catradiction

Part of me really wants to understand what is going on in Kipper’s head. I suppose most cat/other pet owners feel that way frequently.

Kipper is a very clingy cat. This is a little surprising since in theory he was a stray for the first two years of his life. Nevertheless, he pretty much always wants to be sleeping on me, preferably right by my face. Let’s just say, my right shoulder will never be cold again. (He’s there right now even though it’s 76 degrees in here.) In addition to this, he is very food focused. He is not remotely picky about his food. He eats things cats shouldn’t like. I almost never intentionally give him people food, but his love of uncooked pasta never ceases to amuse me.

Given these two facts, I am amazed at one particular behaviour pattern he exhibits. Ever since the first day I brought him home, when I bring a plate of food with me to the couch, he gets lost. He doesn’t try to sit on my lap. He doesn’t try to get at my food. He goes off to amuse himself. It’s almost the only time he will do this. Even when he plays normally, it’s usually centered around interaction with me.

In addition to this, apparently he has also deemed the garbage off limits. It isn’t very out of the way. I had anticipated needing to find a new home for it when I brought him home once he found it. For some reason, he’s never shown an interest. I assumed that would change last night. I cooked a t-bone steak for dinner. I lazily threw the bones into the garbage, guessing that the odds were good he’d get into them over night before I was to take the garbage out in the morning. I woke up to… the garbage still intact, bones on top. He gets into other stuff, just not this. So freaky. Maybe all the food really does come from the reliable magic box in his head.

political compass

I find it interesting, even though the questions are poorly worded.

Me?

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -2.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.44

Which puts me a bit east northeast of the Dalai Lama

I wish the questions were better, especially at the beginning.

If you want to find out where you lie, here’s the test.

Am I just imagining a house?

I was updating my GPSr today, sitting in my living room, not even close to a window. I usually tell it not to try to find satellites, just so it won’t waste the energy. I didn’t this time. After I was done updating, I realized it had managed to get a good enough signal from inside to determine where it was and what the closest waypoints were. Normally it loses signals with heavy tree cover, much less obtaining an initial signal.

This isn’t a case of it just remembering either. The last time I had it on was on jury duty day outside the courthouse downtown. That’s where it was basing it’s locations off of when I first turned it on.

So, you guys can tell me. Is my house really invisible?

A little perspective

Every once in awhile I try to gain some perspective on the relative sizes of Europe and the US. Here are a few things that always surprise me.

Europe and the US are roughly the same size.
Oregon is slightly bigger than the United Kingdom.
Greece and Alabama are roughly the same size.
The part of Russia in Europe is the only country larger than either Alaska or Texas.
California and Montana are bigger than Germany, Finland, or Norway.
There are 14 countries in Europe smaller than Rhode Island. (It’s about the same size as Luxembourg.) Six of them are smaller than DC.

Harry-est towns

Amazon is keeping track of the towns pre-ordering the most copies of the final Harry Potter book, per capita. Clearly Virginia and Washington love them some Harry Potter, but check out number 5. Gah! I don’t understand it! It’s a good thing and all I guess, but I’m still so confused about it every time the small town I grew up in shows up randomly in my world now. (I realize it’s not so small now, in theory, but it’s hard to accept…) The next Texas town isn’t until 86th right now.

The Top 100 Harry-est Towns in America (Last Updated: 05/31/07)
1. Falls Church, Virginia
2. Gig Harbor, Washington
3. Vienna, Virginia
4. Fairfax, Virginia
5. Katy, Texas
6. Media, Pennsylvania
7. Issaquah, Washington
8. Snohomish, Washington
9. Woodinville, Washington
10. Doylestown, Pennsylvania

I, of course, plan to hit a midnight release party somewhere. Can’t wait.