6.4.99

    The cat woke us up this morning. I'm not sure why. First, he did rapid front-leg scratching motions on T.'s stomach. (He is declawed in the front so that's not really a problem.) That woke me up and I grabbed him around the belly and moved him off the sleeping boy. I started to fall back asleep. Next thing I new the cat was on my chest and breathing on my face. I woke up and blew at him. That freaked him out enough that he skittered off the bed and then paced the apartment mewling.

    He's quite a talker. It worries me a little. I think he may be bored or lonely. The last place he lived there was another cat, maybe two. Apparently, they didn't take to him so to the Humane society he went. Lately, I think he may just be kvetching*.

"Is this all there is?"
"You call this food?"
"Why won't you play with me?"
"Pet me."
"Leave me alone."
"Lose some weight."
"You're going to wear that?!"

The cat, Oz.

A boy with bed hair and his cat.

    The above photos courtesy of the Canon CanoScan™ FB 620P Parallel Flatbed Scanner. "Faster than a speeding bullet, lighter than a soup can."

    Yes, I finally got a scanner. I'm slightly stoked. It really is a tiny thing at only 4.5 pounds. It cost around a hundred bucks and we had a $50 gift certificate to CompUSA from the wedding (Thanks, Chris!). There was really only one other scanner which was a UMax. I'm not sure we did the right thing with this Canon. I'm not totally pleased with the picture quality. It's also a bit slow and doesn't have too many controls on the scan end. If I didn't know how to touch up things in Photoshop everything would look darker and muddier than they are. I have 14 days to decide whether to keep it or not. CompUSA is such a rip-off.

    I have a job interview Tuesday. I've been working with a temp company and, while I've been happy for the most part with the jobs they've gotten me, I don't like not being in control. So, I've been looking on my own. I came across an ad, sent an email and *bam* job interview. The position I'm applying for I'm a little overqualified for but I just need a break. I need a place to get involved, to use my talents and to expand my horizons. I hope it's a cool place. I hope, I hope, I hope.

    The funny thing about this interview is that it's the first time I've put "can hand-code html" into the cover letter. At my last contract job I was surprised at how giddy they were when they found out I could hand-code. I also updated my Monster Board resume with "can hand-code" and got three calls from recruiters and a few interested emails. I think that's so silly. I suppose in this day of Front Page that hand-coding is something of an oddity but shouldn't a person such as myself, who is positioning themselves as a well-rounded web designer, be expected to hand-code? I don't know if adding that bit of info is really the reason behind this flurry of activity but it is a funny bit of a coincidence in any case.

    T. also has a job interview on Monday. He's not sure whether he'll like the place or not and he's not really sure what the job entails but he's excited anyway. This whole time he's been freelancing from home and I think going a little stir-crazy. In L.A. my balance between part-time dog walker (to the stars) and working at home was just perfect. Speaking of that, can you even hold in your excitement for when I get around to scanning my pictures of the dogs? I didn't think so.

    Kicking off a relaunch of the "Featured Links" section of The Stories, here's a piece taken from The Edge, a humor column in the Oregonian:

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE . . .
A man insured a box of expensive cigars, smoked them and claimed they'd been damaged in "a number of small fires." The insurers paid up, then promptly counter-sued for arson.

-- Bizarre

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