Requiem for a car: Mercury dropping

Our Mercury Grand Marquis is finally being retired after six years of service and exploration. A mechanical vessel of a bygone era, a sturdy vehicle short on electronics but safe and comfortable. It’s been argued it was too big a vehicle for the dense, hostile environments of the San Francisco Bay Area, but smaller cars don’t fare any better.

The Mercury in better times
The Mercury in better times

While the Mercury was parked on the street, the driver side front marker light was hit. This was fixed. It happened again within 6 months. This time, we let it be and I patched up the damage with aluminum tape. One night, a hostile life-form (an angry homeless dude) ambled down the street kicking cars. The result: dented rear passenger side door. But the worst came after Saint Patrick’s day…

This lovely shot is brought to you by idiots that don't know how to parallel park.  This is round two for this part of the car.
This lovely shot is brought to you by idiots that don’t know how to parallel park. This is round two for this part of the car.
Right above the door handle is where the angry homeless guy kicked it. We got lucky. The other cars lost side mirrors to go with the dents.
Right above the door handle is where the angry homeless guy kicked it. We got lucky. The other cars lost side mirrors to go with the dents.

All holidays are just an occasion to get good and drunk, evidently. Aside from erratic drivers running red lights, swerving and speeding, even parking carries its own risks. About four blocks from our apartment, one street has a particularly odd parking configuration: perpendicular to the curb one side, parallel on the other. The Mercury was hit there on the past, which left a crease on the driver side front wheel well. But can lightning strike twice in the same place, really?

Since the crease was vertical, it was probably a small pickup that hit it.
Since the crease was vertical, it was probably a small pickup that hit it.

Well, I should have known better after what happened to the marker light. The drinking does not start on Saint Patrick’s day. It starts before, spikes during and slowly returns to usual levels of consumption after.

I found an impact on the front of the car that was bad enough to push the body  panels, right front fender and hood, out of alignment. I would need a pry bar to open the hood and then, I’d probably be unable to get it shut again.

The final hit. You can see that the corner of the hood is lifted off kilter.
The final hit. You can see that the corner of the hood is lifted off kilter.

This was three months before our move out of San Francisco, just as the Endurance program planning was ramping up. The check engine light was coming on intermittently because of a bad valve, the brake light was on permanently, probably because the rotors were not turned at the shop. Not dangerous but annoying.

Bear in mind, we had not yet really begun the search for the Endurance, nor the search for a place to dock it. We had a lot of ground to cover and a damaged vehicle to do it in. Would it last?

Of course, it did. It took us to the Central Valley looking for trailers, to the East Bay looking at RV parks and shuttled our belongings to and from storage once we found the Endurance. It continued commuting to work, It did everything. In better times, it took us from Pinnacles National Monument to Yosemite, from ocean beach to mountain ridge. Now it’s time for it to return to the Universe one last time, its metal and plastic separating to be reformed and perhaps see the road again. I hope so.

Farewell you good old car. Farewell
Farewell you good old car. Farewell

The Mercury carried the Catonauts to the Endurance, their new home. Without it… Well who knows?


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One drive through the cuckoo’s nest

Part of the planning that went into moving into a travel trailer involved a choice of vehicles. Being a borderline gear-head, that excited me. Not a lot mind, because that’d mean dealing with car salesmen but still… Our current set of wheels is not much longer for this world, thanks to San Francisco traffic and drivers who can’t park without hitting other cars, and hard. I’d been going back and forth between a car or a truck, maybe even an SUV.

At one point I had a kind of epiphany and figured a small station wagon would do us fine, and it would be a good vehicle for Rudha-an to practice driving again. I looked at second generation Saturn wagons because of price, availability, reliability, size and cargo capacity as well as fuel economy. I figured I needed something that could get up to 35 miles per gallon on the highway to keep expenses down. Quickly enough, I found one on Craigslist, on a dealer’s lot in Fremont and so, hi-ho on the way we went.

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Caturday: Love rules the day

Rudha an: The post below was written by Lastech and I’m adding my bit up here. Yesterday was nothing short of amazing to me. Love certainly ruled the day. I spent the day watching my Facebook and Twitter feed and sniffling with happiness. Finally! It’s now just marriage. It’s not “same sex marriage” or “gay marriage”. It’s just marriage for all. Hooray! This is Pride weekend here and it has taken on a whole new meaning.

Castro flag

In addition, thanks to the confusion of our move, we neglected a very important celebration. On May 14th of last year, our friend Catgirl married the love of her life, Carolyn. We want to wish them all the happiness they can handle. Catgirl writes great reviews of horror films from around the world for her delightful blog, Nekoneko’s Movie Litterbox.

Lastech: As it turns out, living in a trailer with cats is like traveling through space with Klingons. They play, they fight while singing the songs of heir people and romp all over us , not so much at high speed for lack of room, but take flying leaps. By the way, this is how they demand to be fed. No tact.

The fabric covering the furniture seems pretty sturdy considering how often and how violently they claw at it. The window blinds are not so resilient. No matter, eventually they’ll have destroyed all of that and we’ll have to replace it.

They do enjoy watching the world outside the windows or the screen door, especially when there’s a ray of sunshine to lay upon. They are excited by the wind stirring through the leaves outside and lust for bloody murder as robins fly by on their way to the bird feeder. Speaking of birds, these flying piglets go through birdseed like there’s no tomorrow.

And if the catonauts had their way, there would be no tomorrow, just half digested feathers in the litter box… The best Tito could do yesterday was to pull a Renfield and gobble up a fly before we had time to get up and yell “gross!”
He did groom himself after that….

Tito staking out a spot by the window
Tito staking out a spot by the window
Miss Jenny making love to Rudha an's sandals
Miss Jenny making love to Rudha an’s sandals
Titanescu being lazy in the bunk
Titanescu being lazy in the bunk
Bird watching. They love it when the weather is cool enough to keep the door open.
Bird watching. They love it when the weather is cool enough to keep the door open.

Now for a little music showing how we feel this week. 🙂

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Caturday: The right stuff

We completed docking procedures the other morning by connecting the Endurance’s black water tank to the sewage inlet pipe, using what is affectionately called a stinky slinky… Last week, power and water were enabled by our good friend D.

Home c

As to the pointy eared crew, Jenny’s set up shop under the sofa, though she’s emerging more often now. The first few nights, she’d barely venture out to eat and drink before dashing back into hiding. We’re having to remove the blinds as she would effectively destroy them, trying to reach the little birds chirping happily right outside the Endurance’s bays. On our second night, she made several passes at the head of the bed, rubbing against our heads and farting.

Home Jenny b

Tito does better overall but digs furiously at the blankets, trying to hide under our knees when something makes him nervous. He seems to take rather well to our new surroundings, though, occasionally laying down on the floor, looking up at us for pettings.

Home Tito

All three catonauts are eating and drinking normally, something we have been keeping a very close eye on.

Titanescu’s sense of comfort is pretty basic. He just needs a human arm to curl up against, with the occasional foray under the blankets. He enjoys looking outside, laying in front of the screen door and his body language is already more relaxed that it has been since the mission began.

Home Titanescu

The cross airflow moving through the Endurance’s bays and roof vents are very welcome relief from our previous accommodations, as is the immediately available hot water. Environmental controls perform flawlessly. The three days spent at a hotel before the move were not so much fun for any of us, but Miss Jenny in particular completely freaked when we corralled her into her carrier for transport. We’ve got the scars to prove it. I think Titanescu may have feared either a trip to the vet or worse, being returned to the shelter.

Home a
Awning deployed and a BBQ/smoker that was a wonderful housewarming gift. 🙂

The really awesome thing about all three cats is that despite their quirks, they managed to comfort each other during each phase of the whole operation. Even Titan reached out to Jenny, stretching to touch her and grooming her when she was in hiding.

Edit: The catonauts have their own bunk. All of their blankets, toys and even the little orange “hut” came with us. Thank you for the toys and hut Auntie Grace. The pointy eared people still love it.

This is the lower bunk. Soon, they will have access to (and move to) the upper bunk.
This is the lower bunk. Soon, they will have access to (and move to) the upper bunk.

And now for some different Catonauts


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Alcatraz!

One of the creepiest places I ever set foot in, other than Alcatraz, was an abandoned animal research facility on the Peninsula. Besides the stainless steel surfaces and sinks, the scarred tiles and dissection room drains, it was the smell which made some guys’ hair stand on their neck. Nowadays, the place is loaned to Bay Area police departments to practice room clearing with blank ammunition. As to Alcatraz itself, much of its creepiness has to do with the location I think, sitting as it does between San Francisco’s touristic waterfront and Angel Island State Park. The notion of keeping people in tiny concrete cages in the midst of paradise.

On a lighter note, one of the first things we discovered upon arrival was jellybeans.

001 jellybeans b

Understandably, the parts of Alcatraz we were most interested in were closed off to the public, such as the old military parade grounds, taken over by migratory birds. From where we stood, however, we could only see and hear the ubiquitous Seagulls, permanent squatters in more and more places around the bay. Starting at the dock where visitors get dropped off, the ascent towards the main prison building is relatively steep, but worth walking, rather than riding up in the wagons shuttling people to and from.

Building 64 is the oldest building on the Alcatraz. It was housing that was built over the top of the army barracks which had been there since the 1860s.
Building 64 is the oldest building on the Alcatraz. It was housing that was built over the top of the army barracks which had been there since the 1860s.

Provided you come on the earliest tour, before 9 am, walking enables you to take in sights more fully and take the occasional picture without getting photo bombed as the island gets pretty crowded with tourists before noon. Most buildings on Alcatraz share much of their visual appeal with other local examples of 19th century institutional architecture found at the Presidio, on Angel Island and Fort Point, to name a few.

The old Post Exchange burned during the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in the 70s.
The old Post Exchange burned during the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in the 70s.
Broken window in the New Industries building
Broken window in the New Industries building
The morgue
The morgue

The prison’s buildings also appear more dilapidated, enhancing the haunted feeling many visitors feel. The warden’s house only retains four walls and the fireplace, for instance, but is positively cheerful, compared to the cell blocks, and especially the few cells dedicated to solitary confinement. The only time these cells were lit was when they were unoccupied.

The prison as seen from the recreation yard
The prison as seen from the exercise yard
Prison window
Prison window
Bill Baker, a former inmate was there selling his book. If you click on his name above, it will take you to an interesting article about him.
Bill Baker, a former inmate was there selling his book. If you click on his name, it will take you to an interesting article about him.

There is currently an art exhibit offered for free on Alcatraz, by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Part of the exhibit is on display in the prison’s hospital which is usually closed to the public.

With Wind by Ai Weiwei
With Wind by Ai Weiwei

This means we got to see more on this trip than most visitors usually get to take in.
An audio tour is available once you enter the main prison building: a recorder is handed to you free of charge, with headphones. Sadly, this means people walk about following the recording’s directions, sometimes stopping abruptly in groups, by this cell, or that, blocking doors and hallways.

Solitary, in cell block D
Solitary, in cell block D
The hospital, normally closed to visitors
The hospital, normally closed to visitors
The hospital
The hospital
Wheelchair in the hospital
Wheelchair in the hospital

At some point in the near future, we will return to the Island, this time for a night tour of Alcatraz, in hopes to experience and capture something different.
Meanwhile we hope you enjoy these images…

The Prison. We didn’t take as many pics inside the prison as it was so awfully crowded.

@Large, is the name of the Weiwei exhibition. The link will take you the website with great descriptions and meanings of the various exhibits.

@Large turns Alcatraz into a space for dialogue about how we define liberty and justice, individual rights and personal responsibility. In artworks that balance political impact with aesthetic grace, the exhibition directly and imaginatively addresses the situation of people around the world who have been deprived of their freedom for speaking out about their beliefs — people like Ai himself.

These are the photos taken everywhere else on the island. The gardens have been lovingly restored by scores of volunteers. The bulk of the garden photos are from the prisoner’s garden adjacent to the exercise yard.

 

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Beyond the Golden Gate: the Kitty Kat’s whale watching adventure

Rudha-an here with a bit of a description of the weather and sea conditions. One large storm had ended the day before and another very large storm was due the next day. The sky was mostly clear but we were dealing with 15 foot swells the entire time we were out. This made photography difficult and downright impossible at times. While we did not manage any whale pics due to distance, we got plenty of other pics.

This was our whale watching boat. It was aptly named.
This was our whale watching boat.

Follow along as Lastech tells you about our day.

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Caturday: The angry pooper

Like a Soviet tank in the streets of Prague, Titanescu has trouble maneuvering in litter boxes shared with the other two cats, especially after “contributions” have already been made.
Or maybe he’s OCD.
We heard familiar sounds yesterday, sounds which play an ominous soundtrack when arranged together, like the Devil’s Galop. Pellets exploding from the litter box and clattering on the hardwood floor like filthy rain.
A body, landing hard on its feet, clawing at the floor, followed by the hollow thump of another landing, this time in the bathtub. The frantic scratching of the enamel.

What on Ceiling Cat’s green Earth?

Rhuda-an made it to the bathroom just in time to watch Titanescu fixing his death stare upon her as he finished dropping the kids off at the pool.
The second he was done, he leapt out of the tub and skittered out furiously towards the kitchen.
Apparently he’d made a first deposit in the litter box, found it crowded and hurled elsewhere, anywhere, to complete his “movement”.
Titanescu’s version of Angry Birds is that if there aren’t enough unsoiled pellets in the box, he will throw himself at the tub to bake his cake.

The tub. Where humans clean themselves. That’s a message…

Note from Rudha-an: The pellets referred to is Feline Pine. I get the pellets as I don’t like the scoopable version.

As much as he practices his death stare, Tito just doesn't have it in him.
As much as he practices his death stare, Tito just doesn’t have it in him.
Miss Jenny is better with the  stinkeye than the death stare
Miss Jenny is better with the stinkeye than the death stare
Titanescu  owns the death stare. He perfected it long ago.
Titanescu owns the death stare. He perfected it long ago.


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Old coot blues: fat lip and foul hiss

A taciturn cypher like Lee Marvin or Jean Gabin, ‘Scu romps through the apartment like an early 70’s Pontiac with a big inch motor and skinny tires, with lots of noise and little traction. Skid-skid-skid-BAM!
And no brakes to speak of. Even the other two are just spectators, turning to us just to make sure we saw it too. Entertaining? You bet.
Yeah, but he’s dangerous all right. Tito’s found out more than once that trying to wrap a paw around Titanescu’s shoulders and trying to lick him forcefully results in a quick smack down, jiu-jitsu-like, with the old cat towering over him. There’s no viciousness though, just a quick throw down and they move on.
But even when he tries to snuggle up to the humans, the magnificent bastard is full of peril.
Partly because he likes to stretch and his claws come out as a result, Wolverine-like.

So I was getting texts at work last Sunday from Rhuda-an, lurid descriptions about severe pain on one side of her face. Talking about a possible trip to the Emergency Room, even. Something about a fat lip following a puncture.
One thing about Titanescu enjoying naps on his humans is that he sometimes will accidentally stick a claw in tender flesh. Another thing is that… Well, he’s a bit nasty. I guess that’s why Tito tries to bathe him occasionally, and he deserves mucho praise for his hygienic efforts.
Because frankly, there is no way I would ever try and bathe the Ancient One: I need my fingers and I only have one face. He could alter the course of my existence in one swipe. People just have no idea, none, about how strong he is.
But. he also is not the daintiest cat, very far from it. So when that claw went into her lip on what we guess must have been Saturday or possibly Friday, she made the oh-so-sorry mistake of waiting for it to hurt before deploying Peroxide and Neosporin.

What do I tell people at work when they ask how was my weekend? Oh, I watched a movie, pretty sure it was “Apocalypse Now”, but I think it had Edward Scissorhands in it.

Uh-huh… Yeah.

Rudha-an here. After seeing a doc and getting a scrip for an antiobiotic, my face and lip are slowly returning to normal.

I have been trying to sort some pics from our last walk in the rain and I finally got it done. Here they are. We played around with different settings on our phone (Samsung S3), which will explain why there are two pics of the bridge, etc.

Bay Bridge by Rudha-an
Bay Bridge by Rudha-an
Heavy Drizzle by Lastech
Heavy Drizzle by Lastech
San Francisco Belle by Lastech
San Francisco Belle by Lastech
The Dock by Lastech
The Dock by Lastech

From the pier, we went over to Fort Point to see the Bridge. The sun was beginning to break through the clouds.

Skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-an
Skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-an
Another view of the skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-an
Another view of the skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-an
Golden Gate Bridge by Rudha-an
Golden Gate Bridge by Rudha-an
The Bridge in B & W with only the reds and yellows coming through by Rudha-an
The Bridge in B & W with only the reds and yellows coming through by Rudha-an
Another view of the skyline in blues this time by Lastech
Another view of the skyline in blues this time by Lastech
The skyline in black & white by Lastech
The skyline in black & white by Lastech

From Fort Point we wandered over to Crissy Field.

Crissy Field by Lastech
Crissy Field by Lastech
Alcatraz (right) and Angel Island (left) by Lastech
Alcatraz (right) and Angel Island (left) by Lastech
Crissy Field by Lastech
Crissy Field by Lastech
Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge by Rudha-an
Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge by Rudha-an
Happy bird by Lastech
Happy bird by Lastech


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Caturday: countenances

I want to try something mildly different with today’s pictures. Evidently they are black and white, but I also altered Titan and Tito’s in particular given how dark their fur is to begin with.
Nothing real fancy as the modifications were done on my phone, it’s just that the phone offers so much more flexibility and convenience, to me at least.

Hard to believe that only a few years ago we had to wait for the roll to come back from the lab to see what we’d captured.
Because each of the Pointy Eared people has their own unique blend of beauty, charm and humor, even, this means hours of staring and contemplation. But you get it.

I call it time well spent.

Деньги глаз дьявола.
Деньги глаз дьявола.

The old Marshal reminisces about Romania… I need to find an online counter like those used in factories to post number of days without an accident. Except it’d be to post the number of days without getting bit.
Or slapped.
Or hissed at.
Meh. That’s just the way the old Klingon loves us…

The little starlet readying for her close up
The little starlet readying for her close up

Without harping on too much over that stuff, the Feliway works wonders with Jenny and also the others. I wish we had known of this when Mazuzu Whang was still with us.

The gentleman cat
The gentleman cat

I didn’t have a chance to record or otherwise take pictures of the fireworks show last night at work, but this is much better anyway. Except for the soundtrack.

I can’t stand that bastard Boccelli, but I hope you enjoy this video taken by a drone flying through the pyrotechnics…


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Caturday: the slow blink of the brown eye or “baked”offerings

Typical old man Titanescu is… Typical.  We knew he loved nothing like a good meal, and now that we got 40 pounds of his preferred litter, we discovered his other passion.
As soon as the litter was replaced, Titanescu camped himself in the box to release brown sewer trouts into it. The satisfied half closed eyes told the story of what the younger two take for granted. The light butt-waggle as he settled down to the business of uncoiling rope was purr gratitude.

Titanescu looking contented. Tito (background) looking nervous
Titanescu looking contented. Tito (background) looking nervous
Miss Jenny sharing smells with Titanescu
Miss Jenny sharing smells with Titanescu
Miss Jenny showing off her weapon of mass destruction
Miss Jenny showing off her weapon of mass destruction
As you can tell, Miss Jenny really rules the roost. The boys look nervous.
As you can tell, Miss Jenny really rules the roost. The boys look nervous.

As to Miss Nightshade Jenny, she gives me the Feliway Blues while we wait for a new cartridge from Amazon… Given her newfound relaxed state and confidence, she has given up one of her more obnoxious habits: lâcher des caisses, péter comme une vache.

So here I sits, with Neil Diamond hits running through my head.

“You don’t fart me ghost shits
You don’t belch from behind
You hardly let her rip
When you come through the door
At the end of the day
You don’t fart on me anymore”
And I miss it(?)….

As for Tito.. He’s just his normal sweet self. He plays the straight guy for Titan and Miss Jenny.


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