Ally Attacks

The best part of the clip is how Ally taunts Bo by touching him on the leg right before she pounces.

Another reason why YouTube rocks

How else would something like this make it to the mass public?









I know there are some of you who are holding your sides in. Don't pretend you're not.

Here's why I haven't been posting much

So about a month ago, I decided that I was ready to leave my company.

It was a hard decision - I've never worked anywhere else, and the fact that they took a chance on me a few years ago (when they didn't have to) probably kept me around even longer than I should have stayed. In any case, we're not doing well financially and despite all my recruiting trips, we aren't hiring anyone. I got fed up and started floating my resume out on Monster and CareerBuilder, looking for a company that took recruiting a little more seriously. I've been contacted by a few headhunters and, over the last week, have done a few phone interviews. Next week I have my first in-person interview.

Turns out it was a good call, because today I found my current job is being eliminated by the end of the year.

I'm actually not upset at all, mostly because I was already planning to leave. I don't have an official "last day" yet (it'll most likely be sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and possibly even closer to New Years), but I've made enough traction in my job search that I'm fairly confident I'll have another job by then.

Good timing, eh?

Anyhow, I'm a whore for networking, so if anyone knows anyone looking for a mid-level recruiter or organizational development monkey, I'm all ears.

I feel so connected to these people.

Try it for yourself and see:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 4,043 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Snow bunnies

It's official.

Jen and I will be in Vail this December. Neither of us has ever skiied, so it should be pretty amusing to scream my way down the slow side of a bunny hill.

We'll be there for 6 days, but only plan on "skiing" for 2. This is in anticipation of sightseeing, hangovers, shopping, hot tubbing, and physical recovery from such.

By the time we hit Tahooe next year, we'll be experts at how to party in the snow.

This too shall pass...

So, we took Ally to the vet this morning. She's all fine now. So, we basically are on a "wait and see" stance right now. The vet said that we should run out the antihistamine and antibiotic and see if anything happens. At this point, we don't plan on getting her any special care over the weekend when we are in Cali. Hopefully she is still doing great when we leave (and continues to do so through the time we return).

Late last week, she was feeling listless and slept a lot. Over the weekend she improved tremendously. Today, she started fighting back with Bo. They take turns jumping on each other. Bo likes to get up and immediately jump on Ally. However, when Ally does it, she perches her ears back and stares him down. While Bo lies on his back with his paws up, ready for the impending attack, Ally glares at him to see how long he'll hold. She then slowly uses one of her front paws to pat at one of his legs to see if he'll flinch. After doing this a couple of times, she quickly pounces on him.

I wish I had video of it so that all of you could see it. It's really funny to watch.

Simple Mindedness

I tend to like things that are simple, and to the point. If you add in informative, I'm a big fan. That's why I liked this graphic from the NYT:



It was created to show the last minutes of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's flight before he went into a building in Manhattan. This is only a screen shot of the first frame. The whole animation can be seen here.

I think it does a very nice job of visual information presentation.

That is all.

Juxtaposition

So, last night I walked into the apartment, only to walk out of it 5 minutes later with Ally in her travel carrier, on our way to the Animal 911 emergency room.

When I woke up in the morning, Ally had a couple of scabbed-over scratches right between her shoulder blades. She also had a slightly swollen area right under her chin at her neck.

In the last 10 months, I've been worried about Ally several times for things like this that just end up going away with a little time. The vet told us that she would probably be a little more prone to sickness than Bo. So, I didn't think too much about it.

When I left for class at 1 pm, the condition was pretty much the same. When I arrived from class, the couple of scratches were now a quarter-sized patch of missing fur and raw skin on her back and the swelling around her neck was still there. That's why we ended up in the emergency room for three hours, during which time the swelling got worse.

After all was said and done, it appears that she had an allergic reaction (something else the vet warned us about). She got a shot of adrenaline, a shot of antihistamine, a shot of an antibiotic and a Pepcid. Now she has to take an oral antihistamine and antibiotic for a week.

She looks much better today, but we have an appointment with the vet for Monday to check things out. Finding and eliminating the source of a cat allergy is a long and arduous process, keep your fingers crossed.

The title of the post comes from the writing in one of the framed prints hanging on the waiting room wall:

"I think one day I'll end up in a cold apartment all alone and eating cat food out of a can I guess that's okay since I am a cat after all."

The words were snaking around the drawing of a cat standing on its hind legs. I thought it was an odd selection for a vet's office. I understand that it's supposed to be a little funny, but in the end, the idea of a cat all alone in a cold apartment is not comforting to pet owners. I am sure that they could find a print that conveys a much clearer yet still amusing anecdote about life as a cat.

I'm totally working right now

I found out that Yahoo! has started a time capsule. Their idea is to have people submit digital media to be unveiled at their 25th anniversary in 2020.

Now is your chance to show the world how great and photogenic you think you and your friends are. Or, how awesome your band is.

I think it's a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what's to stop it from just ballooning out of control when every "Mr. Digital photography" and wannabe music/video producer starts to upload their work. Won't it just get lost in all the static of everyone else's work?

Apparently, it has been publicized in Latin America already because there are a lot of pictures submitted from there.

What luck

Here's a transcript of a voicemail I got today:

"Hello Mr. Sullivan, this is Linda calling with American Airlines. I'm calling in regards to your flight from Chicago to London Heathrow on November 22. Unfortunately that flight has been oversold. In order to make room in the main cabin for additional passengers, we have moved you to our business class cabin."

Score!

Fun with fingers

Top Ten Things That Fingers are Good For:

1. Counting
2. Carrying things
3. Nose-picking
4. Non-verbal communication
5. Exploring the unknown contents of bags, boxes, cracks, toasters, etc.
6. Eating aides
7. Sharing wholesome communiques with congressional pages
8. Flipping through TV channels
9. Drunk dialing
10. Ceasing hiccups

Thanksgiving turkey...

... and other things Jen and I will not be in Evanston to enjoy this year.

It was announced that the Grand Marshal for the NU homecoming game this year will be Stephen Colbert.

The announcement doesn't say if he will give a speech or be at a reception or anything like that, but I still think that there's bound to be something.

Alas, Jen and I will be enjoying good-'ole Mexican hospitality that weekend at my niece's quinceañera.