Fun, taxing times - an airplane does touch and goes; Junipurr eats toxic lilies, Zed fetches a red mouse
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 12:06PM 
I had planned to send my broken and malfunctioning camera equipment directly to the Canon repair factory, but instead I decided to take it into Anchorage and see if the guy at the repair shop at 17th and C could fix it. Margie came, too.
When we pulled into town, we saw this character doing touch and go's at Merrill Field.
I used to love doing touch and go's.
So much fun!
Damn!
Touch and go's.
Will I ever do touch and go's again?
Next, we saw a young man dressed up in a Statue of Liberty suit, trying to entice drivers to come into Liberty Tax to get their taxes done.
The problem that I have is with that damn sign behind him, "We make taxes fun!"
I don't want to accuse anyone of telling lies, so I figure the sign must be telling the truth. What I can't figure out is who they make taxes fun for - not the tax payer who brings them business, that's for sure. It is never fun for the tax payer, no matter how loyal an American he or she might be.
So... is it fun for the tax preparer? Perhaps. Maybe the preparer likes numbers and formulas and so has a great time pulling all this together. But then it must get pretty overwhelming as April 15 draws nigh. That could not be fun.
Maybe its fun for the business owner. Maybe it enables the business owner to go hang out in Hawaii for a month or two each year when tax season ends and to have fun there.
I don't know. Maybe the business owner does not even like to go to Hawaii. Maybe the business owner prefers to go to Chicago instead.
Maybe the business owner is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and finds it fun to go Chicago, buy tickets into Wrigley Field, take a seat, then jump up and down, shouting curses and insults.
That's about the only way I can see to make taxes fun.
So here I am at the camera repair shop at 15th and C. On the counter you can see the work that I have brought in. To the left is a 16 to 35 mm f 2.8 L series lens that I broke last spring while trying to photograph Jobe. Of all my lenses, it is my single most favorite (and it is also the hardest to use, because it can really make people look strange and distorted) and I have not taken a picture with it since spring.
I have just not wanted to spend the money on the repair.
But I want the lens at Kivgiq, which begins February 9.
To the right you see my Canon 1Ds Mark III camera body, which went down in the rain at the Barrow Whalers final football game in Kenai last October.
After that game, the camera lost its ability to format a Compact Flash card.
I thought this might be a problem that would heal itself after the camera dried out, but it didn't. Several times between last October and now, I have tested it again and never would it format the card. The last time that I tested it was less than one month ago.
But guess what? When I tried to put on a demonstration for the camera repair man so that he would know what was wrong, it formatted the card, just like that!
I fired several test shots. They all worked.
So, I don't need to get it repaired.
I just hope it keeps working.
What I kind of wish now is that I could sell the Ds III before Kivgiq and buy a 1D M IV to replace it.
On one hand, I would hate to give up the large, full frame sensor of the DsIII for the smaller, cropped sensor of the D IV, but the D IV does much better in low light and I think that means more to me now than does the size of the sensor.
I don't think I can pull off such a sell and buy between now and Kivgiq, however.
As we drove through Anchorage towards a green light, we saw a homeless man walking away from the corner where he had been holding his sign to the stopped traffic when the light had been red. All of a sudden, as we neared the green the traffic in front of us came to a dead stop. The person who stopped at the green light shouted out to the homeless person, who turned around, came to that person and took the money that was offered.
I believe in helping out the homeless and try to myself, but I am not so certain about the wisdom of stopping at green light with heavy traffic coming behind you in order to give a man on a corner some money.
No. Actually, I am certain.
It is not wise. Someone could get hurt.
Maybe it would be better to keep driving and to drop the money off at Bean's Cafe, where you know it will do good.
On November 22, Lisa's birthday, when I was in Barrow, her boyfriend Bryce did what any thoughtful boyfriend would do and bought her some flowers at Carr's. He did not know what kind of flowers they were, but they were pretty, had not yet fully bloomed, which meant that Lisa could enjoy them longer as they came into full bloom.
He put them in a place where she could see them when she came home and indeed, she did see them, and she liked them.
Junipurr also saw them. Junipurr liked the flowers as well - not so much to look at, but to munch on as a dietary supplement.
When Lisa saw that Junipurr had been chewing on the flowers, she grew a little worried, because she knew that some flowers are toxic to cats.
She thought the flowers were lilies, but she was not positive, so she did some googling. She quickly learned that lilies were toxic and that if a cat were to eat them, it needed to get to the vet within 6 hours or its chances of survival would not be good.
As the flowers had not fully bloomed, she was pretty certain still not fully positive that they were lilies, so Bryce checked with the saleslady at the Carr's floral shop who had sold them to him. She confirmed that they were lilies.
She told him that she did not think the flowers were poisonous to cats, but not to let the cats chew on them.
Lisa and Bryce then rushed Junipurr to an animal hospital, where she was sedated, forced to vomit and to ingest charcoal to absorb as much toxin as possible. She was then put on an IV for two days to flush out her system.
After she had been taken back for treatment, the vet farted while as he explained all was happening and why.
They did not know quite how to react.
Well, everyone farts, every day. Vets - kings, gueens, popes and presidents, too.
If a vet can save the life of a good cat like Junipurr, then so what if he blows off a loud public fart now and then?
Lisa and Bryce did not come to see Junipurr during the two days that she stayed in the hospital, as they feared it would confuse her and upset her more if they came in and then just left again without her.
When finally they did bring her home, she got ornery with Zed, which she never does. Then she zonked out for four hours. After that, she was good.
Next time, Bryce says, he is going to buy plastic flowers.
My own thought is that florists should label flowers that are toxic to pets as such.
As we visited, Lisa tossed a little red fake mouse into the living room. Zed ran in and brought it back. Zed likes to play fetch, just like a cat.
Not like a dog. No, Zed never plays fetch like a dog.
Zed plays fetch like a cat.
Junipurr and Zed chase a string.
And this from India:
Cat at a truck and wayfarers stop in southern India.
Reader Comments (9)
i had a lovely kitty named Puffy who would go beserk for chrysanthemums! It was like catnip to her. she'd roll in them and sniff them but never ever ate them. It was so much fun to buy them for her (and me too).
wow, look at Zed's eyes...what a gorgeous cat, glad Junipurr is alright . They are both very handsome Cats
People fart in Alaska? I'll be darned. Northwestern Pennsylvania must be far more civilized. You never hear people farting here.
Junipurr could be a twin sister of my 2 twin "kids" Bits & Sammy. They both go absolutely insane over flowers. I can't have flowers or plants in my condo at all.
I came home one day, desperate for a bathroom break. My neighbor stopped me & gave me a flower bouquet from my son that had been delivered while I was gone.
When I finally made it through my door, the "kids" were both there - waiting - trying to climb my legs to get to the flowers. I was in a quandary - I couldn't set flowers down while I "went," so I ended up taking the bouquet into the bathroom with me. The kids were in hot pursuit.
Picture this (or maybe not) Me sitting on the throne with my arm extended as far up as it would go - holding the flowers. Two cats in my lap, trying to climb up on my shoulders to get to the flowers & me, trying to go, trying to fend them off & laughing like a loon.
I can't even have artificial flowers in a vase. Two minutes after I finish the arrangement, they jump up and take it apart as fast as they can. More fun!
Lucky I live Hawaii. I have beautiful plumeria trees, red ginger, red & yellow hibiscus plants & assorted others just outside, front & back, so I not only get the fragrance, I can revel in the colors & shapes anytime.
I'm so glad Junipurr is OK. I love seeing all your kitties & grandkitties. They're just purrrfect. =)
Thanks Bill, you always bring me peace & laughter with your beautiful pictures and fantastic writing.
I'm wondering if you have to kick frozen farts out of the way as you walk down the sidewalk in winter in Alaska. Could you get some pictures of those?
Lily's are really toxic to cats - Junipurr is a lucky cat, I've had friends with a cat that died when it ate her Lily and she didn't find out until too late. Good job Lisa!
Manx - We will have to buy some chrysanthemums sometime and see how they react. Margie has pretty given up on keeping plants, because they always get eaten or shredded.
They are, Twain - and cute, too!
Debby - PA must be an awfully quiet place.
Kat - Late last summer, I swore that this would be the winter that I finally photographed a cat in Hawaii, hanging out in the flowers. It didn't work out that way. I actually did picture this incident, but I am too polite to admit it. : 0 LOL
WakeUpAmerica - You can kick them, but then they explode and destroy everything within a 17 mile radius - including cameras!
Ryan - We need your expertise here.
Not really, Bill. We've got those darn tea-partiers making a lot of noise down here too. I'd rather hear farts, personally.
I hear you, Debby...