It’s amazing how similar Julius and Echo are. Now that Julius is a downstairs cat, he’s spending every evening on my lap, just like Echo used to. Now that she’s an upstairs cat, she’s curling up in bed again, just he used to.

This morning, Spooky and Julius were wrestling on the floor just outside my office. It never lasts very long anymore, but I think they both really enjoy it. It’s time I got showered and off to the office.

I had a need to scan something on my Mac, but haven’t connected my old scanner for years. It’s an HP ScanJet 5200C legal paper size flatbed scanner, which I got as a reward from an old boss for a job well done. A pretty nice device, but the Mac OS X Snow Leopard scanner drivers don’t support it.

I googled and found the TWAIN SANE Interface for Mac webpage, which has drivers for my box. That page contains links to five binary mac packages to install. After installing them, I had to unplug and reattach the HP scanner to get it recognized with the right driver. No funky configuration needed, it was all automatic. Then I fired up Image Capture (included with Mac OS X), and scanned my image. The 5200c and TWAIN SANE driver are not real speedy, but they get the job done. Color me satisfied!

I also had to download and install the latest version of The Gimp (free image editing software), as my old version didn’t support this OS.

Cool!

It’s been over two months since I quit drinking beer. I’ve had two slips, both at the Outback Steakhouse. Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn’t go there.

In the past two months, I’ve lost 10 pounds! People are beginning to notice and comment. Makes me feel good to hear that. I’m this close (picture me holding two of my fingers a half inch apart) to going swimming at the fitness center three mornings a week again. I need to stop drinking coffee every afternoon, which leads to me watching TV until 11pm or midnight every night. Then I’ll be able to wake up early enough to go before work, like I did 3-4 years ago.

This has been a great week, weather-wise. Warm, but not too hot. Completely dry. Sure it’s overcast today, but there’s no rain in the forecast. I’ve been riding the bike every day. Haven’t driven the car since last Thursday, I think. It makes me happy to ride. I called my insurance company to report my usage has changed. When I got the new car, I told them I’d be commuting with the old car 3 days a week, and only driving the new car “for pleasure". Now the Mustang is listed as my commuter vehicle, and I told them I only drive the Chrysler 100 miles a year. This little change dropped my insurance $100 every six months! Win! I really need to get busy trying to sell the old car. I’m considering getting the scraped up rear door and quarter panel repaired first, but am hesitating because of the first quote I got. Too much $$!

Hope you are all doing okay, now that school is back in session.

It only took one day for Julius to figure out he’s welcome in the living and breakfast rooms. He spent the whole evening in the living room with me watching tv, about half of it on the arm of my comfy chair, the rest of it rolling around with the catnip mouse.

This morning, Spooky was crying outside my bedroom door. He really misses being able to greet me first thing in the morning, so I had to spend some quality time with him in the office to make up for it. The five “downstairs cats” have to get used to the fact that there is no more upstairs food and water bowl for them. Rocky was a little upset by that this morning, but I don’t think she’ll starve. She knows where the breakfast room bowls are.

I think it’s good to shake up a cat’s routine every now and then. Keeps their tiny walnut-sized brains working. It was good to see Dusty lying on the bedroom floor soaking up the sun this morning. She’s my “precious".

No, not the chick flick. This past week, for reasons beyond my understanding, Julius stopped sleeping on my bed. I must have scared him somehow. Anyway, yesterday morning, I kicked the boys out of my room, and closed the door. The in the afternoon, when I wanted to take a nap, I carried Dusty in there, and we had a great nap together. She seems very comfortable. Later on, at bedtime, I carried Echo up there. Of course, Dusty had to hiss at her a little bit. It was just like it was 7 years ago, when these two were they only cats I had - Dusty stretched out on my left side, Echo curled up on my right. It was great.

The boys are a little confused, but not scratching at the closed door or anything. Julius is still avoiding the living room (for fear of Dusty). Yesterday I carried him in there to show him it’s okay now, and he relaxed on my lap for a good half hour, but this morning he’s still hanging out in the hallway or dining room, afraid to go in there. He’ll adjust quickly, I’m sure.

I’m trying to figure out what to do today. Something without spending a lot of money would be great. Today is the last day of the Helen Motorcycle Rally. I could go up there and gaze at all the wonders. It’s been pretty rainy this week, so I’m not sure how many bikes will actually be there. I could go see a movie. I could watch a movie from my collection. Maybe I’ll just go to the big mall and walk around. Who knows. At least I don’t have to think about work today.

Working on your time off sucks. But I guess I wasn’t doing anything really useful anyway. Browsing the web, laundry, sleep, watching TV, blah.

Spooky (the siamese) really likes hiding in the cardboard box he knocked over in my office. It was full of packing peanuts and plastic bags, which he first used his paw to scrape out. He’s a great cat, so full of personality, so friendly and curious. What a great pal.