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Wooooooooo(meow) Happy Halloween! A day in which sane people celebrate black kittehs while batshit insane people think they are demons or whatever. Speaking of which, did you know that almost half of the American population believes in demons? Okay, yeah, that’s absurd but don’t say that to the people at Exorcist U. Also too, were you aware that August 17 is Black Cat Appreciation Day? I wasn’t either so we missed it. Darn!
Anyway, as some of you know, I went to a Halloween Party last weekend which is why I didn’t take the 1/52 annual kitteh post. I’ve posted a photo of some of the party goers above. Just some aging hippies, plus one princess in training. Some friends came down from Austin and stayed with me, which traumatized poor, intrepid Kuroneko no end. She was actually trembling when she was under the covers with me and she didn’t last all night but exchanged the warm bed for her security closet. Silly cat! The people who visited have like ten cats of their own and would have been super pleased to visit with her and dote on her. She got over it fairly quickly though, which is a distinct improvement. The last time a friend stayed over, she didn’t come out until hours after she had left. This time she was out as soon as the door was closed behind them. Hope!
On to this week’s pics:
The Kuroneko picture of the week is one of her disdainfully
regarding me from her perch on the monitor this morning
while I was searching for a Kuroneko picture
of the week. Found it!
Obligatory cute kitten photo via lolcats. In the spirit of
the holiday, may all kittehs be black and all gourds be
pumpkins!
I still haven’t heard any news about SouthernDragon but he’s got enough on his plate so please join me in sending healing energy his way and sending all of the love we can transmit to his kitteh friends.
I hope everybody has a wonderful week to come. Be safe on Halloween and please keep your cat indoors until after All Hallows Eve is over, especially if that cat is black. There are nut jobs out there and black cats outside on or before Halloween can be a target for them. A special shout out to the folks in the northeastern part of the country: Keep yourselves safe from the storm and make sure your animals all have adequate shelter.
Please remember to set aside some time to spend with whatever animal(s) share your life.
133 Comments
Good morning caturdenizens! I’ll be in and out today but please feel free to share your kitteh stories with us. If you have no kitteh, any animal story is welcome. And if you have no animal, get yourself to a shelter! No, just kidding. I know not everybody’s circumstances allow animal friends but feel free to join in anyway!
Caturday!
Neko does throw an awesome stinkeye!
My son and daughter-in-law have just acquired a puppy who has been bred and will be trained as a “guardian angel” dog for my 9-year-old grandson who has autism. Thanks to a lot of therapy, my grandson seems pretty normal, but has some of the issues children with autism can have. Thees dogs are trained in behavior disruption, tether (so the boy can’t wander off), search & rescue (if he does wander off, the dog can find him) and mobility assistance. They are considered service dogs, so can accompany him into public spaces.
I haven’t met this puppy yet (and I’m not a dog lover) but I understand she’s pretty cute.
Good story, msmolly! Thanks for the post, Margaret and ((((all healing thoughts and energy to SD!))))
Hoping OmAli will be along sometime today with an update. We’re all thinking of our Dragonman!
Doesn’t she?
Yay! I’ve heard of dogs being used therapeutically for sufferers of autism, though I use the word “suffer” a bit tongue in cheek. I found out just a few years ago that I’m mildly autistic and since I wouldn’t be the same person if I wasn’t, I can’t really thin k about it as “suffering” anything.
Greetings fellow cat lovers.
My Sundays are usually busy times but want to send healing thoughts for Southern Dragon.
Also a shoutout of concern for all you east-coasters as Sandy barrels down on you. Take care.
Good morning, Cat People! Is that Neko as a tiny kitty next to the pumpkins?
I ran across a couple of great pictures of one of my favorite long-gone kittehs and a jack-o-lantern while looking for something else recently; unfortunately, I don’t have a scanner (well, supposedly I do but have never been able to make it work). Hmmmm.
My guys are all out enjoying the cool morning while the neighbors are asleep or away, but they will be “locked down” for the rest of the week. Not that I think my neighbors are psychos, but you just never know. Only one is solid black, but that’s enough. Big Boy is black and white..tuxedo, as someone said. Hopefully he will stay in after supper on Halloween. I can’t really keep him in 24/7 yet (if ever).
Last night I decided to make brownies late in the evening, when he was settled in his bed by the kitchen door. He did NOT like the noise of pulling out the baking pan, heating the oven (there’s some metal expansion-contraction [my non-scientist guess] noise as the racks heat up), and he started bumping the door to get out, looking very alarmed. Came back in a few minutes later.
G’Morning Margaret and other Cat and Animal Lovers
My next door neighbor has several large trees and I love to watch the squirrels on what I call the Squirrel Roller Coaster. They chase each other up and down and round and round.
Just now, the mister and I were watching the closest tree and saw a flash of squirrel with something red and round in her mouth. She stopped at a particual juncture of branches and limb, put the apple down and holding it still with her paws (?) started ripping off the skin and began enjoying the inside. Was kind of fun to watch.
Sooooooo cool!!! How does the behavior disruption work? I need one of those dogs when I reach for the snax.
((((((((SD)))))))))
Oh, this just appeared on my FB page. Let me try the link.….
From “Wild for Wildlife and Nature.” There are some really cute pix of actual wildlife (the kitten adjusting the sewing machine tension was just irresistible, I guess) on the page, so I liked it, AND clicked “add to interests”, which seems to be the way to foil the evil Facebook’s reduction in posts of liked pages.
Cerberus Halloween costume:
http://cheezburger.com/6702265856
LOL!
Hiya, ysp! My local grocery has snapdragons on sale outside the main door…thought of you, but there weren’t any yellow ones.
Perhaps we should all concentrate on calling OmAli to report in….along with the healing vibes to ((((((Southern Dragon)))))).
I feel so helpless and anxious, wanting to know how he is and wishing I could do something to help, even if just feeding and cleaning up for the kittehs.
Of course, there is a spectrum of autism disorders (as I’m sure you know), and there are individuals with autism who can’t speak coherently, and have other severe disabilities. Former neighbors (since moved away) have a teenage son with severe autism and he would spend hours in their back yard running from tree to tree making howling sounds. He had had tons of therapy, and could communicate in a way with his family, with much effort on their part.
I think the suffering to some extend can be inflicted by others, like schoolmates who bully and tease.
Nope, that’s not Neko. She was born in the Spring.
Wow, me, also….It has been several days, I think. Hard not to know anything….
Sorry, YSD, I don’t really know. Some individuals with autism get obsessively focused on an object or a behavior, and apparently these dogs can detect and disrupt the repetitiveness.
Here is a wonderful video my DIL posted on Facebook of a child with autism, showing some very early years, and how she wound up playing piano and singing with Katy Perry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX-xToQI34I&feature=g-logo
(Apologies. Not really a kitteh topic.)
Fall snapdragons always make me wish it was spring instead of fall, especially the yellow ones.
Sounds like Big Boy is adjusting well to the pampered indoors most nights?
And also wondering about Ecahn; I do not really know exactly where she is, but doesn’t look good from what I can tell.
No apologies needed, msmolly. Caturday/Pull up a Cat is also a family thread, as I’m sure Peggy would agree, where we catch up with each other, pets or not.
By the way, Peggy, you didn’t identify yourself in the Halloween pic; or are you the one taking the picture?
Sigh. I’m looking at the clock, and realizing I’ve got to get moving. got something to go to at 2:00, and need to get some tasks done before then, I guess. At least this weekend I’m not sleeping all day. In fact, the cool weather is energizing for me. Perhaps I should move back to a temperate clime….but not sorry not to be
the coasts this weekend. (((((Friends/family/everybody in the path of Sandy/Nor’easter)))))
Will be checking back for sure. Calling OmAli! or SD!
I was the one taking the picture, so I wasn’t in it.
I envy people who “get” music like that. Great video.
Neko is a goddess, BTW. She’s so beautiful. I love the sleek black kittehs.
I made a quick shelter/greenhouse for my tomato plants to keep them from an early frost in the hopes that I can keep this last gasp of fruits going until they ripen, as the days are still plenty warm. The construction only took an hour and a half, but the sticks and plastic would be toast in a decent wind. ((((Sending hope out that the storm is not going to be as bad as predicted, for all those in the path of Sandy.)))) Planning some winter lettuce if the structure lasts into the colder days.
I also got some plastic letters at the thrift stores last week with the idea that I will add “Catland” to the gate tops of the cat fence sometime soon. Not sure how all of it will fare in a storm, but we have not had any big winds for a while.
I don’t “get” it either — I am a classical music person. But the video of that child’s progress is very heartwarming!
There was a big Indiana Autism Society fundraiser a few weeks ago in Indianapolis, and a young man on the spectrum performed songs he had composed. He sang and played on an electronic keyboard, and had 3 DVDs for sale ($5 each) of his songs. Inspiring!
You can also pick the unripe tomatoes and wrap them in newspaper and stow them in a garage or basement and they’ll ripen. You have to check them every few days so none get rotten.
That’s certainly her opinion!
Watch a video of Stevie Ray Vaughn playing. You can see him go into that zone where the music is speaking to him and he’s speaking back. Watch his face during the long guitar solo.
Thanks, yes he really gets into his music. And I think also into his interaction with the audience, which most performers really thrive on and draw energy from.
I emailed eCAHN and she’s fine, has battened the hatches. She thanked me for checking.
We have several East coast pups. I hope they’re making good preps and will check in with us.
I have not seen anything on SD in longer than a few days–could anyone bring me up to speed? Also on Ecahn.
Here in northeast just waiting for Sandy to hit and hoping I don’t have the degree of damage I had least year with Irene and later the freak early snowstorm. I’ve assured Romeo that there is weeks of catfood and necessary meds in the house. He seems a little apprehensive already–maybe because of the extremely low barometric pressure I’ve heard is approaching with Sandy.
I have an unprecedented fairly free Sunday–remembering the dirt and confusion in the house after our weather catastrophes last year, I decided I wouldn’t bother with any housework.
Hey generi. Are you in NJ or on the coast? Glad you checked in. Soothing scritches for Romeo.
It is sunny and chilly here, although it is possible that in a few days the Midwest will see some after-effects of Sandy. At the moment, the only thing I have to fear in Indiana is Richard Mourdock and the woodpecker that seems determined to peck another big hole in my siding, ignoring the variety of big trees all around the house to peck on. So I’m going to go “take shelter” in my basement — to finish sewing my granddaughter’s bathrobe. Ha!
Hope we get a SouthernDragon update sometime today. I will check back later.
That’s good at least. I think she’s doing what I should have done and stayed away until after the election! Hope CAHNstance is doing okay too!
In NJ, but not on the coast, maybe 20-25 miles inland. My trouble is a furnished basement prone to water and lots of mature trees in the area. I have sump pump, and battery backup, that I had to have lowered deeper in the ground after Irene–apparently too high for battery operated backup to kick in before water started coming in basement. Also other points of water entry. Seems like we’ll be facing more problems with wind than water–if all the 4 inches of rain ends up in my basement, it’s fixable, but prolonged power outages and trees falling on the house are bigger worries.
Hello cat people. Longtime reader, first time commenter. The autism discussion prompted me to jump in. I have a close friend outside San Antonio who was Dx’d with autism last year. Behavior disruption dogs are a wonderful idea for thosr with repetiton problems, especially for children and severely affected adults. Matgaret if i may ask, what is your official diagnosis and are you seeing anyone locally to help manage your symptoms? The doctor who made your Dx will have scads of information on local resources for you, if he/she hasnt already provided it. My friend has made good progress managing anxiety andother difficulties with the help of the autism specialist she sees.
Yeah, falling trees are scary and dangerous. Do you clear out carpets and furniture from the basement before the storm? What a pain.
You’ll probably not have power after the early stages of the storm, but update us when the power comes back on and let us know how you and Romeo fared.
Welcome. So how does the dog disrupt? Does the dog demand Scritches when the behavior starts? I think it’s a brilliant strategy for treatment.
Thank you for the welcome! I would love to learn more about thr dogs myself. MsMolly above made mention of thrm and they sound like a wonderful idea to me.
Good afternoon, all. gesneri, where are you? I live in bear country near Sparta. Last halloween we had a big snow storm and our first trickortreater was a bear at 5:30 AM that drank the juice we had put outside to keep cold. So this year we are getting a major storm for almost halloween.
There seem to be quite a few screen names that may be ailing. ((hugs to all who need them)). SD, of course (I hope there is some good news about him), and Popeye. I noticed that eCAHN slowed down on her commenting and then disappeared about a month ago. Is she just not commenting, or is there a problem? ghostof911 is seldom around, also. Any others? These people usually were here to report on their cats.
Ecahn sent an email that she has taken a break. The last I recall about SD from Om was that he was going to be having some treatment, few details that I recall, and maybe was moving to a different spot in the hospital. I feel very hazy, but I know the treatment part is accurate. Wish we knew more….
I noted on another thread that Huffpo has a pretty complete report on the storm and cites sources.
And Scarecrow reported on last week.
Carpet is wall-to-wall glued to floor after Irene last year (before that I had pad and carpet on top). Can’t move furniture–too big and no one to move it. Am debating moving books off lowest shelves, but that might be over-reaction. At this point, forecast is for up to 4 inches of rain.
In western Union County, almost in Somerset County.
My daughter in law is Exec. Director of the Indiana Autism Society, and it’s her son with autism. I can ask her more about the “companion” dogs, because this all just came up in the past few weeks when the puppy appeared on the scene. I doubt that I will have a response from her today, but I can try to post something next week. I googled but there wasn’t much useful info in the results.
I do know that Jacob can be anxious sometimes, and is deathly afraid of dogs but is accepting this little wiggly unthreatening puppy pretty well, apparently.
eCAHN is skimming threads, reading occasional posts, but said she’s unlikely to return, that direction has changed to topics she’s not interested in. She did know about SouthernDragon and Scarecrow and wishes them well.
Now that BearCountry mentioned it above, I realize we haven’t heard from Popeye for quite awhile. He stepped away a bit for health reasons I think. I do hope he’s OK.
Many of us feel at loose ends with SouthernDragon no longer operating the Diner, since it’s where we checked in and kept up with each other.
Thank you msmolly. I will ask my friend if she might be interestrd in a helper companion dog and tell her to check with her specialist about whether we have a similar program in our area. She suffers from anxiety like your DIL’s child, but is not afrad of dogs.
Scarecrow was to be able to get this new and quite promising trial drug, I think beginning the end of the week. Jane mentioned dabrafenib in her post, and I looked it up, and it seems quite promising, because it crosses the blood/brain barrier, which most drugs cannot. It treats melanoma brain metastases, but has also been active on other cancers. I think he was going home on Friday.
Wondering if anxiety is a symptom of autism, generally?
Considering SD has similar Dx, perhaps he would be eligible for same drug. Just a thought. I’m more than willing to be a social media squeaky wheel to make sure SD gets the drugs he needs too. Of course, SD is at the VA so it’s probably a totally different game.
Last I heard, SD was hoping to be home before this :-( What a shame.
Hey Margaret & Kitteh-Pups:
Great shot of Kuroneko. And what a cool little baby kitteh.
Speaking of baby kittehs, how about these little kids? And these?
As for my kittehs? I had a bit of surgical carving done on me Friday morning. Diva and Maestro have been very good company during my recovery. They get extra Beach Party Treats.
Any idea which topics?
From what i understand of it anxiety and frustration are common symptoms suffeted by autistics.
No, she didn’t say and I didn’t ask.
Hope your “carving” was minor.
About a five-inch horizontal slice, mid-torso, right side.
OWCH. So not up and bouncing around much for a few days, I’d guess.
If this is a repeat, I apologize, but I don’t recall relating this story here. About two weeks ago I was outside the house toward the back in the night. Our back deck light was on, but the night was very dark. I was standing quietly when I heard some bushes rustling directly in back of the house. It was too late for squirrels and skunks and raccoons don’t make as big of a noise as was coming my way. I continued to stand quietly and a big black shadow emerged into the light. It didn’t pay any attention to me and turned to walk the path from our back deck into the woods. I said hi to it and he (it must have weighed 300lbs or more so it was probably a male) turned to look at me from about 15 feet away. He just looked for maybe five seconds and then turned to continue on his journey. Our path is well traveled so he was specifically coming to our house to use the trail. I have to admit that I love to see the bears. It is like being in the ocean and having an eight foot hammerhead shark pass right over your head. It is just awe inspiring.
Hi folks. Cleveland cat joke:
Guy walks into a sports bar with his cat, asks if the cat is ok in there to the bartender. Bartender says yea, as long as the cat behaves itself. Browns score a field goal. Everyone cheers and the cat gets up and walks down the bar, hi fiving everyone on the way. Bar tender says that is great, what does he do when they score a touchdown? Guy says I don’t know, I’ve only had him for two years.
and yes I do like the Browns, good or bad.
A few days. I was cut enough just to make me even meaner… heh
Sounds like they’ve decided to use radiation on the brain tumor from what I’ve read. I just found om’s last post on SD–seems like radiation therapy would have been finished a few days ago, guess they kept him in hospital for the duration.
I guess you need some virtual hugs too ((shoto)).
Welcome. Nope, not seeing anybody, not taking any drugs. I have Asperger’s. It doesn’t affect me in any way I can’t manage myself as I’ve learned to live with it long before I knew there was an official diagnosis. It was nice to have an official explanation though.
Hope you’re doing better now!
Demi’s son also has Aspergers. A lot of ASDs are just being identified, seems like incidence is increasing but perhaps only because people are becoming more aware of it and it’s being more frequently diagnosed.
My grandson is a charming child. His mother is my son’s second wife, so I wasn’t around for his early years, but apparently he had a lot of early therapy. When I’m around him he seems pretty “normal” for a 9 year old kid, just a bit hyperactive, and can be very focused. Amazingly artistic, loves to draw. I do see occasional quirks, some anxiety, a few sensory issues. He’s very bright and does well in school.
You really do live in Bear Country!
Oh. You’re self-labeled, not Dx’d.
eep! ((shoto))
Fortunately these are black bears which are primarily nut and berry eaters. They will eat meat if they find it, but they are not hunters. Generally, the cats and small dogs that go outside and don’t come back are nabbed by coyotes or foxes. The bears go for garbage.
Sometimes the behaviors become more pronounced as the child gets older. That is the case in my family, at any rate. I guess it depends on the severity of it. I think the behaviors are more pronounced in future generations, again, personal experience. We all identify our Asperger’s types of behaviors, but in my generation, the symptoms were more adaptable than in the next gen which has the diagnoses and is more severely affected.
Bear Country! That’s quite a story about greeting the(male!) bear. Were you able to discover if there is a bear hibernating in (the back forty, maybe?) the rear of your yard? I love the bear drinking the juice story.
Sorry to hear eCAHN won’t be returning. I kinda know what she means; but I’m such an old-timer here and have so many virtual friends that I stick around, waiting for a new change of direction. Besides, she had such great stories, about Cahnstance and cooking and banking and so on.
I do recall popeye was having health problems that made typing very difficult,IIRC, but I believe he did notify us that he wouldn’t be around until the condition improved.
The news about the puppy and msmolly’s DIL’s son is interesting, isn’t it? And that he likes the puppy despite fearing dogs is a good thing. My ex had a son late in life (which recently was declared likely related to autism-spectrum disorders, that is, older dads were more likely to have such children), and the boy has Asperger’s. I don’t really know how severe; the one remaining mutual friend-couple says they have met him and he struck them mostly as just “an odd child.” He’s 17 or 18 now, and seems to have finished high school, but not gone on to college. There must be some issues, since apparently my ex took early retirement a year or two ago to focus on the boy. You only have to glance at his FB page to see he illustrates the typical behavior of obsessive focus on one interest; there are some photos of friends, though none of family, and hundreds and hundreds of photos of trains. It’s a little weird, since a lot of them are of a nearby short-distance now-tourist train that I rode a couple of times with his dad (because I love trains).
I wouldn’t be surprised, now that we know about the spectrum, if his dad, my ex, were at the extreme end, closest to normal that is, of the spectrum;it would explain a few things.
But then of course, one shouldnt try to psychoanalyze/diagnose one’s exes…it’s too tempting. ;-)
Oh! How interesting! (see my last sentence or two in last comment)
Nope. I’ve been diagnosed. Why would you assume otherwise?
Used to work with a woman who had 3 children, all with varying degrees of autism. I think the oldest was most functional, younger 2 were more difficult. I used how wonder how she kept going–must have been a real challenge.
damn. weird things happening with my laptop. I thought it was Firefox, so when they began a few minutes ago, I switched reluctantly to IE, but then, when I had to log back in to fdl, I couldn’t, so it’s partly the laptop. The weirdity is that when I try to type in a box, such as a comment box, a password entry box, etc., even the url address box, instead of the typing appearing, another window opens, sometimes a dialog box, sometimes another web page, sometimes a computer page, seems to be completely random.
But ctrol+alt+delete then switch user, enter password makes the typing work normallly again.
Any ‘puter wizards here who recognize why that happens?
I bought this cheap laptop when my old one died suddenly, thinking I’d be able to replace it fairly soon because hey, I had a job now. Hasn’t quite worked out that way, so I’m stuck with these strange things.
I’m a Mac person so not much help. Have you tried a hard reboot?
My daughter in law mentioned someone just yesterday with three kids on the spectrum. Sounds overwhelming to me.
It was the impression gathered from your language. Did you have your testing and Dx done in Texas? Were they compassionate and thourough? Wha did you have to go through getting it done? I am always on the lookut for good infmation on the local and Texas autism communities. My friend has taken me to some local support events and I am appreciative of more info tr share.
I’m going to guess that I’m “on the spectrum” (as they say) as regards sound. I do not like loud noises (unless I’m controlling them), and I have just about zero tolerance for the crap that most people characterize as “music.” (Translated: The same four songs played on Clear Channel stations (or the like) 24 hours / day, for years on end. It’s like….I couldn’t stand that shit the first BILLION times it was played, and it hasn’t gotten any better since then. Jazz and classical, please.
KnowwhatImean?
I’ve always found the ball-peen hammer to be effective for tweaking the system. For more complex jobs, however, one might need to upgrade to the 12 lb sledge.
Hey…I’m just here to help.
Wish I could afford to switch to Mac. Yeah,I reboot all the time; this is an ongoing issue for several months now. Some may be Firefox; for instance,despite confirming that Ihave a homepage set, it never opens on my homepage, but on the last windows open when I closed out my last browsing session. Nothing I do changes that. IE at least opened on my homepage. I don’t get that at all.
But the random windows upon trying to type in a box, that’s on both, and I can’t figure out why. Something about the keyboard, too…just doesn’t match my typing speed, or pressure on keys or something..from the beginning, my hitting the space bar while typing rapidly doesn’t cause a space to be made…that is, wordsrun together (like that!), with no space showing up, even though Ido hit space bar. I’ve never experienced this problem before, either on a keyboard or typewriter, and I’ve been typing for 50 years. So I figure that’s a mechanical problem in this laptop.Sigh.But I’m stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
Back to our topic; I’ve got acat settling down on my lap, between body and laptop (getting pushed out slightly farther away). Guess the weather is just cool enough to inspire more laptime. It’s Squeakyon my lap, gaxing sleepily up at me now.
Pushy is on the back of the chair. Earlier he was squeezed between me and the arm of the chair,head resting on crook of my arm. Awww. That kind of thing keeps me in the chair, instead of getting up to take care of tasks.
It’s their world, you’re just living in it.
A Warrington pattern hammer works well, too. Or, if not available, a good-sized rock. I moved to Linux, meownself, in anticipation of Windows 8. Bunch a getting used to, but with perseverance, so far I have found everything I need. Not perfect but at least I have the luxury of imagining that *They* are not spying on me every moment.
Yes I dream.
Too true. I am willing to live on their terms, though (mostly).
Well, I’ve abandoned the ambition of getting a bunch of laundry done…would have to go out to a laundromat since I’m out of quarters. I have enough for the week; it’ll do. But I do need to start making dinner, etc., because I have to fast tonight…blood tests in the morning, which means I need to eat earlier than usual.
So, I think I will have to disturb Squeaky and get up and do some stuff. Tonight I’ll have to sew or something to keep my hands busy and distracted from not being able to eat. LOL.
Still hoping to hear from OmAli about SD, so I’ll be back.
((((Southern Dragon))))))
I’ve been dual-booting Linux since 2005, but not sure if I’ll be able to continue when I buy new hardware, which will have to be pretty soon–I’m using a puter I bought in 2003. It was quite high-end at the time. Can’t give up Win completely while there’s still some chance of getting work–I need to be able to stay up-to-date with Office.
I was diagnosed in Austin after a series of visits with Dr Kathy Sheley, (now deceased) as part of my treatment for gender dysphoria. My own response was to be grateful for some explanations but it really doesn’t go any further than that. I am who I am and if I try to change that, I’ll be somebody else. I don’t want to be somebody else.
Good for you.
tejana, it certainly sounds like a virus or a herd of viruses. What do you have on your computer to combat viruses and other malware? Do you have a firewall in place?
I was also thinking maybe virus or malware. I’ve used this anti-virus on my mother’s machine for several years, been quite satisfactory:
Also this software, which has free and paid-for versions:
{{{Margaret}}}
(just because)
Hey there. Hope you and yours are having a wonderful weekend!
I just received a brief email from OmAli. Her husband has been ill and she hasn’t had time for an update on Southern Dragon, probably won’t until tomorrow. Her first priority has to be her hubby.
So we’ll just have to be patient and send SD and AbuAli healing vibes.
Pretty slow. Very nice. Right back at ya.
Breaking news;
The SF Giants are up 3 games to none on the Detroit Tigers in the World Series!
Go Giants.
Back to your regulary scheduled programing
Wishing all the best the universe has to offer to AbuAli.
Yes, Malwarebytes Antimalware, the free edition is excellent for finding and eliminating malware. For those running Windows, the Windows Security Essentials is also very good and it puts up a software firewall. I have never used eset myself, but a software acquaintance says that it is excellent. I have used avast and it is good. These are all free downloads. tejana, just use your search engine to find them. All of the funny stuff you are describing sounds like something bad got to your ‘puter.
BTW, if, when you get your choice loaded, just use the quick scan. That will probably find the bad guy in less than five minutes. If that doesn’t turn up anything and the funny stuff continues, then go to a full scan.
Yes, indeed. I had really been wondering what had happened to her. We need a spell of getting well here…Our little group has been hit pretty hard.;(
Not sure if eset anti-virus has free version, know Malware Bytes does.
Yes. Few of us are really young, AFAIK, but it does seem like it’s been a particularly bad spell for us.
Good Evening pups n cats,
My four-legged inspector was following close outside earlier today and is presently snoring steadily since we came in for a bite to eat. Quiet day today, minor mental acquiescence to age and the physical realities of colder weather, shorter daylight, even a few small bits of melancholy floating around.
Coming here is immediate best wishes for SD. Omi, to you and yours, too.
Thank you for hosting, Margaret.
Wow, that seems kinda rude, chirpy. Unless, of course, I am misinterpreting your comment….
I’m aware of who your friend is and of her I have nothing to say. We didn’t exactly part on the best terms so you’re going to have to believe whatever you wish to believe. My part of this conversation has now come to an end.
Misrepresenting oneself is rude yes. I thank you for the straightforward information about the service dogs, msmolly.
My friend says he downloaded it for free. I haven’t checked.
Hi, guys…quick drop in. I’m glad we heard from OmAli, but sorry her husband is ill, too. Not good news this fall among our pups and famblies.
Thanks for the suggestions on the laptop probs…I believe I had ZoneAlarm, and have run the scans repeatedly, thinking at first the same thing, must be malware. Nothing is found.
I wouldn’t mind trying something else,though, especially if they’re free.
chirpy, I’m in a hurry or I’d be more subtle…your attitude is not welcome at Caturday/Pull Up a Cat. Play nice or don’t come back. Thank you very much.
(trust me, if it comes down to you or Peggy, we all have Peggys back. You can just re-lurk.)
And now I’m off again. Did manage to do some more cleaning and bake some muffins, although the alarm didn’t go off and they’re a bit overbaked, but not burnt.
Later, peeps.
Who would share the kind of info you mention, chirpy? Yikes, unprofessional and perhaps even a serious violation of confidentiality.
Most distressing.
I’m off to burn some shit up. I’ll add this to my list.
No edit, drat it..
chirpy, to be more specific:
1) you are sharing information about someone else without permission. That is unconscionable and we won’t tolerate it.
2) This is our relax and talk about our pets, families, hobbies, whatever, but no politics, no personal animosity, no hostility will be tolerated. Am I clear?
applause!!!!
In this instance I must believe what I’ve seen with my own eyes–the version where the dates match up. There’s nothing wrong with taking the internet tests to see if they indicate a potential problem, but they are not diagnostic.
And by burn up some shit, I mean this.
JFC.
Honesty is the only policy that concerns me when I ask aquestion on a topic already broughtup by others and get bullshit in return. I dont much care what any of you think of my reaction to poster Margaret.Swallow her tales if you like, but I’ll give it a pass. Too much garbage upsets my stomach.
Good day
Uh-oh. If you think I went too far, I apologize. I cherish my Pull Up a Cat for its non-confrontational policy, and I don’t want to be the one to mess that up either.
I was nice, but I should not have been. I won’t speculate about why you would not understand what would be basic consideration in a public forum, not to mention how far you have gone over the edge here, but really, what you have done is outrageous and none of your business or ours.
that’s my preferred method also
Not at all, sorry if you misunderstood, my comment was in full agreement with you.
*waving to eCHAN*
As for the computer viruses, I find sometimes that loading a restore point solves the problems. Hope it helps!
tejana, some malware hunters are better than others. I’m not familiar with zone alarm, but Malwarebytes will often find malware that others will not. I would recommend that you download it and run the quick scan. It is free so each different day that you run it, you have to go for an update yourself. I would do that before assuming that there is no malware. Also, download avast or eset and run that quick scan. I know that avast is free, and I think eset is too. If you need to clean your hard drive, make sure that you download your important files to some external drive.
Yes, if you can get to a restore point earlier than the virus.
I think I’m done for the night. Nice to be back again today, even if I can’t do it every week. One bright spot in the break in routine caused by Hurricane Sandy!
Margaret, thanks for hosting.
Thanks for stopping by! Be safe.
Ah, avast! Used to have that…couldn’t remember the name when I got this computer.
Yeah, I agree it acts like virus/malware. I will download avast or eset soon as I get a chance.
Or maybe, that should be now…as there is a dreaming kitteh on my lap right now (I can see the mouth and whiskers moving, that’s why I say he’s dreaming.) Although it really is dinnertime…for kittehs and hoomans…perhaps Smokey wouldn’t mind waking up if it’s to eat supper.
Guess that’ll be it for this week, kitteh-pups. Love you all, and again, (((((Southern Dragon))))))
((((Abu Ali))))
((((Scarecrow))))
and everybody in the path of Sandy or otherwise not feeling well. Nite!
Night tejanarusa. Thanks for coming by and giving us an update on the kittehs.
Ugghh; I just wrote a piece about the intrusive Chirpy. A note of horror that he would explore dates, reveal information, etc etc. Since he is likely not a medical person, but likes to speak with “authority,” I cannot say he violated medical ethics. But clearly he violated any sense of decency. I was shocked to see the details of his intrusive opinion. (I did better the 1st time, but don’t know where it went.) Shocking behavior. I think he should be barred.
Well, I think I’m going to say goodnight. Thank you all for another nice visit. Until the next time, please be kind to all animals and to each other. Be safe and be good.
Ms TJ, you might want to look into Linux. I am using Linux Mint 12 “Lisa”, since I didn’t want to to be migrated to Windows 8. There have been a few issues, but nothing I wasn’t able to resolve with time. So far I have found answers to all my Q’s by typing in ‘Linux community how do I (whatever)?’ and hitting search. BTW, as Jane advises, I use duckduckgo.
Have found apps that do all that I need and mostly *free*!!! So far am very happy with it and Windows can call me in the morning.
A good start is here, Linux.org.
Big fire, that was fun.
Thanks for hosting Margaret, and best to everyone for safe landings during and after Sandy.
Happy Almost Halloween.
My favorite Halloween activity: a couple of the day care centers in the neighborhood pre-clear some trick or treat spots and, on Halloween march the kids around the neighborhood in their costumes to get their treats. So, I just manage to be doing my local errands when the kids are trooping around.
It’s almost unbearably cute.
Sandy will probably mess it up this year.