What's in a name?

Initially, our new kitten was without a name. We got him shortly after a lunar eclipse, so we thought that might be a good name. It just didn't fit though. We thought long and hard, but couldn't come up with anything. He was so small and energetic, so I felt we should call him "Little

S#!t" (or L.S. for short). Athena did not approve. Eventually as his energy grew, I started referring to him as the Little Bug. He would run around and bounce around like a bug, so we decided it was a fitting name, so we started calling him Bug. We told the vet it could be short for Bugsy, but he was just Bug to everyone. As you can see, he was a very little kitty with big ears. He eventually grew into his ears.

When Bug was little...

We got Bug one night outside of the Giant Food Store in Falls Church, VA. The store is right across the street from the Skyline mall. We came out after shopping and there was an Hispanic man with a box of kittens. He said he was looking for good homes for them. Athena picked up the grey one, then the black one, then the grey one. She then decided that she would like to have the one that had the little tuxedo on him (although at the time, we weren't sure if it was a he or a she). I went back into Giant and bought some kitten food, but they didn't have litter boxes. I drove us home while Athena held the little kitten in her lap. He seemed happy enough. We got our new kitty home and gave him some food. Athena, ever mindful of germs, felt that it would be a good idea to give him a bath. If any of you have ever tried to wash a cat, you'll know that they aren't exactly fond of such things. Our kitten took it all in stride though. We washed him and fed him and he seemed happy. We prepared some newspaper for him to use and quickly learned that only dogs fall for that trick. The next day we were able to get him a litter box which made him very happy. He practically filled it up.

Bug is gone...

As some of you have heard, we lost a dear family member last week. Bug (our black and white cat) passed away sometime on Thursday. Unfortunately, Athena and I were in Italy. Russ found Bug on Friday morning and called us and took him to the vet. The vet tells us that she believes Bug suffered from a urinary tract blockage probably caused by crystals or a stone (common in cats over 5 years old). The build-up of toxins would cause a severe imbalence and eventually a heart attack. This could happen in 24-48 hours and is difficult to diagnose and treat.

Over the next few days, I will try to post some images of Bug.

As you can imagine, this came as quite a shock for us since Bug has been very healthy. He was 10 years old and was amazingly strong. His unique personality will be missed.

R2-D2 in Colorado Springs

As many of you may have heard, the US Postal Service is teaming with Lucas to exploit the masses out of money as the 30th anniversary of Star Wars approaches. They will be releasing a set of Star Wars stamps in May. To build the hype, they have wrapped 400 mail boxes in R2-D2 style. The pictures below are of the mailbox in Colorado Springs. It is located on Tejon near the corner of Bijou (just south of The Famous).

Clouds over Pike's Peak

A strange weather pattern caused rain/snow/sleet and then sun around Colorado Springs. After the mess passed, the clouds that were left decided to hug the mountains producing a very interesting view.

 

A Tight Fit...

As part of our company Gala, we had some very expensive vehicles delivered... To the right you can see a Range Rover Sport that was delivered. It had to make it through the front door of the Hilton.

In the second picture, you can see that it had barely 1/4 of an inch on either side.
 
 

Bug gets a day out

We had a nice day a couple of weeks ago, so we let Bug go out and enjoy the sun. He was happy to pose for a few pictures before finding some dirt to roll around in.

Bond, Jim, Bond

For my company's Gala, I was "volunteered" to dress up as 007. I had a couple of "Bond girls" to escort me up on stage where I gave a short speach about attending the gala. The giant martini glass was very popular,

Best place to eat on Kauai

The night we landed in Kauai, we picked up the rental car and asked the attendent where to eat... she said "Barbecue Inn". It isn't fancy from the outside but the food is incredible and inexpensive. You get great food for your money!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the beach... obviously. For anyone that has been to Kauai, chickens are no surprise. As we drove out towards Ke'e Beach from Princeville, we stopped at this beach where we were greeted by a rooster. They are literally everywhere on the island. Our first day on the island we were forced to wake up at about 7:00a by the roosters coming through our condo complex. Fortunately they left us alone most of the rest of the week.