Holiday Disaster

Since he is such an important part of the operations of this Fine City, you may justifiably wonder what The Fuzz was doing at home on such a busy day. Well, the old back is acting up again, but that's not the problem. It would seem that while hard at work at his daily task of cleaning up the remnants of everyone's Holiday Cheer, he made a small miscalculation, and destroyed this Utility Pole.
Well not exactly This Pole. This is a poor attempt to illustrate the situation he found himself in. But it does convey somewhat of the situation. You will notice that the middle section of This Pole is missing. This is because after The Fuzz finished backing a Huge Garbage Truck into a real one, the middle section of That One was missing. Well not exactly "Missing" since we know where it was, but it was not where it was supposed to be. This left the upper section hanging, as they say.
No one was happy about this, especially The Fuzz.
After an interview with the Police, The Fuzz was relieved of his command, and forced into a pickup truck which took him to the basement of some sort of medical establishment. Here, he was forced to Pee in a Cup.
At any rate, since his back was acting up anyway, he was told to take a sick day today. And that is why he was here to give you the Cat Poetry Update this morning.
But just in case any of my Loyal Readers are worried about The Fuzz's future in the workforce, it appears that he will still have a job, lucky guy.

Update

Here's the much anticipated update to the Cat Poetry Collection , which, of course, welcomes new contributions. Feel free to add your own in the Comments.

In reply to The Fuzz's Ode to Kitty Cats-

"Cats are Evil
Cats are Mean
Cats Tear Up
Your Backdoor Screen."

The Lazy Iguana says-

"Cats are smart
Cats are crafty.
If you do not let them in,
Things could get nasty."

woodie said...

I have not poetry to add today but I will pass on a bit of wisdom our cat Cricket tells us many times a day:

"it's not easy being furry"

and I think even the FUZZ can agree with that!


Fuzz said...

Cats are fuzzy
Cats are furry
Cats don't seem to
Have a worry


rizzo and cricket said...

warm fur we have
but we aren't dumb
we'd gladly trade
our fur for thumbs

Fuzz said...

Ain't thumbs great ?
But cats are out of luck
'Tis a pitty but it's true
Not having thumbs must suck.

The Canuck said...

Cats love big balls of yarn,
They play with paws that wack,
If they lick themselves too much,
You'll discover a puddle of yack!


woodie said...

some folks w/ thumbs suck, too.

Anonymous said...

cats are rude
cats are stinky
cats refuse to lift a pinky

cats are shifty
cats don't smile
cats think you have no taste or style

cats are proud
cats love to boast
when you turn your back
cats eat your toast

The Fuzz has to go wash the dishes now, but, Cats....

They Won't hit a Lick,
They Won't Do the Dishes,
They Just Sit by the Fish Tank,
And Watch the Swimming Fishes.

Christmas Eve '07

Some folks put on quite a light show this time of year.

But if you happen to slip into town and pass by the Fuzz's place, this is what will grace your vision on these dark December nights. We may be on the porch with a bit of antifreeze and our Tiki Torches, waiting for the snow. But to tell the truth, there's not likely to be any. The Fuzz would settle for some mere rain, but we don't expect that either. This year, just to be safe, we'll keep that stupid, disobedient dog on a short leash.
But it is Happy Christmas Time here in NC. I suppose it is in other places too. So to those in those other places, Merry Christmas to Y'all.

Don't forget about our Cat PoetryCollection . Feel free to add your own literary efforts.

Bad People

Being in the "Trade", I find this, disturbing.





But, Merry Christmas !

Another Wonderful Year

This was meant to be Posted Yesterday, the 20th of December. But things just didn't work out. So here it is today.

These two happy young people are The Fuzz and His Sweetie. This was, of course, many winters past. But I just wanted to remember that day 35 years ago, when these two committed Matrimony.

There was a time when the hairs were not grey, a time in fact, when there were hairs. A time when The Fuzz was able to convince this Beautiful Young Woman to marry him. And now many years and 8 young'uns later, he knows he did the right thing.

There were probably those who thought they weren't ready for this, but is any one ever really "ready"? I doubt it myself. We just do it. And ask God's Blessing. And with His Blessing it is beautiful, like this Woman, then, and now.

Here We Go Again

This is a familiar scene I'm afraid. Yes it's a Sick Truck. This time The Fuzz found that his clutch was sick, and getting sicker. He had to tie a cord to the pedal to pull it back up, and it took more than one whack to get it to work at all. It had been acting in a curious manner lately, and now it finally cashed in it's chips. It seems it somehow knew the weather was turning cold (it was 18F this morning). These things seem to get a thrill out of making someone crawl under them in the freezing cold. First, The Fuzz had to find out what the cause of this trouble was. His Highly Analytical Mind zeroed in on the Clutch Master Cylinder as the probable cause. Back in the days, he would have purchased a rebuild kit and disassembled the thing for a rebuild. These days it seems that even if one can get the kit, it pays off to just get a rebuilt one, and slap it in there. They must rebuild them in Bangladesh or something. The old, sick one is resting in the leaves. The shiny new one is in the truck, ready for service. All that remained was to bleed the system. Even this went well, with the assistance of Young Daughter working the pedal.

I am Pleased to report, that the clutch is working fine, and The Fuzz and Young Daughter drove the truck over to the K-Mart and bought a brand new notebook to assist in her education.

And don't forget to contribute on the Cat Poetry Post.

Cat Poetry

In reply to The Fuzz's Ode to Kitty Cats-

"Cats are Evil
Cats are Mean
Cats Tear Up
Your Backdoor Screen."

That was included in his Post of December 16,

The Lazy Iguana says-

"Cats are smart
Cats are crafty.
If you do not let them in,
Things could get nasty."

The Fuzz used to think that Cats were wise and mysterious and real deep. He now suspects that they're just dumb. Be that as it may, this seems like a chance to gather Cat Poet Stuff for the Poetry Corner. So If any of my many readers wish to contribute to this Cat Collection, just add yours in the Comments Section.

New Cat Toy

Here is a shot of our latest Cat Toy.

The weather around here may have turned for the "better", at least rain wise. The sun is out now, but last night we finally got a bit of rain, 0.91 in, they claim. It sounded really good on the tin roof, but it was cold and wet out there. The Kitty Cats don't much care for that sort of weather, so they were climbing the screen doors, trying to get in. That Pest, Puddin', actually ripped some of the trim off the back door, forcing The Fuzz to go out into the night to engage in a bit of Damage Control.

Being the merciful folks we is, they were allowed into the warmth inside. That was when they discovered their new toy.

The Fuzz had been busy all day getting their toy together. He used to be a Purist about this sort of thing, and would not do it until Christmas Eve itself. That seems to be less popular these days. His Sweetie has been working on him over the years, and you can see what this has led to. But that's OK, why not?

But this is not always a simple operation. Being somewhat the traditionalists, we insist on a Live (or recently deceased) Tree. I suppose this contributes somehow to Global Warming, but what the heck. In this case the bottom end of this thing was too big to fit into the thing that holds the water and keeps it from falling over. The Fuzz had to remove some lower branches. Then it was necessary to ''whittle" the fat end down a bit. This, of course, necessitated finding the hatchet, never an easy task. It finally turned up under the seat in his truck. Soon there was a pile of chips on the floor, and the house was filled with the delightful aroma of Christmas Tree.

I suppose this seems like an odd "Christmas Tree" picture, but, it was part of the process. All those pretty little lights require electricity. Unless, of course, one wishes to revert to the old Candles on the Tree Fire Hazard system. Although he is a traditionalist, The Fuzz does not particularly like that idea. The idea of fire does not really bother him, but he prefers it to stay in the Wood Stove. This is all that could be seen of him as he wormed his way under this bed in search of a source of that electricity.

In the end, it all came together, and we now have this lovely Christmas Tree to enjoy for the season. Maybe the Kitties will make the connection in their little minds, that playing with this toy gets them thrown out into the cold.

And so The Fuzz wishes to close with this famous Poem.

Cats are Evil
Cats are Mean
Cats Tear Up
Your Backdoor Screen.

Geminids Revisited

We did get to see some of 'em. The Fuzz's Sweetie was in the Big City last night. Some things fell in place and she took Young Daughter and a couple friends to the dress rehearsal of the Nutcracker. It was said to be "awesome" but, sorry, there are no pix.
But, they returned very late, and as The Fuzz ventured out around midnight, he found the sky had cleared here. And so, The Fuzz and His Sweetie viewed a few before retiring for the night (or rather morning). It was "way cool". I kept thinking they should be making some kinda "fizzzzzzp" sound. I suppose if one got close enough, we'd have heard it OK and been quite satisfied.

Hidden Geminids

This probably doesn't look like much. Actually, it is the sky tonight, the 13th of December, 2007. There is supposed to be a Meteor Shower tonight. But aparently, The Fuzz will not see it. The Irony here is that we have not had any real rain since...... I'm not sure I even remember.
What you can hardly see are Clouds. They are between The Fuzz and the Meteor Shower. So he will not get to watch this Celestial Wonder. Maybe tomorrow night.

Fabulous Christmas Concert !

This weekend the School put on their fabulous Christmas Concert.


As is evident, it was a big deal. Here we got the String Orchestra, Concert Band, and the High School Chorus.
This picture, of the big picture, does not show the Drama Department's Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Skit. Maybe that is just as well.
Even the Art Department got into the act. That Bed-sheet-looking thing in the corner, is where they painted abstracts whilst the Orchestra played Silent Night.


The Fuzz didn't have a lot of luck with his camera. This was about the best shot he got. His Artistical Sweetie had better luck with her pen. She graciously allows him to use her stuff from time to time. Here you can enjoy a view of the Cello section hard at work. Musical Son is involved with them, he's the one with the Cello.




Here you can see that Great Man, the Conductor himself, in action. Actually, since the band and orchestra are separate concerns, the leaders took turns. The Chorus Lady got to stay the whole time.

It's that busy time of year. Hanukkah is now. Christmas is soon. The Fuzz has to put up that Christmas Tree soon. He already got one. It's waiting for him in the walk-in cooler. In the midst of all this comes a Birthday and Important Anniversary, maybe even a trip to the Art Museum. Then we get to wind things up with the New Year.

Day of Infamy

The Fuzz's many Long-time readers will remember our trip to the Tropical Paradise this spring. There we had the opportunity to tour the Arizona Memorial, courtesy of the US Navy. So it seems apropriate to remember that here, on today, Dec. 7, 2007.




While the raid was devastating, it did not achieve everything desired. Originally, the plan called for a 3rd wave. When it was realized that the American Aircraft Carriers were not in port, there was concern that they might be looking to attack the Japanese fleet, so the 3rd wave was canceled. The navy's tank farm was not hit as it was feared the smoke would obscure the harbor, sparing a 2 year supply of fuel. And the repair facilities at the Naval Yard escaped destruction. This resulted in all but 4 (I believe) ships eventually returning to action.

There are a number of theories regarding the politics behind this event, but it is said, that when Winston Churchill heard the news, he went to bed peacefully, "Knowing we had won".

More Big City Adventures Cont.

Here's where we ended up in town. Or rather, here's looking up from where we ended up.

There were quite a few people who seemed to be doing the same thing as we were, just riding the train for fun. Consequently, there was a big rush to get return tickets. But we were in no particular hurry, so we did miss the first train. Actually, since this was the end of the line, the first train, was the same train. We had already been on that one anyway.



The wait for the next one was not long, about 15min. I think. It was starting to get dark now. On the front of that Big City Building there were these weird light things. If someone bumped, or slapped them, they made strange noises. Naturally, the kids seemed to love them. So we heard a lot of them. These two girls couldn't leave them alone.

The Fuzz was trying to take pictures in the dark. The hard part is to hold the thing steady whilst mashing that little button. He finally just set the camera down and used the timer.

That's why you can see the next train comming to take us back.



Happy Hannukah, Everyone !

More Big City Adventures

It seems we can't stay away from those Big Cities these days.

This past weekend we had to drop Young Athletical Son off at his Big Brother's. This necessitated a trip though the Big City again. So, being the practical people we are, we stopped there on the way back for some shopping (Oh No !) and other Big City stuff. The shopping was a bit of an ordeal, (at least for The Fuzz) but we found a good Mexican Restaurant (he did like that).
But while we were there we decided to check out the brand new Light Rail line. This is the station where we got on.
They have these Automated Ticket things there. First you pick out what kind of ticket you want. You can get Day Passes and all, but we just wanted a ticket to ride. When we finally figured out how to do this, the thing wouldn't take our money. But there was another one there that did. There was a dude there trying to feed it a $100 bill. It didn't like that at all. It gives you change in $1 coins. So now we have a use for $1 coins, other than at the Renaissance Fair.

When the train came, we got on. It was already pretty full and we had to stand up and hold on to those poles they have in there. But that was OK. We rode all the way into the uptown area, which is the end of the line, for now. Then we got some tickets to go back, and just hung out and waited for the next train out.

Here is one of the cool Trains. They run off of overhead power lines with a pick up on top of the train. The Driver can drive from either end, depending on which way it's going. Pretty Cool.

Labor Saving Devices

A Brace of Chainsaws.

In the constant quest for warmth and it's required Firewood, these are The Fuzz's good buddies.

For a Chainsaw to do the job quickly and effectively, it must be Sharp. This can be a tedious, time consuming, process with a file. Perhaps this is a good thing, in a way, as it forces the Chainsawer to stop and take a break. But The Fuzz never has enjoyed this aspect of the job. I suppose he should be more open to the "Zen of Chainsharp", but things are as they are, and he is as he is.

And so that is were this wonderful gizmo comes in to the picture. (See it in the picture) This most versatile power tool, the Dremel thing, has an attachment just for this purpose. It even comes with interchangeable grinders for those different sized chains.

The Fuzz is very fond of this labor saving device, also this one.... Child Labor.

Exposed !

We may be getting a little sensationalist here, but here it is.The Fuzz was caught in the very act of bathing. I know this could cause a Scandal, but it's out at last. The truth is, that The Fuzz is a regular Bather, at least once a week, wether he needs it or not. We know this is a bit excessive, but, he says, it just feels good.

In the future, I hope there will be no more of this nudity on this blog. We want to keep things clean here.

New Threat to the Planet !

And while we're on the subject of Beer..........

" Scientists have found a new threat to the planet: Canadian beer drinkers." This looks serious. I suppose those Canucks aren't real worried about Global Warming anyway. But I have to wonder, are we next ? I mean, isn't this what you do with your old Fridge ? It is what The Fuzz did.

Does this mean The Fuzz has Canadianistic tendencies ? He has Canadian Connections by marriage, in a couple of generations. He doesn't care for Molson's Ice, but Molson's Golden is tolerable.

'"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," British environmental consultant Joanna Yarrow tells New Scientist magazine. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people — let's hope it has an effect."'

Does this mean we should drink warm beer ? Well at least one no longer has to feel guilty about cranking up the old SUV, now that we know what the real problem is.

For a serious discusion of this threat to our planet, go here. If you are a selfish pig, who doesn't care about the future of our planet or the human race, don't go here. In fact this is probably why The Fuzz's well is dry, it's those Beer Swilling Canadians ! Maybe I should go have a Cold One and calm down.

The pix may be Scandalous, but they won't be Dirty. I have The Fuzz's word on it.

Stein Hoard

Some time ago a certain Blogger mentioned Beer Steins, and wondered if people actually use them. Well here is The Fuzz's modest Beer Stein Hoard. On the left is one that came from a Yankee Uncle. Next and the far right came from Californian Grandmother of Sweetie. The remaining Stein, was gift from Dear Daughter. While it is true that they mostly gather dust, all are completely functional, and actually used on occasion. Here [File Photo] is actual, photographical proof of this fact. Of course this particular beer is long gone, but you can trust that it went to a good cause.


In other news, still no real rain, no well water.



No this is not becoming a porn site, but be forewarned of scandalous Fuzz Pix soon.

Boxes

One of the great things about buying all that stuff on-line is the Boxes. There's also the opportunity to spend all your money without leaving the house of course. That is really convenient when you think about it. This is the result of a recent on-line frenzy.
We can use the boxes for other things, but mostly they take up space 'till we get rid of them. Things are so dry around here that there is a Burning Ban in effect, so a fire is out. But for now, the critters seem to be putting them to good use.
Just so you won't be confused, on the left is Pistachio, Puddin' in the box, and with her back to us, is the infamous Two Face.

And not to be left out, that Stupid, Disobedient Dog, also known as Nobbie, is harassing Puddin' in the box. They just like to have fun together.

Still no significant rain here. The well is still a dry hole .

And now for the exciting part, soon to come, Nude Pictures of The Fuzz ! How about that ?

A Fuzzy Thanksgiving 2007

It was off to the Big City again. There are a number of Big Cities we visit from time to time. This time, to visit Big City Artist Daughter and meet more of the family for Thanksgiving Dinner.Here is some of the Feast before the Feeding Frenzy. You don't see the people yet. Some, of course, couldn't make it, so there were only 11.
You also don't see the Guest of honor, that Big Turkey himself. Here he is getting ready.
He was joined by his friend, who was welcome enough, even though he is a bit of a Ham. He is not in the picture either. But we enjoyed them both along with many other Yummies.
There was wine and good conversation, and we were very thankful for all these blessings and more, they are all just the mercies of God.
After the Feeding Frenzy, we all took a walk in the Big City to let things settle down a bit.
At a nearby park, The Fuzz saw this sign. It seems the Very Vegetarian Society has taken on the responsibility for keeping this park cleaned up. This is really big of them. But, The Fuzz couldn't help wondering what sort of Feeding Frenzy they had had on this special day.
We enjoyed our walk, and then, it was back to the house, for pie, coffee and all that good stuff. As night fell, so did the temperature, and Big City Son in Law lit a fire in this spiffy Fire On The Deck Thing, so those so inclined could warm up their butts in the old fashioned way.
We spent the night there in the Big City, and headed home the next morning.
It was a most excellent time, and many thanks to Big City Daughter and Son in Law. Mucho Gracias.

Jumpin' Jellyfish !

Check this out. I hope they weren't wanting Salmon for thanksgiving.


And, also in the News, how 'bout this Knife ?

In The Big City

While we were in The Big City, we went to the Art Districk. This is the part of town where they are making apartments and stuff in these old mills. The mills are empty because now they make everything in China or Bangladesh. And there are lots of old buildings here. But now it seems to be going "Upscale" with the Galleries, restaurants and bars.
The Fuzz even found this Electric Church there.
His Sweetie and he wandered around a bit while they waited to be joined by the Newlyweds for Fish Tacos, or what. The street behind all this excitment was full of empty, kinda rundown, houses. He did make a couple of pictures of these, but I will spare you all that.
However, in touring the various Galleries we came upon this example of the wondrous, Art-O-Mat !
You may remember the Art-O-Mat, that converted Cigarette machine, that was reborn to bring Art to the masses.

We got the opportunity to crawl around all these places and see just what it was about. There was jewelry, some was pretty nice. The Fuzz's Sweetie almost got her some, but finally let it go. There were lots of paintings. Some were good, some weren't, and some were overpriced.

At last it was time to hit the road. And so we went back to the Little City in the dark.

And Have a Happy Thanksgiving every one.

More Crawling

The Fuzz and His Sweetie went down to the Big City this past weekend. This was for more of Culture and that kind of thing. This time it was the Gallery Crawl. They explored several Art Galleries and just had a good time. This is at one of them without people. Here it is, with people. But there has to be people, if there's no people, is there Art ? Maybe this is one of those "If a tree falls in the forest and there's no..........." things. But who cares anyway, there were people here.
But it was fun in the Big City, they even had Fish Tacos. The Big City is OK sometimes, if you can go back home when you've had your fill. Here's a Kinda Fuzzy picture of one of the Artists explaining things to some interested folks who happened to crawl by.

It was a big weekend for The Fuzz and His. They also drove over to the Not Quite Such A Big City and took in a flick," Bella ". Sometimes a flick they want to see just won't come to this Little Town. In that case it's either travel, or wait on Nextflicks. But, they liked it pretty well, and thought it was worth the trip.

Unfortunate Event

It's not clear how this fire stared. It could be possible that Count Olaf had something to do with it.Perhaps there was some sort of collusion with the Grinch, some kind of conspiracy to bring down the Economy by disrupting the Holiday Frenzy.
This may look like just any old ordinary plant. But don't be misled here. If you look closely, you will notice the remains of Commercial Christmas.
As you enter your local Mall this year, take a moment to appreciate all those little Reindeers, Elves and other wonderful things there to help you get into the "Holiday Mood" and spend your money. Remember, it is your patriotic duty to support the economy. But enough of this Scrooge-talk.
If you ever stopped to wonder just where all those wonderful things came from, it was here, the emphasis is on "was". This place supplied a lot of those things, and they did a pretty good job. This happened near the end of the "Christmas Rush", so all was not lost, at least not quite. Maybe you thought it was Elves that made this stuff. You would be wrong. It was real human people, even some of The Fuzz's kinfolks. Now they are scrambling, in borowed space, to get the last of it out.
We don't know how all this will turn out. Could this be the end of Christmas as we know it ? Would that be a bad thing ?
The fire was pretty bad. All the plastic, paint and stuff caused an inferno. There was nothing the Firemen could do but watch it burn, and try to keep it from spreading. There was a huge, black cloud drifting across the sky. The area around the plant was evacuated. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt as far as we know.
This Bear somehow survived all this.
The Fuzz and his Sweetie stopped by the other day to check it out. There was still a chemical smell in the air.
But don't worry, the Chinese are still making lots of great Christmas Stuff.

Sketch Crawling

This "Sketch Crawl" was mentioned last week on one of the sporadic posts. So an explanation is probably in order. This Sketch Crawl is some kind of Art Thing, where people spend a day going around making sketches of stuff. This was going on in places all over the country, in fact, all over the world. The Fuzz's Sweetie is a bit of an Artist Type Person and tends to get involved in these sort of things.
This is a Railroad Trestle. It crosses a mostly dried up river. It was also on His Sweetie's short list of things to sketch. She often tries to get The Fuzz involved in this sort of thing too. The Fuzz is kinda lazy, but, he does not like His Sweetie to have to sit by herself in a lonly place like this. And so he tagged along. In this situation he had no excuse not to be involved in all this, and so, here it is. You even get to see the Fuzz's Sweetie here in action.
Not having the dedication that His Sweetie does, The Fuzz soon returned home. She however, continued to crawl for a while longer.
Later in the day he joined her at our famous Court-square for even more sketching.
And that is the story of the Sketch Crawl.