So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Harp]

Meanwhile, the entire Northeast is being wracked by a chronic shortage of canned cat food... My cat is not pleased.

Tuna fish or sardines. A sardine slam: drain can, squirt ketchup or mustard, shake and spread over plate.
Or fork tuna over plate. Saltines, wine optional.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Meanwhile, the entire Northeast is being wracked by a chronic shortage of canned cat food, which bodes extremely ill for the immediate future. I am told this is because of a nationwide aluminum-can shortage, although I see no evidence of it in the shape of the bloated gentlemen waddling out of the Hannafid's with a double-suitcase of Bud Light under each arm, and one tucked under the belly. My cat is not pleased.

Compensate with potatoe mash.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Miss Carol T. Cat objects to stopgaps. She insists on Friskies Turkey Filets With Gravy or she'll eat a bunch of newspaper and leave the results on the bathroom floor. This is gonna be a real rough next few weeks.

Meanwhile, after fuming for two days about my experience at the hospital, I'm preparing a formal written complaint to the Patient Advocate about the way the matter was handled. I don't mean to go Full Karen, but when you're in the middle of a possible cancer scare you don't need to be dealing with buck-passing administrative idiocy, masquerading as procedure.

We may live in a world that's been completely hijacked over the last thirty years by blank-eyed chip-hearted soulless techie drones for whom all human existence can, should, and must be reduced to a string of 1s and 0s, but that makes it all the more essential for those of us who won't drink the Intel-Aid, in our own little corners, and our own little ways, to fight back against it. Maybe "resistance is futile," but that doesn't in any way obviate the need to resist.

 

[BobHufford]

Did I miss a Tik Tok challenge? The local news channel just said (in all seriousness) "...and don't lick poles -- your tongue can get stuck" as part of their things-not-to-do list during these negative 20 deg. wind chills. Jeez.

 

[Harp]

^^^and what about using "the double dog dare" without the preliminary courtesy of the single dog dare?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I did that once on a storm door, and it was the only time my grandmother ever laughed at me.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Did I miss a Tik Tok challenge? The local news channel just said (in all seriousness) "...and don't lick poles -- your tongue can get stuck" as part of their things-not-to-do list during these negative 20 deg. wind chills. Jeez.

View attachment 309873

Yeah, I still know...

 

[Harp]

Miss Carol T. Cat objects to stopgaps. She insists on Friskies Turkey Filets With Gravy or she'll eat a bunch of newspaper and leave the results on the bathroom floor. This is gonna be a real rough next few weeks.

.... you don't need to be dealing with buck-passing administrative idiocy, masquerading as procedure.

Cat on a Hot Tin Can: deli sliced turkey, some jar gravy. Garnish as appropriate.
----------

I once worked in the Regional Counsel Office for the Chicago Veterans Administration. All Armed Forces,
criminal and work compensation cases that passed through the VA clinical/hospitals were my responsibility.
The US Navy Training Command at Great Lakes sent their psychiatric discharge recruits to the VA for
evaluation, but unlike civilian lawyers I usually dealt with, the Navy proved resistant to any cooperation
whatsoever. Consequently, approximately $1,000,000, a cool million pesos were owed by the Navy
to the VA, and I had to collect by the end of the fiscal year.

I called the Lieutenant at Great Lakes and explained that my boss, a two-star VA rear admiral wanted
this done. And I got the same old schtick. I gave him three days to fork over the requisite info via fax,
or any inquiries after the fiscal year would be referred to him. Thirty minutes later the fax went batshit.
All and everything needed came across.

And the LT called back. I got all of it, thanks.

There's a saying in the Army that you can lead a horse to water and make him drink.
Shove the horse's head under water, then kick him in the b...s.
That horse will drink water.

 

[Hercule]

Meanwhile, the entire Northeast is being wracked by a chronic shortage of canned cat food, which bodes extremely ill for the immediate future. I am told this is because of a nationwide aluminum-can shortage, although I see no evidence of it in the shape of the bloated gentlemen waddling out of the Hannafid's with a double-suitcase of Bud Light under each arm, and one tucked under the belly. My cat is not pleased.

Here too in the Midwest, though the aluminum can aspect is news to me. In our experience it looks to be limited to certain varieties of Fancy Feast, specifically Gravy Lovers Beef and Chicken.

Our Miss Lola (12) seems to have fully recovered from her bout with pancreatitis and has gotten back to her usual monster, demanding self. She's still just a bag of bones but she's slowly getting her padding back. After she was sick we put her on a high-end brand ($1.60/small can) cat food thinking it would be healthier for her, and of course she took an aversion to it right after I bought the better part of a month's supply. So we went back to her old food and she took a liking to the one she wouldn't eat previously, which is the one we are having trouble getting. Go figure. Her pancreatitis seems to have been replaced with senility and, seemingly forgetting, she wants to eat all the time (mostly when we're in the middle of doing something). We only give her half a small can at a time so it's spread out a bit.

 

[Zombie_61]

Our cat Shadow eats Fancy Feast, but she will only eat the ones that have gravy or sauce or are otherwise rather "wet" and only occasionally will entertain the notion of dining on one of the "paté" versions. The local Ralphs market where we shop has been very hit-and-miss with regards to keeping the shelves filled with Fancy Feast, but they've offered no explanations/excuses other than, "We get what they ship us, and we put it on the shelves."

 

[Hercule]

Yes, Gravy-Lovers all the way! We see ads for Chewy dot com all the time and were VERY surprised that they offer absolutely no savings whatsoever. In fact they are prohibitively more expensive than local sources.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Miss Carol does not like pate much -- she's only got three incisors, and she finds it difficult to bite into. I don't know where the fourth incisor went, but I imagine I'll step on it some morning walking across the kitchen floor barefoot.

 

[Zombie_61]

Yes, Gravy-Lovers all the way! We see ads for Chewy dot com all the time and were VERY surprised that they offer absolutely no savings whatsoever. In fact they are prohibitively more expensive than local sources.

We ordered from Chewy once or twice when local supplies were scarce. Recently I did the research and found out the only savings we attained was the cost of the gasoline it would have taken to drive to whichever store we would have shopped in locally for those items.

Miss Carol does not like pate much -- she's only got three incisors, and she finds it difficult to bite into. I don't know where the fourth incisor went, but I imagine I'll step on it some morning walking across the kitchen floor barefoot.

We use a spoon or fork to chop what they call "paté" into mush to make it easier for Shadow to eat. She still has most of her teeth, but she has such a tiny mouth.

 

[Just Jim]

My great-aunt had a cat who got rather selective about food as it aged. She used a crock pot to stew a whole chicken, then removed the bones and puree'd the rest into a gelatinous "gravy". The cat got a pate-like canned food, with a couple spoons of the gravy (heated to about 100 degrees, not to hot!) ladled on top.

Her children and grandchildren all agreed she cared more for that cat than she ever did for any of them.

 

[Hercule]

My great-aunt had a cat who got rather selective about food as it aged. She used a crock pot to stew a whole chicken, then removed the bones and puree'd the rest into a gelatinous "gravy". The cat got a pate-like canned food, with a couple spoons of the gravy (heated to about 100 degrees, not to hot!) ladled on top.

Her children and grandchildren all agreed she cared more for that cat than she ever did for any of them.

I'm sure when I get old(er), if not sooner, I'll prefer the cat over people. I kinda do already, to be honest with you.

 

[Hercule]

Annoyance du jour, well, a long time annoyance: The reply of "maybe" to the question of "would you like some...?" or "would you like to try...?" usually in regard to food.

Seriously, either you want some or you don't! I'm not going to save any for you while you decide, or I'm not going to make a second trip when you do decide. A minor thing I know but irksome nonetheless.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Another either-you-do-or-you-don’t ...

“Trying to quit” smoking.

 

[Hercule]

^^^^^
Another either-you-do-or-you-don’t ...

“Trying to quit” smoking.

While I get your point, I would submit that "trying to quit" is in a different boat as it involves an ongoing effort and the distinct possibility of future failure. In that instance trying equates to "so far so good." It's not a matter of either you have or have not quit. While subjective, success in that instance can't be determined until one is beyond the need/craving/likelihood of reverting back to the habit or whatever it is. But there's always that chance, just ask a "former" alcoholic. Apples and oranges really.

My gripe is with people waffling over things that don't warrant or otherwise merit indecision. A student of human nature (or a cynic like me) might see this as a ploy for attention, flipping the onus back on the one making the offer in an attempt to perpetuate the attention that the original interaction offered. Take it or leave it. I'm not going to beg you to try it. But I suppose we all have people in or lives who cannot make even the simplest decision on the fly.

 

[Harp]

My gripe is with people waffling over things that don't warrant or otherwise merit indecision. A student of human nature (or a cynic like me) might see this as a ploy for attention, flipping the onus back on the one making the offer in an attempt to perpetuate the attention that the original interaction offered. Take it or leave it. I'm not going to beg you to try it. But I suppose we all have people in or lives who cannot make even the simplest decision on the fly.

When I was a kid I lived in Greece for two years, once wandered inside a bar in Thessaloniki and ordered
a beer. Live music, small band. Miller. Ice cold. And a sister of Sophia Loren walked up and asked if I would
like to buy her a drink. I demurred, inexplicably. Not my usual response to female solicit.
And she smiled. Asked if she could buy me a drink. I relaxed, apologized, bought her a martini.
She asked if we could sit at a table. And she propositioned that she take me to her apartment.
Definitely a scenario not meriting indecision, a simple decision on the fly-hook.
I had to be back in barracks by midnite, Cinderella pass. I normally did what I wanted to on Cinderella,
but not this time. So, she wrote her name, address, phone # on a slip. Told me I was a sweet lovely boy
she wanted to sleep with. I pocketed the slip, went back to base. And lost the paper.

Never saw her again.

 

[tonyb]

While I get your point, I would submit that "trying to quit" is in a different boat as it involves an ongoing effort and the distinct possibility of future failure. In that instance trying equates to "so far so good." It's not a matter of either you have or have not quit. While subjective, success in that instance can't be determined until one is beyond the need/craving/likelihood of reverting back to the habit or whatever it is. But there's always that chance, just ask a "former" alcoholic. Apples and oranges really.

My gripe is with people waffling over things that don't warrant or otherwise merit indecision. A student of human nature (or a cynic like me) might see this as a ploy for attention, flipping the onus back on the one making the offer in an attempt to perpetuate the attention that the original interaction offered. Take it or leave it. I'm not going to beg you to try it. But I suppose we all have people in or lives who cannot make even the simplest decision on the fly.

Of course it’s different.

Still, I submit that it is indeed “a matter of either you have or have not quit.”

I’ve scoffed at people “trying to quit” smoking and/or drinking while they light up another Camel and crack open a Bud. Some have gotten angry with me. I suspect that’s mostly because they resented being called on their BS. (I know that I do.)

My view of a person is not necessarily diminished by his or her continuing in their unhealthful behaviors. It certainly isn’t that clean-living types live forever. Maybe on average they squeeze out a few more years than do the habitual carousers among us. But I wonder who gets more satisfaction out of their years.

So I tell the remaining smokers I know that if they’re gonna smoke, please enjoy it. I understand it. I was a heavy smoker myself for many years and I know that there are good things to be said for nicotine. It’s a wonderful drug (yes, it’s a drug) in some ways. And I tell them that my own experience is that quitting is a snap once a person decides he’s done with cigarettes. It might take a heart attack or a cancer diagnosis or emphysema or any other dreadful illness smoking causes to get a person to that point, and for some even that won’t get them there. And to them I still say, if you’re gonna continue smoking, I hope you enjoy it. But I’ll probably chuckle if you tell me you’re trying to quit.