In all of the concern about Othello, we almost forgot that today marks two years since we brought Olivia home. Follow her evolution from spazzy kitten to elegant girl kitty in these pictures: … Read more
Othello is home from the vet, and as I type this he’s enthusiastically chowing down on some Fancy Feast – of which I have quite a bit that I never intended to feed anyone after the Great Wet Cat Food Scare of a year or two ago. All these cans o’ Fancy Feast came as little samplers packed in with cat litter. Right now, they seem to be hitting the spot just fine, which is exactly what we need; due to the same aforementioned Cat Food Scare, we switched off to a regionally-produced brand of dry food – i.e. something that didn’t come from the same mills as 90% of the commercial brands – which Othello now shows no interest in. He now happily chows down on canned food while the other two are locked away temporarily, which drives the kitty kids nuts. Especially when I put his food away and he happily struts back into the baby’s room to lay down on my bed, smelling like canned cat food…which the other two can’t find. Good to be king, eh? But it’s even better that he’s eating. Now let’s see you pack on some pounds, skinny boy.
Got an Avid drive cable in yesterday, so I was able to try out the new Avid drives I got from eBay – remember, the ones that came clanking against each other in a priority mail box with absolutely no packing material whatsoever except for one flimsy piece of bubble wrap between the drives? – and to my astonishment, one of them was not DOA. The other one’s media was so damaged that it couldn’t even get one minute into a low level format. Say it again with me: dumbass! I wouldn’t even be going to the ‘bay for these except that I’m dealing with a slightly older generation of Avid gear. I’d have to buy a completely new setup to get the generation of Avid that uses firewire for everything, and I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t be getting that one for under $425 and a trip to Illinois. (To date, despite a motherboard replacement, three new drives, and new drive cables – which are all kinds of not cheap – I still have yet to sink $1,000 into my Avid.)
Neat stuff comes out of though. I’ll be sending out the next round of PDF DVD orders today or tomorrow, including the first international order (!) and orders from folks who I have no idea who in the world they are. As much as I appreciate my circle of friends picking up copies, the whole “total strangers buying my little DVD that I made” thing is kind of exciting.
Speaking of video games, I finally got Daphne working last night, and played my first game of Astron Belt in ages. I wish I’d accomplished that before the PDF DVD went out the door. 🙄 Ah well.… Read more
Othello went to the vet this morning, and he’s still there undergoing blood tests. Apparently my quasi-diagnosis of him at least trying to keep water in his system was optomistic; they said he’s actually rather dehydrated. His back legs are practically skin and bone, even the hair is coming off. I’m not sure how I missed this happening, other than being preoccupied with Evan and with OEGE and the usual day-to-day stuff – I’d just cuddle my old cat when he came to me and I didn’t think anything of it, and then about a week ago I picked him up, noticed how skinny his hips seemed all of a sudden, and he had to weigh all of six or seven pounds. I hope this isn’t going to be a case of death by being taken for granted. Othello’s supposed to stick around with me and celebrate his 14th birthday this year. Oberon and Olivia have been moping without him here – either moping or full-bore spazzing around the house. Othello is sort of like the stabilizing adult influence among our little kitty herd (but hey, annoy him enough by batting his face or tail and he’ll throw down with the best of ’em), so I worry about the other two cats too.
OVGE 2008 has been announced officially, so I can stop dropping vague hints. I really hope that some of the folks let down by CGE’s cancellation this year will check this show out – it’s really not a bad alternative for the collectors looking for good deals, and I have yet to go to an OVGE that wasn’t a lot of fun. Brian “icbrkr” Green is likely sitting this one out – i.e. “Warning! A giant battleship FATHERHOOD approaches!” – but you can bet that Flack and I will be there. Maybe we can even talk Ubik into busting out that Altair setup again. Of course I’ll have the PDF DVD with me, and I’m certain the CGE DVD set will be done by then too. (Sooner than that, in fact.)… Read more
Othello has lost a lot of weight suddenly – as in over the past two weeks. You can practically feel his hipbone when you pet him. I think we’re due for a visit to the vet – I’m hoping it’s just some parasite he’s picked up during some recent unauthorized visits to the outside world (he’s gotten almost as bad about that as Obi). He’s not really a young cat anymore, so I have no doubt this is taking its toll on him, but he’s still drinking plenty of water, so that at least is a plus – he’s at least trying to stay alive here. Which is good considering how much I love my old cat.… Read more
Here’s a scene I saw when I came around the corner of Evan’s room the other day, just routinely checking on him:
Oooooookay. Oh, it gets better. … Read more
Tonight was the live fire test of the emergency plan about what to do with Evan in the event of a tornado warning right over our heads.
Behind Evan’s car seat, at floor level, is a cat carrier with Olivia in it; above her in their own cat carriers are Othello and Oberon. You can barely make out Xena next to the cat carriers (sorry about the dark shot; power was out. This is where the cat carriers actually stay, year-round, and we nickname it the Kittycat Hilton. And this kind of gathering is precisely why they stay there. … Read more
In your crib, warmin’ your sheets.
In your bed because you got up to take a picture of Obi. Sucker.… Read more
A herd of deer grazing near the house:
Where Xena was during all this, I have no idea. … Read more
Cat in background
Cat in foreground… Read more
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