Hurricane seasons come and go

Yikes, June first marks the official beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. The Pops stock up on lots of things just in case one of these nasty storm systems should head our way again. I always check to see that they have plenty of cat food and litter for my needs. Gotta have a lot of Cosmic catnip too. Pop has her Sapphire gin for such occasions and I have my catnip. Mr. Pop has his rum. We include these things as necessities.

The good news is that hopefully on June third or fourth the hurricane that has been the democratic campaign season will come to an end and you guys will finally have an official nominee. ‘Bout time.

So hurricane seasons come and go. Damages are done and damages are repaired. Let’s hope that’s true in all respects.

Have a great weekend and if you love someone, tell them about it.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

My 3am phone call came at 5pm Tuesday

About twenty years ago I had to part ways with my sister for my own sanity. Even my therapist felt it was my only choice. At that time my mother parted ways with me and sided with my sister. They both were deeply into religion and since I would not join them, I guess my mother felt I was on my own and didn’t need her love.

Over that period of years, my sister tried on several occasions to deceive me on several different issues. I would get calls from my brother in law telling me stories that I knew to be untrue. He was my sister and my mother’s messenger.

The final straw occurred last year when he called to tell me my mother’s home was being sold and they wanted me to sign over my interest in the house to my sister. I contemplated my choices and asked that before the home was sold might I retrieve some of my books from there along with some personal items that my grandmother had left to me at her death. My brother in law told me that my mother and sister were denying me those things and that they would be sold at a garage sale. Later I found out that they were.

Tuesday at 5pm I got another call from my brother in law, the one you expect at 3am. He told me my mother had passed away an hour earlier.

I have such strange emotions about this. The only thing that makes me sad is that I don’t feel sad. I wish I could, but I feel I really lost my mother twenty years ago. Time has healed the pain ahead of time.

I have made it these past twenty years without her, I can go on.

A Commotion but a Good One

My little martini avatar hasn’t been seen around Senator Stevens’ inter-tubes much lately and there is a reason for that. It was the commotion in my kitchen.

This past weekend we decided it was time to paint our kitchen. This meant all the pictures and knick-knacks had to be removed to the dining room. My collection of martini glasses had to be removed from their display area above my kitchen cabinets. I could not believe the stack of “stuff” that resulted.

We (mostly Mr. Pop) spent Sunday and Monday painting, touching up places that got missed and all the other parts of the ordeal known as painting. I took out the window screens, washed them, and cleaned the inside and outside of the window panes. Ever inch of the kitchen was vacuumed and dusted before the first paint brush hit the paint.

Yesterday I spent my day going through the stack of stuff in the dining room. Tossing out some stuff that was way over due to hit the trash and washing everything else before returning it to its rightful place in the kitchen.

Our next move is to replace all the pulls on the cabinets and drawers. That and a couple of small rugs will finish up our project.

My nails are ruined. My back hurts. I am tired as hell and not sure I’ll ever recover, but damn, all the commotion in the kitchen is just about over and you are all invited to dinner to see our work for yourself.

A Total Mystery to Us

Saturday Mr. Pop was mowing the yard. In one of our mulched flowerbeds in the backyard he noticed a box turtle with it’s head down as though it might be sniffing something or eating something in the mulch. He was careful not to disturb the little creature.

Sunday he was again in the backyard and noticed the turtle was just as it had been the day before. He approached the turtle to see flies all over its shell. But its head was still buried in the mulch. It was very apparent that the turtle was dead. This is where the eeriness begins. The turtle’s head appeared to be moving beneath the surface of the mulch and dirt. At this point he called me outside to see this strange occurrence.

As we watched closely the earth and mulch around the turtle’s buried head began to move as something pushed upward from below the surface. I gently pulled the dead turtle backward so that it’s head was out of the dirt. The dirt continued to move as something of some size beneath the surface pushed upward. But then it stopped and there was no more activity. I have no way to describe to you how eerie and gross this whole episode was to experience.

So the mystery is, what caused the turtle’s death? Did it put its head into the dirt or did something emerge and pull it downward. Most of all, what the hell was that thing below the surface?

Memorial Day 2008

Remembering those who fought and died to give us what now is being taken away.

Wanna see the claws come out?

Right now the fastest way to make my claws or Pops come out is to hear someone say if their Democratic candidate doesn’t win they are going to vote for Senator McCain.

To us that is the most selfish, self-centered remark anyone can make. It says if you don’t get your way, you are willing to punish the country and the world for four more years.

Sure we all want our favorite candidate to win the nomination, but let’s be realistic here. Does anyone want to wear their smug, I guess I showed you, smile for four years as our country stays on the same, if not worse, course than we have all experienced these past seven and a half years? Pop and I hope not. We hope Americans in the Democratic party are not that cruel, vindictive and stubborn.

Oh a lighter note, Pop bought a new rug for my bedroom and she gave me a smooth stone about the size of a man’s fist. It’s so smooth and cool and I can rub my head on it forever. My bedroom now has spa like qualities. I rock!

Have a great weekend and try to keep your claws to yourself, we will.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

SUVs bite the dust

First the news told us that there were now a lot of Americans who owed more on their homes than they are worth in today’s market. Well, the bewildering financial news doesn’t end there.

Yesterday I heard a report on TV that said a lot of Americans who have purchased the big gas guzzling SUVs are in the same boat with many home owners. With gas prices rising daily, these SUV owners are trying to dump their gasoline addicted giants as quickly as possible. There is a glut of used and new SUVs on the market now and no one wants them. The prices are dropping rapidly and one dealership has stated he will no longer take an SUV as a trade in. The once status oriented wheels are now automotive albatrosses around their owners neck.

So while some home owners owe more on their homes than they are worth, many SUV owners also owe more on their monsters than they are worth and they can’t afford the gas to keep them running.

In my opinion way too many people traded in common sense for extreme credit and now they have it all but cannot afford to keep or get rid of any of it.

Care and Share

Last week Mr. Pop heard on the radio that the local food pantries were running out of food. Due to the economy many people have had to stop making donations of canned and boxed food supplies for the less fortunate.

Well, we have decided to help do something about that and maybe you would like to do it too. Few of us are in a position to go out and buy tons of food to donate, but we can do something. Each shopping day we are buying several items to donate to the food pantry and especially anything that is advertised “buy one, get one free”. We have a box in our kitchen designated as our “Care and Share” box. When it’s filled we will donate its contents and then start all over again.

No, we aren’t going to be able to save the world with our efforts, but at least we can help our township neighbors in some small way. Maybe you might want to start your own Care and Share box?

Turtle Soup?

Well, not exactly. This little box turtle comes to my back door every morning and shares the cat food I leave out there for Fred the Cat’s little stray girlfriend cat, N-D Anna. Sunday morning was no different. He crawled up to the little blue plastic bowl and managed, as he always does to tip the bowl over slightly so that he can reach his head in and munch on cat food.

As I opened the door behind him, it startled him and he tried to move forward. Unfortunately for him, he ended up the way you see him here. He sucked himself into his shell, probably out of embarrassment. I grabbed my camera, got this shot and then watched as he tipped the bowl forward and made his escape.

Who says that Mother Nature has no sense of humor?

Regarding Fred the Cat’s Secret he wrote about last Friday

It was supposed to be a puppy but it won’t be this time.

Last week, via email from a friend, we were told about a special little puppy at a humane society in another Florida county. He sounded like he needed Mr. Pop and I, and we felt we needed him.

We filled out the application with all the necessary information. We submitted it last Thursday knowing the decision would be made sometime Friday. We waited and waited but no word came. We went from excited to kind of blue. From the beginning we said if it was meant to be, it would. I guess it wasn’t.

We aren’t in the puppy hunting mode right now but this little guy stole our hearts away. I think one thing that was against us was that we were so far away and perhaps the humane society there felt they couldn’t easily check up on their little adoptee once he went to his new home.

So we glue our hearts back together and wait for the next opportunity to have a special little dog bump into our lives or we bump into his.

Wish us Luck!

Hey guys did you miss me, ol’ Fred the Cat?

Two weeks in a row I’ve spent two nights in the vet’s clinic boarding area. And you know what? I’m getting soft in my old age. I didn’t terrorize one single employee there. They are so sweet to me that I just don’t have it in me to scare or scar any of them anymore.

Something’s afoot here at the Pop household. I think I know what it is and if I’m right, it could be a quasi good thing for me and a great thing for Pop and Mr. Pop. Actually, it would be a fun thing for me. I can’t tell you the details now because we don’t want to jinx the possibilities. Let’s just say it would add even more love to our household.

I better leave it there for now. If it works out I’ll let Pop tell you as soon as she knows for sure. Just to be clear, no she’s not going to have a baby. Egad, that would not be fun for me or her at this point.

Have a great weekend and feel free to guess what’s going on here.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

Was it a part of a plan?

The ever increasing gas prices have benefited someone. They have benefited people like Ted Stevens of Alaska along with all the others who have been drooling to drill for oil all over and around the United States.

As they sat by and watched prices soar to the point of strangling the American public, they were happily awaiting the public to cry “uncle” and beg for drilling here in the US. When you make it such that the public is cutting back on food in order to purchase gasoline, the environment is sadly pushed to the back seat. I fear that is exactly what is about to be done.

Notice when Republicans talk about weaning our country from oil, they always say “foreign oil”. They have no serious intentions that I can see to wean the country off oil, they just want to substitute American oil.

What Should be on my Shopping List?

The microwave I have was used when I got it. It’s a Gold Star and it’s at least 15 years old. I know that because I have had it that many years. This thing is so old that it has a dial rather than pushbuttons. It has no light inside and no revolving action, and no clock. It offers no choices except the amount of time it runs.

Catering to my frugal self, I have made do with my dinosaur microwave saying that I wouldn’t replace it until it died. Recently I have arrived at the sad conclusion that the thing is indestructible.

Because I am so tired of looking at it and all its ugliness, and because I am so tired of people coming to my house, seeing it and commenting on how ancient it must be, I’m up for shopping for a new one. The dinosaur will be donated to the thrift shop.

I have no idea what brand to look for as I shop. So here’s where you come in. What kind of microwave oven do you have? What do you like or dislike about it? What features do you like or dislike and which ones do you feel are absolutely mandatory?

I sincerely will appreciate all recommendations and suggestions.

***
We are off to the Daytona area for a couple of days. Mr. Pop will be giving classes to people who will be monitoring the sea turtle nests on the beaches up there, now that hatchlings will soon be emerging.

Judging by one visitor’s comments here at this site last week, I guess he would prefer that we walk from here to Daytona, the equivalent of a three hour car trip. Not gonna happen.

Senator Clinton needs Senator Obama?

We hear that there might be a possibility of an arrangement where Senator Obama might hold benefits to try to raise money to help Senator Clinton pay off her campaign debts.

If Senator Clinton can’t raise the money herself and has to turn to Senator Obama for his influence, what does that say about Senator Clinton and Senator Obama?

Who would give money at such an event? I know that not one cent would come from my purse. Why would I, a supporter of Senator Obama, want to give money to someone, who has a combined wealth with her husband of over a hundred million dollars, to help them clear up a debt that is estimated to be around twenty one million?

Tripping

Today Mr. Pop and I are off on another trip. This morning we’ll driving up to Gainesville Florida. He has a meeting there tomorrow and I’m going along for the ride and the fun.

I haven’t been to that part of Florida in a long time so I’m looking forward to visiting the area again. Nothing in the world like a big college town and the home of the Gators is one of the best. Although having lived in Knoxville, Tennessee some years back, the home of the Vols is also one of my all time favorite places.

We’ve going to stay over Thursday night and return home sometime Friday. We have such a good time traveling together. I look forward to laughing, exploring and sharing it all with my sweetheart.

See ya either Friday or perhaps Saturday, depending on what time we get back on Friday. I doubt Fred the Cat will have a post this weekend because I’m sure he’ll be in a snit from having to spend two nights at the vets. The only upside for him is that when he’s there he gets to terrorize everyone who works there. He puts on his bad self to max.

Be sweet and I’ll see you soon!

Pandering? Yes, but there’s more

A possible upside to Senator Clinton and Senator McCain offering the American public a gas tax holiday is they are attempting to buy your vote for thirty dollars or so. With everything else being so expensive, it would appear that the price to purchase a vote is relatively inexpensive.

There are numerous downsides to the tax holiday. Besides encouraging more gasoline purchases, there may also be a desire by some to hoard gasoline in tanks or cans at home. The possible disasters there are obvious. Of course the fact that one hundred top economists say it’s not a good idea should be noted also.

But here’s the bottom line as far as I can see. Even if this was a fantastic idea, how in the hell would this get the approval of congress before the summer and what are the odds of the bill receiving a big fat veto from the president?

So if you and I know these things, wouldn’t you expect Senators Clinton and McCain know them as well? So are the senators being deceptive? Is anyone up for more deception these days? I don’t think so.

Without Credible Reason

I think there are some white people who would never ever vote for Senator Obama or any other black man or woman.

Perhaps these same people cannot condone giving up what they see as their last grasp on their superiority over African Americans. If a black man can become president of the United States he will have achieved a position that has until now been the private domain of white males. I don’t know if seeing a black man in the oval office frightens these people or angers them or both. They may vote for Senator Clinton because, even though she’s a woman, at least she’s a white woman.

These are the people you could talk to until you were blue in the face and you just couldn’t change their mind. They are so comfortable in their denial that they have no desire to change. They may be poor or ignorant or whatever but they take pride in the fact that at least they aren’t “black”. To them that elevates them in some way, even if it’s only in their own mind.

I believe I can backup my opinions here by telling you that my own father would have been one of these people. If he were alive today he would be one of the people that this post describes. No matter what else he was, poor, a drunk, a terrible father and husband, he took pride in the fact that at least he wasn’t black.

Of course his reasoning was not credible and made no sense in any way, but I suppose in his mind that fact buoyed him above the harshness of his own reality in some pathetic way.

Weekends equal Fun!

Hey everybody! TGIF!

The weekend is almost here and I love weekends. Both Pop and Mr. Pop are around a lot giving this feline more attention than I know what to do with.

Since the days and evening are comfortable outside they are on the patio a lot more, so the “family” can spend lots of time together. Everyone gets along fine as long as I stay off the patio dining table and don’t go near Pop’s martini glass.

My favorite thing to do while they are sitting around chilling out is to quietly sneak up and bite them on their toes. Not a hard chomp sort of bite, just a little nip. You can imagine the things they say to me when I do that. Yeah, the subject of “ducks” comes up almost every time.

So I’m off to get a nap and rest up for a fun weekend. So many toes and so little time.

Have a great weekend doing whatever you enjoy doing

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

Sad Conclusions

I feel for Senator Obama. He tried to give his minister a pass when the whole Rev. Wright thing reared its head. He tried to hold on to his respect for his minister and remain loyal to him.

But on Bill Moyers show and in front of the National Press Club on Monday morning, Rev Wright turned on Senator Obama. He said that the senator had to say what he did for political reasons. Didn’t Rev. Wright realize that Obama had tried to blunt the sharp words Rev. Wright had used in the past in order to try to keep Rev. Wright from looking like a deranged person to the rest of the country?

Rev. Wright pushed Senator Obama too far and forced the Senator to make a decision he never wanted to make. Rev Wright’s ego made him do to Senator Obama what the Senator never wanted to do to him. Rev Wright hurt Senator Obama to further his own cause and his own notoriety.

Real friends, and certainly good ministers, don’t do that and Senator Obama came to that sad realization Tuesday. Senator Obama made his speech not for political reasons but because he realized Rev. Wright was using him to Senator Obama’s detriment. Senator Obama gave the minister one free pass and the minister saw it as an opportunity. Senator Obama tried to be loyal, Rev Wright did not.