Monday, October 30, 2006

Quote du Jour

Many of you may already know William Gibson's quote, "The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet".

Now there is a corollary of sorts by Nat Torkington, "the future is weird, it's just not evenly disconcerting yet".

Monday, August 14, 2006

Thought du Jour

"...[T]here's no practical difference between a truth you won't believe and a lie that you will."
- Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary

Cat-ster

Deadgrrrl introduced me to Catster.com. What will they think of next? So Sweetie now is a Catster member.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Photo-flickr-mania!

I recently picked up an external Buffalo 250GB harddrive. Very nice. It is quiet (no fan) and it turns off when there is no USB power (turning of the computer). Because of this I was able to recover some digi-pics off of older harddrives. Woot! And thus, you, my adoring public, can view many of them on Flickr.

So enjoy!

Monday, July 03, 2006

From the Diary of Sweetie

Dear Diary,

Last night I slept on the leather ottoman again. It's very comfortable and I like the feel of leather-- no fuzzies for me. I had a nightmare where I was outside with no home. Sure there were mice and lil' birdies, but I was all alone, without a pet of my own.

My pet woke me up around 6am, chattered at me, and left. I know he was gone for a long time, I got at least 6 or 7 naps in. *Yawn!* As I deserve, he gave me immediate and loving attention when he returned. He also chatted more. *Blah, blah, blah, blah!* Something was up, but he wasn't clear. Something about a vet?

He then grabbed me and put me in a box! MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!

I was then carried outside, to the car, and then into the car! How could he do this to me! I don't care what he was saying the whole way. The indignity!

Eventually I calmed down, realizing that there was little I could do. And we soon ended up at a place called the Humane Society. Did my human need society? Wasn't I enough for him?

It turns out that there were lots of people at this Humane Society with their human pets. Ahh, I see, it's were cats and dogs can find human pets. Amazingly they even let those nasty dogs into the place. And one dared to get too close to my box. *Hiss!* Damn yappers.

After a nap's worth of time, not that I really napped, I was taken into a strange room with two ladies. I think one was a doctor. They weighed me (7lbs). Then one started to touch and grab me all over. Ouch! *Hiss!* They found the little nicks and scratches those outdoor bullies inflicted upon me. Then into another strange room where they took me away from my human pet. They drew blood and shaved my tummy looking for a spay scar. I am cat, here me roar and hiss and growl and hiss and growl and hiss!

They found a scar, of course. I could have told them that I was spayed if they asked. Geeze!

The over all results? No feline leukemia nor FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). Seems those bullies weren't carriers. I've been given antibiotics for my pet to put into my food, to help with all my little nicks and scrapes. It might even help with my slight limp, since it could be caused by an unseen abscess. No more gingerly jumping up onto the couch and ottoman. (Really, why don't they name them ottocats? It seems more appropriate.)

Oh yes, my human now knows I'm 4 years old. Here he was thinking I was younger or older. I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted. Silly human. (Though I still like him, even if he's a bit dumb.)

I'll be going back in two weeks for another check up. Only, if I must!

My human then took me home. It was nice to get out of the box and be home again. My human thought I would be stressed and would hide under the bed. No sir! I'm better than that. After some food and water, I returned to my favorite leather ottocat for some well deserved napping.

--Sweetie

Friday, June 30, 2006

A New (not very evil) Minion


Welcome the little lady, Sweetie Pie!



So, I've been considering getting a cat for a while, and the ladies in the management office have known that. They often get strays, feed them, and find them homes. Back in Feburary there was a cat, but "Butterscotch" was too dandery for my allergies.

Anyhow, I walk into the mangement office today to pay my rent (3:30pm), and I was asked, "Are you still looking for a cat?" I said sure. (They are big cat lovers there. No pet deposit for apartment complex strays. And gratis kitty sitting when gone. As I said... big cat lovers.)

So I sit with the cat-with-no-name, a petite black and white furball, for a time, to check my dander reaction. Such a sweet cat. (I think it was said that she was "a sweetie", a time or two.)

Things seem good. She stays right there. And is very affectionate.

(Maybe the previous owner was a guy?) According to one of the managers of the complex, the kitty walked up to her husband. As is typically done around here, they took her in and started to find her a new home. (Amazingly, they had a highway-stray dog, and two furry kittens earlier this week.)

After a bit, I decide to try her out. So I ran off to PetSmart to grab a kitty box and some stinky food. (She doesn't go for the light odor stuff, according to finders.) I already had a few things that I bought last Feburary: litter box, litter, scratching pad, kitty toy. On the way to PetSmart I thought, "Sweetie is a good name..."

A quick stop at home, and back to the management office. When I returned to the management office, she easily went into the box, though lots of meowing ensued. (5pm)

At home I let her out of the box in the bathroom near the litter box. She wandered around, and promptly hid under my bed on top of a vinyl cover to a free standing white board. I spoke with her, trying to coax her out, and went to putting away some laundry.

After a time she came out briefly, and returned to her hiding place.

About 8:30 she wandered out, and meowed and talked. I put some food out, and she eventually made her way to my couch next to me. (See pics.) (Lots of rubbing and petting ensued... including tummy rubbing... lots of black fur there, only a bit of white only legs and upper chest.)

Pics loaded up, and she returned to her hidey place.

(Oh yeah, names such as "Little Lady" and "Sweetie Pie" have been uttered... so now she has a middle name.)

More to come. Hopefully the dander level is manageable with my seasonal allergies. If things don't work out, the ladies in the management office will find a new place for her.

Surprise! (10:15pm) Here I thought she was in my bedroom hiding, but she snuck past me and now is on the top of my couch, preening and cleaning.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Amish Friendship Bread
10 days ago I recieved some Amish Friendship Bread starter from a co-worker. After massaging it, feeding it, and sending it to a health spa, I made bread.

IMHO it was a lot of work for an over-grown muffin that uses a bread starter. Yup, you heard me, muffin. Eggs, lots of sugar, milk, baking soda & powder, no proofing == muffin. I guess the starter is just there for a bit of flavor.

Next time I'll just make a raised bread or a muffin bread or just make muffins. (Zucchini and banana breads use the muffin method.) Wot? You don't know the muffin method? Get thee to a bookstore and get "I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking ".

Any how, the recipe below I adapted from this Amish Friendship Bread recipe.

The results? Decent. Not my best. Though my co-workers enjoyed it. One of them said, hyperbolically, "It brightened my morning." Go figure.
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup wheat flour [why just go with AP, wheat is neat.]
  • 2/3 cup honey [much tastier than sugar... and I lessened the quantity.]
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground gloves [coffee grinders are fun!]
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
  • 2 eggs [Sure the original called for 3, I only had 2.]
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 apples - peeled, cored, chopped [I used Granny Smiths]
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the Amish Friendship Starter, eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients, until just blended. Finally stir in the chopped apples. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves.