Cat fun

I posted some video of the cats (well Sonny) playing with the red light.  Ruby has no interest what-so-ever and doesn't get what the fuss is about.  The other two, seem to enjoy playing. Sonny especially. We got the laser light in hopes that we could help Ziggy become more active. He is getting older, he will be 10 this year. And he is overweight. The vet had said not to worry too much about his weight as long as he seemed active, happy, etc. However I know that with cats, as with people, carrying too much weight is not a good thing. And we have noticed that he is starting to have trouble jumping on the bed. So, in order to help him, we have put the cats on a diet. We were using self-feeders, which is very convenient - for us, and for "piggy" to eat as much as he wanted. Ziggy is the one that has a problem with over-eating.  Ruby is if anything underweight.  Sonny is very close to ideal weight for his size.  He also likes to eat a lot, so he could end up with a problem if he doesn't get enough exercise.
So how do you put 3 cats on a diet? Well, I researched on the internet (google is my friend), and decided we would get food that is for overweight adult cats, and mix in with their regular food.  It isn't good to suddenly switch foods without allowing a period for their systems to get used to it. We moved the food upstairs to the kitchen where the water bowl is. Instead of leaving the self feeders out all day, we are now monitoring how much they are eating. And we are limitting the treats.
Exercise is also important. So I bought several toys to try to see if I could get them motivated to play and run around. The laser light is a big hit! Both Ziggy and Sonny will run around and chase it - especially if the room is dark so the light shows up that much more. The light is motorized so you can turn it on and set it down and it will flash the light around the room, but they seem to like it more if we move the light. It becomes more interactive that way. Sonny really loves it. M thinks that maybe he is still young enough to need something like this to help him come out of his shell.  Plus there are times that we hear him going around the house crying looking for someone to play with him.  Ziggy plays with him, but then gets tired out before Sonny does.  So I think the light is helping Sonny as much as Ziggy, even though the original intent was to get it for Ziggy.  Ziggy will run around like crazy chasing the light for a few min, then we can tell he gets worn out and flops down, and then just watches.  M says it is age and the extra weight.  Ok, so I can relate.
Ziggy is my buddy. If playing games with him and putting him on a diet will extend his life and make it more enjoyable then it is more than worth it.

Sonny playing RED light

Video of Sonny playing with the red light. This is our cats new exercise program. 

words

I've had several recent conversations about words.  A email list I participate in was discussing words.  The list is partially made up of authors and a couple of them were discussing the use of "old time words." The list also includes several teachers, and they were talking about how the youth of today has no idea what some words mean, and how "honors" or "AP" classes no longer mean much, and whether or not they do or should filter the words they use.  Several of the teachers said they sprinkle in large words in an attempt to broaden their students exposure to words.

I like words.  I've always thought I have (or had) a pretty large vocabulary.  I still think I do, but I now find I sometimes have more difficulty locating the word I am thinking of.  I know what the word is, I can almost see it, but it just slips through my fingers.  So Frustrating!! why can't I think of what I'm trying to say anymore?

Some of the words that were discussed in the various conversations - curmudgeon, mulling, plushies (or stuffies - meaning stuffed animals), umbrage, individualistic, refute, sensationalistic, and the list goes on.  I like words....

If today's society, (and it isn't just today's youth) is not using words, is it because they are too busy texting, and using text-speak shorthand instead of real words? Is it because no one reads anymore? Or has a real conversation? That is sad.

Brain injury causes man to play piano

I came across this clip, and found it interesting.  This guy, David Amato, was playing around with friends and had a near fatal concussion from hitting his head in a pool.  Before the accident he had never played the piano.

The mind is an amazing thing.

mad cow... tedious number crunching.... PC means more than politically correct..

We were in Germany (West Germany, before the wall came down) for almost 3 yrs. Long enough that I can't donate blood if I wanted to. Something about possibly being exposed to mad cow. Lovely. So, in 1985, my daughter J was born, and it was time to come home.  Back to the states.  As I mentioned, the marriage didn't last, so that was over about the same time. That is it's own long story, and sounds to much like one of the movies of the week to be believable, so I won't go into it for now.

So... it was then time to come back to the states. Now I'm a single mom, and art doesn't pay that well.

My parents generously allowed my daughter (8 mos old) and I to go back home and live with them so I could go back to college. This time round, I gave up on the art idea. I decided I was still interested in the computers, but wanted to ditch the science so switched to computer information systems, which is more the business side of computers. A lot of  the credits I took before transferred. And I discovered that with just adding a couple more courses I could get a double major in CIS and Accounting. Before graduating I got a job with a regional accounting firm, and was offered a full time job there after graduating. One thing led to another and I got my CPA (certified public accountant).

Career #2. I also got to wear the additional hat of being the network administrator at our firm, so got to do both accounting and computers. Quite honestly I didn't really enjoy the accounting side of things.  tedious work. often boring.  Number crunching... audits... balancing books.... taxes.... None of that really interested me.


Flash forward almost another 10 years, and once again I end up planning to move because of love. My daughter is now 9 and we move 1000 miles away without a job.  Oh, I had looked, and even had one decent offer from another accounting firm but just prior to finalizing the move, the accounting firm was bought out by another firm and my new position no longer existed and the guy that had offered it to me was also out of a job. Go figure. I think it was a blessing in disguise.  Did I mention that I found accounting boring?

I took a chance on love, and luck, and packed up and moved. Went from living in a small town where everyone knows your business located in the midst of the bible belt, where I had my folks nearby to help with my daughter to a town where all I really knew was my gf. Sound scary? It was a little. It was also freedom. Freedom to be more of who I am, and not have to worry or feel uncomfortable in my own skin.

My brother says I'm lucky. That he would never have the guts to do some of the things I've done. Things always have a way of working out. And they did.

So I moved without a job, to live with my gf.  I had my car and a little bit of savings.  My gf was paying the bills, she owned her home, and we weren't that much extra expense.  And I set out to find a job.  I couldn't find anything in the accounting world, but I did find something in computers. So I took a job working at a local computer shop. Started out doing PC and printer repair and occasionally working on servers. I guess this was was the beginning of career #3.  I didn't make a lot. It was a big pay cut going from a CPA to a computer tech, but I enjoyed it. The company liked me. Liked me enough that when I went to them asking if I could take about 6 months leave of absence (without pay) they agreed to hold my job for me when I came back.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I took an almost 6 mos break from working back in 96 in order to travel the US in an RV with my daughter and my gf. My gf was taking a sabbatical from her teaching job, and we went along for the ride. We home-schooled my daughter, and I think it was one of the most awesome experiences either one of us could have. How many people can say they spent 5 months or more travelling the country? That wasn't a career, but it was certainly experience. I was telling someone about it recently and they made the comment about how you must really have to love someone to travel 5 months in an RV with them. Well, yeah. Actually, the relationship didn't last. Perhaps that was part of it. Although it was on the rocks before we left on the trip.  We went more as friends than as lovers. And if I had it to do all over, of course I would.