Friday Stuff

I Misjudged the Furball

For the passed several days, I have noticed Alex sitting in the position of the Sphinx, gazing intensely at the small space (perhaps an inch?) between the edge of the kitchen cabinet and the stove. He was doing the sphinx bit again yesterday morning and I pointed it out to Tasha, my housekeeper. We both agreed that Alex must believe that there is something in that space, but that the space is so small only some insect could squeeze into it.

I think we were wrong. Last night after dinner I took one of my many cat naps. When I retired, I left Alex again imitating the Sphinx in front of the stove. When I awoke, Alex demanded a snack and then to go outside. After letting him out, I headed for the bathroom to answer Nature’s call and noticed something on the floor just inside the bathroom door.

What I saw was a very small, very bloody, and very dead mouse. No photos of the carcass, thank you; I immediately disposed of it. When Alex came back inside, he went straight to the bathroom and stood over the spot where the mouse’s body had been. Then he looked around, as if searching for something. I tried to explain to him that I had removed his trophy from the house; I am not sure that he understood.

There is more to the aftermath of this tale of Alex and the mouse that he exterminated that I shall share tomorrow.

Update on Carmen San Diego

This morning Mike, Carmen’s husband, posted this on her blog:

Carmen had a good day today. This is the first time I've thought this, so maybe things are starting to turn around!

You may read the rest of his post HERE.

UDATE FROM MIKE, 10/26/2007:

… Carmen is still "unstably stable" which means every time she takes 2 steps forward, she'll then take 1.5 steps back… If you are praying, or have a prayer group, the following is what I request. Carmen to again be deemed to be a transplant candidate (taken off temporarily for infection), be transported to the ICU at University of California San Diego, and be given a transplant. In a perfect world she would wake up again with new lungs and be able to breathe again.

Thanks again for all your support.

My House Hunt

I have not received any new information for the young man who purchased my foreclosed home about my continuing to live here as his tenant. I have continued the search for another domicile. (Such big words I am using to describe an agonizing situation; perhaps subconsciously this is to assure the scared kid within me that the adult me is handling things).

Anyway, I have narrowed the available apartments down to four, all of which meet the criteria I have set for a new home. Here are the two best floor plans that I have found thus far:

What do you think of them?

My Library Thing

This Library Thing I encountered on someone’s (I can’t remember who) blog. When I checked it out I learned that (for free) I can enter my entire library on it and thus have a record of its contents, as well as my ratings of books and other notes I want to make. It also allows one to display, as I have on Nick’s Bytes sidebar to the right, random books from my library. Not only is it cool, but I am finding it quite useful as my housekeeper, Tasha, and I box up my library for a probable move.

Below is the “embedded” version of that sidebar thingy: