Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Author: Christopher Merle (Page 40 of 53)

I made these boots to honor the memory of those who came before.

Mystery’s Bobcat Adventure

I know my wife is going to freak out when I tell her. I sent her an email with the first sentence in large bold letters: Mystery is safe and was never really in any danger., but I had to let her know if she walks the dog. We’ve been here a month and this my first encounter with a bobcat.

I was walking the dog home after he did is his business. I saw a bobcat step out onto the side of the road about a hundred yards ahead of us. As soon as I saw it we stopped. It stopped and stared at us. We waited deciding what to do. I was hoping it would move on. It then crossed the road, the center median, and the rest of the road. I waited a minute but not before picking up a hand-sized rock and the dog. I carried him past the point where the bobcat had passed. I think we may have been upwind of the cat. So he may picked up our scent.

I didn’t realize that by carrying Mystery until we got home that the cat would not get his scent from the road. Anway, I kept scanning the brush for the cat. No sign. I kept looking back to make sure the cat hadn’t come back. When I got close to the house, I put Mystery down and we went inside.

The bobcat was about the size of a medium size dog. Bigger than Mystery. I guess we need to read up on the wildlife that we can expect in our neighborhood, coyotes, bobcats, etc. I know for the most part, wildlife avoid people. I’m only worried that maybe next time we might be a little closer should another encounter occur. I know there are coyotes in this neighborhood. I’ve heard them at night. I’m not surprised there are bobcats, either. Plenty of rabbits and huge jackrabbits abound as well as Gambel Quail and chipmunks. The only other creatures that may be potential dangerous are javalinas and I don’t know if they are any of those to be found here.

History Through Headlines

As the disastrous eight years of the Bush/Cheney mis-administration winds to a close, you can review the Bush Years in Onion Headlines via BoingBoing. It links to a much fuller list found on Theresa Nielsen Hayden’s blog Making Light: The true history of the Bush years.

Here are some of my favorite headlines:

January 17, 2001: Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’.

March 17, 2004: Rumsfeld Hosts No-Holds-Barred Martial Arts Tournament At Remote Island Fortress.

September 14, 2005: Halliburton Gets Contract To Pry Gold Fillings From New Orleans Corpses’ Teeth.

July 2, 2008: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency.

January 13, 2009: Vice Presidential Handlers Lure Cheney Into Traveling Crate.

I laughed out loud when I read that last one. Yeah, the last eight years wasn’t as bad as when Stalin collectivized the farms in the Soviet Union or as bad as the Spanish Civil War. At least not in the US. What happened in Iraq and Afghanistan was pretty bad. And though we may have hopefully good leadership for the next four to eight years, it won’t be easy digging our selves out of the hole the Bush-Cheney cabal has put us in.

On the one hand I have to pinch myself, that we actually elected Obama. On the other hand I know we have a rough road ahead thanks to outgoing administration. Hopefully the last act we get to witness are Bush’s pardons. They’ll be the turd icing on the shit cake that was their administration.

2009

16 Days 12 hours 20+ minutes left of the Bush mis-administration. 2007 was the Year of the Fuckheads. 2008 was the Year The Chickens Came Home to Roost. So what will 2009 be called? It will not be a good year though we will have good leadership. I expect to see Republicans obstruct any progress for the first six months and the Democrats will let them. The last six months will be a toss up. 2009 will be the Year of the Tipping Point.

The incoming Obama administration won’t know the full extent of the damage caused by the Bushites until after they’ve been in office for a few months. They’ll have a good idea with in a matter of weeks. I suspect 2009 will somewhat turbulent and even if the right decisions are made and implemented by the government, it’ll be difficult to tell if any progress is being made. Fingers crossed.

On a personal note. The start of 2009 has been very good for Mel & I. We’ve moved into our new home in Tucson, though we’ll be moving again in a year. My in-laws drove one of our two vehicles so we didn’t have to pay $1400 to move one of them. They’ve been a great help in unpacking and setting up the house. I’ll start doing contract work remotely for this cool firm in Stillwater, OK (I’m not just saying that because they might read this). Melissa starts her job Monday at the U of A. Went to her office today to unload some of her work stuff. Plan to take another load tomorrow.

I am setting up my home office. Our wifi is working, but I need to adjust the settings. I plan to get a wireless print server so neither of us will have to lug our laptops to hook up to the printers. Not much else to report now.

Well, there is one thing. Since my last day at TU, one day is the same as the next. None of the days feel like the day they are. Monday didn’t feel like a Monday. Sunday didn’t feel like a Sunday. Nor did Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday feel like their respective selves. Neither did Christmas’ and New Year’s Eve and Day. We celebrated but they just didn’t have that special feel. I suppose when Monday rolls around again it’ll feel like the day it is when we start work again.

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