Pawprints From Space

There are days when I actually wonder if I am too old for homework. Today is one of those days. Not that I am having trouble reading, or even that I find the material blah although it is economics so I'd have a legitimate excuse. Rather it is that I can't seem to focus. I simply do not care. And I'd much rather be catching up on all the sleep I am losing from having a very sick kitty who gets me up every couple of hours for one thing or another. I'm thinking most of the problem is related to the sleep issue. So no, maybe I'm not too old for homework but merely too tired to care. At least I do not have a paper due this week.

I have a laptop computer that runs Windows 98se. It has a kick-butt processor, maxed out memory and works just fine. Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 98se so I thought okay maybe I can upgrade to XP, its only $100 for the upgrade version. So I just ran the "Upgrade Advisor" and oh yeah, the processor can handle it but half the software I have won't work with it. My Palm Pilot, my scanner, the external zip drive, the printer, the jump drive, and so on and so on. Basically the thing is telling me that I have to buy a whole new computer or buy all new other stuff - the computer would be cheaper I'm thinking. That is complete crap. Forcing people to upgrade and/or buying new hardware is merely a ploy to make more $$ at the expense of the consumer and classic monopoly behavior. Our cable company here is trying to pull the same stunt. This only proves my point that Microsoft is evil and Bill Gates ought to be ashamed of himself. No wonder he's giving huge amoun...

Today marks the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall. Which if you like football games is probably okay. However if the rest of this dying season is as wet as the last few days it is not going to be fun at all. Don't get me wrong I love the colors of Fall. The crisp air is not the best for asthma but it smells clean and woodsy. Walking through the woods is nice, the rustle of the leaves and the way the cooler light filters through. But it is Fall and it is the season of dying, of settling down to sleep. Plants die or settle into sleep depending on whether or not they are an annual. Animals scurry collecting winter stores of food and birds gather together to fly south. But have you noticed that thanks to mild Winters and weird weather patterns some birds never leave? It was mild enough last year that robins never left. That can't be good. I recently bought Al Gore's book An Inconvenient Truth. Haven't started it yet. There's no doubt in my mind that Global Warming...

Washington DC - The Capitol at Sunset 

Time to get political again. An editorial in the paper today made me think. I don't normally like this guy - he's ultra conservative and just a plain pain in the butt but today... he had a point. I've been reminded that while campaigning for office our President opposed the McCain-Feingold Bill saying that it violated the Constitution and restricted free speech. Once elected though he signed it into law. He didn't have to, he could have vetoed the thing but nope, he signed it. So if he believed the bill would make a law that was unconstitutional didn't he violate his oath of office to uphold the Constitution? Kinda looks that way folks. And for the literalists out there he did violate his oath. Mr. Protector of Free Speech has created "free speech zones" where protestors have to stand anytime the Prez appears anywhere so that they aren't interfering with his public appearance - translation so they are out of view of the media. Oh yeah and if you compla...

In news of the cool.... Yesterday the ISS (international space station for you non-space people) unfurled its new solar wings for the first time. These wings are able to move with the sun to maximize power generation. Naturally there was a glitch in the software that held the occasion up by a few hours but as usual NASA got the bug worked out and voila! 240 wings in space (okay Earth orbit). Thoughts on the last weekend of Summer.... Fall officially starts next week with the Autumn Equinox on Saturday the 23rd (as does Rosh Hashanah, Ramadan and the celebration of Mabon - gee, are the Christians the only ones without a holiday?) and so Summer leaves us. Well in the Midwest it feels as though Summer left us about a month ago with below normal temps and bunches of rain. It is supposed to be sunny and 78 today but so far when I look out yon window all I see is fog and mist. And yup, it is that kind of chill that settles deep. For Pete's Sake if I wanted this kind of weather for weeks ...

Cute and fuzzy? Not for long if he keeps eating the flowers! 

When you are working on stuff around the house or in the garage and you drop a screw or a nut you can usually pick it up without too much trouble. Drop something during a space walk and it might end up tangled up in something important and screw everything up big time. Also on the where did that go front... so where is the install guy? I bought this door it is going to be tricky to install so I figured I had better pay the extra $$ and let the store's install guy do it. So yesterday he calls and I'm in meetings all day so I tell him today is better and that I'd be available after 2:00. It is now 4:45 and no sign of him and he is not answering his phone. Tomorrow is not an option and I am booked solid and/or traveling all of next week. This does not bode well. Trying to figure out how I got stuck with scheduling a meeting on a Saturday afternoon with a volunteer to talk about work. Oh but you HAVE to work on the volunteer's schedule. Apparently somewhere in the paperwor...

I heard a bit on NPR yesterday about this guy who has a blog on the Vatican. He doesn't work at the Vatican, doesn't even live in Rome (or any other part of Italy) and he isn't a member of any religious order. But he has a blog and he has sources and various folks who do belong to religious orders and who do work/live in Rome take what he says pretty seriously. Apparently this guy has some really good sources. Anyway I have been browsing his blog today and find it interesting. If you're curious check it out at: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com It is worth a look. On a regular basis even.

There is nothing quite like the smells coming from the kitchen on a Sunday evening. The Sunday Dinner. I don't cook very often, too busy and all that, but Sunday I do. And I've been surprised to discover that I actually enjoy it. Granted my most domestic quality remains the fact that I actually live in a house but a once a week meal I can handle. Most of the time. A way to recharge and face the week ahead fortified with homey goodness.... and a few glasses of whatever wine in the rack goes with the food in the oven.

You know the feeling, you are searching for that perfect pair of shoes. The kind that will go with 99% of what you have in the closet. It takes months, it takes research and then... there they are. You aren't sure of the size (these things vary from brand to brand and style to style) so you try them on. And guess what? Neither of the two sizes you've requested fit properly you need a 1/2 size smaller. So you ask the girl, she checks the back. THEY DO NOT HAVE YOUR SIZE Disappointed you try the other stores in the mall, you're flexible something will work. You won't find the same shoe because it is a house brand but maybe you can get close. Which is silly because you've been looking for months but hey, the new fall stuff is in you could get lucky. But Nooooooo... No one else even remotely has the right color let alone the right look. Okay the store has a web site, you can shop online. But Noooooo... that particular style isn't on the web site. So after Googling a...

Okay need to rant.... (yeah what else is new?) It is Friday night and though I am taking the night off from MBA Marketing hoo-ha homework, I remain annoyed at a do-nothing Friday. Single people do not have it easy. Single people of une certain age especially do not have it easy - in fact, it is downright pathetic. When you're 20-something going to a bar might be okay, you probably have a pack of single friends to go out and party with even. But one by one they all marry off and you are stuck over 30, heck over 40, and going to a bar is not only an exercise in stupidity (not yours, the other people at the bar whom you no longer have the patience to tolerate) it is very, very sad. I don't care how good you look. You can even be one of those people who still get carded from time to time it is still sad. But what other choices are there in rural America? None. Zero. Zippidity-doo-da nothing. And then the SciFi Channel goes and cancels your favorite show. Yup. You are not only singl...

On August 31st NASA selected Lockheed Martin as the lead contractor for the next generation of space exploration vehicles (manned that is). The project is called Orion. If you recall your mythology Orion is a hunter. Space explorers are hunters of a sort - they hunt for new information, for signs of life and that sort of thing so I think it fits. It fits a wee bit better than calling the project Apollo who is a sun god and yet the Apollo missions were to the moon. I guess it was more macho than naming them after the moon goddess. Gosh can't have any feminine references now can we? Anyway the news release is in NASA's archive now so it is a little difficult to find. The link is: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06305_Orion_contract.html In short the craft will be able to transport four people to the moon and will later support transfers to Mars. The timetable sucks The first human launch date isn't until 2014 and the first manned moon landing isn't until 2020....

Lucky gets a quiet moment in the sun There aren't too many quiet moments for Lucky with Honey around. That long fluffy tail is too good to pass up for the kitten. Lucky isn't too thrilled with being chased or having her tail considered a toy and no amount of growling or smacking has put a stop to it. Progress is slowly being made as they will now at least share a bed... for a few hours anyway. Oh well.

Honey the Porch Princess at rest (a rarity!) It isn't often that Honey slows down long enough for a nap but when she does it is on the screened porch where she can watch the birds and ground squirrels as soon as she wakes up.

Honey (left) & Bonsai (right) Tail to Tail Recently added an all black kitten to the mix. She is now six months old and her best buddy is Bonsai (who it is hard to believe is now 9 years old - son of Baby who died earlier this year). Not sure how Bon feels about it but he does play with her so I guess he figures she's okay.

Okay, so I did it. I admit it. It was with a great deal of teeth gnashing but I did it. I started a MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/smartycat7 This all came about because my niece has a MySpace page and I was looking at it and wanted to send her a message. You can't do that unless you are also a member. So I signed up. ARGH! They have a blog feature, but I like this one better. Although over there you can use those cute little animated emotion graphics (emoticons?) in the blog. They do not have templates for backgrounds though so unless you know html forget having anything spiffy. I won't be using that one much. It's hard enough to keep up with this one given my insane life. Did I say ARGH! already?

And now a word about gardening.... Unless you are willing to battle an aggressive foe, fight for domination of your yard and flowerbeds and generally drive yourself nuts or have lots of room that you really don't care about letting go "wild" whatever you do DO NOT plant something called (get this) Obedient Plant. Because it is not. Obedient that is. This invasive little sucker takes over in about one growing season. Oh yes it is tall and pretty and looks very nice at the back of the border. But it doesn't stay there. It crowds out everyone else in no time the little scene stealer. Little? Nope it is about 5 feet tall. It self seeds like crazy and I would be willing to bet that runners are also involved in its sinister plot to take over well, the plot. Of course not knowing this, seeing it on some gardening show and in a few magazines where they forgot to mention its invasive properties the thing looked like the solution to a difficult spot in the yard. I have heavy cl...