A Story from Sydney's Return

Dad reminded me of the night Sydney returned after being missing for more than 48 hours. I had gone to sleep, but Dad stayed up. It was 2 a.m., and Sydney came to the back patio door, which is near Dad's computer. Sydney yelled to be let in, and Dad couldn't believe that it was really her that time because he had heard her before but she wasn't really there.

Dad knocked on my bedroom door.

Dad: Do you want to see a hungry cat eat?
Me, waking up slowly: Huh?
Dad: Do you want to see a hungry cat eat?
Me: Is it Sydney?

Dad thought that was a funny question. I was going to be really annoyed if he was waking me up to show me a YouTube video. I shouldn't be responsible for what I say when being woken up.

Explaining the Card

I got a few questions about our card--if it is PhotoShopped. Nope, it's all real.

We went to the Natural Bridge Zoo in early September, and they had 2 tiger cubs, both female. One was a rare white tiger; the other an extremely rare "Golden Tabby". As you see, we had our picture taken with the white tiger.

The baby tigers are pampered during this time, so they love to get their pictures taken. The white tiger cub was eager to jump in our laps to get the bottle. She put her paw on Frank's hand, and it wasn't much smaller. She wasn't very soft, which surprised me. Her fur was kind of wiry. It was quite an experience that lasted about 30 seconds!

The site now only mentions the white tiger. I wonder what happened to the Golden Tabby cub. Since the Golden Tabby was so rare, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold it to a larger zoo or something like that.

I need to bug Frank to post his movies of the tigers getting baths. They complained less than Sydney does when she gets a bath.

Merry Christmas!

Where Does the Cat Go?

Using GPS to Monitor Your Cat Slideshow/Video

The video is a little long, but it appealed to my geeky side, which rarely shows itself.

Special Guest Star Appearance

(It's a dream note, but I'll keep it short.)

Isn't it fun when your dream features someone you haven't seen in a really long time. For example, you're on a subway, and you're trying to dodge some creep who is hitting on you, and you run into XXX, who you haven't see since you graduated from college 10 years ago. The dream audience cheers and whistles as the special guest comes on screen and your guest has to pause a bit until the cheers die down.

Later, you exchange phone numbers because he doesn't want you to get lost on the subway. But it takes forever because you can't find his phone number on the phone screen he shows you and when you do find it, you can't copy it because the numbers keep changing. (Your brain can't fake a number? Or just can't remember a number long enough?) You're frustrated and you start to realize that it is a dream and begin to wake up.

But, it was good to see XXX. He hasn't changed a bit in 10 years.

The end. See, that wasn't too bad.

Oxymoron?

I read an ad in Glamour that says "state-of-the-art, vintage technology."

I guess that's possible if the state of the art hasn't changed, but...

Is this an oxymoron? Or, does it just not make sense?

Carbon Footprint Calculator

Carbon Footprint Calculator -- from IEEE, not sponsored by someone selling carbon offsets. I haven't played yet because I don't have access to my electric bills, but I will.