Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Month: January 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

Not Dead Yet

It’s been a while since I updated this blog. Just a quick note that I am settled in Tucson now and working at home. And I’m using Python. Woot. I’ll have more to say later.

Mystery’s Bobcat Adventure

I know my wife is going to freak out when I tell her. I sent her an email with the first sentence in large bold letters: Mystery is safe and was never really in any danger., but I had to let her know if she walks the dog. We’ve been here a month and this my first encounter with a bobcat.

I was walking the dog home after he did is his business. I saw a bobcat step out onto the side of the road about a hundred yards ahead of us. As soon as I saw it we stopped. It stopped and stared at us. We waited deciding what to do. I was hoping it would move on. It then crossed the road, the center median, and the rest of the road. I waited a minute but not before picking up a hand-sized rock and the dog. I carried him past the point where the bobcat had passed. I think we may have been upwind of the cat. So he may picked up our scent.

I didn’t realize that by carrying Mystery until we got home that the cat would not get his scent from the road. Anway, I kept scanning the brush for the cat. No sign. I kept looking back to make sure the cat hadn’t come back. When I got close to the house, I put Mystery down and we went inside.

The bobcat was about the size of a medium size dog. Bigger than Mystery. I guess we need to read up on the wildlife that we can expect in our neighborhood, coyotes, bobcats, etc. I know for the most part, wildlife avoid people. I’m only worried that maybe next time we might be a little closer should another encounter occur. I know there are coyotes in this neighborhood. I’ve heard them at night. I’m not surprised there are bobcats, either. Plenty of rabbits and huge jackrabbits abound as well as Gambel Quail and chipmunks. The only other creatures that may be potential dangerous are javalinas and I don’t know if they are any of those to be found here.

History Through Headlines

As the disastrous eight years of the Bush/Cheney mis-administration winds to a close, you can review the Bush Years in Onion Headlines via BoingBoing. It links to a much fuller list found on Theresa Nielsen Hayden’s blog Making Light: The true history of the Bush years.

Here are some of my favorite headlines:

January 17, 2001: Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’.

March 17, 2004: Rumsfeld Hosts No-Holds-Barred Martial Arts Tournament At Remote Island Fortress.

September 14, 2005: Halliburton Gets Contract To Pry Gold Fillings From New Orleans Corpses’ Teeth.

July 2, 2008: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency.

January 13, 2009: Vice Presidential Handlers Lure Cheney Into Traveling Crate.

I laughed out loud when I read that last one. Yeah, the last eight years wasn’t as bad as when Stalin collectivized the farms in the Soviet Union or as bad as the Spanish Civil War. At least not in the US. What happened in Iraq and Afghanistan was pretty bad. And though we may have hopefully good leadership for the next four to eight years, it won’t be easy digging our selves out of the hole the Bush-Cheney cabal has put us in.

On the one hand I have to pinch myself, that we actually elected Obama. On the other hand I know we have a rough road ahead thanks to outgoing administration. Hopefully the last act we get to witness are Bush’s pardons. They’ll be the turd icing on the shit cake that was their administration.

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