Wednesday, 7 February 2007

END OF THE DAY

And so we come to the end of another day. Today I discovered snow. Apparently it's not something new, it's been around a long time. Always something new to learn. I reflected on the size of the universe, I had a good walk, I played a little game. I did some work. Yup, all in all, a very good day

WE WATCHED TV


We watched the news. Knievel always hogs He Staff's lap. Mostly, the two of them just sleep in front of the television. Then they wake up and go to bed.
There have been seven letter bombs sent through the post. People are blaming animal rights activists. Huh, not clear why they would want to target the Traffic Taliban. More likely some disgruntled trucker with 12 points on his licence, if you ask me.

I HELPED ON THE PC



When I got up, She was there still, working on the PC. I heard her tell He, on the phone, that they should arrange a weekend away to relax. I don't like the sound of that because every time they do that, I get stuck in some cheap, cold hotel with other cats.
She emailed her sister in South Africa. A friend sent her a funny clip called The Shortest Holiday - a woman diving off a yacht and into a shark's mouth. Her brother emailed pictures of his children. Her friend emailed pictures of my friend Tinkerbell, who is living in a sunny place now. Tiger emailed to say he really loves the catnip mouse we sent him.
She watched some video clips on the web. She looked at some news websites. She read some blogs. She looked up some animal and environmental stuff. She wrote her blog. She reworked some pictures on PhotoShop. She edited some copy.
I thought I could help her by catching some bugs that were flying across the screen.

NOTE 2 FROM STAFF

Animal companions!... That's all they have to do all day ... observe us ... our comings and goings, our routines and habits, our moods and idiosyncrasies. They know our thoughts and actions and how to exploit our personality loopholes.
Those questions about the world have got me thinking. How big is my world? Here I am, a South African living in the UK, working on a newspaper that is simultaneously distributed in the UK, SA and Zimbabwe (and also available to subscribers all over the world). The Internet, email, PDFs and digital technology generally have made this possible.
Every day, I get a global overview of media coverage on animal issues through Dawn Animal World News Watch service.
Satellite TV brings me news from all over the world. I can access websites dealing with anything I need to know ... environmental/animal issues in any country, research for university projects, news, entertainment. How big is my world? It's global.
http://www.dawnwatch.com/

NOTE FROM 'THE STAFF'

Mmm, I note someone’s been on the blog …

MORNING CONSTITUTIONAL


It has snowed! It was the lead story on the news this morning. So that's what it's called ... I'm only two years old and the UK hasn't had snow in my time, until now.
Went for a brisk morning walk. Oooh, my feet were cold. When are they going to invent a four-piece set of Wellies … petite size … for little round feet?
The Staff were in the kitchen when I left, doing breakfast and reading the papers - he reads The Times. He does the crossword. She reads the Guardian. Today, she looked up from her paper and said she hopes Blair sees his arse. Apparently, he sold something.
He (Staff) always has a cooked breakfast, She has muesli or oats porridge and lots of coffee. She usually tells him off, she says he eats far too much fat.
He dresses in a suit, she dresses in jeans, usually.
He went hunting at 7:30. Soon, I know, she will go to her computer. She sits there communicating with people in far-away countries. She does freelance editing work for a newspaper - they send news stories and pictures back and forth on the computer. And she does new media projects for university.
She leaves home on Mondays at 8:50, Tuesdays at 9:10, Wednesdays at 9:10. Thursdays she's home. On the days she goes out, she usually comes back at about 17:30/18:00. I wait for her in the driveway.
Jumped up on the fence and clocked the neighbours. Thought about the world ... what is the world - is the world only the area we can see? Do we in reality all live in cages ... some in cages of 10sq ft, others in 10/100/1,000sq mile cages?
Well, that's my mind and body exercised. That was all so exhausting, I think I’ll go and have a little top-up sleep.

A GAME


This is my favourite game in the morning. I hide behind the bannisters and, when they come up the stairs, I catch them by surprise.

BREAKFAST


It always works! Breakfast!... we had braised breast of chicken, finely diced, lightly jellied and drizzled with a rich poulty jus. Not bad. Especially for a supermarket pouch,

WAKING THE STAFF

Those Lazy sods. It's 5:30 and they're still sleeping. Do they think I'm going to fix my own breakfast? I'll have to prod them into action.

Eeouuw, look what I just saw ... that ridiculous Soppy Cat... like a limpet on a rock.

ANOTHER DAY


I'm an early riser. While The Staff are asleep, I check the integrity of our borders. I take up my position on the window sill and watch the world get up. I watch the sun get up. But today was different ... very large, thick raindrops fell and lay on the ground, all thick and white.