Busy summer!

Went to Florida in July for Jim's mom's 80th birthday, i.e. the perfect combination of heat, humidity and family members. So, we got what you usually get with these ingredients. Meanwhile, we found out Jim's mother just recently fractured her hip and the dementia is getting bad. At least she seemed to have a good time with practically the entire Harman clan around during her birthday week.

Then we celebrated Jim's 50th birthday right after getting back from Florida, with a dinner at Georgia's Greek Deli & Restaurant in Greenwood. He made out well giftwise, with a treadmill, a multimedia projector, a family tree DNA kit, T-shirts, and a watch exactly like the one he received from his father and had lost years ago.

Other summer activities: Around the house we finally moved the furnace up into the attic, freeing up a big walk-in closet. Freeing it up to be an awesome cat bathroom, that is! Jim put in plumbing and electrical so the CatGenie is there, as well as a bathroom fan and light that are triggered by a motion detector. Yesterday he installed a neat cat door (Catwalk) that looks like a porthole in one of the closet doors. The walls still need to be finished somehow, and I'm making a sisal-wrapped pole so the cats can climb up into the attic if they want. Pictures to come... Jim thinks we (or maybe just me) are nuts. We're still looking for a dog pal for our dog. Kira has settled in but occasionally enjoys spraying Jim and his stuff. Frida's still a whore cat, but she's actually been coming in when called and at not-too-unreasonable hours. Cleo now allows Jim to pet her twice before trying to rip his hand off.

Summer's coming... okay, any day now

Well, here's the bike I bought last summer. It's a Suzuki Boulevard S40, formerly known as the LS 650 Savage. It sat around most of the time, since I bought it after failing the riding test at the end of the motorcycle safety class, then let my learner's permit expire. Last week I took the class again and amazingly passed. Not too shabby for a spazz, eh? Two days and 3 hours later the endorsement was added to my driver's license. Practice riding time is difficult to squeeze in on most weekends but someday I hope to use the bike to commute to work. Maybe if I sign up with a local chick biker group it'll inspire me to get out there!

Another gizmo has taken up some time as well: The CatGenie. This is another one of those automated cat litter boxes, only this one needs a drain (toilet) and water hookup. Still fiddling with the settings and trying to persuade the cats to use it. Kira initially was using it, then at some point she saw it self-cleaning and became fixated/afraid of this mechanical monster. So today I caught her peeing in the base of the cat scratching tree... sigh. Wish me luck. Someday I'll invent my own ultimate automatic litter box. Hint: it involves a miniature garbage disposer.

Other than that, just working on perfecting my mom's Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe and helping my brother with business graphics. Visit argentseafood.com and bump up that visitor's tally for me, will ya?

Meet the new cat... (almost the) same as the old cat

Yes, that's right. Another calico has come to live with me. The night before I was to fly down to SoCal to visit my mom, she told me that my high school sweetheart's father had been killed in a hit-and-run. This cat was his beloved pet, who I've named Kira (as close as I could get to Kirk for a girl's name). Amidst the chaos and grief, my friend could not find someone to give her a good home. Well, it was a DUH for me. We picked her up on my way back to the airport.

I think Kira, amongst other things, was the reason for my visit. I am a devout atheist, but the situation had a distinct cosmological/destiny kind of vibe. I don't know what to make of it. Is that just life being quirky? It is so human to want to make sense out of what we don't understand. All I know is Kira is a great cat and hope I can honor the previous owner by taking good care of her... just in case he IS looking down.