Out, Standing In Her Field

As of 9:15am EDT, we have kittens. Two so far, although I fear for the first kitten, a red tabby. It wasn’t breathing when I discovered them (in the box I provided), so I gave it a bit of CPR. It’s breathing and crying, but not moving very much, unlike Kitten #2 (a tortie) who popped out of the chute screaming and wiggling as soon as her head was clear of the sac. A pair of lungs on that one; I can hear her all the way in the computer room.

Update: The head count as of 12:15pm EDT is at least four. There may be a fifth buried under all its sibling, but since no one will stop wriggling long enough to count, I can’t tell, and Kaylee appears to be preparing for yet another. Number One is still in there trying although its teat radar seems to be malfunctioning. It looks like it was a difficult birth; the “wee mite” is as long as my hand and quite a bit larger than the others. I may have to resort to hand feeding to keep it alive.

Update 5:30pm EDT: There was, in fact, a fifth kitten. Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive until after 4:00pm and was stillborn. Poor Kaylee was quite frantic during those hours and was bleeding; I could leave the hall in front of the closet for more than a few seconds at a time before she would come looking for me, howling all the while. Now that the dead kitten has been expelled, she’s much more calm, and the bleeding is finally slowing. Number One has finally gotten with the program and is doing its part, suckling like crazy to make up for lost time.

So, unless something untoward happens, the final count is four, one red tabby, one tortie, one orange and white, and one white with black spots. Provisional names are Number One, Stripe, Notdot, and Hamster. Except for the tortie, genders unknown…

Thanks to Jen of Crafting Jen who came and held my hand this afternoon to keep me in line.

A Cause: Rebels gain a virtual foothold

Okay, anybody who’s taken the time to scroll down my sidebar a bit will see an icon for Second Life. I have succumbed to the lure of a virtual life in which I can look any way I want, and fly, and teleport great distances to attend concerts, take courses in Buddhism, hob-nob with people from all over the world and generally carry on in a way that I wouldn’t — or couldn’t — in Real Life.

The “Revolution” mentioned in this article, is, in fact, old news, and compromises have been worked out. There is corporate presence in Second Life, but I haven’t noticed it unduly disrupting my experience. One has to seek it out; The Weather Channel has it’s own Island — all set up to offer virtual surfing, snowboarding and mountain biking experiences to support their series “Extreme Conditions.” I went surfing: I can’t do that in Real Life. Come to think of it, I’m not much of a virtual surfer either.

But Linden Labs is setting up new “land” all the time, and if you’re quick, just as in the real world, you can get in on the ground floor, even make a few bucks selling or leasing your virtual real estate empire. Or, you can rent, or just squat at a Welcome center. Land owning is for the truly dedicated; it’s not a prerequisite for enjoying oneself in Second Life. Besides, if you own land, you have to pay property taxes….

The population statistics given in the article are only half the story. Sure, there are 2.5 million (and counting) accounts on the Grid, but not everyone logs in simultaneously. The online population seems to vary between 25-40 thousand at a time. Some people signed up for accounts and don’t use them. Furthermore, since this is an international thing, the online population varies with time zone; as one zone logs off and goes to bed, there’s a lull as a new zone wakes up and logs on. On top of everything else, some people have more than one account. I have two, one for a female avatar and one for a male, but I can’t use both accounts at the same time.

As for the non-paying population putting an undue load on the grid without returning anything, that’s a load of cyber-poop. We (I’m one of those free-loaders) still manage to put money into the economy, build things, and contribute to the sum of world knowledge. Charity is high; as one generation of newbies gets integrated, they pass on their knowledge and Linden Dollars to the next generation. Those with freebie accounts will either upgrade if they are truly enjoying the experience, or will log out one day and never return.

So, maybe I don’t get what the so-called revolution was about. Does it matter, in the long run, if the real estate companies are making all the big money? I can’t afford a home of my own in real life, either: I don’t expect my landlord to give up his business so that I can. And, I’m certainly not in Second Life to earn a living, never mind a great fortune; I’m just there to get out of myself, be in a community and have fun.

The folks who worry about corporate oppression just have to remember America Online’s eventual fate. Once AOL stopped allowing user-created content, and sold out to the big corporations, the users start drifting away. Now, AOL is just another bump on the information super-highway.

And, yes… there really was an invasion of giant cocks.

Update: I went back to the Second Life website to check my stats. The number of accounts is in excess of 5 million, 1.6 million of whom have logged on in the past 60 days (doesn’t say if those are unique log-ons) and over 250 thousand US dollars have changed hands in the past 24 hours. Pretty good for a non-real country…

I’ve been admonished to blog more often, in spite of the fact that my life is generally pretty boring, and I’m plum of of political outrage at the moment. I haven’t even got up the get-go to follow the cat around with the camera…

Speaking of whom…

Some months ago I posted a picture of a young cat who came to visit. Attempts to return her to her owners were a failure: even time we’d send her back, she’d bolt and wind up on our balcony again. Once she even persuaded someone to let her into the building and we found her howling on the doorstep. That’ll teach us to try to deny her.

So, now her name is Kaylee, and she’s costing us a fortune in cat food.

Of course, the last time she got away from her former owners (before everybody gave up and decided that here was where she was bound and determined to be), she was in the midst of a round of major cat-crazies. It soon became apparent that she was, that is, is pregnant. The vet I talked to about getting her repaired, post haste, refused. Something about the surgery being more difficult, or some other bullshit. Never mind there’s a population explosion going on, cat-wise, we simply can’t abort the wee mites…

Fine. So now I have this hugely pregnant cat, really hardly more than a kitten herself. She’s not taking this gracefully; she’s quite annoyed that she can’t shinny up the curtains any more, and she demands to be fed twice as much as any normal cat could consume. Eating for two — or maybe half a dozen — I suppose.

I’ve never attended a cat-birth before. I have no idea what to expect. The only cat care book in my possession, The Natural Cat, has only one thing to say on the subject: prevent your cat from becoming pregnant. She author doesn’t seem to care or acknowledge that sometimes accidents happen, or you may actually be breeding cats, or you acquire a cat already in that state, and maybe some advice might be in order. Grumph…

Anyway… I’m not 100% sure how far along she is — other than she looks like she’s swallowed a basketball. Could be today, or a couple of weeks. She allowed me to place my hand on her belly last night, and I felt the kittens move. However, she has not started looking for a nest, and shows no interest at the boxes I’ve set up for her in various closets. I suppose she’ll have ‘em in the middle of my bed…

First, it was Scooter Libby’s faulty memory regarding the leakage of security secrets.

Now, it’s Karl Rove and Harriet Meir’s hazy recollections of whether or not they suggested the dismissal of US Attorneys General for political reasons. If these people can’t remember doing and saying things that are at least of moderate importance to the national governance, how can they remember the details of the really important stuff? Will they suddenly forget that they started a war?

Now, I can see where advancing age might impair one’s memory; I’m a frequent victim of what my late mother-in-law called “Senior Moments” myself. However, if it’s something I really need to remember, like doctor’s appointments or unusual ingredients for a special recipe, I generally write them down or note it on my computer calendar.

Of course, if you’re going to do something scandalous and/or illegal, perhaps one would forgo leaving any damning notes or email lying around, but how would you write that juicy memoir to support your lavish lifestyle in your golden years after leaving office? How do you prove to your base that you’re really taking every possible measure to insure that their agenda is being pushed forward?

So, not only are these people self-centered, greedy and just plain “evil,” they’re also suffering from the onset of dementia.

But… you knew that.

Al Gore’s Remission of Sin

I guess if the nay-sayers of climate change, AKA global warming, can’t get us on the science, they’ll try to take us out with the religious angle.

Wanting to keep the world from being swept away by violent weather and catastrophic drought just ain’t Christian. Real Christians(tm) would want the destruction of the world — it’s God’s will, after all. Nevermind that not everyone is a Luddite-Fundagelical, don’t believe these are the End Times, and would want a better world for their children and children’s children to grow up in.

Coulter under fire for anti-gay slur - CNN.com

Really? And, they’re just noticing it now? Which gopher hole has CNN had its collective head stuck in lately?

Li’l Orphan Annie says it was just a joke, her usual excuse for saying mean, stupid things. A bit of advice, Annie, honey: leave the comedy to the professionals. Your timing sucks.

I wouldn’t worry about being sent to rehab for using the word “faggot.” At least you won’t be lonely; you can share a room with one of the folks who applauded and laughed at your tasteless “joke.”

I may be forced by the Constitution to defend to the death your right to your opinion (and the right of the media to cover your shenanigans), Ms. Coulter, but nowhere is it written that I have to like or condone it.

The comment spammers have finally found me. In an effort to derail the growing wad of stuff I don’t want to pay to store, I’m disabling (I hope) my comment stream until further notice.

Sorry about that. Those of you who need to get in touch with me already know how. Be seeing you!

Update: Well, that didn’t work. Must try something else. Bryan, give me a email….

I’m writing this post from my new computer. I must say that I’m quite impressed with the new machine, particularly the monitor. I can actually see stuff at its highest resolution because I can adjust the font sizes globally without messing up anything else. The fact that it has a high DPI and a bigger screen doesn’t hurt either.

As for the box itself, the thing that has struck me most is the silence. The fans are wicked quiet. However, this is the first machine that I’ve encounter that does not have any serial ports. This may become an annoyance when trying to set up my scanner, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. A friend gifted me with her husband’s old Palm (she got a new one and gave hubby her old one, the finest in recycling!) and the cradle uses a serial port; fortunately, there are adapters available.

It may take me a bit to get used to Vista. So far I’m having trouble locating stuff, and remembering where to find it later. Of course, this may just be a function of advancing age. I don’t have the fancy Aero interface, which, as noted previously, is fine with me. It is possible to make the interface look just like my old version of Windows which I may do until I finsh getting all my software ported over. Then, I can start fooling around.

Meanwhile, I’m off to use some wizards. See ya later, dudes and dudettes!

The Social Security Administration finally decided that I am gimpy enough to qualify for disability benefits. It took less than 9 months which is, from what I’ve heard, some kind of speed record. Just in time though; it wasn’t going to be too long before I dropped off the edge of the world.

So, in the fullness of time, the SSA (which seems to be ASS spelled backwards, but I’m reserving judgment on their performance for now) has sent me the lump sum for all the payments I would have been due if they had been able to process my application within the 5-month waiting period. Not an enormous sum, but it is enough to do something I’ve wanted to do for several years now:

Upgrade my computer.

Well, actually, replace my computer entirely. Poor ol’ Nellie ain’t got the giddiup to handle my favorite programs, particularly the latest and greatest versions. More bloatware, but the images they produce may actually be worth the overhead.

So, I did the research, and got on the phone to Dell. It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve had to buy a computer, and the selection of options are mind-boggling. I’m very easily boggled these days. Dell’s award-winning website just made matters worse; I had a very specific list of requirements that had to be met in order to run Bryce 6 and Poser 7, and looking at the choices of processors left me scratching my head. It doesn’t say 1 gHz anywhere. Fast clock speeds are wicked important for 3D rendering. I had to talk to a person, preferable someone with the specs in front of them.

After wending my way through Dell’s phone menus, I finally hooked up with a nice, young man who guided me through the purchase. Dell declined my line of credit, which I sort assumed they would, but I had other options for payment. I’ve waited quite a while to be able to make such a purchase, another two weeks (give or take) is no big deal. It’s going to be cash up front.

By the time we actually made it all the way through the ordering process, I was hyped out of my head. He pushed the button and the order (or, in my case, the quote) was in the pipe.

Five seconds after I’d hung up the phone, maybe less, I realized that the rep hadn’t given me the total amount. How the heck was I supposed to write a check? I dialed again, only to be informed that I had reached Dell after business hours. Huh? Dialed again, navigated through the menus pushed “0″ a couple of times and got a customer service rep. She couldn’t find the quote on her system, because it hadn’t gone through yet.

Uh… OK, I’ll give that it might take a bit for the order data to become available for viewing, but it took me at least 15 minutes to get to the rep. Surely, Dell-Corps computers aren’t that pokey. I suspect my rep was somewhere off-shore, but I wasn’t rude enough (or interested enough) to ask. She opened a trouble ticket and sent me an email. (Odd — the guy who took my order didn’t ask for my email address. Rookies!)

Hung up. Went through Dell Menu Hell again. Got a different rep and the same story. However, this girl spent some time poking keys and conferring with her manager, and eventually she transferred me back to sales. The girl in sales was able to pull up my order, we went over all of it again, got addresses, yada yada, and finally I got the grand total of my order so I could, at last, after 45 minutes of farting around, write the damned check! I also got a new quotation# and a new rep ID; sales person #2 will get credit for the sale. Sorry, bubba, Ya gotta pay attention.

Now I get to say: “The check is in the mail!” And, this time I really mean it.

Oh, yeah… I wanted to get Windows XP installed on my new computer, as it seemed to be a requirement to run my programs. Nope. Can’t get it. Gotta settle for Windows Vista. I’m leery about anything new coming out of Micro$oft (Who isn’t?), but allegedly the Big M has repaired all the leaks.

I guess I’m going to be a guinea pig. Light a candle (or tease a neo-con) for me.
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Update: Apparently, no one had a clue about my order after all. Called Dell yet again on Wednesday, and after the usual run-around, got to the sales dept. The Sales Rep found the quote; we both came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to put a stop payment on the check, and re-do the order, this time paying for it through my debit card. No one mentioned that that was a possiblity the first time around. Furthermore, Sales Rep #3 found me a promotion that saved me a few bucks.

Now my order appears in my account on the Dell website, and I can track its progress. As of this morning. it’s in production with an estimated shipping date of 2/8. O.M.Gs

Oprahs school for girls opens Tuesday - CNN.com

Oprah Winfrey is so rich, she can do just about anything she wants to — and frequently gets lots of publicity doing so. Her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa is one of her best ideas yet, and has garnered a great deal of attention. This attention will feed back into more donations and support, and make the school an even bigger success.

Last March, ABC’s Good Morning America did a story on Greg Mortenson and his mission to build schools in the wilds of Central Asia. I haven’t heard a peep about his efforts amidst the brouhaha about Oprah, and I think that’s a sad thing. The Central Asia Institute doesn’t have a big celebrity’s deep pockets behind it, and depends mostly on much smaller donations, many of which come from American school children who do “penny drives” in their communities. This effort is at least as important as Oprah’s, and goes far beyond just educating a few girls. It also goes forth in a part of the world which is notably more dangerous.

So, I encourage all my readers to make even a small donation to the Central Asia Institute again this year. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, and it would probably do some good.