REWinn

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Cement Chipper Cat

First part of fixing up the basement floor is smoothing out a cement ridge left over from removing a wall some years ago. The rent-a-chipper is basically a little indoor jackhammer, and real fun! but the chips and dust go EVERYWHERE.
Ear protection is a must, not for the noise

Arthur wants to use the cement chipper,
but he has no thumbs

so much as the chips. How they get in the ears I have no idea. Tarping everything is a good idea but some of the dust quantum tunnels through, I guess. It's a mess, but I'm paying myself to do it so I can't complain about the wages. The cats don't like the noise, but Arthur and Ginny are curious about the power tools when they're off, and Arthur really does seem interested in playing with them.
AFTER TALKING IT OVER WITH CAT CO-PARENT Nessa Hudson: I should have locked the cats upstairs while working on this. They won't wear respirators and while they fled during the noisy part, some came around during break and cleanup and may have breathed dust. Plus concrete chips might be crunchy like bugs and that would not be good for them. We lucked out, it was a small job and no-one seems harmed, but I would do it differently. (Sometimes it really helps to have a cat co-parent who thinks about these things!)

Friday, January 26, 2018

OMG Another Star Trek Movie!!!

Directed By Quentin Tarentino

https://youtu.be/v3Nv2R9Acec

Me in my Carhardts

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Organic Antidepressants

This is what I needed during the grey days of a Seattle winter: organic antidepressants! Just a dollar a dose at the hardware store. Warning: habit-forming.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Some Are Cats, Some Are Dog

I'm tinkering with this improper little essay, so don't expect it to be the same over time.
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Many people are dogs. They feel the need for a master and they are not comfortable without someone to tell them what to do. They are especially not comfortable with those outside the pack.

Others are cats. We cats tolerate dogs: they are useful and amusing. We don't especially feel the need to have a master although we'll let someone think so if they feed us and shelter us.

Humans often misunderstand the situation by focusing on the small size of house cats, compared to domestic dogs. In nature, the largest land predator is the cat.

Plus: cats scream during sex. Dogs just look guilty.

Cruelty and the #TrumpShutDown

Monday I shall be working for you for free, if the #Trumpshutdown continues. No need to thank me. The fascists set this up by refusing even to vote on the bipartisan DREAM bill, and I don't mind a bit of sacrifice on behalf of 700,000 people who came here as children.

The Trump supporters among my immediate family unfriended me because they couldn't stand being contradicted, so I can't ask them at what point a 5-year-old child (now a DREAMER) becomes a criminal: when her mother approaches the border or immediately after?

Under what possible theory do they think that 5-year-old should say, "Mommy, I am leaving you because it's illegal to enter the United States."

That's what we're talking about. That 5-year-old grew up here and is now 25 and working somewhere, and my fascist friends and families want to send her back to a nation she never knew, to be absorbed. How she would then live we can only imagine. On this basis alone I call Trump supporters cruel.

This is all on purpose. Trump cancelled DACA six months ago and the Republican leadership in Congress refuses to allow a vote on DREAMER reform - it would pass if they allowed a vote, but they are cruel people. They should have re-authorized CHIP four months ago, but they are cruel people. Now they are holding CHIP hostage to their DACA cruelty and demanding the Democrats (and a few Republican allies) to make a Sophie's choice: CHIP children or DACA children.

It is a fine distraction from them picking your pockets and deflecting from Russia's continuing attack on America. We are losing the information war with Russia because our current leadership are fellow travelers.

My sacrifice is small, and I'll probably end up being paid anyway. Don't worry about me. I am content never to be deliberately be a part of cruelty.

What is the excuse of Trump supporters for their cruelty?