Thursday, May 21, 2009

A Missing Phone

Little Kat had to go to scouts today. He hurried through his homework and skipped dinner. The plan was for Mamma Kat to drive him. But Mamma Kat had her own homework to do. So I was going to drive Little Kat. I would drop him off. He would call us with his cell phone when he needed a ride back. There was only one problem with this scheme - Little Kat lost his phone.

We have gone through this trouble before. Our new policy is that Little Kat's phone is either in his pocket, or on the charger. It was in neither. He checked all his pants and coat pockets. He also checked the car. No cell phone. We tried in vain to call his cell phone. It must have been turned off.

Little Kat ended up missing scouts tonight. That was too bad. But we needed to find that phone. About an hour later Little Kat said he found it. The thing had become stuck in one of the couches. Now we have a new rule. The phone has to be on a charger unless Little Kat is out with it.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Hard Work

We got our new "jumbo" freezer up and running. I left the old freezer out on the patio today. It needed to thaw out. Since it did not have a built in defroster, there were layers of ice caked up in there. By the end of the day, all the ice had melt. After work I scrubbed the thing down with 409. Mamma Kat needed the freezer for a special project at work. I figured it should look good.

I noticed the cats working out in the garden. That was strange. There were just a bunch of weeds in there. Mamma Kat then said we needed to go buy some fruits and vegetables to plant in there. I had to first cut the grass as I did not finish the job this weekend. Then I was tired, but we still went to Home Depot.

First we loaded up on topsoil and mulch. Then we let the cats pick out the fruits and vegetables they wanted. Both of them got some herbs. Little Kat was proud to have picked out corn. I think both of them got some melons too. When we got home, the cats went out, worked in the new soil, and planted away. Mamma Kat is going to be tending to the garden this summer. She will water it every day. Maybe we will get some really good veggies out of this. That's the plan according to Little Kat.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Freezer Arrives

Yesterday Mamma Kat asked if we could visit an appliance store. All they had were appliances there. First we decided to get some lunch. We pulled up to Applebee's and there were no cars there. I told Mamma Kat we should go in just in case they were open. They were. We proceeded to order the 2 for $20 lunch meal. Delicious.

We got to the appliance store. These guys were much better than Home Depot. A guy came up and asked us what he could help us with. We told him we wanted a large, black freezer with french doors. He told us they did not have any french door freezers. But he showed us one with a normal door. It only looked a little bigger than our current freezer.

The guy did a little checking. He informed us that there were two bigger sizes available. We wanted the biggest there was. He showed us another model which was about as big as the one we wanted. I talked it over with Mamma Kat. This guy got the sale. The good part was that they were able to deliver it immediately. Today the guys came and brought the freezer to our house. Goodbye little freezer which had no defrost capability. Hello big freezer. Little Kat has already named the thing "Jumbo".

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Attack of the Ducks

There is plenty of parking at my work. However by the time I get there, I have to park far away from my building. Normally that does not matter. A nice walk in the morning is good for me. That is all fine unless I am carrying my big bag with my computer. Then it is a chore to trek from the remote parking lot.

That is why I was excited when they built a new parking garage right next to my building. It seemed to take forever before they were done. Then it opened to the building residents. Things were great. There was always enough parking right by my building. Then the ducks came.

There always seemed to be ducks in the neighborhood of my building. That is no big deal. They stick to themselves. However one pair of ducks became annoying. Apparently the one ducks laid some eggs. She built her nest right on the walkway from the parking garage to my building. And daddy duck would attack anyone who came near. The construction guys closed off the walk between the parking lot and building. Then they started roping off more and more area around these ducks because papa duck kept attacking people walking from the garage. This darn dark even flew up at me a couple time. He seemed to wander around a bit, but kept thinking he needed to protect the nest. The nerve of these ducks. I tell ya.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Washing Machine Blues

This weekend I worked with Little Kat to see if bleach could get the black out of my clothes. Recall that a crayon left in the dryer made my clothes have spots. Well Little Kat could not wash out the stains. And neither could the bleach.

Here's where I ran into even more trauma. After putting the bleach in my whites, and letting them set, I ran the load of whites in the washing machine. My clothes did not clean. I'm not talking about the black stains. I mean there was dirt on the clothes after washing. A rewash did not help.

Today after work Mamma Kat talked me into going shopping for a new washing machine. I like the Home Depot. At first we thought we might try one of these newer front load washers. However we found a standard top load washer that was huge. We had a lot of questions about the machine.

Mamma Kat got mad because we could not get anybody to help us in the appliances section. When the "appliance guy" came, he confessed he was actually from kitchens, and did not know much about appliances. Neither did anybody else. My plan is to return tomorrow to see if we can find an appliance salesman in the store. Otherwise its off to Lowes or Sears.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fast Growing Lawn

The lawn in our yard has been growing very fast due to all the rain. This is a double edged sword. When it rains, it is hard to get time to cut the grass. It is difficult to cut the grass when it is wet. I also think it is not good for the grass to be cut while wet.

I got home from work today. A little old lady who lives across the street was out there cutting her lawn. And if she could so it, so could I. Mamma Kat encouraged me to get it done. So I put on my yard work clothes and got out there.

Wouldn't you know it? As I am cutting the grass, it starts to pour. I tried to hurry up. But it takes times to run the mower over our yard. And I was only trying to get the front yard done today. I turned into one wet cat out there. No fun I tell ya.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Black Gets Black

This weekend was a busy Saturday for the whole family. So everyone was tired Sunday morning. I tried to wake Mamma Kat up early. All I got was a hiss. Later on I was able to talk her into getting us some breakfast.

I got an early start on my laundry. Things were looking up. After my white load of laundry had completed its dryer cycle, I was shocked to find that all my white clothes turned into Dalmatian colored clothes. They had some black stuff on them.

Now the culprit seemed to have been a black crayon that somehow got into the dryer. Little Kat is a cat who likes to put crayons in his pockets. That is all fine until you do the laundry. You have to empty your pockets. Little Kat made some signs to remind him to empty his pockets. He is also trying to get the black out of my white clothes. Do you have any secret recipes to do this?