Caturday: Kitties are good for your blood pressure

I know kitties are good for the blood pressure. I would have blown my stack and probably had a stroke already if it weren’t for my pointy eared people. 🙂 They’re good for me. They’re good for both of us.

We have gotten close to an inch of rain and while it’s not enough to put even a teeny ding in the drought, it certainly helps keep it from getting worse. I do worry watching the news though. It seems the rest of the country is a mess with all that snow and now rain is coming, meaning the disaster will become even worse. 🙁 I hope all of you are safe for now.

Now it’s time for the pointy eared people to shine.

Tito isn't scared in this pic. He's about race insanely around the apartment creating mayhem
Tito isn’t scared in this pic. He’s about to race insanely around the apartment creating mayhem
Miss Jenny permitted Lastech to take her picture.
Miss Jenny permitted Lastech to take her picture.
Titanescu is practicing his "I fear nothing" look.
Titanescu is perfecting his “I fear nothing” look.

And now for something different. Lastech discovered this little gem. It’s a tribute to the classic French director, Francois Truffaut.


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Caturday: We had more rain

We got another half inch of rain. It was wonderful to listen to it. Hopefully we’ll have more next week. The drought is still terrible, so every fraction of an inch is better than nothing.

Yes, they’re in black & white again. Sometimes it just feels right.

Tito in the window
Tito in the window
Miss Jenny
Miss Jenny
Titanescu posing nicely
Titanescu posing nicely

As a small bonus, we managed to get out of the apartment the other evening. It was just before sunset and while the colors weren’t vivid, it was still beautiful.

Looking out through the Golden Gate by Rudha-an
Looking out through the Golden Gate by Rudha-an

Lastech was playing with a different setting on the phone called “solarize”.

The Golden Gate Bridge by Lastech
The Golden Gate Bridge by Lastech


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Caturday: Black and white

We survived the week with no further damage to car but I almost had a coronary Thursday evening though when a nasty puff of smoke from a house fire came through the window. I have lived with paranoia ever since a plumber with a blow torch blew a gas line a few doors down. This fire was only about a half block away, but no danger to us. There didn’t appear to be any injuries, thank goodness.

Now it’s time for the pointy eared people to shine. I should mention that a month has gone by without seeing a single flea. Titanescu is becoming a snuggle monster once again: snuggle and don’t move, or else… I think we won that war. The kitties are relieved.

Wonderful Tito
Wonderful Tito
Feisty Titanescu
Feisty Titanescu
Nervous Jenny
Nervous Jenny

Hooray! Simon’s Cat has a new episode.


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Caturday: a fangtastic week

As everyone now knows, the Giants won the World Series. The Royals put up a good fight though, making this championship all the more enjoyable. Of course, as a result of the win, our city wound up in the news for the fires and other mayhem…sigh. It was only a few idiots, but the rest of the world has no way of knowing that it wasn’t the whole city. The pointy eared people didn’t appreciate any of it either, as the fireworks sent them into deep hiding. That was Wednesday.

Yesterday, Lastech woke up to move the car (for street cleaning) and discovered that some miscreants (pranksters?) had slashed two of our tires. Joy! Lucky for us, our favorite shop down the street got new tires put on and the guys didn’t even charge labor. I think they felt bad, so we dropped off apple strudels for them later. It was done in time so that I could watch the Parade of Champions on tv. While rain fell heavily, people were overjoyed, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey were both there and thrilled about it.

Anyhow, The fur people did ok except for the fireworks. They even managed to give me their best evil looks for the occasion. Ok, mostly evil.

Tito looking a bit ghostly and mysterious
Tito looking a bit ghostly and mysterious
Titanescu has perfected the evil stink-eye
Titanescu has perfected the evil stink-eye
Miss Jenny is doing her Freddy Kruger imitation.
Miss Jenny is doing her Freddy Kruger imitation.

In spite of all the headaches, the sunset yesterday was beautiful

Sunset by Lastech
Sunset by Lastech

Here’s a great Halloween video starring Shorty


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Caturday: OMG it’s raining!

Ok, it WAS raining at 0500 hours. It was a most wonderful sound. We’re supposed to get more, but I’ll believe it when I see it. It wasn’t enough rain, but any rain is better than no rain. This drought is taking a terrible toll on the state.

Note: I got a wild hair and decided to change the way the blog displays. It’s a work in progress, so have patience.

Now it’s time for the fur people to shine

Tito takes his napping seriously
Tito takes his napping seriously
Miss Jenny speaks
Miss Jenny speaks
Titan trying to decide if a slap is in order.
Titan trying to decide if a slap is in order.

Lastech took this pic the other day.

Clouds over the city
Clouds over the city

For something on the weird side, here’s a bit of “The Tale of the Crack Fox” from the Mighty Boosh. It’s only the first couple of minutes of the episode.


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Caturday: Giants and Royals and cats oh my

It appears that the Giants are in the World Series once again. That’s 3 times in 5 years. It’s the first time in 29 years that the Kansas City Royals have even been part of the post season. While I will root for the home team, I won’t cry if the Royals win. It would be well deserved. In either case, I just hope that the local morons don’t use it as an excuse to light fires and destroy things. Those who do are a blight on the community.

As for the pointy eared people, they don’t care about the World Series. They DO object to the celebratory gunfire and fireworks though.

Tito makes me sleepy just looking at him
Tito makes me sleepy just looking at him
Miss Jenny and her lovely blue peepers
Miss Jenny and her lovely blue peepers
Titan is looking quite regal
Titan is looking quite regal
Titan sharing the doll bed with Miss Jenny
Titan sharing the doll bed with Miss Jenny

And now it’s time for the latest Simon’s Cat video.


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Caturday: We would rather live in Shirley Jackson’s Hill House

If any of you are familiar with Shirley Jackson’s book The Haunting of Hill House, or the 1963 movie The Haunting, you’ll know what I’m referring to. The constant hammering from 7 am to 8 pm every day is awful. Hill House would be much more quiet by comparison. The pointy eared people have PTSD and we’re not far behind.

In light of all that, this their time to shine. This week, I decided to give them an artful tweak.

Tito catching a ray of sunshine
Tito soaking up sunshine
Miss Jenny and her doll bed
Miss Jenny and her doll bed
Titanescu is ever watchful
Titanescu is ever watchful

Here’s the construction update.

Behold the Tower of Babble...or Rabble.
Behold the Tower of Babble…or Rabble.
As you can see, the room we live in is on the left. The source of our misery is on the right. Hill House has NOTHING on this mess.
As you can see, the room we live in is on the left. The source of our misery is on the right. Hill House has NOTHING on this mess.

So that I don’t end this on a sour note, he’s a mega dose of “Squee” from the ever wonderful Ze Frank. I can live with the fact that it’s a Friskies ad.


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Caturday: The kitties are melting and so are we

We’re having a heat wave. It was a lovely 92 out yesterday and looks to be the same today. We’re all surviving it ok. It should cool down again soon. In the meantime, the kitties are all hiding in the darkest corners, so getting pics has been real work. Oh, and my lip is finally back to normal, though I’ll be on the antibiotics for another 5 days yet.

Here are the furkids

The fabulous Tito
The fabulous Tito
Miss Jenny with the elegant whiskers
Miss Jenny with the elegant whiskers
Titanescu the magnificent and owner of the claw of doom
Titanescu the magnificent and owner of the claw of doom

And now, here are some foxes having fun.


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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: No more kitchen window

I was intending to post something during the week, but it got a tad stressful here. On Tuesday morning at 7 am, they started to work on the wall of our building. Our bedroom is on one side of the wall and their work on the other side. They were stripping the plaster off to prep it for the new building going in next door.

This was the view out the window at 7 am
This was the view out the window at 7 am

This was the view later in day

The arrow points to our boarded up window.
The arrow points to our boarded up window.

The funny part about the whole thing was that my phone went off at 11:30 that day. I couldn’t answer it because the noise level was far too high. It was the landlady, but she didn’t leave a voice mail. She called again at noon on Wednesday and since the crew was on break, I answered. The convo went like this…

Her: The crew wanted me to call and tell you that they would be working on your wall and that it would be noisy.
Me: I know. They started yesterday at 7 am.
Her: I tried to call you yesterday, but you didn’t answer.
Me: The construction noise was too loud for me to answer

It was absurd

Anyhow, It time for the pointy eared people to shine. They have really adjusted well to the constant construction racket. Jenny is doing exceptionally well, given her normal levels of paranoia. 🙂

Tito's big yawn
Tito’s big yawn
The lovely Miss Jenny
The lovely Miss Jenny
Titan holding dad's hand while napping
Titan holding dad’s hand while napping

Now here’s a video to make you go awwwwwwwwwww


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