The dog ate my homework April 30, 2007 ~ 11:36 am
Posted by Julie in : Story Time, Technobabble , comments closedI uploaded photos to Flickr this morning that I was going to use in my post. Pictures of the socks I finished knitting last night, pictures of Freddie and Joe…it was going to be a fun and picture-heavy post. And then I got to the office and realized that my Flickr plugin was spazzing because I had updated Wordpress. Okay, no problem. Just go over to Bluehost and upload the updated plugin with FTP.
This computer? It hates the FTP. So now I can’t post the pictures or do the post I wanted. This is like the time in 7th grade where my dog chewed the plug off my typewriter (hey, remember typewriters??) and I couldn’t type my paper for English. Yeah, try using that excuse. Teachers don’t believe it even when your mother writes a note confirming that yes, the dog was that stupid. And when you bring in the plug to show them.
So…you can go over to Flickr and check out my half-done homework if you want. I’ll hopefully get the situation resolved this evening after Freddie’s vet appointment. In the meantime, I’ll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
MFEO April 28, 2007 ~ 1:56 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Drama Queen, Rick , comments closedName the movie that title comes from.
Rick and I were watching Letterman the other night when Steve Martin was a guest. Steve Martin proceeds to tell a story about having to be the one to introduce playwright Arthur Miller for an award. As I think everyone knows, Arthur Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe. Steve says that as part of the intro, he was planning a joke that went something along the lines of “Which of these playwrights does not belong in this group: William Shakespeare, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Steve Martin. The answer is Arthur Miller, because he is the only one who slept with Marilyn Monroe.”
The audience is laughing heartily at this one, but Rick and I look at each other aghast and say “Ooooh, Arthur would hate that!” Which is exactly what the punchline of Steve’s joke was, that Arthur Miller was dead silent when he ran the joke past him ahead of time.
I looked at Rick and said “Obviously we have spent too much time in the theater…everyone else was laughing and you and I were scandalized.” Yet another reason we’re made for each other.
We’re talking whole new levels of naughtiness here April 26, 2007 ~ 6:00 pm
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closedI just walked in the door, and on the surface, things seemed normal. Joe waiting at the door, yowling to tell me something. Freddie a few steps behind. I walked into the kitchen, put my backpack and jacket down, and that’s when I saw it. A bag of kitty Greenies on the floor. With a hole in it. A chewed hole.
Freddie had apparently gone up on the kitchen counter to the little nook above the sink where I keep their treats and helped himself. The bag of Greenies was still mostly full, my guess is because I interrupted him. However, there was also a bag of Pounce Meaty Morsels missing. I looked all around the kitchen and dining room and didn’t see it. I was beginning to think he’d eaten them bag and all. And then for some reason I went into the bedroom and picked up a book I had left on the floor beside my bed last night. And that’s when I saw it.
Someone (who shall remain nameless, but whose initials are obviously Freddie) had torn the bottom off of my box spring and made a cat cave. And in that cat cave? The mostly empty bag of Pounce. Y’all, I have a kitty scavenger on my hands.
I think he’s probably going to be very sick before the night is over, since the regular Purina that I’m weaning him onto (off the raw food) still occasionally wreaks havoc on his little kitty bowels. He’s in the bathroom for the moment, because he and Joe were in a pitched battle that was showing no signs of stopping while I cleaned up the treat wreckage. Maybe I’ll just let him stay there for a while, just in case.
But what do you do with an animal who is so fixated on food that he chews through bags to get at it? I can’t leave food down for him because he’ll eat it all and then be sick. What do I do here? Suggestions?
“Oh, Abigail, Abigail, I have such a desire to knock heads together!” April 25, 2007 ~ 10:31 am
Posted by Julie in : Academic Office Monkey , comments closedThat’s a line from the musical 1776. John Adams is writing to his wife about his frustrations with Congress. I say it in my head many many time a day in reference to my frustrations with the people I work with.
- Yesterday I had six lists of candidates for graduation that needed proofed and sent to Faculty Council, who approves them. The six lists combined to about 1,500 names. It took the undergrad auditors all day to proof their three lists. It took me roughly an hour to get my three done. I need to figure out what the hell they are doing that’s taking so long. I was left with exactly one and a half hours to do six cover sheets with different info, make all changes to the lists, put everything together and send them out. And I did it. Almost killed myself doing it, but I did it.
- Yesterday a woman in my office also actually told a student how to subvert the system. When I heard it (yep, she did it with me in the room), I went over to her and rained all over her parade. She has a fucking script (a set of FAQs) and all she has to do is read from it. Appparently that was too hard for her. Her defense, “Well, I figured it was just common sense, what I told him.” Yeah, it’s common sense. And when the higher ups hear that someone in my office advised a student to do it? We’re toast. I’m all for sticking it to the man, but when you’re the man, you don’t stick it to yourself. Let the students figure it out on their own and don’t help them. I told her that if that was the direction her “figuring” led her, that she should stop thinking. And no, she is not new or young. She’s about 70 and has worked here for at least ten years. She should know better. Gah!
- This morning, everyone keeps throwing crap on my desk. And I just say “Okay, this will happen this afternoon. This morning I am catching up on everything I got Monday and yesterday when I was working on the lists.” “Okay, this will happen tomorrow. Still working on yesterday’s stuff.” And my staff is getting disgruntled about this, because obviously what they are giving me needs to happen now. Sorry, no. The President’s Office gets what they wanted first. The Publications crew gets what they wanted next. Tell the student to call us back later, and we will handle it.
I cannot wait until June1, when all of this is behind us.
I begin to wonder… April 23, 2007 ~ 9:52 am
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closed…if Freddie isn’t of above normal intelligence, like Joe. Friday night I caught Freddie standing with his back paws on the handle of the broiler door and his front paws pulling up on the handle of the stove door, little nose twitching as he searched for food.  An hour later, I saw Joe with his front paws on the broiler handle, a trick which he has never done before. It’s not enough that Freddie might be smart, they have to learn from each other.
And yesterday when I came home, I found the decorative key for the entertainment center doors on the floor. Someone had hooked a paw through it and yanked it out of the keyhole. Since Joe has never had an interest in it before, that leaves one suspect.
When Joe was Freddie’s age, he learned to work the VCR and answering machine, and eventually broke both. Since Joe is the only intelligent pet we’ve ever had (others have been sweet, but never smart), we’ve just thought Joe is the smartest cat ever and that no other cats can compare. I shudder to think that not only could this not be the case, but that I might have wound up with the two most intelligent cats in the universe. I am screwed.
A moment of seriousness April 20, 2007 ~ 7:24 am
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closedJoe’s biospy came back yesterday. It turns out that the lump on his gum was something called a mast cell tumor, which is a type of cancer. The doctor told me that if it was on Joe’s skin, it would be something they would consider benign, but since it was on the gum, he wasn’t sure - he’d actually never seen a mast cell tumor on a cat’s gums before. Basically, if it was on the skin, they could remove a large amount of skin to make sure they’d gotten all of it. However, since it was on his gum, there was only so much that could be removed before they hit the bone, and none of us wants a radical bone surgery for Joe.
I cried when I got this news, of course, but the vet told me there was no reason to cry. (This man never ever shows emotion.) Joe is old, he explained to me (16, by Mom’s latest reckoning), and Joe will probably die of old age rather than the mast cell cancer. But he does have to be on Prednizone for the rest of his life, and we do have to watch out for returning lumps on his gums. If we notice one, then we have to bring him back in, but otherwise, we don’t have to, at least for the cancer (thyroid problem is still in effect).
Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever contemplated a time when Joe might not be around. A time when I might have to put him down because it might be his time, although not nearly the time I would have chosen for him. I had hopes that he would live a Maynard-like lifespan - 25 years would still not be enough time, but it would be better. I can’t even begin to tell you all this little black cat has meant to me over the years. He’s been my best friend, my baby, a companion, and so much more. I love him so much.
For the time being, I’ll try not to borrow trouble. He’s alive now and sitting on my lap, purring, trying to get me to rub his chin. Excuse me while I go do that. I’ll give you the Freddie update later.
I need some crack April 18, 2007 ~ 11:27 am
Posted by Julie in : Academic Office Monkey, Urban Family , comments closedIcepick season is in full swing. I have a pile of audits to do on my desk, but can’t get to them because I have to proof audits I’ve already done so they can go on the list of candidates for graduation that I have to get together for Tuesday. I spent the morning compiling another list of students who have filed for graduation so that they can be put into a ticket distribution list for Commencement. And I have to basically herd cats to make sure my undergraduate auditors are where they need to be in their proofreading. Oh, the stories I could tell about that, but I just don’t have the time.
I’ve got a meeting with a playwright this evening and then I am supposed to head to Stitch n Bitch, but I might just go home and do some baking for the baby shower that’s this weekend. It’s a non-traditional shower, more like a birthday party for the little one who hasn’t been born yet, and as godmother I really need to get on the ball with it. I’m in charge of desserts and munchies. This basically means I will be stopping at the grocery store and getting a few box mixes and some cookie dough. And crackers and cheese and hummus and nuts. Because that’s my idea of a party, dammit.
It’s only Wednesday and I’m already exhausted. Wednesday, hell, it’s only mid-April and Commencement isn’t until May 31. I might just die.
Group dynamics April 16, 2007 ~ 9:48 am
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , comments closedIn a weekend filled with chaos, we’ve learned a couple of things:
- Jesse is 25 pounds and Freddie only 11, but Jesse is afraid of Freddie. This is probably because Freddie spent the a large part of the first 24 hours Jesse was in the apartment hanging outside the bathroom door hissing under it at Jesse.
- Freddie also hissed non-stop when we took him to the vet. He doesn’t mind the cat carrier, but he really doesn’t like the vet. Or the vet tech. Or anything to do with the vet.
- Freddie can hump a blanket from the bedroom into the kitchen. I’m still not sure how long it took him to do that, all I know is that we were gone for five hours and when came home the blanket had migrated. More proof that I named him right.
We also learned that the little growth Joe has on his gum needs to be removed. So he’s at the vet right now, awaiting surgery. I felt like the worst cat mom in the universe this morning when he was crying for his food and I couldn’t give it to him (he’ll be under anesthetic today and the food would not help that). Think good thoughts for him…he’s my buddy, and I need everything to turn out okay. I’ve had him since I was 14 and can’t imagine life without him.
Or maybe it was the flu. April 13, 2007 ~ 12:23 pm
Posted by Julie in : Assorted Ailments, Da Cats , comments closedI ended up on the bus with someone from Publications last night and told her of my food poisoning woes. I told her I was still puzzled by what had caused the whole damn thing, since both bologna and spinach tasted fine when they went down (although after puking for 7+ hours, I do not think that either of them will ever taste fine to me again). She said “Do you think you had that flu that’s going around? It comes on fast.” Come again, what? There was a flu going around? Well, that would explain the bodyaches and continued stomach problems I had even after the puking stopped. I just can’t figure out how even though I get a damned flu shot every year, I still end up getting the flu at least once, possibly more. Why am I so prone to getting sick? I eat my fruits and veggies. I have dairy. I haven’t eliminated meat from my diet, although I am a lot less likely to eat red meat than I used to be. What the hell is going on?
Mom is on her way in with the Piss Crusader. This will require some refiguring of logistics. Freddie is mostly good, although he can get way too aggressive when playfighting with Joe. Freddie also humps blankets (seriously. I have no clue what that is about. From what I’ve read, it’s when he feels neglected or traumatized. Apparently he felt neglected while we were trying to sleep last night because Rick said the cat was messing with the blankets for half the night.). And he chews at things like a dog. Was he weaned to early? Has he just not had enough time being around other cats to even these issues out? Who the hell knows. We’ll see how adding a Piss Crusader to the mix changes the dynamic.
This weekend is going to be fuuuuuuun.
Food poisoning sucks ass. April 12, 2007 ~ 1:53 pm
Posted by Julie in : Assorted Ailments , comments closedEspecially when you have to proof the Commencement program galleys by 5 PM on Friday. And you have a show opening. And a new cat who needs to be socialized. And a mother coming in late Friday night with Piss Crusader in tow for the weekend. And a dress rehearsal tonight.
Yeah.
