the carnage...THE CARNAGE!

A couple of days ago, T and I came home from work and just felt that something was amiss. Maybe it was how dead silent the house was. Perhaps it was dust filled air particles breezing by...or maybe it was because we were not met with out usual entourage of furry feline friends by the entrance way.

With out hearts already aflutter, we paced the premises and then suddenly came across this:



I started screaming bloody murder at the top of my lungs:

"Oh my God. OH MY GOD! Dear God nooooooooo!"

T came running in and gasped. At that very moment we both swore that Hippo, our other beloved ragdoll cat...



...had just exploded.

I started sobbing hysterically (keep in mind, logic had not quite kicked in yet as I did not notice there wasn't any blood or guts in the vicinity). "Who could do this to her?"

It didn't help that the demonic mother and daughter duo of Etouffee and Brown Dog decided to enter the crime scene and and start chomping on Hippo fluff:



Just then, I caught site of this sitting on the floor of the adjacent study:






This was when T and I started to laugh uncontrollably because we realized the "Hippo Carnage" was nothing more than a shredded up fox tail the we had purchased at a Renaissance Fair years ago for T's Pan costume (photo left). All that was left intact was the very tip.

The tail certainly was Hippo colored and flufy like her, but fortunately it was not her. We went into the study and found out beloved cat, safe and sound, all body parts intact...and grouchy as usual (she's not too fond of the kitten).

Meanwhile, Etouffee and Brown dog took turns gnawing at the fur and having a grand ole time.

Another C and T family mystery solved.

Till then, we'll be vacuuming and cleaning out air filters in earnest.

the fluff that launced a thousand tunes

Hippo has inspired yet another song!
My brother sent this to me today and it features his fantastic guitar work as well as the glockenspiel my mom got him for Christmas some years ago. He slapped it together using Audacity and voila! A new hippo song. I love the title too:

"Hippo Dances in the Rain"

Isn't that the cutest imagery?

Of course, she'd be dancing in this motha-fucking ice storm right about now dodging ice pellets. Ugh...we can't get our mailbox open. It's completely fused shut at the moment.

That's not too bad, but I am concerned about driving conditions. Us Texans aren't used to driving in harsh weather like this. You've got your scaredy cats like me who will inch super slow and those crazy soccer moms in their SUVs who think they're invincible. They closed the upper deck of I35 today and the stretch to Georgetown only just now opened. Yikes!

Speaking of bad weather conditions, I'm still utterly fascinated by snow. It's just so strange how it makes no sound as it comes down. It's fluffy. It doesn't look like those pretty snowflakes you cut out from paper for elementary school projects. It doesn't taste like anything either (I maintain that rain water has flavor whether it be pollution or what not). Snow is so powerful that it inspires me to run out of the house wearing mismatching pajamas two jackets, socks and clogs just so I can stand outside with my mouth open and look like an idiot:



Fortunately, UT is closed tomorrow. I get another day of vacation and another attempt at getting my sleep schedule back on track. However, this also means that my first day of my new job is delayed yet again. I guess that isn't too bad, but it is kind of strange. I suspect I'll have more catching up to do than before. But enough of that...

Because of the cold, my cats are snuggling more than usual. In fact, they don't normally sleep together. In fact, Genghis and Hippo fight all the time, but here they are snuggled up in the warmth of our bed:



Genghis looks like a passed out college student.

another hippo post! more job musings

Because it's Hippo.
Sorry Jbro, I know it's been a while since i've talked about dolphins, but Hippo is dolphin colored at least.

She was acting mopyish, so I made her a bettalien--as in little itty bitty bed. It seemed to cheer her up. She used it immediately but still looks a little sad. Poor thing:



An epiphany occurred to me this morning. When I first interviewed for my
systems analyst position, one of the questions asked by my boss was:

"What do you seeyourself doing when your 3 years is up?"

(in training, you promise to work 3 years at the University in the capacity of a programmer)

I said I envisioned myself going back to the UT Learning Center to help
them get their processes interfaced with the Student Records
offices--something they badly needed. They had a vendor package that
constantly needed to be customized. But because the business processes
there are so complicated and vast, only someone who has really worked
there for some time would be able to properly serve them as a
developer. It dawned on me...

My 3 years are pretty much up and I have to tool set to help them. When I spoke to the person who encouraged me to change jobs, he mentioned that my term ends in
January. So, in some sense, I was supposed to leave anyway.

I'm telling you things happen for a reason.

I'm thankful that Sandy managed to drag me to the Student Services Christmas party. It's pure luck that UTLC just happend to sit next to my department's table and even more fortunate that Jay decided to attend. It's serendipity that this morning I found my photo album of all my former student employees wrought with notes and anecdotes on each of them causing me to remember that particular interview question.

All the good people are in positions of authority now. I wonder...I'm suddenly feeling inspired again and I just wonder, maybe I can make things work there in a little while.

Maybe I can go back home.