We Are Schmucks

I come home from a long day at work, when the grand wizard of the new company decided to come for a visit in our little dinky outpost. So, yes, I am ready to let off a little stress.

Stop at the store, head home, to hear a neighbor say "did you lose a cat?" I look in my window and see furry child #1 and furry child #2 hanging out watching me, and reply "thankfully, no". Though I still wander over and see this little almost all black cat hanging out in a cat carrier. And dangit, he is cute.

But, I resist. I have 2 cats, and this one has been outside, who knows what it has. But, the finders of little Biden are allergic and are already breaking out from hives. Again, I resist!

3 hours later, take the garbage out and Mrs Duck asks, If it around?"

Needless to say we have an almost black cat now hanging out in a giant cage in our basement

Thursday Thirteen #64-The Vacation Contest One

****sticky post***

As Mrs Duck and I prepare to go on a well needed vacation, I figured to keep blog traffic at least a little bit up, I would run a contest.

So, I am going to give you 13 questions, each correct answer will count for one entry in the contest. Almost all of the questions will be answerable if you just search the blog, though at least 3 of the questions will take some knowledge of Sparky and Mrs Duck.

Oh yea, prizes. The winner of the contest will get a $20 gift card of there choice and also a souvenir from vacation, which will have a retail value of at least $5. If there is a tie on correct answers, the winner will be drawn from a blind draft. The contest runs from 11:00 pm Wednesday, April 16th until noon Wednesday April 23.

Now on to the fun part.

1.Who did Sparky vote for in the Presidential election of 2004?

2.My parents have lived in 4 different states since they retired, name one of them?

3.Mrs Duck and I saw a concert in Atlantic City, what female singer was the headliner?

4.We have 2 cats, name one of them?

5.On our honeymoon in 2006, we visited 3 states. Besides Hawaii, name one of the states we visited?

6.Our hotel in Honolulu was a certain color, what color was it?

7.I have worked for a few places in my professional career. One company had many names although I worked in the same building. Name one of the companies that I worked for?

8.Where are we on vacation right now?

9.Who did I want to win the 2008 NCAA Basketball Championship?

10.I have posted a few recipes on this blog, name one?

11.Something happened to my car in 2007. What happened to it and what kind of car was it?

12.Name one music video I have posted on this blog.

13.What is the name of the Philly Transplant sister blog?

Simple isnt it? Plus, anyone that links this post with there own post about it gets an extra entry.

Newsy Notes

47 degrees here in Philly this morning. By the end of the week it is supposed to get back up into the 80s one more time. Be prepared for a lovely flu epidemic to be hitting the Northeast in ohhhh about 10 days or so.

A Big thank you to Wylie Kinson. She mentioned a chat that some of the Ellora's Cave writers were having last week, and I won a prize for signing up and sharing some of my wittiness. A free book, bookmark and an Ellora's Cave playing card deck. The book and bookmark will find a good home in Chez Duck, but be prepared for the possibility of the card deck being a future contest surprise, we shall see how good the men look.

My neighbor annoyed me this weekend by having her two cats running around for like 6 hours outside. And of course, she was not paying attention to them as they were. Nothing wrong with giving your felines some fresh air, but when it begins to get dusk like outside and your kitty is still wandering around down by the street, you are officially the worst cat owner of the weekend.

Blogathon 44.48 Save the Cats

I have had three living companions through this Blogathon 2007. One was Mrs Duck, she hung on until 1 am and came down between 5:30 and 6:00 to check on me. Oh and to reload on her advil, but she did come and see me as well. There other duo was Lola and Bettina, my two furry feline (kids?, babies?, compadres? owners?). Lola is the Calico and Bettina is the Tuxedo and the did there best job to try and stare at me and not snore to loud as the lounged on the chairs that were unoccupied. But it was good having them around.

If I did not choose Shriners Childrens Hospitals, I would have selected Save the Cats, Inc. They are the rescue shelter that allowed us to adopt the frisky duo. And allowed was a good way to put it, since it seemed like Mrs Duck and I were applying for a job to get to take these two home.

So, I am not going to ask you to donate to Save the Cats, though be prepared for that possibility next year. But I am going to ask that if you ever consider getting a dog or cat, get one from a rescue group or no kill shelter. The animals they have there are maybe a little more work, but when you get them to trust you, they are the most loving little beasts in the world.

Blogathon 10.48 Reader

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel sorry for anyone that has a couple of us blogathoners in there Google Reader, or whatever reader they have for there blogs? I mean, when you see 100+ its daunting, I would think that the combination of 2 blogathons making about 100 posts, plus the regular weekend stuff will make it almost impossible to catch up. I see alot of "Mark as Read" happening on Monday. C'mon, don't roll your eyes, you know you are guilty of it too from time to time. It is the easiest way to get all caught up. You just miss some jewels along the way.

Ok, sinuses are clearing from the new cat litter, I know everyone was concerned. Back on track.

bthon 9.48 Catl Litter Emergency

So while I go clean it up, enjoy the vacuum cleaned cat.

Nature's Alarm Clock

I really can not decide which might have been worse at 5 AM this morning.

-Mrs Duck clanking around the bedroom suffering from some indigestion. (ok, not the worst thing, really like a little jingle of fairy wings in comparison to other sounds)

-The cats, who we just paid another extra deposit for because we were caught having them, running up and down the stairs with a frantic pace. Their little legs also sounded like they were a herd of elephants thundering around downstairs.

-The Canadian geese, who have decided to find the patch of grass just outside our window to be to their liking. Its almost like they were milling around the Port Authority waiting for the Goose Bus to come by.

I vote for the geese, because I have absolutely no control over their noise. Mrs Duck will feel better and I can go down and yell, wait no, not yell, but sternly speak with Bettina and Lola. The geese just like to mock me.

Bettina sapped my creative energy

Thats the story and I am sticking to it. She is cute as a button, but she does find ways to get herself into trouble that you could only imagine.

I went upstairs yesterday afternoon to double check that my shorts are 100% great for the trip at the end of the week. Thankfully, they all still fit, which helped to stave off some depression, since most of my pants don't fit anymore. But, as I cut back through the bathroom, I saw Lola looking to get behind the washer/dryer. Oh no, not again. I chased her out and went to look for her partner in crime.
No Bettina downstairs, no Bettina under the bed, no Bettina anywhere. Until I heard a horrible whine coming from behind the clothes machine. Crap!
Bettina is a skittish cat, still young, still alot like a kitten, so even though I pulled the washer/dryer away from the wall, she was too scared to come out. I finally scared her out, though she just ran around even more scared, running around the bathroom, jumping on the counter, knocking a glass to the floor, shattering it and then running back behind the dryer!
So, their I am, half naked since I was preparing for a shower, cleaning up glass and iced tea and calling Mrs Duck so she would come straight home, since she is skinny enough to get back into the tight space. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the early evening.

So, no mall trip last night, no comment responses to come this week and I was just one cranky duck. So, blame Bettina. Shes fine by the way.

Help from my furry friends?

Well, really help for my furry friends as well as help from them. We are in the process of researching Cat Towers/Condos, etc. So my loveable cat owners, do you have one and where did you get yours from? Thanks in advance, carry on...

Project 365 #25 Mornin Sunshine

Hi Lola, good to see you too

More pictures over at Sparky's Photo Hut, check em out.

Project 365-#15 Home Security

I know some of you enjoyed the pictures of Bettina, so I need the other furball to get some limelight. So, introducing, Lola! Doing her best to work for ADT Squirrel Security.




Sparky's Photo Hut: Project 365 #15-Home Security

Project 365 #10-Bettina

This is one of the two newly adopted furballs, Bettina. She loves sleeping in her pink bed, because she can duck her head and make like shes hiding. Now just to get the both of them to do more then just tolerate Mrs Duck and I

a belated thank you

We just wanted to thank everyone of there well wishes and thoughts when it comes to our beautiful Kittie. I know that the good vibes everyone sent helped us to get through this difficult time, at least for now.

We could have been selfish and tried to drug her up to get through the holidays, but we just knew that was not what she would have wanted, especially since she was going blind in her other eye as well. I said goodbye to her the Wednesday before, or more like she said goodbye to me, since she when I climbed underneath the coffee table to lay with her, she bathed me in kisses. See, cats can kiss.

Everyone loved the little woman, and she would always just seem to know when you needed a kiss, or a laugh at her expense, even though she really really hated that.

This is my favorite Christmas picture of her, just because she seemed to just love sleeping and lying under the tree, like it was all about her or something. Though I guess when it comes to cats, its always about them isnt it?

We are going to get one or two more cats after the holidays, one for each of us, though no new kitten will ever be able to replace Princess Kittie.


A special shoutout to Lady Jane and Howie for the shout out.

What Tarot are you?

I am not sure if this is good

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.