My cats saved my life this past week. Again. It's an annoying habit they have whenever I'm circling the drain of depression and despair.

But enough about me...

Sometimes when Jenny comes up to me to be petted, she's wet. Never smells like urine as if she's peed all over herself, so I just figured she's been rubbing against something wet out in the catio and dismissed it. But then... I was petting her, she left, went and got a drink of water, then came back wet. And there it was. Her tongue that's half paralyzed (which is why she makes such a mess when eating wet food) is somehow splashing water everywhere which then bounces off of whatever to land on her. Or maybe her tongue is throwing it on her back? Weird. One of these days, I'm going to have to run over to her while she's drinking so I can try and figure out exactly how it's happening. Because it seems physically impossible.

Jenny seems to alternate between being wary of me...

Or resentful of me...

Except when asleep, of course...

Or pretending to be asleep...

Or when I'm petting her. Wet fur and all.

Remember how proud I was that my cats are so polite as to not wake me up when I'm sleeping? They come into my bedroom, and if I'm asleep they walk back out? Well that was good while it lasted. Jenny started waking me up after I went on vacation then went away for the holidays. She comes in, jumps on the bed and starts meowing until I pet her. Usually between 2am and 3am. Then, it's like she told Jake, so now he's doing it as well? The little shits! If I ignore Jake, he'll leave. But Jenny? Oh hell no! She will keep meowing until you give her the attention she wants.

But it's not all bad news.

I found out that Jenny likes my bomb-ass potato salad. She licked the bowl after I had finished...

And Jake still refuses to leave my side since I got home from Christmas vacation...

I wonder if this is an age thing?

Because I used to leave all the time when they were younger and never had them waking me up when I got back.

Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

I fall down internet rabbit holes very, very easy.

Usually it's animals. I start looking at animal videos and it's so mentally soothing that I can't stop myself. It's the ultimate feel-good hit. But there's lots of other things that get me hooked. Woodworking. Travel. Animation. Art. The list goes on and on. And then there's tattooing.

If I had my way, I'd have minimum quadruple the tattoos I have now. I love tattoos. Even more than that, I love the art of tattoos. Which is why the Instagram algorithm has my number. It's filled with tattoo artists, because they know odds are that I'm going to click through.

And then this morning I ran across "TrippyCats" by Jiho Yoon. And while lots of the tattoos are indeed very trippy, I love the ones that are less trippy...

Has me very close to wanting to buy a ticket to Seoul and book an appointment!

There's a big trend on social media where people are posting photos of themselves from 2016... ten years ago.

I decided to go back to 2016 for Jake and Jenny, because I got them for my mom in 2016. Which means that they're over ten years old, which seems impossible. The Human Society didn't know exactly when the cats were born, but based on what they were able to find out, they were guessing the first week of December. Since they have to have a birthday to celebrate, I picked December 6th, 2015. We picked them up on February 16th, 2016.

Still one of the better days of my life...

It's so funny how they're so easily recognizable. They look the same. Except smaller.

In the case of Jake, a lot smaller.

Don't fear the reaper... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Cardio! For somebody whose on the internet way more than he would ever admit, it's genuinely shocking that I somehow missed this viral video from last year...

Poor thing. She nearly had a heart attack. And can you really blame her?

   
• Pet Heaven! Oh man. I need to get Jake & Jenny baptized so they can get into Pet Heaven! Never even thought of it!

A friend sent me this video because they call their cat Boo-Bear, just like I call Jake Boo-Bear. Or "Bubair" if you'd rather.

   
• That Mitchell & Webb Look! The fact that you know what's coming just makes it all the funnier...

David Mitchell is phenomenal in the BritBox series Ludwig, if you're looking for something good to watch.

   
• Fart Patio! I miss Portlandia...

There's something about scathing satire which speak truth in a way you love to see.

   
• I'm Donut! I look forward to this event every Christmas, but didn't find it last year. But they did reenact it, so I must have somehow missed it...

Some traditions should never die. Especially when donuts are involved.

   
• Gain? I've been in a lot of smelly situations. I've had some smelly jobs. But there is nothing... NOTHING... that I've experienced which is worse than the horrific stench of Swiffer "Fresh-Scent with Gain" mop pads. I accidentally purchased them instead of the usual Swiffer I get (the boxes look almost identical) and have been trying to use them every once in a while because it's wasteful to throw them in the trash. Especially given how expensive they are. Tonight I spilled spaghetti sauce in my kitchen and grabbed the Swiffer. And now, in the middle of winter, I have all the doors and windows open because my house smells like total ass. I do not understand how people want their house to smell like this shit. I regret using them every time, and I really, really need to suck it up, take the L, and toss them... because this is awful awful awful.

   
• Greenland? Maybe I'm cynical in that I think this whole load of nonsense about Greenland being taken by the USA is just another bullshit distraction from the Epstein Files. But if it's not? Two things. 1) In 1917, the Virgin Islands were sold to the USA to become a US territory by Denmark, and part of the agreement is that the USA recognize full Danish control over Greenland. In other words, we signed up for this. And, 2) Somebody out of NATO has already said "If you take Greenland, we take every single base of the Americans from Aviano to Ramstein, from Romania, to all the other military bases will be confiscated, and you will lose it, and the whole position of American power since World War II, if you take Greenland, you have to leave." Which is to say that we would be in seriously deep shit. I cannot fathom how incredibly fucking stupid it would be if somebody... ANYBODY... doesn't explain that there are consequences to being a complete moron in this situation.

   
And now? Time to wash another load of clothes.

I've been burning the candle at both ends for months, and it's starting to catch up to me. In one of life's cruel ironies, I get so tired lately that I can't sleep. I start yawning and yawning, so I go to bed... then am wide awake.

And so I run through my social media pages looking for something to distract my mind from all the things that are running through my head that I should be focusing on that's keeping me from falling asleep.

And that's when I reached this...

I laughed out loud, which was a real bummer for my cats who were sleeping next to me.

Jake was a little upset, but quickly fell back asleep.

Jenny, on the other hand, glared at me for far longer than was comfortable, then left in a huff.

Until 4:20am, at which point she got her revenge.

Jake has been very clingy lately. Which is a bit worrying, because I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong. Though I think that's the opposite of how it usually works? Don't cats usually want to be alone when they are feeling poorly? Maybe Jake is different? Cats.

Last night he climbed on top of me when I fell asleep. I'm a side-sleeper, so this was a bit precarious for a cat his size, so I grabbed a pillow so he would be supported. When I woke up, I had rolled over on my back, but Jake was still there...

In other cat news... look what appeared at the bottom of the stairs this very morning!

MUFASA! This was truly surprising, because Jake lost interest in him months ago. I finally just put his plushie in the cat toy box because he wasn't dragging him around everywhere like he used to. Then this morning... BAM! Mufasa! After breakfast Jake went back to ignoring him, so maybe the reunion is over.

Earlier this week I was on a call for work when the kitty breakfast alarm chimed. A few minutes later I went downstairs while still on the phone, and had to pause my call to take a photo of the cats sitting on the table angry because I didn't immediately rush down to feed them...

I mean... just look at Jake's face. He's furious to have been kept waiting. Even Jenny is surprised at the depth of his rage!

But don't worry about my safety. I was forgiven ten minutes later...

Cats.

Jake keeps getting more and more clingy.

He runs downstairs the minute he hears the garage door open, waits for me to walk in, then comes running up crying so I can stand there and pet him before I even have a chance to put my backpack down.

Then, after I've plopped on the couch and start working or whatever, Jake wants to sleep on me. And it's every day...

I've learned the hard way that you don't wake him up after he's started using you as a bed...

As for Jenny?

She basically just sits up in the cat tree and glares at Jake and me...

We think she's just being jealous.

My cats have zero fucks left to give.

They've been sliding to this point for years, but it was so gradual that I didn't notice. Now it feels like it actually happened over months. Weeks even.

They want what they want and they want it now. And when it comes to what you want... like sleep? Oh hell no. You don't dare deny them what they want!

And while they do have sweet moments with each other like this...

Jake is a mean bear of a brother. If Jenny is sitting somewhere, he'll decide that he wants to sit there, then antagonize her to leave. Not long ago Jenny was laying at the foot of my bed and Jake decided that this is where he wanted to be, so he just goes over and sits on her. Jenny erupts in a flurry off hisses that seem to genuinely confuse Jake, then she smacks him and runs away because he won't leave.

Jake, for his part, then lays down and goes to sleep as if nothing happened.

But don't feel bad for Jenny.

Because she is happy to treat me exactly the same way.

It's me. I'm the one you should feel sorry for.

Welcome to another Caturday Pupperday!

I am in Kansas City, far from my cats, so I'm having to make due with Aaron and Henry's dogs this time. It made for a nice change given how adorably enthusiastic dogs are to see you when compared to cats. Especially when you find out just how little dogs seem to care about respecting personal space. I had dogs all over me, and it was pretty great...

The first lapdog was a (relatively) small poodle who was very polite. Just wanted to sit on my lap for a while and be petted...

Fortunately, when my lapdog left, there was a backup lapdog to take their place...

Then a backup to my backup lapdog entered the picture...

And then a backup for my backup's backup lapdog entered the picture. Absolutely no understanding of physical space. Climbed right up on my lap, my chest, my face, and eventually my head...

Then it was a big change in a small package. I had met Asher when Aaron and Henry were living in San Francisco. She patiently waited her turn for pets as a replacement backup lapdog...

Then it was time for a brief return of one of the backups for belly rubs...

Meanwhile, back at home, the home security system alerted me that Jake and Jenny were sleeping.

No worries I'm sure when I return on Sunday afternoon they will be upset that I smell like dog, but eventually wanting lap time of their own.

I talk to my cats... like... all the time. Especially when they talk to me.

They answer back but, don't worry, I'm not pretending I can understand them. At least not yet. It's entirely possible that sometime in the future I'll finally have that mental break that will take me all the way.

Because I reply to my cats when they talk to me, they are talking more and more. Jenny will alter how she meows based on whether she's mad, happy, hungry, wanting to be petted, or is frustrated. Her "mad" meow is very noticeably different than everything else she says. So she's fairly easy to decode.

Jake, on the other hand, just squawks. He can't meow for some reason. Which means I have no idea what's going through his furry little head and have to guess. Usually he wants attention. But sometimes he is looking for a toy or wants food... and it's a matter trial and error to get him figured out.

Ever since I got back from Kansas City, Jake has been spending a lot of time sitting on me. Assumably because he doesn't want me to leave again...

Fortunately, the only "leaving" I will be doing for quite a while is going to work. But I'll be back at the end of the day so I can be pinned to my couch.

Well, Jake's clinginess is apparently here to stay. Usually after I get back from a trip, it will last four or five days... maybe a week. But it's been two weeks since I got back from Kansas City, and he's still all over me whenever I'm home.

Not that I can really complain. Who doesn't like having a warm kitty on their lap when it's cold out?

But now that it's getting warmer every day?

One day soon, when it's hot out and I'm too cheap to turn on the air conditioner, I will likely feel different about Jake sleeping on top of me.

Though I should probably enjoy every minute while I can. Boo-Bear won't be around forever.

And neither will I.

On my Immich photo manager there's a "ten years ago" section which has been displaying pictures of Jake & Jenny when I got them a decade ago. Which means they're over ten years old? It doesn't seem possible. It seems like yesterday.

I took a lot of movies back then. And all of them are adorable. To me. Probably not to many other people though. I mean, look at this...

But it's the photos of Jake with Mufasa that are my favorites...

Even when Jenny wants to take Mufasa away...

Awwwwwwwww.

In world news... "In Sweden, new legislation has made it illegal to leave cats alone for long periods of time. This law is designed to improve the welfare of cats, ensuring they receive social interaction and care. It is part of Sweden’s broader animal welfare policies, which aim to protect pets and ensure their well-being." — This is interesting to me. I mean, I don't like leaving my cats, but there are times I have to. At first I was hiring a pet sitter to come take care of them, but that traumatized them more than being alone. They would hide when the sitter showed up, then not come out... even after they left. So I stopped doing that. Instead I make sure there are feeding robots and litter robots and water fountains and warming pads and the like. It's better for them.

I saw this and it reminded me of Jake...

Cheesecake eventually got switched to a new food that deflated her gassy tummy and helped her lose weight. Jake's just fat.

Jenny is a spoiled little princess. Furthermore, she knows it.

She is very aware that if she starts fretting or crying, I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy. And the older she gets, the more she exploits it. Wednesday night, for example, I moved her warming pad on my bed because it was cold and I wanted her to have a comfortable place to lay while she got her nighttime pets.

She did not like this!

She stood in front of the pad and started crying. But I couldn't move it because she was in the way. So she went from unhappy to frustrated and tried to walk around it. But there wasn't enough room, so she started meowing while I tried to move it around her.

It was an ordeal, to be certain.

And she was most put out over it.

Last night I went to bed with a headache. The cats, who care nothing about my bullshit, followed me up so they could get petted and sleep next to me. Eventually they both left, at which point I fell asleep.

Then, at 1:22 in the morning, I was awakened by both cats running into my room and jumping on me. A part of me wanted to go downstairs to try and figure out what got them so upset, but my head hurt too much. I figured I'd wait until they calmed down and left so I could go back asleep. Except they didn't leave.

So I did.

I took my pillow and went downstairs to sleep on the couch.

And when I woke up, this was my view...

Jake sleeps on top of me every chance he gets. Today I've been working on the couch, and he's been sleeping on my legs all day. So I'm not surprised that he sleeps on me at night too.

My cats are being absurdly fickle again.

I always grab a few random cans of food when I go to the pet store, just so I can know which foods I can get if the food I normally buy for them is out of stock or discontinued.

One of the foods from my last haul was so favorably received that I decided to buy some of it to add a little excitement to their lives.

You know what happened next. They turned up their nose to it.

And so... the cans are going to the back of the cupboard. This is what I do when this happens, because many times when I try it again later, they're obsessed with it again. And if not? I give it to the neighbor's cats, because they aren't at all picky like my spoiled little kittens.

In other news, Jake has gotten so comfortable laying on me that he now has no problem at all giving himself a bath...

Not only that, but he makes for a great foot-warmer on cold days...

And of course both of them are still sleeping with me. I regularly wake up to find them somewhere on my bed...

Now it's time for me to try and sleep. A task my cats excel at.

Last Thursday night I was so tired that I was nodding off on the couch at just 10:00. I finally decided to take advantage of it and head upstairs to bed. This was fine by Jenny, and she went tearing upstairs at top speed to be petted. She ended up performing this spectacular leap over her brother, made even more impressive because he was in motion.

After brushing my teeth, I climbed into bed where Jenny was impatiently waiting.

I reached out my hand to start petting her, then turned away to put my Apple Watch on the charging stand.

What I didn't realize was that something must have caught Jenny's attention, because she looked up while my gaze was temporarily diverted.

Which is to say that instead of petting her head, I wiped my hand across her nose.

Which wasn't fun for either of us.

This lead to a deep dive into a simple Google search... Why are cat's noses wet? Turns out that it helps them smell better by trapping scent particles, and acts like a cooling system because they can sweat through their noses. On top of that? Cats lick their nose frequently and have tear ducts which drain through their noses.

Which is to say I wiped my hand across snot, sweat, saliva, and tears.

Great.

Tonight I am not home, I'm over on the coast. This is always stressful for myself and my cats. Me because I worry that they'll get into trouble. Them because they wander around the house wondering where I am.

Take Jake, for example, who sat on the bottom step waiting for me to come home. I saw him there last night and again this morning...

Hang in there, buddy, I'll be home tomorrow morning!

Jake likes to make kitty-biscuits and slow-blink back to me. Jenny rarely does either of these things. She prefers to kick me when I pet her wrong and look at me like I'm insane. Not that this bothers me... Jenny is so endearing because she defies expectations like this.

But Friday morning when I decided to stay in bed on my holiday day off and work the afternoon. Jenny was apparently thrilled, because she hopped up on the bed... and started making kitty biscuits on me! How nice is that?

Jake decided he didn't want me going outside to clean up my messy yard, and pinned me down...

For a second there, I thought Jenny was going to join him...

This morning Jake crashed out next to me, which means he might as we'll have jumped on my legs, because I didn't want to move and wake him up...

Now that it's Saturday, I get to do all the things that I put off yesterday. Yay.

Of course, there's always Sunday...

My cats have completely reversed their position on food. Jenny will eat whatever I put in front of her whereas Jake will refuse to eat things he used to eat and rarely enjoys trying something new. And he's really funny about how he displays his displeasure. He will come up to the bowl, sniff it a bit, watch his sister eat it, then turn and sit in front of the bowl to stare at me in the kitchen like I'm supposed to come do something about the travesty put before him.

It's at this time I say the words he's been dying to hear.

"Want me to thrown some stank on that?"

Then I go get some dried fish flakes and sprinkle them on his dinner so he'll eat it.

This is a trick that I came up with for Jenny which has now been passed on to her brother.

And speaking of her brother...

I've made a vet appointment for him and his sister because something seems off about him. He's been incredibly clingy like something is wrong. From the minute I get up in the morning to the minute I leave for work... then from the minute I get home until I fall asleep... he's all over me.

And, as you probably saw over the last several Caturdays, this is my life now...

When my legs aren't down for him to lay on, he's near... finding a substitute...

And, oh... there seems to be a second Fake Jake in the neighborhood!

Any time I see a cat that looks like Jake outside, my heart skips two beats. I have a flashback to when he escaped, and go into an immediate panic. Except when I got this visit, Jake was asleep on my lap.

I still had a moment of panic because I forgot he was there.

I'm learning to live my life around him being clingy.

This morning I had just sat down on the couch to eat some Cap’n Crunch when I heard a woodpecker pecking at a metal vent on the roof. Jake was on the couch next to me and Jenny was upstairs. Both of them went running to the front of the house to investigate. A few minutes later the woodpecker started pecking again and... bedlam. The cats went absolutely nuts. But then the woodpecker must have flown away, and the cats went back to their respective corners to go back to sleep. So that was an adventure.

Earlier this week I had to clear space on my personal backup drive to make room for transferring some work stuff. I was about to delete a folder when I thought to open it and found this video inside. Jenny was able to climb stairs and the cat tree before Jake, so she often ran circles around him until he caught up...

Adorable.

And then...

I happened upon a Facebook Group called My Orange Cat is a Little Shit, and immediately felt the need to join. I decided it introduce Jenny to the group with my favorite photo of her. It's from when I was remodeling the guest room and she was examining the new mirror I had installed...

I love my little orange shit.

I'll write all about it on Monday. But for now all I can say is that my cats didn't appreciate my old ones, and they don't appreciate the new one either. Jenny is outright terrorized by the thing, as she always has been. Runs away the minute it starts up.

And Jake?

Jake is just annoyed. I filmed his reaction when it started up, and this is what I got...

This model is quieter than my old one, but he's still irritated. Just glares at the robot as it goes about its business...

Eventually it won't be new anymore. Jake will ignore it. Jenny will walk away instead of run.

And life will go on.

Albeit with cleaner floors.

Jenny is a dangler.

She loves hanging off of any surface she can fit on, and does so all the time. And some of the time when they're particularly impressive, I will snap a photo... and I've accumulated quite a collection over the years.

This past week I found a Facebook group called THIS CAT HAS D A N G L Y A R M B S. Which is a group devoted to cats like Jenny. And so I joined and started posting my photos there because images like these needs to be seen. I mean...

It's the blerpy tongue that makes it...

So many dangles...

But her favorite place to dangle is the catio. These two photos are months apart, but you can see that the dangle is the same, but the background has changed...

And these are too...

Now all I need is a catspreading group, and Jake will have a place for me to post in as well.

Here it is... Jake getting pets. Jenny waiting for her turn...

And the minute Jake goes, Jenny jumps down...

And it works the opposite too. When Jenny heads up to bed with me, Jake waits patiently for her to be done with me... then he hops up to get petted.

It's tiring for me, because I never get a break... but better than them fighting over me.

After returning from vacation, Jake and Jenny have been all over me. They do that for about a week, then kinda go back to their normal (though Jake still likes to lay on me more and more often).

It makes me feel bad to leave again, which is why I'm thinking seriously about hiring a cat-sitter next time. I've always resisted it before because they are so anti-social and have robots to take care of them, but at least with somebody in the house at night, they wouldn't feel quite so abandoned maybe?

This happened when I got home last Saturday...

And every night Jake has been like this...

And Jenny has been like this...

Essentially making sure I don't leave again...

Today Jake threw himself on my Instax photo collection as I was trying to find out how many mini albums I needed to buy. I pushed him aside to finish counting, but he still held on the entire time...

And now I get to go back to work so I can take tomorrow off. Which is great, because I need a vacation from my vacation.

Jenny has pretty much recovered from my being gone for vacation. She's back to her demanding self and only gets clingy when it suits her.

But Jake? He's still clingy any time I'm home.

I wake up in the morning, and this is what I see...

Needless to say, any time I'm laying on the couch, he's going to be on top of me...

The only time I get a break is when there's something new to explore. Like the tray I bought to put my little INSTAX photos in on top of the coffee table...

Guess the tray is his now. If I buy a second one for my photo books, will Jenny take that one?

Odd weather lately here in Redneckistan.

This afternoon rain started pouring down and I heard Jake hop off the bed upstairs and run down the stairs crying all the way. After he jumped on my lap, I distracted him with a Cheez-It. Usually he loves them, but he was so nervous he just made it wet.

Jenny never made an appearance. My guess is that she ran and hid in the closet.

Though she did come out for belly rubs when I went up to check in on her. Though she did end up falling asleep, trapping me there...

Soon enough she got hungry enough to head back down for her lunch that dispensed from the auto-feeder while she was hiding out.

As I mentioned a few posts back, I ended up ordering a new Nerf gun. My intent was to shoot darts for the cats to chase. I thought it would be something fun for them.

So I take it out of the package, and shoot a dart from my kitchen... expecting that it will end up in the dining room, which is not so far away. Instead the dart flies the entire length of my home and smacks into the rear window. I was more than a little shocked. Isn't this a kid's toy? How many people have lost an eye because they didn't gauge the amount of force those darts get shot.

But anyway... I never picked up the two darts I fired (it had to be two because I wanted to verify that the first dart wasn't a fluke). And Jake noticed...

So maybe the Nerf gun will end up entertaining the cats anyway.

But carefully.

Jenny alternates between acting like a cranky old cat and a little princess kitten, and there's not much in-between.

But in both cases, she's complaining a lot and being demanding. Which is apparently her default. If she wants something, she complains until she gets what she wants. If she's upset at a situation, she complains until it's changed. If she is angry at something, she complains until it's been removed.

Take Thursday night. I was working in bed. Jenny complained until I pet her. Then I wasn't petting her like she wanted so she complained until I figured out what she wanted. Then I needed both hands to type and she grabbed my hand... and complained...

And if I start pulling away anyway, she digs in her claws.

I blame myself.

I've never told these cats "no" except when they jumped on the kitchen counters. And now they don't know the meaning of the word.

My cats are weird in the best ways.

A couple days ago I was giving Jenny belly rubs when she suddenly flopped over and trapped my hand. Just when I accepted the fact that I wouldn't be able to go to work, Jake swooped in and licked her head as a distraction and I was able to escape when she twisted around to give him a better licking angle...

Then Jake decided to use his sister's butt as a pillow, which thrilled her to no end, as you can imagine...

But it was either that or Jenny would have to find a way to earn money so she can live the excessive lifestyle that she's become accustomed to.

Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans!

This is an awful day for pet owners, because the fireworks will be traumatizing cats, dogs, and the rest all night. I think that they've been banned here this year because they don't want another fire raging in the heat we've got going on, but that never stops everybody. There's always people who will ignore it all and fire them off anyway...

When I bought my home, the previous tenant left a Speed Queen industrial washer and dryer. I was going to replace them with something cool and modern, but a friend told me I would be a fool to throw out tough, reliable, industrial models for new tech garbage where the electronics are always failing and they break at the drop of a hat. And boy am I glad that I heeded my friend's advice. Those old models just keep going no matter what I throw at them. Their capacity is huge. Clothes get really clean (the mounds of cat hair are no problem). And they are truly built like a tank.

Because I can wash such huge loads of clothing at a time, I often go weeks without washing to save money. And that was the case when I finally washed this past week. I had baskets of clothes sitting out to take up to my room.

Enter my cats.

They were very interested in the piles of clean clothes.

Jake decided he wanted to lay on top of one of the baskets, but it was piled too high. So I sat and watched him grab a single sock... walk across the room... drop it... then go back to get another sock. This time he took a few steps, decided it would be too much work to empty the basket, dropped the sock, then fell asleep on the couch.

Jenny, on the other hand, sniffed around all the baskets for a while, then went upstairs to sleep on my bed.

She could have taken some laundry with her, but did not.

My cats are at home while I am across the mountains.

They have robots to feed them, robots to keep their litter box clean, and fountains to keep their drinking water clean and cool. There's cameras and alarms and sensors to keep them safe and let me know if there's any trouble.

But all that doesn't matter.

They are 2-1/2 hours away being mad because I'm not there to cater to them.

But don't worry. They'll let me know when I get home.

I've mentioned a few times how my cats have become increasingly annoyed by my existing in their house, and far more demanding of my time.

This peaked last week when I was upstairs in bed and heard Jenny screaming downstairs. It was so unnerving that I leapt out of bed and went running down to find out if she was hurt. But nope. She was just sitting at the bottom of the stairs demanding that I come down to pet her or feed her (or more likely both).

I pet her for a minute, then told her to follow me upstairs, which she did.

But since I came running once, she did it again on Thursday night... then again last night! Both times I just yelled down to her to come up. Which she did. But she was not happy about it.

In other cat news, I saw this and was immediately struck about the accuracy of it all...
 

Yeah. Though I'd argue that every social media platform is a stunningly safe space for cats.