The Perils of Age

The oldest of our cats, and by far the greatest hunter of them all, has gone deaf!

Mushin, 16 years old and going strong.

We only noticed this last week, and I'm not sure how long ago it happened, but in retrospect she has been staying a little closer to us around the house.

Her nose still is spot on, though, and she comes pretty quickly when there is a fresh meal on the table!

Of course, since she can't hear her own meow, it has gotten a good bit louder, and definitely gets our attention.

She came to live with us at about 2 months old and has one of the best stories of any of our cats, past or present.
At the time, my future wife and I had just moved in together with 4 cats -- 2 that came with me, and 2 that came with her.

This little calico rode in the under-carriage of our neighbor's car almost 5 miles from the university campus, through traffic & then out a windy country road! Our neighbor had seen her in the parking lot, but thought she had scampered off. It was quite the surprise to see her pop out from under the car on the arrival home!

For a few days, she hid under the duplex we were in, and we left food out for her. She definitely had not been around people, and was very skittish.

Luckily, however, she was quite fond of our oldest cat, Solomon, an orange and white male whose story will be forthcoming. She followed him around for a week or so, letting him take care of her outside, and eating food with him nearby.

When I came home one day and saw her asleep in the grass beside the deck, I took the risk of sneaking up on her... I managed to get her by the scruff of the neck to bring her inside, setting her up in her own space with all the kitten essentials. And to this day she hates to be picked up.. I can't imagine why! =)

Over the years, she has brought home rabbits, mice, bats, and even flying squirrels. Even after having her canines removed some years ago because of damage, she still was able to hunt pretty well, and often brought home extras for any foster kittens we had at the time!

For quite a while, she would bring a mouse in, and if I caught it, I'd put in the bath tub for her to eat at her leisure without fear of it escaping. It was quite a bit like the Roman Coliseum, and it didn't take long for her to take them there herself, after announcing her catch so that we knew how skilled she was.

Now that she's deaf, she can't hear BlackJack growl at her when she rubs up against him, so she just gets closer and licks his ears. And he has no idea what to do about it!

With winter is coming on, she climbs into bed with us each night and lays on or between us, enjoying the attention, and bathing whichever cat happens to also be there.

It has bee a joy having her in our lives, and I suspect her wild diet over the years has left her healthy enough to keep on going!

Her name, Mushin, is a Japanese word, often translated as "no mind", a state of tranquility where action flows naturally without thought. Anyone who ever watched her hunt knows that is definitely her name.

Hmm

So, if I left my current occupation, what would I want to do?

What Next?

?

See Above

With my sandan test approaching, I realized that I had to get a little more serious about my conditioning & my weight.

I set up an account at myfitnesspal a few weeks ago, & it does seem to be paying off.

I'm trying to do about a pound a week, & work out every day, in addition to time on the mat preparing for testing with Tanaka Sensei.
I like the set up @ myfitnesspal, & enjoy the largeness of their food database.

So, keep an eye on that ticker!

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now??

It's bad enough that I bombed the exam we had last week, & am currently failing the class with a 38 (WTF?!), now I have to decide if it's actually feasible for me to be able to pass at all.

Looking at the points on the syllabus, & the amount of the project just assigned (100 points) due at the end of the semester, can I accumulate enough points to hold a D average?
I would need a minimum of 79% on everything from here on out... .

Is that doable? I'm really not sure.

---

And now in the midst of the next crux homework assignment — due in 2 hours — I find myself thinking of all that I could do with the time I'd have if I just stopped spending the time in class, & the hours of frustration outside of class trying to scrape by.

Sure, I'll have to take the class again, next spring, or next year, but will I feel more in control of it then?
Who knows!

Wow.

Just had a scary thought.
What would it take for me to quit my job & go into the business of Animal Welfare?

Back at It

The new school year has started, and along with budget woes, & what it may mean for the future of any of us on campus, I'm also back in class, & scratching my head of Oracle & SQL.

Our program is largely distance ed, with groups in five locations throughout the region.
In the spring, due to a combination of technical glitches, and calendar issues, we missed three classes.
That doesn't seem like too much, until you consider that we only meet once a week, so we really missed three weeks of the semester!
And now that the we're in the next section of that class, at least a handful of students feel woefully unable to get a hold of what we're doing.

And it feels worse since there are students in the class who didn't have that issue in the spring.

With any luck the instructor will set up a major review session for us.

Learning

Remember when you were little, & after summer vacation you had to learn long division (or whatever) all over again?
That's exactly how I'm feeling about SQL queries...
Argh!

Back to School, Summer Edition

So sometimes I wonder why I'm still working on this B.S., especially now that it's going to become a three year program for me (and a few others in the cohort), instead of the two year plan.
The work load is heavy enough that some of us decided to much demand on the rest of our lives to struggle through it, so I & a couple of others aren't taking the software engineering sections this year, but putting them off until the fall 2010 semester.
But I made it through the summer, after a jumpy start. The programming class they wanted to jam into the 6 week summer session was so packed that they gave anyone who wanted the option to drop it & take it as offered in a 10 week summer session next year — all but two of us took advantage of it!
But that also freed up my second short summer session to pick up a geography class that I needed — paid with a tuition waiver, so that's a bonus!
A month off, & then we're back to it with everyone in session.

Vacation Destination!

Berlin 'sex academy' offers tips for visitors

The show features several life-sized plastic models, naked and in various positions. One female mannequin light ups when touched in the right spot. A voice shrieks "That's it!" when the visitor manages to put his finger on the elusive G-spot.

Next to it is what the museum called its "Spank-o-metre." It measures the level of pleasure a mannequin receives when spanked with a leather whip.

Pack your bags!

Kazuhira Takeshita

Reminds me a little of Ralph Stanley..

Yá'át'ééh

Tony Hillerman, Novelist, Dies at 83 - NYTimes.com

Tony Hillerman, whose lyrical, authentic and compelling mystery novels set among the Navajos of the Southwest blazed innovative trails in the American detective story, died Sunday at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, The Associated Press reported.

We'll miss your wonderful novels, Tony! Yá'át'ééh

At Least I'm Not Alone

Millions spend half of income on housing (yahoo news)

...more than 7.5 million people — almost 15 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage — who are spending half of their income or more on housing costs, according to 2007 data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up from nearly 7.1 million the year before.

Children Can Send Marriage Into Downward Spiral

File this under things we already knew.

Words to live by

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history–with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila."

(Mitch Radcliffe)

Evolution, anyone?

What do the non-evolutionist candidates say about things like this?

Meet Lisa the geep... a cross between a goat and a sheep.
She was born after an unscheduled amorous encounter on the farm of Klaus Exsternbrink, in Schwerte, in northern Germany's Ruhr Valley. One of his young billy goats leapt over a fence and had a passionate liaison with a ewe.

It gets worse?

Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse

If your spouse already bugs you now, the future is bleak. New research suggests couples view one another as even more irritating and demanding the longer they are together… .

It's official!

I've had my fill of Christmas music.

Growing Up? Or Just Growing Old?

We all left the gym early last night for our sort-of semi-annual dinner-out-with-dojo-funds, & found that our regular establishment, a nice restaurant for pizza, beer, et al. was packed, & that there was a long wait.
The group, being made up mostly of undergrads, decided on a place up the strip a ways that I hadn't been to in years, & didn't particularly want to go back to.
Said place is more of a bar that serves pizza, with pool tables & a variety of video games.

The pizza was cheap, & didn't taste too bad, but it was salty as all get out, & I'm still trying to drink enough water to make up for it.
The head instructor & I both noticed that it was a bit smoky, & that a beer, no matter how good, doesn't taste like itself out of a plastic pint "glass" — though none of that seemed to bother the younger crowd.
I tried to explain to a couple of the guys that when they were a few years older, they'd appreciate our sentiment, & our more developed taste. Then, blah, blah, blah, eyes glazing over as the old guy talks... .

I showered for the second time after my work out after getting home, just to get the bar smell off.

Casual Friday

I love it!