Yeah I didn’t get around to posting this last week.

Additionally, here is a bad picture of what I’m going to describe.

So. In the above picture you can see a leg. That leg is on a sidewalk. So picture that sidewalk closer to where the tree is. Now see the small animal somewhat off in the distance? Picture that as hiding behind the tree.

Got it? Good. That’s how close I was to a fox. I stared at it. It stared at me. I briefly wondered whether or not I should be making eye contact, and would that lead to a pouncing, and then it ran away.

Naturally at that point we all got out our camera phones and tried to take a picture. I think the solar flare in mine adds a nice touch. Don’t you?

Well. Now I know what it’s like to take a cat on a fire drill.

(Verdict: We’ve had more enjoyable experiences together.)

I will say, it takes a pretty severe confluence of events to get us both out of the apartment, and well, it happened. Fire alarm goes off this morning, so I pull on some pants and a coat and head down to the nearest entrance. I inspect the alarm panel, and sure enough the zone that’s registered as having the alarm is ours. I ponder this for a bit, think about how guilty I’d feel if anything happened, and decide to take action. Walk back to the apartment (to this point I have not smelled any smoke, but still), haul out the carrier, haul the kitten out from under the bed, stuff her into the carrier, and decide that heading to the car is the best plan. So we drove across the street and sat in the parking lot and watched two fire trucks and at least two cop cars come and do their thing.

To the credit of Ms Weasalpants, she never squawked, and didn’t resist at all when I pulled her out from under the bed, which would be my biggest fear in a situation like this - not being able to get her out from a hiding spot. I wouldn’t say she had a great time, but some snacks when we got home helped defuse the terror, and some special gluttony at feeding time tonight will be in order for being so good overall.

I haven’t yet heard if there was any fire to speak of, or perhaps it was just a lot of smoke. Either way, it was an exciting morning.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=709

Damn interesting indeed. I find it fascinating that if a cat is going to have a fall, that the optimal distance starts at six stories. And the physics behind that is, frankly, damn interesting.

Just put the following into an email, and then decided I needer a wider audience for venting:

Ok. I’m not a car guy. I really just want something that starts when I
turn the key, and plays CDs real loud. I happen to own a Chevy, but
that’s almost incidental. But seriously, I would consider selling it on
principle at this point because of that damn ‘our country’ commercial. I
just want to watch Pats-Colts in peace, I don’t want to be bombarded with
that song every other commercial. Just shut up, Mellencamp! Go back to
being called John Cougar! Agh!

Really. For the love of God. Every. Single. Commercial. Break. At this point I’m yearning for a political attack ad. And that’s saying something. If you hear about someone plunging a fork into John Mellencamp on the street, somebody start me a legal fund. Thanks.

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/7-gadgets-you-can-make-yourself

Frankly, when they say I can make these myself, I think they’re overestimating my ability level for making things. However, I think the disposable camera taser is a fantastic idea. I’ve had a fascination with tasers ever since I watched Men at Work in high school.

I’ve said too much.