Ziggy and her "Magic Helmet"

She goes absolutely nuts for these things. This is her 2nd one, and she will even walk around with it on her head. She likes she can stick her head through the 'tissue lifter' on the bottom, and see through the top.

Stress...

It sucks.

That is all.

Aftermath of Christmas feast

Went to Meegan and Daggles house for dinner, bearing a perfectly cooked turkey,

one pan of bread stuffing, and one pan of brown rice stuffing, as Meegan is gluten intolerant.

It was a day surrounded by friends, family, good food, good wine and just excellent. Got home after midnight, and was swarmed by quadrupeds with separation anxiety! The meowing was both pitiful and funny. Calmed them down, got things put away and pretty much passed out. Keito and Loki allowed us to sleep until 8am.. well, let me sleep until 8am, and woke us up by having a wrestling match.

Checked on the pool, topped of the air level in both upper and lower rings, added some bleach to the water, cleaned the new water filter. MP3 player all charged, and waterproof pouch is near it. All ready for the upcoming hot days.

Aikidomayland is taking some time off from work. It's going to be nice to have him home for a while. As much as his trips to Zambia are mini "How can I miss you if you don't go away" , it's nice to have him around. *happy sigh*

Happy/Merry/Joyous/Bright *insert your holiday here*

Be safe, be warm, and make merry, people!

And it started off so well

I felt Ziggy was stagnating in the lounge, so I toted her out to the pet enclosure, closed the door so Simba and Lucy stayed in the house. Ziggy was totally blissing out. Loki came up from the outside, and I unzipped the door and brought him in. They both were blissing out in the sunshine, hammocks etc. He and Ziggy were doing just fine until my son decided to let Loki in. I went back to the door, and there was Ziggy looking forlorn, so I opened the door to let her in. Simba and Lucy came out from where they were hiding running straight at Ziggy, and Ziggy dove into the kennel.

Managed to get her out of that, and into the house. She dove under the breakfront, and Simba who is much larger than she is, just stood there and looked under the breakfront.

30 seconds after I left the room, Simba squirmed under the breakfront, and he and Ziggy had at it. Considering how small a space, and the fact Ziggy spat out a mouthful of fur, I think Simba came out 2nd best.

I brought her back into the lounge and closed to door so she would chill out. Then after a while, checked her for damage, and then checked Simba for damage. Didn't find any. No harm no foul, I guess.

*sigh*

Loki says...

Wrapping presents is exhausting work! (even if he isn't the one doing it!)

Good music can soothe

I searched high and low for this CD for years. It arrived today.

"My sunshine, light of my day. Now your a star in the darkness, light years away"

ARGH!

Luckily I did back up the data and copied the back up elsewhere.

I tried to install the PalmDeskTop for my Treo on the Windows 7 machine. It goes through all the usual Usb detected, installing device, and then just stops there. It goes on and off, on and off on and off etc etc non stop, only to say "Device not installed". Ok, now my device is stuck in an endless restart cycle and if I do a soft reset (keeping the data) the network setting don't load. If I do a hard reset, I have to reinstall everything again, and it start with the endless cycle again. I'm sure it's just one program on there that is causing it, but finding out which one it is.

Are we having fun yet?

Wow

Went to see Avatar, in 3D. Man, was that a good movie. It was the quickest 3 hr movie I ever sat through.

Aikidomayland started picking it apart before we had even gotten back to the car, in his typical buzzkill fashion when he doesn't get it. He somehow missed the reason the humans had to wear O2 breathers, even though it was clearly stated in the first 20 mins of the movie. He also got "squeamish" during a scene when the jackass jarhead got shot with two arrows. I pointed out that he didn't get all squeamish when Boromir in LotR got three in the chest.

But I digress. Excellent movie, more than lived up to the adverts. Want to see it again, without Buzzkill.

Micro pillage for summer items.

Got a new water feature circulating pump for my splash pool. A slight 'McGuyvering' and it becomes a great water filtration unit and keeps the pool clear and clean. (that and 1 cup of household bleach prior to use!)

Also got some Feliway from our vet (synthetic happy cat pheromone) to help de-stress Simba and to help break him of 'improper toileting'.

Pool is nice and cooling, but I always want to take a nap afterward.

Listening to an audio book

Stephen Kings' "Under the Dome".

Strange, but reminiscient of Rod Serling's "Monsters on Mainstreet", but with people rather than aliens playing games.

Well, back to doing the laundry and gardening.

*coughclearingthroatcough*

Can still taste smoke and ash from the fires down south. Aikidomayland brought a Venatlin inhaler for me, as mine was past it's 'us by' date. I've used the inhaler more in the past few days than I have had to in the past few months. (Not to worry ShadoutCarver, it is working, and within the recommended dosage. Does hurt a bit to breathe, but not too bad.)

Seems at least one of the bush fires is 'suspicious origin' aka deliberately set and not a controlled burn off.

Comfy socks!

Look what arrived in the mail/post today.

Thank you, ChocolateTrudi, they are beautiful, fit to perfection, and won't show cat fur! :D

Why outsourcing is messing up customer service.

Phone rang

"Hello, can I speak to Mr W*** C****?"

"Sorry, no, he can't be reached at his home number during business hours, as he is at his place of business."

"May I leave a message?"

"Sure"

"I'm calling from Ameircan Express...." (I interrupt her)

"No, you may not leave a message. For over a year now, you guys keep calling to bitch the payment is late, only to have the bill arrive at our house 4 days later. We have told you about this over and over, and you just can't take notes. You can't get your calling/billing cycle in sync, so until you do, stop calling us. It's been paid (was paid in full as a matter of fact), get YOUR records straight."

And then I hung up on her. That felt so good.

Fleetwood Mac, Perth, Dec 12 2009

Title says it all! Got some pics of the concert. Had to use old Pentax, as getting my Lumix in would have been.. difficult. So, sorry about the graininess!

These guys still rock the house. They opened with MONDAY MORNING, and closed with SILVER SPRING.

Lindsey Buckingham doesn't just play the guitar, he becomes part of it. Wow, I bow to his greatness.



Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham.



Finally managed to get a shot of John McVie, as there was stage scaffolding between us.



Mick Fleetwood says good night to us. And it wasn't just a quick g'bye. We got one helluva thank you from them all. I don't know who had the better time. Us, the concert goers, or them.

Come what may

Took Aikidomayland to Disc World for a diagnostic. Paul will call us back on the verdict. Also, I told him I received an email from Acer, about their NEW quad cores available now. He will be looking into that.

Raided the "Wishing tree". Two little kids will have something under the tree this year. Well, two somethings. Every year I do this. It stems from when I was in real dire straights, some friends rallied around and helped. And I promised I would return the favor every year if I could.

Simba was naughty again. *sigh* I was thinking about where he was doing this improper toileting. The futon (
Aikidomayland
slept on that a few times), Alans' bed, and
Aikidomayland's
side of the bed. Could he be seeing Aikidomayland and Alan as dominant males, so is making his mark? Don't know, but I wasn't happy. I cold busted Simba, and I hollered. He knew he had done wrong, and hid. He was also expecting to be hit. He cringed, ducked and closed his eyes. Was I angry at his behavior? Yes, but wasn't going to beat him for it.

Why the hell do they make it so damned hard to find answers?

Ok, installing Quicktime Pro and iTunes. They both install perfectly and run just fine.. the first time they are launched. After that, I kept getting error after error after error (QTFC_CFUNiCharGetUnicodePropertyDataForPlane to be exact) and searching on Google and other info sites resulted in me wanting to tear my hair out. I decided just a few bad words would suffice. Uninstalled, rebooted, reinstalled, rebooted, and still the problem persisted.

Then, I tweaked something so I could get a more specific verbose error message. #2093. Ok, off I go in search of answers again.. and again, and again. (insert many more bad words here).

I happened to chance on the right combination of key words to find the solution.

Go "Start > Computer". In Computer, go "Tools > Folder Options". Click the "View tab". Make sure that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected and that "Hide extensions for known filetypes" is unchecked. Okay out of the tab.

You next step depends on whether or not you've got a 32-bit or a 64-bit Vista.

If you're 32-bit: Open the C:\Windows\system32\ folder. Look for a QTCF.dll file. When you find the QTCF.dll, drag it out onto the desktop. If Quicktime/Itunes launches correctly, that was the problem.

-->If you're 64-bit:

First, open the C:\Windows\system32\ folder. Look for a QTCF.dll file. If you find a QTCF.dll, drag it out onto the desktop.

Second, open the C:\Windows\sysWOW64\ folder. Look for a QTCF.dll file. If you find a QTCF.dll, drag it out onto the desktop.

Once you've cleared System32 and SysWOW64 of any copies of QTCF.dl. If Quicktime/Itunes launched correctly, that was the problem.

Time for the next Win 7 64bit problem to be installed, I guess.

Smash forehead into keyboard to continue!

Insert many naughty words here

I am installing software on the 'wrong' computer (yes, still haven't gotten the right one yet). Called P at Disc World, and he was livid. It seems the supplier sent this one, rather than the one he said he had in stock, because they had run out. So, instead of just telling us that, the moron sent the core 2 duo, instead of the quad core, I guess thinking I would be too stupid to notice the difference(?).

P told me to just use this one, that the right one has been ordered, and when it comes in, I pack this one up after I have uninstalled and deleted personal information, and swap straight over, and then do all the installations and customizations again. *groan*

This month hasn't been a good one for computers in our household. Not only did Aikidomayland accidentally scrag Alan's hard drive, but he must have fried his system at the same time. So much for the new hard drive, dvd drive and memory for it. *sigh* On top of that AcerRacer has been having other hiccups, and I am betting it was also hit with a power surge. (Yes, have surge protectors, but that doesn't help when someone is flicking the power on and off several times in a few seconds.)

I think I have this machine about 70%+/- 3 done.

It's been a long day

Up too early, running around like crazy then rushing to get things done on the home front.

My feet are sore, my eyes are gritty, and my body is screaming Sleeeep!. I am going to listen to my body.

Night all! (Not to be mistaken with NyTol)

More holiday fun

Got a few odds and ends. Something for Tristan ( Meegan's son) , a 3 in 1 novel, and a vacuum sealer for wine forAikidomayland, and a Photoshop CS4 book for myself.

I got the book for myself as the help files are mind numbing or don't cover what you want to know. Problem solved.

All the creatures were stirring

Amok in the house!

With Aikidomayland coming back this week, I have been going through closets, cupboards and other places, throwing things away left right and center. The only problem is I have kicked up a lot of dust, and both me and the two fosters are having itchy eye problems. Luckily for us all, I have the ointment for them, and eyedrops for me.

Went out with Meegan and Daggles for coffee and a very late lunch in Fremantle. Hit up Elizabeth's Book store on the way back to the car. I resisted temptation, and didn't come home with any.

Simba and Ziggy had a bit of a tussle again. They have got to get this pecking order bullshit settled, as I am getting tired of the fight and the subsequent mess on a rug.

Waiting it the hardest part

I'm still in a holding pattern, waiting for the 'right' computer to arrive. Been running a great deal of my programs off a thumb drive, and keeping all personal info off this 'wrong' one.

Mostly all's quiet on the kitty front. Had a bit of a dust up between Ziggy and Simba this morning... again. I broke it up and shooed Simba outside to chill out. Lucy followed him because she can't stand to not be around him. heh

Had another 'issue' with Simba. I just cleaned it up, deodorized the carpet, and then re-scented that spot with my lavender oil. This is the first time he has done this in a week, so I am hoping that this gap between this stress related issue is waning. I will be happy if it is.

Aikidomayland calls everyday. Now I know the company pays for the phone calls, but jeeze, this is gonna be huge. Well, he will be home next week. Then we have a few days to recover, and the Fleetwood Mac concert. Woo hoo!

Can someone mainline my coffee, please?

For whatever reason, the fur wads have decided a 5am wake up is a good thing. Was all I could do to not punt them out the bedroom door. *sigh*

Simba
and Lucy are settling down more and more. Haven't had an 'improper
toileting' from Simba since last Sunday. We are fairly certain (99.999
etc %) that we stopped him from doing it again on Alan's' bed again, as
Simba was doing the 'kitty digging' motions on the blanket. He got
tossed out of the room, disaster averted.

Both Bengals has
slowed down on their food intake. No more 5 feedings a day. Down to 2
sometimes 3 a day. Much better. Now that they are close to their
optimum weight, they aren't gorging anymore.

Have had a few
dust-ups between Ziggy, Simba and Lucy. Ziggy is doing her damnedest to
show she is "Boss Queen Kitty" here. Poor Lucy.. if she walks down the
hall, Ziggy takes umbrage and chases her away. Simba, who is Ziggy's
son, has some sort of vestigial memory of her, and even though she is
half his size, when her eyes go all black and she starts growling, he
turns around and goes the other direction.

Kinda tired. Was liking the sleeping until 7am. Didn't feel like I would need a nap in the afternoons.

Gritty eyes today

Yesterday was the last of the controlled burn off before the total fire ban. The smoke and ash were/are still lingering, as I can taste it and my eyes feel like someone has poured sand in them. Feeling a bit wheezy too.

Even Alan is having a bit of trouble, getting that furry feeling in the back of the throat.