I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Friday, February 13, 2009

Random Blogging Cat Fridays

I want to wish all of you a Happy Valentines Day. Don't forget to show those you love just how special they are to you. Telling them, saying it outloud, how you feel about them is the best romance you can get. Everything after that is the icing on the love cupcake.

The kitters are getting frisky. Vivian, the momma, went out for an extended play this afternoon. She was out for a few hours. We pretty much think she was taking a break from Cleo (the daughter). Cleo is a wild bundle of teething frisky energy. She'll zoom up the cat tree, sometimes hanging upside-down from the platforms before clawing over to the top side, get to the top and shout her wild yawp to the ceiling wondering just where the rest of the tower is that'll let her go higher. When she's about to pounce, she'll do this back-paw dance like she's winding up. And then there's the times she is in the kitchen, on the linoleum, starting to run and she does a Fred Flintstone with her paws. Vivian plays the long suffering mother, letting Cleo climb all over her, play with her tail, etc. You know, until she's had enough and rolls Cleo over.

Work continues to get weird. From what I understand we're quoting jobs like mad, just nothing is coming in the door. Of course there is work, things I could be doing, but still no overtime (well, except when I have to, like last night, to get plates out) and we're still on four day weeks.

Another sign of a bad economy? It's when you start finding wheat pennies in your change from the store. That means people are breaking into their stashes of money. While not exactly Liberty Eagles showing up in circulation, but still interesting. Next up, silver certificates. I'm still collecting them. Heck, copper maybe more expensive. I could use one of those Cash4Gold envelopes. You know, if I actually trusted something that on it's face looks like a scam, smells like a scam, and is only slightly less risky than buying that genuine Rolex from a street vendor.

This weekend I need to get things done that I've been procrastinating for the past few weeks. Writing, design, personal, village, there's plenty to do. I need some motivation. Maybe I need to change my perspective to try and break out of the ruts I've dug for myself. Time to cowboy, pony, and novel up.

4 comments:

Nathan said...

I have a few $2 silver certificates. I think I checked into value a few years ago and found out they're worth $3-$10 each. WooHoo!

I also have a savings bond my grandfather bought for me when I was 3 years old. I cashed in most of them years ago when they had already been mature for years. There's one left with the issue date smudged and I was told it could be valued by sending it in and letting them trace the serial number. I'm hanging onto that sucker 'til I can break the Treasury by cashing it. I only need to live another 400 years or so.

vince said...

My ex does a lot of coin collecting, and I think she could be starving and still wouldn't spend them.

The economy definitely sucks around here. The second largest real estate company in town went under, a bar and restaurant has closed for the rest of the winter and it's unlikely it will reopen, and two gift shops have closed and are looking for buyers.

The real estate company and bar and restaurant were long established, but had new owners, and they just couldn't keep up the payments. And the new owners of the bar and restaurant dumped a lot of additional money into an small brewery to make their own microbrews to be consumed on the premises. Bad timing.

The other two business that closed were new, one only a year old. Again, bad timing.

Me, I'm fortunate in being swamped with computer work. I'm not sure why I am, but you know the old saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Steve Buchheit said...

Nathan, I'd check and make sure it's the kind of bond that keeps acruing. If your grandfather bought it when you were young it should be, but the more recent ones don't (IIRC).

Vince, oh yeah. That truly sucks. We have our own issues here. One of our major income sources for the village is the income tax on a cabinet maker (they -have- had four factories - one in our town). Their jobs are connected to the housing market. There's been a few retail places that have gone down. I'm trying to support the ones I definitely want to keep (there's a little shop in Willoughby that sells eclectic items that I really want to see make it through).

I haven't seen yet this morning, did the Senate pass the Stimulus Plan (I've only seen Fox news trashing it's spending)? I hope so. I also hope we get at least two of the "shovel ready" projects we submitted. If we got the money we could start major spending at the end of March (we'd have to bid it out, that takes at least three weeks). For government spending, that's lightning speed.

Nathan said...

I checked once. It's from 1964 and it gains almost $1 a year or some such riches.