ArtieShaw

it could use a couple of peepholes and an escape hatch. Otherwise, a solid fort.

I agree. OK - he may have been a bit evil, but as always - he was a voice of reason.

I’m sensitive to noise, and usually book late enough that the only seats available are in back. And fly at least once a month.

Absolutely decent noise cancelling headphones are available for under $70 US last time I bought some. Mine were called Q30 or something, and they were better than my Sennheisers from 2016-ish. Worth every bit. If one can afford a ticket, one can afford this one thing to make it less awful.

About 20 years ago I read a grim book about plane crashes. They claimed that the number 1 predictor of crash survivability on commercial craft was being a male between the ages of 20 and 50. They’re apparently much better equipped to claw and climb over the other passengers on the way out.

Grim. I fly a lot and think about it at least every other trip.

That’s some classic cat & wire deterrent advice. Needs to be repeated for every new member of the pride, but it works.

Exactly as you describe.

That scene in the pilot episode of Lost. That’s why.

I think they were just trying to promote math. I always thought about it later in life as I tried to drunkenly calculate pool angles at the bar.

“Dammit - Donald tried to explain this when I was 10! Why can’t I remember the details?”

The most hauntingly memorable was a weird mid-century Donald Duck piece of math propaganda. We watched it in school.

Donald Duck in MathMagic Land. Not scary, but odd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BqnN72OlqA

My husband is still scarred by that one.

They’re keeping you safe!

More of a hardcore Jewel/Osco shopper?

No - I think Mariano’s and PicknSave would be competitors in that region. I travel a bit through the US, and I’m flummoxed. My Kroger discount card works more times than not, no matter where my work takes me and no matter which the local branding is.

Classic cat.

I’d only add the two gross things that mine did while they were kittens is that they enjoyed licking my nose and eyes, for reasons known only to cats. That’s a hell of an alarm clock.

They look so healthy! My favorite has a similar fur pattern.

We trapped her accidentally when she took shelter from a rainstorm in our garage. We only realized she was there when we heard her cries. About 5 months old, but tiny and infested with fleas. Her whiskers were so short and brittle. I loved her immediately, but looking back on pictures from that time now breaks my heart a little. Her life as a stray was clearly rough.

She was definitely an accidental cat for us, but she took to housecat living standards almost immediately.

She’s still doing well in her old age.

Wasn’t Mitt the dude with the lady binders?

I think you get it from eating turkey.

oooh - pure destruction. I can respect that.

That’s wonderful!

My orange cat has appointed himself as house monitor, so he’ll alert us to any danger or weird situations. When the kitten escaped from the back patio, which is enclosed, he ran to my husband and alerted him. He can be a jerk, but overall he’s a good dude.

When I’m home alone I can always count on him. If I hear a weird noise? If that little guy is snoring I know that it’s just the wind.

My current oldest was a stray for about 4-5 months and she seemed to regard anything wrapped in plastic as a valid food source. We assumed that reason is that she had been scavenging garbage.

One of my favorite “new kitten” moments was coming downstairs to find that she had taken about 12 sample bites from a package of toilet paper. She stopped doing that.

I swear we fed her well, but she had some habits from life on the streets.

My best girl is really into being petted while standing in a bathtub or shower. No water. She’s done this since she was a kitten. Like Kika, she’ll lure you to the spot for petting, then meow until you and she are both standing in the tub and she’s getting pets.

Two different houses and three different tubs are involved here.

I sometimes wonder if it’s related to the time I had to give her a bath when we first took her in as a stray. She was weak and underfed, and had a bad case of fleas. I gave her a bath, which she hated and I hated - but when she hit the water you could see blood in her fur from all the flea bites. Poor kitty. It was probably the first time a human had given her much attention. And it helped with the fleas, so she probably felt much better afterwards.

Sometimes I tell myself that she’s trying to tell me she’s still grateful for that, and that she trusts me.

Or else she’s just a weirdo. I’m fine with either.

I didn’t really expect anyone to know that, which was sort of the joke. He was very famous in his time, but by now it’s a bit of a deep cut.

Artie Shaw was a clarinetist who ran a jazz band. In addition to that, he was also quite the weirdo. Womanizer, liked math a lot (like more than is natural), was an expert marksman who was nationally ranked in that sort of thing, and really into fly fishing. Also, currently, very dead. And that’s good because otherwise he’d be 114.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw

here’s a sample of his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_v3GY3ZqdM