And now, your daily AWWW moment September 17, 2008

My significant other holding our cat, Monster. Monster looks very embarrassed.

 

Monster-Cat is getting a hug, whether she likes it or not. Sirofett (SO’s online name, and how I shall refer to him in this blog) is a cat person. I’m more of a dog person, but I like cats, too. Monster is the foster kitten who refused to leave. She got the name because when she arrived, all of four weeks old, she was a scrawny, sickly little thing that had possibly been exposed to a contagious, fatal virus, so she and her sister got big strong names to help them grow big and strong. It worked. Her sister, General Mao, lives with Sirofett’s little brother, and Monster… well, we just couldn’t give her up.

 

I love the little paw in the air… “Mom… no, put the camera down and help me escape the love!”

Life Sucks, Here’s a Bug. July 14, 2008

Death in my SO’s family yesterday. Life sucks right now, don’t really want to talk about it, at least not yet.

 

So here’s a bug.

 

Green Bug on Leaf

Technical Difficulties July 2, 2008

Working in online media is never boring. Sometimes confusing, often hectic, but never boring. I really, genuinely, love my job. However, a few technical errors can really make your day more difficult. Recent conversation (names changed to protect the guilty):

 

IT: “Saydrah….”

 

Me: “What?”

 

It: “Can you do us a favor?”

 

Me: “Did I break the website again?”

 

IT: “No, but maybe you could fix the website.” (Instructs me to perform a very simple task using my Disaboom account)

 

Me: “Um… I can’t access My Disaboom.”

 

IT: “Use Control Panel.”

 

Me: “Control Panel gives me an error.”

 

IT: (much harrumphing, some pacing)

 

Time passes.

 

IT: “Saydrah, could you show Cool CoWorker how to delete her photo gallery from the website?”

 

Me: “Sure.”

 

Other IT: “You know, she might need to be able to access My Disaboom for that.”

 

IT: (rinse and repeat harrumphing and pacing)

 

Me: *le sigh*

 

This is a fairly accurate summary of most of my day. See: Why I am blogging on WordPress, rather than working.

 

However, I think I have discovered what IT is really doing at work! (Link goes to a hilarious 10 minute video. Sorry, not captioned, and there seems to be no way I can find to rip it and put it on one of the free sites that lets you caption. So, for a summary, scroll down to the end of this post.)

 

So, yeah, now I need to think of something to fill up the next couple paragraphs, so folks who don’t want to see the plot summary have time to avert their eyes. Some random thoughts:

 

I have a feeling Nutro dog food will experience another recall soon. Have heard some murmurings from friends who work for the company. If you feed that brand, be cautious. Blue Buffalo and Canidae are both good brands to switch to in advance of a recall, if you’re worried.

 

Jerry Lewis does NOT deserve any Congressional Gold Medals. However, I suppose medals have been given in the past to people even more despicable. Not that this is any sort of an excuse. Merely an observation.

 

God I hope Barack pulls his head out of his rear and votes against FISA if telcom immunity isn’t stripped from the bill… I’ll vote for him regardless, but I am seriously considering reducing my consumption of cool photoshopped Obama pictures! I may even retract my assertion that Michelle deserves to become the next First Lady Fashion Icon (a la Jackie O.)

 

I wish the clouds would decide whether or not to deposit rain on my lawn, so that I can decide whether or not to water.

 

There’s a parade commemorating the 30th Anniversary of ADAPT’s bus blockades in Denver this weekend. I’m hoping I can go. If I do, I’ll take a camera and post photos here.

 

Okay, is that enough space?

 

Video Summary:

 

An IT professional is playing Halo online instead of working. Zhe (the voice could be female or male) receives a phone call from someone saying that “the website is down.” IT professional checks the website. It is not down. Zhe questions the annoyed caller and discovers that the website isn’t down; the caller’s internet connection is down. The caller demands that the server be rebooted anyway. IT professional instructs someone else to reboot the server and goes back to playing Halo.

 

Another call comes in, from a different person, whose website actually IS down. IT person, tabbing back and forth between Halo and investigating the problem, discovers that the server has been rebooted improperly. IT person calls back the first caller and tells them that the server now won’t come up because the first caller made the IT person reset it the wrong way.

 

IT person calls a third person, who apparently is the person who actually physically rebooted the server. IT person uses remote desktop to access the third person– Chip’s– computer, where zhe discovers an… interesting arrangement of icons. She fixes it, Chip demands that she change it back because now he can’t find his icons, and finally she ends up changing his background to a screenshot of the icons in their unique arrangement. Which, of course means Chip can’t click anything, but he is happy so long as he has what he thinks is the right arrangement back.

 

IT person proceeds to fix the server, and goes back to playing Halo.

 

I think this summary includes all relevant audio.

Strange Things My Dog Has Eaten Lately July 1, 2008

So, I’m a raw feeder. I give my dog a balanced, species-appropriate diet of raw meat, bone, and organs, based on a whole prey model. This, in my opinion, is the best diet for dogs, because it most closely resembles what thousands of years of evolution designed the canine digestive tract to process and the canine mouth and teeth to consume. The raw food helps clean his teeth, keep his immune system healthy, gives him a thick, shiny coat, build lean muscle, and he loves it. However, some people find it unendingly amusing to look through my freezer at all the strange things I feed my dog. So, in case some of those people read my blog, a short list of things in my freezer/that my dog has eaten lately:

 

• Pork hocks
• Whole Mackerel (Wholly Mackerel!)
• Ground Venison
• Elk Chops
• Chicken Feet
• Pork Liver
• Buffalo Kidney
• Lamb Chops
• Whole Guinea Fowl
• Turkey Necks
• Ground Antelope
• Ox Tails

 

Unfortunately, I still can’t seem to find any thymus, pancreas, or spleen!

 

Oh, and for the vegans/veggies in the crowd– I largely avoid meat (though I’m not a vegetarian), and I try to make sure the meat I buy for Gus is humanely raised, or buy meat from hunters who I know do everything possible to hunt humanely. The beef and pork in the freezer right now are from a guy who raises a steer and a pig every year to feed his family, and never sends them to a feedlot. But, the dog is a carnivore, carnivores need meat, and I’d rather see what meat he’s getting than feed him something out of a bag.

Red Winged Blackbird June 30, 2008

 

I thought I’d share this handsome fellow who sang to me on a recent evening as I walked my dog by the nearby lake. The picture is of a red winged blackbird perched on a piece of dried vegetation in front of a line of tall cat-tails and a lake, which is somewhat agitated by the breeze. He sat quite fearlessly as I snapped his photo, and continued to trill to potential mates as I walked on by.

New Coworker June 27, 2008

Seen above, my newest coworker contemplates the subject of her first blog post…

 

(Actually, Cheva brought her new pup, Izzy, to work)

Birds = <3 June 19, 2008

Got to attend a bird show recently. Like usual, I fell in love with some baby birds that I couldn’t take home. Someday I’ll have parrots, but not until I settle down a little more. Until then, here are some pictures: