Trivial (or not so trivial) stuff that makes you happy.

[Trebuchet]

The drop box closest to us is at a fire station that's undergoing remodeling, but their box is out on the sidewalk, and I got my traditional pictures of the kids putting the ballots in the box.

Meanwhile, it may be cold and rainy outside, but I have one cat on my lap and the other curled up next to me.

I was watching Formula 1 racing practice sessions with the cat today. She was with me in the recliner, under the blanket and between my legs. Every time I got up she'd take over the chair. When returning I'd just pick her up, sit down, put the blanket on and she'd just stay. No way I could do that with the other cat!

[PetersCreek]

Our boy Jackson can be like that and be stubborn about it, too. When I get up, he often slides right into the warm spot. When I get back, he sometimes moves when I ask him to but there are times I can just about sit on him and he won’t budge.

[Gillianren]

I was watching Formula 1 racing practice sessions with the cat today. She was with me in the recliner, under the blanket and between my legs. Every time I got up she'd take over the chair. When returning I'd just pick her up, sit down, put the blanket on and she'd just stay. No way I could do that with the other cat!

If I move Min when I get up, when I come back, she's in my spot. If I come into the room for any reason after having been gone for any length of time, if she's in the room, she's either in the window or in my spot. She's decided it's the best spot in the house.

[DonM435]

I have two computer desks with office chairs in different rooms. Our younger cat can detect, no matter where she is, when I've stepped away from my current chair, and she races to it to occupy it and gain control. She has "her own" chair just beside mine, but that doesn't matter. I'm sure it's not that she wants the chair, but would rather play the game. She does like to strop her claws on the leather of either chair.l

[Delvo]

Cats generally wish we'd have our homes warmer than we do, and a spot that's recently had a human sitting on it is warmer than a spot that hasn't.

[Gillianren]

Cats generally wish we'd have our homes warmer than we do, and a spot that's recently had a human sitting on it is warmer than a spot that hasn't.

Min started doing this when it was 90 degrees out.

[DonM435]

I remember visiting a family one South Carolina summer. They had a double-wide mobile home plus several cats. Each beast had commandeered a floor vent upon which to rest in air-conditioned comfort. Sure, this caused the humans to endure higher temperatures, but I doubt that's what the cats had in mind.

[Solfe]

My cat laid down on me and refused to get up. He might as well have yelled, "Shuddup, Blanket!"

[Selenite]

Our cat isn't much of a lap cat, but he does seem to enjoy being an impediment to foot traffic. I often wish he would show the typical feline preference for high-up places.

[Trebuchet]

I've had one cat or the other with me nearly all day

[Solfe]

We gave the dog a giant rawhide. She's 60 lbs and it's big for her. It's bigger than the kitten we have and probably weighs more. Every time the kitten gets too close to this thing, the dog growls at her. That just makes the kitten nuzzle the bone. The poor dog doesn't know what to do when the growl doesn't work. She tries to steamshovel the kitten away with her nose, but the kitten thinks its a game. The dog ends up sitting on the bone and the kitten sits on both of them.

(I'd take a picture but I dropped my phone. Taking a picture results in the flash going off on both sides of the phone and no actual picture.)

[ozduck]

I am only able to type with one hand for the next few days. But this good news as I have just had my Carpal Tunnel operation this morning. Checked in at 0630 and out the door by 0930. As the nurse had said, it was far less painful than a root canal treatment. The needles were almost painless and there was only a couple of quick spikes as the Dr pushed down on the nerve. The rest was just a feeling of pressure and tugging. It was done under local anaesthetic. The hand is still a bit numb about 3 hours later but hopefully the numbness/tingling will go away from the affected fingers over time.

I even got a Blood Pressure test and an ECG (done as standard as I am over 60) thrown in for good measure - both fine.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Good to hear Ozduck.

[Noclevername]

I am only able to type with one hand for the next few days. But this good news as I have just had my Carpal Tunnel operation this morning. Checked in at 0630 and out the door by 0930. As the nurse had said, it was far less painful than a root canal treatment. The needles were almost painless and there was only a couple of quick spikes as the Dr pushed down on the nerve. The rest was just a feeling of pressure and tugging. It was done under local anaesthetic. The hand is still a bit numb about 3 hours later but hopefully the numbness/tingling will go away from the affected fingers over time.

I even got a Blood Pressure test and an ECG (done as standard as I am over 60) thrown in for good measure - both fine.

Good news!

The bad news is, it'll hurt more tomorrow.

[ozduck]

The BackroadAstronomer

Good to hear Ozduck.

Good news!

The bad news is, it'll hurt more tomorrow.

Thanks to both of you - but not quite so many thanks for the prediction for tomorrow

[Delvo]

The glasses I got last month make relatively little difference and I don't wear them much. For example, one of the reasons I thought of getting them was how close I needed to get to street signs to read them, but, when I got my new driver's license, the lowest line on the vision test was no trouble without them. But the difference that they do make is right on the threshold for a lot of stars. Last night I went outside and looked up with them on, and it was like I was looking at a whole different night sky from the one I'd lived under for the last few years. The stars I would have seen anyway contracted from tiny fuzzballs to sharp pinpoints with different colors from each other, there were several times as many of them as if I'd driven an hour out of town, and even some nebulas emerged from the background, which I'd forgotten would be visible at all. I could see again a little bit of what had made people in ancient times see it as a parallel world and come up with stories to tell about what's happening in it.

* * *

Living in rental places for years, I've always had loud fridges. Sometimes it's been so bad I've thought of buying a new fridge myself to replace the noisy one that was provided. At one place, I asked for a replacement, and got one, which was just as noisy as the one it replaced, which told me it wasn't just a coincidence; getting noisy fridges from landlords was just predictable because the fridges landlords provide are noisy. And I've moved a couple more times since then and it's still been true each time. And I know it's not fridges in general because I've recently spent a few months in hotels and visited a couple of sisters who own their houses and fridges, and those fridges were fine. This time, a couple of weeks ago, my fridge suddenly got several times louder than it was before, and last night, it just stopped working, when I was already on the edge of finally getting one of my own anyway just because of the noise. So I took the lack of a working fridge at home as an opportunity to finally just do it. The silence is even more wonderful than I could have imagined it might be while I was listening to my loud fridges before.

(I'd say it's so good it even makes me feel stupid for not having done this long ago, but circumstances prevented it until recently.)

(Yes, I know I could have gotten one for free from the landlord, but I would have needed to wait for that to arrive and I could just bring my own home immediately. And it would have been noisy because it would have been a landlord fridge and landlord fridges are noisy, and even if not, I wouldn't have been free to take that one with me the next time I move. I'll tell him about this so he can get a replacement sometime between now and whenever I move out, but I won't use it now that I have my own, so there's no hurry for either of us.)

[Swift]

Cats generally wish we'd have our homes warmer than we do, and a spot that's recently had a human sitting on it is warmer than a spot that hasn't.

IIRC, domesticated felines are most closely related to small wildcat species of Northern Africa and the Fertile Crescent (link). So this explains why they like warmth and can survive on limited fluid/water intake, they are basically desert creatures.

The fact that they are small predators also explains a lot of their behaviors; small predators in ecosystems tend to be both hunters and prey, as they get preyed upon by larger predators. One of the reasons that cats are so fond of hidey-holes and boxes - they make nice safe dens to hide in.

[Jim]

I went into the hospital last Thursday for a fairly minor and routine surgical procedure. As I was lying on the table in the OR waiting for the general anesthetic to kick in I heard the surgical team talking with each other about my surgeon (who hadn't arrived yet). They were highly complimentary - "platinum standard" was mentioned (which made me feel good).

This morning I had a follow up with my doctor and told him I had heard them say good things about him. His response floored me.

He removed his glasses as he spoke emotionally about how younger doctors didn't seem to have the same dedication to the profession and the patients as his generation did. He mentioned how his generation had exposed themselves to all sorts of diseases and conditions - AIDS, battlefields, epidemics - to help people but today's bunch seemed more driven by money and power. I swear he almost wept as he spoke.

Oh, he saw me at 7:30, before his office staff arrived, and spent 30 minutes discussing my case. He apologized that he didn't have the pathology report yet, but he called me a bit ago to tell me it's benign ... thought I'd want to know right away.

[Swift]

He apologized that he didn't have the pathology report yet, but he called me a bit ago to tell me it's benign ... thought I'd want to know right away.

That's very good.

[Trebuchet]

The cycle racing season was, of course, postponed by Covid, but they did manage to have the Tour de France eventually. Since then I've been grousing about the fact that as far as USA TV is concerned, that's the only race there is.
Then a couple of days ago while flipping channels I discovered La Vuelta de Espana on "The Olympic Channel", whatever that is. Cool! Some very interesting scenery in northern Spain.

Note that I am not a cyclist, have never been a cyclist, and know virtually nothing about the sport. I just like watching it. I'm rooting for Primos Roglic.

[ozduck]

The cycle racing season was, of course, postponed by Covid, but they did manage to have the Tour de France eventually. Since then I've been grousing about the fact that as far as USA TV is concerned, that's the only race there is.
Then a couple of days ago while flipping channels I discovered La Vuelta de Espana on "The Olympic Channel", whatever that is. Cool! Some very interesting scenery in northern Spain.

Note that I am not a cyclist, have never been a cyclist, and know virtually nothing about the sport. I just like watching it. I'm rooting for Primos Roglic.

We have also been catching up on the Vuelta and are again barracking for Roglic - rooting has an entirely different meaning here. Luckily for us it is on the same 'free to air' channel as the Tour. In between those races we have also had a few of the delayed 'classics' and the World Road Championships.

The only one we don't get is the Giro. I think that the owners of the TV rights are asking too much or are determined to keep it restricted to 'Pay' TV. That has been a particular annoyance this year as a West Australian came second overall in his first ever 'Grand Tour' appearance.

[KaiYeves]

I got a burst of inspiration last night at 11 PM last night and banged out a Halloween short story. Publiusr especially might enjoy it.

[Gillianren]

I didn't log on the last two days in part because I was spending so much time getting that dress finished. I made him a hat, too, but it turned out too big for Graham, so Simon didn't wear it much.

[Trebuchet]

Today is Election Day in the USA. Even though the 2024 campaign will start tomorrow, at least it'll be a bit quieter for a while.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Today is Election Day in the USA. Even though the 2024 campaign will start tomorrow, at least it'll be a bit quieter for a while.

I am only a spectator.

[Swift]

Today is Election Day in the USA. Even though the 2024 campaign will start tomorrow, at least it'll be a bit quieter for a while.

Actually the 2022 campaign, for House of Representatives and about a third of the Senate.

A lot of local and state governments have their elections in odd-numbered years.

Are you depressed now?

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Got my license in the mail today, had a temporary license since I renewed it but haven't been driving anyway.

[Gillianren]

We got the new registration for Graham's car in yesterday's mail! It had been one of those things that we'd remember at odd moments all month and not do anything about, so he actually ended up driving my car to work for a few days.

[Trebuchet]

Better than what I did. I failed to renew my daily drive for a full year. And didn't get a ticket!

[PetersCreek]

I made the final payment on my truck at the first of the month, though it wasn't due until the 20th. Even with an intervening weekend, I received acknowledgement from the lender in the mail yesterday.