Caught by the fuzz

Is it just me, or are animal paw pads just the cutest thing ever?

From big scary beasts*

to my own two kitties, those pads are just adorable!

Saba has the fuzziest paws I've ever seen on a cat.

Front:

Back:

I think she must be part polar bear.

Our house is all laminate floors; no wonder her back end sometimes skids out on fast corners.

----------------------------------------------------

*my friend sent me this photo; I don't know the source.

Hockey pool, week 5

Gaah!

This week's picks are critical for me. I won't be able to change my picks from Cuba, so today's choices will have to last me for three weeks... so I have to try and guess which injured players will be back soon enough to make an impact! That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it...

I'll be away for the next 2 Mondays, so unless one of the other players wants to post the weekly results, there will be no updates for a while! Good luck!

Bad week

I have the swine flu.

Well, some kind of flu, anyway. I woke up at about 5am on Saturday with a cough, sore throat, aching joints, and low-grade fever. I seem to already be past the worst of the fever and aches, but that cough is just nasty, and while I'm not actually short of breath, my breathing doesn't feel as free and easy as usual. So I stayed home on the sofa all weekend while Mr E Man went to an awesome Hallowe'en party/sleepover on the Sunshine Coast.

I'm still too sick to do any useful work - I had to lie down for an hour after doing one load of laundry yesterday. My colleague has just emailed to confirm that our flu guidelines mean I'm not allowed into work all this week, even if I feel better. (I'm based in the research building, but the clinical building is just over the road, and there's a lot of traffic (patients and staff) between the two). As soon as my 7 day isolation period is up, I'll be getting on a plane... so I'm going to be horribly, horribly behind when we get back from vacation! Oh well, if I feel better later in the week I'll get one of my colleagues to send me some of the documents I was working on last week. And I can call into my various meetings, if my colleagues don't mind listening to me cough.

I'm thankful for two things though: the timing (the WHO's 7 day isolation recommendation means I'll be OK by the time our flight takes off at 10pm on Saturday), and the fact that (so far!) I haven't had the gastric symptoms that some people have been getting. I hate throwing up, almost to the point of phobia.

So, it could be worse. I have movies, internet, podcasts, books, and kitties to keep me entertained, and Mr E Man has stocked the cupboards and fridge with soup, fruit, juice, and lots of different kinds of tea. I forgot to ask him to pick up some honey, though, and as it turns out, lemon tea with maple syrup is NOT going to be the Next Big Thing. Worth trying though!

I might even get caught up on my blog reading!

Good week

I met Nina on Tuesday!

She's in town on a family trip, and took some time out to meet up with me for some yummy pasta, local wine, decadent chocolate cake, a jazz band playing just for us, and a really fun conversation! As I know I've said before, meeting a blogger is like a first date with an old friend - you know some of their stories and personality, but have to ask basic questions like "so what exactly do you do?"! Anyway, I hope I've inspired Nina to meet up with some more bloggers who live just a leeeeetle bit closer to Freiburg!

And then, on Wednesday...

What's this?

It's part of a mega-cool stage set that barely fit into BC Place, that's what it is:

But who's it for?

U2!!!!!!

I've seen them before, and was very happy to see them again! I agree with some of the local reviews I've read; while I do like the new album (MUCH more than the one before), I would have liked to hear more of their classics. But they have such an immense repertoire that they're never going to be able to play everyone's favourite songs, and all in all it was a great show. I would post my videos, but the camera is blatantly moving to the music in a rather embarrassing manner.

Hallowe'en party at the weekend! w00t!

Just sayin'

9 days to go. Don't get flu, don't get flu, don't get flu...

Mr E Man is not old and stupid...

...just older and stupider* than me!

I saw an article on the BBC website on Monday proclaiming that "the secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you". After reading about this no doubt world-class research, I went home that evening to give Mr E Man the good news that we're all set for an eternity of marital bliss. (The fact that he was in the middle of cooking dinner and had a glass of chilled white wine waiting for me might help, too).

I might hold off on telling him the corresponding story from News Arse, though. The article on this satirical UK news site (fans of the BBC website will recognise the layout, fans of The Onion will recognise the style) is titled "women encouraged to marry old and stupid men", and gives hope to "those previously considered terminally undate-worthy":

Reg Brown told us, “I’m thick as pig shit and the wrong side of fifty, so this is the best news I’ve had since The Sun did its 10p issues".

Good stuff!

------------
*Not true - I may be more educated, but I was only (although consistently, heh) ahead by 2 IQ points in some online tests we did for fun a few years ago!

Tuesday Pet Peeve: common garden variety

It's a beautiful day today. After days of rain the sun is shining on the snow-capped mountains, and the trees are resplendent in yellows, oranges, and reds.

So are the roads.

Yup, the leaves are falling and winter is on the way. And gardeners were out in force this morning, taking advantage of the break in the weather to give their rakes and leaf blowers an airing.

Because, apparently, fallen leaves shall NOT be allowed to sully any perfect lawns*. They should, instead, be dumped into the road (a bike route).

Yup, I saw about eight people today moving leaves off the grass (where they run the risk of mulching in and actually doing some good), and into the road. Where they will form a nasty sodden brown mass next time it rains (tomorrow, probably), blocking the drains, and forcing cyclists to ride over a layer of treacherous slipperiness, with a couple of inches of dirty water sitting on top of it for good measure.

It's like a man cutting the hair off his head and gluing it to his back and the insides of his ears instead.

Where do my leaves go?

Some go into my compost, some go into the municipal composting bins (unlimited citywide curbside pick-up of leaves throughout the autumn), and the rest get spread over my lawn and veggie patch.

A plague of hairy backs upon the leaf blowers!

A leaf blower, yesterday**

--------------
*these are the same lawns that are suspiciously green, lush, and wet in the middle of the summer sprinkler bans. As a French friend of mine once said, "this is Vancouver. Your lawn is going to do its best to be brown in the summer, and moss in the winter. Why fight Nature? Have a glass of wine and forget about it".

**sorry, couldn't resist! This photo did the rounds at work a few years back, as an email with the subject header "Leaf Blower For Sale".