Today I'm gonna...

[littlefallsmets]

I was a Boy Scout for a while.

The moment I got home after my first camping trip, I quit the Boy Scouts.

There are few things more telling of my personality than that simple fact.

[jay-ell]

My mom sent me to a Brownie meeting once. It was a bunch of popular girls from my class who ignored me all day at school, then kept right on ignoring me through the meeting. I didn't talk to anyone, and I wasn't really sure why I was there.

When I got home, Mom asked what I thought of it. I told her, "It was dumb."

She didn't make me go back.

[linnea]

Please do better than our pet sitter. She went out on the upstairs balcony to enjoy the view and left the french doors secured improperly. We had some weather and it blew the door open. When she showed up that night she was unable to lure in one of our three cats from the roof. She tried over the next couple of days, leaving food out and all but no kitty.

She feels terrible, of course, and I'm playing it off lightly because it's over and done and there's no sense roasting someone at this point.

But GODDAM! I pound rescued that cat when it was less than a year old as a April 1999 Easter present for Spouse. For 12 years she'd been MY buddy, all coming to me most evenings quiet times for scritches. We had our own games, dammit.

So yeah. I'm sure you'll do fine and dandy, Linnea.

ALSO: Jay-Ell? You have been adopted in the man conversation clubhouse by your Pap. Congratulations on your honorary weiner. Actually, a lot of men conversate best through the projects they've been up to and your pater was complimenting you. I'm glad you recognized it.

But if you want to stay in the club you can't play false modesty all the way. At some point you need to tell an under-emphasized no-big-deal tone story about one of the problems you overcame with the project. Then he can relate his experiences with that kind of stuff and maybe you guys can go crack a brew an chew the fat.

Ash.

ASH!!!

This is ME we're talkin' about here. I ain't gonna lose anybody's dang cat. I used to take out birthday adverts on the local access channel for my cats, for Christ's sake. Not at the same level as Angela from the Office where I'm licking them and coughing up hairballs, but probably pretty damn close. I don't love other people's cats as much as I loved mine, but I am a responsible petsitter.

Jay-Ell, that was the most heartwarming story of dudes ever. Your dad is SO FREAKING PROUD of you. Plus you rocked the house and saved your family a huge grip of cash because you didn't have to call a plumber. That is bomb-ace.

[jay-ell]

Jay-Ell, that was the most heartwarming story of dudes ever. Your dad is SO FREAKING PROUD of you. Plus you rocked the house and saved your family a huge grip of cash because you didn't have to call a plumber. That is bomb-ace.

Yeah, Dad pointed out that it took me about 2 hours to do, which bills at about $125/hr, plus materials and the customary 75% markup. Pretty sure he was exaggerating, but then, I've never had to actually hire a plumber (or an electrician, or anyone else to fix anything other then the HVAC), so who knows? My mechanic bills at $90/hr, so maybe he was being serious. It's hard to tell with Dad.

Regardless, I paid $99.35 for the commode and a new supply hose, so I think I win.

[Carlos del Vaca]

i was in boy scouts for a time.  when i was a n00bscout, i actually went back to the leaders' truck to fetch the 'left-handed smoke-shifter'.

We sent some new kids over to a neighboring campsite to ask if they had any spare umbilical cords.

[Asherdan]

This is ME we're talkin' about here.

You gotta read the first line and the last line in my posts, %@$!&...errrrr...Linnea.

Cat hasn't shown up at any of the shelters so the best hope is someone just plain kept her. We all know what the worst hope is.

Jay-Ell: Paps wasn't exaggerating much, BTW.

I wanted to like Scouting but my local troop options just weren't up to what I wanted. That's the hazard of a volunteer game. Giving it up for sports wasn't a huge loss as the outdoors stuff was happening on a regular enough basis anyways.

[AugustWest]

I'm an Eagle Scout.

[jay-ell]

I'm an Eagle Scout.

I'm not surprised.

[Drygioni]

We sent some new kids over to a neighboring campsite to ask if they had any spare umbilical cords.

On a similar adult-authority-figure-being-cruel note, two thick lads from our Design and Technology class once spent an hour around the art block asking for a can of 'tartan paint'

[AugustWest]

I'm not surprised.

I'm going to take that as the compliment I'm sure you meant it as.

[Asherdan]

Oh you and your class go help some old person across a street.

Or you can just take a walk by yourself, I s'pose.

[side_show]

Cat hasn't shown up at any of the shelters so the best hope is someone just plain kept her. We all know what the worst hope is.

Two people I love have lost their cats only to have them return after a surprisingly long absences.  In both cases, the cats came back (skinner) after two to three weeks of absence.  In the case of one cat, this process has occurred twice, and the second time, Boots returned with an altered personality (was skittish and shy, now calm and loving).   In the other case, a stranger on a cell phone called, holding the missing poster in one hand and the kitty in the other.  The kitty (Sasha) had been patiently waiting for days outside of her owners former apartment building, which was several blocks and a major intersection away from her owners' current home.

I'm holding out hope for you man.  We love our kitties (and pup) something awful. 

[Asherdan]

Thanks Smells. Downside is I live out in coyote and bobcat country so if she didn't beg her way into another home she's prolly poop on a hillside.

I checked the shelters today again anyways.

[jaydub]

You moved recently, right?  Is it conceivable she's on an Impossible Journey?

[Asherdan]

Doubtful, totally indoor cat her whole life, she wouldn't have a clue on navigation. Plus, the new house was where food and people came from since November, so she knew where 'home' was. The one time she got out (kids and multiple doors training curve) she just went around the yard windows until she saw one of us and yelled for entry.

I live on a hill in between two 'nature' type parks and 5 miles of official wilderness, an evenings entertainment is watching the hawks glide by our windows at our face level, looking down slope for gophers, mice, lizards and house pets to stoop on.

I'm not trying to be a Downer Dan here, but I can phrase it realistically to you internet figments where speaking as plainly at home to Spouse and Boys would be...indelicate.