Cloudy�s outsourcing of this entry to someone overseas, someone with no prior experience in writing an online diary, gives me an extra frisson as it�s remarkably similar to what happened to my last IT job. You�ll notice that Cloudy is better at putting words next to each other than I am, but that I am cheaper. Such is the nature of globalisation.

I know my limitations, that�s what they say about me. I also understand that whilst the Pen may very well be mightier than the Sword in certain situations, where short-term public interest is concerned the Cute Animal Picture generally kicks the Pen in the back when it�s not looking & then stamps up and down on its throat whilst it�s down. So we start with some photos to distract you :-)

We share our unit with two cats: Samantha

who is a very pretty lady, and Xara

who is evil in cat form, and only still alive due to her unbearable cuteness. This is the story about why we try not to upset Xara.

Samantha and Xara are indoor cats, this due not only to us not wanting them to go outside and eat the rather puny Australian native fauna, but also because we live in an upstairs apartment and the provision of access to the outside world would involve a use of ropes and ladders that the building Strata probably wouldn�t agree to. We enhance our environmental credentials by emphasising the former, rather than the latter. This �indoorness� naturally leads to us also sharing our unit with a litter tray, which unfortunately is neither a very pretty lady, nor unbearably cute. Sometimes, when grocery stores get their stock-taking wrong, we have to experiment with different brands of litter and it was during one such experiment that I learnt something new about the way the world works.

Skooter had bought a new brand of litter at the weekend, driven largely I will admit by my believing in the happiness of the cartoon cat on the packaging, and come 8:30 the following Monday morning it got its first outing. I was �working� from home that day and about an hour after the litter had been changed I heard a scratching coming from my bed. I turned around at my desk just in time to see Xara jumping off of my bed leaving a trail of wet footprints on the sheets in her wake. Xara had spoken, and I texted Skooter to let her know we might have a revolt on our hands. But Xara, to drive home her point that this wasn�t just a personal attack against me, didn�t stop there. Skooter was home late that day, and Xara waited for her. Skooter walked in through the front-door just before midnight and Xara disappeared. Skooter went to her room and found her bed suddenly a lot wetter than it had been when she�d left it that morning. At about ten after midnight, with yet another load of laundry in the machine that day, the new litter was replaced and that brand hasn�t darkened our litter tray since.

It's like granny always used to say, "if you piss some people off, you'd better make sure your bedroom door has a lock on it ..."

Space Holder. - February 12, 2012

BEAUTIFUL BOY - August 26, 2011

COUNTDOWN - July 13, 2011

SEXAY - June 16, 2011

BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS - May 30, 2011