We don't need no stinking voting machine...

Well, um, maybe it IS a stinking voting machine. Actually it is the Kitty Caucus.

Two cheetah escapes in one week?

How odd is that?

Escape Number One

Escape Number Two.

I used to work with these people

photo poached from here

Today I realized it was October 31 and I had a truck in the drive whose inspection expired in October. Whoopsie! So I grabbed the computer and drove off to drop the truck at the garage and work for the day from a cafe in Ithaca. My porch light turns on automatically (uh oh, it's Halloween) and I forgot to leave the candy out in a bowl on the porch (yeah, you can do that in my neighborhood, believe it or not). And I wouldn't be home until after dark! I obsessed about my neighbor's kids whose parents would stop at my drive (seeing the lights) to send their children hauling up my hill only to discover I wasn't there.

So I emailed my neighbor and former co-worker Nancy, and warned her not to bother to stop until later in the evening, and not to stop at all unless the white truck was in the drive, since I had committed the Halloween faux pas of leaving lights on when no one is home.

She got my message and replied. Nancy works in the Bio Department at Ithaca College, where I once worked. She sent me the link to the Center for Natural Sciences Building Halloween challenge photos (link below). Ummmm...OK, I miss my old job now! I see that they still are the crazy place they were three years ago. An infusion of new students every year will do that.

Somehow it seems that dressing up as a cat wouldn't have fit in with the horror motif. Be sure to continue hitting the "down" arrow to view all the photos.

Thanks, Nancy (no, not you Nancy, the other Nancy...there are so many Nancys!) for sending this link!

And yes, I did manage to zoom home so that the truck was in the drive in time to catch my handful of trick-or-treaters. So now I don't need to eat all of that chocolate. Just the half a basket they didn't take.

And the dogs just keep getting bigger....

Yeah, this is my itty-bitty-kitty foster home. I guess she likes her dogs big and her cats small. Look! Hope has ears now!

What are you doing for Halloween?

10 million dollar cat

And of course what I drool over is the habitat they have for Tama and her friends at the train station (You can see it in the background during a few shots).

LOL Cats Art Show and....Change.

I can't imagine anyone who found this blog isn't already familiar with the LOL Cats at Icanhascheezburger.com. Most of you will understand how the phenomenon made the leap off the blog page and into an art cafe. If you aren't familiar with LOL Cats, be sure to bookmark the page and check it daily, especially when you are having a bad moment and need a smile.

But if you bought a piece of this LOL viral art, eight years from now would a visitor to your home look it on your wall and understand what it was all about? Or will the phenom be entirely forgotten?

Well, here's a viral video from eight years ago (a Budweiser commercial, be sure to watch the whole thing). I certainly had forgotten it.



However, here's a somewhat surprising follow-up, just released:



Don't forget to vote next week.

True. True.

Way to go, Dave!

Dave Barry adopted a shelter dog!. Appropriately, it is Adopt A Shelter Dog Month!

The Grooming Room opens!

Nancy has been a life-saving "friend of Wildrun" from the day she answered an advert I put in the paper attempting to find a barn home for a tom cat. She didn't have a barn home, but she offered to foster, and I took her up on that in short order.

I'll be there this Saturday for the opening of Nancy and Chris's new venture "The Grooming Room." Here's their info release!


THE GROOMING ROOM
Opening November 1

1015 W. Seneca Street
607-273-1113
(Located behind our friends at Ithaca Grain and Pet Supply)

Let Certified Professional Groomers Chris Hennes and Nancy Cusumano take care of your four-legged family members. We lovingly groom all breeds of dogs, large and small… and cats too!

We met at The Rochester Institute of Dog Grooming achieving our professional certification recognized by the New York State Department of Education. Little did we know, we both graduated from the same high school in Commack, NY, just two years apart…small world.

Chris moved back to the Ithaca area in November, 2007 after living in different areas of the United States. His current family includes 5 dogs, 5 cats, 2 green-wing macaws, and a 75-gallon reef tank. It’s a pretty active household, and one Chris enjoys. He is never lonely!

Nancy is a 20-year resident of Ithaca, a volunteer at the TCSPCA and a member of TCDog. She lives in Trumansburg with her two cats and her four-legged best friend, Jack.

Our philosophy of pet grooming is to take the utmost care of your four-legged family members in a relaxed environment. Whether your best friend is in need of full grooming, a wash and dry, or a trimming of the nails, we strive to make their visit one they’ll want to return to.

Our hours are:
Monday-Sunday through the holiday season
Call for an appointment or just stop by and say hello.
Walk-ins are welcome.

Nancy's blog (where I stole the photo) is Hair of the Dogs.

OK, I'll grow up now. Rant removed

I'm reposting the photo because it is, after all, totally cool.

Thanks to everyone who posted their kind thoughts. I still have the post saved, so I can review your support now and then.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled kitten!

Hope and Rose: Foster photo

I think I'm going to post Hope on Petfinder with this photo. Maybe we can find her a home now, so she's got a place to go as soon as she's old enough and has had her vet visit?

What a cutie.

The Terrorist Kittens are staying another night with Valarie and Craig, and Ditz is oh-so-happy.

Home again

I love airport art--mostly because any distraction is a welcome distraction when I am flying.

So here is the quiz to all those travelers out there -- what airport is this? (Note, the walls have iridescent waves on them which did not come out in this photo, and the waves do not move; just the colors change).

The cats are very happy that I am home. Ditz the snarler is especially happy and is letting me pet her all over, purring her head off, snuggled up next to me on the couch without a single hiss, because the house is kitten-free. Ditz despises kittens.

Wait until I bring the Terrorist Kittens back from their foster home today. She'll be back to her old hissy self, poor lady. However now the big push begins to get them adopted. Tinker already has a "hold" on her. Hopefully we can move them out so Ditz can have her blessed silence once again

Internet, TV, nachos, and beer...

What more could you ask for. I'm in the airport, on my last leg home, and found an internet cafe to numb my senses for the last bouncing miles through the grey skies. If you haven't guessed, I hate flying. I do it, because it's what one does. I like the destinations, but I don't like getting there. Luckily, the VP assigned me a rather interesting project which is ideal for sitting on one's keister in an airport.

I'm looking forward to being home sweet home.

More in a bit, after I've finished my project.

Video of Hope from Cary

Kittens and Packing -- Purrfect Together

My laptop started having issues, and work sent me a new battery and adapter. They arrived today and I cheered. So did the Terrorist Kittens.



Even Bear got in on the fun.



They played for two solid hours with a box, a sheet of bubble wrap, and one piece of nylon strapping.



And then they took a loooong nap next to me while I worked.

I woke them up at one point to hear them purr, and of course one of them had to fart. Argh!

Hope grows up and begins her travel adventures

Little Hope has proven to be a strong little lady, so she's off to PA to foster with Cary, who will spoil her horribly. I love bottle-feeding kittens more than anything, but I have so much travel in the fall, it isn't possible. Even Cary has travel for work, and little Hope will be off on a car trip to Silver Spring on Wednesday. But I have to fly, and planes trump cars when it comes to kittens! Thanks, Cary, for fostering Hope!

Here's a somewhat less alien photo of her:



This is the most easy-care kitten I've ever had. Can you believe she is waterproof? No kidding. You put her under a warm faucet and the water just rolls off her. If you work hard to get her wet, she dries off in mere seconds with a towel. Most kittens end up getting subjected to long towelings or a hair dryer to make sure they don't get a chill. But not Hope!

The Terrorist Kittens will be staying with Valarie and Craig, Donna and Tim are taking care of the cat facility cats, and the one good thing about hunting season is people with guns are happy to house sit.

Farewell, Grizzly

Yahoo has a little popup on the lower right of my screen that shows the subject line of the email message if it is sent to my Yahoo address. And around 5:45pm the popup said "Grizzly."

It's never good when an adopter emails with just the pet's name in the subject line.

Grizzly apparently got out of the house on Sunday while the family was out of town, and was hit by a car. He was euthanized today due to injuries.

Plushie and Pickles came from the same colony.

Well, he had six years he might not otherwise have had.

Sigh.

One of the worst parts of looking through the old photos to find one of him was to realize how many cats are no longer with us. Some stubbornly live for nearly two decades, but disaster strikes so many.

Rest in peace, Grizzly.

Kitten Play

Set for fuel for the winter

The wood arrived today. Phil and Cindy hauled it out over two days, and hauled in as well their 4 month old son! What a cutie. He sat in his removable car seat and watched mom and dad toss wood out of the truck beds, into big piles that I'll now de-construct and stack.




There's something very satisfying about having this much wood on hand. I'll make sure I get the next batch in spring so it can season over the summer.

He tastes like chicken

Beats being a country back road cat though. Looks like he's got a great home. Here's his "feral" shot. What a lucky cat that Valarie and Craig got him a place so call his own! Well, shared with a puppy, that is.

Tuffy Two was the first cat neutered with The Leewit Fund

Thanks, Cary!

They say "we like it!"

Cat Command Central

The sentence that sums up my life should be: "People give me things."

This week, Donna and Tim gave me this very cool desk, which they needed to move from their mom's house. It has given me a good excuse to start to turn the downstairs den into my bedroom, in anticipation of putting the door on the stairs and shutting off the upstairs for the winter. It also completely changed the design of the den from "antique/traditional" (Mark's rolltop desk) to modern. And I need as much change as I can get.

That cute cat tree by the window was sent as a birthday present from Cary (whose dad is featured a few posts below). I'll need to get a better shot of it. The kittens are lovin' it.

I also rearranged the bedroom (well, dragged the bed to a new position, and vacuumed under it) which totally peeved Norma, the upstairs feral, as it messed up her sleeping spots. When I came up I discovered she'd found a new one...in the dresser drawer I'd left open. Ummm....hmmmm...I'm not sure that can remain an option, even if she does look cute as sin sleeping on my jeans. I also dragged yet more of my ex's furniture out to the barn.

We're getting there.

I came home to discover Nellie (one of my pet cats) is holding up her front paw. So it's off to the vet for her.

More posts to come, as I still have some more thank-yous and updates.

Yes, I am alive and rescuing...

Here, the three current little terrors have sat still long enough for a photo. They are now old enough to be fixed and get outta here:



And yes, little Hope is doing great!



I had some family responsibilities this weekend so did not spend much time on the computer at the end of the week. I also planned to buy a new washer this weekend, since my only-one-year-old-cheap-as-dirt washer succumbed beneath the constant assault of cat towels. This afternoon I realized I was rapidly running out of weekend and ran into town, planning on spending big bucks on a washer and woodstove. Well, the woodstove places are all closed on on Sunday, but not the washer folks, thank goodness. Thayer Appliance was able to fix me up with a top-of-the-line front loading Bosch washer, which they say I can load as heavily as I need, and which they tell me will save money on the dryer, because it has an extra fast spin that will remove more water. I kind of feel like the day I bought my first brand-new vehicle. I've never owned a washer this nice. But given that the last one died in a year ($350 out the window), if I'm going to do this much wash, I need a machine that will take it.

And please, no donations to help! The natural gas lease paid for this baby, and will also take care of the woodstove.

I was a bit bummed that I couldn't move forward on the woodstove, but I think I'll just call them and have them come on out, since the chimneys need work, anyway. I'm sure they have books they can haul along, or can show me models on my computer.

It's time to get the heaters in the cat facility and put the fans away. Another season zooms by. It's also time to pull out Tim and Donna's raised pet beds so the kitties can sleep off the floor. They like the vinyl floor in the summer (nice and cool) but notsomuch in the winter.