I swear I am not an overly-paranoid person... but sometimes the internet brings it out in me when something wildly coincidental happens.

Which in this case concerns kitty foot rubs!

First I posted on Facebook about Jenny loving foot rubs. So much so that from time to time she will insist on them. She'll plop down next to me and keep contorting herself until I relent and rub her fuzzy little feet. Like she did on Friday.

After she fell asleep I stopped so I could keep working. Big mistake. She started kicking me until I started again. The I stopped again. She started kicking me again. So I became stuck. Can't stop rubbing her feet or I get kicked...

I've probably written about this before. I just find it so endearing because most cats don't want their feet touched at all.

And wouldn't you know it... right after I posted the above on Facebook, I drop by Instagram and see this...

Now, it's not a stretch to think that Facebook shared my post about Jenny's foot massage with Instagram. Facebook owns Instagram! And both posts clearly talk about kitty foot massages. But to have it happen this quickly? That's pretty darn... scary... I guess is the word I'm looking for?

Although I have to say... in this case I can't be mad about it if this is indeed what's happening. Just look at that cat! This is exactly what Jenny does!

This morning Jenny came in crying at 2:30am, waking me up. This is a rare occurrence, as my cats usually don't interrupt me when I'm sleeping. Unless it's an emergency. So you can understand my concern. I thought maybe something was wrong with Jake or the Litter-Robot needed to be filled or some other catastrophe. But when I wandered downstairs Jake was asleep on the cat tree and everything seemed to be well. When I got back upstairs, Jenny hopped on the bed and demanded to be petted... so I can only guess she had a nightmare or just woke up and needed to be petted.

At 2:30am.

A half hour later she wandered off.

After breakfast I nodded off and awoke to this...

I couldn't resist, could you?

Sorry, buddy.

Jake had been carting Mufasa around all day. The only time he was been without his favorite toy was using the litter box or eating. Just now as I was heading into the kitchen, I saw him sitting on the steps taking a break... and he managed to sit Mufasa down in front of him UPRIGHT. Which doesn't happen very often. I sneaked back into the living room to grab my phone, expecting him to move, but he didn't. So I managed to get a photo of it. Wouldn't look at me though. Intentionally looked away!

And then...

I decided I wanted to see him set Mufasa down upright, so I went back through the security tapes. And that wasn't even the best part of what happened.

First he set Mufasa down on the step...

Then he leaves!

Then he comes back...

And plops down in front of Mufasa...

Which is when I saw him and got my phone to take a photo.

Vets can't come to a consensus on whether dry food or wet food is best for cats. So I feed them both. At 6:55am they each get a spoonful of wet food. At 7:00am they each get a small amount of dry food. At 7:20 they get an even smaller amount of dry food... AKA "Second Breakfast," because they will scarf it all down at once and might get sick if I don't split it up. At noon they get a small amount of food for lunch. At 5:55pm they get a spoonful of wet food. At 6:00pm they get a small amount of dry food. At 6:20 they get "Second Dinner." Then at 9:00 they get a tiny-tiny snack to carry them through the night.

These small amounts of food given throughout the day have worked best for Jake and Jenny, and there's no scarf-and-puke sessions when I go this route.

The wet food is indeed a small amount... 1/6th of a can twice a day. Jenny refuses to chomp anything wet, she just licks it, so hers is mixed with a little tap-water.

Last year I changed things up a bit. After each can was done, I split a packed of "Broths" between them. So it's 1/6 can at dinner, 1/6 can at breakfast, 1/6 can at dinner, then 1/2 a packet of broth for breakfast. Repeat.

The stinkiest of all Broths... and Jenny's favorite!

I added the Broths for two reasons:
A) The fish oil in it does wonders for their coats... so soft!
B) The cats go bananas for the stuff.

Jenny's sense of smell is diminished, so her meal needs to stink a bit. Broths stink a lot, so it's like the best thing ever to her. The minute I tear open the packet and she gets a whiff, she meows and meows and meows until I hurry up and get it to her. Jake gets most of the fish chunks, Jenny gets the small pieces and most of the liquid so she can lick it up.

Then my house reeks of fish for hours, which is why they get it at breakfast before I leave for work. If they got it for dinner, I would be gagging while trying to eat my dinner, then trying to sleep through the stench of it all.

The things I do as a cat dad.

Last Caturday I waxed poetic about the "Broths" that I've been feeding my cats. This week I'm diving into cat treats.

For the longest time I resisted giving my cats treats. Jake was heavy enough, and I didn't know that it was very good for them. But then I started factoring treats into their feeding quantities and schedule because I needed some way of luring them into the kitty carriers when it's time for a checkup at the vet.

Besides, I was using the Royal Canin treats, so at least it was quality.

Until COVID happened and the Royal Canin were increasingly hard to find. Then I just started buying whatever treats I could get my hands onto. Since the cats were each getting less than a tablespoon a day, I wasn't terribly concerned.

And lately I've been raising the stakes on my treat game...

I've been sticking mainly to Friskies "Party Mix" because Jenny hasn't had an issue with any of them. She mows through them regardless of the flavor I pick. Which lately includes...

• Meow Luau
• Cheezy Craze Crunch (made with real cheese!)
• Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese
• Chicken & Waffle
• Morning Munch Crunch (egg, bacon, and cheese!)

I don't know if there's any real difference. They could all taste the exact same, for all I know.

And I will never know, because I am not going to be snacking on them any time soon.

This morning I gave the cats their treats. Jake ripped through his so fast that I saw him starting to try and get in on Jenny's treats. I lifted him out of the way, said "No," and waited for him to start pouting like he does. Instead he went back to his bowl and started licking it. I found this sad enough that I said "Aww, buddy! You just had breakfast!" I also found it amusing enough that I was laughing while I said it.

Poor deprived kitties.

There are times that I think back to the fact that I was only going to the shelter to pick up Jake. I had no idea he had a sister there until I showed up. It took me no time at all to say "Yeah, I'll take them both" once I found out.

And when I try to imagine what I almost missed out on...

Don't get me wrong. If I only ended up with Jake, I'd still be one of the luckiest pet owners on the planet. But the true joy from these two knuckleheads is the fact that they're so much better together.

In five days I will have had them for seven years.

I can't imagine my life without them.

I buy my cats a lot of toys in an effort to keep them from getting bored. Like a lot a lot. Every time I see something interesting.

If they take an interest at all, it's fleeting. They get bored easily.

What they haven't gotten bored with? The packing paper that my picture frames came wrapped in from Target. The stuff is magic to them. They never get tired of playing in it... sleeping in it... and dragging it everywhere. There's no way I can bring myself to throw the stuff away...

Though Jenny likes to terrorize me because she's the same color as the paper. She hides and then pounces when I walk by. I mean, do you see her in that pile above? Oh. Here she is...

Jake is easier to spot. Mostly because he's a completely different color than the paper... but also because he doesn't dig himself in deep like Jenny does...

Jake is much more at home staring at me while I'm on Zoom calls...

Toy money wasted. I should just give my cats boxes and packaging material from here on out.

Jake and Jenny are so ready to be done with our indecisive weather... and so am I.

It warms up, at which time they start shedding like crazy. Then it gets bitter cold at which time they stop shedding so badly. Lather, rinse, repeat. They are also not happy that Spring isn't warming up the catio, because every time they go out, they turn right back around and come inside... then complain to me about it! And it's like, sorry besties, I don't control the weather.

But I can attempt to stop the massive amount of fur piling up in my house. Fortunately Jenny just loves The Furminator, because it will pull out enough hair for me to build another cat...

Seriously, Jenny is almost euphoric after getting Furminated...

Jake is more hit-or-miss. Sometimes he's okay with The Furminator. Other times he most definitely is not. What he's definitely okay with is climbing all over his sister when she's on the warming pad he wants to be on...

The cat tree that I buy always comes with little fuzzy balls that hang down off of it. They last maybe a week before they've been ripped off of it. When I got home from work the other day, Jake had pulled his fuzzy balls out of the cat toy box and brought them out, so I re-attached them to the cat tree.

He was less than impressed...

Hoping Spring actually gets here very soon so I don't have to live with my cats' disappointment.

For the first four days of vacation, me and my houseguest stayed at my place. This is always an interesting prospect because my feral rescue cats do not react well to strangers and spend most of their time in hiding.

But every once in a while...

Jake, who usually takes 3 or 4 days to make an appearance showed up on Day Two. Even more remarkable? The Dutch Bitch was able to coax him into more than remote glaring...

Jenny even made a brief appearance on Day Three!

The final four days we were in Seattle, so my cats were left to their own devices.

The drive back over the mountains was lovely. And then I arrived home to Jake squawking his head off at me... demanding pets. Jenny couldn't be found, so I went looking. As I was wandering, I went into the guest room and found a MASSACRED BAG OF CAT TREATS!

Which means either my guest wanted a midnight snack and was unfamiliar with how to open a package... or Jake and Jenny decided to help themselves to a treat in my absence.

ROLL THE TAPE! — It was Jake who managed to get the package. But it was Jenny who dragged them into the guest room hours later to shift the blame...

Jakey-Bear is happy to have me home... though you'd never know it from this photo...

Jenny is being a little more cautious and still hasn't graced me with her presence.

Wait... what's happening? This week's Caturday is on... Friday?!?

I'm afraid so. Today UPS showed up with a Very Important Package, and I will need my Saturday post to run through that bit of excitement. So kitty drama comes a day early.

The "Broths" food that the cats love best is "Broths with Tuna, Anchovies & Whitefish"... but it's my least favorite because there are WHOLE little fish in there. Which I give to Jake because Jenny only licks them, she doesn't eat them.

And so that Jakey-Bear doesn't get a whole fish stuck in his throat, I always cut the poor little creature into three pieces for him. WHILE FREAKING OUT THE ENTIRE TIME. But my consolation is that there's only ever one little fish in the entire bag. EXCEPT THIS TIME I GOT THREE OF THEM IN THE BAG THAT I HAD TO CUT UP! GAAAAAAAAHHH!

So gross.

Earlier this week I saw something that kinda blew my mind. Jake jumped down off the cat tree to climb over Jenny, at which point she usually scampers away at top speed. As I was going to film this, Jake decided to stop and sit on her...

Jenny still laid there for a bit before she realized that Jake wasn't going to move on.

I was sure to give her extra belly rubs...

At least I did until Jake decided he wanted to sit on her there too. This time she wasted no time scampering off. Jake took that as an invitation to watch TV with me. So what can you do?

It's tough to be mad at a cat for doing cat things, but I sure wish Jake would let Jenny have her space.

I'm not at home today. I'm over the mountains celebrating Birthday Weekend with my friends.

Meanwhile back at the ol' homestead, Jake and Jenny spend most of their time sleeping (whenever they aren't eating or pooping).

I've learned my lesson and now leave my bed all messed up, which is how they like to sleep on it. I think they like to squish into the folds or something. If I make my bed, they will avoid it...

Earlier this past week I noted that Jake and Jenny's entire personality can be summed up by how they sleep...

Jake's a total dude-bro who sleeps spread-eagle and likes to leave it all hanging out.

Jenny's a proper little lady who reveals nothing and is a bit more reserved.

I'm happy that they have such wildly different personalities, because it makes me appreciate them more in their uniqueness.

I never get mad at my cats for any reason under any circumstances. Because everything they do is adorable to me. They could burn the house down and I'd be all "Awwww... so cute!"

And now that my cats know that there's no punishment for anything they do, they have turned into little brats.

But adorable little brats.

Jenny who, unlike Jake, can actually meow, just starts meowing her head off whenever she wants demands something. And she with keep meowing... changing her tone each time... until she gets what she wants. Which is usually getting me to move my laptop off the arm of the couch so she can lay there and get petted. Or stop paying attention to my computer or television because she wants attention.

Note that she doesn't make demands of her brother when he uses her for a pillow or crawls over her head while she's sleeping...

Nope, this kind of contempt is saved exclusively for me...

Jake, who can't meow at all, just kinda squeaks until he gets what he wants. Which is usually whatever food I'm eating. Most times I try to find a tiny portion of what I'm eating that isn't harmful to cats. For example, he just loves tortilla chips. Which is not great, because salt can cause problems for cats. So I brush off the salt the best I can, chip off a small piece, then let him go to town. Like I did this morning when I was having salsa and chips in bed...

Love how he pushes at me on the window at the end there. Dude... you know what a window is.

HAPPY REX MANNING DAY, EVERYBODY!

Okay... if you don't want your image of me as the perfect cat dad shattered, turn away now...

I'll give you a Rex Manning Day interlude as a buffer...

I screwed up huge last night.

A black cat showed up around midnight. I did my best to care for it with food and a dry place to lay down, but I couldn't get near it.

Jake was absolutely fascinated with the cat... not being aggressive towards it or anything... but sitting out in the catio staring at it. This unnerved the mystery cat, so I finally went back downstairs at 2:30am to get Jake out of the catio so the mystery cat could have some peace.

So after I checked on the mystery cat, who still wouldn't let me get near it, I saw that Jake wasn't in the catio, so I closed the door and blocked the cat door so he couldn't get back out.

Fast forward to this morning Jake didn't come greet me when the breakfast alarm went off. This is highly unusual. So I went downstairs to put the food out... and Jake was nowhere to be found.

And now you're thinking what suddenly occurred to me. Had I locked Jake out in the catio for 4-1/2 hours?

I ran to the door and, yep, that's exactly what I did. My poor kitty. I opened the door and Jake came in very upset. And who could blame him. I gave him extra pink salmon so hopefully he would forgive me. And I think he did.

But there's a bigger problem. Jenny didn't recognize his smell for some reason. She was freaking out. When she wasn't chowing down on her breakfast, she was hissing at poor Jake, who didn't know what he had done.

And so I've spent all morning petting Jake... then letting Jenny smell me before petting her... then going back and forth until Jenny was normal again. And feeling like an asshole the entire time. Thank heavens it's Spring... and maybe that's why it had to happen. Now I will be 10,000% sure that there's not cats in the catio if I ever block it off again. So maybe this had to happen so that I wouldn't do this in the dead of winter? I dunno how the universe works.

I was exhausted last night and not as careful as I should have been. But I still blame myself for being reckless. In the end there's no (longtime) harm, and no foul... but it feels awful just the same.

Jake is still hopelessly addicted to his stuffed lion toy, Mufasa.

He carries him around everywhere, and gets upset when Mufasa can't be found. Fortunately, Jenny has long since given up punishing her brother by hiding his little stuffed buddy, than heavens. I grew very tired of combing the house so I could find Mufasa and Jake would stop crying about it.

Here's Jake bounding down the stairs with Mufasa just yesterday...

A few days ago I was on a Zoom meeting when Jake wandered up with Mufasa. Which he almost immeiately tossed down the stairs. I rolled my eyes and went back to my Zoom.

Only to have Jake start whining and crying over and over and over until finally I excused myself, ran down and grabbed the lion, then set it next to him, then went back to my call...

Jake decided to ignore Mufasa then walk on my keyboard. When I gently moved him away, he climbed back up on the banister shelf to have a face-off with his plushy...

Then he immediately threw Mufasa back down the stairs...

By the time I was done with my Zoom, he had already started crying again. I went and took a shower to get ready for work. I was going to grab Mufasa off the stairs on my way down, but Jake had already taken him.

Cats. What can you do?

Quick-take updates!

There are two warming pads sitting on my sofa and loveseat for my cats to lounge on. I put them out before/after the Summer months because my cats just love to lay on them. Even when it's not cold. And this is how it usually goes. Jenny will pick one. Usually the one on the sofa closest to me, but not always. Regardless of which one she picks, that's the one Jake decides he wants. He'll literally crawl over her and plop down beside and fall asleep. Jenny is not thrilled...

Though sometimes he wants to have his head lick first...

When Jenny gets some alone-time, she spends it sleeping in the weirdest positions possible. Like with her foot in her face...

Speaking of Jenny... I finally found something that SHE will eat, but JAKE will not. It's these "squeeze-tubes" of treat goo. Neither will eat them from the tube. But squeeze it in a dish and Jenny is all over it. Jake, who will normally eat absolutely anything won't touch it. So Jenny will eat his as well. Except with her half-paralyzed tongue, she makes her usual mess...

Jake, meanwhile, has decided to critique my television choices by trying to change the channel from my programming choices...

Hope you're having a happy Caturday.

Jake's obsession with his stuffed lion, Mufasa, started when we was a kitten. It was a toy that my mom and I initially brought back from Africa for Spanky the Cat. He latched onto it and never stopped. Many, many, many toys have come and gone over the years, but Mufasa has never stopped being his favorite.

Lately, I've begun to think that he's not so much lugging it around for himself... but for me. Because there are times in the middle of the night that he's dragging Mufasa around and crying his guts out trying to get my attention.

Earlier this week I was on a Zoom call and Jake came wandering in with Mufasa crying. Because of course he did. Then... something surprising happened. Because I ignored him, he dropped Mufasa down the stairwell...

When I didn't pay attention to his drama, Jake started wailing. The people on the other end of my Zoom called me "heartless" and insisted I go get his toy for him. So I did...

He was not thrilled that I set it next to me instead of him, but I wanted to let my Zoom callers see that I actually ran down and got it.

Disgusted, he jumped down and went into my bedroom to sulk.

But then, a few minutes later he wandered back in, jumped up on my keyboard, then hopped on the banister to... I dunno... have a staring contest with Mufasa...

Eventually he grabbed Mufasa and wandered downstairs to wait for treats.

As I type this, Mufasa has been sitting on the coffee table for two days. Who knows when Jake will want to hang with him again.

Let's see... what's happening in the world of cats this week?

First of all, Jenny continues to get more and more demanding. If I happen to be playing video games when she wants to be petted? TOUGH SHIT! You will pause your game and you will pet me because I demand it!

Earlier this week I was eating sliced apples with caramel dip. The last thing I needed was to have cat hair stuck to my apples, so I told her to wait a minute. She did not like this! Jumped up behind me on the couch and started meowing at my head...

And of course she gets what she wants...

In other news, Jake is starting to climb on me when he wants attention. He hasn't done that in months...

How can I resist that? I can't. He's been bringing Mufasa to me lately too. Something he also hasn't done in months...

Which is to say that I am on-call at all times, because Jenny still demands pets before sleep...

And I know it's normal cat behavior, but I still marvel at the way that Jake will be scared to death and run away from me one minute... then just decide to plop down in front of me while I'm following him downstairs for breakfast. If I'm not careful, I can easily step on him, because he will not move. I have to figure out a way around him....

And that's enough cats for today. Have a good Saturday!

I hit the cat jackpot lottery. Both Jake and Jenny are so ridiculously entertaining.

Jake brought Mufasa into my bedroom for his morning pets yesterday. When I got back from taking a shower, this was going on...

I have no idea if Jake loves Mufasa or hates Mufasa. It's a mixed bag every time.

Jenny gets what she wants. Always.

And what she wants most of the time if to get petted on command. But I've been incredibly busy, so I've started sitting sideways on the couch so there's no room for her to demand it. Not that this stops her. She's been squeezing next to me like this...

Then she keeps pushing and pushing with her little feets...

Until she has the room she wants...

At this point I had one ass-cheek off the couch.

Jake has been obssessing over Mufasa again, dragging the poor thing everywhere. This reulted in my having to repair his favorite toy again. But this time I used carpet thread in hopes that it will hold together longer. If Jake was upset by the repair job, he never complained. He showed up with his lion just as he always does...

And immediately went to sleep...

Which is fine. Because another thing he's been doing lately? Dropping Mufasa off with me, then going to nap. Leaving me to babysit, I guess...

Somehow I thought that having cats would preclude me from being a grandpa, but I guess I thought wrong.

The time of year has come where the cats spend half their day out in the catio. It's warm, there's awesome smells and sights... and far more interesting than it is inside. Many times I come home from work and see them out there sleeping.

Jenny sometimes doesn't even hear the dinner alarm...

When they are inside they get restless and have taken to attacking each other at random. Here's Jake about to pounce while I'm saying "No. Nooooooo."...

Fortunately, it's just something to do and not their normal...

On Friday when I got home I had a raging headache. I took some pills then fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up I had a nap buddy...

Meanwhile Jake is asking if you have accepted Bast as you personal Lord and Savior...

I don't have the heart to tell him that this is actually Zen Buddha Cat.

My cats are out in the catio most of the time.

They love it out there now that the sun is out most of the time.

ANd yet... Jenny still makes time to squeeze me off the couch...

And once she succeeds? She gets upset and starts crying because I'm not there to pet her...

Apparently she wants her cake and to eat it too.

As I mentioned a while back, it's prime catio season right now. The cats just love the heat, and are happy to spend their time lazing around out there.

Somebody asked me if the cats use the massive scratching post pole I made for them. And the answer is definitely yes. Jake mostly just claws on it so he can sharpen his murder mittens or stretch out. But Jenny is a climber. She loves climbing up the thing (which makes me glad that she's not an outdoor cat, because she would 100% be getting stuck in trees...

When I designed my catio, I made it so that birds who manage to get into the catio have perches next to holes where they can get out. But once or twice a year I get a bird that is too frightened to make their way out, so I have to run and let them out before my cats go running out and make things worse for the poor things...

But at least the squirrels are safe...

If I get time, I'd really like to expand the catio and make it more interesting for them. Maybe make a cat run to the back of the house so they can see more? I dunno. A project for another day.

=sigh=

While looking for a camera memory card that I could use for work, I found one with nothing but Spanky photos. 64 of them, to be exact. And I barely remember taking them. I honestly think that I was experimenting with a new camera lens in low-light conditions, because most of them were really dark and had to be cleaned up.

He was such a great cat...

And if it weren't for Spanky, I wouldn't have Jake and Jenny today.

Because it was seeing my mom's stress and confusion evaporate when Spanky was around that made me plan to take him with us when I moved her into the home I bought. But when Spanky went to the Great Beyond, I ended up taking mom to the humane society so I could get a new cat. I wanted an older one... specifically an "unadoptable" cat with a missing leg or eye or something... but none were available so I ended up with Jake and Jenny.

And I owe it all to this amazing cat who got dumped in the cemetery across the street from my mom's apartment.

This past week saw my living room completely torn apart while I was having the massive hole in my wall repaired. My drywall guy did a superb job. I mean seriously good. I know where the hole was and I still cannot tell. Amazing the skill of some artists at their job. Even more amazing is that I lucked out so hard in finding somebody who does this great of a job!

But anyway...

My cats do not like it when things change. They like it even less when the change means that they can't go somewhere they are used to going.

And a big corner of my living room has been sectioned off like this...

Jenny was not happy. She was constantly looking over the plastic hanging from the ceiling like it made no sense to her...

It also caused weird cat behavior. I looked over and saw my cats fighting. Which is fine because it was just play...

But then they disappeared around the plastic wall and were rolling all around it. I worried that they were going to tear it down, so I said "OKAY! YOU NEED TO STOP NOW!" and then walked around the corner... only to see this...

Chasing each other around the house was just a bonus...

And now back to the usual, construction-free cat drama.

With Summer reaching temperatures of 90° or more here, the cats have started to abandon the catio around the lunch hour. The evenings are kinda random, but can go quite late depending on the temperature out there. The mornings have become a post-breakfast ritual, and you can count on them being out there from 7am to 9pm...

This can backfire on occasion. Jenny was out there one morning when I had workers over to investigate the leak from my upstairs bathroom. She's terrified of strangers, and ended up being essentially trapped for 20 minutes...

Reminds me of Jake thinking he could hide behind a speaker and not be seen when my living room was under construction...

Oh well. Jenny still feels like hanging with me a lot still...

Good kitty.

"Who is it? Who is it? Is it a kitty? No! This isn't a kitty! This is a handsome bear! Yes it is! It's my handsome Boo-Bear! Hey Boo-Bear!" — I do this because Jake lets me. Jenny does not go for such shenanigans.

I'm not sure what's up with my little girl.

She still spends time with me... especially in the morning while I work in bed. But more and more she's avoiding me. Much like when she was little. She's afraid of me for morning treat time, which is really worrisome because that's how I trick them into the carrier to go to the vet!

And half the time when I'm working in the living room, she prefers to sit in her kitty bed and glare at the room...

Maybe she's decided to get even crankier in her old age?

That would certainly be something!

My cats are developing personalities that are diverging more every day.

The only time Jake acts even a little bit upset is if he feels that I'm taking too long dishing up his meal. Otherwise? He's ridiculously chill all the time.

Jenny is more of a princess than ever, complaining when she doesn't get her way and letting you know when she feels neglected (which is often).

This is Jake waiting for breakfast. He found a sunny spot on the floor, then dropped down for a nap.

This is Jenny waiting for breakfast. Staring at me and occasionally meowing because I am not acknowledging her presence.

I don't know how Jake could get any more chill. But I'm sure that Jenny will find all kinds of ways of being more of a little princess.

Jenny's behavior, which used to be changing from year to year is now evolving from week to week. As for Jake? He's just Jake.

Jenny's latest thing is meowing her head off when I do not respond instantly to her demands. She wanted to be petted while I was replying to a work email, I told her "Just a minute..." and then was treated to this long, extended howl that did not let up until I stopped typing and scratch her ass. Because HOW DARE I make her wait!

Truth is I can't even be mad, because it's just so funny.

She's graduating from a princess to a queen, and I guess it's my job to deal with it.

But how could I not? Just look at her...

The worst thing Jake did this past week was to get mad that I picked up one of his toys and took it back upstairs. He then brought it back downstairs and made sure I knew he was not happy.

Either that or he's trying to kill Carl the RoboVac again.

Don't worry about there being only one month of Summer left because there's bullets 52 times a year and... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Opponent! The only way this could more accurately describe American politics would be if they asked "WHAT DO YOU HATE?" and the politician answered "MY OPPONENT!" or even "WHATEVER YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU TO HATE!"...

Oh how I love Berkeley Mews. Though not all of the posts there are negative. Take this one, for example...

For more wackiness, see Ben's Berkeley Mews site.

   
• Stargirl! It took a total pass on Stargirl because the whole "Arrowverse" of DC Comics shows turned into a suckfest of boredom. Earlier this week I had the first episode pop up and watched it because there was nothing more interesting going on. Turns out it is fantastic. This isn't just "Stargirl"... it's the entire Justice Society of America being reborn from the ashes of the old one...

I am only half-way through the first season, but watching everything come together is one of the better super-hero comic book shows I've seen. A pity that the rest of the awful Arrowverse shows were tied to Stargirl like a boat anchor and sunk the show.

   
• Cat Walk! I've watched this entirely too many times and cannot fathom how this is not CGI (here's a link in case Instagram is being a dick)...

The fact that the first two fell off when the third one jumped on is some kind of talent.

   
• Just Ken! To think there was a time that I actively avoided Ryan Gosling projects. I remember him mainly being in sports movies and such before he appeared in his breakout role in The Notebook (a movie I still haven't seen). Then in 2016 I saw his incredible performance in The Nice Guys and was an immediate fan. I went back through his movies and found out just how talented he is. Then he was in Blade Runner 2049 and I was a fan for life. Now he's Ken in the Barbie movie, which seems an odd choice, but seeing videos like this makes me think that he probably killed it...

Gosling's next film is The Fall Guy with Emily Blunt. Cannot wait to see what that's about.

   
• Sharing is Caring! They've come a long time since Love is sharing a password...
Netflix: DON'T SHARE YOUR PASSWORD! EVERYBODY HAS TO PAY FOR A SEPARATE ACCOUNT! LOVE ISN'T SHARING A PASSWORD, IT'S YOU GIVING US MORE MONEY!
Also Netflix: We are going to force you to select a user profile every FUCKING time you use our service... even if you only have one profile!
God. Just fuck off and make up your damn minds. Or at least stop forcing me to choose my only profile every time I start up your shitty streaming service. I regret never sharing my password.

   
• SHAT! William Shatner is NINETY-TWO YEARS OLD! And don't mistake the satellite delay of him hearing the question as him not understanding the question in this video. The guy is sharp as a tack!

The only comment I have is that maybe the visiting aliens have a "Prime Directive" which, like in Star Trek, means that they can't interfere with the natural development of earthlings. And that's why they are hiding?

   
• Invasion Secret! I had such high hopes for Marvel Studio's Secret Invasion, but it ended up being a total dud. Whereas the original comic book story was an epic event where a ridiculous number of heroes had been replaced by Skrulls... the Disney+ adaptation had... one? And it was kinda a nerfed one, because they never had the hero even use their super-powers at all. Add to that some totally unnecessary and non-eventful deaths of beloved characters... and a resolution so sloppy that had me wondering why they even bothered with this waste of Samuel L. Jackson's talents... and I wondered what in hell Kevin Feige was smoking to greenlit it. Maybe it's for the best that Disney+ is reducing their output of Marvel stuff. Because with the exception of Hawkeye, which I loved, none of it has been worthy.

   
And now I'm off to comfort my cats, who are cowering under .

I replaced my glass door with a fiberglass door so I could add a catio door to it. And they've been using it to go in and out for over six years.

Now all of a sudden Jenny is having problems with it. She can go out okay, but she can't manage to come back in. She's always struggled a little bit forcing the flap open so she can get through, but now it's like most of the time she can't do it. There's been times I've had to get out of bed and go downstairs to let her in because she's meowing... at which time she decides she doesn't want to come back in.

Then Jake started acting like he couldn't get through. And I just don't get it. I've inspected it, and it swings open just like it always has.

I finally ended up taking out some of the magnets that keep it closed in the hopes that it would be easier for them. Which it is. Except Jenny still doesn't want to use it to get back in for some reason, and Jake still squawks at it before coming back in. No idea what's going on in that furry little head, but if it doesn't resolve itself I may have to start closing up the catio at night so she doesn't get trapped out there.

August 8th was International Cat Day... which is kinda funny, because EVERY DAY IS INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY in my house. How can it not be when these are my cats...

If only they could remember how to use the cat door.

And now, this...

Cats are still great.

Don't worry about all my looming deadlines at work, I still have time for you, dear reader... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• The Bicycle Thief! All this pupper wanted was some pets... even if it was from a bicycle thief...

I hope that the dog didn't run away. That would be worse than losing a bike because your automated garage door opener (likely) screwed up (it's happened to me).

   
• Cat Coaster! I can't get enough of this (here's a link in case Instagram is being a dick)...

I wonder if, from the cat's viewpoint, they feel like this is the real deal? And that has me wondering if it's traumatizing. Though I suppose they could alway jump out.

   
• Virus! Yeah... I'll take all the vaccinations. All of them. SCIENCE, BITCHES!

Even that might be enough to save me, but at least I can say I tried.

   
• Strange New Gorn! Despite a bit of a continuity problem when it comes to the Gorn, the second season finale for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was incredible...

My mind is still boggling at the thought that this is my favorite Star Trek now. I never, ever thought that anything would eclipse the original series for me.

   
• Florida? The repugnant shit going on in Florida to teach kids that slavery was a good thing because enslaved people learned “job skills” that could be used after emancipation can be easily refuted. But this gentleman vividly illustrates why it’s a bullshit concept that doesn’t deserve any consideration (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Fuck FOX “News” and their white suprematist agenda forever.

   
• Rao No! Well, shit. Campbell's Soup bought Rao's Homemade sauces. Guess we can kiss that brand goodbye. Like every other great brand that gets bought by a mega-corp, Campbell's is most certainly going to fuck up the recipe with cheaper ingredients so they can squeeze more money out of it. The way Kraft fucked up Boca Burger is still very fresh in my mind. It was good while it lasted, I guess.

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that companies with billions of dollars to throw around will ruin the brands they absorb, despite them always saying "We won't change a thing!" Because do you know how many times this has been promised? Current CEO of Campbell's says "WE WON'T CHANGE THE RECIPE!!!" But then he gets replaced or fired and the new CEO is all "WE MUST USE CHEAPER INGREDIENTS TO GET MORE PROFITS!" and then it's "WE ARE CHANGING THE RECIPE TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS" or some such bullshit. I do not believe it for one second. Not one. This has happened an astronomical number of times with a crazy number of brands. Profits are always the focus of these huge companies. ALWAYS. Maintaining the integrity of Rao's isn't the priority. It's a short game to buy the brand and squeeze as much money out of it as they can before they ruin it. And then they're on to the next beloved brand.

   
• RUINED!!! I had to step away from my TikTok "For You Page" for a while, because people who "Had their Maui vacation ruined!" or "Had their Maui wedding ruined!" or what the fuck ever were enraging me to entirely new levels. There was a "social media coach" bitching because her 25th birthday to Honolulu was ruined when her flight was cancelled... SO SHE WENT TO MAUI... and took away much needed resources from people trying to survive the fires. I’m amazed... but not surprised at these assholes. This guy says what I’ve been thinking (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Sorry about your vacation... but there are people still missing. Have some perspective for crying out loud.

   
And that's a wrap on bullets.

My cats having radically different personalities is a never-ending source of amusement. When you're petting Jenny and she wants you to move to a different location, she'll twist and contort to move the location to where you're petting her. Then get frustrated if you get it wrong. Jake, on the other hand, just lays there while you pet him and when he wants you to change location, he just squawks at you. And if you end guessing the wrong spot, he'll either squawk at you again... or just accept it and fall asleep. He's a wonder, that wonder cat...

And speaking of falling asleep...

Any time I'm working in bed, Jenny will insist on being petted before she falls asleep. Then the minute I turn the light off so I can go to sleep, she wakes up and immediately goes downstairs to sleep somewhere else. Jake, on the other hand, stays with me all night.

But Jake is usually late to the party when Jenny is still with me, and lately I've been noticing that he's plopping down to sleep closer and closer to the little princess...

Where he ends up smacking her with his tail...

I'd say it was random and unintentional, but he does this all the time...

And Jenny isn't the only victim. Jake will often lay parallel to me. But sometimes he stretches out horizontally on the bed... THEN KICK ME ASIDE BECAUSE HE WANTS MORE ROOM...

Life with cats expecting you to always put them first never gets old. Jenny has decided she wants a footrest while she sleeps... and will kick me until I comply...

Cats. What can you do?

We had really bad smoke last week. This week it was supposed to be gone. But then rainstorms crawled their way into the valley, trapping the smoke and making me miserable as I doped-up to try and manage my allergies.

But what's worse than waking up to this...

Or, even worse, this...

Is knowing that I'll have to close off the catio, because Jake and Jenny's little lungs can't handle the smoke and particles in the air. I'd rather they stay healthy as long as possible, and so... sorry, but the catio is closed for business.

Now imagine what my life is like. These cats are accustomed to doing whatever the heck they want whenever the heck they want. And since they are well-behaved cats, they don't get told "no" very often. But now they're being told "No, you can't go out into the catio because it's not safe for you."

Chaos ensues.

Jenny is the first to notice...

She decides to stare at me while meowing her displeasure...

Then it's Jake's turn to notice...

When he can't bite the door open, he decides to sit and wait for me to open it...

Then it's Jake's turn to notice...

After a while, Jenny decides to make the situation even more upsetting to everybody involved by meowing out the window towards a world she can see but not go out into...

And then it's Jake's turn to speak with the manager about the door situation...

He can't meow, but he can squawk at me.

This cycle is repeated throughout my morning.

And when I get home from work.

Fortunately today was looking much better, so I opened up the catio.

But of course now they're not interested in going outside.

Yesterday was Orange Cat Appreciation Day.

Which is hilarious, because EVERY DAY IS ORANGE CAT APPRECIATION DAY! JENNY INSISTS ON IT!

I swear, she's the most entitled princess of a cat I've ever known. She demands to get her way, and does not give two shits how you feel about it. When she wants to be petted, you stop whatever you're doing and pet her. Then you don't stop until she's done with you.

Just look at the little scrubber squeezing beside me and pushing me over on the couch!

Then she meows until she get butt-scratches...

Eventually I graduated to neck scratches...

But the second I stop? She wakes right up and gives me this...

But what can I do. This is how she looks at me most of the time...

So happy Orange Cat Appreciation Day yesterday.

I don’t trim my cats’ claws. And I would NEVER de-claw them.

They don’t scratch where they’re not supposed to, and take care of their own claws with teeth manicures like they would do in nature, so I don’t see the point in putting them through the trauma. BUT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE... a week ago Jake was pushing Jenny out of the way so he could eat her dinner when he still had food. So I gently moved Jake back to his bowl.

Which startled Jenny.

Which startled Jake.

WHO THEN RAN ACROSS MY FEET WITH CLAWS OUT... tearing them up...

The left foot only bleed for about 15 minutes. But that puncture wound on my right big toe? That bleed like for an hour. Funny thing is that the puncture wound doesn’t hurt at all. But the scratches are incredibly painful. Oh well. Cats, amirite?

Jake's still a good boy though. As the weather gets colder and colder, he's been sleeping up next to me like I'm a hot water bottle...

His favorite spot is right behind my knees, every night...

This morning I woke up at 4am, then went back to sleep. When I woke up a couple hours later, I couldn't move. Jake was on top of me...

And of course I just lay there until he decided to climb off of me. I'm pussy-whipped like that.

Sleeping arrangements for my cats is ultimately wherever they feel like it. And they are happy to sleep just about anywhere. Although this time of year they're mostly sleeping with me as a human hot water bottle because the temperatures are falling and I haven't turned on my heat yet.

Jenny has been sleeping in kitty beds scattered around because they are insulated and keep her warm...

Another favorite spot while in the living room is the backs of the couches. I usually have a blanket folded up over one spot, which they started fighting over, so now I unfold it out across the entire length so they can both lay on it...

Something Jake likes to do is wait until Jenny has fallen asleep next to me... then wedge himself in-between us so he can use Jenny as a pillow. Sometimes she swats at him or runs away... but other times she seems okay with him being annoying...

Once the heat is turned on, they'll probably go back to sleeping near the vents. It's the most comfy place to be. Which reminds me... I need to reverse the direction of the ceiling fan in my bedroom.

How I know that it's time to haul out the electric blanket and the heating pads for the cats?

They start using me as an electric blanket. I mean Jake usually sleeps with me...

but when it gets colder he's on top of me...

And if he can't squeeze between my feet, he'll sleep on top of them...

As for Jenny? She's been squeezing beside me on the couch when I'm sitting length-wise on it. But now? She will dig behind me even if there's no room to use me as a heating pad...

And so... I put out the warming pads for them...

And so... I guess they've got their favorite place to sit for the next five months.

Every year I tell myself that I won't turn the heat on until October 1st. It's a noble goal that I fully intend to honor despite the fact that I always fail.

Year after year I'm turning the heat on at the end of September because it's just too darn cold in the mornings and evenings to go without. Bundling up in hoodies and blankets is not the same as actually being comfortable.

Just ask my cats.

I generally factor them out of the equation because they're walking around with fur coats on. And they still go outside in the catio, where it's far colder than in the house. Plus I put out kitty warming pads that they lay on to keep warm. So... whatever.

But, as I mentioned on Caturday, Jenny has started squeezing behind me on the couch... pushing and pushing until she makes a hole behind my back, then turns around and sits there to glom off my body heat...

It's cute... but it ain't comfortable.

Then this morning I woke up cold, which is never a good thing, so I finally relented and everybody is happy.

Well, my cats are never truly happy... but they're happier than they were yesterday.

My cats are psychotic killers who just love to torture small creatures for fun because they just can't help themselves... which means birds hanging out in the catio are not safe from being brought into the house. What's weird is that they never actually hurt the birds, they just bring them inside to play with them.

Last Sunday I came downstairs only to find feathers on the floor. So then I spent a while searching for the bird. Dead or Alive. And of course the frightened little guy was alive. I tried to shoo him out the guest room window, but he got scared and flew into the wall that's torn out in my guest bathroom!

And so I used lights to draw him out of the walls... then used lights to lure him back into the guest room... then tried to shoo him out. Again. But he kept hiding out under the bed because he couldn't fly through the bottom window which cannot open. So finally I blocked the bottom window and then... five hours after I spotted feathers... the bird flew out...

My cats... watching me frantically trying to remove a bird from my home...

Apparently looking at me like I've ruined their fun isn't good enough... Jake had to sit on my work papers so I couldn't get to them as well.

Cats. What can you do?

I almost ran out of the "urinary care" prescription cat food that Jake needs and Jenny also eats. This is what I supplement to "wet" food, which is everything from Chicken of the Sea salmon or tuna and =shudder= anchovies to cat food that's soups, broths, and canned.

It wouldn't be the end of the world. I still have the Meow Mix that I feed to the neighbor cats, but it's not ideal if I'm going to keep Jake out of the cat hospital...

Anyway...

As I always do, I look at the seasonal toys to see if there's anything Jake and Jenny will play with for 20 minutes then abandon. I found Spooky Donuts and Kitty Crackle Catnip Candy Corn...

Jake stopped to smell the ones I threw on the stairs, but was mostly not interested. He has only a mild reaction to catnip...

His sister, on the other hand...

She gets high on the 'nip, that's for sure...

Jake was more interested in the box, as usual...

And, sure enough, the toys are completely ignored now. Halloween was nice while it lasted.

Today started off good enough.

Woke up. Fed the cats. Handled my emails. Did some work. Read my news feeds. Then waited for Jake and Jenny to come hang out on my electric blanket so I could chill in bed for a while. A long while, since I had no plans of going into the office since I've been working my guts out all week...

But then I done fucked up by getting out of my comfortable bed to watch the (partial) eclipse that would be happening.

Which I should have investigated when I left my bed the first time, because then I would have seen that the skies were completely overcast and I wouldn't be able to see a fucking thing.

It's all been downhill from there.

The only way I even knew the eclipse was happening is that it got dark enough to trigger the light sensor and turn on my lights because my house thought it was night time. I really, really need to get a time range set on that automated routine. Especially now that the weather will blot out the sun at random moments as the weather gets darker and darker.

The good news is that my grocery delivery arrived.

Yesterday I saw an advertisement for Sour Patch Kids and had a craving for the watermelon-flavored candies they came out with. Except the mini mart didn't have them, so I placed a grocery delivery. My local store had the watermelon candies mixed in with regular Sour Patch Kids in a Halloween bagged assortment...

So that's something, I guess.

As for my cats? They've moved on without me.

I live alone. I have casual friends in the area, but all my close friends live nowhere near me. It's for this reason that I live in constant fear that I'm going to crash and die or be hospitalized, leaving my cats to starve and dehydrate because the friends who can do something about it may not find out about my predicament right away.

I have a water fountain, but also a water dispenser which can hold a full gallon to tide Jake and Jenny over until help is dispatched.

But food-wise I have these small auto-feeders which I never like to fill up very full because the food goes stale very quickly. There are "Desiccant Packets" you can buy to put in an interior holder that keeps the food fresher, but they wear out quickly and are expensive to replace.

Which is why I was excited to see a new kind of automated food dispenser being promoted that has an air pump which removes the air to keep the food fresh...

Look how huge that thing is!

This is the large capacity model, which means I could put in enough foood to last a month and it will always stay fresh! The units are huge, but they still fit on the kitty feeding station I built.

One small problem, however.

When the seal is broken to dispense the food there is a hissing noise. Then the food drops out into a metal bowl which makes a clanging noise. Then the air pump activates and makes a whirring noise (it's not loud, but it's frightening to my two scaredy-cats who are not used to it).

I am confident that they will get used to the noise... even welcome the noise because it means that it's feeding time... but for now? Terrorized by it. Though this morning Jake eventually came back to it, which is an improvement over the past couple days when I had to call them over and assure them they wouldn't die each time...

That video is sped up to 4× speed. As you can see, I can tempt them back to finish their breakfast now. Even Jenny, which used to be impossible.

There is a small problem for me, however. My old feeders used to allow dispensing as little as 1/20th of a cup. This new one only goes down to 10/12th of a cup. I used to dispense breakfast in two 1/20th feeding so there's no scarf and barfing. That's no longer possible. Which means they no longer get second breakfast. Which is probably a good thing since they both need to lose some weight. BUT DON'T TELL THEM THAT! They get upset when they wait for a second meal which never happens! They used to get .45 cups a day. I didn't want to go up to .50 cups, so now it's down to .42 cups a day. Oh well.

The app to run these PetLibro feeders is not great, showing me errors that make no sense because everything seems to be working. And while the actual scheduling of feedings is far easier with the PetLibro app, they don't tell you how much total food you're dishing out as you schedule like the PetKit app did. You either have to add it up by hand while you enter everything or wait until the end of the day to see how much total food was dispensed. This should be an easy fix, so I think I'll suggest it and see if I get anywhere.

My old PetKit feeders had internal clocks which tended to drift. Most times it's a small discrepancy. But every once in a while there's a long delay between Jake and Jenny have their food dispensed. This was madenning, because Jake is aggressive and will push Jenny out of the way if his food doesn't come out at the same time. Then his food will eventually dispense and he'll eat that as well. He gets double. Jenny gets nothing. The only way to resolve this is to adjust the feeding schedule so that the clock re-syncs. So while I was traveling, I log in and make tiny changes so that I know they will both get food since I'm not there to keep Jake from eating everything. So far, I'm not seeing this with the PetLibro feeders. They dispense at the same time every time. Hopefully it stays that way.

In conclusion...

Despite how huge these things are, I'm glad I went with the large version because it will give me peace of mind when I'm traveling away from home. The cats could be fed for a long time, the food will always be fresh, and the timing is synced so they both get food. The only con is the sound. But eventually they will get used to the strange sounds (just like they did with the old feeders) so it's pretty much a better solution for me all around.

If you want to try these feeders, I'd advise you to wait for one of the many, many sales that PetLibro has throughout the year. I had a new sale start just a few days after previous sale I missed had ended. Their website is here.

When I put the teaspoon of wet food down before the automated dispenser drops the dry food, my cats have very different reactions. Jake lunges for his bowl like he hasn't eaten in days. Jenny always... always... rubs up against my leg as if she's saying "thanks" then saunters over to smell the food so she can act disgusted before she starts eating it.

Like I said, different.

And now there's this added element of the hissssss from the new automated feeders as the air seal breaks and the food is due to be dispensed. The cats act like a snake dropped from the ceiling. The good news is that they are getting more and more accustomed to the air pump them removing the air from the food bin again. Thus keeping everything fresh and delicious. Well, fresh for sure, but I don't know about the delicious part. I've never tasted it.

I've reduced the amount of food that actually gets dispensed in a day because Jake is looking especially fluffy. They both are. Realistically I know it's because their fur is getting thicker because the cold weather in the catio (and the colder weather in my home) is making them actually fluffier. Plus the scale in the Litter Robots are showing that they haven't gained any weight... plus they each have lots of loose skin which makes them look bigger than they are. However... just look at this guy right here...

That's not a cat. That's a bear. It's a bear-cat. It's Jakey-Bear.

Hence the reduction in food.

But nobody tell my cats.

Last night I watched the three episodes of The West Wing with Matthew Perry, then fell asleep watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. This morning I woke up and started getting ready for work until I realized that it was Sunday. This really sucks. For all I know Matthew Perry would have never done another project ever. He hadn't done movies or television in years... six years according to IMDB. But there was always a chance he would return. And now there's just the past. After I realized I didn't have to go to work I watched the Nate Bargatze episode of SNL. It was hilarious and brilliant as I knew it would be, and I was able to escape the world for a while. Until there was a title card in memoriam of Matthew Perry at the end and there I was back in the world again. I don't know if I have the headspace to watch my favorite episodes of Friends. David Schwimmer may have been closer to David Simmer in name, but Chandler Bing was where I lived. This really, really sucks.... but an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now... anyway...

   
• Matthew Perry. This will sound like heresy, but as much as I love Chandler Bing... my favorite Matthew Perry character is a tie between Joe Quincy (The West Wing) and Matt Albie (Sunset 60 on the Sunset Strip)...

The guy was phenomenally talented, and was able to play so much more than slapsticky, over-exaggerated roles (as much as he excelled at them). It's always been sad to me that he had such a hard time finding material to match his talent. He should have been in series and movies as good as The West Wing and Studio 60 constantly. Rest In Peace, sir.

   
• Saturday Night! I don't have access to live television, so I had to wait until this morning to see Nate Bargatze's hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. I am a huge, huge fan and had been looking forward to it all week. I'm guessing it was a last-minute substtution because Nate Bargatze canceled a week of shows in order to appear. And people love the guy so much that nobody was mad. They were thrilled that he got such an opportunity. And, as expected, he was incredible. His opening monologue started off a bit rough, but he quickly found his footing and killed it...

His sketches were amazing and I was wishing the show was three hours longer...

Absolutely incredible that his comedy is clean. He doesn't have to curse to be funny. Let me rephrase that, he doesn't have to curse to be hilarious. If you haven't checked out his specials on Netflix, I'd recommend starting with The Tennessee Kid, which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

   
• Cat Daddy! Hey! It's National Cat Dad Day today! This is the look I got when I tried to explain it all...

Not the reaction I was hoping for, so I tried to explain it again...

What they're saying in this photo is “Happy National Cat Dad Day, dad!” “Yeah! Thanks for everything you do for us, dad!” “Love you, dad!” — Or so I’m guessing.

   
• Bodies. I just finished the Netflix adaptation of Bodies and loved it. One of my favorite shows of 2023 for sure. It's different than the graphic novel in many ways, but it's still totally brilliant...

The changes they made are actually very smart and make the show more accessible and less weird. If you watched the Netflix show and enjoyed it, I encourage you to pick up the original graphic novel, which is due to be reprinted and released at the end of the month. I was saddened to learn that the creator/writer of the series, Si Spencer, died in 2021. The first episode was dedicated to his memory.

   
• Freddy! Seeing Jack Cutmore-Scott on Frasier has me running back to watch him in Deception... one of my favorite shows ever...

It's sad that they canceled the show after one season. It's criminal that they ended it on a cliffhanger and didn't bother to wrap it up with a movie or second season. Even so, it's worth a watch.

   
• Girl You Know It's True! Say what you like about Milli Vanilli... even though the guys on the cover didn't sing the songs (John Davis, Brad Howell, Jodie Rocco, and Linda Rocco did that)... their music was darn good. And the story behind the guys on the cover has been released as a Netflix documentary...

It's a good documentary, and paints a sympathetic picture of how something can snowball out of control when massive success happens. If you're an 80's music fan, this is a decent watch.

   
• King! Hasan Minhaj is the choice to host The Daily Show. Period. Full stop. But bigotry can't allow a Brown Muslim person to have a platform, and he was reportedly the front-runner for the job, so The New Yorker craps out a hit-piece which went way, way beyond the scope of an article explaining how a comedian weaves stories to do their job. But NOOOOOO... they had an agenda in mind. How many movies are "based on a true story" but changes events to tell a better story? ALL OF THEM. THAT'S HOW MANY. Otherwise they would be a DOCUMENTARY. Comedians have to do the same job to entertain people as movie writers, and they change events ALL THE TIME to do that. But Minhaj is an uppity Brown Muslim who dares to speak out on racism and create stories around events he endured, and we can't let that stand. Perfectly okay for legions of white comedians to expand, exaggerate, and reframe events for their jokes. Unacceptable for Hasan Minhaj. Wish I could say I'm surprised. BECAUSE THAT WAS THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT OF "HOMECOMING KING," WHICH IS EASILY ONE OF THE BEST STAND-UP PERFORMANCES EVER CREATED. But here we are... Hasan Minhaj Offers Detailed Response to New Yorker Story: “It Was So Needlessly Misleading”.

   
Onward and upward. See you with more bullets next week.

Tomorrow is my cats most hated day of the year... Daylight Saving Time starts. The clocks fall back but, from their perspective, they're just getting fed an hour later for some random reason. When it ends in Spring, they're thrilled because breakfast is coming an hour early. But until then? Yikes.

The difference this year is that I'm over on the coast, so I'm not home to deal with it. But to make things easier, I did add a small 6am feeding in addition to their regular 7am feeding in the hopes that they won't be going too insane. But otherwise? It's going to be a tough couple of weeks before they adjust.

I think the bigger problem with me being gone is that there's nobody to turn on the electric blanket for them...

Before I left for Seattle, I was downstairs watching television with Jenny. Then I heard Jake crying upstairs. He does this sometimes. I don't panic like I used to, because it usually means he's found a toy he likes or something. But this time it didn't stop, and pretty soon he was wailing. This worried me quite a lot, so I went running upstairs to see if he was dying or something. Turns out he was mad because the blanket wasn't on. So I turned it on and went back downstairs.

About ten minutes later, he ran downstairs and hopped on his warming pad...

I guess he wanted company and warmth, and was mad that I didn't stay upstairs with him? Impossible to know.

Don't mind me.

I'm just hanging out in bed.

Listening to the rain with my buddy here...

Jenny would rather hide in the closet.

In celebration of Captain Marvel's second feature film, Marvel Studios took out an ad on The Sphere Las Vegas. And it stars her alien flerkin, Goose!

Out of all the characters in the Marvel Universe, I have to say that the way they've handled Goose is my favorite. This is epic.

And, lastly, here's a kitten that loves corn more than you do...

Or maybe it's the butter? Hard to tell with cats.

My cats have been fending for themselves while I've been over the mountains for the holiday Weekend. Fortunately their food, water, and litter-box are all automated, so all I have to do is check in on them with the security cameras and make sure they aren't eating each other's food.

Although automation isn't always guaranteed.

Earlier this week I came down to feed them breakfast when I noticed that there was a pile of poo outside the litter-box on the litter-shield shelf. I didn't have to watch the security cameras to know what happened. Jake used it, then it didn't self-clean for some reason. Jenny, who refuses to use a dirty litter-box, schooched as far back as she could, so her little butt was hanging out the opening. Poo poo for you.

Then I checked the playback and, sure enough...

Guess I officially know my cats too well.

Well. This day could have gone better.

On the bright side, it could have gone much, much worse.

Anyway, happy Monday...

Cats are the best.

It's snowed a little bit this week, but yesterday is when it really hammered us. This is a confusing time for my cats, as they don't have very good long-term memories. To them, they've never seen snow before, so this is something wild and new.

But first... I've been playing with macro photography on my iPhone, so here's a macro photo of Jake...

And now back to the snow.

Jenny was a brave little girl and charged outside right after breakfast. She shook her little feet with each step because she did not like them getting wet. But then she decided to dig a hole in it to see what it was all about...

Jake, on the other hand, prefered to view the madness from the safety (and warmth) from inside...

Maybe later this week I'll shovel more snow into the catio so they have enough to play in. That's always good for big fun.

And speaking of big fun... it's almost their dinnertime.

Jake and Jenny turn 8 years old today. Well, probably today. They were found in the wild, so their birthday has always been estimated.

Last year was more than a little upsetting for me, because most cats only live 13 to 14 years old, which means December 2022 was the half-way point of their expected lifetime. Sure there are cats that live to be 18 years old, but this is not common. Which is to say that if they weren't at their half-life last year, they most certainly are this year.

It's tough to wrap my head around, because it seems like they only arrived yesterday...

So, yeah, celebrating Jake and Jenny's birthday from here on out is just going to be a celebration of them being around for another year. Because that's pretty much what it has to be, doesn't it?

Happy 8th birthday to my two knuckleheads. My life is better because you're both in it.

Jenny is a very smart cat. Very.

This poast week Jenny met me in the kitchen and was complaining about something. I didn't know what until I went to sit down in the living room. Jake was in her spot. She likes the warming pad that's next to me, and Jake usually takes the heating pad on the loveseat across from that.

And I was like "Well, he beat you to it, so you can sit on his spot." BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHE DID? Something she's done many times, but I never realized it until now. She scratches on the scratching post behind the loveseat knowing that as soon as she starts, Jake will come running to investigate and start scratching himself. And as soon as he did, she came running around the corner so she can get petted and take her spot back.

I know this is unbelievable, but heeeeere's the video...

Note how Jake wanders off, not even knowing that he's been played.

Speaking of Jake. He's finally started going outside to see the snow, though he doesn't seem to know what to make of it...

Sometime soon, I need to shovel some snow into the catio so they can play in it.

My cats are feral rescues.

Despite all my best efforts and all the visitors that have been to my home, they still cower from strangers. And everybody but me are considered strangers. Sometimes, if there's not a lot of noise, they will venture downstairs and eventually say hello to an unknown person. But that's rare. Most times it will never happen.

And you can just forget about holding them, carrying them, or trying to get them to actually do just about anything at all.

Which is why I see videos like this and am just dumbfounded...

That would never, ever happen with Jake and Jenny.

First of all, you couldn't pick them up to put them in those chairs. Second of all, they would bail out of those chairs immediately if you were to actually get them in them. Third of all, the idea that they would in any way look like they are paying attention to anything happening that's being done by humans.

Sooooo... sorry. No funny cat videos from me.

Welcome to Caturday, which is on Friday because I will be away from my cats tomorrow as I make a Christmas pilgrimage to the coast.

And believe you me... my cats know what's going on.

Don't ask me how, because even if I pack my suitcase in secret, they somehow figure it out anyway. My solution now-a-days is to pack days before I leave so that they have time to calm down before I go. Because leaving while they're keyed up is not a pleasant situation for any of us.

As it was, they were mostly normal tonight...

Tomorrow I will try and slip out as quietly as possible. Just like I do when I go to work.

As I mentioned on Saturday, driving over the mountains is always a crapshoot in my neck of the woods. My drive Seattle-side was a piece of cake. A beautiful drive, actually. No complaints.

The drive home, however?

Kinda maybe I guess?

The most direct path that I drove on Saturday was now "Traction Tires Required" with chains required only for trucks. I have very good tires, so that didn't bother me. The idea that people who have zero clue how to drive on snow, slush, and patches of ice would likely bother me very much, however... so I took a less direct route over two mountain passes which were both listed as being "bare and wet". Sure it takes 30 minutes longer to drive that... but it would likely be a lot less aggravating, and possible safer as well.

The first pass was great because there are multiple lanes. Very easy to pass those wanting to go 20 miles under the speed limit for some reason (as seen by my dashcam)...

But the second pass has a single lane most of the time. You get an extra lane going up the pass in either direction, but if you're coming down the pass and the person ahead of you is going 20 miles under the speed limit... then you're going 20 miles under the speed limit as well...

This wouldn't have aggravated me much... if not for the fact that I had to pee really, really bad the last hour of my trip behind somebody who was behind somebody driving painfully slow for no reason.

Oh well.

I made it home without peeing my pants, although my cats were pretty upset that I waddled past them to the bathroom without giving them pets.