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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Afternoon Open Thread

Afternoon Open Thread

by Cheryl Rofer|  December 8, 20183:54 pm| 68 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Open Threads

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There have been requests for Ric and Zooey in their outdoor outfits. This afternoon a crow harassed a red-tailed hawk across the yard while I was out with Ric.

It was pleasant today by midday. The cats are not fond of going out in snow and cold.

The photos are from a while back, as you can see from the green.

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68Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    I can never stop ??? at them in their vests.

  2. 2.

    Bart

    December 8, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    John Kelly is out.

    https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/1071479914115854339

    White House chief of staff John Kelly joins the long list of officials to leave the Trump administration. Here’s a look back at all the key staffers who have left so far.

    https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1071479777184399361

    Reminder: Less than 5 months ago, John Kelly said Trump asked him to stay on as chief of staff until at least 2020, and he agreed to do so. *something* changed … (by which I mean, John Kelly sat for an interview with Mueller’s team as part of the obstruction probe).

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    Kevonstage has another gem up.
    Had me HOLLERING????

    https://youtu.be/JK0EYJA31Rk

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    @Bart:
    John Kelly ain’t shyt?
    Good riddance

  5. 5.

    Thomas Levenson

    December 8, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    If I’m John Kelly, I’m talking to very good lawyers right now to assess his level of jeopardy. He surely knows by now that Trump is not someone to fall on a grenade for.

  6. 6.

    Thomas Levenson

    December 8, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    If I’m John Kelly, I’m talking to very good lawyers right now to assess my level of jeopardy. He surely knows by now that Trump is not someone to fall on a grenade for.

  7. 7.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    Someone at The Root said the list of people who’ve left the PEETUS administration is longer than a CVS receipt.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    Demons

    The New York Times (@nytimes) Tweeted:
    The Trump administration is opening up Alaska’s pristine Arctic refuge with extraordinary speed to lock in oil drilling before the 2020 election
    https://t.co/OvCx2dfx9q https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1071399515612217344?s=17

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:11 pm

    Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) Tweeted:
    Somehow I missed this. The ideology of the “real America” — only rural white people count — is rarely this naked

    https://t.co/dr0mly9aFZ https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1071441955488481282?s=17

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    Ava DuVernay (@ava) Tweeted:
    Please join me in giving @Lin_Manuel a round of applause for having the Best Week Ever. His to-do list for the past 7 days: Star on Walk of Fame. Check. Raves for Mary Poppins. Check. Pick up Kennedy Center Honors. Check. Go ahead and get a Golden Globe nod. Check. Bruh. Bravo!

    https://t.co/SfxkgbkYOa https://twitter.com/ava/status/1070787915431600128?s=17

  11. 11.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    I posted version 1 of this pic of the Orion Nebula last night, here’s version 2. It was taken outside my place here in Glendale with a 3 1/2 minute exposure, but the LA light pollution is pretty evident.

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) Tweeted:
    House Democrats and Nancy Pelosi waste no time, announce bill tackling America’s corrupt campaign finance system

    https://t.co/oz39IWph4H https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1071402348654796804?s=17

  13. 13.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:16 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    That was a great picture?

  14. 14.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    December 8, 2018 at 4:16 pm

    “Yellow Vests” shout ‘back’ in Russian.

    The spread of Russia on the planet
    Especially noticeable in the distance.
    In Paris in masks “yellow vests”
    Shout “BACK” in Russian.

    Translated by Google Translate

  15. 15.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:17 pm

    @rikyrah: Thanks, I’m going to try again in a darker place.

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) Tweeted:
    Nah I disagree with this. This implies poor white voters don’t know their interests and that the GOP gives them nothing. Poor white voters have better outcomes (jobs,education,healthcare,legal) than the majority of Black people. They want racial hierarchy and GOP gives it to them

    https://t.co/zPlpOqTZDC https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1070638007206715392?s=17

  17. 17.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    Providing care for patients with dementia is challenging. Medication doesn’t always ease their agitation and restlessness. Artificial intelligence is helping.

    Most afternoons, you’ll find 81-year-old Tom Clark snoozing with his pet cat, Aspen, on his lap. However, this cat doesn’t need to be fed or let outside. Aspen, the name of a cat he once had, isn’t real – but he just loves it.

    Aspen is a robotic cat with artificial intelligence built in — designed to do normal cat stuff like stretch, purr and roll on its back.

    “Sometimes, they’ll even ignore you the way a cat might, typically,” explained Psychologist Dr. Caitlin Holly.

    She started using these robotic pets about two months ago with dementia patients at the Stratton VA Medical Center Nursing Home.

    Nice, but there are so many affectionate, homeless cats who could be pressed into service.

    Automation is taking cats’ jobs now.

  18. 18.

    Doug R

    December 8, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    Do the vests help cut down on slip outs? Are they easier to put on than harnesses?

  19. 19.

    MattF

    December 8, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    @Thomas Levenson: Yeah, I think Kelly realizes that he has a big problem– he’s just been too close to Trump for too long. And Kelly knows better than to think that Trump will help, given that they despise each other.

    Trump will pardon anyone in his immediate family– but I think that’s as far as he’ll go.

  20. 20.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I wonder how it looks from the International Space Station. That would be a great photo opportunity.

  21. 21.

    LesGS

    December 8, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    They always look like they’re enjoying their jaunts. I’d like to take my cat for garden walks, but he’s allergic to fleas and getting bitten sends his immune system haywire. So he has to enjoy the outdoors through a window.

  22. 22.

    Corner Stone

    December 8, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    @MattF: Don’t give that motherfucker John Kelly an inch. He knows who he is and he knows what he did. Fuck him.

  23. 23.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    @germy: I think this might be one.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    December 8, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    @germy:

    Automation is taking cats’ jobs now.

    It comes to us all.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    December 8, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @Bart:

    I will repeat myself: I predict that Nielsen will also leave, whether by resigning or being fired, within two weeks.

    She will follow her man out of the White House.

    ETA: Autocorrect never works when you need it to. ?

  26. 26.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Here’s one from the the Hubble Space Telescope.

  27. 27.

    Redshift

    December 8, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Not-good pet news around our house lately. I’m at the vet with our bunny Buster, who stopped eating last night. (Not good for a ruminant.) The blood work shows kidney problems, which means she either got a bit blocked up and then got dehydrated, throwing off her kidney values, or her kidneys aren’t doing well and that caused the whole problem (which would be much worse.) She gets to stay at the emergency vet overnight; we’ll know more tomorrow.

    Two weeks ago her sister, at her checkup, showed signs of a possible cancer of the thymus gland. I get to take her to a specialist on Wednesday and then again for tests later. There’s still a possibility it will turn out to be nothing, but if not, we may have some hard decisions.

  28. 28.

    Platonailedit

    December 8, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Hard not to see all of these White House personnel changes over the past couple days as somewhat of an attempt to distract from the Mueller/SDNY News.

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 8, 2018

    Yup. The turd’s usual tactics.

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    December 8, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    @germy:

    Depending on how severe the patient’s dementia is, it may be best for everyone’s safety that it be a robotic cat. You don’t want a cat being injured or a human being bitten because the human is unable to read the cat’s signals or has a sudden fit of rage.

  30. 30.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    @Mnemosyne: That’s a good point.

    And I agree about Nielsen.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    @Redshift:
    Awe??
    Sending them positive thoughts.

  32. 32.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Do you suppose there’s life out there?

    I sort of do, though I doubt we’ll see evidence in my lifetime. I mean advanced life, like extraterrestrial octopuses or something.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    You have said this from the beginning??

  34. 34.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    @germy: They do say there are planetary systems in some of the new stars in the nebula.

  35. 35.

    ThresherK

    December 8, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    @germy: Are octogenarians ruining the pet food industry?

  36. 36.

    Mike in NC

    December 8, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    Right after the 2018 midterms there was a lot of speculation on how many people would try to escape the sinking of SS “Trumptanic”, so there could very well be a mass exodus of cabinet members and senior staff (Huckabee Sanders is supposed to be leaving, too).

  37. 37.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    @ThresherK: Charlie Chaplin once said the only thing America could boast about was nutritionally balanced cat food.

  38. 38.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I wonder how the evangelicals would react if we found trilobites buried in the Martian soil?

  39. 39.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 8, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @Doug R: Cats can get out of anything they can put their head through, and the vests are no exception. The trick is to stay behind the cats and keep tension pulling back. If you pull from the front, they’ll slip out.

    The vests are flat, with velcro at the neck and belly closures. So I slip the vest on the cat’s back, secure it around the neck, then the belly. If necessary, I go back to redo the neck closure. I try to leave a finger or two of extra room, particularly on the neck closure. The vests are called Kitty Holsters if you’re looking to buy them. I’m not crazy about that name though.

  40. 40.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Do they make cat vests that fit like a diaper? I tried a regular vest on a cat I loved many decades ago, and it was like watching Houdini. A diaper design might be more difficult to slide out of.

  41. 41.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    @germy: FAKE NEWS!

  42. 42.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    December 8, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @germy:
    Probably. There’s probably some under the ice of Europa. Intelligent life? That’s much rarer, I suspect. Technologically advanced life even more so. It’s possible humanity is the most advanced species in the universe. Isn’t that a depressing and ego-boosting thought, all at the same time lol?

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    December 8, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    @germy

    Granted it’s a long shot, I’m rooting for bottlecaps.

  44. 44.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

    It’s possible humanity is the most advanced species in the universe. Isn’t that a depressing and ego-boosting thought, all at the same time

    Yes, it’s a weird combination. I look at my neighbor with his “BITE ME” t-shirt and bad haircut (or my own less than impressive reflection in the mirror) and I think “This can’t be the apogee of life.”

  45. 45.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    @NotMax:

    “Found On Mars: Statue Of Elvis”

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 8, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @germy: I would (probably) never leave the house in a “BITE ME” t-shirt, but my attitude is (silently) wearing one every day.

    And I have a bad haircut, but at this point I think it’s just bad hair

  47. 47.

    JanieM

    December 8, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @germy:

    Someone at The Root said the list of people who’ve left the PEETUS administration is longer than a CVS receipt.

    LOL.

    Receipts as long as novellas, and upselling: these things will be banned when I’m in charge. “It’s only thirty cents more for a grande……” Yeah, no, and I don’t want a cookie, either. Nor do I want you to waste paper printing me a buy one cookie, get one free coupon. If I don’t want one cookie, I double dog don’t want two.

    Yelling at clouds……..

  48. 48.

    mad citizen

    December 8, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @Redshift: Sorry to hear that Redshift, hoping for the best. How old are they? We lost sister-littermates over the last couple of years.

  49. 49.

    Frankensteinbeck

    December 8, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @Bart:
    This has been a long time coming. I’m not sure how it happened at all. We may find out that it was Kelly who decided he’d had enough. Trump is such a coward about firing people, and Kelly obviously scares him.

    @Mnemosyne:
    If so, it will be very strong evidence for your theory.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    December 8, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t have any real proof, so it’s still possible that I’m wrong and their relationship is a totally innocent one between a professional mentor and his protegee.

    But another factor that I’ve been thinking about is that Kelly always had a reputation as a guy who was very rigid about sticking to the straight and narrow. For a lot of people like that, if they break one rule (like having an affair), it can start a slide down into worse and worse behavior because they figure they have nothing to lose since they already broke one of their own major moral rules.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    December 8, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Computer nerd friends have been known to sport a BYTE ME shirt.

    I *think* they may have outgrown* that by now.

    *either chronologically, physically, or both.

  52. 52.

    Redshift

    December 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @mad citizen: They’re almost eight. So, not young, but not elderly for indoor rabbits either.

    Thanks for the support, everyone.

  53. 53.

    A Ghost To Most

    December 8, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    My cats would cut me if I tried to put them on a leash. One went off on me this morning because I let the other cat out, and made cat1 give up her blockade of the door.

  54. 54.

    Fair Economist

    December 8, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @germy: Actual trilobites would freak out the scientific community. Creationists would not care. What they say doesn’t make a lick of sense anyway.

  55. 55.

    ixnay

    December 8, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Not to mention that caregivers are already overworked, and should not have feeding and poop-scooping added to their chores. There have been plenty of times I have wished for foodless, scoopless cats.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    December 8, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    @Fair Economist

    Actual trilobites would freak out the scientific community.

    Especially when they open up a Mars trilobite and discover it has a creamy nougat center.

  57. 57.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 8, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    @germy: Not that I’m aware of.

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    December 8, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) Tweeted:
    The NYT report about Jared Kushner helping MbS “weather the storm” after Khashoggi’s murder seems to confirm large parts of this @MiddleEastEye article — you know, the one that a whole lot of people threw cold water on when it came out several weeks ago.

    https://t.co/NxcvSAZGrK https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1071526713681682432?s=17

  59. 59.

    eemom

    December 8, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    @Redshift:

    I’m so sorry about the bunnies. Hoping for the best.

    No matter how many animals one has loved, this never gets any easier.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 8, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    a darker place.

    My frequent mood, since November 9, 2016.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 8, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @NotMax: I’m gonna make “Trilobite Me” tee-shirts and make a fortune selling them at paleontology conferences!

    I am the very model of a modern stable genius!

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 8, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    @Redshift:

    Oh, I’m sorry about your bunnies. I wish them both well.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    December 8, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Gotta, just gotta, name your company Jurassic Snark.

    ;)

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 8, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I would (probably) never leave the house in a “BITE ME” t-shirt, but my attitude is (silently) wearing one every day.

    Heh. I don’t have (nor would I wear) a “BITE ME” t-shirt, but I do own and cheerfully wear one that proclaims “I AM SILENTLY CORRECTING YOUR GRAMMAR.”

  65. 65.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 8, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I like dark places, I travel hundreds of miles to find nice dark places.

  66. 66.

    germy

    December 8, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    Gary Cohen, former CEO Goldman Sachs addressing new members of Congress today: "You guys are way over your head, you don't know how the game is played."

    No Gary, YOU don't know what's coming – a revolutionary Congress that puts people over profits. https://t.co/ZLML2qzAW6

    — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 6, 2018

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    December 8, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    But another factor that I’ve been thinking about is that Kelly always had a reputation as a guy who was very rigid about sticking to the straight and narrow. For a lot of people like that, if they break one rule (like having an affair), it can start a slide down into worse and worse behavior because they figure they have nothing to lose since they already broke one of their own major moral rules.

    I tend to agree. It’s clear that John Kelly is behaving very differently from what people who know/knew him expected. We’ve heard several reports along those lines. For someone who is very rigid, if they break one rule they may not have capacity to adjust and get back equilibrium. It might be like jumping off a cliff. Break one rule, you’re all the way in. Might as well break all the rules.

  68. 68.

    Amir Khalid

    December 8, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    a professional mentor and his protegee.

    Thank you for not saying “mentee” like some ignoramuses do.

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