth family, ideally to form a bridge toward an Arrested Development feature film he’s been envisioning for years.
With that in mind, each episode focuses on a single character, although other family members are, of course, tangentially involved. Obviously, that must have helped during production, since not all principles were required for every episode, and it doesn’t reduce the number of solid belly laughs per episode (each of which runs to close or over a full half hour, not the puny 21 minutes-plus currently afforded a sitcom on a commercial network).
Still, there’s a bit of a loss in not seeing all the Bluth-Funkes together more often. I didn’t actually realize that until episode three, when suddenly I caught myself grinning broadly at seeing Michael (Jason Bateman), George (Jeffrey Tambor), Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), Lucille (Jessica Walter), Gob (Will Arnett), Buster (Tony Hale) and Tobias (David Cross) all in a room together for the first time in these new episodes.
But then, Arrested Development never has followed the conventional sitcom rules. Where else could you learn that one of the principal female characters has fallen in love with an accidental member of Al-Qaeda who suffers from “face blindness” and runs an ostrich farm and think to yourself, “Yes, that sounds about right”? Or see a sexually ambiguous male character who has resolved to make a new start in his life do so by buying a new vanity plate for his car reading “ANUSTART”?
There are so many fresh surprises and brilliant jokes in these new episodes that I’ll leave fans to discover most of them on their own, but my heartfelt thanks to whoever had the inspired idea to hire Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen to play the younger Lucille and George Bluth in recurring flashbacks, as well as 24 sweetheart Mary Lynn Rajskub as an “aura specialist” named Heartfire.
Waiter! More hot ham water, all around, on me!
David Cross and Porta de Rossi

An intermittently haunting ‘Spector’ from HBO

Photo Credit: Phillip V. Caruso/HBO
There’s an absolutely brilliant scene about 15 minutes into David Mamet’s new film Phil Spector, which premieres Sunday on HBO. On a rainy night in 2007, attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren), who has been drafted onto Spector’s (Al Pacino) legal team by lead attorney Bruce Cutler (Jeffrey Tambor), arrives outside the Alhambra, Calif., mansion of the eccentric music mogul, who stands accused of murdering cocktail waitress and failed actress Lana Clarkson on Feb. 3, 2003.
The illumination on the grounds throws spooky shadows onto the house and, as Baden enters the abode, she finds herself in an almost surreal combination of Versailles and carnival fun house, with corridors leading to ornately over-decorated and overstuffed rooms connected by doors that often open the “wrong” way or lead to false entrances. The HBO press materials include a note by Mamet – who both wrote and directed the film, in addition to serving as an executive producer – that he wanted the scene to be evocative of a famous moment in Cocteau’s 1946 fantasy Beauty and the Beast, as Belle makes her way into the Beast’s forbidding castle for the first time. At the heart of the place, however, she finds not a fearsome monster as Belle does, but a shambling and seemingly harmless little man, sort of like the one Dorothy finds when she explores the inner sanctum of The Wizard of Oz.
This Phil Spector who welcomes Linda acts nothing like the volatile megalomaniac accused of shoving a pistol into Clarkson’s mouth and pulling the trigger on that fateful night. He seems instead to just be a weary old man who wants to relive his glory days in a rambling monologue as Linda tries to take in the staggering clutter of memorabilia, which we suspect may mirror the inner state of Spector’s mind on top of everything else. But although Linda previously had thought Spector’s defense was virtually unwinnable – after all, his chauffeur that night testified that, after a gunshot came from inside the house, Spector came out and said, “I think I just killed somebody” – Spector insists on his innocence, saying that the driver, who barely spoke English, misunderstood him when he said, “I think I should call somebody” to report what he says was Clarkson’s self-inflicted wound.
That scene is a major highlight of this new HBO Original, and there are other compelling moments as well, but Mamet has dealt something of a self-inflicted wound to the movie as a whole with the startling disclaimer he puts up at the beginning of the film: “This is a work of fiction. It’s not ‘based on a true story.’ It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome.”
So, according to Mamet, Phil Spector apparently isn’t a courtroom drama or a reliably fact-based character study or a docudrama, which might leave the possibility that it’s a cerebral meditation on whether juries occasionally convict defendants simply because they don’t like them. But wait, Mamet isn’t commenting on the trial or its outcome, either.
That doesn’t leave a whole lot to hang a 90-minute film on, even when it’s written by one of America’s most dazzling wordsmiths and acted by a cast that includes two world-famous Oscar and Emmy winners who never have shared a dramatic screen together before. And it also robs Phil Spector of a lot of the dramatic urgency it might otherwise have.
As for the two star performances, both Mirren and Pacino are very good indeed. She has a somewhat easier task, since even if we allow for occasional fudging of details for the sake of drama, Linda Kenney Baden’s point of view is fairly easy to understand: As she spends more time with the defendant, she comes to believe that blood spatter evidence and other forensic tests strongly suggest that it would have been impossible for Spector to have shot Clarkson in the mouth at close range without being virtually painted in her blood, instead of having only a half-dozen small spots on his jacket. When a friend of Clarkson angrily confronts Linda and challenges her to prove that Spector didn’t do it, Linda calmly replies that her job is simply to prove that the hard evidence raises reasonable doubt that her client is guilty.
Pacino has a more challenging row to hoe, since he has to master some of Mamet’s characteristically dense verbal arias that make up Spector’s frequent rants and attempt to create a cohesive character out of a role that stubbornly remains, well, somewhat spectral. It’s a busy portrayal, to be sure, although thankfully Pacino never crosses the line where his performance is more a matter of quantity than quality. In a climactic scene, after spending extensive time and energy trying to prepare Spector for a risky appearance on the stand, Linda is stunned and dismayed when he turns up for this critical day in court with his hair in a mile-high gray Afro like a refugee from a clown college for senior citizens. Why is he doing this? Is he suffering from dementia? Angling for an insanity defense? Who knows?
That moment is the last part of the trial Mamet shows us. Pre-credit cards at the end advise us that, with Linda leading his defense, Spector’s first trial ended with a deadlocked jury; a second trial, in which Linda couldn’t participate due to some personal health issues, resulted in his conviction.
Mamet isn’t going to comment further on this, of course. But the jury at home is free to draw its own conclusions.


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Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Piece of Cake: From the Diaries of a Fruity Homeschool Mama

This week I'm sharing some Real Life Homeschooling. At least, what happened during one week of our homeschool. These posts are not meant to educate. I can't tell you how to do it "right." So I am not even going to begin to try. This is just life.

Dear Diary,

Thank goodness we only have 3 more weeks of PE this semester. I’m beginning to lose track of my days. I can’t even remember what I did this morning. It obviously wasn’t productive. I didn’t even have my usual cup of tea and Quiet Time.

That never bodes well for the rest of the day.

Wednesday usually look a lot like Mondays…without the mad rush about town for groceries for these people to eat. At least once a week, a well-meaning individual asks Josiah why he isn't in school? I always politely respond. The responses I get in return are always mixed. One time we were at the Y in the morning and a older lady started telling me of some niece who was abusing her children because they weren't in public school.

Hmm. Listing all of the perceived evils of homeschooling is not the best way to strike up a friendly conversation with someone who just told you they are homeschoolers. I am used to disapproval from a variety sources. Generally, I explain that I do have an education (though it is not necessary) and I know what I'm doing. I try and do it in a light-hearted way so as not to offend. Though why I am worried about offending someone who has been offensive...

A little rant here. I wouldn't dream of walking up to a total stranger and telling them that their educational (or life) choices are ridiculous. It is bad enough when a family member disapproves. Give me a little credit. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck!

Rant over. At least until next week.

You know when you are a homeschool parent when even a few words drawn in the dust on the back of a truck is a teachable moment.

Are those complete sentences? Who is the subject? How would you change this sentence?

Bet the Dude who did this little bit of writing in the dirt doesn’t know he provided a little “car schooling” experience.

There was dancing to be done at PE again today. I know the picture is blurry. This is an example of "I know my momma is taking my picture so I am going to casually look at my fingernail and pretend I'm not dancing."

This. Is the Cha Cha Cha.

So they tell me.

This might be a good time, Dearest Diary, to record this bit of information into history. I occasionally catch Josiah dancing to New Direction on the Just Dance video game. Maybe he's in training for next year's Dance Unit at PE.

After PE I drove Josiah home and ran to Hobby Lobby.

Or as I like to call it. “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Feel the calming breezes of the craft supplies wafting through the sweet fabric scented air.

I went to get some sort of art eraser. I think Josiah has been using ours as chewing gum.

I also picked up a small pad of scrapbook paper for a project for Easter. So many plans. So little time!

I need more Tuesdays

Our school day was relatively smooth. Thank goodness for that!

There was oddness going on with his math program on the computer. Josiah was THRILLED!

“Yay! It’s not working! I guess this means more time for Xbox!”

Oh to be young and so delusional.

Wednesday Evenings include Diving Practice at the Y.

We loaded up about an hour early and stopped by the Library that is also just a few minutes from my house. Not to be confused with the library I visited on Monday.

I will tell you, Dear Diary, that I could probably do homeschool for absolutely no cost with the exception of an internet connect and a constant supply of printer ink.

Why is it that the Printer Ink runs out at the most inopportune times?

So I had to stop by the Library. Make a few copies, pick up a book and check out these seed packets.
Isn’t this the coolest? Our library had an heirloom seed program this year. All patrons got to check out seeds to plant. I, of course, will not be planting anything. I got them for my Dad. He will get a kick out them. And I got things I was interested in eating.

When we left the Library we still had a good 45 minutes before Swim Team Practice. I decided to stop by a cupcake store. Isn’t it just madness to stop at a cupcake shop before going the Y?

Why, yes. It is. I can’t explain myself.

This is a Coconut Dream Cupcake. It did have little jelly beans on top of it (just in time for Easter). It was heavenly.

Anyhoo. Something wonderful happened at the cupcake store. Josiah and I won tickets to see a Theatrical performance of The Wizard of Oz!

The best part is that I only one 2 tickets. When they found out I needed 3 they gave me another one!

So I won tickets to see a musical and I got to enjoy 1,000 calorie cupcake.And I got to share a minute with this guy.

When I called The Muffin to tell him about the tickets I made no mention of the Cupcake. I figured that was on a need to know basis.

Dive Practice. There is not much more entertaining than seeing children hurl themselves off a diving block.

I’m easily entertained.

I did read a book. Sometime of the time.

I didn’t even workout…It seems that I walked out of the house with my flip flops on! Which are not great exercising footwear.

Here is what I have to tell myself.

Did my son get to his activity on time?  Yes. Does he have the appropriate equipment (swim trunks, googles)? Yes. Did he learn? Yes. Did he enjoy myself? Is tomorrow another day? Why, yes,…Miss Scarlett…It is.

Good enough.

I did put in some “Office Hours” when we got home that evening. I worked efficiently and quickly. I rocked it.

If I do say so myself.

That Right!

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