Primarily for kjersti... An unexpected visitor

The weather's getting distinctly warmer again. This means it's getting more pleasant to run again - I was out for an hour or so on Sunday afternoon and covered three miles or so, including the Deen City Farm and Morden Hall Park's wetlands. Lovely places and hitherto completely unexplored in the three-to-four years I've been living here.

But it means "my" other cat's disappeared again. The little grey one, Neffie - Nefertiti - lives here permanently and is a very affectionate and friendly little beast now. I'm very fond of her.

The other, Cleo - Cleopatra - has largely disappeared since Kjersti moved out and I seldom see her. I guess I didn't make enough fiss over her, didn't give her enough attention, and she's buggered off to somewhere more welcoming. In midwinter, she slept here most nights, but she was gone again by February and I've not seen her for 6 weeks or so.

Instead, two neighbourhood moggies have made this place their own. One's a big tabby, scrawny and infested with mange - its rear half is mostly bald. It sleeps here a lot but it always legs it as soon as I see it, giving me no time to squirt it with water or throw anything at it to reinforce the message that it Is Not Welcome. The other's a lame brindled grey thing with one eye. It seldom stays here long though I've caught it on the sofa occasionally when coming in the front door.

The result has been that I've been going through a LOT of catfood. I've even had to start feeding them fish-flavoured stuff sometimes when I can't get anything else. This is against the instructions of She Who Is Technically Their Owner but they seem quite happy.

But this morning at 2:30 or so, when I was going to bed, I found Cleo curled up on the bed, and got a lovely purr out of her when I went to stroke her. After ten minutes' attention she wanted out, but I picked her up (HISSSSS!) and put her back in the bedroom, to her bemusement - she's not normally allowed in there and she knows it.

I reconstructed the magnetic-triggered catflap, which was disabled to K's orders by latexiron. I put the magnetic "keys" back on both cats' collars. I removed all the parcel tape holding down the catch and cleaned the remaining glue off the flap so that they can see in or out.

I spent a little more time fussing over Cleo, who seems very friendly but really doesn't like to be picked up now. She will consent to be carried around a little, though.

I think I need a new battery, but maybe now I can block these scruffy old scroungers out.

The price, though, is terrible. I am becoming, by inches, a cat person.

Silly flash animation

Dubya as a girliegirl.

Now, the thing is, you see, most male goths in drag look kinda like this, only far, far more ridiculous. And not nearly as attractive. The only exception is if you're deeply androgynous anyway *and* so thin that you could, frankly, be either gender. Then you just look a bit daft.

DON'T DO IT.

This has been a public information warning from His Majesty's Style Advisors.

(Gacked from adelheid.)

[Blog] On inflexible software designs

Even at Apple...