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August 21, 2016August 21, 2016

Caturday: Rock City, Ceiling Cat’s litterbox?

Rudha-an here. Caturday was delayed. Blame Titanescu. I was attempting to update WordPress, but he insisted on walking on the laptop as usual. Today, he’s leaving me alone, but that will change in a couple of hours. 🙂

For now, here are the pointy eared people and the droopy eared one.

Titanescu was being a poophead and standing on my mouse pad. The battle is real.

Pepi enjoying the porch. We made her day and got her a new farting hedgehog toy. It's her third one. — Pepi enjoying the porch. We made her day and got her a new farting hedgehog toy. It’s her third one.

This last week, we escaped and went adventuring. Lastech will tell you about that, but I’m going to do a bit of an intro. As I’ve mentioned before, California is on fire, making the air quality unpleasant, to say the least. Here are two pics I took during out outing that show the problem.

Looking to the North, you can see the smoke layer from the Clayton fire in Lake County. This same area had horrible fires last year. This one was arson.

Looking to the South, you can see the smoke from the Soberanes fire in Monterey County.

Lucky for us, our outing took us above the smoke so it was nice out. The critters all stayed home in the air conditioning. Pepi didn’t get to go this time as doggies aren’t permitted on the trails. She had a good run at the park before we went though, so she wasn’t deprived.

Rock City is a group of sandstone caves carved by the winds. It’s located on the SSW side of Mt. Diablo.

And now for adventure…in Lastech’s words.

As familiarity breeds contempt, proximity to “civilization” brings its blemishes. In the case of Rock City, this means carvings in the sandstone, some mundane, some obscene. There’s spray painting as well, although, in fairness, this becomes scarce the further along the trails you go. Driving up from the North Gate, you come to a fork in the road, about 3000 feet up, and turn right at the Ranger station. A short drive later, you pull off the road into one of the lots and choose your trail, easy-peasy.

On the way from the North Gate entrance.

Even though you know it is there, sandstone holds some fascination in sight and touch. In sunlight, much of it looks like granite, gray with some black specks (soot from older fires?), but on the ground, the color is tan, and in places, the stone looks ‘pleated’, like windswept sand dunes. You cannot help but touch it to feel its texture, and it appears slightly porous, though firm. And in the heat of an afternoon, it is hard to imagine it could ever be cold to the touch.

Sound travels differently as you walk around the stone formations: there are no echoes, voices sound slightly muffled. It is a quiet place, where you mostly hear birds, and we did see and hear a few woodpeckers.

As sunlight reflects off the lip of a hole in the stone, it paints the inside of the gaping maw in goldish-tan hues,as you can see on some of our photos.
Walking further up the trail, we came to a couple spots where I could take panoramic shots of the area, all the way to the horizon, and lo! carved into the ground was the symbol, universal: a spiral, or maelstrom.

Could this be where Ceiling Cat comes to bury His turds..?

Here is a slide show of the rest of the pics

[Show picture list]

Rudha-an here again. I normally avoid politics on the blog unless it pertains to equality (for women and my LGBTQ brothers and sisters). This time, I couldn’t resist. First, I found this…

At only a couple of inches across, I immediately wondered if I had found the birthplace of Trump's hair. — At only a couple of inches across, I immediately wondered if I had found the birthplace of Trump’s hair.

Then Lastech found this. 🙂

August 13, 2016

Caturday: Titanescu was a jerk

Rest assured, I love Titanescu, but he’s a jerk. When he’s not giving me the stinkeye or slapping the wall, he’s a bitey, grouchy jerk. Today he decided to start getting my attention to feed him…three hours before his dinnertime. It went like this:

Titanescu: I’m going to walk on your laptop
Me: No you are not going to walk my laptop
Titanescu: Yes, I’m going to walk your laptop
Me: No you are not going to walk my laptop
Repeat a dozen more times

Me: Puts arm in front of him to keep him off the laptop
Titanescu: I’m going to bite your arm
Me: Go ahead
Titanescu: CHOMP!
Me: That didn’t hurt. You only pushed with your teeth
Titanescu: Ok. I’m going to walk your laptop
Me: You’re a jerk
Titanescu: Yes, I’m a jerk and I’m going to walk on your laptop after I bite your arm again
Me: You’re still being a jerk and NO! I’m not going to feed you.
Titanescu: I’ll bite your arm, hiss my foul breath into your face and then I’ll walk on your laptop
Me: sigh

I had to deal with three hours of his highness being a jerk.

Here's Tito. Tito wasn't a jerk. He was a sweetie. — Here’s Tito. Tito wasn’t a jerk. He was a sweetie.

Titanescu giving me the stinkeye from his sunbeam

Pepi decided that she didn't like the air conditioner and covered herself with a blanket. — Pepi decided that she didn’t like the air conditioner and covered herself with a blanket.

I saw this video and laughed, trying to imagine Titanescu being that patient.

Those who know me know I complain about phone zombies. Trust Ikea to come up with a wonderful commercial.

August 6, 2016

Caturday: Pepi was a pirate

Pepi decided that today was pirate day. Every time Lastech would move, she would say aarrrrrr and leap at him. Then after he went to work and I grabbed up the evil monster known as the vacuum, she yelled “aarrrrrr” every few seconds and tried to attack it. The only thing missing from her pirate imitation was the eyepatch. Otherwise, she had it nailed. Miss Jenny and Tito said %$#& this noise and hid under the sofa. Titan watched with disdain. He does not fear the evil vacuum.

Here are the pointy eared people.

This pic is a rerun as Tito just didn't cooperate this week. — This pic is a rerun as Tito just didn’t cooperate this week.

Titanescu owning is sunbeam — Titanescu owning his sunbeam

I haven’t forgotten Pepita the pirate

I finally gathered a few nature photos from recent journeys. Lastech managed to get two lovely pics of Karl the Fog over the bay.

He also got a cool pic of a rock.

When the heatwave broke and the weather improved, we went to Martinez, which is a few miles North of us on the Carquinez Strait. The strait is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the bay. We wandered around the trails where Alhambra Creek runs to the strait. The tide was up and it was beautiful out.

[Show picture list]

To cap it off, he got this nice wide angle shot of some noisy geese

July 30, 2016

Caturday: a return to normal…

Things are returning to normal on board the Endurance, and Titanescu’s internal clock is working just fine. For the four days Rudha-an was house sitting, there was peace.

Yes, I had peace. The cats were quiet. The cats didn’t claw at me at ungodly hours. They were quiet. Their routine normally includes walking on us, hitting the wall (loudly) and any other racket-making habit they may think of. But while Rudha-an was gone, nothing… Then, after her return, Bam! Whiz! Bang! Miss Jenny became the Midnight Growler again at the window and Titanescu started playing the drums on the old TV box, same as it ever was.

Welcome home, Mommy.

Her first night back, at exactly 4:20. Tap. TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! We checked the time, 4:20 am. Not 4:19, not 4:21. And each morning since then, as before. Like a promise.

Rudha-an here. Everything returned to normal until it didn’t. I would say that Titanescu pulled a fast one, but it really wasn’t fast at all. Lastech came home with groceries last night. As he made his way in the door, Titanescu decided that he wanted to see the outside. He sauntered out the door before Lastech could get it closed. Yes, sauntered. The only reason he made it out the door was because Lastech’s hands were full. Lastech followed him out the door. In a rush, I grabbed a can of cat food and the flashlight (It was 1 am). The cat food didn’t work because the stupid pull tap broke. %$@#&! In spite of all that, Lastech was able to scoop him up at the fence line. Picking up Titanescu takes much bravery. It worked out ok. Lastech got the tyrant back in where he belongs and managed to NOT get shredded in the process. In fact, Titanescu had a disgustingly smug look on his face. We will do things differently when we come home with groceries from now on as we will be properly paranoid.

Oh yeah. I keep complaining about heatwaves. I won’t do that anymore as each one is hotter than the last. It hit 109 when I was off house sitting. I won’t complain. I don’t want the next heatwave to be worse. 109? pffffft. It was nothing. NOTHING!

Pepi aka Titanescu's punching bag. Poor dog. — Pepi aka Titanescu’s punching bag. Poor dog.

And now for some dancing birdies

July 16, 2016

Caturday: Mad world

The world has gone mad and the tragedies continue. I’m getting to the point I don’t even want to turn on the computer. We have no cable, so the computer is how I get the news. Nice is where Lastech was born. He grew up in Antibes, which is only 15 miles away. He spent a lot of time where the truck driver ended the lives of so many. I’m trying to maintain my sense of humor as it’s a survival skill, but it’s getting tough. The world gets more mad by the day.

Thankfully, we have the furkids.

Happy Pepi running. Zoom zoom. The world has gone mad, but she still loves to run.

And because we really really really need to watch these hungry kittens.

July 10, 2016July 10, 2016

Caturday delayed: Diversion needed

Yes, a diversion is needed. The news has gone from bad to worse and we’re bombarded on all sides. Through all of this, we need momentary diversion and time to recharge the brain. I know that’s true for me, at any rate. This is our wee bit of diversion before doing whatever we can to affect change in our world.

Friday, Lastech made it to work even though traffic was snarled a bit. A semi truck caught fire and closed a freeway connector in an area he had to traverse to get to the bridge. It wasn’t too awful, but it was a tad messy. A few years ago, a truck fire weakened the steel and concrete structure enough that it collapsed. This past Friday the connector was closed from 1:30 pm until 11:30 pm. Fate smiled upon him. Yesterday, he left for work just in time. If he had left just a few minutes later, he would have hit a protest that shut down his off-ramp. This is the Bay Area, after all and stuff happens. Fate smiled upon him again. Not sure if three times will be a go or not. 🙂

No mattress yet. I knew there would be a delay as I ordered it on the Fourth of July weekend, so I’ll be patient. I do look forward to the email notifying me that it shipped though. I won’t worry until at least Tuesday. This company is not a fly-by-night type and came recommended by a friend, so I’m not worried on that score.

Lastech worked on the Fourth of July as the crowds were expected to be huge. There were no problems, thought Karl the Fog made every attempt to eat the fireworks. This year, the company providing the display arranged for it to be much closer to the ground. It was good. In previous years, people turned out to watch pretty colored clouds instead of the fireworks. It’s the season of fog, after all.

Even with Karl the Fog present, the display was still nice

And then there was a bee

Now it’s time for the pointy-eared and droopy-eared ones to shine.

Tito lounging in the corner of the dinette

Miss Jenny gets cold when the A/C is on. She burrows under the blankets

Forgive me please. I couldn’t resist.

July 2, 2016

Caturday: A sad day

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to a man who gave voice to the Holocaust. I’ve read his books and “Night” was required reading in many schools. He will be greatly missed.

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented ~ from Night by Elie Weisel (1928 – 2016)

Things are moving along over here in sunny Concord. It feels like summer, though the temps aren’t too bad this week. I’m able to turn off the A/C at night, which is nice. Our lovely stereo suddenly quit working. I don’t think it will be hard to fix, but I have to go pick up a tool in order to do the job. I’ll do that on Tuesday, when we have time. We’re also waiting on our latest, much needed item. We ordered a new mattress. The ones that come with most RVs are really crappy. We’re replacing it with a much better gel foam mattress. Hooray for comfort.

As for the beasties, they are snoozing all over the trailer today. It’s warm inside as I didn’t feel like turning on the A/C. It’s not too warm though, so they’re enjoying it.

Tito looking sweet and innocent. He had just finished his daily dinette shredding.

Here’s a delightful kitty watching a scary movie

June 25, 2016

Caturday: It’s fire season

It’s certainly fire season and it’s probably going to be a really bad one. The drought and bark beetles have killed millions of trees and the rains promoted a lot of grass growth. The grasses are now dry and highly flammable. There have been multiple fires in CA and the rest of the Southwest, but the fire at Lake Isabella has already taken lives and burned an area bigger than the city of San Francisco. Some of the photos at that link are as beautiful as they are horrifying. As I type, I’m listening to Con Fire battling a grass fire over by Hwy 4. While the pointy eared people and the floppy eared one are in no danger, the fires are worrisome.

Speaking of the furry ones…

Theo Jansen and his travelling exhibition is at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. I hope we can go see it before it goes away.

June 18, 2016

Caturday: Neighborhood watch

We’re back. I had postponed Caturday and meant to post on Sunday, but the news that day was just too awful and and I didn’t have the heart. That kind of hatred is something I just can’t understand. Places like Pulse have been safe havens where those who are or aren’t fully out of the closet can go and just be themselves. Now they have to fear that as well. My heart goes out to the survivors and the victims’ families. My heart also goes out to all of my LGBT brothers and sisters. The grief and fear are yours as well.

The pointy eared people are official neighborhood watch cats. They like to watch the neighbors and Miss Jenny loves to snarl at them.

Pepita wants to be in on the neighborhood watch too.

We’re going to have a not so delightful heatwave this week. My parents will have to cope with temps of 120f (48c) or more. YUCK! Thank goodness they have A/C. It won’t be that hot here. High 90s most likely. Sadly, we’ll be running the air conditioner most of the time now as summer is here. I love it, but I really don’t like the noise. I like to hear the birds. I shouldn’t complain. The rest of the year is pretty darned nice.

And now, here’s a drunk squirrel for you.

June 4, 2016

Caturday: a measure of evil

Titan:
[Tahyt-n]
a person or thing of enormous size, strength, power, influence, etc.
one that is gigantic in size or power, one that stands out for greatness of achievement.
See also: a unit of measure in Hell.

The dog knows to give him a wide berth as he ambles past, but sometimes not quick enough. Pepita instinctively avoids any kind of eye contact, even as he stops to stare at her, trying to decide whether to expend the energy to whap her. In contrast, Tito has the patience of a saint, even as she pokes her nose at him roughly, the little brute.

Pepita can not only be a little rough, she is uncouth: she farted on me as I petted her to calm her down and makes gruesome slurping noises as she licks my toes on my way to the bathroom. I wish it were easier to get up early in the morning to let her run off-leash at the arboretum, but I’m usually dead asleep until 10 am… So she has a lot of pent up energy, which is only reined in by her fear of you-know-who. Aside from cabin fever, she requires a few minutes of greeting when I come home from work which, if cut a little short, will make Pepi nip at me. Her version of grabbing. “Come here, you!”

Jenny spends much of her time on our bed these days, a very welcome change from our days in the City. And so does Tito, who spends most night at the foot of the bed sound asleep. Two things will make Jenny growl at the window: the neighbor coming home and the groundskeepers’ cherry picker.

Miss Jenny only moments after snarling at the neighbor

Titanescu perfecting his aura of evilness.

Pepi knows that Titanescu is walking by and she won't look — Pepi knows that Titanescu is walking by and she won’t look

And now for something different