WHO DAT?

So I was out prowling around our side yard, checking on our pretty-much-inactive tomato plant and a couple of vines to see which one was going to die first.

When a leaf caught my eye, apparently stuck to the wall.

Now it's a rough stucco wall so I could imagine a leaf having been blown up there and becoming attached.

But when I looked closer, I saw this leaf was actually a critter so I took a couple of more pictures of it.

When I showed the pictures to Judy and suggested it might be a Praying Mantis, she said "No, it's a Cicada."

Well, I went to the omniscient Google and the Cicadas it showed didn't look anything like this critter.

So I asked Google to show me some bugs that look like leaves and it promptly convinced me this was a member of the Tettigoniidae Family.

More commonly known as Bush Crickets or (especially in North America) Katydids!

And, just to put a fine point on it, the Google said they are nocturnal and that during the day when they're "resting" they assume a posture that causes them to resemble a leaf!

So case solved and thus ends today's lesson in Insect Identification.

I can't wait until nightfall when it may start "singing".

As I said to Judy, "It may be good that we're practically deaf!"

C or F?

Just a couple of thoughts today about the differences between we (supposedly) enlightened people here in the U.S. of A. and all of the troglodytes in the rest of the world.

Yes, it's the problems caused by the refusal of most of the so-called Enlightened World Citizenry to switch over from the old Metric System to the very modern Imperial System.

But the U.S. is not the only place where the Metric System is considered outdated.

There's Liberia.

And Myanmar.

And . . . and . . . and . . .

Well I guess that's about it.

So we argue and correct each other and so on and so forth ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

But it didn't start with us.

It went back to the founders.

OOPS

 

And with that bit of knowledge, we bid farewell to a hot, fiery, rainy summer.

In the Northern Hemisphere, anyway.

Happy September 4th, Labor/Labour Day in some parts of the world.

But not in others.

Oh, man, I don't need Spell-Check, I need Fact-Check.

A LONG WEEKEND (in the U.S.A.)

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's been a frustrating week.

A delivery of a new dishwasher for my next door neighbor ran afoul of her apparently being in the shower when it arrived and her not hearing my repeated ringings of her doorbell and pounding on her door.

So I have been trying for three days through multiple telephone calls to get the delivery rescheduled.

Finally this morning I thought I was getting somewhere.

Until the guy on the other end of the phone said he couldn't do it then because his computers were down and I'd have to call back in a couple of hours and try again.

And do you know what the guy with the computers down does for a living?

He's a member of The Geek Squad at the well-known store!

Sheesh!

And I won't bore you with the waiting games the BAD and SWMBO have been playing this week.

Suffice it to say that the BAD still doesn't know if she'll have to have surgery for her broken elbow and SWMBO learned that she will definitely have to have a knee replacement.

So with that sad tune I'm playing on the world's smallest violin let's get on with something of a lighter note.

And there it is.

Those are the yucks for this week.

Now let's all go out there this weekend (and remember it's a long one) and try to have an exemplary time.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . oops, look out . . )

UPDATE/NO UPDATE

So here's a report on the state of play in Modern Medicine.

Sometimes it feels like the medicos are just playing but then when we are sick or hurt we all want instant gratification.

So, as I reported yesterday, our daughter . . currently known here as the BAD or Beautiful Artistic Daughter . . took a tumble coming out of an appointment and broke a bone in or around the elbow of her left arm.

She points out that she was sober at the time.

I point out that her left arm is her dominant arm.

She is seriously left-handed.

And she's an artist!

But she went to a hospital emergency room and got splinted and taped and her arm looked like this.

Then yesterday she got a new binding and this is the result.

That apparatus looks like it was put on her in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory!

(She, incidentally, still looks beautiful.)

She's currently waiting to be scheduled for a CT scan, also known as a CAT scan.

(Seems appropriate for a Cat Lady.)

That's to determine what method of treatment will best be used to heal her arm.

Could be surgery.

Could just be keeping that wicked looking brace on and letting it heal by itself.

So, at this point, four days after her accident, she still doesn't know, and she doesn't know when she'll know.

It's a very frustrating ordeal.

But she's a fairly patient lady.

As long as the pain pills hold out.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, it's Friday again.

(It's actually Thursday when I'm compiling these but don't tell anyone.)

I hope your week has been good and nobody arraigned on your parade.  😉

It's been quiet around here, other than doctor and lab visits.

Oh, and the BAD fell and broke her elbow.

She was coming out of a hospice appointment (she volunteers) when she missed a step and took a tumble.

Fortunately it was her left arm.

Oh, no, wait.

She's left-handed!

But her spirits are good and she'll get through this.

Gawd willing.

And speaking of the Supreme Deity (if you believe in him/her) . . .

And, as always, that's it, folks.

It's over.

But overall, have yourselves an ostentatiosly optimistic oddly observant and omnicompetently oceanic weekend.

In other words, be okey-dokey.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh-oh)

STEREOTYPICALLY SPEAKING

 I read an article the other day sent to me by my pal Tom over in California about asking A.I. (that's Artificial Intelligence) to design typical residents of each state.

So, just for fun, I went to Microsoft's A.I. Image Generator and asked it to create a stereotypical Arizonan to see what I'd get.

And here it is.

Yeah, that kind of looks typical.

So then, again just for fun, I asked for a stereotypical Californian.

This guy's stare seems a little more vacant.

So then, just for laughs, I asked them to do a cartoon version.

And here's what I got for, first of all,  the Arizonan and secondly the Californian.

Seems like A.I. can do a pretty decent job with stereotypes.

What do you think?

WERE YOU TALKIN' ABOUT ME? HUH?

 Having read all of your comments on yesterday's post, I decided to read them to Sweety-Pie and see if she would change her attitude and/or habits.

Here was her reaction.

"Did I give you permission to talk about me in your stupid blog?

Well?

Did I?"

As you can undoubtedly tell, neither my nor your comments had a tad of effect on her.

So we shall live with what, as YP noted, we have created.

Coincidentally, I received the following photo from one of our grandchildren this morning.

The latest addition to (as I unfeelingly call it) her menagerie or zoo.

She and her hubby share their abode with several dogs and a pot-bellied pig.

And now a cat.

There may be others of which I am presently unaware.

As the BAD says, "Christy is a pet-whisperer."

CAT CONDUCT

 

Our cat, Sweetie-Pie, does this.

She'll sit and stare into SWMBO's face for a very long time.

Finally, the lady will give up and feed her.

Our spoiled little b . . . lovely sweet cat will only eat seafood Shreds out of cans most of the time.

SWMBO has learned that if she ignores the cat pleas for long enough, S.P. will take a rare bite or two of dry food that is always there at her dining spot.

When either one of us goes into the kitchen for whatever reason, S.P. follows joyously, sure that she is going to be fed.

Again.

And she has an irritating habit of waking Judy at 4 o'clock in the morning, demanding her huge breakfast.

Judy has taken to ignoring her and I have taken to rising between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. to feed her and allow the mistress a few more minutes of uninterrupted sleep.

I've usually had enough sleep by that time anyway and it's time to start my day.

So I don't mind.

Except.

Sweetie-Pie jumped up on my bed and woke me at 3:30 THIS MORNING!

I ignored her until she came back around 4 and tried again.

This time I reached out, put my hand on her back and held her down.

Gently.

She apparently took the hint and went to sleep.

But finally, responding to demands voiced in her quiet but insistent murmurs, I rose a little before 6 and fed her.

Once satisfying her ravenous appetite, she goes back into SWMBO's room and curls up for a nap on the foot of her bed.

I would swear that I've read that cats can sleep 18 to 20 hours out of every 24.

Apparently Sweetie-Pie never got that message.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's not the season for wheezin'.

That was Spring Hay Fever time.

And it's not the season for freezin'.

That's Winter, aka William Kendall's favorite.

So maybe it's the season for breezin'.

As in breezin' right into today's bufoonery.

Yes, let's do that.

There they are: The Trekkies!

And you know what that means.

It means we're bringing a close to this Friday's flippancy.

Now, Gentle Readers, I would be most pleased if you would do your utmost to have a wonderful weekend.

Do you know how to start?

It's simple.

Always remember to keep laughing!

That ought to get you there.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .