Shhhhh... Mom is sleeping. — Denny
Ed
Denny is my wife’s cat. Nestor Felix is my cat. He’s an NFC (Norwegian Forest Cat) that I actually paid for when our first NFC, Kyril, passed away. Around the same time, we also took on a rescue kitten we named Denny. Denny was supposed to be our son’s cat but a few weeks before Kyril died we got a sweet little tabby that Titian named Abby. That left Denny to me. The problem was, Denny fell in love with Luanne. And the feeling was mutual. Hence, Nestor ended up my cat.
At the ripe old age of 14, both cats have definitely slowed down, but Nestor still goes outside every day. Several times a day. He loves commanding the humans to open the kitchen for him.
Ed
Last Friday evening I had the distinct pleasure of attending the 40th anniversary gala for the Reverend Dr. Amos C. Brown of the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco. The program included an address by Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. Clinton was among several local, state, and national luminaries who came to speak of Dr. Brown and his lovely wife, Mrs. Jane Brown. Jesse Jackson arrived late due to multiple issues with his flights, but he arrived and gave a sweet and heartfelt speech on the early days of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Brown’s role in that movement. Governor Jerry Brown and former Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, added to the list of dignitaries.
Even though one would think hearing speeches by Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson would be the high points of the evening, I must admit that I was struck more by the community’s outpouring of love and admiration for Dr. Brown. The members of Third Baptist Church honored their pastor and so did the greater San Francisco community. The rabbis of Temple Emanu-El, the CEO of Kaiser-Permanente, and the president of San Francisco Conservatory of Music came and spoke of Dr. Brown’s commitment to the larger community of San Francisco. This spoke volumes to me of what Dr. Brown and his wife have been to San Francisco.
For someone who barely knew of Dr. Amos C Brown prior to Friday, I came away with a great respect for him, for his wife, and for the good people of Third Baptist Church. The world needs more “Natural-Born Agitators” like Dr. Amos C. Brown.
If you have 3 hours and 50 minutes to learn about this incredible man, grab a beer (or two) and a sandwich and watch the Livestream recording of the event.
The only thing that pisses me off more than Equifax being hacked and my information being for sale on the dark web is their shameless attempt to make a profit off this. One year free enrollment in their TrustedID Premier service is useless thirteen months from now. And my financial information is going to be flying around the Internet for years to come. Equifax knows that all the people it screwed over and who take up this offer are going to need to pay for it as soon as the year’s up.
There’s a nice report on this mess and what it means for those of us who got the above response from Equifax: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/your-money/identity-theft/equifaxs-instructions-are-confusing-heres-what-to-do-now.html.
When I was working for SSA Global, they closed the San Francisco office and sent us all home to work from our dens – or wherever we could in our private homes. I did this for two and half years and it was murder. Why, you ask? Well, this picture about sums it up. It didn’t matter where I set up to work – my tower machine in my den, my laptop on the kitchen table (the wine glass and bottle are from dinner the night before) one of the cats would demand attention. This is Denny telling me that whenever I stepped away from my laptop it became his to enjoy until I returned, and then I was to play with him until he decided to be let outside.
When I joined the SF State School of Nursing back in February of 2008 and I would tell people about my commute across the Bay Bridge every morning and every night they would invariably say, “Can you work at home?” No, when you are the school’s technical person and you are overseeing the construction of a new simulation facility you really need to be there in person. Plus, I was learning all I could about medical and nursing simulation and really needed access to a high speed printer to create hardcopies of journal articles that I would read almost endlessly as I tried to get myself up to speed in this new field. I tried to telecommute a few times and found that Denny – and later Nestor Felix – found it too tempting to come into my den and want love and a can of wet food. I actually got more done in the office, even with the long commute.
No, telecommuting doesn’t work well when you have furry distractions.