Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thursday, Just Like Yesterday...Only Different.

Up at 7, read scattered email of slight importance, seek cats for solace, find cats, get coffee, play a game of chess with some unknown player who beat me soundly.  I'm brilliant, then stupid at chess.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "The Game".  Played it since I was a mere enfant (French for "child").  Highest I ever got was mid 1700's...then I fell off and back, apparently not soon to rise to that lofty place of True Heroes.  Now I struggle, especially at my end game play.  Stupidity reigns supreme.
I study chess problems and mostly figure them out...takes a bit longer these days.  Stupidity takes a much shorter time.

Off to Lowe's this am to get downspout parts, a couple of plugs for the now open ends of the new gutters and the guards to keep out leaves and such.  We have a plethora of trees about, oaks, ficus, beech etc. All drop copious amounts of leaves, especially now in the fall.  Back...I painted the fascia and placed a hanger, ripped off a section around the western side so I could get a downspout in that location before the rains come and slow my progress to a standstill.

Then on the gold coat I photographed yesterday for the eBay business I could not locate the bloody mfr. label.   Kelly saw that in the photos when she looked through them in prep to put the item on for sale and I went upstairs to photo the label and move it to our server.  A busy guy IU am...and now I'm about to debone a chicken, make stuffing and BBQ it.  How 'bout that!

Bye for now, I'm trying after all...

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Wednesday In Sunny November

51 degrees when I arrived at the laptop, the reading coming from Travis AFB about 5 miles from here, pretty close I'd say.  A bit warm for beer but with a sweatshirt on I'm comfortable INSIDE.  We have managed after many seasons of what goes for Winter in our climate here in California to turn the thermostat DOWN to a comfy 65 degrees F  or 18 degrees C.  Just warm enough that with a layer or three one can comfortably sit down and read the morning paper or type on a damned laptop.  No frost on the leaves yet, but it's coming, maybe by Thanksgiving.

In a while I'll stop doing this and tred upstairs to do a bit of clothing photography for our eBay sales.  Kelly is off this morning early (about an hour ago) to acquire some more stock for the site.  Every week she makes the trek and through much searching and mulling over finds and purchases all manner of ladies (mostly) clothing from boutiques, large chain stores and outlets.  She then cleans them, presses them and preps them for ME!  Yes...I do the photos and the transfer to our server for the minions at eBay around the world to drool over.  I like my job, it's challenging and interesting and I've learned MUCH about women's clothing over the years.   Here's the site url:

Kell's eBay Site

After the photo session it's back at the exterior house fix-up, chapter 101, "The Gutters".  The worse part is removing the old rotten ones as they were NAILED into place, not sexy at all!  Screwing is the Way!  So pulling nails or cutting the heads off is done and then the offending ancient gutter material has to be ripped from the fascia to fall to the ground like a collapsing bridge and spew it's not-so-lovely contents all over the garden.  Wonderful!  Then it's scrape the fascia, fill the nail holes, repaint with the white acrylic then place and SCREW into the fascia the hangers for the new gutter material and prep the ends of the new gutter and fasten it onto the hangers. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

So off to work I go, see you later with a report.

A November Hummingbird

 
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New Post, New Post, New Post...So What?!

Well sooner or later I HAD to get back to posting on my blog.  You know...that guilt of putting-things-off and then...it continues.  Between burying Furr-Rr-Eee, painting the house many greys, replacing the damned DSL modem, repairing the picket fence, feeding too many Kats, BEING dAD to too many kittens etc. etc.  All that and the angst of olde moldy age and you have a supreme wrap-up of the last period in yours truly's life.  Those and the answered emails, the new dinners researched and cooked,  and the most time wasting of all...FACEBOOK!

So today, boys and girls, the house gutters are being replaced by my little self.  It is NOT a pleasant job in that the existing ones have to be pried off the house and are filled with enough raccoon shit to fertilize a mid-sized farmer's field.  Yes, they live "upstairs", on the roof over the bedroom.  We heard them at night doing whatever raccoons do.  Well they doo-doo frequently at various locations on the roof.  Wind and rain shuttle the lovely turds here and there until they are swept into the gutters.
Leaves clog all gutters unless you have those that have a ventilated cover and thus the water flow is too slow to send the offending shit along to the down spout and out to rest in the garden.  Oh well.
So these gutters are being replaced after some 18 years of service, not bad...but they have been leaking on the north side for the last w-h-I-l-e if you get my drift.  The new ones are plastic, vinyl actually, tough as nails, light and fairly easy to install.  I have many feet to do.  Yesterday I cut my first piece about 7 feet, installed three hangers in the appropriate spots and spent the next 20 minutes pushing the damned gutter into place on the hangers...not an easy task.  More today.

It looks like rain.  Dark clouds in the north and nearly no wind to speak of. 

Suisun City, CA
A shower this morning
Today
A shower this morning
High 73°
Mainly clear
Tonight
Mainly clear
Low 47°
Sunny and beautiful
Wednesday
Sunny and beautiful
High 74°
Low 47°
Partly sunny
Thursday
Partly sunny
High 74°
Low 47°
Breezy in the morning; sunny
Friday
Breezy in the morning; sunny
High 70°
Low 45°
Mostly sunny
Saturday
Mostly sunny
High 67°
Low 40°

                                   

Not too bad of a guess.

Mosquito Meeting tonight.  I'm a Trustee remember?

Bye for now!

 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

DOS Attacks, Kitties, Painting, Dinner




Well now...I'm getting numerous (up to 100/day) alerts from my shiny new Netgear DSL modem saying DOS hits, that's Denial of Service attempts.  They are rejected by the software, nonetheless they do impact throughput rates when they all come at once as they do.  My ISP has been sent the alerts and they are so very casual about them, like the weather I guess...you can see it but you can't do anything about them.  Seems they can't even ID the sources, nor can I.  They are FAR better equipped to sort that piece of info out so I could at least contact the Abuse facility at the suspect ISP...but...no...they remain uninterested.

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The Kats, the ones you see above the page...they are nearly 3 weeks old, will be so tomorrow.  None of them weighs a pound yet (.5K).  All hovering between 8-11 oz except for the spotted one MOOCA who is but 7oz if that.  We have been supplementing his "natural" food with a prepared milk as a way to assist him but we are both unsure at this time if he will make it.  He seems energetic enough and suckles like crazy but there is no weight gain day to day. 2 others expired after about a week, they had no strength whatsoever and even though we hand fed them it was simply not enough.  Sad.

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Porch painting is going strong, not the color I wanted (dark grey desired) but we have 3 gallons of the stuff and a porch that needs it before winter hits so it's what we'll use for now.  If it looks poorly I suppose we could go buy something darker.

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Chicken Tacos for dinner, one of Kelly's favorite things and mine too!  Easy to make and delicious.
Our own small tomatoes, the yellow pear shaped ones, cilantro, roasted red bell pepper, onion and adobo sautéed chicken thigh meat.   Market tortillas, new brand to test tonight.

Take care!

Monday, September 09, 2013

Bowels? You there...answer please...Bowels? Bowels?

A little aside from the normal diatribe.  How often do you have conversations with your Large Intestine?  As you get older and stupider you will find that such conversations are more frequent and often quite intellectual.  I felt an uncomfortable gnaw in my gut yesterday afternoon, the first thing that happens to me is my brain goes on Alert status...something is Up...down there. 
Brain says "Hey you...Bowels?
Bowels weakly..."yes?"
Brain "What's happening?"
Bowels "Aw just PG&E".
Brain "Is it under control, you GOT it?"
Bowels "Ah...sure...I got it?"
Brain "Ok, you know your business, keep me advised."
Bowels "Sure Boss...I'll let you know if I need some help"
Brain" Alright, you do that..have a good afternoon."

After that...silence, then more gurgling and a burp, not a fart, a burp and a slight green tinge to it.
I went to the kitchen to set out the meal (mis a plus) for this afternoons dinner making event.  I had decided that I'd use the dandy Creamed Sugo I used last night for the pasta dish with the batch of White Shrimp I had in the freezer and do that over Basmati Rice.  The sauce was a dream, lightly creamed (I used Heavy Whipping Cream) regular Sugo (look it up online, use Fresh Tomatoes though for a milder flavor.  That with Hot Italian Sausage with Ziti made a lovely, wife and daughter friendly dish.  She objects to the tangy version of Italian Tomato Sauce recipes sometimes and this is a good flavorful answer.  Anyway, I laid out the Onion, Tomato, Carrot, Celery to be chopped for the Sugo addition to last nights creamed version.  To this addition I would again add about a cup of whipping cream.  Then Mr. Bowels spoke up.

Bowels "Brain, Brain...better sit down"
Brain "What is it?  I'm busy prepping dinner Bowels"
Bowels "I know, I know...but the PG&E has gotten worse, things are backing up down here."
Brain "Well Bowels, take control...tell the Legs to take you to the Crapper".
Bowels "I may no make it, too much PG&E, the pressure! The pressures going up!"
Brain "Well Fart and Go Bowels, Fart and Go!"

Off to the crapper I went licked split.  Got there just in time too!  One dump down and more to go!

Back to work,  Kelly prepped the shrimp and I used the head and shell to "Flavor-Up" the reinvigorated Creamy Sugo by a slow reduction over the next hour and a half, carefully minded.
The shrimp once shelled and cleaned (gotta, gotta, gotta! No sand and shrimp shit allowed!)
were placed in a Sous-Vide bag and an attempt at vacuuming out the bag went sour.  The lil' pump was working it's little pump ass off but there was no reduction in size to the tightly closed bag.
Now, this kind of thang has happened before when doing this vacuum packing craziness.  I can usually unseal the zip-like closure and reseal it, apply the pump and all goes well...but not this time it doesn't.  Amid my roiling gut and my new greenness I'm experiencing another failed sous-vide vacuum bag!  Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!  So I open the damned bag, clean the seal area and reseal the offending bag.  I apply the pump to the little area there by the corner and push the button down as I press it to the bag against the little ridges of Hawaii (Our Kitchen Island)...I make food on her northern beach.  There's no sand...most of the time...but lots of little ridges from the tile surface. 
You get the idea.  No go...I can feel the suction and hear it when I life the pump...but...no go with reducing the volume of the bag.  Shit! Shit! Shit!  So I just seal the bag, place it in the crock pot sous-vide bath AS-IS, weight it down with the Pestle from the Mortor and Pestel on Oahu (that's the smaller island just west of the refrigerator where the beans are kept in jars on the small beach) and set the temp to 131 degrees.  This should take about 35 minutes to cook. 

Bowels "Bowels to Brain! Bowels to Brain, come in brain!"
Brain "Yes Bowels, what can I do for you?"
Bowels "I gotta go shit again Brain...time out needs to be called."
Brain "I don't have time for this..." 

Nutty, nutty, nutty cat person...

Ok here's the short version...we trap cats to get them spayed and neutered (de-balled) by a group here in the county that sponsors such activities.  The scheme works as follows...we borrow 5 traps (we have one of our own), trap the cats with cat food as bait (canned works best), transport them to the local animal shelter for their various surgeries which are completed by vets, we transport them back "home" (which is where they were caught) and after a short (max 3-4 days) healing period are reinstated to the local herd.  We have done this to some 16 cats this year, it is a one clinic a month program with a maximum of 6 cats per ??? family ??? Sure.  That was our total for the first 3-4 months this year.  More to come.  How many are left un-neutralized?  Who knows?  Many, maybe as many as 20.  I know that 4 that frequent our cat feeding/watering/periodic trapping station on the front porch that are about to sprout kittens any day now.  We like cats, but too many cats are a burden to the birds in the neighborhood especially if they are not fed regularly.  Our neighbors supply some monies for food and the $20 USD per cat fee charged by the group.  We would do it without their financial support but we welcome it for sure!  Anyway...the month of July was to find us trapping once again, we had returned the traps to the cat person we obtain them from when we left to take the USA trip back in late April.  So we had to make arrangements to pick up the traps once again which we did.  Traps obtained, we baited them with small cans of wet cat food (ugh!) and awaited the gala SPRONG! SNAP! CRUNCH! of the traps.  Soon, over a period of 2 days,  the traps were full of lady and gent cats of the un-neutered variety and we were set for the great deed the next day, a Sunday in July.  Come Saturday afternoon a grey SUV drives up sharply and the lady that we obtained the traps from a few days before steps from the cab yelling "You can't do this!" "No, no, no" "This is wrong!"  as she steps up to me as I stand beside my truckload of caged cats. "They're too hot, this is awful!"  I turn back one of the towels covering the top of the cage and look at a cat staring up at me. "It's not hot, they're covered from the sun." I say somewhat loudly.  "Look" I say and turn back each of the 6 towels covering the cats much to the cat's surprise. They blink in response.  "They're fine, no heat stroke, they're covered."  She insisted "It's not good, it's not O.K., it's against the law!"
Around and around we went for about 5 minutes, finally in frustration and with her continuous vocalizations regarding getting them "out of the sun".  There was no sun, only the late afternoon shade of the house.  I began picking up the traps, spilling both food and water, and taking them into the front yard to put them in the shade of our front porch.  Until this time I was alone in this losing battle, her barrage about the nonexistent "problem" had me going her way.  Soon I was joined by Kelly who I know would not have been so bent by her pronouncements and...she wasn't.  She joined me with assailing the logic of this entire scene, now she turned to the reality of the cats themselves now with spilled water and overturned food containers and NOOOOOO...cat shit too!  Yes...cat shit too!  The stuff Kelly REALLY doesn't want on the porch!  The next exchanges, sharp as they were on both sides,  led me to now move the offending cages and their messy cat contents to the catalpa tree shade.  Kelly got fresh water and I worked to right the food bowls and renew the food situation for each affected cat. "Well take them with YOU" I said.  "There's no room" she replied looking at her SUV. Then she continued, "You can't treat them like this! This is TERRIBLE!" said the wild Cat Lady waving her arms furiously.  That DID it for Kelly..."Turn them loose" she said looking directly at me and I dutifully did as I was told though with some reluctance!  Shit, shit, shit.  "They'll die in the streets, some will have kittens," Kelly said to the over-zealous cat lady.  "If you hadn't been so strident", I said, "This wouldn't have happened!"  "There were lots of ways to tell me about this, where is it written?" I continued getting madder with every passing breath...not to Kelly but to the now retreating cat lady.  To the SUV the cat-person went commenting on how she had just called the lead person of the group, "Tell her to come over and inspect then!" I said.  Shortly Cat-Lady returned to the yard retrieving the very cages she previously said she couldn't take.   I watched her take one at a time and place them behind the back seat empty.  She mumbled something about Kelly under her breath.  I shook my fist at her, "Fuck You, Bitch!" as she stuck the last now empty cage into the back of the SUV.  I was mad...very. Then she said weakly  "I wouldn't fuck you"..." fading off as she started the car..."Fuck You" I repeated loudly..."Bitch" and she pulled away.  Ah, a nice ending to some tedious work...I came inside, sat down and had a beer and let my heart rate get back to near normal.

Why did I all of the sudden bring up this subject?  After all this was over 3 weeks ago, a week before Furry died.  Because the Cat Lady just slowly drove by eyeing our porch....shit, shit, shit!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Sous Vide - Extreme Braising

Yes, I finally have arrived at the Sous Vide technique of cooking.  Fish, vegies, pork, beef, chicken, all are fodder for this new method of mine.  I've seen it (the method AND the delicious results) on TV on various cooking shows and it always seemed so damned time consuming that I never sought further examination until now.

So onto the good ol' internet to search out many, not trivial details, what? how? food safety, temperatures, timing.  After finding several sites that seemed knowledgeable of the subject with enough pictures to limit the verbiage necessary to impart courage, I bolted forward.   And about that time Kelly, dear one, gave me my B-Day present EARLY, a certain appliance necessary to hold temperatures at the same constant for hours at a time...a DORKFOODS DSV.
The DSV transforms an ordinary slow cooker into a sous-vide water-bath

A Home Sous Vide Device

Nifty little gadget that plugs into your wall socket and into it's socket goes the plug from your el cheapo slow cooker (non-digital please...it won't work, go cheap).  The DSV controls the cooker's heating element EXACTLY, within a couple of degrees.  130-140 degrees for medium rare beef for instance...cooked for 8 hrs or so yields a surprisingly tender, rare and delicious steak.  Yes, I said 8 hrs!  A time chart comes with the lil' gem to aid in your selection of timing. 

You also NEED a vacuum sealer of some type to remove most of the air from the items that are going to go-a-cookin' in the hot water bath you have just made.  I'm using the FoodSaver 25 buck vacuum pump...
go here:  http://www.foodsaver.com/product.aspx?pid=12264 
available for a few bucks less at Amazon.com.
Then buy some extra bags (gallon or quart are most useful) 'cause you're gonna need them after you discover how fabulous this makes things taste.  The bags are available thru either FoodSaver or Amazon.com...be sure to get the ones with the little hole and the zip-lock style closures.  Of course you can use a regular kitchen food vacuum sealer and those bags if you want, anything to remove MOST of the air and stay that way through the entire cooking process.

Info about all of this madness can be found here:
http://www.cookingsousvide.com/

http://lifehacker.com/5868685/sous+vide-101-how-to-cook-the-most-tender-and-flavorful-meat-youve-ever-tasted

http://blog.khymos.org/2007/01/21/perfect-steak-with-diy-sous-vide-cooking/

And last but NOT LEAST:

http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/blog/food-safety-with-sous-vide-cooking/

This last link is most important unless you like getting people and yourself deathly ill after eating one of your sous vide preparations.
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Much Water Under The Bridge

USA Trip, the demise of Fur-Rr-Eee and the hot, hot summer of California.  We left Suisun bound for nowhere in particular and everywhere in general.  The desert of Nevada greeted us first with loads of sunshine, dust and wind.  We settled in Tonopah in a not-so-grand old hotel and sought out vittles for dinner. We ambled about the town noting the degree of roughness of the entire place.  Cars parked every which way, the lack of shopping possibilities presented by the many shuttered storefronts.  This was not an auspicious beginning we thought, but it was a beginning.  Mainly we stayed on secondary roads between stops, sometimes that was not what happened, we only took highways when few other options were available or so far out of the way as to be ridiculous.  We had LOTS of time to explore and go whatever way seemed most interesting but we sought direction most days in where we stayed for the night.  The selection of tomorrows destination was dictated by both distance (300 miles maximum/day), available of cheap-ass lodging and as we went along...the daily weather (hourly in some cases!).  Cumbersome at first as we liked to be able to plan ahead a bit, we soon became at ease with this method of scheduling our travels within only a 12 hr time.  Furry, of course we took Hurr Majesty, never complained a bit, ate, drank and did her business in the provided travel litter box.  She was Easy. 
From Tonopah we skirted some mountains down around the Arizona line and aimed at staying with spitting distance of the red rocks of Zion National Park and Bryce beyond.  Desert. desert and more desert and as we reached North Las Vegas (Spanish for "The Meadows" according to various tourist guides) to see "the meadows" covered for miles on end by houses and shopping malls.  Wow. What a scene it was, turn the corner and head northeast and flew away from this dust bowl as fast as we could.  Occasional stops for gas, not daily but every other at the pace we were going, the Prius was averaging 48mpg and has a 12 gallon tank, so over 500 miles between tankful's kept us rolling right along without excessive stops for petrol.  The car was PACKED to it's little brim.  Damned little vacant space for Hurr Majesty Fur-Rr-Ee to wander but she always found a space, sometimes the back window to gawk at the passing scenery, sometimes laid out prone on top of the ice chest.  She was VERY GOOD indeed!

To be continued...right here...soon...I promise.  (Don't take that too literally)

I'm baaaaack!  Where were we, oh yes...the Trip...next stop was Durango, Colorado.  A bit of a long day, more miles than we wished by far but then it all worked out.  Here are a few pictures of that awesome drive:

 
Above is downtown Tonapah

 
A Nevada Tower

 
Granite wall near Colorado border

 
Colorado Scenic Panorama

 
Sandstone worn by wind and time

 
Thunderbird Restaurant Home of the Ho Made Pies

 
Near Durango, Colorado
 

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Return

So...you MIGHT ask "where have YOU been?...It's been OVER 2 months!"  Yes dear readers, we took off for parts unknown until we were there back where we started.  We loaded up the trusty Prius with enough clothing, BBQ tools, cat carrier, blankets, beer and assorted odds and ends until, as we left, the car could not be seen under the piles.  We had made up our mind to spend some time wandering this great country of ours in search of friendly faces, buoyant sights, regional foods, good beds and cheaper gas...not necessarily in that order.  We found all of that and more.  I took something over 5,200 photos and we drove a total of 10,851 miles!  America the Beautiful was true as it has ever been,  What a wonderfully diverse and magnificent country we have here.  Never saw a SINGLE black helicopter either...not one!  Visited some National Parks, some National Monuments and Interstate highways too.  Our days had a rhythm to them, up about 7am daily, wash up, pack up, pack the cat secreted along (more about that later), load up the car and skedaddle (yes it's a word) off to the next town along the way.  Here are a few pictures to give you a hint of our various travels lo these last 2 months.
_____________________________________________________________________________







 
 
One thing was certain, my driving skill set is less than the voyage demanded.  I missed signs, I ran stop signs, wandered right and left as I grew weary in the day.  Afternoons were the worst, caffeine was a god-send for both Kelly and I.  We limited our mileage per day to something under 300 miles and soon we were trading driving time of an hour in order to keep alert.  Staying hydrated was helpful too.  We bought cases of water and stuffed it into whatever cranny was available at the time.
 
Coffee every morning, and eventually a cola was shared each afternoon as we rolled along toward that days distant goal.  The miles in the afternoon were the hardest, often the sun was just too blinding, to bright, too strong.  We often got off of whatever highway we were on to wander a nearby byway into a village for a while to regain our perspective and eyesight.  The trees were wonderfully full and deeply green.  America is at least 1/2 forest.  Kelly was a better driver every time, she never missed a sign and was smooth as glass over the highway with minimum wander even in the blowing hot dust winds of the western desert.  Her driving skills are still there, mine, alas are weakening.  Part of it is my eyes, while I still recognize the miracle of my double cataract surgery I am still left with extensive floaters and some blurry vision that even the new glasses can't seem to reconcile. 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Saturday, April 13, 2013

So Where Oh Where Is Zulu?

Gone...long gone like turkey through the corn.  She had been in repair status since she sank and was refloated some 8 years ago.  Yes...sank.  At my dock behind the Swamphouse.  No she did NOT leak fluids...no oil, no fuel as there was none in her.  What caused her to sink was a plethora of olde (circa 1930's) iron fasteners (screws) that over the years rusted away largely hidden from view underneigth many layers of paint.  I had been assured by the previous owner (s) that she had been completely refastened with stainless steel screws and was "sound" of hull.  We bought her in 1989, in the spring right after we bought the Swamphouse.  She was seaworthy as they come (or so we were told) and had a great story to tell of her adventures through the years.  We motored her all over the Delta and SF Bay and joined the Classic Yacht Association so had rights of reciprocity everywhere,  meaning we could stay at the local yacht clubs throughout the Bay Area and the World and gain docking at any time.  In 2001 we bought a small cottage in France and that became our main interest and Zulu was tied up at our dock behind the house covered but unused for up to 6 months a year.  The aforemeterntioned iron screws rusted away, day by day without indicating anything until she sunk the day after we returned from France in the fall of 2005.  MORE TO COME!
HERE'S MORE: 
So my dear neighbors pitched in and soon we were visited by not one but two fully outfitted DIVERS who "dove" ZULU to close whatever was open, various hatches and windows as well as portholes plus insure that the toilet fitting was in the OFF position.  Then we proceeded to pump her and pump and pump with 2 each 20,000 GPH motorized pumps with full sized 6" diameter fire hoses back into the marsh.  What a scene!  It took over 2 hours for her to finally move an inch in the rising position as she was firmly stuck into the fine mud of our docking tie-up.  When she did she came up in a hurry!  Water shedding down both sides of her cabin, looking for all the world like those old pictures of World War 2 submarines emergency surfacing!  Amazing!  Within a week of drying out we got a crew of neighbors together and towed her 25 miles to the dry-dock in Rio Vista.  Within a few days an agreement was reached to "do" ZULU and get her sea worthy again.  This was a rather open ended agreement with no set times or dates but with the proviso that I was willing to put $15,000 in as the maximum dollar amount for any or all needed repairs.  At first I came weekly to see the progress, the new hull boards, the removal of rotted ribs, the removal of buckets of 65 year old #10 and #12 IRON Screws, some rusted till only the head existed as metallic iron, the rest...rust and ferrous sulfide.  I had been told when I bought her that she had been "refastened" with fine STAINLESS STEEL fasteners and there were a few found here and there but most were rusted until failure IRON sad to say.  The yard was doing it's best and was making progress all along but other troubles began to show, more rotted timbers as well as ribs and the tiller post fitting could not be convinced to depart the hull at all.  The wood around the fitting was in serious need of repair too.  Months went by, much work was done as he could get to it and I continued to write 1000 dollar checks.  She was quickly becoming an albatross for him and for us as well.  Lots of work done and little to show in the way of progress AND she was out of the water which is the bane of all wooden boats.

Sunday, April 07, 2013

North Korea...not on my Bucket List.

Boring, boring, boring...North Korean says this, North Korea says that.  Remember North Korea? No?  Well you should...it's been the bane of the UN, South Korea, China and the United States since the 50's.  Remember the Korean War?  Well...it's not over 'til it's over.  They tore up the Armistice papers last week.  The North did.  Oh well.  Like a spoiled 2 year old in a grocery store, whining "I want Pebbles, I want a chocolate bar, can I have this car Mommie?"  Over and over again.  Boring, boring, boring.  Meantime it builds and sells weapons of war to our oh so friendly Middle Eastern relatives behind everyone's back.  Yawn...so predictable.  We've TRIED to ignore the poor thing, stopped listening while it wriggled and flailed itself on the floor of world condemnation.  Basically they just kept on and on, whining away into the night of our lost sleep.  Stick a bottle in it's mouth for crissakes!  So we all got up and stuck whatever passes for a bottle into the petulant face of the leader of North Korea until that bottle was empty, then, yes...you guessed it...the crying and whimpering began again a couple of weeks ago and hasn't let up.  Time for corporal punishment?  Maybe...but we want one more incident before we and our South Korean and Japanese buddies bring out the belt.
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I repaired (rebuilt is more like it) the east picket fence yesterday using Simpson Strong tie straps to retain the 2 X4 joists that insert into the 4X4 posts.  4 screws each after pulling them together with ratcheting straps post to post.  Worked like a champ!  Then fabricated a magnetic "latch" for the picket gate too, no more sagging gate and no mechanical catch to misalign either.  2 small but very powerful magnets strapped and cemented to the post and gate does it!  Not bad at all.  Audrey approved!
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Baked two round loaves of "3 cup 9 grain bread".  One for the wonderful neighbors who sweep the catalpa's (our big old tree)   www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQHsAvhwCz8      leaves from the street in front of our house when they do theirs.  Nice simple neighborly barter.
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Ah, it's SUNDAY!  Big Newspaper day!  We take 2 on weekends, The SF Chronicle and the Daily Repulsive...er ah...Republic, our local one.  Takes most of the morning to accomplish the feat.  So many sections, so little interest!  Fillers and paper ads complete the mix...about 1/2 of the load is junk, pure and simple and is largely discarded when it is come upon between sections.  I generally read the Chron first while Kelly gives the DR a go over.  Each of us form a pile for the other to rotate through with suggested readings spoken of and coffee spilled on the most funny or upsetting sections.
Breakfast happens sometime in the middle of the "Sunday Read", omelets, over easy eggs or a hash or waffles, pancakes or a portion of last nights dinner.  Then a mid-morning stretch, a look-see outdoors to observe the cat bowl area for small furry invaders "at the bowl".  Turn on the silly laser machine for Fur-Rr-Eee to jump about and pounce on like the 19 year old Kat she is.  Then back to the paper.  I like the Opinion pages best.

Love to you all! 



 

Friday, April 05, 2013

Spring has Sprung...BO-INGGGG!

Well, rain yesterday and a bit the day before...thunderstorms!  We have damned few thunderstorms off our friendly, mostly benevolent Pacific Ocean but upon occasion...yes, a few...and Tuesday evening was one of those times.  Mostly cloud to cloud strikes but ONE "got" a nearby house and blew chunks of plaster off the ceiling and cracked the brick wall outside, no fire, no injuries but the electricity was out there for about a day while repairs were made.  A very wet night and the next day similar.  Cold too.

Kats? A few...but mostly they are staying away.  I wonder why?  The general level of cat cries and mating kat rituals are down and I haven't seen any out and out mating on the porch either.  Cat porno is definitely down.

The porch pillar repair is done for now, new beam and joists and landing pad plus the porch flooring replaced in that area.  It's good.  Then I patched in a small section of the flooring right in front of the door.  The next projects are to paint the whole porch including the stairs, then paint the house after 20 years of sun, wind and rain it looks pretty shabby.

We hired a gardener, 120 bucks and he cleared all the winter debris, fallen leaves, weeds, and oxalis from the north and east side gardens as planted by Marsha last summer while we were in France.  Bless her!  We came back to a fine looking garden with many new plants and a relocated kitchen garden plot, a bit smaller but now fully in the sun in the morning, a real plus for tomato growing.
I spent Tuesday morning planting Sweet 100's and some other heirloom tomato varieties, 6 in total.  Then some peppers, red and a pimento variety too.  A squash (zucco) and it's in need of a few others but it's a good start...then it rained.  I seeded in some parsley, basil, corriander, zinnas, marigolds and a few other herbs in open spaces and planted Kelly's bulbs in others, there WILL be pictures eventually.

Then a precipitous phone call from our lovely renters...they want out of the lease a couple of months early so they can move into their new purchse (a house) and get married, not necessarily in that order.
Shit, shit, double-shit.  Soooo, sure, no problem...taking it in the shorts again I fear.  At least we have abandoned our normal schedule this year and won't be going to France.  So off to write and assemble an ad on Craig's List.  That was Tuesday as well.  This morning got a call...fingers are crossed.  The Swamphouse IS beautiful! A BIG GIRL of a house! 

Here's our humble abode...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

More Damned Cats!

         "The Old Man"  on the Left and Felix #3 at the Bowl Cat Restaurant and Watering Hole.
Well the morning routine over I can sit here adjacent to the dining table with Furry under the PC
table with a claw jabbed into my left leg Meeeowing excessively though she has been fed but a few minutes ago.  Typical.  She'll be 19ans on April 1st.  I guess she's allowed.  Another pic from the Feral Kat webcam when there's another Kat.

Weather is typical March madness...boringly beautiful with overcast each day and nice temperatures, no rain yet.  Rain forecast for tomorrow and Thursday.  We shall see.

The Porch Repair will continue this morning too, it's add-back time taking into account the 1" slope I previously found was part and parcel of the construction used.  Of course it worked for a 120 years or so as the place the porch drained to was/is/shall be that corner post where all the rot was/is/shall ever be.  Alas...

 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

More Porch Renewal...

We I've opened it up, removed some, if not all, of the rot from the corner structure and now await tomorrows further operation.  The surface boards were rotten only within the last 8 - 10 inches of the porch towards the street...as one would think...but the beams underneath show rotting further back, some rather extreme and that will have to be addressed.  All the measurements show these beams and joists to be during the days of TRUE 2 inch by 4 inch wood and 4 inch X 6 inch beams...not like now where 2"X4" means 1.5" X 3.5".  That means I'll have to stack some of the new lumber together to makeup the sizes as I do the repairs and trim some of the pieces as well.  A bitch.  Anyway, it's drying out right along now that it's open and will be a lot easier to deal with in that condition...I HATE wet wood! 

The cats have returned, many new ones too...which makes the upcoming capture another great cat challenge.  Too many cats, not enough time.  Two large bowls of food a day plus scraps from chicken, fish and whatever else I find as I prep lunch or dinner.  They aren't as good as a dog in getting rid of the unwanted stuff...but they aren't half bad either...it just take more of them!  And we have them!  Sunday 24 March is the next great neutering.

I've run into a really interesting video blog for you.  It's on youtube.com ... search for "Real Russia Ep 1"  it's a kick, the guys are really straight forward and sincere and it's a great travelogue taking in many aspects of Russian culture that have escaped the news or other documentaries. Try it, I think you'll like it.

For you Techies...here's a new site I found that'll help you make a descision regarding which CPU is which...a really good comparison between all the offerings of Intel and AMD.  http://www.cpuboss.com   Pretty neat!

Later folks!  More tomorrow and some pictures of the great rotten porch too! 

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Porch

The Porch.  Not a big one or a wrap-around-the-house kind...but big enough to sit on and relax late in the day on a sunny afternoon in the shade of the house.  It's covered by the roof and with it's advanced age (127 years old) for a simple wooden construct it has done quite well.  It's on the north side, the cold and wet side and shady side of this house.  Dry rot (a misnomer if ever there was one) is an ever present danger to these rather lightly built subfloor structures.  The wood is white/live oak or worse yet common fir...and it simply can't take the weather.  Oh it's painted, the same grey paint the body of the house has but it isn't enough protection.  Thus the corner column has pushed it's way into the structure as the floor and the structure supporting it are rotting away at a stately pace.  I started today to repair the damage before we do any travels (IF we do any travels) this summer.  It isn't extensively damaged, just the corner and a few boards along the front will need replaced.  The supporting beams and whatever underneath are more interesting and MAY take a bit more construction than the simple flooring will require.  I will be finding out soon...as I used floor jacks today to jack the overhang off the corner a bit (about 1.5 inches) so that I could examine the rot better and decide what must be done.  The jacks are quite stout, they are railroad train car truck jacks and probably could lift a good portion of this house if it needed lifting.  They are substantial!  Tomorrow I'll dig further into it, strip off some dead wood and see what kind of beam and joist material will be needed.  Then off to my nemesis HOME DEPOT to acquire the wood.  Check back tomorrow, I'll have some pictures of the rot and what I'm up to.  Til then...so long for now!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

KATS!!!

Yes, it's that time again...more, ever MORE about KATS!  Last Sunday was Repair our Feral Kats day.  We had caught (trapped) 6...our quota per the rules of the kindly folks who do the neutering and spaying of the feral population monthly.  6.  It's simply not enough and too much at the same time.  Trapping them is a easy chore, food in a trap and stand back for about 10 minutes and that's one.  Then another follows suit and soon you have 6 cats in 6 cages ready for water, covering to keep them from seeing each other in another cage and freaking out.  Then days go by before the date with the knife.  Most just lie there with baleful eyes, a sad mat of fur hoping for the best and expecting the worst.  This time we had trapped 6 total, 3 males and 3 females...two pregnant which meant we had to house them for a few extra days after the surgery.  The trapping itself was over in 24 hours, we had the six to be fixed.  That was Thursday.  By Sunday the truck smelled like shit...cat shit...as the "matter" fell from the cages onto the bed of the truck to be peed upon subsequently.  The truck was almost uninhabitable!  Whewww. Off to the animal shelter just outside of Fairfield where the cats would be received, surged and returned to their caretakers in short order.  We unloaded and stood in line with the other kind folks with their own broods caged with them.  Then the doors opened and the registration begun.  They collected the data on each kat and gave each a number and took them away to await the deed.  We returned home.   Later Sunday we received a call to inform us that we could return to the shelter and pick up our Kats.  Back to the shelter we drove in our stinking truck to retrieve the little beasts.  Soon they were all packed in their cages in the bed of the truck and we returned home.  Now the real work began...feeding and watering 6 caged cats that don't want to be there and are now drugged and scared out of their minds that MORE is about to happen! Meowwww!
alas, there is no "more" coming except to be kept for three days with water and food and the stench of the ages as company.  In their state Sunday they mostly dumped the water and food overboard to join the pee and poop below on the truck bed. Yuk!  Yuk! Yuk! Each day passed rather uneventfully and we set the three males loose yesterday.  Kelly, bless her, decided to attempt a sort of (!!!???) "taming" of the one unpregnamt female that was to be released yesterday as well by allowing the little sweetie to come into our house and "meet" Fur-R-Eee, our Queen.  Good idea.  NOT!  So it promptly ran off to lose itself among the myriad of hiding places available in a 120 year old Victorian! Shit, shit! and more shit!  Then...as the Kat is nowhere to be found...she leaves for her date with Katy, her sister and her niece Gillie in San Francisco!  This leaves ME to find and remove the damned Kat!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Where? and more than that...WHY?

Death Valley, California via Beatty, Nevada for a week of gawking, laughing, and taking many hundreds of photographs of places and things rarely seen.  The last time that I remember being here was with Bob and Marsha about 15 years ago in the dead of winter.  Now there were 4 of us again, Audrey, Kelly, Furry and I.  Yes, we took the Queen of Kats with us to roll in the dirt and sand.  We had a great time, better, I think anyway, that we thought we would.  Audrey, however, was suffering through a cold/virus that left her with a lingering weariness and sore throat (no fever thank Gawd), but otherwise frisky enough to get up and go every morning at 7am sharp! Now for a picture or two...
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Panorama of Beatty, NV in the near distance, quite a sweet place actually, good food too!
 Then a pile of tin roofing pulled off of Mr. Beatty's 1st house.
 Mr. Beatty's original home being rebuilt by local folks from the original rocks!
 No, we didn't stay here, closed in the Winter it was.  Nice early 50's example.
 
 
 
Now...I'm not saying that Beatty, Nevada is a Pretty place...it's a REAL place with real people living their lives like every American does...to their own drummer of the desert.  The closest "city" is south of here...Pahrump  (Pah-Rump), famous for it's brothels in days past, now? Who knows?  Beatty has no grocery store but they would really like one as the trip to Pahrump takes about 1 Hr and 15 minutes (75 miles one-way!).  They have a Denny's, a nice folk Museum, The Happy Burro Bar, a big Casino (Denny's is inside), a gas station or two, a candy store extra-ordinaire and other small businesses to round out their local commerce.  Population about 600 according to the local's we spoke to in the Happy Burro.  Spread out on about a 1 square mile site 10 miles outside the National Park boundry.  Rhyolite ghost town is a nice visit too and it's about 5 miles back on the road to the park. 
 
Clouds dropping snow on the Black Mtns near Rhyolite.




Red Rock Canyon near Owens Lake, CA.
My long-day shadow.
Panorama along Highway 190 near Owens Lake, CA.
The shore of Owens Lake, CA
 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Damned Gout Again!

Yes, my old friend Mr. Gout has visited me once again.  Last night, about 3am I awoke very uncomfortably with a severe throbbing pain in my right ankle.  I'm familiar enough with gout now that I knew immediately what the hell was going on with me.  Trying to avoid the pain is virtually impossible once it gains a foothold.  The duvet cover rubbed it gently but it was excruciating to say the least.  No fun at all, I couldn't find a location where it didn't pain me so much it was alarming!  I got up and hobbled to the bathroom and drank a quick to glasses of water to start the hydration process that I KNOW has to happen before it will subside.  Then I reached over and took a Colcochine tablet as I KNOW that works to quell the distress,  Then I went back to bed and after a long boring while trying to fight off the increasing pain and throbbing fell asleep.  I awoke at 7 and slowly made my way into the kitchen to greet the love of my Life Kelly and our ever faithful Fur-Rr-Ee Kat.  I told them of my new bout of gout and it's onset and then hobbled with coffee cup in hand to read the Sunday papers.  The rest of the day was spent chugging water, cherry juice and some wonderful canned cherries from Trader Joes. 

Here's the tale regarding the Cherry Juice treatment:

"You may be hearing a lot about cherry juice gout relief therapy if you're one of the millions of people who suffer from the chronic pain of arthritis or gout. New research has uncovered evidence that compounds in cherries may help to relieve pain caused by this affliction and other forms of arthritis in several important ways.
Although it has been long believed that adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle will help to combat the symptoms of gout, we are now beginning to realize the many health benefits of cherry juice in addition to these dietary changes. But what is it exactly that makes cherry juice gout's worst enemy?
 
 For one thing, cherries have been shown to lower levels of uric acid in the blood, which is one of the most common causes of gout pain. A study at the University of California Davis showed that consuming a serving of cherries daily significantly lowered the blood uric acid levels of women by as much as 15 percent, and while the participants in the study were given fresh cherries to eat, a serving of dried cherries or cherry juice can have just as significant an impact.
The secret to the benefits of cherry juice is a compound called anthocyanins, which are the pigments that give cherries their bright red color and are also believed to be the key to helping the body relieve inflammation. As an added bonus, these same anthocyanins may significantly reduce your risk for colon cancer, the third leading cancer in America.
Doctors and scientists believe that the anthocyanins in the cherries is what caused the decrease in blood urates and what causes cherry juice gout relief. They also feel that consuming anthocyanins on a regular basis may help lower heart attack and stroke risk, and are even studying the benefits of cherry juice and how it may have direct applications to the treatment and prevention of cancer.
And don't let all the publicity fool you! Black cherry juice health benefits are just as widespread and wonderful as that of tart cherries and sweet cherries, since all three varieties contain similar amounts of anthocyanins when consumed in similar amounts. No matter what variety of cherries you choose to fit your diet and tastes, all of them have the same great health benefits and are easy to find at your nearest health food store or better supermarkets.
Since the clinical research on the cherry juice gout relief therapy is still in the early stages, there is no set "prescription" for their use or consumption. However, it seems that the majority of people benefit from consuming about two tablespoons of tart cherry juice concentrate a day, or one to two servings of fresh or dried cherries. Just like with any other type of treatment, however, different people will naturally respond differently to cherries and the end results gained will most likely be varied.
While some people report that they feel results within a few days, others do not see the full benefit until they have used cherry juice daily for several weeks or even months as part of a low purine diet.

Cherry juice gout relief has been used around the world in the treatment of this painful disease for hundreds of years, but it is only recently that the mainstream media has brought this information to light. While some people may feel a little skeptical about the benefits of cherry juice in the treatment of gout and arthritis, many more are finding that it is a wonderful way to take control of their pain and get moving again with the help of a very easy and delicious cure.

Kelly found a bottle of old (2007 vintage) of Vicodin and we looked it up on the iNet to see what drugs interact with it and found that Colcochine interacts with many of the drugs I take daily...affects on the liver especially!  Severe warnings in some cases!  Shit! Shit! Shit!  Nonetheless I took one Vicodin at about 4pm and quickly fell into a stupor which is how that drug seems to affect me commonly.  I sat in my TV chair and watched a movie half-heartedly, didn't fall asleep as the pain was still severe but it certainly relaxed me and after an hour or so it seemed the pain had diminished a bit...the edge was off!   So downstairs I went after the movie finished and I made Pesto, the Basil one with walnuts, garlic, a squeeze of lemon and olive oil over regular spaghetti pasta for dinner.  I took the next Vicodin about 8pm and here I am writing away, my ankle feels somewhat numb and the pain has lessened considerably from what it was so maybe I can get some sleep tonight after all.  

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Next Step...What AM I Talking About?!

The damned Kats, that's what!  So this morning it's 25 degrees outside, the ground, the truck the blanket pile mountain are all covered with the glistening whiteness of heavy frost.  25 degrees is no joke.  We have 4 captive Kats in the back of the pickup covered with layers of towels and blankets and sleeping on old, now urine and feces soaked newspapers.  It stinks from 20 feet away, like a lion cage at a zoo for chrissakes!  Oh well, today is day 3 of the Great Kat-tivity whereby 6 Kats of the nearby neighborhood (our front porch!) were caught, kept, fed, watered and finally NEUTERED to their own dismay and Kat wonderment.  No I didn't fricassee any of them though...it was a thought.  Kat-Au-Vin WAS possible if my hands had been torn open any more than they already had been in the catching phase.  Blood lust was apparent in some of these Kats, especially the Russian Blues, Vlad and Sergie.  Fangs folks...FANGS! 1 fuckin' inch long...Fangs! and claws as sharp as razors!  Shit, shit, shit!  Anyway this morning was the Great Release, turn them all loose to wander the great outdoors once again.  One at a time they shot away, sometimes reluctant to leave for some damned reason but once out of the cage environment...KaPow! Off they flew like they were shot from a Kat gun!  Once they had run off I gathered the towels and the blankets and threw them on the porch and retreated to the warmth of the 51 degree house. Brrrrrrrr.  Heater on it will soon be warm again...warm being a relevant term at 64 degrees against the 25 degree frozen outside.
Later...
So Kelly came home from her Vallejo buying spree, a few goodies for her FELTING projects (hats currently)  with a couple of nice sweaters that can be used and a couple of books for her and Audrey's reading habit.  I next cleaned out the back of the truck of the cages, took them to the deck and dropped the smelly things in place.  I'll clean them and spray them after I do the truck. Some of the Kats we had neutered have returned for a late breakfast ears all cropped and looking decidedly healthy.  The appraiser came by about 11:30 to check on the rental house next door for the refi loan we applied for...could have sold it for about 250K in 2006-8, of course we didn't and now, who knows...the damned bank wants 90K value...wow...about 35% of what it was worth "back-in-the-day".  Oh yes, we definetly ARE upsidedown on that puppy.  We'll see, he says "maybe Monday". 
 

Monday, January 14, 2013

It went well...now the waiting.

So yesterday morning, as I said, we delivered the Kats, feral to the Solano County Animal Shelter for their $20 dollar apiece "makeover".  When we arrived there was a handful of other folks with their cages all covered with their own Kats, feral.  We unloaded the 6 and placed them against the side of the building and waited.  Much chatter ensued as we all shared our Kat stories and took a look at the various in their cages awaiting :The Cut".  Within a short while volunteers from the Solano County Cat Rescue came with clipboard and forms to fill out, at least they weren't long nor in triplicate.  Once the process began in earnest we soon found ourselves carting the cages towards the door labeled "Cat Adoption".  Inside the kindly volunteers examined our paperwork, the cats and turned us loose to return after we were called later the same afternoon.  We came home and I setup (mis en plase) to create a dinner of Chicken and Dumplings.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Kats! Kats and MORE Kats!

Yes, we discovered Kats have invaded our abode.  Not Rats but cute, furry, young, feral and quite prolific Kats.  As you have seen on the blog Kat Kam, the regularly appear each day, usually in the morning for BreakFurst when we put out the day's Plating for the little dears, feral they ARE!  Well we had many befurr our trip over the water and now we have many more.  What happened?  Why this year?  Why US?!  Well, this time last year we had Jerry-Kat, white, not homeless but a Drifurr in Kat terms, came often to eat alone then stayed away for days.  Then there was Gus-Kat, big orange cat, a stray, friendly with people mostly, a real pussy-kat.  Smoky, the across the street neighburr Kat, "belongs" to the good dentist, she/he (who knows) comes, nibbles, wanders off.  Others showed up at our door too but those three were prominent, total of about 5 or 6 daily.  We occasionally fed them til the bowl was empty and sometimes it stayed that way for days and days as we ignored them or got involved with living our lives in ways not connected completely with Kats.  That was LAST year.  This is THIS year.  A dozen daily with perhaps another dozen in the wings...every day bowl feedings, TWICE a DAY!  Yes, things have changed.  We have the Kat Family Felix, Black and white with overspray across their faces, #1 through #4 described by amount of coverage over their noses.  Too cute! Young feral rating (yes we have a system now) of 3 Paws out of a possible 5.  1 is can be petted (a Pussy Kat), 5 is watch out they're sharp! (KatZilla!), 2 Russian Blues, feral rating of 4, 2 Dark Orange/Black marmalade Kats, feral rating of 5!  2 Adult All Blacks...maybe Mom and Grandmom of the Felix Family, feral rating of 5 for the younger of the two (possible Mom) and 4 for the sick, ailing, slightly feeble but watch out anyway GM.  Those are out Regulars (including Gus and Jerry).  They routinely gather to wait bowl filling and refilling exercises by us Big Kats. Other denezins (another 12 or so) drop in as they wish, day and night for a bite and growl.  Some few Kat fights develop but we don't know who is involved, only growling and angry Katwords are said out of sight but not out of ear range. 

We became tired of the scene about Christmas time and Kelly researched the iNet for a solution...how to get them FIXED!  Yes, repair the parts in such a way that they don't work and maybe truck there will be fewer next year...maybe.  Males and females alike perhaps...neutered for their and OUR own good!
Indeed after a few phone calls and some musings about when (hopefully SOON), who (I don't care...ANYONE with a knife will do!), how (In the back parts...the danglers on the men...the women's are inside somewhere), where (Within 100 miles!).  Information gathered...yesterday we journeyed about 2 miles to a nice cat crazed ladies home in Fairfield (Furrfield really) to pick up 5 live animal traps. these plus the one I have makes 6.  Upon arriving home I shooed kats from the porch and assembled a 6 wide array of traps and loaded them with small cans of wet Kat food.  Traps set at about 3pm.  With a big Kabang!! 3:05 One trap sprung...false alarm...oops, a tricky cage.  I reset it and back inside we went to await our captives daring exploits.  3:15...KA-Bang, rattle, scratch, growl!  Sounded like a truck hit the house, one loaded with Kats!  One of the Felix's was caught! Terrific!  We covered the cage with several old towels which quieted our captive substantially.  3:45..KaBOOM! Another Felix fell for the trap! Cool!  Then at 4pm one of the Marmalade Twins made a move...Ka-POW!  Got her too.  3 caught inside an hour, wow...such progress.  Really!  Others came irregularly and each were caught, One of the Russian Blues and a All Black one.  5 in only a few hours without removing any of the cages...only one remained as night fell.
We covered the cages with both towels and old blankets we had bought from Goodwill.  Nighttime temp here was about 30 degrees at it's worst.  Our cats would be a bit more comfortable anyway.

So...out I go to check on our little furry charges.  All covered and cozy.  I open one to a loud "HISSSSS" and a jump at its door. Yipes...still alive.  All check out and the empty cage is reset and ready to go.  Within a MINUTE of returning in doors to the trusty computer to watch...here comes another cat...the OLD broken up nearly dead-but-isn't Grand Mom...and she goes straight in to the open cage.  It doesn't trip!  Out she comes in another 2 minutes and wanders down the stairs and sits to lick her chops and groom the mess.  Then, surprisingly she stays in place as I put another can of food into the open cage.  Back inside I sit here to check...and sure enough here she comes.  Slowly up the stairs and straight back into the cage she goes.  SNAP!!!  She's ours!!!  We got GM!  Fantastic! 

Later we transport the herd into the back of my truck in preparation for their visit to the responcible vet on Sunday.  Then a neighbor shows up to admire our work and retrieve GM...GM isn't a MOM at all, she is a DADKAT!  The father of all  our neighbor thinks.  Nearly dead by all appearances his terrible looking self is because he was caught in a HOUSE fire some years ago (5 OR 6??? 7 years MAYBE).  Here he is still with us, limp and scarred and nearly blind.  Our HERO DADKAT indeed!

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Gun Mods...let's use camera technology...

Ok, here's the deal, let 'em have guns, pass them out at schools...the only thing they'll do is shoot the target if it's NOT HUMAN!  Yes, it can!  It is absolutely possible using the same technology that is used in modern point and shoot (ahem) cameras to detect faces and various figures.  The camera is installed below the barrel pointing along the line of sight.  If it detects a human face, and arm a leg...it will not shoot, period.  Aim at a deer..kaboom..dinner is served, a rat, same thing, a bird...whoopee!  Buit a face...nope, won't go off, further it RECORDS the event that it didn't go "Bang" at for further inspection.  Any attempt to dismantle or make a change to the camera or it's software results in the gun being unable to EVER fire again.  How's that my fellow gun lovers?!  What's your problem with that use of modern tech on the current issue before us of "Gun Control".  Make the gun itself control the shooter. 
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