https://blog.deadcafe.org/tags/misc/ Recent content in Misc on Blog Hugo -- 0.131.0 en Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:02:04 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2011/01/19/kurts_magic_quadrant/ Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:02:04 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2011/01/19/kurts_magic_quadrant/ I was recently reminded of a quote from a German General, Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, in 1933: I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/30/catalog_faq/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:17:07 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/30/catalog_faq/ I received a surprising number of questions related to the cat-a-log series. I’ve attempted to collect them all, and answer them here. Q: Does your wife think all cats are sweet? What about dogs? A: Any member of felis catus is by definition unconditionally sweet. She also views many dogs as sweet, though they tend to be held to a much higher standard, (for example, “humping” is unacceptable and any dog known to have committed such an act is Not Sweet). https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/29/thats_all_the_cats_folks/ Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:38:03 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/29/thats_all_the_cats_folks/ Apparently there is in fact a 15th cat (or a 14th for you purists out there). If cataloged, it would have been Unknown #3, an as-of-yet unnamed cat that comes to my porch to eat the food my wife puts out. I wasn’t able to get a picture, and I’m not sure I recall ever seeing it (they all look the same to me anyway). A shame really, rumor has it that it’s missing a paw, I could have had some fun with that. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/28/catalog_day_14_pepe/ Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:43:53 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/28/catalog_day_14_pepe/ Last but not least, Pepe. Alright, granted this one might be borderline, but to be fair, many people refer to these guys as Polecats. It comes onto my porch to eat from a dish of food, and my wife and daughter have named it, I think that counts for something. Other interesting facts: Smells awful. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/27/catalog_day_13_unknown_2/ Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:42:23 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/27/catalog_day_13_unknown_2/ Unknown #2… or is it Zorro? Yet another cat that I suspect has applied for citizenship under the terms of If it eats, we must greets. I refer to it here as Unknown #2, but someone let slip the name “Zorro” when the subject came up. Other interesting facts: None. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/26/catalog_day_12_unknown_1/ Fri, 26 Dec 2008 12:37:44 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/26/catalog_day_12_unknown_1/ This one has been cropping up more and more. When I first brought up Unknown #1, my wife explained that it was not her cat, she didn’t know why it was hanging around, and that more than likely it belonged to someone and was just wandering a bit. This would be comforting if I hadn’t heard it before (see day 6 and day 11 for current examples). And yes, it eats the food that is placed outside. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/25/catalog_day_11_garfield/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:31:23 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/25/catalog_day_11_garfield/ Moving on… This is Garfield, another cat who obtained amnesty through If it eats, we must greets. The look on his face in the picture above it pretty typical for him. I think he’s bummed because he showed up 10 cats too late and has to sleep outside. Other interesting facts: My wife thinks he’s sweet. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/24/catalog_day_10_baby/ Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:24:39 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/24/catalog_day_10_baby/ This, is Baby. I have three words for you. Pure, Unadulterated, Evil. You have never met Baby (and if you are lucky, you never will), but rest assured, she hates you with a passion. When you look into her eyes, you can almost see the gears turning, the plot being hatched. I have little doubt that given the means and opportunity, she’d kill us all. Other interesting facts: The most ironically named of all our cats. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/23/catalog_day_9_zoe/ Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:03:15 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/23/catalog_day_9_zoe/ Got cat? Believe it or not, there are some that don’t like living in an infestation a house full of cats. Take Zoe here for instance, she hates it. Zoe is Chloe’s sister, one of two that represent the first of our cats. She used to be happy and well adjusted, but runaway immigration has taken a toll on her sanity, (at this point there isn’t much left). She experiences violent mood swings that result in physical confrontations with other cats one minute, and pulling her own hair out the next. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/22/catalog_day_8_thumper/ Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:17:35 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/22/catalog_day_8_thumper/ Damn, this is starting to feel like work. Meet Thumper. Thumper’s most distinctive feature is the absence of a tail. It was recently explained to me that this is the way he was born, but I’m having a hard time accepting that. You see, Thumper is fearless, and I don’t mean fearless in a heroic kind of way, I mean fearless in a lack of common sense, isn’t afraid even when he really really should be, kind of way. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/21/catalog_day_7_chloe/ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:49:31 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/21/catalog_day_7_chloe/ It’s been a week now; there are still more cats. Once upon a time we had no cats. None, zip, zero. It was a glorious time. Then one day my wife came to me wanting a kitten. I was initially opposed to this idea but it was clear how important it was to her, so I agreed. She brought home two. Two. One of them was Chloe. Chloe is a thin and frail cat, which I theorize is the result of some genetic condition which has also left her with an inability to maintain proper core body temperature. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/20/catalog_day_6_stevie/ Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:04:44 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/20/catalog_day_6_stevie/ Day 6, Stevie. To the best of my recollection, Stevie was the first cat integrated under the If it eats, we must greets line of reasoning. As you may know, during the Salem witch trials the accused were thrown into a pool of water, if they floated they were deemed witches. If it eats, we must greets is a similar false dichotomy that states that if you place food out for a stray cat, and it eats it, then it must be your cat. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/19/catalog_day_5_fat_boy/ Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:15:39 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/19/catalog_day_5_fat_boy/ With all of these cats, you didn’t really think there’d be one named Skinny Girl without a corresponding “Fat Boy”, did you? Fat Boy is in fact Skinny Girl’s brother, and has the distinction of being the very first cat in our house with a penis. Others would follow, but he was the first. Respect. Fat Boy is the exact opposite of his sister, the yang to her yin. He struts around the house like he owns the place, and is not easily startled or intimidated. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/18/catalog_day_4_kiwi/ Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:05:23 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/18/catalog_day_4_kiwi/ Pictured below is Kiwi. Believe it or not, I actually like this cat. The reason for this should be obvious, I mean look at her, she’s adorable! Kiwi is one of the many cats that were brought home from the Human Society to be “fostered”. At the time she was covered in mange and way too young to be away from her mother. My wife and daughter spent countless hours treating the mange and bottle feeding her while I tried to pretend she didn’t exist. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/17/catalog_day_3_skinny_girl/ Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:50:39 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/17/catalog_day_3_skinny_girl/ Next up is Skinny Girl. Let’s talk about that name for a second, “Skinny Girl”. That’s only a short step up from names like Cat, Dude, and Hey You. It would stand to reason that if you find yourself struggling to come up with unique names for your pets, then it is entirely possible that you have too many. Again, I don’t really have much to say about this one, it’s a relatively recent arrival. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/16/catalog_day_2_alfie/ Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:28:53 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/16/catalog_day_2_alfie/ I give you, Alfie. I really don’t know much about this cat, it hasn’t been here very long. It is one of many that were/are being (temporarily )fostered here. What I do know is that you do not want him around when playing darts. Soft-tipped darts inevitably fail to stick from time to time. From the moment a dart hits the floor you have scant seconds to retrieve it before Alfie snatches it up and runs like hell. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/15/catalog_day_1_star/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:20:48 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/15/catalog_day_1_star/ Meet Star. Best described as Not Quite Right, Star’s mother was a feral stray who rejected her as a kitten, (those wacky animals and their maternal instincts, go figure). A firm believer that no kitten should be left behind, my wife assumed custody. We’ve had her for years now. For the most part she keeps to herself. One notable exception to this is bedtime where she demands a prominent position either on or next to my wife. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/14/cats_cats_and_more_cats/ Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:41:14 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/12/14/cats_cats_and_more_cats/ There are a lot of cats living in and around my house. A lot. When I mention this to people, they invariably want a number, but the truth of the matter is I really don’t know, (if that isn’t the surest indicator of Way Too Many, I don’t know what is). So, I’ve decided to conduct a little experiment. Each day, starting tomorrow, I will profile one cat found living here. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/11/24/rip_ruta_maya/ Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:55:25 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/11/24/rip_ruta_maya/ What the hell? I leave for a couple of weeks and return to find my coffee shop all boarded up! Ruta Maya served fair trade coffee, obscure (and often excellent) microbrewed beers, and a tasty (although arguably overpriced) lunch. Add free wifi and the fact that they were basically right across the street from work and you had an excellent “home away from home”. My co-workers and I spent many an afternoon working from what became referred to as the “Martin Street Office”…and now it’s gone. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/04/27/cant_drive_55/ Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:21:43 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/04/27/cant_drive_55/ I don’t know when this started, but I like it. Taken on I-10 East about 30 miles west of Junction Texas https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/04/21/accomodations_in_san_angelo/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:31:48 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2008/04/21/accomodations_in_san_angelo/ I’m giving a talk on Saturday at the Texas Open Source Symposium entitled An Introduction to Mercurial. I’ll be driving there but hadn’t considered making a room reservation until today. How hard could it be to book a hotel room in San Angelo Texas, right? Sheesh. I started out with a Google maps search that included the zip code of the venue, and began working through the options ordered by proximity and user submitted reviews. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2007/12/13/hell_hath_no_fury_like_/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:02:29 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2007/12/13/hell_hath_no_fury_like_/ Earlier this year Lisa Nowak, a US Naval officer and former astronaut became infamous after she allegedly tried to kidnap her cheating boyfriend’s love interest. I pretty much ignored all of this back when it was considered news-worthy, but I just came across her Wikipedia page where it details the events of February 4-5: She had packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, about US$585 in cash, her computer, an eight-inch Gerber folding knife and several other items before driving the 900 miles (1,450 km) to Florida. https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2007/10/27/not_ready_to_be_a_grandparent/ Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:06:33 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2007/10/27/not_ready_to_be_a_grandparent/ One of my daughter’s electives this semester is Child Development. That’s the course where you’re issued an infant and graded on the condition of the child at the completion of the assignment. Return anything other than a healthy well-adjusted baby and your grade suffers. When I was in high school your “baby” was a raw egg. You were encouraged to personalize your egg/baby and many people did (drawn-on faces, clothing, facial hair, tattoos, etc). https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/10/02/fart_at_the_prez/ Mon, 02 Oct 2006 16:03:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/10/02/fart_at_the_prez/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/29/my_two_cents/ Sat, 29 Apr 2006 20:18:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/29/my_two_cents/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/29/there_is_no_spoon/ Sat, 29 Apr 2006 18:46:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/29/there_is_no_spoon/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/08/creationism101/ Sat, 08 Apr 2006 22:41:15 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/04/08/creationism101/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/03/18/dominos_pizza/ Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:47:23 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/03/18/dominos_pizza/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/16/jogging_your_way_to_saggy_breasts/ Mon, 16 Jan 2006 10:45:52 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/16/jogging_your_way_to_saggy_breasts/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/14/what_is_your_perfect_major_meme/ Sat, 14 Jan 2006 12:07:46 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/14/what_is_your_perfect_major_meme/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/13/inner_european_meme/ Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:18:57 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/13/inner_european_meme/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/09/social_dysfunction_meme/ Mon, 09 Jan 2006 09:53:43 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2006/01/09/social_dysfunction_meme/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/11/15/middle_earth_race/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:39:39 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/11/15/middle_earth_race/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/11/11/vaginal_food_stuffs/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:00:46 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/11/11/vaginal_food_stuffs/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/10/26/up_at_night/ Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:50:50 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/10/26/up_at_night/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/08/12/california/ Fri, 12 Aug 2005 00:47:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/08/12/california/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/06/27/zombie_dogs/ Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:03:01 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/06/27/zombie_dogs/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/04/23/american-english-profile/ Sat, 23 Apr 2005 13:12:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2005/04/23/american-english-profile/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2004/10/14/iran_child_killer/ Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:11:15 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2004/10/14/iran_child_killer/ https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2004/08/21/whats_your_song/ Sat, 21 Aug 2004 15:31:00 +0000 https://blog.deadcafe.org/posts/2004/08/21/whats_your_song/