kungfuninjakaratekittyness

So, I was looking for one of my pictures in my "My Documents" file. The file was called, "Kung Fu Kitty."

I could not find it.

I asked Nicole in a somewhat accusatory voice about my file. She immediately stated, somewhat indignantly...

"I did NOT touch your Kung Fu Kitty."

Which caused us both to take pause...

OK then, as long as she didn't touch it.

Anyway, I did a search to try to replace my file. I found lots of kitties in martial arts action..just really had to share...

Little C Edumacatshun

I wonder how Little C is doing on her first days of school.

I miss her.

Squirrelsabers

Yes, I know.

I have too much time on my hands.

Flasher Squirrel Two

I think I found his nuts, in case he was looking for them...

It's so Charlie....

Charlie ate several pieces of hefty bag that he happened to find on the floor.

He does that. Anything on the floor. Lint. Spiders. Linty spiders. He doesn't care.

If you decide to give him one of those pounce kitty treats, it is important to keep your fingers away from his mouth...

What?

Huh?

A Little Documentation

When we moved into this apartment in late May, we discovered a few problems here and there. The carpet is very old and needs stretched in a big way. The slider door in the master bathroom does not even have a track attached to it. The closet clothing bars are attached to the wall very flimsily, and like to fall down a lot. The toilet gets stuck in the main bathroom, and you have to jiggle the handle. The thermostats in the livingroom and the office room do not work at all....

With the exception of the potential problem in winter, the things are not huge, and we have adapted to them. We wrote our property manager in late June to let her know about the problems, and to request repairs-especially the thermostat and the bathroom door. We heard nothing back from her. We were then told by our neighbors (and the rest of this small town-she has a reputation) that this woman does not respond to requests for attention to the property she manages. She will apparently wait until things are drastic, and respond only to emergencies-then find ways to charge the tenants for the repairs-blaming them for the malfunction...

Now our garbage disposal has stopped. Not plugged, mind you. Just stopped in mid cycle. We did not drop anything down there out of the ordinary. In fact, it doesn't even sound like it is getting any power at all. Just stopped...so now we can't run our dishwasher because the sink is sort of clogged with the disposal not working. Can't find a reset switch on the disposal. I faxed our property manager to explain the situation (as well as to request attention to the thermostats). Again, no response.

So, I have an appointment with a legal advisor on Tuesday. We both really like this apartment and this location, and are a bit concerned that our property manager appears to be like bigfoot...only reports of sightings around town. We are worried that if we pursue our tenant rights, she will start a campaign to get us out of here, or refuse to re-lease to us in a year. I would just get it repaired and deduct it from the rent, but then she will probably charge us the $50.00 late rent fee, and take the repair costs from the deposit anyway at the end of our stay.

So, this blog is another way of documenting our unfolding drama-given that it is date and time stamped and all.

Wish us luck...

Other animals that can rip your face off...

Okay, so maybe a possum can't rip your face off...

But that ferrett looked a little shifty.

We went to a wild game park, where we were all immediately attacked by assorted animals with horns and hooves that were certain we had snacks in our pockets.

The larger animals tucked safely behind fencing looked at us as if we were the snacks. In pockets.

Hot pocket.

here kitty kitty

Oh sure, it's cute now...

But wait 'til you see what it does to your drapes in about four months...

Oh Oregon

Little C and I just randomly stopped along one of the many trailheads between Gold Beach and Brookings, and we hiked it together. It was fun, and we were rewarded with a very pretty view.

That only leaves 1,342, 567 trails left to explore.

Awwww...

It was our turn to visit Patay...and I thought this here picture was so cute I had to post it.

It's all mushy and everything, and social worker types LOVE that mushy crap.

wassup beaches?

I am indeed getting sand in all of my special places.

It is a dream come true.

And a word to the wise from my medical professional friend....if you roast a marshmallow, be sure not to fling it from the roasting stick directly onto your ass.

Apparently third degree burns can result...very painful...and can leave you susceptible to infection....

...and if that infection is antibiotic resistant?

Yes. That's right.

MRSAmallows.

Beaches Two

Yep, this is really tough living here...oh, the horror...
Although Crisp did say that my fire looked like it had been built by a straight woman.

I told her to watch her weenie.

Good Friends, Good Beach

Went to the beach, built a fire, roasted stuff in it, played frisbee, let the big puppy pull Little C around, built sandcastles, played guitar, found shells, climbed rocks, had great conversation...

All in all I could think of worse ways to spend an evening...really...

Little C and I watched the surf coming in, the waves getting bigger and bigger...and her highlight was seeing a seal pop its head up to spy on us...

I have s'more pics (we did have banana s'more things, thanks to Jamya's chef talents) that I will post later. My scallops are burning.

Geez, that sounds like something I might need penicillin for...

Melissa Etheridge concert

Well, finally had the chance to see one of our all time favorite artists in concert. Incredibly talented vocalist and songwriter...even if she does seem to do a lot of "scratching, crawling, biting. clawing, holes in her chest, nails across her skin, standing outside of windows in the rain, scorched agony tattoed across her very soul" kind of songwriting...

But there was just something missing...

Even at her most mediocre I would guess that she outshines most performers...

Simply breathing into the microphone her talent is obvious...

One of those true rock voices...

But...but...

She used to be hungry and edgy. There was a sort of bite to her presence, her songs, her delivery, her movements...Now she seems...tame, domesticated, kinda packaged and canned in a way...

with generic comments to the audience more fitting of a Holiday Inn lounge act, kind of a peripheral quality to the whole performance...hard to explain...a glancing blow from an artist who could be nearly lethal with the passion in her writing and voice...

So, we were glad to have been a part of it...but we were also a bit disappointed. Perhaps it is the settling down with the woman who calls her "honey this" and "honey that"...or the weariness that must result from touring city after city...or just the mellowing that comes with age and comfortable success...who knows....it isn't as if I could truly criticize talent like that. She is something else...a natural...but that EDGE was missing.

But after a five hour drive to get to the concert, to see the woman who could have practically written the soundtrack for our young adulthood...perhaps our expectations were unrealistically high. I didn't need smoke and explosions though...just that hungry, angry at times, passionate, full of energy, dramatic, devastatingly accurate with her words, one in a million whisky and smoked rock voice artist that we have loved for decades now...

I'd do it again. It is Melissa, after all.

Little C has left...some serious mucous festival action (on my part) with the tears and snot at our parting...I will have LOTS of photos of the fun stuff we did coming shortly. SO glad to have had this time...and thanks to gramma and grandpa for taking her to enable my work, Coley's schedule, and of course that concert...