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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

KK Chat -- 6 August 2017

Started by DesertRose, August 06, 2017, 05:52:17 PM

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DesertRose

Aug 06 17:13:26 *   KK has joined
Aug 06 17:13:31 <DesertRose>   Hi KK!
Aug 06 17:13:32 <Evie>   Hi KK
Aug 06 17:13:34 <Jemler>   hi kk
Aug 06 17:13:36 <KK>   Hello, all.
Aug 06 17:13:37 *   The_Bee adds honey, butter and mead to the tea table
Aug 06 17:13:39 <Derynifank>   Hi KK
Aug 06 17:13:42 <The_Bee>   Hi KK
Aug 06 17:13:44 <Shiral>   Hello, KK
Aug 06 17:13:50 <revanne>   Hi KK
Aug 06 17:14:01 <DesertRose>   Thus the cereal container, which held a "big" bag of her kibble when I first got her, and then Iams changed their bag sizes, and the new "big" bag of kibble is slightly more than the container will hold.
Aug 06 17:14:21 <DesertRose>   So the excess goes in a Rubbermaid plastic container with a lid and I use that up first, before moving on to the food in the cereal container.
Aug 06 17:14:39 <KK>   I know thata drill.
Aug 06 17:14:46 <KK>   that
Aug 06 17:14:48 *   revanne slips a hand through the portal and makes off with the mead.
Aug 06 17:15:00 <Evie>   We use a very large lidded tin that originally had popcorn in it (flavored popcorn from the Boy Scouts, I think), which will hold most of a large bag of kibble, and the rest goes into our automated feeder.
Aug 06 17:15:01 *   Jemler puts out corn dogs bites and honey mustard
Aug 06 17:15:05 <The_Bee>   I have a plastic container I should be using.
Aug 06 17:15:25 <Evie>   We can't keep kibble in the bag or Gigi will gnaw her way through a corner to get it to spill out where she can free feed on it.
Aug 06 17:15:26 <revanne>   Transkation please Jemler?
Aug 06 17:15:31 <Shiral>   I seal the bag of kibble up tight, and keep refilling the plastic Kibble Holder
Aug 06 17:15:50 <Jemler>   about corn dogs?
Aug 06 17:15:51 <Shiral>   I keep the bag where the cats can't get at it.
Aug 06 17:15:56 <revanne>   Yes
Aug 06 17:16:15 <Jemler>   hot dogs wrapped in dough and fried.
Aug 06 17:16:21 <Shiral>   You've never heard about Biting Corn Spaniels? =o)
Aug 06 17:16:32 <DesertRose>   The dough is made of cornmeal, hence "corn dogs."
Aug 06 17:16:40 <revanne>   Um no, Shiral.
Aug 06 17:16:42 <DesertRose>   Or at least cornmeal is one of the main ingredients.
Aug 06 17:16:51 <revanne>   Thanks
Aug 06 17:16:51 <Shiral>   Neither have I! Just invented them
Aug 06 17:16:51 <KK>   I have a plastic bin from Costco, that kat kibble came in.  I refill that from bags.
Aug 06 17:16:55 <Evie>   You don't have corn dogs there?  They're like hot dogs surrounded by a cornbread sort of breading, usually on sticks sort of like a kebab
Aug 06 17:16:58 <The_Bee>   ccccorn meal dough, usually--maize to you Brits
Aug 06 17:17:02 <revanne>   Lol!!!
Aug 06 17:17:03 <Jemler>   cut the hot dogs into smaller pieces first
Aug 06 17:17:21 <DesertRose>   LOL, Shiral
Aug 06 17:17:51 <KK>   I always thought they dipped the hot dogs into the cornmeal batter and then deep-fried.  Is there another way?
Aug 06 17:17:52 *   Shiral is in a slightly silly mood
Aug 06 17:17:52 <revanne>   No, perhaps the dogs can't  swim across the pond.
Aug 06 17:17:55 <Evie>   If you cut up the hot dogs first, they're mini corn dogs and not usually served on the stick
Aug 06 17:18:24 <KK>   How about a toothpick?
Aug 06 17:18:26 <DesertRose>   Well, I've never actually made corn dogs, so I don't know.
Aug 06 17:18:29 <Jemler>   use a toothpick and dip them into mustard
Aug 06 17:18:32 <Derynifank>   On or off the stick they are yummy
Aug 06 17:18:34 <Shiral>   So basically we're talking bite size pieces of hot dog cooked while encased in cornmeal batter.
Aug 06 17:18:43 <Jemler>   yes.
Aug 06 17:18:54 <Shiral>   I have a certain affection for corn dogs
Aug 06 17:18:55 <DesertRose>   I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs in general; I want to eat them only rarely, and I've gotten picky about which ones I'll eat.
Aug 06 17:19:00 <revanne>   They sound nice though I don't  think we have corn meal either -is it sort of yelliw?
Aug 06 17:19:06 <DesertRose>   Usually, yes.
Aug 06 17:19:06 <The_Bee>   if I were at a country fair, my snack of choice would be a corn dog and birch beer.
Aug 06 17:19:15 <Shiral>   yes
Aug 06 17:19:22 <DesertRose>   It's corn (maize) ground up finely but not as fine as wheat flour.
Aug 06 17:19:28 <Derynifank>   You can also coat the whole hot dog and cook it on the stick
Aug 06 17:19:42 <Evie>   Here you go, revanne:  http://cdn.funcheap.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/corn-dog-111.jpg
Aug 06 17:19:46 <Evie>   Photos of corn dogs
Aug 06 17:20:04 <DesertRose>   But ground more finely than corn is for grits!
Aug 06 17:20:21 <Shiral>   Dmitri has just popped by to say hello
Aug 06 17:20:23 <DesertRose>   Just to make the South sound even weirder than it already sounds!
Aug 06 17:20:29 <DesertRose>   Hi Dmitri.
Aug 06 17:20:30 <Jemler>   as in "Kiss my grits!"
Aug 06 17:20:33 <The_Bee>   Hi Dmitri
Aug 06 17:20:36 <Derynifank>   That's them!
Aug 06 17:20:37 <Evie>   Hi Dmitri
Aug 06 17:20:40 <revanne>   Nice pic.
Aug 06 17:20:44 <KK>   I had some nice cheese grits yesterday at our local Cracker Barrel.
Aug 06 17:20:47 *   DesertRose offers scritches to Dmitri.
Aug 06 17:21:13 <revanne>   Am lying in bed getting very hungry.
Aug 06 17:21:21 <Shiral>   Dmitri purrs his thanks, DR. But I know he REALLY wants his supper
Aug 06 17:21:21 <DesertRose>   There's a local restaurant here called Secret Garden Cafe that makes, hands down, the best grits I've ever eaten in a restaurant, and their cheese grits are AMAZING.
Aug 06 17:21:42 <Evie>   My boss has an amazing recipe for cheese grits that she gave me.  Her version usually uses pepper jack cheese, although I've made it with cheddar too when I was out of pepper jack, and it's good that way, just not as amazing.
Aug 06 17:21:50 <DesertRose>   (My mom can make better grits than Secret Garden's, but I'm not going to hold that against the restaurant.)
Aug 06 17:21:50 <The_Bee>   cheese grits--grated cheese?
Aug 06 17:21:53 <DesertRose>   Yes.
Aug 06 17:21:59 <Evie>   And that's said by someone who isn't all that much into pepper jack cheese usually
Aug 06 17:22:10 <KK>   My best cheese grits nomination goes to a little French restaurant over in Charlottesville, served with shrimp, too.  Yum!
Aug 06 17:22:10 <DesertRose>   Usually cheddar or a cheddar blend, maybe with monterey jack cheese (since it melts so nicely).
Aug 06 17:22:34 <Jemler>   i prefer longhorn (colby)
Aug 06 17:22:43 <Jemler>   great with crackers
Aug 06 17:22:55 *   The_Bee loves extra-sharp cheddar
Aug 06 17:23:05 <Evie>   The recipe I have calls for chicken broth, heavy cream, and pepper jack cheese, and it's too decadent for daily eating, but I like to make it for Christmas morning and other special occasions
Aug 06 17:23:12 <Derynifank>   A French restaurant serving grits. Never would have thought  it
Aug 06 17:23:17 <DesertRose>   Me too.  Extra sharp cheddar slices on Triscuits are one of my favorite snacks ever.
Aug 06 17:23:23 <revanne>   Me too Bee, especially  with Chutney,
Aug 06 17:23:33 <Jemler>   thet hide the escargot in it.
Aug 06 17:23:59 *   DesertRose smacks Jemler with a snail.
Aug 06 17:24:01 <KK>   Hey, it's Virginia.  Very Southern.
Aug 06 17:24:17 <Derynifank>   But not French
Aug 06 17:24:17 <Evie>   Cheese grits are grits that have been cooked with cheese (or the grated cheese has been added in at the last stage of cooking so it melts throughout)
Aug 06 17:24:18 <revanne>   Ah, non Jemler.
Aug 06 17:24:27 <DesertRose>   It wouldn't surprise me if restaurants in New Orleans did that as well, the cheese grits with shrimp.
Aug 06 17:24:39 <The_Bee>   Standard have gne downhill.  I remember when "extr-sharp" meant it was aged at least 12 months.  Now it's often 9 months
Aug 06 17:25:14 <Evie>   The sharper, the better
Aug 06 17:25:22 <DesertRose>   But if you have a seafood/shellfish allergy, you're going to have a hard time eating anywhere in Nawlins anyway.
Aug 06 17:25:32 <The_Bee>   2 years is best, IMHO
Aug 06 17:25:46 <Evie>   "I'll have the shrimp cheese grits, hold the shrimp please."
Aug 06 17:25:52 <revanne>   We went to Cheddar the other year and they had an awesome cheese shop. Plus we saw the caves where tgey still store the cheese to mature.
Aug 06 17:25:58 <DesertRose>   Oh, cool, revanne
Aug 06 17:26:20 <Derynifank>   Grits get their flavor from what  you put in them, alone they taste  like library paste
Aug 06 17:26:40 <Evie>   Pretty much, yeah
Aug 06 17:26:41 <revanne>   I could go mad in a cheese shop.
Aug 06 17:26:52 <The_Bee>   I visited the Cabot Creamer in Vermont a few years ago.
Aug 06 17:27:08 <DesertRose>   Yeah, you can always do that, Evie, but a number of people with allergies to seafood/shellfish are REALLY severely allergic, and given the prevalence of seafood/shellfish in New Orleans cooking, someone with such a severe allergy might be in trouble.
Aug 06 17:27:09 <The_Bee>   creamery
Aug 06 17:27:09 <Derynifank>   Not that I eat a lot of library paste
Aug 06 17:27:20 <DesertRose>   Oh yeah, plain grits are BORING
Aug 06 17:27:40 <revanne>   I was wondering Derynifank
Aug 06 17:28:04 <The_Bee>   Did you make flour-and-water pastewhen you were kids?
Aug 06 17:28:09 <DesertRose>   But so is plain steamed rice, unless you're using it as a base on which to place some other food.
Aug 06 17:28:23 <Evie>   I did, Bee
Aug 06 17:28:24 <Derynifank>   Gave up library paste after second grade
Aug 06 17:28:29 <KK>   The cheese grits in Charlottesville are so good that I could easily omit the shrimp and just pig out on the cheese grits.  (But you guys are right: unadorned grits do taste a lot like library paste, or maybe wallpaper paste.)
Aug 06 17:28:48 <DesertRose>   I think I remember doing that once, Bee, and I believe I was attempting to do papier-mache, and my mother about killed me when she saw the mess I'd made in the kitchen!
Aug 06 17:29:04 <The_Bee>   LOL
Aug 06 17:29:28 <Derynifank>   I do remeber making paste with  water and flour
Aug 06 17:29:32 <DesertRose>   That was one of TWO near-death experiences I had in that time frame.
Aug 06 17:29:41 <DesertRose>   The other was when I used her sewing scissors to cut paper.
Aug 06 17:29:48 <DesertRose>   In my defense, I was about six years old.
Aug 06 17:29:51 <Evie>   "RIP DesertRose.  Papier mache was not worth this."  <-  DR's tombstone
Aug 06 17:29:59 <Shiral>   I did some work with paper mache clay on Friday. Would never attempt to eat the stuff!
Aug 06 17:30:24 <DesertRose>   Nah, my epitaph is going to read, "What the h*ll, why not?" because I've said that or expressed it via my behavior so many times in my life!
Aug 06 17:30:36 <Evie>   :-D
Aug 06 17:31:28 <Shiral>   There are certain people who's epitaph should read "Watch this!
Aug 06 17:31:49 <DesertRose>   In the South, that'd be "Hold my beer and watch this!"
Aug 06 17:31:56 <Evie>   In the South, you need to add "Hold mah beer" to that
Aug 06 17:32:01 <DesertRose>   Re: sewing scissors used on paper:  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b6/bb/d6/b6bbd69ce97a33956370bef89a0fcd18--sewing-scissors-sewing-ideas.jpg
Aug 06 17:32:22 <DesertRose>   LOL, Evie, we must have been typing simultaneously.
Aug 06 17:32:27 <DesertRose>   Also, get out of my head!
Aug 06 17:32:31 <Evie>   Yeah.  :-D
Aug 06 17:32:49 <Shiral>   Poor DR has had ENOUGH of bad headaches this year!
Aug 06 17:33:00 <DesertRose>   Right?!  Thanks.  :)
Aug 06 17:33:10 <Evie>   Are you calling me a bad headache, Shiral?  :-D
Aug 06 17:33:15 <DesertRose>   LOL
Aug 06 17:33:41 <Shiral>   No just that a full grown human being in somebody else's head is bound to be a tight fit. =o)
Aug 06 17:34:17 <KK>   Love the illo.  What is that from?
Aug 06 17:34:47 <DesertRose>   It's like the joke about the National Highway Traffic Safety Board.  It goes, "They put audio recorders, a la the 'black boxes' used in airplanes, in cars to record the last words said before fatal car accidents.  In most of the US, those words were some variant of 'Oh sh*t!," but from Virginia south and Texas east, they were 'Hold mah beer and watch 'is!' "
Aug 06 17:34:52 <Evie>   Besides Facebook, KK?
Aug 06 17:35:08 <DesertRose>   I don't know, KK.  I've seen several of my SCA friends post it to Facebook, and I just Googled what I could remember of the caption and found it.
Aug 06 17:35:22 <KK>   What film, I wonder?
Aug 06 17:35:27 <DesertRose>   Oh, no idea.
Aug 06 17:36:08 <Shiral>   There should be a thought bubble above his head with  "I hope she never finds out it was ME!"
Aug 06 17:36:11 <Evie>   Whichever film ends badly for the person borrowing the fabric scissors? ;-)
Aug 06 17:36:15 <DesertRose>   LOL
Aug 06 17:36:42 <revanne>   Quite right too.
Aug 06 17:36:47 <DesertRose>   The guy's outfit looks rather mid-19th C., but he himself doesn't look particularly familiar (like I'd expect to recognize a well-known actor).
Aug 06 17:37:06 <The_Bee>   not a problem for me.  the only thing I cut for sewing is thread.
Aug 06 17:37:17 <Evie>   In my craft room I have fabric scissors, tape scissors, and scissors for everything else.
Aug 06 17:37:32 <DesertRose>   Me too, Evie, with the addition of a dedicated pair of shears just for my hair!
Aug 06 17:37:51 <The_Bee>   My everything else scissors are AWOL
Aug 06 17:37:55 <revanne>   Entirely changing the subject, Prince Philip retired from royal duties this week. He's  only 96!
Aug 06 17:38:00 <DesertRose>   And woe betide anyone who uses the textile shears (any of the several pairs I own) or the hair shears for anything other than their intended use!
Aug 06 17:38:09 <DesertRose>   Aw, slacker!  (Re: Prince Philip)
Aug 06 17:38:30 <Evie>   My tape scissors are non-stick, and were purchased after I tried using the general purpose scissors for a project involving cutting duct tape into strips,which was a right mess.
Aug 06 17:38:36 <revanne>   ☺
Aug 06 17:38:41 <Derynifank>   He deserves a rest, that's a long haul
Aug 06 17:38:51 <The_Bee>   He'll still appear with the queen.  just no solo appearances
Aug 06 17:39:34 <Jemler>   brb. dinner stuffed pork chops.
Aug 06 17:39:41 <revanne>   Yum
Aug 06 17:39:41 <Evie>   Yum
Aug 06 17:39:55 <DesertRose>   I have my "main" set of sewing shears, a set of pinking shears, a small set of textile shears that live in my cross-stitch supply box, and then the hair shears, plus a general-purpose pair of scissors (that MAY and often are used for paper) that live in the Bin O' Writing Implements And Miscellaneous Other Office Supplies That Will Fit Here.
Aug 06 17:40:12 <DesertRose>   *MAY be
Aug 06 17:40:16 <DesertRose>   Forgot a word there.  Oops.
Aug 06 17:40:18 <Shiral>   I have "The scissors for THiS room.
Aug 06 17:40:40 <Shiral>   and "Where are those *&^$ Scissors?!"
Aug 06 17:40:45 <Evie>   LOL!
Aug 06 17:41:10 <DesertRose>   I also want a pair of kitchen shears, mostly for cutting open food packaging, because I don't really want to use the office scissors for that purpose, and right now I'm fudging my way with a paring knife, which is... sub-optimal.
Aug 06 17:41:16 <DesertRose>   LOL at the accursed scissors!
Aug 06 17:41:21 <Derynifank>   Never knew scissors were so specialized ,  I tend to use the first  pair I can find
Aug 06 17:41:22 <Shiral>   A pair of itty bitty scissors for my crochet bag, and a lot of exacto knives for cutting paper
Aug 06 17:41:52 <DesertRose>   Derynifank, clearly you are not as anal-retentive as I am about using X scissors for X purpose and X purpose only.  ;)
Aug 06 17:41:59 <Shiral>   Oh yes, And I have a pair kitchen scissors
Aug 06 17:42:38 <KK>   I have about 4 sets of kitchen shears, one in a drawer on each side of the kitchen.  And I have several pairs of fabric shears, some pinking shears, several sharps for doing needlework, and several for hair.
Aug 06 17:42:48 <DesertRose>   My mother has TWO pairs of kitchen shears, one for opening food packaging and other miscellaneous kitchen tasks, and then the Big Pair, which can be used to cut apart poultry (including the bones thereof if need be).
Aug 06 17:42:51 <Shiral>   And sometimes nail scissors, although I appear to have extreme talent at losing pairs of nail scissors.
Aug 06 17:43:13 <revanne>   That is the general cry in this house Shiral. That and me rushing round the house crying "anyone seen a dog-collar?" ( those bits of pkastic are amazingly elusive). To which some family member usually replies "On the dog!"
Aug 06 17:43:19 <DesertRose>   I use nail clippers, not the scissors-design, but Carys' nail clippers do look like an itty-bitty pair of scissors.
Aug 06 17:43:30 <Shiral>   How was the Roman Empire cut in half?
Aug 06 17:43:31 <Derynifank>   If I was that picky about scissors  nothing would get cut because i'd never be able to find the right pair
Aug 06 17:43:54 <Shiral>   With a pair of Caesars
Aug 06 17:44:16 <revanne>   Grian
Aug 06 17:44:17 <DesertRose>   Although, come to think, I do have ONE pair of nail scissors, but they are part of my grandmother's antique silver dresser set, and the screw that holds them together has lost its threads, so it doesn't actually stay together anymore, and I wouldn't use them anyway because they're easily 70 years old.
Aug 06 17:44:18 <Shiral>   I have Crappy scissors bought on the cheap and GOOD scissors.
Aug 06 17:44:22 <DesertRose>   Oh good lord, Shiral
Aug 06 17:44:29 <revanne>   Groan
Aug 06 17:44:34 <Shiral>   Grian, is he a relative of Brion Haldane?
Aug 06 17:44:36 *   DesertRose slaps Shiral with an anchovy, in honor of Caesar salad dressing.
Aug 06 17:44:56 <Shiral>   Couldn't resist with all this talk of scissors. =o)
Aug 06 17:45:13 <KK>   But, if one sews seriously, there are few things more frustrating than trying to cut out something in a very expensive fabric and having the scissors misbehave.
Aug 06 17:45:17 <Evie>   My fabric scissors live with whatever fabric I'm cutting at the moment, the tape scissors live in the craft room, and the general scissors live in the desk drawer. I also have a pair of general scissors in the craft room. If they don't leave their assigned stations (or go right back there), there's no losing them.
Aug 06 17:45:23 <revanne>   No, he comes free with the rented fingers.
Aug 06 17:45:27 <Shiral>   Thanks, I actually like anchovies in Caesar Salad.
Aug 06 17:45:35 <Evie>   I only lose scissors if someone else borrows them and doesn't put them back where they go
Aug 06 17:45:48 <DesertRose>   Derynifank, I'm also very anal-retentive about my belongings having a "home" where they are replaced when I am finished using them, so I don't often have the problem of "where the [bleep] are my X scissors?"
Aug 06 17:46:42 <Shiral>   I can't blame anyone but myself if I can't find a pair.But the rule at the Casa Picasso seems to be, the more I need to cut something, the farther away a usable pair of scissors will be.
Aug 06 17:46:45 <Derynifank>   Mine have a tendency to migrate 3 see here with the help of some sticky fingers
Aug 06 17:47:01 <Shiral>   I'm pretty sure the cats aren't moving them around
Aug 06 17:47:04 <Derynifank>   Elsewhere
Aug 06 17:47:13 <DesertRose>   The "big" sewing scissors and the pinking shears live in my sewing box when not in use, the "little" pair of textile scissors live in the cross-stitch box (which is actually a fishing tackle box), the hair shears live in a cup with various other hair supplies, the "office" scissors are in the aforementioned Bin O' Office Stuff...
Aug 06 17:47:37 <Evie>   In my house, anything small enough for Gigi to move could well fall victim to her "helpful" reorganization skills
Aug 06 17:47:37 <DesertRose>   And I live alone except for my cat, so I don't generally have the problem of anyone borrowing my stuff and not putting it back where it lives.
Aug 06 17:47:54 <Evie>   But she doesn't normally take an interest in scissors
Aug 06 17:48:46 <DesertRose>   Yeah, Carys has either a fondness for or a grudge against a certain small box that contains a pair of earrings I was given for some occasion (either Christmas or my birthday, but having a January birthday, I get confused about which gift was from which occasions), because the [expletive deleted] cat keeps knocking that box off my dresser!
Aug 06 17:49:10 <DesertRose>   "from which *occasion, singular.  Oops.
Aug 06 17:49:42 <Shiral>   Tatiana has a toy lobster that she loves to carry around the house with her. I always know where she's been. This morning, the lobster was in bed with me.
Aug 06 17:50:02 <DesertRose>   LOL
Aug 06 17:50:03 <Derynifank>   TOBY likes to jump up on the dresser and slide clearing the top of everything
Aug 06 17:50:09 <The_Bee>   Never apologize for what rented fingers do.
Aug 06 17:50:17 <Evie>   LOL @ lobster
Aug 06 17:50:18 <DesertRose>   Hopefully, nothing on the dresser is fragile/breakable!
Aug 06 17:50:20 <Shiral>   I guess she thought I might like to play with it. =o)
Aug 06 17:50:43 <Evie>   Gigi loves any toy or other object that is furry
Aug 06 17:50:51 <DesertRose>   Carys is fond of any catnip toy.
Aug 06 17:50:53 <Shiral>   I would guess they wouldn't be anymore, DR.  =o)
Aug 06 17:51:07 <Evie>   She will carry it around and cry mournfully as though it's her lost tail and she wants it reattached
Aug 06 17:51:14 <DesertRose>   Can be a puffball or a catnip mouse or really anything, so long as it is full of catnip-y goodness.
Aug 06 17:51:15 <Derynifank>   Moved all the breakable  stuff
Aug 06 17:51:18 <Shiral>   We had a catnip fest last monday on account of Adoption Day
Aug 06 17:51:21 <DesertRose>   No, reckon not, Shiral!
Aug 06 17:51:37 <DesertRose>   Poor Gigi!
Aug 06 17:52:06 <Shiral>   I'm still seeing little piles of catnip here and there in the livingroom. =o)
Aug 06 17:52:10 <The_Bee>   Melanta ignores catnip; Mickey across the hall adores it.
Aug 06 17:52:25 <KK>   But there are, in fact, no lost tails, yes?
Aug 06 17:53:00 <DesertRose>   I threw out the old corrugated cardboard that was in Carys' scratching pad and replaced it with a fresh panel when I had to do the Massive Marathon of Housework a few weeks ago, and the new panel was all full of catnip, so Carys was a Happy Kitteh!  Also semi-stoned.
Aug 06 17:53:02 <Shiral>   We had a cat named Luna when I was growing up. After we had her spayed, she would abduct our socks.  Once she got carried away and "adopted" a pair of my mother's wool tights. =o)
Aug 06 17:53:10 <Evie>   Well, she has a stub tail, but the vet said it looked like she was born that way rather than it being due to an accident
Aug 06 17:53:28 <revanne>   Our cats went psycho on being given catnip. They sat together staring at nothing -DD2 said they looked liked characters out of "The Shining"
Aug 06 17:53:38 <DesertRose>   I'm sure your mother was REALLY happy about that, Shiral.  /sarcasm
Aug 06 17:53:46 <DesertRose>   Oh dear, revanne
Aug 06 17:53:47 <KK>   Ah, I didn't realize that one of your cats is tailless, Evie.
Aug 06 17:53:48 <Shiral>   The 'Nip fest was soon followed by a long nap.
Aug 06 17:54:24 <Shiral>   Well...that was kind of the end of those tights. But she was laughing too hard at seeing Luna try to drag around this very long kitten to be all that mad about it.
Aug 06 17:54:33 <Evie>   Her little tail stub is only about 2 inches long.  When she's happy or curious, she sometimes whirls it like a little helicopter blade. LOL!
Aug 06 17:54:33 <The_Bee>   Manx in her genome maybe?
Aug 06 17:54:44 <DesertRose>   My parents renovated their kitchen probably easily a decade ago, when Catarina and Roxanne were still living (they both passed, aged 20 and 18 respectively, in 2009), and true to character, Catty was relatively unfazed by the dust and noise but Roxie about lost her mind.
Aug 06 17:54:52 <Derynifank>   Some cats like the Manx have stub tails
Aug 06 17:55:05 <Evie>   It's hard to say. She looks completely like an ordinary little gray/brown tabby aside from her missing tail
Aug 06 17:55:12 <Jemler>   * beltch * Excuse me!
Aug 06 17:55:17 <Evie>   She doesn't have the raised hindquarters of a Manx, though
Aug 06 17:55:52 <DesertRose>   My parents had to take Roxie to the vet, who prescribed, basically, kitty Valium for her.  When my folks gave her the first dose, she staggered around the house, stoned out of her gourd.  Thereafter, she got a half tablet, which struck the desired balance between "Stressed Out of Her Mind" and "Stoned Out of Her Mind."
Aug 06 17:55:52 <The_Bee>   Is it true that a Manx cat hpos like a rabbit?
Aug 06 17:56:00 <DesertRose>   Merlin does, to a degree.
Aug 06 17:56:11 <DesertRose>   When he runs, it looks like a rabbit's run, rather than a cat's.
Aug 06 17:56:19 <revanne>   Lol DR
Aug 06 17:56:22 <Evie>   we caught Gigi once trying to drag some of DD's trousers down the hallway.  Even though DD was very young at the time, Gigi was still a kitten and the trousers were several times longer than she was!
Aug 06 17:56:47 <Derynifank>   I had a friend whose miniature  poodle did that, hopped like a bunny
Aug 06 17:57:17 <KK>   When I was a kid, like in 6th grade or so, we had a cat with a syub tail, but he'd had to have it amputated because of a tail wound that got infested with screw fly larvae.  Smart larvae, too, because they were eating toward the cat, not the end of the tail.  After everything had healed, he liiked like a little black bear who'd sat on a black powderpuff.
Aug 06 17:57:33 <The_Bee>   Maybe that's how the legend of a cat-rabbit crossbreed got started.
Aug 06 17:57:48 <DesertRose>   And Merlin has the Manx back end, so even though he's a mutt (his mama is a brown tabby, and we think his dad was a tuxedo stub-tailed Manx-looking cat who used to roam around my parents' neighborhood, but we haven't seen him in ages so we're afraid he may have met his end, sadly.
Aug 06 17:58:25 <DesertRose>   *even though he's a mutt, he's probably at least part Manx, was where I was going when I got sidetracked about Merlin's (probable) dad.
Aug 06 17:58:30 <revanne>   Yuck KK
Aug 06 17:58:41 <DesertRose>   Aw, poor kitty, KK!
Aug 06 17:59:29 <revanne>   At least he only had to lose his tail.
Aug 06 17:59:36 <DesertRose>   Around the time DD was born, I had a friend who had a family cat who'd had to have her tail amputated because she knocked over a bookshelf onto herself and trapped her tail.
Aug 06 17:59:40 <KK>   Yes, it was icky.  And we were really poor in those days, and had to break into our stash of silver dollars to help pay for the surgery.  But we did it gladly, because Sammi was such a great cat.
Aug 06 18:00:00 <The_Bee>   You once mentioned having  a cat named Bear, didn't you, KK?
Aug 06 18:00:20 <DesertRose>   Fortunately for said athletic kitty, Friend's Mom came home from work early for some reason and found her, trapped by her tail, and took her to the vet posthaste.  Most of her tail wasn't salvageable at that point, but at least SHE lived through it.
Aug 06 18:00:23 <Shiral>   I'm sure Sammi felt much better afterwards!
Aug 06 18:00:44 <KK>   Yes.  Bear was orange and white, very much like Augustus.  He moved with us to Ireland and had a happy life there with us, until his kidneys went.
Aug 06 18:01:01 <DesertRose>   Is "Augustus" Gus' full name?
Aug 06 18:01:15 <KK>   Yes.  Gus to his friends.
Aug 06 18:01:18 <DesertRose>   :D
Aug 06 18:01:31 <DesertRose>   It made me smile, because it's a really traditional name in my father's family.
Aug 06 18:01:37 <Jemler>   gus is his 'pet name' :)
Aug 06 18:01:59 <KK>   I was tempted to name him Asperagus, but he's too elegant for that name.  Augustus is better.
Aug 06 18:02:14 <DesertRose>   There are, starting with my grandfather and going back at least four or five generations, a BUNCH of men in my father's family who have the name "Augustus" as either a first or middle name.
Aug 06 18:02:17 <DesertRose>   LOL
Aug 06 18:02:31 <revanne>   Augustus is better suited to a cat's dignity.
Aug 06 18:02:32 <DesertRose>   Jemler, that's so cute, I'm not going to smack you with a fish for it.
Aug 06 18:03:02 <Jemler>   lol
Aug 06 18:03:10 <Shiral>   Yes. But rather long for every day use
Aug 06 18:03:13 <revanne>   A bunch if Augusti, DR.
Aug 06 18:04:23 <Jemler>   it might go to his head if you call him "Imperious"
Aug 06 18:04:34 <DesertRose>   The ancestor the most distant into the past on that side of the family for whom I can find records of a name is a "James A. [My Surname]," born in 1814 in Chowan County, NC, and I'd be willing to bet that "A" stands for Augustus, just because of the number of other uses of that name.
Aug 06 18:05:02 <revanne>   I'm  going to bail out as my eyes are too tired to focus. Goodnight and thanks for the early chat.
Aug 06 18:05:18 <Jemler>   nite revanne
Aug 06 18:05:22 <Evie>   Goodnight!
Aug 06 18:05:22 <DesertRose>   James A. is my multiple-times-over great-grandfather, but I can't remember off the top of my head how many "greats."
Aug 06 18:05:26 <DesertRose>   G'night, revanne
Aug 06 18:05:31 <Derynifank>   Nite Revanne
Aug 06 18:05:47 *   revanne has quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
Aug 06 18:05:51 <KK>   Night, revanne.
Aug 06 18:05:56 <The_Bee>   I once knew a woman whose cats were namde Mephistophiles and Stradivarius.  They were called Satan and Fiddle.
Aug 06 18:06:02 <DesertRose>   LOL!
Aug 06 18:06:02 <The_Bee>   by revanne
Aug 06 18:06:03 <Jemler>   James Augustus DesertRose. Long name.
Aug 06 18:06:04 <Evie>   LOL!
Aug 06 18:06:18 <DesertRose>   Okay, now I AM going to smack you, Jemler!
Aug 06 18:06:25 *   DesertRose slaps Jemler with a trout.
Aug 06 18:06:25 <Jemler>   lol!
Aug 06 18:06:40 <Evie>   I have a friend whose three finches were Mephibosheth, Zehubabbel, and Bob
Aug 06 18:06:49 <DesertRose>   Oookay.
Aug 06 18:07:08 <DesertRose>   Somebody liked obscure Biblical names and had a very Python-esque sense of humor?
Aug 06 18:07:13 <Shiral>   Well, Bob never had to spell his name over the phone, at least. =o)
Aug 06 18:07:14 <Evie>   Exactly!
Aug 06 18:07:22 <Jemler>   just call them eeny, meeny and miney.
Aug 06 18:07:25 <DesertRose>   You'd be surprised, Shiral.
Aug 06 18:07:36 <KK>   Naming a cat Mephistopheles is maybe asking for trouble.  ;-)
Aug 06 18:07:51 <DesertRose>   People screw up my mom's and stepdad's surname ALL the time, and it's an incredibly easy name to spell that is also a fairly common generic type of fruit.
Aug 06 18:07:54 <Jemler>   the devil made them do it.
Aug 06 18:07:56 <DesertRose>   That, or Loki, KK!
Aug 06 18:08:05 <Shiral>   My SIL had a cat named Rasputin when she and my brother got married. The name suited his personality
Aug 06 18:08:14 <DesertRose>   Nine lives, literally?
Aug 06 18:08:17 <DesertRose>   Or scheming?
Aug 06 18:08:17 <The_Bee>   If any of you like mysteries with cats, I recommend Marian Babson.
Aug 06 18:08:33 <KK>   Loki.  Another triksy name.
Aug 06 18:08:47 <DesertRose>   Or, if you're from the Southwest, Kokopelli.
Aug 06 18:08:53 <Shiral>   Well, he did survive a 3 storey fall from a balcony. But I think Rasputin eventually died of normal old age.
Aug 06 18:09:00 <DesertRose>   Or if you have a VERY temperamental cat, Mai'i.
Aug 06 18:09:21 <KK>   The cat Rasputin, obviously.  Not the Russian one.
Aug 06 18:09:57 <Shiral>   Definitely. =o) The cat Rasputin also didn't have a cure for hemophilia
Aug 06 18:10:18 <Jemler>   didn't thet try to kill the russian like 6 times before they got it right?
Aug 06 18:10:24 <Shiral>   He was just this big, shaggy black cat
Aug 06 18:10:25 <DesertRose>   LOL, I don't think ANYONE really did until the discovery of clotting factor transfusions around the mid 20th C, IIRC.
Aug 06 18:10:40 <Shiral>   Yes. It was quite a job to kill Rasputin the man
Aug 06 18:10:43 <DesertRose>   Something like that, Jemler.
Aug 06 18:11:02 <DesertRose>   He survived a number of assassination attempts that really should have succeeded.
Aug 06 18:11:17 <DesertRose>   In terms of "fatal instruments used in the attempt."
Aug 06 18:11:32 <The_Bee>   They still can't cure hemophilia, AFAIK, just manage it.
Aug 06 18:11:56 <DesertRose>   Yeah, the clotting factor treatment is a management technique, kind of like metformin and/or insulin for diabetes.
Aug 06 18:12:37 <DesertRose>   But at least with the clotting factor treatment, people with hemophilia can live reasonably healthy lives.
Aug 06 18:12:58 <Shiral>   But if you have the disease, even being able to manage the symptoms helps.
Aug 06 18:13:03 <DesertRose>   Indeed.
Aug 06 18:13:32 <The_Bee>   I have a theeeeeeeeeeory that Healing follows a similar genetic pattern to hemophilia and red-green color-blindness. That's why female \healers are rare.
Aug 06 18:13:53 <DesertRose>   And like metformin and/or insulin with diabetes, the clotting factor transfusions for hemophilia can make a difference between "illness that's a bother to manage" and "fatal illness."
Aug 06 18:13:54 *   JudyWard (~181b3bb6@OWIRCN-1bdd9d77.org) has joined
Aug 06 18:13:57 <DesertRose>   Hi JudyWard
Aug 06 18:14:01 <The_Bee>   hi judy
Aug 06 18:14:06 <JudyWard>   Hi, how are you?
Aug 06 18:14:11 <Derynifank>   Hi Judy
Aug 06 18:14:13 <JudyWard>   Hi, Bee
Aug 06 18:14:21 <Shiral>   The pygmy Lion is giving me the stink eye. Which is his way of saying "you're late with the lunch!
Aug 06 18:14:21 <Jemler>   hi judy
Aug 06 18:14:21 <JudyWard>   Hi, everyone!
Aug 06 18:14:31 <DesertRose>   LOL, poor starving Dmitri.
Aug 06 18:14:35 <DesertRose>   I'm okay, JudyWard
Aug 06 18:14:38 <DesertRose>   Thanks.  :)
Aug 06 18:14:40 <JudyWard>   Almost forgot Chat is earlier today.
Aug 06 18:14:52 <Shiral>   Hi Judyward, Will BRB. Time to feed the poor fainting starved pygmy lions
Aug 06 18:15:08 <DesertRose>   You bad cat mama, Shiral, letting those poor kitties starve!
Aug 06 18:15:09 <DesertRose>   :D
Aug 06 18:15:14 <KK>   Hi, Judy.
Aug 06 18:15:23 <JudyWard>   OMG, YES, you must save the kitty!
Aug 06 18:15:31 <Evie>   hi Judy
Aug 06 18:15:44 <JudyWard>   Hi, KK and Evie
Aug 06 18:15:54 <The_Bee>   I had a sealable kibble container, but all I can find is the lid.
Aug 06 18:16:04 <JudyWard>   They ate it
Aug 06 18:16:10 <DesertRose>   BRB myself.  Tea tumbler has gone empty on me, and heaven forbid my Southern self not have tea!
Aug 06 18:16:41 <JudyWard>   I've got plenty of ice tea for now.
Aug 06 18:17:08 <The_Bee>   I like half ice tea, half lemonade
Aug 06 18:17:28 <JudyWard>   BRB, friend emailed her bird is still very ill.
Aug 06 18:17:34 <Jemler>   that's called an Arnold Palmer, Bee.
Aug 06 18:17:48 <The_Bee>   poor birdie :(
Aug 06 18:18:45 <JudyWard>   Yes, CA they think. She's a green amazon
Aug 06 18:19:05 <The_Bee>   CA?
Aug 06 18:19:27 <Derynifank>   So sorry about the birdie
Aug 06 18:19:49 <JudyWard>   Thanks. The owner is very upset. Hope they can save her.
Aug 06 18:20:06 <Shiral>   Back
Aug 06 18:20:41 <JudyWard>   CA is cancer, of the kidney, they think. I didn't even know birds got that kind of CA.
Aug 06 18:20:48 <Shiral>   Pygmy lions are once again feasting
Aug 06 18:21:27 <DesertRose>   If you have the organ, I would assume you can get cancer of it, sadly.
Aug 06 18:21:45 <DesertRose>   Your reputation as a Cat Mom is restored, Shiral.  ;)
Aug 06 18:22:04 <JudyWard>   Kitties must be fed.
Aug 06 18:22:25 <KK>   Poor bird.  How old is it?  Parrots live a long time.
Aug 06 18:22:26 <DesertRose>   Yup, even kitties like Little Miss Chunk, aka Carys.
Aug 06 18:22:58 <KK>   brb
Aug 06 18:23:00 <The_Bee>   Melantha had  a cancerous kidney kidney removed  a couple of years ago.  The vet said she nearly bled out during surgery.
Aug 06 18:23:01 <JudyWard>   They've had the parrot at least 20 yrs I know of & I think she was a grown bird when they got her.
Aug 06 18:23:50 <DesertRose>   Yeah, parrots can live QUITE a long time.  I know a guy (SCA person) who used to have several parrots and would bring some of them to fighter practice sometimes, which was...attention-getting.
Aug 06 18:23:54 <JudyWard>   Oh, scary on the bleeding. In Jan one of our dogs had a tumor on the spleen burst & we couldn't save him.
Aug 06 18:24:02 <DesertRose>   Aw.  :(
Aug 06 18:24:04 <Shiral>   I'm glad to know I'm back in Good Cat Mom standing, DR. =o) But  there's really no ignoring Dmitri when he's hungry
Aug 06 18:24:44 <DesertRose>   Carys either, although it can be hard to discern the Blatant Attention Demanding that just means "Pet me now!" vs. that which means "Um, mom, food bowl is empty!"
Aug 06 18:24:48 <JudyWard>   Our inside and the outside male can be very vocal when hungry
Aug 06 18:25:19 <DesertRose>   Merlin is chatty in general, but he is particularly so when there is no kibble in the bowl.
Aug 06 18:25:31 <JudyWard>   I think outside cat Boots would really rather be petted than fed.
Aug 06 18:25:37 <DesertRose>   PJ, on the other hand, just stands by her feeding area and looks reproachful until somebody does The Right Thing.
Aug 06 18:25:46 <The_Bee>   The vat took her home to keep an eye on her.  she slept beside a dog for several days. When she woke up and hissed, the vet knew she'd be okay.
Aug 06 18:25:54 <The_Bee>   Vet not vat
Aug 06 18:26:28 <DesertRose>   LOL at the vet knowing Melantha would be okay because she hissed at the dog, not at the general situation, because that is SO stressful and basically the opposite of LOL-worthy.
Aug 06 18:26:36 <JudyWard>   Cats are pretty tough.
Aug 06 18:27:09 <The_Bee>   she's still cander-free last checkup
Aug 06 18:27:15 <DesertRose>   Yay Melantha!
Aug 06 18:27:17 <JudyWard>   That's good.
Aug 06 18:27:20 <KK>   back
Aug 06 18:27:34 <JudyWard>   Good!
Aug 06 18:28:01 <Shiral>   So.....any further progress on the Road to Killingford, KK?
Aug 06 18:28:07 <JudyWard>   Tonight the Decorah eagle cam goes off, so I have that chat to go to a little later.
Aug 06 18:28:20 <DesertRose>   Oh, karma (in the form of Guinevere the hamster) has come to bite Merlin in the backside.
Aug 06 18:28:38 <DesertRose>   He steals PJ's food, not because he's hungry, but because he's jealous of anything she has.
Aug 06 18:28:45 <JudyWard>   She's a cheeky little thing, isn't she!
Aug 06 18:29:01 <KK>   Don't ask, Shiral.  I have made progress on the unearthing of the desk, however.
Aug 06 18:29:07 <Shiral>   Guinevere the hamster.....is there an Arthur or a Lancelot in the picture?
Aug 06 18:29:19 <DesertRose>   Guinevere figured out how to get out of her plastic exercise ball, get herself to his food dish, and fill her cheeks with his food!
Aug 06 18:29:27 <DesertRose>   No, but there is Merlin the cat.
Aug 06 18:29:28 <JudyWard>   Lou fusses at me bcz my desk is so messy.
Aug 06 18:29:37 <Shiral>   Well, it DOES help to know where the writing desk is. =o) So I'll take that as a very indirect yes.
Aug 06 18:29:39 <The_Bee>   LOLOL!
Aug 06 18:30:14 <DesertRose>   When my daughter told me about Guinevere bullying Merlin and stealing his food, she said, "Payback is a b*tch," to which I replied, "Karma's a b*tch if you are, Merlin."
Aug 06 18:30:44 <Shiral>   Talk about the embarrassment for a cat who's being harassed by a hamster. =o)
Aug 06 18:30:49 <DesertRose>   No kidding!
Aug 06 18:30:54 <Evie>   LOL
Aug 06 18:30:54 <Jemler>   KK, did you ever determine if there was a maximum range for Portal use?
Aug 06 18:31:02 <DesertRose>   And Merlin weighs something like 17 lbs, so he is an order of magnitude larger than the hamster.
Aug 06 18:31:46 <JudyWard>   He's a large target.
Aug 06 18:31:51 <DesertRose>   Yup
Aug 06 18:31:58 <Shiral>   Just imagine all the razzing he
Aug 06 18:32:32 <Derynifank>   Got to go now, have hungry people saying feed me. Hope everyone has a great week
Aug 06 18:32:40 <DesertRose>   Okay, g'night, Derynifank!
Aug 06 18:32:44 <JudyWard>   You too!
Aug 06 18:32:47 <Shiral>   would get from other cats if he knew.  "Here comes the guy who's being harassed by a hamster.  Hey, look out Merlin, there's a guinea pig next door just looking for trouble..."
Aug 06 18:32:47 <The_Bee>   good week to you too
Aug 06 18:32:49 <Jemler>   ni derynifank
Aug 06 18:32:59 <Shiral>   Night, Derynifank
Aug 06 18:32:59 <Derynifank>   Nite all
Aug 06 18:33:00 <DesertRose>   Merlin is big and mouthy but a total wimp.
Aug 06 18:33:08 *   Derynifank has quit (Quit: http://www.kiwiirc.com/ - A hand crafted IRC client)
Aug 06 18:33:15 <JudyWard>   His rep as a cat is really trashed!
Aug 06 18:33:23 <DesertRose>   Yes.
Aug 06 18:34:05 <DesertRose>   When he gets to go outside (and he won't leave the concrete back patio!), if Chessa (the neighborhood cat who likes to mooch kibble from my soft-target parents) comes over, even though he's FAR bigger than she, all she has to do is hiss at him and he rolls over.
Aug 06 18:34:12 <Shiral>   Dmitri lets Tatiana get pretty naughty, then will give her a "Mind your manners kid!" bonk on the head when he's had enough
Aug 06 18:34:26 <Shiral>   LOL
Aug 06 18:34:28 <DesertRose>   Foster Dad John calls that "the kitten-flattening paw."
Aug 06 18:34:50 <Shiral>   Then an hour later, they'll be asleep together on the bed
Aug 06 18:35:07 <KK>   Jemler, no.  I think it's a matter of individual strength.  Maybe a failed transport has sometimes ended in bizarre results, so peopple don't try to go too far.  Those in the past have probably determined what are realistic ranges.
Aug 06 18:35:09 <JudyWard>   We've got a tiny white kitten outside who's going to need a trailer soon if it's a he.
Aug 06 18:35:15 <Shiral>   Tati's full grown now, but she's still a much smaller cat
Aug 06 18:35:36 <DesertRose>   Whenever any litter of foster kittens has been to the vet and declared healthy, John will bring his own cat, Kougra, who is an older statesman kitteh with a few chronic health problems due to age, to help socialize the kittens to be around other cats.
Aug 06 18:35:58 <DesertRose>   And Kougra is the usual wielder of "the kitten-flattening paw."
Aug 06 18:36:00 <The_Bee>   sounds like Mickey and Melantha.
Aug 06 18:36:03 <JudyWard>   That's good. Socializing, that is.
Aug 06 18:36:27 <DesertRose>   John has fostered over fifty litters of kittens.  He knows what he's doing. :D
Aug 06 18:36:45 <JudyWard>   Wow! My hat's off to him!
Aug 06 18:36:48 <KK>   You've probably been reading, then, about the old former feral, Mason, who is now called Grandpa Mason, because he's proven a wonderful foster for rescued kittens.  Such a sweet story.
Aug 06 18:37:07 <DesertRose>   Socializing them to be around humans is easy; he hangs out with them and so does his university-student-aged son, the Minion.
Aug 06 18:37:45 <DesertRose>   But he brings Kougra and sometimes also Dorian into the kitten room once the kittens are vetted (since Kougra has medical issues and Dorian might also), so the kittens can get used to adult cats.
Aug 06 18:37:54 <DesertRose>   Kougra and Dorian are both very laid-back adult cats.
Aug 06 18:37:56 <The_Bee>   John's son or Kongra's?
Aug 06 18:38:14 <DesertRose>   John's son.  I don't think Kougra has any offspring.  I know he's neutered.
Aug 06 18:39:07 <DesertRose>   I have seen that, about Grandpa Mason, KK.  So cute.
Aug 06 18:39:45 <The_Bee>   Miccccccckey is neutered, but \i've seen him act as if he weren't
Aug 06 18:40:21 <JudyWard>   Sometimes they keep sexual characteristics if neutered as older kittens or cats.
Aug 06 18:40:47 <DesertRose>   Carys doesn't seem to have gotten the memo that she's spayed.  If I play any video that has kittens meowing, she wigs out and looks for the kittens, like she thinks she has to take care of them.
Aug 06 18:40:53 <KK>   I think it's so cool that they thoughgt to try that, because Mason apparently is still quite curmudgeonly about humans, but turns to mush in the presence of the kittens, and lets them do just about anything.  Sadly, he has kidney disease, so no one knows how long he will last, but in the meantime, he has a good life and is happy and as healthy as possible.
Aug 06 18:40:54 <The_Bee>   like trying to mount Melantha
Aug 06 18:41:32 <DesertRose>   Well, at least Grandpa Mason is going to have a happy, as-healthy-as-possible life for whatever time he has left.
Aug 06 18:41:36 <JudyWard>   Awww. Sorry Mason is ill. You should do a video of him with kittens.
Aug 06 18:41:57 <DesertRose>   This is an Internet-famous cat, JudyWard.  There are YouTube videos of him, I think.
Aug 06 18:42:09 <KK>   He's on the internet.  Just google him.  I think he's associated with tinykittens.com.
Aug 06 18:42:17 <JudyWard>   Are there? I'll have to look them up.
Aug 06 18:42:52 <JudyWard>   I did and if he's black & white, I found him.
Aug 06 18:43:01 <DesertRose>   And Foster Dad John has a fairly large internet presence as well.  The Critter Room is the Facebook page for his foster kittens (he's between litters at the moment) and he livestreams a webcam from the kitten room when he has a litter.
Aug 06 18:43:24 <DesertRose>   He fosters for a Seattle-area shelter called Purrfect Pals, which is a cats-only no-kill shelter.
Aug 06 18:43:40 <DesertRose>   The livestream is on YouTube as well.
Aug 06 18:43:43 <JudyWard>   Definitely need to look them up.
Aug 06 18:44:16 <DesertRose>   Right now, it's highlights of litters past, while he's waiting for Purrfect Pals (his "kitten dealer") to let him know there's a new litter/pregnant mama cat in need of a foster home
Aug 06 18:44:29 <KK>   As I recall, Grandpa Mason is a big grey tiger.
Aug 06 18:44:53 <JudyWard>   OK, must be another Merlin, then. Says he's the loudest purring cat.
Aug 06 18:45:35 <JudyWard>   Found Critter Room. Will look later.
Aug 06 18:45:57 <DesertRose>   The YouTube channel is likewise named The Critter Room.
Aug 06 18:48:11 <JudyWard>   We're having another "don't everyone type at once..." <G>
Aug 06 18:48:17 <DesertRose>   LOL
Aug 06 18:48:31 *   Shiral drops Pin CLANG!!
Aug 06 18:48:40 <KK>   On that note, I think I'd better boogie.  See you guys next week at our usual time.
Aug 06 18:48:50 <JudyWard>   Have a good week!
Aug 06 18:48:54 <Shiral>   We were obviously all playing with our catnip toys
Aug 06 18:48:57 <DesertRose>   Okay, thanks for coming to see us, KK!  Have a good week!  G'night
Aug 06 18:48:57 <Shiral>   Bye, KK
Aug 06 18:49:03 <Shiral>   Night, KK
Aug 06 18:49:15 <JudyWard>   Good night!
Aug 06 18:49:20 *   KK steps onto her Portal, waves goodnight, and disappears in a shower of green sparkles.
Aug 06 18:49:30 <Evie>   goodnight
Aug 06 18:49:34 <DesertRose>   Looking for cats on the internet, which, given the number of cat-things on the internet, might take one a while to comb through all the hits on a Google search!
Aug 06 18:49:44 <KK>   Nighters.
Aug 06 18:49:47 *   KK has quit (Quit: CGI:IRC)
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)