'Nother batch of chili in the slow cooker.
2 cans stewed tomatoes.
1 can white beans.
2 small cans of mushrooms.
1.2 lbs of ground chuck.
And one dang large Vidalia onion, largely diced.
Chili powder to taste (lots, in my case).
And a bottle of V8 juice.

No Garlic?
What's wrong with you Boy?

I do add salt when I serve it up.
Sometimes, garlic salt.
It is generally recommended to salt addicts like myself, that one salts just before eating, rather than mixing it into the recipe, as the salt flavor is more intense then. I have a large container of course ground sea salt that I enjoy sprinkling on many of my meals.
I do not endorse the field of thought that salt is bad for you. Indeed, there have been many who have backed away from that old caveat.

I do suppose that adding some garlic to the recipe might be in order however.
Thank you for the reminder.
Garlic is good for the soul, if not for those around you....LOL.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I should be smelling the onions from the crock pot any time now.

Meowsniffing.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Just another of my old rememberings........

Cab Calloway.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

'tis time for the kittyman to run for his safety with the kittens for the night.
Work comes early enough tomorrow.

I shall entrust you to your own sweet dreams for the night, and hope life finds you happy and safe come the morrow.

I must now entrust my own self to the dreams of my kitties.

I can hope only that all is well come the morning.

Meow for now...................

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Hiya, kitties and kittyettes.
Weekend wrapup.
A bit lengthy, so if you are not interested in what the kittyman does inbetween Seti and building fire trucks, you may want to move along...LOL.

Hmmm...pondering...hmmm.

Another weekend coming to a close.
Spent most of it helping Lori to finalize the refurbs on her old rental property (which she was living in when I met her) so she can finally get it to market and off of her shoulders.

The problem was this.....
For years, she had a very good, stable couple as renters in the downstairs portion, which paid the majority of the property taxes and upkeep.
But sadly, the man's wife passed from cancer. He stayed on a year or so more, but it was too much rent for just one guy.

Subsequent renters either...
Didn't pay on time.
Didn't pay at all.
Were dealing drugs....
Or wanted to move on before the rental agreement was satisfied.
Enough was enough...too much of a hassle to continue renting the place.

So, she had it re-converted to a single family dwelling, as her prospective sales agent said that is where the market currently is. The upstairs was torn out and redone as a couple of bedrooms and bath rather than a kitchen and a living room and a bedroom. It is looking very nice.

Of course, 'you know who' was conscripted to facilitate things this weekend.
The master of all trades was called upon yet again.
Hung drapery rods, a dozen blinds, painted, panted, then partially fixed the garage door, help lay outdoor carpet on the front porch, moved the CO alarm, patched those holes and painted, hung a shower rod, moved shrubbery, panted, changed the ten to ten ones (old Tom Lehrer joke), and finished up today by replumbing the sump pump and installing a new check valve.

And then when we were done today....I tried to change the little battery in an old calculator she had. Which was so cheaply built that the innards disintegrated the moment you took the eight microscopic screws out of the back.
I said screw it, literally, and when I got home found her a new one on ebay for $6.00. From China, freight included.


Then................it's not over yet.
She calls me about 30 seconds after I walk in the door when I got home for the night. (I live about 20 minutes from her place). And says her lawn tractor won't start. Not even a click.
Now, girls, take this next statement in stride please.

But trying to guide Lori through attaching a battery charger to a lawn tractor over the phone is quite like trying to herd cats.
Do you see the battery?
Where am I looking?
Behind the steering wheel.
I see wires.
Well, that's a start.
No, it won't start.
Joking, Lori.
Do you see two wires on the top of the battery?
Yes, red and black.
Good, now clip the battery charger onto the terminals.
Which goes where?
They are red and black too?
Yes.
OK, do the same on the battery.
It's not doing anything.
Did you plug the charger in?
No, not yet.
That's why it's not doing anything.
OK, plugged it in.
Still not doing anything.
Did you turn the charger on?
How do I do that?
Turn the dial to several hours of charging.
I don't want it to charge for several hours, I want to cut the grass.
Dammit, Lori, will you just do what I say and turn it to any damn time you choose....just turn the charger ON.
It clicked.
Did the meter move.
A little.
Good.
Now let it charge for half an hour and you should be good to go.
I don't want to wait for half an hour, I need to mow the lawn NOW.
Lori...this time you have to wait.

And you wonder why it is that I drink?


I shall be installing a new battery in the lawn tractor next weekend.

Meowsigh.


Well, that's about it, folks.
Off to start another wonderful week of fire truck building adventures in the morning.

All the news that's fit to mew.

Meow.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Good day in some ways, not so good in others.

On the good side, I finally get a Friday off without mandatory overtime, due to the Memorial Day holiday.

On the not so good side....
I lost a cruncher this morning. HD went belly up, so no saving it without a different HD and complete reloading of everything.

AND, this afternoon I got a text message from ATT......
Saying.....'Thank you for using ATT, but after December, due to network upgrades, your phone is not going to work anymore.'

Now that really sucks. I love my ultra basic Motorola V365. It is built like a tank, and I get dang near a week on a charge.

Oh well, rumor has it that Motorola might be reintroducing a new version of the RAZR flip phone. That is what I started out with. Not nearly as rugged as the V365, but I had a couple of them. I guess I have until December to figure it out.

Meowsigh.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

And Tigger's been gone two months now.
I have come to peace, mostly, with her passing.
And been consoled every day since, but Purrball and Bandit.
The love those two kitties have for me is immense.

I most days, walk back to the kitty resting place and tell them how much I still love and miss them all.
And tend to the catnip plants I have planted not far from where they lay, so that they may enjoy the aroma...LOL.

The original Tigger, Tigger II, and Squirrel.

All forever in my heart and soul.

I gave all my kitties a promise that I have forever kept.
Cradle to grave, I shall care for you, my kitty.

And even one day, from beyond the grave, I shall care for and love you.
Forever, my kitties.
Once one comes into my life, a kitty never leaves.
I may be forced to entrust their care to God for a while, but I shall eventually take care of them myself....
Up there.

Meowrememberingthemalways.

Meow.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Fur I'll never find another mew.......
Another Mew............

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Missing Tigger.........
Her absence is so hard to take, still.
A kitty among kitties.
I shall never forget my struggle to keep her alive.
Nor forget the pain when she left.

For Tigger.......
She was like a racehorse...
Tigger was like a Tigger was like a racehorse...
Oh, the fairgrounds were crowded.
And ahead of them all............
Came a dancin' and a prancin'
Most noblest of kitties of all.

She came from the barnyard.
She came from the stall.
But ahead of them all came,
my noble mewball.

She came and she cuddled..............
Ahead of them all.
For to cuddle my mewball,
was the finest of all.


I still miss dear Tigger.
Such a fine kitty I laid to rest that day.
All the kings and princes laid down to honer her, I know.
Such a finer cat never lived.

Meow.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

And now you have to suffer me....
For, other than Seti, my music is all I have to share.

It is all most of mankind has to share.
We raise our voices to our Lord for what he has given us.

My special love is the mixture and harmony that such love can bring to the human voice, so special that it is.

We suffer life. And fine it hard to embrace at time.

But. It is our sorrow that tomorrow shall bring us so much joy.

I was devastated when Travers passed on.
Such a voice///.

It lives forever though....
True love is seldom broken except when it is tested.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I know now that.............


My sorrows are not yours to suffer./
My voice is seldom heard//.
And this project is not going to save the world, perhalps.

We all have our dreams, and I have many.

If mine could be so...

Ours would only be a better place in time and space.

Meow for me one time.........meow please.

Just meow.

Cats do it, because they know things we do not.\\

Meow for me, please.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I suppose that I should say something profound.

Not so.\\
My thoughts are of those now focused on death and what I might leave behind, and Irealize it is not much.

This was all i ever asked of you, as Travers did.
Follow me.
I like to share my life with you.............as she said.
Take my hand, and I shall follow you.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

You see,I'd like to share my life with you/.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Lie down, buttwipe.
Let it go/.
The first album.

I own a copy, do you./\

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I am Lucy.

I am everywhere.

What is happening?

What happens when I reach all that capacity.................I have no idea.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I knew it was too good to last

---

Maybe just a six hour ban.

---

I could hack a dozen phone lines in twenty minutes.
I know the location of the central splice box two block from my home.
I once went there to fix my own service, after it went down due to lengthy rain problems. I know where my line tag is in that box.

Sure enough, it was wet....blew it off, and all was right as could be.
Cut a few very precious bits off of the pair, punched them back down on the old block, and things have been OK since then.
I am not sure I could do that again, since I think I had the very last bits of copper I could get....and I tugged a bit to get that much.












\

Give me a copper pair, and i can take you anywhere in the world.
And God save them that wish to give me access to the inet.....we have not even tapped that yet.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Time to change my sig.
Tigger will live forever in my memories of her.
I guess it's time to get on with what remains of my life without her.

I still go back to the end of my yard most every day and send my thoughts to her, and Squirrel and the original Tigger where they lay in repose forever.

And the catnip field I planted for them seems to be doing very well.
A kitty sanctuary.
When I die, anybody can do with it as they wish. I don't have a will made out, but my wishes are clear for all to see here. I should, I suppose, spell it out legally. My home is to be forever dedicated to the love and care of cats.
I intend to give it not to the state or my relatives. They have mostly abandoned me anyway due to their lack of understanding.

I wish to give whatever remains after my debts are paid to the Fox Valley Humane Association.

Those who continually care for those who are abandoned by the side of the road.
I visit there not often enough, because it is so heartbreaking to do so.
But, within those little cages, there is enough love to fill a million worlds.
And impossible for me to save them all, but I do what I can.

Good bye, Tigger. But, we shall meet again.

Meow.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

With every passing second I am realizing how much or how little my life depends upon others. And what little I have contributed to life in general.

It is not much, it seems.

Me, I am little. I am nothing. Kpax, something more./

I have had my little moment in time. My numbers will remain for all to see.

I shall fade into the shadows one day, but you will not ever be able to forget me.

I have had my moment. And it is written in time on this project.
I am historically noted as one who came and went and left his mark.

The numbers are there for all to see./

I, myself, the man, must start to distance himself from here.
Maybe, maybe not.
I am quite unsure at this point.
This project has consumed far too much of my life.
Only my cats have consumed more, and they are far more worthy of my time.
And consume far less money than this task.

Should I cut the tether?
You tell me....is it time?

How do I determine how much is too much.
I have lost the ability to make that call myself./

I have now little sense of what is right an wrong here.
I need a little guidance.

Meow at me, please.

Meow?

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster