Google's new Privacy Policy

Gee, I wonder how that happened.

Anniversary #9

So this past weekend was our 9th anniversary. To celebrate we had arranged a weekend away with no kids camping out at a hippie music festival up in Laytonville. Unfortunately, the entire state of California was on fire that weekend, and the smoke level was ridiculous.

So, we kept driving up the coast to Arcata, where the smoke was much less noticeable. We were able to get a hotel room right on the plaza, and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Later we hit a bar for some drinks and so Laurie could regale me with tale of her college days.

The next day we went to the farmer's market and got some supplies - a loaf of bread and some olive spread and fruit, and we went for a hike in the Arcata redwood grove. We found a picnic table in the middle of nowhere and sat down and had a lovely picnic.

Later we drove to Trinidad and found a great little place with cabins - the Bishop Pine Lodge. We then had a dinner in Trinidad at the Eatery, which looked like a dive but wasn't. We topped the evening off by snuggling under blankets and watching bad movies on HBO.

We'll have to see if we can do this again before Anniversary #10.

Hours of No Power

We're entering our 36th hour with no electricity in the wake of some pretty good winter storms. We've had days with just as much or even more rain, but it's never been with as much wind as we had. I was watching sizeable redwood trees, with trunks 5 or 6 feet in diameter bend like reeds.

PG&E says they'll have more information for us in about 24 hours, so it could be a few days before we get power back.

I'm not worried, as long as our generator keeps purring along. Hopefully there will be a break in the rain tomorrow so I can change the oil...

We Can Buy It Today, Daddy!

"We can buy it today, Daddy!"

Those excited words came while Sabina and the twins were watching a show. Uh-oh, I thought, I let them see a commercial.

I was right, Sabina had seen an advertisement for Barbie Island Princess, and she was excited because they told her we could buy it today! I explained that we weren't going shopping just then, but perhaps she could ask for it for Christmas. This was a very popular idea, so she instantly started using her newfound ability to write to compose a Christmas gift wish list. She invited input from the twins as well. Here is what they came up with:

Sabina

• Barbie Island Princess movie (Ilind Prisses Moove as she wrote)
  
• Barbie Princess Rapunzel (doll I suppose, need to check if she already has this)
  
• Toy Table and Toy Stove ("that I can cook real food in!")
• More Barbies
  

Calvin

• Car with a Roof - he's got a red remote control convertible, he wants one with a roof.
  
• Firetruck
  
• Toy airplane that comes apart, bigger than the one he already has
  

Mikaela

• toy instrument (drum)
  

All

• Tinkertoys
• Umbrellas
• 3 Candy Canes
• 3 pumpkins
• Christmas Decorations

She finished off with:

I wil lev sum coocees owt. I love you

Welsh Rabbit: Now With Actual Rabbit!

A SPICY sausage known as the Welsh Dragon will have to be renamed after trading standards’ officers warned the manufacturers that they could face prosecution because it does not contain dragon.

Brilliant!

Next you'll tell me that Welsh Rabbit must contain actual rabbit, and that Long Island Ice Tea must contain actual tea.

Microsoft Design Principles

Those tricky ellipses.

Surprise! You've got a cat, AND a huge vet bill!

I live in a rural neighborhood, so we have our fair share of racoons, skunks, and other varmints running around. We also have some cats of varying ferality roaming, along with genuine bobcats.

This summer I noticed that something had pushed open one of my crawlspace vents. I typically get rats in the winter, and I've noticed one or two small cracks that they might be getting into, but this was a big 16"x6" vent that was wide open for any critter to get in. This lit a fire under my but, it being September and rat weather just around the corner...

So, after a trip to Home Depot to prepare for the job (vent covers, spray foam sealant for the cracks, a roll of mesh screen to cover various weird utility slots in the walls) I was ready to go. Today was to be D-Day.

Yesterday, I heard a meow under my deck, but try as I might I couldn't find the meower. Today, I heard it again, and realized it was coming from my crawlspace. 20 minutes with a flashlight later, I found a little cute as a button kitty cat. Later the vet told me he was probably 5 weeks old.

Oh, one more thing. His front paw was caught in a rat trap. :(

So, I got the leather gloves out and put him in a box. He hissed and spat at me, but never tried to scratch or bite.

After I took the trap off his paw, he settled down. I could see bone exposed, so off to the vet hospital we went. Sunday prices, of course. Why couldn't he have meowed a bit more yesterday? $400 dollars later, we probably need to get the paw and/or portions of the leg amputated. I didn't get an actual estimate from the hospital, they want a real surgeon to take a look at it - but the ballpark seems to be 1 to 3. Thousand.

She did say that a local vet might be able to do it cheaper though, so I think we'll give that a shot. I don't know how much money I want to invest in this thing, but the damn thing was so cute and cuddly, never once hissing, scratching or biting after I got the trap off. I think I might be in love, dammit.