Veseventures

My two cats have been acting a little crazy the past few weeks. Whether it's from the shortening days, the weather, just feeling extra good, or the fact that they're cats (or all of the above) is anyone's guess. But they've been going through periods throughout the day when I swear the two of them are banking off the walls. As hard as they've been playing, it's kind-of amazing they haven't gone through the walls, especially Karma. Karma Kitty is a black male cat, replete with cattitude. He has a habit of getting on the arm of the couch and straddling it, the way a panther would straddle a large branch. From there, it's relatively easy for our miniature panther to survey his domain, take a nap, pounce on unsuspecting people (or his sister) or take a swipe at bare arms. He had topped out at twelve pounds and change, but after being put on a special diet the end of last year, he's dropped down to ten. It's all muscle, though. He's also,...

Finally, we can breathe a sigh of relief. The country has avoided going over the fiscal cliff. Of course, this has come after the U.S. has gone through a major shut-down. I'm not sure how everyone else felt, watching the possible cliff zoom closer and closer, but I alternated between being furious with the Republicans, a feeling a sheer hopelessness, and wanting to head for Canada. Okay, so I wasn't pissed off at all of the Republicans. There are plenty of them - most Republicans I personally know - who are, for the most part rational, centrist sort-of people who, when push comes to shove, can sit and have a decent talk about life and politics without going into hysterics. Most, like most of my left-wing friends (and yes, I'm a left-wing Democrat), will admit that if we don't agree on politics, then fine, as long as we both agree to let each live his or her own life without berating the other or kicking each other's dog or cat. It's just certain members of ...

There are days when things just don't go exactly the way we plan 'em. How does the joke go? How do you make God laugh? Tell Him/Her your plans. I had a day like that recently. Because I was the only one home and awake after my three-hour online shift yesterday morning, I pretty much had the day to myself, and figured I'd spend the time working on my Master's thesis. I was moving along nicely when the phone rang. We have the phone set up so that the voicemail kicks in after four or five rings--enough time to let the Caller ID show who's calling, allow us to answer (if we're available and want to answer), while letting the caller leave a message without having it ring a zillion times first. But this time, the phone only rang once; since it has to ring twice before the Caller ID spits out the number, there was no way of knowing (beyond hitting *69, which adds to the bill) who had called. I'd noticed that the phone had been ringing only once or twice a ...