24Apr24: Andy’s ‘nipped…

He’s got the blank look of a ‘nip user, and he stayed there like this, immobile for several minutes.

He’s really twitchy now, my next clue.

He moved over to the lapboard and slept it off. Good ‘niip!

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I couldn’t access the Internet on my laptop yesterday. It looked pretty grim because Spectrum tech support’s Jaimie wasn’t able to come up with a solution. I decided it was a good time to stand away from the problem and come back the next day. I have exactly no idea what I did differently today, but I have WiFi again. I hate computers! And I love them to death.

01Aug20: What’s up, Doug?

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Andy’s curious. Why won’t I let him come around to the other side?

Maybe it’s because he has “Itchy Paws” and all I need to start hyperventilating again is Andy to wipe out what little hard won progress I’ve made on the nightmare configuration issues on my new laptop and photo sharing from my smart phone.

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Seems like I resolve one issue and bring up twelve more. I’m not kidding about hyperventilation! ( I hope the person who cuts my beard and hair is operating again soon or I might be tempted to do it myself. >self to myself< “Don’t do it, Doug!”)

Post 1896: The kitty boys are back!

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We’ve had a grumpy few days, thanks to a laptop giving up the ghost, but my new laptop means the kitty boys and I can return to regular posting.

What’s going to fall apart next? I suspect it’s time for the smart phone to go belly up. I mean, don’t expensive things always fail close to expensive holidays like Christmas? And it’s about the only bit of technology I use that’s left to croak!

14Apr26: a fresh start…

New Greenies arrived. The last batch was getting stale, per Andy, and even he wouldn’t touch b them.

I was curious about Reese’s mini peanut butter cupwould they be bakrdcinto banana nut muffins?

Different, but more crunchy than regular baking chocolate chips. Also, these are very sweet. I had a strong couple of tea to try to tame that sweetness.

This, Greenies, took care of the pouty mood!

Andy took off on important kitty business.

13Apr26: this is “nothing doing day….”

This is “nothing doing day.” Andy will enjoy being home alone, and Doug will lie back on a recliner to have his blood cleaned of impurities and excess water.

I suspect long naps might happen later. Guaranteed.

12Apr26; a very Baroque late evening…

A Baroque master, an Italian composing for the manic depressed Spanish king. He was there to cheer a king if he could.

Or a cat, which is fair enough all these years later.

Spynky the soon to be dead fly stopped by to dance a fly dance.

Time to lie back and listen to the largo movemen. This Boccherini is one I forgot amuses, delights, turns into something a lot more than you remember or expect. I’d eat to this, though it isn’t “Tafelmusik” as far as I know.

With 5000-6000 music CDs and no way to play them for years, I put off spending $$$$ for a really fancy player. “You’ll be dead before you get the use if it….” Then, for a fifth the cost and more, this Phillips “boombox” appeared on Amazon Prime. At that price, manufactured by the company that made my catscan machine and the portable digital X-ray at my hospital and everywhere, plus developed the CD technology in the beginning, I felt it, this playerr was worth a chance. It turns out to reproduce sound beautifully!

“Whoeeyeehahaaa!” Hey, my musical tastes are, if anything, eclectic! Love mariachi. Love Gamelan orchestra, love African pop, love jazz, love music, no matter where it come from…the depths of the Roman Catholic Church archives, Hildegard von Bingen, Beethovan, Miles Davis and J.S. Bach, Hayden, Delibes, Rossini… all of it! Klezmar, Ottoman Empire and classical Egyptian stars, and Germanic drinking songs!! “Ein prosit, ein prosit, der Gemuetlichkeit!” I got enough Bier in my a time or two to join in on THAT one!

11Apr26: P- Doughboy’s less successful brother…

Here he is: Dough Pillsbury and his pet Gloopy-poo, his one-eyed pet (species unknown).

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I will do a proper blog next time!

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Watch out! The safety cover fell off, too!

I fixed that one as soon as I saw it. Don’t want a kitty tail trapped in that!

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I think this is lavalier to attach your house key to. Andy thinks it’s a kitty toy. Yes, it’s a kitty toy now!

10Apr26: Andy’s ready for an afternoon snack…

My poor VW! Gasoline skyrocketing and it’s been on the road just once. (Lucky me!)

So, I arrive home. Andy’s ready for a meal.

First, though, is this letter the ca⁰rrier either didn’t pick up or they don’t do that now. At 78 cents an ounce, I expect much better service.

…does, too. OK, my kitty, I take care of you now.

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Once a quality analyst, always one, I guess.

This is a grocery list. I tried to place items in the order of where they are in the aisles. It was a big one, so it did help!

I went over the aisles with the person taking my order to get a better list of kinds of things to find, where. I’ll fine tune this “form” and determine if separation lines are necessary, for example, or I can use wider vertical lines, with horizontal ones breaking a column into more than one aisle when an aisle has a short list. That sounds workable!

It seems the same anal-compulsive nature of quality guys is identical to that of English majors. I’m doomed!

09Apr26: What’s up, Andy?

I put it out, reminded Andy that he’s the kitty, the sole one here, so it had to be for him.

I guess 4;01 AM is too early for kitty food.

If I were a kitty, I know that would be too early for kitty food. Good thing I’m having pecan-blueberry muffins around 6:50 AM. it’s Wednesday when I written and this is our usual day for coffee and baked goods.

On television food shows, messes like these are called “rustic!” Ha! They’ll taste fine, however. The pecans I made into a sore of loose praline, combining water, cooking sherry, white sugar, anf and chopped pecans. I hated that till it lightly coated my spoon. Then, I dropped spoonfuls on the raw blueberry batter, baked the muffins, per package instructions, pulled them out of the oven, didn’t let them cool down long g enough, tipped the pan, and, eh voila! Rustic! I used fresh blueberries instead of those in the can that come with the package.

…waiting for me to get out of “his” wheelchair.

Slurp! Slurp!

Andy cleans up after his snack.

Bret will be over soon. Andy won’t like being booted off
the wheelchair, but I need it now!

08Apr26: a morning with the cat…

I booped his head – lightly – to add emphasis. No kitties were harmed making this post.

Oh, well. Andy trots off to check out that box. Allez-oop!

…and is “hidden” from me. He’s still a little upset with me, I think.

Yes, he watched me toss out two over-flowing bowls full of “empty” Royal Canin dry food that he never ate because the bowls were “empty.” The kibble was all over the floor, too, so I cleaned that mess up, then put a supposed “one serving” of the stuff recommended in one bowl to see if he’d eat it all. (Am I joking??)

He ate some, then left for the north bathroom window.

Looks like a beautiful day outside, if still a bit chilly.

What? What? What? Andy actually ate some kibble.

Time for a drink. Make mine a margarita, blended lime.

Oh! The table! It’s a lot more fun when it has stuff all over it.

…then a move to a sunnier spot to continue.

It’s almost time to heat the oven to start my lunch.

Andy likes to touch me. Unfortunately, it’s often with claws extended just enough I feel them.

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“You didn’t fill my Easter basket!!!”

Nope.

07Apr26: getting used to it…

Andy’s having no problem with the night to daytime shift I recently had for dialysis.

Treats come regardless of the time, eh?!

Chin and chest “scritches” are the same…and really enjoyed!

A 14-year-old cat on the coming 1st of July, yet Andy jumped at least six feet from the lapboard to the recliner footrest rest. Incredible!

Poops! Andy got bored waiting for me to freshen the treats!

06Apr26: Don’t pout, Andrew!

“I know music to.my ears isn’t comprehensible to how you hear it.”

I enjoyed this Rossini opera again. Lots of what I enjoy most in the time frame, earlyto mid-19th Century, with bombastic duets and choruses that rock your socks off.

The Italians invented the opera in 1600. Claudio Monteverdi was first – and they took it to the top in no time! It was so popular composers as diverse as Haydn and Rameau had to try their hand at it, too!

It’s Vivaldi all afternoon, and you prefer Greenies.

Some very lively, beautiful ensemble pieces in this one. It’s playing now, my cat.

Vivaldi wrote operas, too, a fact people don’t realize. I have several of them, but two operas already today…even I need space between them.

Andy, on the other hand, is ready all the time for his treats!

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I doubt the albums showm are in publication any longer. I went through my Vivaldi phase 35 or 40 years ago. Music of any genre is personal. You know what you like, and that makes it good, even if others don’t get the music, what’s “good.” Personally, I like most music, even stuff that might surprise you…and me! I listen to it. Something appeals – bassist work, singer’s voice, the message of the song, the melody, the skill of the players on their instruments. The biggest clue to do I like some music is, though, do I want to listen to anything they put out more than once?

How about you?

05Apr26

..I’m an old guy. What if I needed to get to the bathroom quickly? Would you let me have my wheelchair?

I don’t think Andy’s listening, nor will he let me have my wheelchair!

NOT a good idea, kitty.

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Andy expect me to turn on the television…

…but I’m checking out my new CD player. Looking through my opera drawers, I came across an old 20th Century favorite – not many of that period are –

Puccini!’s.

“La Boheme”

My late friendRalph W. once told me that the apartment he lived in at the time was the setting for this opera. Could be a fine story, though it was in the Latin District. One point.

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I tried and tried to get the CD player turned on.

“Good grief!! What did I do to turn it on yesterday…

… Oh! Plug it in!”

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