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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Tuesday Night Open Thread

Tuesday Night Open Thread

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You know, it’s been a little over a year since Max came home with me, and it’s kind of amazing how much the two of us have bonded over that time. He’s really an interesting beast, and so unlike all the other cats I have known. He’s stubborn and willful but also desperate for attention always, he’s independent, yet needs significant amount of petting and love. He’s ornery as all hell, but mostly in a playful sense.

He has a ton of really weird idiosyncracies- one of which is that if I call him, he comes RACING in and I can hear his little bell jingling the whole way, and as soon as he has sight of me, he starts chirping and then chirps with every step.

Another really funny thing he does is that showering is no longer a private affair. When I get into the shower, he will come into the bathroom and sit outside the shower the entire time I am in there, he will sit there quietly. When I finish and pull open the curtain, it always startles him, and he starts chatting up a storm and doing the figure eight between my legs getting hair stuck all over them. He then follows me to the bedroom, and as I am sitting on the bed putting my socks on, he chatters non stop and attacks the socks as I try to put them on.

He’s really turned out to be a first rate companion, and I am so glad he is here.

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  6. 6.

    frosty

    I’m not a cat person. But for a cat like Max I could come around. I like the descriptions of chattering and chirping.

  7. 7.

    Shalimar

    I assume the National Enquirer’s headline for today will be Gagged Trump screwed by Pecker

  8. 8.

    Chief Oshkosh

    My wife had a cat like that, got her a couple of years before we married and we had her with us for a good, long time. Just non-stop love for over 17 years. Originally a rescue, natch.

    So enriching

    ETA: She was part Siamese, had the colorings and the “intelligence.” But it ended there. She was round in body and face, and sort of goofy looking. And no whiny meow – just the chirping and purring. God we loved the cat.

  11. 11.

    Ripley

    Another really funny thing he does is that showering is no longer a private affair. When I get into the shower, he will come into the bathroom and sit outside the shower the entire time I am in there, he will sit there quietly.

    One of my little dogs does the same thing, then starts licking my legs while I towel off. “OK, buddy, that’s… OK, enough… git!”

    Ya love ’em, but sometimes…

  12. 12.

    Barbara

    Is anyone following the PA primary? Latest returns show Biden with 95% of vote, and Haley pulling above 20% in the R poll. I loathe Haley but she seems to be pulling quite the protest voting bloc.

  19. 19.

    Dan B

    We finally have a cat who talks a bit.  She often chirps when she comes in and when my partner’s in the kitchen near the treats.  Silly girl.

  23. 23.

    laura

    Man, I’m thinking of all my cats of yore and currents, and how I miss them’s that have gone and those being current- The Mink, our refined yet goofy Tuxedo; Timmy, the gentlest of Tabby’s; Mr Skippy who showed up last Summer dying of no love and heat and no hydration- who then fucked off to Jane’s where he became that Egyptian God Cat and found a deep and abiding cat friendship, and our Big Spotty Marie and little Chiona- the love child of Edward G Robinson and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

    Cats, Can’t imagine a life without cats.

  26. 26.

    JoyceH

    Can I talk dog in a cat thread? Whimsy is seven months old now and I think she’s going to be bigger than Jazzy, perhaps significantly bigger. And, this being the first time I’ve had more than one dog at a time, I don’t know if what is going on is rough play and sibling stuff or dominance-aggressive behavior. Whimsy always instigates it and there’s a lot of jumping at one another, making ferocious faces and a lot of noise. Whimsy also bites at Jazzy but not hard. I’d hate to think my lovely new puppy is bullying my sweet old dog and not sure what I should do.

  29. 29.

    Barbara

    @Marcopolo: Weird, I had the same reaction.  It’s been so long since I voted in Pennsylvania that I don’t know the primary process anymore.  In Virginia you ask for the specific party ballot, but it’s all processed by the same machinery, so presumably counted at the same time.  No idea.

  31. 31.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Ripley: I had a cat who did the shower thing. She was intensely territorial, so my theory is that since I no longer had her scent on me when I got out of the shower, she had to re-scent me so that any other cat I may happen to come across would know that This Human Is Already Claimed.

    I agree that this blog needs moar pics of Maxwell.

  33. 33.

    Spanky

    @Marcopolo:

    Now someone explain to me why they’d have counted so much more of the D vote?  Shouldn’t it be the same?

    Returns come in early from Pittsburgh and Philly. It takes longer for the mule to bring in the results from the Alabama part of the state.

  34. 34.

    Barbara

    @Marcopolo: It could be mail in and/or early voting if allowed.  I do recall from 2020 that the Pennsylvania legislature commanded that mail-in and early votes be counted last, leading to Trump’s absurd election fraud claims.  Maybe they have since found the common sense necessary to count early and mail-in votes once the poll closes if they have already been recorded.

  36. 36.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I was driving on the I-10/I-17 freeways yesterday in Phoenix when I saw one of those flatbed eighteen wheelers with police flashers on and some kind of solid dark brown possibly tank/vehicle?? I only caught a glimpse of it since I was driving and it was hauling ass. My initial thought was military but it wasn’t camouflage and it was police lights. My second thought was a SWAT situation but I’ve been watching local news and haven’t heard of anything. It was just odd and I’ve never seen anything like that before.

  37. 37.

    CaseyL

    I love talkative cats.  We have conversations, neither of us understanding much (if anything) the other has to say, but enjoying the effort.  Oscar has become quite chatty since Jeannie died – and quite demanding.  He also has a thing for the shower – but he comes in after I’ve stepped out, to look into the tub and make sure none of that horrible water is still hanging around.  Having done his safety inspection, he waits outside the bathroom while I towel off.

    @JoyceH:  I’m not a dog expert, but I do know doggie play can look like a fight, including the growling and mouth opening/teeth flashing.  Are they doing the “play bow” at all (when a dog lowers the front half of their body, head level with their front paws, tail arched high over their back)? Are their lips relaxed, rather than drawn back over their teeth? Then they’re playing.

    Is Jazzy acting like she’s afraid? Does she try to escape or hide?  Does she look to you for help?  If she’s doing that, you may have to intervene.

    I’d check with an actual dog expert, but that’s my take.

  40. 40.

    Freemark

    @Marcopolo: I’m sure Dems voted by mail by a much larger proportion. Which are counted entirely at voter registration headquarters in each county. No waiting for individual precincts to report. Might be the reason.

  42. 42.

    Anoniminous

    Senate passed the Ukraine Bill.  Expect Biden to sign it as soon as it gets to his desk.

  43. 43.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Chief Oshkosh: It sounds to me like Max has some Siamese in him, too.  The chirping and general talking especially.  I think he also has the long lean Siamese body.

  47. 47.

    Martin

    @Marcopolo: As for the PA primary looks like Biden will get around 95% of the D vote (about 50% counted so far) while Trump will settle in around 80% of the R vote (about 35% of the vote in.  Now someone explain to me why they’d have counted so much more of the D vote?  Shouldn’t it be the same?

    Usually not. The two main variables are where Democrats live, and how Democrats vote.

    Democratic votes in PA are _really_ heavily concentrated in Philly and Pittsburgh. If those counties count quickly, then those votes will be reported sooner. Philly used to be very quick. Democrats also more likely vote by mail/vote early than Republicans and those ballots could be counted sooner or later depending on laws and just general process.

    Here in my county (Orange County), there’s no real pattern to which precincts will come in earlier or later. But votes come in 3 general waves. Early votes received prior to Election Day get counted early but not reported. So when polls close, those counts drop immediately. The registrar takes the day before and through Election Day to reorganize their equipment away from mail ballots to same-day ballots. So the next wave is the same-day counts which usually continues through the day after (wed). They then take a day off from these near 24 hour shifts. Then they reorganize equipment again and start counting the mail in/drop box ballots that were received after that first count and which will continue to come in for the next week. This is normally a larger count than the first count.

    So watching races like Katie Porter, which have always been close, involve seeing the relative mix of D/R votes in the first mail in which favored her, then taking the same-day which disfavored her and usually had her losing, and then watching the late mail/dropbox pull back in her favor. From the size of the outstanding ballot numbers and the performance of that first mail-in group, I can usually predict pretty well whether she’ll pull it back or not.

    Voter behavior and knowing how different areas count.

  48. 48.

    JoyceH

    @CaseyL: They do bare their teeth and make ferocious faces. Jazzy seems more exasperated than frightened. Sometimes she’s wanting to sleep when Whimsy starts a ruckus.

  50. 50.

    CaseyL

    @JoyceH: I think that’s just play, and at 7 months, Whimsy is basically a teenager – too much energy, and no place to put it.  (Jazzy is the middle aged lady who is no longer interested in this sort of thing.)

    You might try seeing if there are dog parks nearby you could take Whimsy to, where he can burn off some energy.  Or get one of those gadgets that spits tennis balls by the carload for him to chase :)

  51. 51.

    Eolirin

    @laura: Biden endorsed her. And her primary challenger had a ton of right wing billionaire money behind him. It’s much better that she didn’t lose.

  52. 52.

    David 🏀Caitlin Clark🏀 Koch

    U.S. Senate PASSES foreign aid package, 79-18.

    Another overwhelming bipartisan victory for Biden.

    Master of the Senate

  54. 54.

    JoyceH

    @CaseyL: Yeah, I need to get her more exercise – but I’m old too! I tell Whimsy to give us a break “everyone else here is old!”

  55. 55.

    JoyceH

    I do see Jazzy play with toys sometimes which she’d pretty much abandoned before the puppy. And sometimes she comes back into the house with dirt on her nose. Like granny finger painting with the toddler, she’s rediscovered the joy of digging. Dang it.

  56. 56.

    TBone

    @frosty: yeah I know, it just sucks when I’m reminded by the numbers how many more of them live here.  We didn’t even have a Dem candidate for one of the PA Senate districts on my ballot.  I know Biden and Casey will win in the general!

  57. 57.

    Kelly

    Phoebe likes Mrs Kelly to thoroughly massage her with wet hands and a damp towel after her shower. Not after my shower only Mrs Kelly.

  59. 59.

    Gvg

    @Chief Oshkosh: original Siamese breed was round until ruined IMO by people who decided they should be long and skinny. The old style was called apple heads and some people still breed to that standard. Yours sounds like the original Siamese.

    Becoming popular can ruin a breed.

  61. 61.

    Jackie

    Another Union win for Biden!

    “Joe Biden will land a major union endorsement Wednesday from North America’s Building Trades Unions, whose leaders say the president has his infrastructure bill largely to thank for it,” CNN reports.

    “In making one of their earliest ever presidential endorsements, NABTU leaders are kickstarting an eight-figure organizing program to try to deliver their 250,000 members in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden.”

  62. 62.

    Scout211

    Reposted from the dead thread (discussion started with smith)

    ABC

    The U.S. Secret Service held meetings and started planning for what to do if former President Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement, officials familiar with the situation told ABC News.

    Merchan on Tuesday reserved decision on the matter after a contentious hearing. Prosecutors said at this point they are seeking a fine.

    “We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty,” assistant district attorney Chris Conroy said, “But the defendant seems to be angling for that.”

    Officials do not necessarily believe Merchan would put Trump in a holding cell in the courthouse but they are planning for contingencies, the officials said.

    There have not been discussions yet about what to do if Trump is convicted and sentenced to prison.

  64. 64.

    smith

    @Scout211: I’m a little skeptical that they are just now starting to plan for this. You would think a security force would look at the full range of possibilities once he was indicted for offenses that could lead to being jailed or imprisoned, if for no other reason than avoiding having to scramble and do a sloppy job at the last minute.

  65. 65.

    CaseyL

    In other feline news, Oscar today – for the first time ever! – climbed into my lap on his own.

    He loves being in my lap, but I always have to pick him up and put him there.  Jeannie made it very clear that my lap was “hers,” and it’s taken a year and a half since her death for him to decide to try climbing in on his own.  Very proud of my old boy!

    Hope he makes a habit of it, rather than me having to ask “Lap? Do you want lap“? and pick him up seven-plus times a day.

  66. 66.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Anoniminous: it didn’t look like your typical military transporter. We have a base here and I often drive near the National Guard training area and I’ve seen the transporters. They’re usually camouflage. This wasn’t camouflage. And the police flashers looked like they were built into the vehicle not the temporary ones. Like I said it was an odd sight.

  68. 68.

    RevRick

    @Barbara:

    @TBone:

    It looks like President Biden will garner at least a million votes, while the GOP vote total will not add up to that much and 16% of the GOP voters picked Haley. Casey has garnered about 150,000 more votes than McCormick statewide.
    I think that PA Democratic voters have accidentally stumbled upon the best regional combination of statewide candidates:

    Casey the northeast, Kenyatta, Philly, and DePasquale and McClelland the west

  69. 69.

    KrackenJack

    @TBone: There is an amazingly dumb analysis of the PA primaries in the WaPo that talked up GOP hopes for the Senate race. They have a hedge fund billionaire who lives in *Connecticut* and came in *second* to “TV Dr” Oz in the last primary. He’s challenging an incumbent from the most politically successful family in the state – who BTW already has a seven point lead.

  70. 70.

    RevRick

    @KrackenJack: McCormick advertises the Senate is full of weak people and he will make the tough/hard choices. Given that he’s a hedge fund guy, it’s not hard to translate that claim. In line with the 2025 GOP agenda, he will be all in on privatization of Social Security and Medicare, gutting Medicaid and the ACA, and shoveling a ton of money into the laps of those who already have a ton of money.

  73. 73.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Voids are great cats. We had one years ago named Sammy. Very personable cat and loved to talk all of the time. We have always talked to our cats which is probably why our cats like to talk to us. Morty and Chuckie are the chattiest cats we’ve ever had, with Chuckie the leader by more than a few whiskers. They are both Scottish Folds and have some Thai cat in them, which is the old school Siamese cat. Morty bitches so much that I call him Elton Cat (as in The Bitch is Back) but Chuckie mrrs and chirps every time he sees someone as he is passing through the house.

    If I’m up too late Chuckie will find me to complain about it. I’ve tried to catch footage of it but he clams up with the camera is out (so far). He will stand at the door with his head level, eyes screwed upward to look at me while making a kind of clicking/murring noise while his left lip goes up and down, showing his fang. It’s really weird and cute.

    I’m glad you’re loving your void, John. It sounds like he’s quite smitten with you so you must be doing something right! ;)

    Moar pictures! Jeez…

  75. 75.

    TrainedWreck

    Ahhhh! I loved this post! As a husky owned HOOMAN… I can 💯 relate all of it! The ornery, stubborn, mischievous, independent mindset, coupled w loooook @ meeeee, Total Love/ genuine Trust, let’s snuggle cuddle fuzzy bum &/or always at least one of the 4 feets he insists be connected … wrapped in also too 💯 immediate total  fuzzying precisely moment the briefly defuzzed bits necessary (or so we assumed) to continue Being the treats/ love provider… sooo much looove ty! 🤩🐾💯💗😂🌀🎶

  77. 77.

    Betty

    Late to the thread, but it struck me that you and Max have a lot in common, ornery but in a good way.

  78. 78.

    TerryC

    @Ripley: My Texas Heeler, Bobbi, loves licking my legs while drying off but she also traps me on the potty for leg-licking. Quite annoying.

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