E.M. Markoff's Blog, page 11

Never Ignore A Cat

My cat, Kanoqui the Conqueror.  I call him this because I am pretty sure he believes he is the ruler of all.  By virtue of being a cat, he automatically wins in life.

The interesting thing about my cat is that for all his regality, he is a clinger.  On a scale of 1 to 5--one being a chill cat and five being machine gun meows of "don't leave me!"--he is a 5.

All is right in the world.
Apparently my cat (who was born a stray near a refinery) is a snowshoe cat, which is a breed I was not aware of until his cat-sitter pointed it out.  Yes, I said cat-sitter.  This was something I had never heard of until about two years ago, nor did I realize how in-demand pet sitters were until I needed one.  Fyi, if you are thinking of getting a pet sitter (someone who will stay at your house/drop by your house to take care of your pet) do NOT wait till the last minute.  Depending on where you live and how in demand they are you might have to book months in advance.

Going back to Kanoqui's level 5 clinginess, he HATES it when I spend more than a handful of hours in front of the computer, and he makes his displeasure known.  Most times, he will perch to one side of me and meow, and meow, and meow...non-stop.  His record is four minutes.  
The other thing he likes to do is lie down on the keyboard when I step away from the computer.  This has happened enough times that I know to save whatever I am working on and put the computer on stand-by.  My cat has trained me well.  
Of course, once he steps away from the computer the keyboard is covered in cat hair.  Snowshoe cats are not supposed to shed like it's the end of the world, but my cat does.  I guess he did not get the memo, but that's okay because I am armed with swiffer cloths!  Those things are really a pet owner's best friend.  Oh, and sticky rollers!  
Kanoqui apparently (no one, not even science, can make me believe otherwise) has a shed-button that he will randomly activate, and poof, a cloud of cat hair will start forming around him and then float through the air until it finds the absolute worst place to land.  Usually, in my drink.  

  My husband grew up with five cats, and he says that none of them were as needy as Kanoqui.  Personally, I always wanted a lap cat, and I got it :) 
Kanoqui is my constant companion day-in and day-out.  He makes me smile with every little thing he does, and honestly my home would not be as wonderful a place if he--along with all the tumbleweeds of cat hair--was not a part of it.  

Bad Weather + Plane = Hold Onto Your Cookies!

I am not a huge fan of air travel.
Given a choice, I prefer to travel by car, though statistically flying is safer than driving.  And if you are still not fully convinced that flying on 'X' airline is safe, there is a handy site that allows you to browse airline safety ratings.  Or--if your partner is anything like mine--he will tell you the statistics days before you are scheduled to fly, even the bits you don't want to hear.
Bad weather, delays, and peanuts (why is this still a thing!) aside, my flight to New Orleans last weekend was totally worth it.  Even if I was only in NOLA for less than a day.  
But, going back to the flight, there was an attendant with a wicked sense of humor on my first leg of the flight.  At the end of the safety demonstration, she announced on the intercom, "And for those of you who did not pay attention.  Good luck, you're on your own.  Just kidding!"
Other things she said included, "For children with rowdy parents on board, please keep them in line as nobody likes to listen to a screaming adult", "If you are caught smoking in the lavatory, you will be tied up and jettisoned from the plane.  Not really, but, really, no smoking in the lavatory", "Thank you for flying 'X' airline.  We realize you have other options available, but as they all suck you're not really left with much of a choice".  
Every line was delivered with such wonderful grace that no one on board (at least I did not hear anyone complain) was offended.  On the contrary, the entire plane would alternate between laughing and clapping at her jokes.  
As for the second leg of the flight...thankfully, no one barfed near me.