Jodi Speaks Her Mind

herding cats 10/18/2001

As many are aware, we are moving to Tempe, Arizona. Steve and 99.9% of our belongings left at 4 a.m. this morning for the long trek which is almost a coast-to-coast drive. The 24-ft Uhaul is pulling an auto transport which holds our pickup truck, which is holding our two kitty cats.

I spoke with Steve around 9 this morning and the adventures had already begun. They (Steve and his Dad) stopped around dawn to stretch their legs and thought they would offer the cats the same option. We purchased harnesses and leashes for them for this very purpose. The harnesses were already on them, so it was just a matter of attaching the leash and they’re set, right? Wrong.

Evidently Toby did just fine, but along comes a huge truck and scares the bejesus out of meek little Lucy who somehow managed to squirm out of the harness and off she darts into the woods… and up a tree. Being declawed in the front paws (we’re not even sure how she got up the tree to begin with), she slipped and jumped to another tree. She ended up 15 feet up and I guess they had a heck of a time coaxing her down. I’m told they succeeded, however. Thank God! This is one of my babies we’re talking about!!

We decided that the cats could stretch their legs plenty in the cab of the pickup truck, which they have all to themselves, so I don’t think there will be any more “stretch breaks” for the cats while driving. So watch out in the hotel room!

I’ll try to provide an update as I hear more stories of their adventures. Stay tuned…

What to do with bin Laden 10/10/2001

I have no clue where this originated, but I think it’s a damn fine idea:

How to handle Osama bin Laden: Killing him will only create a martyr. Holding him prisoner will inspire his comrades to take hostages to demand his release. Therefore, I suggest we do neither. Let the Special Forces, Seals or whatever covertly capture him, fly him to an undisclosed hospital and have surgeons quickly perform a complete sex change operation. Then we return her to Afghanistan to live as a woman under the Taliban.

Visit from a friend 10/9/2001

Our good friend Adele is visiting from L.A. She is the honorary aunt of our kitty cats, Toby and Lucy. Our lives are so crazy right now, so it is nice to remember the value of good friendship.

and this guy makes more money than me!

For the fourth time, our P.E. teacher comes to me and tells me, “I can’t get on the internet.” I have helped him do this so many times (so he can shop for used cars, find home remedies for vodka, etc.). I took a deep breath and asked what the problem was. His answer made no sense (shocker) so I asked him to show me. So I hike with him to the gym and we sit at his computer. He launches Netscape, which is set to automatically give him both the e-mail window and the navigator window. The default homepage was recently reset to our school’s new website. He then explained to me that since he didn’t need the school website, he would close the navigator window. “So how come I can’t go to the internet?” he asks me. I don’t like to use the word moron but I can’t think of any other term that fits.

14 days and counting down…

New state of matter is discovered!

Wow. I heard about this on NPR this morning. The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to three physicists who have discovered (achieved?) a new state of matter. They call it the Bose-Einstein Condensation. I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around such a concept.