65 is sick

About 16 years ago, Barbara brought home a little kitten found at the pound. I really wasn't interested in having a cat, but she was a beautiful kitten.

The flea collar she was wearing had the number 65 handwritten on it, and I thought that maybe that indicated her place in line for a trip to the door at the end of the hall. I 'd never had a pet with a number as a name, so the kitten was named 65.

Our dalmatians thought she was a toy for them to play with. Some rather traumatic incidents made 65 shy and reserved. Until out last dog died, 65 was more or less invisible around the house.

Last November she had a polyp removed from her right ear, and when she came home she acted like a different cat. She followed us around, she meowed at us, she sat on our laps, she was very different. (The picture above is with a soft collar to keep her from scratching at her stitches.)

Last Wednesday she had a seizure in the living room. The earliest vet appointment was for Saturday morning. On Thursday she had another seizure, scratching and biting Barbara's foot.

Yesterday morning the vet took some blood and did some tests. We'll have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for the results. 65 does not appear to be in any pain. Barbara and I are probably more uncomfortable during the seizures than the cat is.

Sixteen years with an animal can help a bond develop.

Universal Truths

UNIVERSAL TRUTHS

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent an idiot from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey, but I'd bet my behind everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Archeology in South Africa

From the top:

Fossils and finds from the site arranged in the work house at the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa.

Barbara on the catwalk over the dig.

Entrance to one of the recent digs at the site.

One of the on-site archeologists (can anyone help me discover his name?) explains the important work being done in South Africa. Our visit was for the Transit of Venus in 2004.

The Cradle of Humankind

During our 2004 visit, the work area at the archeological dig in South Africa was full of workers and fossils. Workers were carefully cleaning the finds and the organizing them for further study.

If Sediba, the newest find there, is almost 2 million years old, that may eliminate any connection with the crew of Battlestar Gallactica.

Astralopithecus sediba

This evening I saw a news story on TV about one if the newest discoveries in human history, the remains of Astralopithecus sediba at the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa.

Barbara and I had visited that archeological site in the winter of 2004. We climbed down into a cave and saw what the scientists had done, then toured the nearby work shed and saw the fossils and bones they were cleaning and organizing..

The recent discovery there of 1.9 million year old bones of a 9 year old male primate have been in science news. Professor Lee Berger's find is named "Sediba" which means "source."

Planets at the Observatory

Friday night at Cline Observatory can be a very fun evening. That's when we host a free public observing session, and the guests can view some really nice celestial objects.

This first Friday of April Angela and I opened the Observatory a little early to pick up Mercury and Venus in the western sky. Later in the session we spotted both Mars near our zenith and Saturn in the east. Four planets in one session is something to write home about.

We also got to see the Orion Nebula, binary stars (Sirius and Castor) and some clusters; a couple globular clusters and the Beehive Cluster. The guests were so into the observing we stayed open about an hour later than usual.

About 55 guests came to Friday's observing session. Tom and Steve set up a telescope out on the nearby pad to relieve congestion under the dome.

True Story

This afternoon as I contemplated the universe on the back porch, a flock of blackbirds came to visit in nearby trees, At first they were noisy, talking to one another, and just minutes later, they were quiet. I could still see them in the trees, they were just silent. They eventually flew off without a sound, so I got the chance to count seven birds.

That reminded me of an interesting lesson a couple years ago. I was spending time at the Mars Analog Research Station (M.A.R.S.) in the Utah dessert. One day I saw a flock of about a dozen blackbirds, the only birds I saw for two weeks. The wonderful sight of these birds noisily flying thru the desert sky made an impression on me.

At the end of our mission, we visited nearby Goblin Valley State Park and an interesting ranger was on duty. Turns out she's from Asheboro, NC and working a season at that park. I described the flock of birds I had seen a couple days before and asked her if there was a way to distinguish between blackbirds and ravens.

The young lady said it was their calls that helps her distinguish between the two. If the bird is a blackbird it will go "caw-caw." If it's raven it will go "Nevermore."

True story.