The family is okay!

I just got word from my in-laws, who were in Houston when Rita hit, are okay. They only experienced some winds and some broke tree limbs but they still have power and have experienced no flooding. Yeah! I was so worried about them because they tried to leave in that mass exodus of people but ran out of gas in 100 degree heat and had to go back home. Here in Austin, every school has been turned into a shelter and people are even camping in outlying communities and campsites. It's packed in this town. Gas stations are dry. The grocery store was emptied. No bread, no water, no ice...it was craziness. Now everyone is leaving and it's a headache to get out of this town but I am glad that this storm wasn't as bad as Katrina and people seemed more prepared this time around.

I heard some horror stories of people trying to leave Houston with their pets who suffered heat exhaustion and died in that traffic. One gentleman's cat died in the heat and he drove from Houston to Austin with his dead cat in his car because he couldn't leave it by the side of the road. My heart breaks for these people because I am the same way. He left with the thing he loved the most and it died while he was trying to save their lives. It's sad. I am lucky. I live inland and the only thing I have to worry about are thunderstorms, tornados and fire. I could never leave my 4 cats, 1 bird and 2 fish tanks. I understand people who refuse to leave even in the face of impending doom because I couldn't go anywhere without my babies.

Monty rocks!

I always like receiving posts from my regulars and one of my favorite regulars is Monty. He is posting for a fellow blogger, The V-Spot, Victoria's Secret, and he mentioned my blog. I am so honored, plus, I am an attention whore so I enjoy seeing my name in print, it makes me feel pretty. But really, thank you Monty for your wonderful post about Kitty Titty, it made my day!

I wonder where he is?

I used to work at a local archival library in town. We were open to the general public and our collection consisted of local historical materials and documents. I worked there for 3 years and I got to know a lot of the regulars. Some were local historians who were researching books or planning tours around town. We also had meeting rooms and I met a lot of interesting groups that I had never heard of before. Some of our regulars were homeless people who used the internet. Most of them of were very nice and personable and I always wondered how and why they ended up living on the streets and using our bathrooms as a shower. Occasionally, we had mentally ill street people that came in and were harassing or disruptive. One crapped all over the mens bathroom and was enjoying fingerpainting with his own scat. Fun. That sucked and we had to call security and housekeeping. We also had a transvestite patron, who was technically male but unsuccessfully looked female. She used the girls bathroom a lot but she was pretty tame so I didn't care. Overall, we had scary to very nice folks come in. In libraries you pretty much have to set the place on fire, pee in a corner or start tearing pages out of a book to get thrown out. Lately, I have been thinking of one patron in particular named Al. He was a homeless kid who grew up in Houston and traveled to Austin. He used our internet but I never knew what he was looking at. I realized that the majority of the homeless were either activists doing research but mostly were looking at porn. I know this because they would open up a gazillion pages of porn and lock up the computer. I closed a couple of windows and I saw some great views of labia before I said fuck it and just rebooted the damn thing. I have those parts so I don't need to see no stinking pictures. Anyways, Al came in every other day for a year. He was photographer and was always trying to get me to buy his pictures and as you know as a library employee, I don't get paid shit, so I couldn't buy his pictures. He kept coming in and then one day he disappeared . Three months later he returned. He had returned to Houston and sold everything he owned including his most prize possession, his camera. I could tell he was pretty low and I told him to hang in there. A month later he disappeared again. I admit, I was worried. He came back the following month and he had changed. Before he was wearing tattered, dirty clothing and barely showered or shaved. Working in a library makes a person resistant to the BO smell. Now he was wearing a buttoned up shirt with a black tie and slacks. He looked so professional. I asked how it was going. He told me he started working for a temp agency and the company liked him so much he got a permanent job at a printing company. I was happy for him. Out of all the homeless that came in, he changed for the better and you don't see that often. He still came in occasionally to use the internet but intermittently. One day, it was raining cats and dogs outside. A lady walks in and you can clearly see that she is soaking wet and homeless. She asks if we have a tarp and we unfortunately didn't. That must have been the straw that broke the camel's back because she lost it. She started screaming and yelling at me on how she needs help and nobody will help her. I stated that we were a library and don't carry such equipment but if she needed help that we could direct her to some social services to help her out. I probably shouldn't have said anything because she laid into me again, on how I was a horrible person because I wouldn't help her, I think she wanted money and was working the guilt trip because I was obviously doing well if I was working and I had some money to spare. Yeah that made me laugh, too. Al noticed that I was getting yelled at and the whole library could hear this woman ranting at me, so he came over and inquired what was going on. She realized that here was a new person who could possibly help her and she goes through a list of what she needs. He listens to her patiently and nodded every once in a while. When she finally stopped, he replies, "Sounds like you need a job." My jaw dropped. Out of all the people who I figured would be the most sympathetic to her plight, it would be him. He told her that he was once homeless and that he was able to turn his life around and if he could do it so could she. Then he chided her for her feeling of entitlement. He told her to work to get what she wants and to not expect a handout. I looked at her face and it was as if all the wind was sucked out of her sails and seeing that she wasn't going to win the argument or get anything for free, she left. I thanked Al and he said no prob, he was just tired of hearing excuses and that he knew that if a person wants to turn their life around they can do it because that's what he did. I was so proud of him and to this day he is one of my own personal heroes but he doesn't know it. I wish I could have told him before he stopped coming to the library. I guess he bought his own computer or moved on but I remember him fondly and I hope that he is doing well.

Under Rita's thumb!

Update: 9/22/05, 6:30pm
Rita was down graded to a Category 4 and is heading slightly NE towards the Louisiana/Texas border. Good news for Austin, bad news for Houston. My in-laws got stuck in traffic all day today and couldn't leave Houston. They will try again tonight and hopefully make it in sometime tomorrow morning now that they turned the inbound lane to Houston outbound. My part of Austin will be windy and have maybe up to two inches of rain but I am on a hill so I am not worried about flooding I just have to watch for falling trees.


Hurricane Rita is coming to the Texas coast and it's huge. As of right now it is a Category 5 hurricane and it's headed between Galveston and Brownsville. Today traffic sucked because people are leaving the coast and area coastal towns that are likely to flood. My in laws from Houston are leaving and staying with us, hopefully. They are having difficulty finding a hotel and when I called up my apartment complex they graciously allowed them to come and stay in an empty unit. What awesome people. I have to get them a cake and tell them thanks. They had a company trip in Galveston this weekend that was cancelled due to Rita. I know that they were looking forward towards the rest and relaxation of a seaside trip. The NOAA says that even Austin, which is far inland, is going to experience hurricane like winds of 70-75mph and rain so I have to park my car away from trees and we may expect the power to go out. I am prepared and it shouldn't be so bad. This is Texas after all, we are use to all the wind from thunderstorms and tornados. I had to go to the store and buy water but it's sold out. I eventually bought some overpriced water at 7-11. I stocked up on munchies and I got a bag of ice so my ice cream won't melt. We have plenty of water, candles, flashlights, toilet paper, cat litter and food for my family and the cats. So far so good. I am just thinking of my family that live in Houston and San Antonio, it looks like it might flood over there. I am just praying that Texas will be okay.

Austin has a pet overpopulation problem!

Seven years ago people were concerned about the overpopulation of unwanted pets in Austin and they tried to lessen the number of adoptable pets being euthanized by passing an ordinance. An ordinance, well more like a desired plan, was passed stating that animals deemed adoptable were not to be euthanized but without funding it was just wishful thinking put on paper. Unfortunately, the number of euthanized animals at the Town Lake Animal Shelter is still very high. Now there is talk of requiring owners to spay or neuter their pets. The question is, will requiring owners to spay and neuter their pets work? It has some problems that need to be worked out but unless your pet is some Grand Champion Pekingese, snip it. Check out this article that was printed in the Austin Chronicle. It's kind of tucked away on the web page so I cut and pasted it for your instant gratification.

Seven years after declaring the dawn of a "no-kill millennium," Austin is still euthanizing more than 12,000 animals each year. One of the causes, say animal rescue and spay-neuter groups, is the lack of an ordinance requiring people to spay and neuter their pets. A draft mandatory spay-neuter ordinance will be debated at the Animal Advisory Commission meeting Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Town Lake Animal Center, 1156 W. Cesar Chavez, 6:30pm.
Sept 16, 2005 

P.S. Here is the website where I got that really sad cat picture.

The secret to life...hang out with the people you love, dance, sing and drink!

I love to sing karaoke and dance. I went to La Palapa last Friday and sang my heart out. La Palapa is a great hole in the wall restaurant that has karaoke Friday and Saturday nights. Plus, they serve margaritas by the pitcher. Oh Yeah! I went with all of my work buddies and we had an awesome time. There were too many of us and we had to be broken up in to two tables. Bummer and I had to drive so I couldn't drink, so I had to sing sober. I have never done that before usually liquor is my bravery. I always have to start my singing with "Baby Got Back" by Sir-Mix-A-Lot. I love that song. None of my friends had started singing yet and they were scared to go on stage. Well, I was thinking let's get the party started. I went on stage and I was so nervous even though I had done it before. I addressed the crowd and I told them that I normally have back up dancers but they weren't drunk enough. I started singing and the crowd loved it. There is something funny about a girl singing, "I like Big Butts!" as loudly as she can while trying to shake her small bootie to the rhythm. My friends eventually joined me on stage and one of my friend's mom came up, she has got a butt and the crowd went wild! So the song was so appropriate because she was like Tadoww! My ass is a flat plain compared to hers. In fact, there were 3 of my friends and a person from another table that jumped up on stage and started dancing. It was great! I had a great time but I had to get out of there. It was so crowded and then it became really crowded when the UT choir showed up. So, overall, I had a great time singing, dancing and drinking with my friends. It feels good to make an ass out of myself and I have friends who appreciate that and cheer me on. If you don't know this by now, I am a walking calamity. I have learned to embarrass myself on purpose because it's going to happen whether or not I want it. It's one of my super powers! Super Embarrassing Herself Girl!

This is what happens with little sleep and too much caffeine!

I have been studying all night with little breaks so I can wander around the internet looking at other people's websites. I found this cool site that features badasses of the week. I linked up my favorite badasses from Ben Thompson: My Stupid Website. Check it out!

There is Han Solo and his yumminess from Star Wars. I was totally in love with him when I was a kid. Who needs the force when you have a blaster. I would drop Luke Skywalker's whiney ass to be with Han Solo. I am so jealous of Princess Leia, bitch.

Then there is Sho'nuff the Shogun of Harlem. He was the bad guy in The Last Dragon but he got his because the good guys always win. Check out the link, it has some wonderful and brilliant dialogue from the movie. Prepare to be amazed!

I first saw Jet Li in the movie, Tai Chi Master. A great movie that made me realize that a man who is a dinky short guy and has a half shaved head with a long ass braid can be hot when he is kicking ass. Go on with your bad self, Jet Li!

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) was in the movie, Army of Darkness, where he plays the antihero. He is a smart ass and rude but he still gets the chick. Plus, this movie had some of the best dialogue. Lines like, "Listen up you primates...This is my BOOMSTICK!" and "Good Ash, Bad Ash...I'm the one with the gun" and my favorite line, "Give me some sugar, baby." He can save me from the undead anytime.

I pity the fool that doesn't totally love Mr. T. The way he drapes himself under 50 pounds of gold jewelry and chains on the A-Team and in real life, it's hot. That's true bravery when you can wear that much man jewelry and still be cool. He is my hero!

Optimus Prime. A cartoon character? I can't help it! I grew up in the age of Transformers and that movie had an awesome soundtrack. Oooh! I just hated those Decepticons, they were so mean! Optimus Prime was the leader of Autobots and he transformed into a semi truck. Pretty cool! I think if I could transform I would turn into a Honda. A small red hatchback.

Enjoy the links and the trip down memory lane.

Nappy cat!

I like how cats find the softest spot in the house and claim it as their own. Here is my cat, Munchkin, taking a cat nap on my pink comforter. He has allergy induced asthma and sometimes sleeps with his mouth open. He is too cute but he has a tendency to drool like his momma. Hey, I can't help it either, I have allergies too. At least I don't snore as loudly as he does, it's like a freight train on some nights. He likes to snuggle up and snork in your face, it's very sweet but he has butt breath. Yuk! FYI, Amy. 

My goldfish died today...

My goldfish died today after a valiant battle against swim bladder disease. A little bacteria and bam, swimming upside down. He had always recovered before but this last bout got him. I am going to miss him and his pom pom goldfish buddy, named Pom Pom, will miss him, too. One of my parakeets, Sprucie, died from cancer 3 months ago. She had been suffering for a while so her death was a release and I was happy that she wasn't in anymore pain. I wish I had the strength at the time to have euthanized her but I have never been that brave. I always fight to the last with the hope a miracle will happen. It hasn't happened yet but I've got faith. Here is a poem that always makes me feel better after I have lost a cherished pet. I cut and pasted it from the Rainbow Bridge website. It makes me cry everytime I read it but it always fills me with hope.


The Rainbow Bridge Poem

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

EBay blows!

Lately, I have been having problems on eBay. First, I won shoes in an auction. They were beautiful but when I received them I realized that they were a 1/2 size too small than was stated in the auction. Ouch, especially for heels. So, I tried to return them but the seller either doesn't check his freaking emails or he figured that I would just go away. I had to sick Pay Pal on his ass. Finally, I get a response and I am sending them back for a refund. Sucks because I don't get reimbursed for shipping them back. I am just glad that problem is going to be resolved soon, hopefully. The way things are going I am expecting more shit to go wrong. This week, for example, I also bought a DVD off of eBay. I have become a fan of Bollywood movies but it's tough trying to find a good seller off of eBay because most of the Hindi movies are pirated copies and are of poor quality. I finally found a seller and it was 2 movies in one so I figure bonus because I checked IMDB and they were both good movies. Well, I received my DVD in the mail yesterday and it's the wrong DVD. I emailed her yesterday and have yet to receive an answer. I hate to be a bitch but my goodwill has been spent by the other jerk off who got my order wrong and who did not check his email or phone. Jeez, I figured we were beyond the days of people who don't have voicemail. It's annoying when the phone wrings off the hook and believe me I will wait until the phone has wrung 30 times before I hang up. So, I am giving people 24 hours to contact me back or I will leave negative feedback. I didn't wait to pay for the auction, the least they can do is get back to me in an orderly fashion. It's safe to say that I probably won't be buying stuff off of eBay for a while...funny because that news made my husband very happy.

P.S. Here is a funny notice that I found on the net about eBay because there is some scary shit in some of those auctions!

Pissed Kitty!

I saved this picture off the internet a couple of years ago and emailed it to all of my friends. Most thought it was my cat, Big Kitty, but it's not. I am in a bad mood today and this picture cheered me up and made me laugh.  

A Couple of Reasons Why My Sister is Awesome!

My sister is going through a rough spot in her life but she always amazes me on her ability to get shit done. She has her down moments and then she springs into action like a four star general yelling at people to "Get off their asses!" I don't remember my sister being such a hard ass but I like it. So here are a few of her qualities that I admire.

1. She has a dirty sense of humor. My husband covers his ears when we are throwing dirty jokes at one another. It gets ugly fast. So, here is to my sister who can drag a sexual innuendo out and beat it to death.

2. She can belch like a frat boy. No kidding. Her ability to produce sounds ranging from a drunken whale to the Loch Ness monster is pretty cool and inhuman sounding. It sucks because she likes to spring it on you while on the phone. Thanks a lot, chica, I am partially deaf now but happier from laughing my ass off.

3. She is beautiful. Okay, I put this in here because we look a lot a like and I am complimenting myself, too. Imagine Catherine Zeta-Jones' younger hot sister. Yep, she's foxy.

4. She is a generous person. When I visited her in Miami once she was struggling to pay her bills but she wanted to show me Miami. She insisted on paying for everything and we had a great time. I know she was paying her credit card bills for a while but that was my favorite trip to Miami because it was just us girls and I enjoyed getting wolf whistled a lot.

5. She is an animal lover. She has always loved animals and has adopted many pets and rescued many animals over the years. A person like this is gold in my freaking book. Also, she is in love with my "Beefy Boy" aka Munchkin. Girl, he is waiting here to snork and headbutt you.

6. She is a survivor and always lands on her feet. I am wowed by her ability to weather tough times. Once she picks a direction she will take it. I wish I was like that more because I almost had an emotional breakdown trying to pick a place to go eat out at last night.

There are more reasons but these are just some starters for you to understand why I love and admire my sister so much. Overall, she's funny, sweet, caring and hot and I hope that I get to see her very soon.

The Victims of Katrina

I know that people are struggling with what is happening in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina hit. I know I am. I am almost saturated by the constant barrage of people's misery on the TV. I know that giving money is all I can do to help. What I really want to do is get some trucks, planes and helicopters and stock them full of food and water to take to the survivors. Then I would load up my convoy and take them to a place where they are dry and don't have to sit next trash, feces or a dead person. But I am only one poor person. I am glad that Texas is helping out. There are thousands of refugees poring into the Houston Astrodome and Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. Even Austin has a refugee center at Burger Center. Wow! I am glad that my town is getting involved. Some other victims of Katrina are people's pets. Katrina not only left people homeless and lost but their pets too are alone and lost. If they are found they usually go to a shelter. Shelters try to house this influx of animals but the truth is that most shelters are at their maximum capacity. A lot places that did take these pets in are trying to find them good homes fast. So go donate some money and adopt a rescued New Orleans pet. Check out this article if you live in the San Antonio area and want to help by adopting a pet. I just hope that the people in New Orleans get help soon.

Forget about books and supplies! What you really need for school is cable, newspapers and God!

I am walking across campus today, weaving in and out of slow moving students and people who try to hand me crap. The religious types who try to give you free bibles and pamphlets. They are getting better on entrapping people. They use to give out free lemonade if you got close enough but now they give out snow cones. Now normally I would politely say no to their religious readings but for a snow cone I am willing to put with anything as long as I get that snow cone. Well, the word had gotten out and there was a long line and I couldn't stick around since I had to go to class. So, I went navigated through the throng of people trying to sell you stuff. I politely rejected the free newspapers. They yelled at me "It's free, how come you don't want it!?" Well, if I have to listen to a guy trying to get me to buy a subscription then it isn't free. I passed by the guy who was selling cable. He was going up to everyone saying,"You use the internet you need cable and if you watch TV you need cable." No thanks. To tell you the truth, I have never had cable TV in my life. Strange isn't it. My parents never had it and I never had the desire to get it. When people tell me that I need to check something out on a cable channel, I tell them I can't. I get the sad "I must have been abused look" and a lot of "You're lying!" Nope, it's true. I admit that for not watching cable, I think I turned out alright. Anyways, school is back in session and I will be happy when this week will be over so people will stop trying to sell me crap. Though the usual bunch of crazys will still be there. There is normally a guy preaching on campus and some others that come and go. I am still upset that those damn Scientologists won't give me a personality/stress test. Maybe this will be the lucky year that I get asked and my college experience will be complete.