Under the Weather

Poor Black, he isn't feeling too well.  I hope he gets better soon.  Vacation is no fun without him.  

Travel Time!

We had to crawl out of bed before the sun came up to get the kittens to the airport on time.  Everything moved liked clockwork except Black must have looked suspicious because he had to go through the giant sniffer/x-ray at the security screening.  I wonder if it was because he was escorting Kit.  She was rocking that rebel teen look complete with blue fur.  After the kittens, left Black and I went home to take a catnap before heading out of town to start our little vacation.  Ka'ching!

The Search For Planet Aid

While Momoko was away on her conference, she had the cats find out which clothes no longer fit. This resulted in a couple big trash bags full of clothes we could give away.

Momoko planned to put the clothes in a Planet Aid container by Walmart. But when she got to the store, the three containers had disappeared. Momoko asked me whether I knew where any other Planet Aid drop offs where. I directed her to one in the other direction.

Then Momoko needed some help. Little Kat and I went with her to drop off the clothes. On the way back home, Little Kat told us he thought there was a drop off really close to our house. We passed it on the way home. Doh! At least the clothes are going to a good cause. Now we know where the close drop off is located.

Bad Hair Day!

Well, I wanted to streak Kit's hair blue before she leaves for the summer.  I picked up all the supplies but I realized that I am not good with a plastic cap and a hooked needle.  After 30 min or so there were a lot of tears, so I decided to let a professional stylist handle the coloring before Kit started crying too.  I know my mother always did my hair but I am not cut from the same cloth.  Apparently, it is not as easy as it looks.  I hope we get Kit's hair done today.  Wish us luck!

I Want Taste buds!

We love this commercial.  Every time we see something we want, one of the kittens say "I Want Taste Buds!" and we all start laughing.  I thought you might like to be apart of the private joke!

Chicken and Chi Chi's

Friend of Little Kat

Tonight Little Kat had a friend over. The friend is spending the night. Momoko and Kit Kat snuck out to see a movie in the theaters. That left me in charge. I was busy reading email and such.

The cats asked me whether they could cook up some popcorn. "No problem," I told them. Little Kat's friend was pleased to find a microwave popcorn with extra butter in our pantry.

A few minutes later I heard some noises. Then I smelled the problem. Little Kat burned the popcorn in the microwave. There was a very exciting game going on the computer which distracted him. All good fun.

Egg citing!

I went on a tour of an egg plant.  I got to see how eggs are cleaned, inspected, and packaged.  I also learned about how hens actually make an eggs.  It is a pretty fascinating process.  I took the picture of the candling process.  This allows the worker to find imperfections in the eggs after they have been washed.  

Got Milk!

I went to the a diary today.  I got to meet this newly born calf.  Her name is Bren.  I learned about cows and how a farmer keeps them healthy.  I also got to watch a cow milking demonstration.  MMMMM MMMMMM Good. 

Hard Work

This afternoon Little Kat and I worked out in the yard. There was much to do. We cut the grass. Little Kat gathered up all the sticks from the yard. We bagged them up.

Little Kat also used the clippers to get the grass by the mail box and fence. We have a big yard. So it took us a whopping 3 and a half hours to complete the job.

I sent Little Kat to bed early tonight. Tomorrow he must finish up his chores in time for Momoko to return home. Can't let him sleep in tomorrow morning.

A Little Trip

Today I had a tough time getting out of work. But I finally snuck out. Then I printed out some directions to Momoco's hotel. I got Little Kat and Kit Kat in my car. We took a little road trip.

Kit Kat was my navigator. Just as we hit some heavy traffic, Kit Kat directed me to turn off on to another road. We were meeting Momoco for dinner. As we pulled up to her hotel, Kit Kat spotted her.

Momoco had bought us all some chips from a chip making plant she had visited. Kit Kat and I lobbied for dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Our wish was granted. We could not stay long. It is a work night for Black Cat.

Apple of my Eye

Today I had a blast on my field trip to a potato chip factory.  I also learned a lot about wines.  I do not think I like the flavor too much so nobody needs to guard their wine glass around me.  I had a treat when Black and the kittens came to visit.  We had a nice dinner but it was way too short.  They had to get back home before they turned into pumpkins.  Tomorrow I get to go to a diary farm and I also get to visit a bakery and make an apple pie.  

Out Cold

Today I got up for work. By the time I left, I found Kit Kat and Little Kat still asleep. I did not have the heart to wake them.

Late last night, I dreamt there were a lot of noises. That probably just meant Kit Kat had the TV volume up high. She is old enough to set her own bed time in the summer.

Not much housework got done at home when I was at work. When the cat is away, the mice will play.

Bringing Spice Into Your Life

I had an intensive day of classes.  I left my hotel room at 6:55 am and returned around 7:55 pm.  It may be an intensive schedule but I am learning a lot and having fun.  In one session today we learned about smell and taste from the from the good people at McCormick.  We got to do a lot of taste testing to learn about things that are sweet, sour, bitter, salty, or umami.  Yes, I learned about "umami" a fifth type of taste.  We also learned about vanilla and cinnamon.  It was interesting finding out about where it comes from and how it is processed.  Tomorrow I go on a field trip to a popular potato chip company and to a vineyard to do some wine tasting.  I hope we gets lots of samples!  

Away From Home

Well, I had to dash off early this morning to go to conference out of town.  It was a nice drive.  I was able to let my hair down and enjoy the countryside.  I have actually never been this far away from home all by myself before and  I am proud that I was able to find the place.  I love my hotel room mostly because my room number is my favorite number.  I have homework so I better get busy! 

Missing Objects

I went to take a shower and the shampoo was missing.  I went to brush my teeth and the toothpaste was gone.  I know Black went camping but I did not think he will be taking a shower.  I use the toothpaste in the kittens bathroom and I have no idea why it would be gone.  Kit went over a friends house but I am sure she will use her friend's toothpaste.  So where do you think these items went?  Life is such a mystery!

Undetected Prank

In order to make room for our fish tank, we had to move Little Kat's desk. The desk was messy. I had Little Kat take everything off the desk. We put the mess on the floor as we moved the desk to the new location. Now we had to sort through all the stuff that had piled up on the desk.

One suspicious item was the cover to our Kung Fu Panda DVD case. I asked Little Kat why the DVD case jacket cover was on his desk. He said that he had replaced the original cover with a prank one. It seems nobody had detected the prank.

Now I am all for a good prank. But we can't be discarding our DVD covers on top of a mountain of other things which don't belong on the desk. Time to keep closer watch on Little Kat's desk. We spent a long time cleaning up his pile.

Bringing Home the Fish

Mamma Kat wants to bring home her fish from work for the summer. We just need a good place to put them. So Little Kat and I get working on furniture rearrangement today.

First we are bringing a small video game and TV desk downstairs. Then we are going to move Little Kat's homework desk where the little desk was. Finally we shall move an old white microwave cart to the place where Little Kat's homework desk used to be.

The fish tank will sit atop the white microwave kart. Luckily Mamma Kat bought a second fish tank for home last year. We will get that ready so Mamma Kat can just transport the fish from work (not the whole work fish tank).

Here Comes the Pizza

Mamma Kat bought us some pizzas tonight for dinner. Kit Kat's scout troup was running some promotion with a local pizza chain. They were going to donate 20% of proceeds if you mention that the troop sent you.

All I know is that they make some delicious pepperoni pizza. I already had a few pieces. Add a little crushed red pepper, and you are good to go.

Anime Convention

Mamma Kat and I are planning to attend Anthrocon 2009. I was hoping to attend Anime Expo this year. But that is being held in Los Angles, which is much too far away. Anthrocon is just 4 hours away from us.

We don't know what to expect from this. Mamma Kat and I have never been to any anime or manga style conventions. I think this one is a smaller one due to its specialty. Anthrocon focuses on animals that act like human. That's real specific.

I have the hotel room booked. And I have researched a bunch of the sessions at the convention that I want to attend. We will probably blog about the experience in about 2 weeks. Get ready.

Survival Training

Little Kat is going on a wilderness survival camping trip this weekend. He had a long list of items to get to be prepared. Earlier this week Mamma Kat said they only got half the required items. She asked me if I could take Little Kat to REI to buy the rest of what he needed.

First I cut the grass before the big rains came. Then Little Kat and I went on our shopping trip. The rain came down hard. We had to dash into the store. The parking lot turned into a stream with deep water flowing everywhere. Luckily there was a tall speed bump we could walk on to stay dry.

Inside REI, I found the first employee that was free and gave him our list. He thought we could get all the items. He ran off and found another employee in that section. That employee then said he would look for the first item on the list. It was about 30 minutes before I saw the employee again. He said he had to help a lot of other customers. Epic fail REI. If we were not in such a hurry, I would not have bought anything from you. I am surely not going to come back to your store.

The Customer Building

At work, our customer is having some problems with our software. This is nothing new. However the customer informed us that these problems are critical. They can’t wait to get them fixed. My boss told them I would take care of this. I asked the customer to work closely with me so that I will not waste any time. One member in our customer organization is retiring this month. We were all going to be in the same building for the retirement party. I planned to meet somebody from the customer organization there to work with me on their problem.

Here is the chief reason I don’t like working at the customer organization. There is just not enough parking. If you do not get there early, you do not get to park. The traffic is crazy during rush hour around here. The day of the retirement party was no different. I got onto the highway, and found it to be more like a parking lot. Luckily I left really early in the day. I did end up getting a space in the parking lot.

When I got to the front door, I had to get somebody to escort me. I called one of the employees of my company who always works on site there. He was not there. But he promised he would call somebody else to sign me in. Nobody came. Luckily one of my actual customers came in and saw me detained at the front door. She signed for me. That got me in.

I had scheduled a meeting with the customer who was to help me around lunch time. So I had to get an early bite to eat. The problem is that because I am a visitor, I need an escort at all times. Everybody is busy. Nobody wants to escort me around. So I had to take a chance and sneak down to the cafeteria. I took along a folder that served two purposes: (1) It helped cover up the escort required badge around my neck, and (2) it contained a list of everybody’s phone number in case I was detected and escorted off the premises.

Finding Fed Ex

Mamma Kat had to do some work for school this morning. I was still asleep when she left. Then I got the call from her. She needed help picking up a package. So we took a journey.

There used to be a Fed-Ex right down the street. It seems it had closed. So we drove a long way to get to that Fed-Ex place. Turns out her package was just an iPod. Yes it is a cool one. But it felt like we took a long voyage just for a little music thingy.

The Cotillion Court

A close friend from work has a daughter that just graduated from high school. For her 18th birthday, they held a big bash. Mamma Kat and I were invited. The invitation said formal attire was required. I asked if I had to rent a tuxedo. I found out a suit was fine.

It was tough to get out of work today. When I got home I took a nap. Then Mamma Kat and I got hooked on some anime. Mamma Kat locked herself in our bedroom to get ready. It came time to leave. But I had not gotten ready yet. So I banged on the door. Seems Mamma Kat was just chilling in there.

I grabbed my best white shirt and proceeded to iron it. Then it took some time to get into my suit. We took off in the rain to get to the part place. As we arrived, they were serving salad. This was indeed a formal affair. It felt like a wedding ceremony. There was a huge slide show after dinner was served. Mamma Kat kept making me go to the bar to pick us up some drinks. No, I did not choose any alcohol. We snuck out after the official program of the night had ended. Whew. Let's hope Kit Kat does not need anything like this when she graduates.

Early Fatigue

It was still light out when I got home. Since it is going to rain for the next couple days, I thought it was time to cut the grass. Normally I zip right through our big lawn. But today I found that I had to take a number of breaks.

I just ran out of gas (not the lawnmower). This might be caused by me being out of shape. That is all the more reason to get outside and do some yard work.

For a month or so I had been neglecting to cut the one side of the yard in the back. I took a peek at it today. There was some seriously high grass. I had to cut that too. Now I am broken.