Apropos of Nothing *4*

Palomar · 2005-02-22 14:23:15

Though there's something mildly humourous about losing track of Radar. ???

*That gave me a laugh in spite of myself. Yeah, you're right.

Hope the cat turns up soon and in good health.

Thanks.

Ooh, snow again. And slushy roads, this is gonna be fun. :bars2:

Uh-oh. That's a familiar situation. :-\ And then the stuff freezes at night...

--Cindy

Grypd · 2005-02-23 05:01:02

If its any help one of my cats(I have two) managed to get himself locked into a neighbours house as they left to go on Holiday. We really thought we had lost him, either to accident, fox or simply him deciding to go feral.

When the neighbours came back they found he had helped himself to their cupboards and had even opened the fridge!!! I didnt have the gall to ask did he help himself to any beer as well.

He was fine, then again he is one of the best hunters I have ever seen in cats. I have seen him take Rabbits and actually crows. And I have seen him staring at sheep probably wondering how he is going to get one of those over the fence and then home.

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 07:02:10

I only just realized your cat has vanished, Cindy.
I'd like to second what CC said: "Hope the cat turns up soon and in good health."
I know what it's like to lose a well-loved pet and I know it's painful. Very sorry to hear it.

Palomar · 2005-02-23 08:53:06

*Thanks Grypd and Shaun. Your cat sounds like a super-feline, Grypd. Looking at sheep in a predatory way? I can imagine your neighbors' reaction upon returning home. Hopefully they were good sports about it.

Our cat is still gone. I'm starting to accept (a bit) that he might have disappeared for good. He's always been home within 12 hours of going out, except once.

And it really does go in 3's, and this time starting with "C": Car, cat...and now my business-related computer is on the fritz (I'm using my "regular use" PC). :-\

But at least the rain went away and it'll be sunny and warm today (some trees are already showing buds...Spring's coming early here). :up:

--Cindy

clark · 2005-02-23 11:48:26

Petals Around the Rose...

http://crux.baker.edu/cdavis09/roses.ht … roses.html

A small brain teaser.

They say the smarter you are, the longer it takes to figure out. Dosen't say much for me, since it took me a few minutes. :laugh: (I must admit, I love puzzles)

I'll have to thank Adrian for this, since he posted this on his weblog. Anyway, try it out... if you think you're up to it.

A hint, don't force it. ???

Cobra Commander · 2005-02-23 14:25:35

Petals Around the Rose...
http://crux.baker.edu/cdavis09/roses.ht … roses.html

That took entirely too long for something so simple. Always important to know what words mean.

*Thanks Grypd and Shaun. Your cat sounds like a super-feline, Grypd. Looking at sheep in a predatory way?

Perhaps in the same way that we look at Mars. "Wouldn't it be cool...", knowing you can't actually pull it off.

But then my cats look at the refrigerator in a predatory way. ???

Grypd · 2005-02-23 17:59:05

*Thanks Grypd and Shaun. Your cat sounds like a super-feline, Grypd. Looking at sheep in a predatory way? I can imagine your neighbors' reaction upon returning home. Hopefully they were good sports about it.

Actually it might be parentage, we know who his mother was but his father could easily have been from the native wildcat population. Happens a lot round here, and the only real way to tell the difference is by blood sample.

Even named him Fitz to refer to his errr lack of legitimate fatherhood. And frankly he has a bit of an attitude.

Still I have to agree looking up and really wishing we could....just....maybe one day :hm:

Palomar · 2005-02-23 19:40:12

Cobra: But then my cats look at the refrigerator in a predatory way. ???

Grypd: Actually it might be parentage, we know who his mother was but his father could easily have been from the native wildcat population. Happens a lot round here, and the only real way to tell the difference is by blood sample.
Even named him Fitz to refer to his errr lack of legitimate fatherhood. And frankly he has a bit of an attitude.

*Interesting about your cat and possible native wildcat parentage. Cats are certainly interesting critters. Years ago, while visiting an in-law in a rural setting (with lots of stray cats around of course), I told my husband and father-in-law I was going to the corner grocery to pick up a couple of cans of tuna and sardines for the semi-tame cats milling around the yard. We'd seen them before, etc.

Maybe cats can understand our language, because the second I returned from the grocery store and got out of the car they ran (or rather galloped) straight for the car, straight at me, meowing very loudly and staring at the grocery bag. They were practically jumping in the air at the bag. (My father-in-law never bought them items in bags from the grocery, nor anyone else -- even he was surprised).

Somehow they knew I had food for them -- and I'd never brought them food before. :hm:

I've not had a similar experience before or after (except the other times I took that same group of cats treats...which of course they did anticipate then).

--Cindy

P.S.: Just 2 days after our cat went missing, an old photo of the first cat my husband and I got (and ironically, from his father-in-law's former property) resurfaced suddenly. She's dead now, of course. If I believed in omens or portends...

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 22:45:55

'Petals around the rose'.
More by luck than judgment, no doubt, I thought of the correct interpretation of the phrase immediately. But, because of the perverse and contrary way my mind works, I tried two other possibilities first!
Realizing those two trial-and-errors were producing .. surprise, surprise .. errors(! ), I then went back to my first thought, which worked.

I suppose a good psychiatrist would be able to solve all my problems just from the above information about how my brain works ( ... all right, all right .. doesn't work! )

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 23:18:12

Cindy:-

Maybe cats can understand our language, because the second I returned from the grocery store and got out of the car they ran (or rather galloped) straight for the car, straight at me, meowing very loudly and staring at the grocery bag. They were practically jumping in the air at the bag. (My father-in-law never bought them items in bags from the grocery, nor anyone else -- even he was surprised).

Just one more example of the kind of "things that make you go Hmmm", those inexplicable things that make me think there's a lot more going on than can easily be explained by the science I hold in such high regard.
Apparently people noticed the lack of dead animals after the recent Asian tsunami - they'd all moved to higher ground while the humans remained completely unaware of the destruction that was bearing down on them. In one place (was it Sri Lanka?), the elephants all headed away from the coast in a hurry, using their trunks to scoop up as many people as they could onto their backs.
Hmmm! .. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"!! ???

Cobra Commander · 2005-02-24 06:08:34

On the one hand I've seen how often my cats almost figure things out; faucets, doorknobs, where the food is stored and how to get at it, the concept of pointing (which one has approriated in his own crude way, leading me through the house to what he wants and looking at it until he gets it) and things of that sort that seem a bit beyond where they should be cognitively and I start to wonder just how much goes on in their heads.

Then they'll just stare at nothing in the corner of the room, sometimes with bristling hair and sometimes not. I can't help but wonder if they actually see something or if they're just cracked. It's damn unnerving. ???

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-24 07:24:39

I know what you mean, CC.
I think I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating in this context. A friend in England lived in an old house and had a cat called Attila. One evening, as we watched Attila walk down the long hallway from the front door toward the kitchen, he became visibly agitated. Even though no one was near, he was glancing behind him and his back was up. Then he started to accelerate away from whatever he thought he saw behind him and, at that moment, it looked exactly as if some invisible person kicked him in the rear end! He yowled at the instant of the apparent impact and even seemed to partially lift off the floor as he ran - just as if his rapid departure really was assisted by an unseen boot.

What we saw wasn't simply a cat interacting with nothing and acting whacko; it looked very much, in this case, as though the 'nothing' actually joined in and violently interacted with the cat!
Damned unnerving all right!

Maybe animals do 'see' and 'hear' things we don't. ???

clark · 2005-02-24 07:31:45

I liked the "petals around the rose" puzzle for the abstract solution required.Too often we focus in on the pieces of a puzzle, without appreciating what the "goal" is.

I thought it a bit apt, given the general desire for Martian living here.

Palomar · 2005-02-24 10:52:06

Shaun: Just one more example of the kind of "things that make you go Hmmm", those inexplicable things that make me think there's a lot more going on than can easily be explained by the science I hold in such high regard.
Apparently people noticed the lack of dead animals after the recent Asian tsunami - they'd all moved to higher ground while the humans remained completely unaware of the destruction that was bearing down on them. In one place (was it Sri Lanka?), the elephants all headed away from the coast in a hurry, using their trunks to scoop up as many people as they could onto their backs.
Hmmm! .. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"!!

*Yes, I heard that about animals in the region of the Asian tsunami -- except the anecdote about the elephants. A friend who lives in San Francisco says people know when an earthquake is imminent because pet cats are suddenly "gone." Interesting, too, how animals will sometimes save human lives -- even wild animals. If they knew how some humans treat THEM they might not be so charitable.

Cobra: ...leading me through the house to what he wants and looking at it until he gets it) and things of that sort that seem a bit beyond where they should be cognitively and I start to wonder just how much goes on in their heads.

IMO, animals are smarter than us in many ways. And not as helpless in many circumstances.

Cobra: Then they'll just stare at nothing in the corner of the room, sometimes with bristling hair and sometimes not. I can't help but wonder if they actually see something or if they're just cracked. It's damn unnerving.

Yeah <gulp>. It is unnerving. I mentioned watching 2 creepy TV programs about alleged true-life hauntings (Connecticut and Georgia) in the previous Apropos thread. Hubby and I were sitting there, it was growing dark outside, the program was getting downright eerie...and then Radar (sitting on my lap) suddenly focuses on something to my right, slowly raising his head -- following something, as though it's rising upwards. Nothing was there...he kept staring, jerked his head a bit, continued staring...I kept reminding myself I'm an agnostic! LOL.

Shaun: One evening, as we watched Attila walk down the long hallway from the front door toward the kitchen, he became visibly agitated. Even though no one was near, he was glancing behind him and his back was up. Then he started to accelerate away from whatever he thought he saw behind him and, at that moment, it looked exactly as if some invisible person kicked him in the rear end! He yowled at the instant of the apparent impact and even seemed to partially lift off the floor as he ran - just as if his rapid departure really was assisted by an unseen boot.

England has quite the reputation for uncanny occurrences. Poor Attila. (And no, I don't recall your having related that story before. Glad you did).

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-02-24 11:31:25

I just had the misfortune of attending a company meeting the sole purpose of which seems to have been to discuss the new procedure for having meetings.

Grypd · 2005-02-24 12:27:48

I just had the misfortune of attending a company meeting the sole purpose of which seems to have been to discuss the new procedure for having meetings.

Ah the benefit of modern civilisation, RED TAPE

So that explains your wish to go to Mars a secret love of all things red

Palomar · 2005-02-24 12:32:11

I just had the misfortune of attending a company meeting the sole purpose of which seems to have been to discuss the new procedure for having meetings.

*How about a meeting being called for the express purpose of telling people to quit gossiping? Happened years ago, when I worked in an office (I don't miss "the office" at all). And of course the very ladies who called the meeting WERE the gossips.

Just got this humorous note from a medical reminder service (to anyone who subscribes, who works in the field):

Transcribed: Avalox 400 mg .... is misspelled.
The correct drug is AVELOX (Avelox).
Avalox is the stuff ping pong balls are made from; Avelox is an antibiotic.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-02-24 16:54:21

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … l]Remember Owen & Mzee?

*I posted an article about them around Christmastime, in the 3rd Apropos thread.

Looks as though they're going to move Mzee and another tortoise (Mzee's original companion, I presume) with Owen, when Owen is introduced to Cleo. This sounds like a soap opera, teehee.

Everyone's amazed a mammal and a reptile would bond, although they're unsure about Mzee's attachment to Owen. But he does tolerate Owen's clinging behaviors (mother figure).

Graeme, I agree with your wife: This is SO cute. :;):

Owen looks like a character in a children's book, his eyes closed as he snuggles in a mud puddle near a reptile 130 years his senior. He pricks up his Shrek-like ears at the slightest sound, opens his eyes and then dozes off again.

Baby hippos are so adorable to begin with (as are most infant animals).

Owen likes to rest his head on the giant tortoise. He licks Mzee and puts his mouth gently around the tortoise's head in what Baer said looks like a form of play. He spends most of the day with the tortoise.
"He walks behind the tortoise. He goes to sleep next to the tortoise," Baer said. "When he wants to go into the water, he nudges the tortoise and licks it as if to say, `Come on, let's go into the water,' walks off a little bit and then looks around and comes back to see if the tortoise understands. And when you go too close to the tortoise, he chases you away and defends it as his mother."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-02-26 09:11:38

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … lings]This scumbag doesn't deserve a thread just for him

*Anyone here been following the recent turns of events regarding the Witchita, Kansas "BTK Killer"? There are so many of these vicious kooks around that it's impossible to keep track of them all. I didn't remember this serial killer from news items in the past, until he suddenly "resurfaced" in spring 2004 (no additional murders it seems...just letters to the media, taunts and "clues" from him).

This man was cold-hearted enough to kill parents in front of their little children, who were trapped inside the house. As if the murder itself isn't enough of a heinous crime. One man -- now 34 -- was only 5 years old when this stranger came knocking at the door, inquiring for his mother. Being an innocent and trusting 5-year-old, he told the stranger mom was sick in bed and let him in. The stranger brutally murdered the mother while the son watched in horror. This man is so severely psychologically scarred for life; I saw him interviewed by the media. The pain in his face and in his eyes...

The killer was silent for nearly 25 years, with no additional suspicious (BTK-related/linked) murders in the area. Authorities speculated perhaps he'd died, moved away (still a possibility, and if so did he commit other murders there?), or was imprisoned.

Last year the letters and etc. began arriving at media offices. He apparently wants to see how far he can go before being caught, and they (rightfully, I'm sure) speculate he wants to be caught and get his publicity/"recognition."

He murdered at least 8 people. I hope he does get caught and spends the rest of his pathetic life in prison.

They have a very brief audio recording of his voice from 1977 or 1978. He was reporting a murder (one he committed); his voice is as calm and composed as if he were commenting on the weather. ::shakes head:: Wait and see, his physical appearance will be neat and he'll LOOK normal...someone who wouldn't be picked out of a crowd. :-\

--Cindy

::EDIT:: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … gs]Suspect arrested!

Another addition:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … 61802]Face of a serial killer He also murdered 2 children.

Just heard an update: He was president of some club related to his church. ::snirk:: It sure takes all kinds. :down:

Hopefully the families of the victims will get a bit of closure and peace now, or soon enough.

Palomar · 2005-02-26 14:26:32

*I've been thinking about the victims and victims' families of the BTK serial killer (in the post above this one). Is there really such a thing as justice? His victims are dead. Others have been hurt, scarred, traumatized through the loss of a loved one. He'll go to prison for life, at least. But he still is getting all the free publicity he's been yearning for. Either way, he "wins" -- doesn't he? He deprived his victims of their lives and their families of their loved ones...now he's "famous."

Reminds me of all the many victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Innocent, everyday, ordinary folk with their jobs, their loves, their personal troubles, children, routines, etc., suddenly uprooted and taken away, murdered in concentration camps, tortured to death, or at least severely abused but getting out alive (via liberation by the Allies or whatever). Those who survived were scarred for life, often physically and psychologically. Some non-Jewish people were arrested and murdered for trying to help the Jews; their families suffered the loss of loved ones too. Besides the Nuremberg trials, where was the justice? Many Nazi war criminals fled to South America, were comfortable and lived out their lives. Meanwhile, the victims lost so much if not everything.

If there's no punishment after death, where's the justice? It seems the perpetrators are never truly punished; they still somehow "win."

It's chilling to think -- especially as we all (I strongly presume) value and cherish our own loved ones and our own lives -- that something this fiendish and horrible could befall us...and most people wouldn't care, the perp might get away with it, might face a punishment only a fraction of what YOU endured by comparison, etc.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-03-01 07:58:21

*I just love it when my husband lets the dog in, the dog comes to stand by my side for a few minutes, then discovers there's a bowl of water for him in here...he goes over and SLURP, SLURP, SLURP, SLURP, SLURP like he's drinking liquid caviar or hasn't had a drop of water for a week. He's got water outside -- a huge pailful of it.

Good grief. He slurps LOUDLY and it's annoying.

--Cindy

clark · 2005-03-03 08:18:09

Speaking of squirrels.

clark · 2005-03-03 09:09:58

Often times I wonder about squirrels. Like, how many nuts could they fit into their mouths? Do they count them, and stop after a certain number, or do they just keep cramming them in till no more will fit? What if a really curious, or ambitious squirrel decided to keep going. Would it fill its mouth so full that it couldn't get them out again?

Then I wonder where squirrels go to die. I realize that it's usually a road.

But what about before there were roads? Did they go fling themselves off of a cliff, and swim out to the edge of the ocean, drowning, nuts and all? Or perhaps they realized their end was soon and found the biggest bear in the woods, and hurled themselves against it, in a final bid of rage, fighting in squirrel-bear gladiator glory! Maybe they just found a nice meadow, laid down, listening to the twittering birds, dreaming of whatever squirrels dream of (probably fitting more nuts in their mouths) and just pass away peacefully and serenely in the womb of nature. All before the hawks and owls swoop down and rend them limb from limb of course.

Stupid squirrels.

Palomar · 2005-03-05 07:00:58

*Earlier today I was -- with my mother and sister in tow -- visiting a place where the ground was completely covered, as far as the eye could see, with water at least 10 feet high. Aquatic vehicles which look very much like SUVs zipped along on the surface of the water; to and fro on a watery highway, the boundaries of which were invisible but somehow "agreed upon" by motorists.

The sky was filled from horizon to horizon with low-hanging charcoal-gray clouds. Occasionally a stroke of lightning hit the water below.

The building we were in -- a "rest stop" of sorts -- was composed entirely of thin steel girders and huge planes of glass. I left my mother and sister to their chatting, and walked up to the windows to take another good, close look at the unique scenery. A bright canary-yellow SUV hydroplaned past.

I wondered how much more rain this area would get, and apparently it was always like this here (modified vehicles).

Then the alarm clock went off. :-\

You know how it goes: Some dreams seem so real. One minute you're in a world seeing, sensing, thinking...and then you're waking up to an entirely different reality.

--Cindy

Trebuchet · 2005-03-05 18:01:29

Yeah, dreams are weird like that, there's some sort of hypnotic effect that makes you want to suspend disbelief at whatever's happening in them, no matter how outlandish. I had a completely unrealistic dream last night, one that was like the plot of a really bad Hong Kong martial arts flick (ninjas-versus-undead battle royale, rated R for ridiculous violence) and yet somehow this did not trigger the I-am-dreaming realization that I often get in dreams. There's some sort of strong suppression of reality going on in the brain somewhere. Either that or I accidentally got Cobra's dream or something.

I am curious where the heck such weird dream subject matter came from, though. I've heard the theory that dreams involve the days event's somehow, but I don't remember any ninjas or undead hordes or enormous kung-fu battles happening yesterday, and those aren't the kinds of things you'd forget. Bad martial arts or horror movies aren't even something I like or watch, so...

I'm holding with the theory that a good number of your dreams are wholly random beyond any ability to rationalize. It's the only explanation that makes sense. :laugh:

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