Category: News

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Nietzsche can’t poop

The other weekend it was so nice outside that we let our cats, Nietszche and Ming, outside to enjoy the outdoors. They enjoyed themselves, I presume, and dutifully returned to the indoors when we called.

A few days after we noticed that Nietzsche was favoring one of his sides and squawking when you touched him on that side. He’s a bit of a scrapper, so we thought he might have picked a fight when he was outside, but could find no sign of wounds. He’s also old so we thought it just might be his old arthritic hips. We left it at that until today, when he was sitting on my chest and I noticed that his hair by his butt was crusty. He was facing me, so I asked Tina to take a look. She refused to look at his little butthole, so I had to turn him while holding his tail up so I could get a look. He really started to squawk then and tried to get away. But not before I could spot the problem: a little turd was peeking out.

I’d seen the same thing once before with Nietszche – he’s constipated. That time we had to take him to the vet to get a cat enema. Hopefully, the vet will be open tomorrow and we won’t have to pay emergency weekend rates. I briefly considered performing the procedure myself, but this site recommends against it.

Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t have caved when he was begging for some of my string cheese.

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Morning activity

Graham couldn’t make it because he’s not feeling well this morning, but Thomas and I started The Unauthorized Biography of Lemony Snicket. I saved my donut (jelly-filled!) for Graham and Thomas contributed part of his giant, chocolate-frosted bear claw for his sick brother. Graham is watching the Pink Panther as I write this. I can hear the distinctive theme wafting into my office. He’s feeling better now so Tina is going to drop him off at school.

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Why not take all of me?

Graham is playing basketball this winter. It’s his first time and he’s a little behind some of the other kids on his team. Still, he’s doing a good job of defending and he’s getting better and better at his offensive skills. Tina has been practicing with him after school which has helped a great deal. He occasionally has problems with physicality – i.e. when somebody bumps him he’s prone to bump back harder than necessary (and the like) – but he’s learning to deal with the frustration and conflict. It’s a really important experience for him, I think. He had a double-header yesterday and really enjoyed himself.

Thomas saved money from Christmas, his birthday and allowance. At first, his goal was to buy a Wii, but that became unnecessary when we got one for Christmas. After weighing his options, he decided he wanted a new iPod. Especially after his friend, Andrew Barton, got an iPod Video. On Monday I ordered a 30 Gb iPod Video via the Apple Developer Hardware Purchase Program, where we get a slight discount. We weren’t expecting to receive it until next week, but it came on Thursday. Thomas has been ecstaticly exploring its many options since it arrived. I helped him download some shows from our Tivo and he’s learned all about the various video formats out there.

Meanwhile, Tina has been furiously working on a ten minute movie for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet tomorrow. She gathered a slew of pictures and a few videos and has set them to music in iMovie. She’s enjoyed it immensely, I think, and has been spending alot of her free time working on it. I think it will be well-received tomorrow night. I borrowed a projector from work to enhance the experience, so we’re all excited to see it.

I’ve been enduring the Oregon winter weather in the morning and evening. The rain seems never-ending at this time of the year, but I’ve been taking the shortest possible routes in order to minimize my exposure to the elements. I took Tina’s advice and bought a balaclava which helps keep my head and neck toasty-warm. Last weekend I accidentally broke my crappy front fender and have been riding fenderless all week. I repaired the crappy fender once before so this time I’m going to get something that will last longer. I need to get it soon, though, because I’m getting tired of the mud that’s flying all over.

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It’s alive!

Tina and the boys heard the “snap” again while they were eating breakfast this morning. They thought it was by the cat food again, but I didn’t think they could hear a trap in the garage from the dining room. I was right – it was under the stove where I had set two traps over the weekend. Not only was this one alive but it was squeaking up a storm!

I pulled out trap/mouse and put them in the middle of the kitchen floor. Eventually, both cats became interested enough to check it out. I cruelly shot some video with my digital camera while Ming had a look. I should warn you that these videos will be upsetting if you don’t like seeing mice in traps:

I only let this go on for a couple of minutes before I dropped him in a salsa jar with baking soda and vinegar. It was all over in about 15 seconds. (Thanks for the great advice, Thane!)

Finally, here’s a few more from YouTube:

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In defense of our cats

A loyal reader recently wrote:


Your blog said: Sunday night we got one by the cat food

You mean your cats can’t catch these mice??? Do they try?

Yes, it’s true – our cats have been completely ineffective in keeping our house pest free. However, it’s not really their fault. Ming, who is 14 years old, is blind in one eye and nearly deaf. Nietzsche is 15 years old and has arthritis. They are essentially just grumpy, old cats at this point in their lives and definitely no longer mouser material.

When Tina and I got married in New Mexico, Nietzsche was not yet a year old but proved to be an excellent mouser. He caught at least two in the short time that we stayed at Jan and Tom’s house and even left one on our pillow for us one night! Those days are long gone now, but they both enjoyed when I let them check out our most recently trapped mouse this morning. More on that later.

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Snap!

This morning I followed my usual routine before departing for work:

  • Wake
  • Shower
  • Dress
  • Check email

While performing the last task, I heard a loud “SNAP” which was definitely in close proximity to my office. I peeked around the corner by the CD shelf and saw that the mouse trap there was now upside down, but appeared to be empty. I picked it up to reset it only to find that it was not empty. A very small mouse was twitching and expelling its dying breath. I set it down and returned to my office to finish reading email. After a few minutes I returned to the trap and found that the mouse was dead.

Sunday I repositioned all the traps and it has proven to be a good idea. Sunday night we got one by the cat food and now this one by my office.

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Hey, I’m gonna get you, too

Another day, another mouse trapped beneath the planet of the dishwasher. One wrinkle: Tina heard it snap in the afternoon but refused to look.

Thomas and Tina cleaned out his room on Monday, including removing the large candy stockpile underneath his bed. He is glad that he has no more mice in his room but upset that mice have to die for his freedom.