Kitten Tech

It is a beautiful day in Cheyenne and Frontier Days is just up the road. I can hear the flutes from the Indian Village wafting down the street on the breeze.

I really want to work on the porch today.

I went out to my chair with my phone, coffee and laptop. I posted a photo on Twitter. Then…my wireless connection pooped out. Then it came back. Then it went away again.

Drastic action was needed. I went into The Boy’s office and set about moving the router from the floor to someplace…higher.

KnowSocial’s IT department was on it.

Obi got up on the desk and dropped down behind it. He looked at Oliver and me from the hole where cables run through to the equipment.

I asked him to lift the power strip up and put something under it. He didn’t. Then I asked him if he knew how to get out from behind the desk. He walked out from the side. Hmph, easier than I expected.

Then he went back behind the desk by getting up on the desktop and dropping down again.

When The Boy was home for lunch he said yes, that’s Obi’s favorite thing to do. The first time, The Boy thinks, was an accident.

Anyway, with only two hands and eight paws we were able to get the router up to the desktop. Operation: Work On The Porch continues this afternoon.

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What’s Wrong With This Sentence?

I wear many hats with my company, one of which is greeter at registration desks for conferences that come to town. This is a fantastic job. I get to talk to people and tell them about Cheyenne. There’s also food. And goody bags. Sales people, after sitting at a conference for two days, have no interest in carting their giveaways back to their office – they’ll insist that you need two or three of everything they are handing out.

The downside of this job can be the hours. Like yesterday, when I had to get up before Oliver even wanted breakfast so I could be at the conference center at 6 a.m. BLEH. I helped for a couple hours, came home to work for a couple hours, then returned to the conference for the afternoon. When we had a funnel cloud and the sirens went off for about 15 minutes.

Kitten Thunder was NOT happy with me for not being home when something loud and scary was going on. My poor, stressed out grey kitten was already in a state over the huge hail storm we’d had the night before. He and I had been upstairs when it started. It was LOUD. SO LOUD. Oliver declared that we needed to go back downstairs. I joined The Boy, looking out the door at the storm, while Oli loudly demanded that we come back to the hallway – the interior space away from windows as the guy on the radio is always saying.

This morning I had the luxury of only having to be at the conference at 7 a.m. So at least I got up at my normal time. 

I had my clothes on, hair and makeup done, and breakfast eaten before I needed to leave so I turned to the grey kitten. “Oliver, let’s go have a quick snuggle before I have to leave.”

Oli sat down and gave me a hard stare. Quick? Leave?

In a way that made it clear that he found NOTHING he liked in that sentence, Oliver stood and walked slowly up the stairs. He flicked his tail with attitude as he turned the corner and left my sight.

No snuggle for The Girl.

Box of the Month

Oliver and Obi were signed up for the box of the month club for Christmas. Another box came today. They would like it better if the boxes didn’t come filled with beer, but something is needed to hold the box down if UPS comes when The Girl isn’t home.

***

Yesterday was a holiday. I didn’t realize this until dinner time on Sunday night, in spite of the fact that I mentioned it on numerous client Facebook pages. But it was a nice surprise.

On three day weekends, I kind of split the difference between working and not working because there’s really not a day that I don’t work a little bit. I did a little bit of client work. Then I started to clean my office.

I haven’t worked in my office for about two months. At least. Part of the problem is that it is colder in that room than any other in the house. Another part of the problem is that there were shelves that kept my chair from rolling around freely, making it hard to back up far enough to access the power strip for plugging things in – things like my laptop and a space heater. So, yesterday, I fixed it.

I moved the shelves from behind my chair to under the window. I thought they would be slightly too tall, but they fit perfectly. And they are just right for Obi to stalk vicious leaves that blow up onto the outside sill.

Oliver walked into the office, sniffed the sewing machine, scratched his chin on a box, and left. Obi had to bring him back in to show him the new shelves.

After I moved the condo out, I put this box on my desk. It is the perfect size for a kitten.

Or two.

Cat Napping

We have had a long week.

We have had a long MONTH.

Two Sundays ago, I was in Rock Springs. Then last week I was camping. And for the last six evenings I have been out of the house. Last night, Outlook a.k.a the company that purchased Hotmail and immediately set out to make it unusable even when it isn’t crashing, wouldn’t let me send attachments. At 3:30 a.m. I gave up and sent it from a different email service.

Oliver and Obi, at 3:30 a.m., promised that they wouldn’t wake me up asking for breakfast at 6 a.m. if I fed them before I went to bed.

Surprisingly, this promise was kept.

The Boy tells me that Oliver attempted to get breakfast when they got up but several factors tipped him off. First, they hadn’t been pestering me and bothering him in the process. Second, Obi wanted his belly rubbed. Third, Oliver was only going through the motions and was actually perfectly happy not to be fed.

With this actually still-full belly, Oli returned to bed and worked his way into my arms. These are the things that Sunday should be made of.

Until at least noon.

 

Picture Perfect

What are you doing, Girl?

“I’m trying to take your picture. Sit down.”

How’s this?

“Hey, Obers, whatcha doing?”

Hey look, a miller!

This is why there aren’t more pictures in this blog.

***

When I’m not on here writing about my cats, I own a social media company. That’s right, when I’m not on the interwebs talking about the kittehs I’m on the interwebs talking about other things. And on rare, fantastic, occasions I get to get off the interwebs and teach others about it.

Last Friday I was given the opportunity to talk to people in the mental health industry about advocacy through social media. It was interesting to research and a lot of fun during the session – these folks asked great questions and had me hopping for the full time. At the end of the day, one of the attendees – a peer support specialist – went home and started a blog.

That’s so much more satisfying than the generous check I received for my time (but I’m not giving it back). So check out this up and coming blogger – she’s doing great AND she is incorporating cats!

The Long Week

The short week that follows a long weekend is always SO long. Kitten Thunder has been needing many naps that I haven’t had time to take with them.

Last night, after The Boy and I had some beer, the kittehs got me under a blanket and got some super napping done before bedtime.

But, after a long day – long because Oliver was up at 5 a.m. to start waking me for breakfast – the kittehs were ready for a nap by 4 p.m.

And I was part of their equation.

Here, Girl.

Kittehs Gotta a Brand New Bag

For work today, I had to go shopping. Since I spent the afternoon outside of the house I had to bring the kittehs a present.

Oliver loves it. He’ll like it even more when he figures out it is a bag.

Obi’s Tool Review

The morning started as all Sunday mornings do: with Obi bored and trying to get someone ANYONE to do something with him. Eventually it worked and I got up to rub his belly and find his flat leopard skin mousie.

Then I inspected The Boy’s efforts of moving stuff back into the breakfast nook. The kid did good. Obi appreciates that his table is back for optimal bird watching.

Then I went downstairs to work on some necklaces that I’m hoping to get done and into the local gallery for Valentine’s Day shoppers. Obi came down to supervise. Then he realized that there was something else we needed to do.

With him sitting in my lap, we tried out some of my tools to see how they work as chin scratchers. In case you are considering and investment of metal working tools for feline chin scratching, here are the results:

Saw – Of course The Girl wouldn’t let the brown kitten scratch his chin on the actual saw blade. But the frame has potential. The top part, where the blade is held, was pretty good. And the little twisty knob for tightening the frame was also pretty good.

Needle nosed files – The flat one was good! We filed Obi’s chin for about five minutes of full purr pleasure. He could not convince The Girl to use the round one. Once again, The Girl refused to actually let the brown kitten cut his face open in pursuit of the perfect chin scratch.

Ball peen hammer – Meh.

Rawhide mallet – Fun to chew for the ten seconds The Girl allowed it. Not great for chin scratching.

Pliers – The little ones are good, but The Girl wouldn’t hold onto them tight enough for the brown kitten to get some really good leverage.

Bench block – It turns out the best chin scratcher on the entire workbench is the bench itself. Sitting on The Girl’s lap puts the kitten at the perfect height to scratch his chin on the block.

And then the experiment was over because the rotten Girl wanted to actually do work. That wasn’t exciting so Obi left to seek out The Boy. Later on, when I was laying on the couch, the brown kitten discovered – or rediscovered – the best chin scratching tool of all…Girl fingernails.

A Kitten’s Work is Never Done…

Oliver was laying in the condo in deep nap yesterday afternoon.  He was upside down, exposing his belly to the sunbeam coming in the window. A slight breeze teased the hair on that belly.

Then a squirrel came to the window sill and started eating the corn I’d put out there.

Oliver opened an eye. He rolled and lifted his head. He looked at the squirrel. He looked at the desk. He looked at the bed. He looked out the office door into the living room.

No Obi.

Seeing no alternative, Oliver stood up and slapped the window to scare the squirrel away.

You can’t get good help these days.

***

It’s Thunder Thursday! This week I was kittensitting Goblin for my friend Lori. She’d told me that I mostly had to keep his water bowl filled because he’s spending a lot of time outdoors. And he’s been dragging baby bunnies in. Each day I’ve dreaded the idea of finding something dead inside the house. Or…not dead.

I found nothing.

Yesterday, I was putting canned food in Goblin’s bowl when he showed up. “Hey Gobbles,” I said. “You want to see what I’m giving you for lunch?”

“No,” he said. “You want to see what I caught for lunch?”

He took me outside and showed me the dead house wren in the driveway. I know it was a wren because it wasn’t moving so I had plenty of time to identify it. Goblin rolled on it. He looked meaningfully at me. “Rub my belly!”

I draw the line at rubbing the belly of a cat who is rolling on something dead.

I moved four feet away and waited for him to come over to me before I rubbed his belly. Today we sat on the couch and had a purr-fest. This is one lovey kitten.

“I approve of your scritching technique. Your kittens have taught you well.”

Snapshots of a Busy Week

There are puzzle pieces all over the house. The Boy says it was Obi. Kitten profiling!

***

I was out of the house all day so Kitten Thunder is working overtime to make up for it.

Here we are on the couch, snuggling hard.

***

The Boy accused Obi of being on the counter last night because we heard someone jump down. Kitten profiling!

***

Does anyone watch Grey’s Anatomy? Because boy howdy is that hospital jinxed!

***

Evidently there is a big snow storm coming. It isn’t very impressive yet. My mom pointed out that I’ve lost the fun of a snow day by working from home. My boss is going to make me work regardless of the weather but she is going to let me wear jeans, a big sweater and fluffy socks.

***

Somebody was playing with the strings on our blinds this morning at still-dark-thirty. I told Obi to knock it off. Kitten profiling!

***

It is Thunder Thursday! On Tuesday I went to a party at the home of Jenny, Gus, and Gabe. Their person, Mona, also happens to live there. An unexperienced eye might think SHE was actually hosting the party.

"You wasted your time with the wine and cheese; I prefer belly rubs."

"Laser kitty says it's time to go home now."