Thin Fur Thursday

Hey, no fair.  When we started this blog you promised me that you wouldn't post any embarrassing pictures of me and here you are showing off my bald spots.

Karen Jo:  You aren't bald, Herman.  Your fur is just very thin in these two spots.  The Paw Relations mentioned that they get to looking moth-eaten when their coats are changing with the seasons and I wondered if they look like you do now.  I'm not worried about it because you have gotten spots like this before and the fur eventually grows back in.

I thought you were going to do a Wordless Wednesday.

Karen Jo:  I had planned to, but I wanted to watch a little TV first.  I got all comfy on the bed and made room for you, watched and petted you until you pushed my hand away, then fell asleep.  I didn't wake up again until time for bed.  I'll try to do better next week.

You didn't do much to get so tired.

Karen Jo:  I got the furnace filter cleaned and got it all ready for the cold weather.  I did the shopping.

Now that the furnace is ready, the weather has turned really warm.  I like it.  Now when are you going to cook some good food?  I didn't like what you had for lunch at all.

Karen Jo:  You never have liked pot roast.  I don't know why.  You like your beef Stinky Goodness and you like rib roast and steak, but not pot roast.  I found another rib roast and we'll have it for supper.

Great!  Are we having sour cream, too?

Karen Jo:  Yes we are.

Tuxie Tuesday

But, Mom, you have to make a Tuxie Tuesday post.

Karen Jo:  I just had two really busy days at work and I'm exhausted.  My back is screaming and I can barely keep my eyes open.

You were the one who asked if I could join the New Tuxedo Gang Hideout and they let me in.  The least you could do is my Tuxie Tuesday posts.

Karen Jo:  All right, I'll make a deal with you.  I will stop moaning about how tired I am when it is time for your Tuxie Tuesday posts if you will let me do Wordless Wednesday posts, too.

Wordless?  Does that mean I can't talk?

Karen Jo:  That's right.

But I like to talk.

Karen Jo:  I am very aware of that.  You are a very vocal kitty.  I miss doing my Kitty Limerick posts and if I can do Wordless Wednesday, that would give me some time to research and work on limericks for the other kitties.

I guess that will work.  Oh, hi.  Guess what I am doing in my photo.  Yup, chillaxing on the carpet again.  I just got through playing with that ball.  Guess what else happened today.  The temperature got up in the 80s today and Mom opened all the windows and left them open.  Yay!

Karen Jo:  I just turned the thermostat all the way down again.  I like open windows as much as you do.

I am going to make all the kitties very jealous.  Several of you have commented that you envy my three bowls of food in the photo from yesterday.  I really have SIX bowls of food all the time.  Two canned: Fancy Feast Elegant Medley and regular Fancy Feast.  Four dry:  Friskies Seafood, Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea, Purina One for Sensitive Systems and Purina Kitten Chow (for the extra protein).  There are two reasons for this.  #1  I am a picky eater and what I scarf down today I may not touch tomorrow.  #2  This is the most important one.  There are three varieties of Feline Leukemia.  One attacks the lungs and brain; one attacks the bone marrow; one attacks the digestive system.  I have the last one, which is the mildest form.  When it flares up, it takes away my appetite and gives me horrible diarrhea.  The food I do eat just goes straight through and I get very little nourishment from it.  The weight just melts away.  This means that I should be encouraged to eat as much as I like when the Feline Leukemia is inactive, so I have reserves to fight off a flare-up. Mom is ecstatic that I weigh 14 pounds now and have a little furchin.  It is very unusual for a cat in my condition to put on extra weight at all.  So that's why I have such a large buffet.

Now for some more fun stuff.  Did you know that if you prick the end of your human's nose with your claw, it gets them out of bed for breakfast very quickly?  It even works at oh-dark-thirty, which is when I want my breakfast these days.  I went for a while being content to wait until the sun was up, but I changed my mind and want my breakfast earlier now.

Karen Jo:  It is very effective.  I want to assure everyone that it is just the tiniest prick, but it does get my full attention.

Are you going to sleep late in the morning?

Karen Jo:  Yup.

Oh, goody!  More cuddle time.

Mancat Monday

Here's another picture from when Mom was chasing me around with the camera, trying to get a good picture to send in for the Friends of the Shelter calendar.  I am trying to decide what I want to eat.  Mom didn't get a picture of me today because she was lazy and didn't get out of bed when she was supposed to.

Karen Jo:  That wasn't the only reason.

Oh, yeah, she made a big mess in the kitchen, too.

Karen Jo: My lunch bag with my hard plastic water bottle fell off the counter and the water bottle broke.  There was water and ice cubes all over the kitchen floor.  And what did you do, Mr. My-water-in-my-bowl-isn't-good-enough?

I lapped up that water until I couldn't hold any more.  It was fresh and cold and tasted great.

Karen Jo:  After you finished drinking, I had to clean up the mess and it ate up my time.  I didn't get a picture of you and I didn't even get you brushed until I got home after work.

That was a nice brushing session.  After you finished with the brushing you petted me until I decided that I would rather play.  Then we played soccer with my rattle ball and my nip ball until I went to eat some more.  There was a strange smell in the house.

Karen Jo:  The house got so cold this morning that I turned on the heat, even though I still haven't gotten the filter cleaned.  The smell comes from the dust in the ducts getting warm and blowing around.  You enjoyed the warm air coming out of the vents, though.  I saw you curled up in your bed by the vent.

I like the warm air blowing around.  I guess this means no more open windows.

Karen Jo:  Not nearly as much as we have been having.  If it gets nice and warm on my days off, we can have them open for a little while.

There Was a Woofy in My House

Here is another spot I like to relax in.  It's comfy and warm.  Mom was going to take a picture of me napping while using one of my mousies for a pillow, but just as she was about to take the picture, someone called at the back door and woke me up.  Then this strange lady came in and she had a woofy with her.

Karen Jo:  That was my next door neighbor with her miniature pinscher.  You weren't afraid of that little woofy, were you?

Of course not.  I'm lots bigger than that woofy.  Actually, I was interested in her and started to cautiously walk toward her, but then the lady scooped her up in her arms.

Karen Jo:  My neighbor was afraid that you were doing more stalking than walking.

Stalking?  I wasn't in stalking mode.  I wasn't even lashing my tail.

Karen Jo:  No, but you were twitching it back and forth.

That just shows that I was interested.

Karen Jo:  You know that and I know that, but my neighbor didn't know that.  She didn't want any kind of confrontation.  She loves that woofy very much and didn't want her to get hurt.

When have I ever hurt anyone?

Karen Jo:  Would you like to see the puncture marks?

Those were all accidents.  I've never poked a hole in you on purpose.

Karen Jo:  I know, but if you swatted at that little woofy, you could have hurt her by accident.  She doesn't have thick fur like you do.

I guess I understand, but all I wanted to do was sniff her and check her out.  After the woofy got picked up, things got boring, so I decided to leave.

Karen Jo:  You gave me a disapproving look on your way out, too.

Of course.  I don't want you to get any ideas about woofies being welcome in my house.

Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week

See this happy cat with his paw on a toy mouse?  About 15 months ago, Herman was brought into my local animal shelter and was diagnosed with both FIV and FeLV.  He was deemed unadoptable and recommended for euthanasia.  Luckily the Friends of the Shelter took him into foster care.  Otherwise he would never have lived to his second birthday.  I found him six months later and now he is three years old and happily living the life of the pampered King of the House.  Not all cats are as lucky as Herman.  Many cats stay in shelters for months and even years because they are older, have black fur or are special needs.  If you are planning on adopting a cat or dog, please consider adopting one of these special ones.  I am very glad that I did.

Tummy Thursday

Mom didn't want to get up today, so she didn't have as much time as usual and didn't take any pictures of me.  Here is one she took just before I put my paw over my eyes to nap. The reason Mom didn't want to get up is that the weather turned cold and rainy.  There went my nice open windows. Remember how I didn't want any of the chicken Mom cooked?  Today she opened a can of chicken noodle soup and I got very interested.

Karen Jo:  But you didn't want the chicken; you wanted the noodles.

They were yummy.  Thank you for sharing with me. Are we having steak soon?

Karen Jo:  Yes, tomorrow.  I am also having pasta and four cheese sauce for lunch.  You might like some of that, too.

We'll see.  It doesn't sound quite as good as Alfredo sauce.  What else are we doing tomorrow?

Karen Jo:  I have lots of chores that I have been putting off because I have been so tired lately.  Most of them are around the house, though, so I'll have plenty of time for you.

I let Mom brush my right side again and she really pulled on some fur.  I didn't like it.

Karen Jo:  You were starting to develop a mat there, Herman.  I got it out with one firm pull.  I am sorry that it hurt a bit, but it's better than going after it with scissors or getting you spot-shaved after it gets fully formed.  You know how you feel about scissors and getting shaved.

I guess you did the right thing, but I still don't like it.

Karen Jo:  If you would let my brush your right side more often, maybe it wouldn't happen.  It doesn't happen on your left side.

You are brushing me bald on my left side.

Karen Jo:  You do have a couple of thin spots, but I don't think that the brushing is causing them.  You seem to get these thin spots, or even bald spots, then the fur grows in again.  It seems to be pretty random and I don't know what causes them.  I asked your vet about them and she didn't have any ideas, either.

I hope that the fur grows back in nice and thick before the weather gets really cold.

Karen Jo:  So do I.

Tuxie Tuesday

Mom has been wanting to get a photo like this for quite some time.  I often nap with my paw over my eyes when the bright sunshine is coming in, but if Mom gets close to me at all, I wake up and the opportunity is gone.  You will probably have to biggify the picture to really see what Mom thinks is so cute about it.  You can also see my ample tummy.  I really didn't want Mom to go to work today.  She always pets me and tells me good-bye before she leaves.  I usually just grumble to her, but today I grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go.  She has a new hole in her wrist where one claw went in.  I didn't mean for that to happen, but it just broke the skin and no blood came out or anything like that.  Mom sympathized with me, but told me that she had to go and would be back and gently removed my claw from her skin.

Karen Jo:  I do have to go to work to make the green papers that pay for your food and toys and medicine.  I make lots of time for you on my days off.

You don't get nearly enough of those for me.  I played some with Mom before she went to work and I pounced her pants legs after she got home.  I was hiding out in the litter box room and got her as she went by.  Not much else happened today.  Mom offered me some chicken again, but I'm still not interested. There should be steak and sour cream again in a couple of days.  I'll wait for that.

Karen Jo: You used to love chicken so much that I really don't understand your disinterest now.  Next time I cook it, I'll leave the herbs off one for you to see if that is what is putting you off, though it never did before.

Mom has a catalog with a cat on the cover open on the table.  Usually when she leaves a catalog open like that, she is going to order something from it.  I wonder what it could be.  New toys?  A climbing tower?

Karen Jo:  What would you do with a climbing tower?

What do you think?

Karen Jo:  I think it would be a waste of space.  I have never seen you more than three feet off the ground ever, though there are plenty of higher places around here.  I even used boxes to make you a stairway to the top of the filing cabinet and put a blanket up there for you, but you have never been up there.  I made a way for you to get to the top of the bookshelf by the high window in your old safe room and put a cozy there for you, but you have never been up there, either.

How do you know that  I don't go up in those places when you aren't here?

Karen Jo:  No fur.

Oh. So, it's not a climbing tower, then.  There could still be plenty of really good stuff in that catalog.

Karen Jo: It could be stuff you wouldn't really like, too.

What could a kitty catalog have that I wouldn't like?

Karen Jo:  Oral syringes.

Uh-oh.  Oh, well, maybe you will order me something good, too.

Karen Jo:  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I don't find something you will like, too.

Bad Mom

Mom didn't get a picture of me today, because I spent my time up by the windows, with the full sunshine coming in.  Mom has learned that she can't get a good picture of me shooting into the bright sunlight, so here is a picture of me with some of my toys that she doesn't think she had posted before.

Mom, you made me miss Meow Like a Pirate Day and I was so looking forward to it.

Karen Jo:  I'm sorry, Herman.  I hadn't turned on the computer since your Tuxie Tuesday post and I forgot all about it.

You have some making up to me to do.

Karen Jo: What if I buy you a Halloween hat?

I don't think that will do.  I didn't like the St. Patrick's Day hat and I don't think I will like a Halloween hat.

Karen Jo:  You were sure interested in the birds today.

They are fun to watch, especially when they get close to the house, like they did this morning.  Sometimes I can look almost straight down at them and that really gets my tail switching.  There were a whole flock of them at the feeder and birdbath, too.  I wanna go pounce them.

Karen Jo:  Now, Herman, you know that you can't go outside.  I can't even take you out on a leash, because if you got loose and ran away and Animal Control got hold of you, there would be a lot of trouble because you are not up to date on your rabies shots.  That is because your vet said that your immune system was so compromised that it might not be able to handle any more vaccinations.  You will just have to be content with watching out the window.

Sigh, I know.  But a kitty can dream.

Attack Kitty

Mom says that she is getting tired of taking pictures of me chillaxing on the carpet, but that is about all I do while the light is good for pictures.  At least, that's all I do that she can take a picture of.  It's hard to photograph me when I am running down the hall.  The weather has gotten warmer again, so we have open windows all the time again.  Yay!  We did have steak and I got my bites and lick of sour cream.

Karen Jo:  You do love your steak.  You were nice about telling me when you had had enough this time.  Usually when I offer you a bite more than you really want you sniff it, lick it, take in in your mouth and chew it a couple of times, then spit it out on the floor.  I save it for you in your dish, but you never to back to it.  This time you just sniffed it and walked away, so I ate it.

So far I haven't been interested in the chicken.  Oh, I ate a tiny bit the first time it was offered, but that has been all.  Mom cooked a lot of it, so there is still time for me to decide that I want some.

I haven't been all that interested in my toys lately, but I am playing a new game.  I hide around the corner in the living room and wait for Mom to walk by on her way to the kitchen and then I leap out and attack her pants leg or her toes, if she is barefoot.  Then I run away.

I have been getting lots and lots of petting in bed.  Sometimes I push her hand away with my paw to let her know that I have had enough and sometimes Mom says that her arm is tired or she is sleepy and she stops.  It's great.

Karen Jo:  We did have a short play session tonight.  You got interested in a couple of your small mousies.

Mom snuck up on me to furminate me just after lunch.

Karen Jo:  I snuck up on you because, uncharacteristically, you were lying on your left side, so I started brushing your right side, which I hardly ever get to do.

The furminator caught on something and pulled a bit, so I reowed and got up.  Then I pooted in Mom's general direction.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you did let go of a stinky one. I think you may be getting the beginnings of a mat there, Herman.  If you don't let me brush it, you may have to have it cut or shaved out.  To those of you who may be wondering, Herman has very fine, very thick fur.  It mats very easily, so I am going to keep on furminating him every day.  I have to catch him standing or, rarely, lying on his left side to do his right side, because he almost always lies on his right side.  I don't just roll him over to do his right side because that upsets him and he trots away from me if I try it.  He will even hide under something so I can't brush him any more.  I don't know why he doesn't like having his right side brushed, because he will actually roll over on his back for me to do his tummy.  He purrs all the time he is being brushed or furminated, unless I catch a big snag.  He will let me brush him all over with the slicker brush, but I found out last winter that the slicker brush is insufficient to prevent the mats.

I got new treats today.  Mom gives me a few pieces of Party Mix after I take my pill and she found a new flavor.  It's called Picnic and it's turkey, chicken and cheddar cheese.  It probably isn't new everywhere, but she hadn't ever seen it in our store before.  I ate it all up very quickly.  I have been getting sneakier about spitting out my poop pill.

Karen Jo:  Yes you are.  I found three pills in the last few days.  One in your Friskies, one on the base of your scratching post on one by your small PTU where I give you your Party Mix.  You must be spitting it out after I think you have swallowed it.  Missing those doses doesn't seem to have done you any harm, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Tuxie Tuesday

When Mom got home tonight, she told me that she was too tired to blog for me tonight.  I told her that I couldn't miss Tuxie Tuesday, so she had better get blogging.

Karen Jo:  I am exhausted from two very busy days at work, but I finally agreed that I couldn't let you miss Tuxie Tuesday.  You look very comfy there in your bed.

The weather has gotten cooler and I didn't get any sunspots today at all, or fresh air, so I decided to snuggle up in my cozy bed for my afternoon nap.

Karen Jo:  It looked too much like rain to open the big windows in the kitchen and living room., but I did open my bedroom windows, so there was some fresh air in the house.

Mom ruined some more fish for lunch today.  I tried a tiny bite this time, but that was enough.  It was yucky.

Karen Jo:  I liked it very much.  I made fish and chips both days.  I'm sorry that you don't like it, but I am very fond of it.  I am going to roast chicken breasts tomorrow with herbs.  I think you might like that better.

I seem to remember that and that I like it, at least sometimes.

Karen Jo:  I used to chop it up and freeze it, then thaw some in the microwave for you every day for your elevenses, when you first came to live here.

That was a long time ago, but I think I remember.  I didn't always eat it.

Karen Jo:  You don't always eat anything.  You keep changing your mind about what you want to eat.

That's a cat's privilege.  I have never turned down steak.  When is the next one coming?

Karen Jo:  Thursday night. Do you want some sour cream with it?

Oh, yes. What else did I do today?

Karen Jo:  You walked away from your furmination for the first time in a very long while.

Herman:  I need to grow more fur for the winter and you keep stealing it.  Of course, I walked away.

Karen Jo:  I don't know quite how this works, but I think I have to keep brushing out the old fur, so the new fur can grow in without causing mats.  Can anyone give me some help on this?  Don't I have to keep up brushing and using the Furminator on Herman to prevent mats, even when he is growing in his winter coat?

Mancat Monday

I love just chillaxing on the carpet in the big room, which is mine, all mine.  Mom says it's called the living room and I do live in it.  It's my very favorite place to be, except in bed with Mom.  I tried a different way to make Mom stay home with me instead of going to work. When she gets up, after she feeds me, she gets out her work clothes and puts them on the bed, then does all the boring stuff to get ready to get dressed.  After she put a clean set of work clothes on the bed, I jumped up on them and started grooming myself.  I thought if I just stayed on them and got enough fur all over them, she would have to stay home with me.  It didn't work.  When she got ready to get dressed, she just shooed me off them and brushed them off and put them on.  She even thanked me for making them all toasty warm for her.  Bah!

Karen Jo:  I am sorry that I can't stay home with you every day, Herman, but I have to go to work so I can buy your food, treats and medicine and pay my bills, too.  I spend as much time with you as I can.

Humph! At least I got some nice petting time after Mom got home and changed out of her work clothes and after I ate.  Mom is getting a day off soon.  I just hope that she doesn't spend it shopping or some other boring thing that takes her out of the house.

Karen Jo:  I have to do some errands and some stuff outside, but I will spend most of the day home with you.

Mom had fish for lunch today.  FISH!  And she totally ruined it. She put some bread stuff all over it and cooked it with some stinky stuff.  She took the junk off a little piece and offered it to me, but it didn't even smell good, so I didn't eat any.  I hope she has something good again soon.  It's been ages since she had anything I wanted to share.

Karen Jo:  I will be having chicken soon.  I will just cook it with a few herbs, so you should like it.  You have liked it cooked that way before.

That sounds good.  I hope you have steak again soon.  I like steak.

Karen Jo:  You got good and spoiled when I cooked the rib roast.  You helped me eat every meal until it was gone.  Maybe I will have steak again late this week.

The rib roast was great.  Do that again.  I guess I can wait for steak, if the chicken is good.  I want some good people food.

Karen Jo:  Like you don't get enough to eat.  You have bowls and bowls of kitty food out all the time and you hit me up for treats at least four times a day. Speaking of which, I got you some more Friskies Party Mix tonight.  I even found a new flavor for you.

Good.  Those go down a treat after I take my medicine.

Fun and Games

Here I am snoozing on the carpet.  This is another picture Mom took while she was trying to get a good one for the calendar.  Mom did get one that she thought was good and sent it in.  I may have left the impression that I don't play with Mom, but I do, just not all the time when she expects me to.  We had a really good play session just a few minutes ago and we also had a good one just after the last time she posted.  I am getting just a little bummed out, because the weather is getting too cold for open windows.  Mom closed the windows before she went to work today because there was a cold wind blowing.  I didn't have fresh air all the time she was gone.

Karen Jo:  Sorry about that, Herman, but I don't want you getting too cold while I am gone.  I opened the windows again when I got home, to air the house out a bit.  I am going to have to close them again soon.  Next day off I am going to have to clean the filter and put the heat back on, just in case.  Oh, joy! Taking out the filter and cleaning it are no problem at all.  Getting the filter back in is a real pain.

I found a new way to get attention.  Mom likes to watch TV in bed just before she goes to sleep.  I found out that if I jump up on the bed and put my head right in front of hers, so she can't see the TV, I get lots of petting.

Karen Jo:  It's fun for both of us, and it gets you to lay your head down, so I can see again.  I can be tricky, too.

You will never believe this, but I am letting Mom give me my really yucky medicine by just sticking it in my mouth.  I never thought I would do that.

Karen Jo:  I thought I would try it.  I was finding it so hard to get all the medicine sucked up into the syringe that I was afraid you weren't getting enough of it.  It's all over now for another month.  You were really good about taking it tonight.  You spit it out twice, but you didn't fight me about getting it in and you finally swallowed it.  I hope you are as good about taking it next month.  It will make things so much easier and I will be sure that you are getting your full dose.

Mo' Cats Day

Here I am looking out the window.  Mom was chasing me around with the camera, trying to get a good picture of me and experimenting with different settings on the camera.  The Friends of the Shelter are putting out a calendar with pictures of cats who were adopted from the shelter or from foster care and my foster mom told Mom to make sure that she sent in an entry for me.  Mom didn't blog for me last night because she got really upset about something.  I don't know what.

Karen Jo:  The computer repairman had my computer for a month and it was supposed to be all fixed.  I found out last night that neither the DVD drive nor the CD-ROM drive are working.  I really don't want to take it in again, but I need those drives, or at least one of them, working.  Grrrr!

Let's get back to me.  I didn't tell you about the great poop medicine experiment.  Mom put me on three doses a day to firm up my poop all the way and it worked.  Then she cut me back to two doses, then one and everything was fine, so she took me off it completely.  Everything was great for about a week, then the pudding poop showed up again.  Now I am back on two doses per day, which keeps me making good poop.

Karen Jo:  It was worth a try.  I decided that three doses was probably too much as I started finding really hard, dry lumps.  Now you make normal poop, with just a tiny bit of pudding poop at the end.  I don't think I will try any more experiments with your medicine.  You are feeling so good now that  I don't want to mess with it.

I feel great and very frisky, but you don't play with me.

Karen Jo:  Don't give me that.  You ask me to play.  When I get down on the floor to play with you, you walk away from me and ignore all the toys I throw to you. Then when I get up, you paw at my leg to get me to stay.  When I stay, you ignore me.  You are just messing with my mind.

Herman:  Isn't this great?  I am having so much fun.

I'm Back!

I am back at last!  I'll let Mom explain all the technical stuff, but basically, the computer died and it took forever to get it fixed.  Mom took this picture of me the day the repairman called to say that the computer was ready, so you could see me in all my glory. All my fur has grown back in, even the bald spot on my back.  I am holding steady at 14 pounds.  You can see my furchin sticking out a bit and a jiggle when I run, but I feel great.  The weather is cooling off here and I have the fall friskies.  I love chasing flies around the house and I run a lot, well, a lot for me.  Sometimes I play with Mom for quite a long time.  I am taking my medicine like a good boy and I am as healthy as can be.  Mom uses the Furminator on me every day and I haven't had any more mats at all.  I barf once in a great while, like once every two to three weeks, but that's because I can't seem to remember that if I eat dry food until I am full, then take a drink of water, it all comes up again. Mom got a bird bath, so I get even more bird TV out the window.  I still wake Mom up very early for breakfast sometimes, but mostly I wait until it is light outside now.  I have cut back on my eating a bit to maintain my weight, rather than gain.  My fur is shiny and healthy now.  Mom isn't sure whether it is the daily Furminating, the healthier food (the duck and pea, Purina One for Sensitive Systems and the Fancy Feast Elegant Medley) that I have been eating, or both, but she sure is happy about it. So am I.  I am grooming myself now, probably not as much as most cats, but a lot more than I used to, which was hardly at all.  I haven't had any more hairballs, though, probably because of the daily Furminating.  Mom gets a small handful of fur off of me every day, but I always have plenty more.

Karen Jo:  I wasn't feeling too good during July, so my blogging dropped right off.  July is the month of both my parents' birthdays and for the first time, there was no one to celebrate with or any reason to celebrate.  When I got to feeling better, I took some pictures of Herman playing and turned on the computer to blog.  The computer turned itself right back off and refused to do anything at all.  I took it in to the only computer repairman in town, who is always bogged down with work, and began waiting.  It turned out that the power supply burned out and he had to special order a new one.  He called me Friday, too late for me to go get the computer before work, to tell me that it was ready.  I asked if he would be open today and he said he would be, so I got there at opening time, to find the place dark and locked up.  I tried again an hour later -- same thing.  I tried again in the afternoon and finally got my computer back, got it hooked up and dealt with a month's worth of e-mail, which meant ignoring most of it, as it was way out of date.  We are back and I hope to be blogging regularly again, both here and on Kitty Limericks.