For the Benefit of Mr Kite

Very excited about my birthday tomorrow.

I was thinking that it would be strange to wake up by myself tomorrow but I realised that I haven't woken up of my own accord for about three months now thanks to Fenella. This morning I woke up halfway down the bed and sideways with Fenella pushing a grape stalk (her favourite toy) into my leg. A subtle hint that it was now light and she was awake and ready to play. I don't really mind being woken up so early, it generally forces me to get up early and do something like walk to work.

Today I bought myself some birthday presents. I bought a new pair of shorts to wear when I walk to work. I new top to wear when I walk to work which also doubles as top I can wear when I start swimming (this week) and a pair of Chuck Taylor's. I have been pinning for a pair of Converse for a while but I've been unable to find them in a size 3. Today however, I went to David Jone's who I know stock shoes in my size and inquired about the existence of a size 3 Chuck Taylor. They had them, so I bought a pair of white Chuck Taylors which I have been wearing all night. Love them!

Can't wait for tomorrow - by all accounts, Tomas has something exciting planned for me present-wise.

I woke up this morning, fed the cat and was about to go back to bed when I saw that my Wii was glowing. If you own a Wii you know how exciting it can be to see your Wii glowing because you know that someone has left you a message. That someone this morning was Nintendo letting me know that they have released the News Channel. Right now I'm updating the Wii to get the new channel so I have nothing to report yet...

So, while I'm waiting, here's a picture of Fenella cuddling up to the Wiimote that I took the other day...everyone in my house loves the Wii.

I have just realised today, that when I changed my template over, the link to Julie's blog had disappeared. Sorry Jules! All fixed now though.

Andrew posted a link to LibraryThing on his blog today. So having nothing to do today (both Tomas and the cat were asleep) I thought I would check it out.

I was very impressed. I've spent most the afternoon cataloging books. I've got one more shelf to go and then I will have done all of the books we don't have in boxes. I know I have books and Mum and Dad's but I fear they may have been assimilated into Dad's library.

There a couple of features that I would like to see on LibraryThing. Firstly, I'd like to to integrate with our web cam like Delicious Monster. All you have to do is hold your barcode up to the camera and Delicious Monster will read it and search for you.

Secondly, when I'm adding tags, I'd rather not have to type them in. I'd like to just click on them and only type when I'm adding a new one.

LibraryThing is still in beta so I'm sure there are more features to be added. I like the suggestion feature and the way it shows you how many other people have the books you have (we have lots of books no one else has - surprisingly though, other people have Isaac Asimov's Easy Guide to the Slide Rule). There is even a feature that shows you the people who are the only other people to have a book you have.

You can see my books here.

Last night, after posting that Fenella was still missing, I was sitting on the couch trying to read the mail when I thought I heard her cry out. Bearing in mind, that I'd be thinking I could hear her since she went missing I dismissed it. However, when I heard another cry, this time louder and definitely from Fenella I raced out to the balcony.

As soon as I started to call out for her, she started to cry again. I couldn't see her though. I knew she was close so that meant two possibilities, down the drain pipe or under the roof. In my panicked kitten mother state, I decided it would be a good idea to climb down onto the roof (which Tomas has done the previous night and that morning to look for her). Getting down onto the roof was pretty easy, but as soon as I was down I realised that getting back up was going to be very difficult. I spoke to Fenella for a while (still no idea where she was - but I did know that she was moving around) and somehow managed to scramble back onto the balcony.

Whilst all this was happening I was trying to call Tomas who wasn't answering so after trying one more time once I was back on the balcony, I called Mum. I have to admit, I was a bit hysterical at this point in time. Thankfully Mum advised me to go and try the neighbours to see if they could help.

The guy next door was most helpful, and came over straightway and climbed down onto the roof. It took about 15 minutes but we finally found her. She was under the balcony in a crawl space between our floor and the one below. There was a little tiny hole about the size of a 50 cent piece through which we could see her. Obviously this was not where she had gotten into the gap.

Once we found her I climbed down and let her know I was there but she was quite distressed and started trying to squeeze herself through the tiny gap. We were able to lift up the bit of sheet that we could see her under but not far enough to get her our thanks to a bolt that was sticking down. After another 10 minutes we'd gotten the bolt loose, but Fenella still couldn't get through the gap.

Mum arrived about now which was good. I was hoping that Tom would get home soon though as his architecture knowledge might come in handy to figure out how to get her out of the hole. We had one last go at getting her out and she managed to squeeze her head and front legs through the hole so I grabbed her and yanked her out. I don't think I've ever been so relieved.

Mum took Fenella inside whilst we climbed off the roof. Fenella ran about the house reacquainting herself with everything and then proceeded to lay down some scent. She had a little drink and some food and then did probably the biggest wee ever when she saw the litter box.

So that's the story of how we got her back. Needless to say, she is not getting out onto the balcony again until we have blocked up all of the gaps that she can escape from. She's not at all traumatised by her experience. She's been very happy to be back...she played with all of her toys last night and slept quite happily in our bed. We played all morning and now she's asleep on one of the dining chairs. The only change I've noticed in her is she's been purring more, but I think anyone would be happy to be back after being stuck under a roof for a day.

It's long a story but she's back with us. We are very happy. She is very happy.

Thanks for the support though.

She disappeared last night.

It's taken a while, but when I logged in yesterday Blogger finally allowed me to move to the new blogger. Doesn't appear that much has changed but then again, I haven't really had a look. I think that it's time for a template change, I will of course have to design something first..I'm thinking rounded corners and bevelled edges and a starburst somewhere (that's an inside joke that no who reads this will get but I've included it anyway...)

Last night was our second night of trivia at our new venue. It was again very busy and loud. There were not enough tables and chairs but it was still a good night out. This season we decided to call ourselves Schroedinge's Cat is/is not dead and we were honoured with a whole question about our team name. One of the things I like about http://www.harrystrivia.com is how he makes everyone feel included with little things like that. Thankfully, the round that included our question was also the round which we won. Our final score was 91/100 which but us in 12th place.

A couple of questions from the night:

• Penny Marshall directed which 1988 film which grossed over $100 million, making her the first ever woman to do so?


• What is the only bird to hunt by smell?


• Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to fly by which planet?

We didn't get the first one, but other two we nailed.

Trivia
Trivia kicks off again for a new season tonight. Tomas is very excited about it. He's been excited about it for a week. The other day he sent me an email with the words: "YAY! can't wait for trivia!!!". We have changed nights and venues for this season as Thursday wasn't going to work out for everyone anymore. So farewell Morningside Services Club, hello Brunswick Hotel. Hopefully its not too busy and there aren't any Droopy McGoverns there.

Transport
I had a really had transport day the other day. I left the house at 7:00 which left me 20 minutes to get over the hill across the dale to the ferry terminal. So I powered to the ferry terminal and when I got there, my ferry was there! Normally this would be a joyous occasion but the ferry was pulling out. Rather than wait 30 minutes for the next ferry to Bulimba, I caught the ferry to New Farm and thought I would be lazy and catch the bus (remember I powered to the ferry). For some reason when I got to New Farm I didn't catch the first bus I thought I'd walk up to Merthyr Rd and catch the next bus. I did this, but just missed the bus. Rather than wait, I walked to the next stop and on the way, another bus went past. This continued for half of the way up Brunswick Street when I gave up and walked the rest of the way to work.

I doesn't stop there however, in the afternoon I missed the bus because I couldn't get across Wickham St in time. Needless to say, I was a little bit angry. Thankfully Tom came and picked me (he was on the bus I missed).

Technology
I want this.

There seems to be somewhat of a lull on the blogging front of late (I'm looking at you Vanessa, and you, Julie). Perhaps people haven't yet recovered from the holiday period.

Tomas, Fenella, Fishee and I are all getting back into the swing of things (yes that's right, the household has expanded. Fishee is as his name suggests a fish - a Siamese Fighting Fish). We all had a good Christmas: Tomas had time of work to relax and see his family, I had time of work to relax and play with the kitten and enjoy presents, the kitten had lots of people to play with her and a Christmas tree to climb, and Fishee got a water change. Who could ask for more?

On the newsfront, there is not much to report. Tom and I are seriously starting to save up for the trip to Spain and around the world and that's about as exciting as it gets for us. Fenella on the otherhad, has acne. Poor kitten. She has had an irritation under chin for a couple of weeks now, so I took her to the vet yesterday who diagnosed her with having acne. The vet did say that she's never seen a cat so young with it so I'm proud of her for developing a big cat's problem. Of course, we now have to administer antibiotics to her and wash her chin with salt water, in the hope that her scent glands (the source of the acne) will stop clogging up. For most cats, tablets are a drama but for Fenella, they are just another piece of food. This morning I just handed her the tablet and she ate it and this evening I put it in her food bowl and watched her eat it along with her dinner. Most excellent, in my opinion. The salt water washes are more fun though.