Zookeeper

Everything is falling into a routine these days, in which I feel very much like a zookeeper.

In addition to the seven cats I take care of, I’m also dog-sitting for a friend. He is away for a couple of weeks and his two dogs require my attention.

I have to walk them twice a day, make sure they are fed and watered and generally take care of their well-being. This means getting up very early in the morning to walk the dogs, then coming back home to make sure the cats are also sorted for the day and it’s off to work. My evening routine is also in a usual order. Coming home late from work, I have to walk the dogs, take care of the cats, and then not have much time left before I fall to the sofa, drained after the long day’s lack of events.

It’s probably a good way to clear my mind for a short time. Just get into a boring routine until I start appreciating everything that happened before. Maybe I will just get used to waking up early and will be able to go to the gym more frequently.

On the other hand, routine is boring!

Happy Birthday Biking Geek!

Kittens Life: Day 47

The kittens are growing up so quickly. It’s amazing. I can spend hours just looking at them, playing around, wrestling on the ground and being generally cute.

Last night was a bit traumatic for all. Today was Diana’s appointment for a spaying operation. I had to take her to the Cats Welfare Society early in the morning, and she had to be separated from the kittens and kept off food for the night. The kittens were closed in the bathroom and were quite shocked by the transfer to a new room. By morning, though, they’ve found all the little hide-outs behind the washing machine and toilet and made it their home. They were still very happy to be back in their balcony as soon as possible.

Diana, on the other hand, didn’t care much about being left on her own, but wasn’t too happy about the lack of food. She managed to squeeze her way out through the shades and probably got her dinner out. She stumbled back into the flat through the window at 7:30 in the morning, just when I was about to give up on her and call the Cats Welfare Society to cancel.

Despite the sadness and pain, I immediately pushed Diana into the travel box to get her ready. She was not happy at all and kept trying to push her way out while crying miserably. It was heart breaking, but knowing how important the operation will be for her future health and welfare, there was no giving up to her whining.

Tomorrow morning I will pick her up from the clinic, and take the kittens there for their first check-up. I will keep her in the flat for a few more days until she revives completely, and then it’s back to the street which has been her home for years. No doubt she will still visit from time to time, and I will keep feeding her and take care of her as much as I can, but she can’t stay in the flat for much longer.

And once again my cry for help continues: if you would like to adopt one of these adorable kittens, or know someone else who might be able to, please let me know. I can’t keep them all. If I don’t find good home for them they will have to go out to the street, and street life is not a future I wish them to have.

Booth Babes

The latest talk about the office is all about the Booth Babes selection process.

The company is about to present in a big exhibition soon, and the marketing departments’ plan is to pull people to our booth with the help of a scantly dressed pretty woman. Currently the marketing manager is busy checking out modelling agencies to find the perfect face/body combination.

If it was all about aesthetics, I would have been happy, but the whole thing makes me sick.

I feel ashamed and degraded by the fact that the company I work for was reduced to using sex to promote its products. I feel defeated. A long fight for women rights to work in an equal environment is reduced to using a woman as no more than a sex symbol.

Granted, it will work. More (male) attendees will be attracted to the booth and some may even want to have a look at the product or even buy it. But this does not make it right! This only accents the fact that the twisted norms and behaviours the Western world still accepts should be protested. We still have a long fight ahead of us.

Furthermore, as the company’s employee, I get the message that the marketing department does not trust the product to sell by its qualities alone. How is this supposed to make me feel? Should I still slave for the quality of the product if the marketing department lost its trust? What future does the company have if its product cannot be sold because of it’s quality, but only through primitive sexual instincts?

Home

The kittens are now officially looking for a home, so if you are in Israel and want to adopt a gorgeous little feline, or know anyone else in the area who might be interested, please let me know!

A High Frequency Brainwave

A lot has been going on in my mind lately. A lot of things going in many directions and a lot of crossroads requiring a decision. It’s very confusing, and I’m not sure how to approach a solution.

Last night we sat in a café with friends and my head was somewhere different. I kept thinking about my life, the way it is now, and how will it be possible to improve it. What needs to stay as it is and given another chance? What needs to be changed dramatically?

Later a friend noted that I was particularly quiet that night.

I think I need some time off. Just a bit of time for myself, at home, trying to sort things out in my head. The problem is that the way my schedule is at the moment, there is no much chance of a break before November, and I think there’s a risk I’ll lose my sanity by then.

I’m looking for a creative solution.

More Photos

I added a few more kitten pics to the photolog.

Enjoy!

Kittens Life: Day 29

Finally, I got some pictures done, and this is just a teaser! Check out more kitty pics on the photolog.

In other news, the kittens are now all out of the sofa, wondering around and being energetic enough to mess up the house. As a damage prevention step, and in order to allow Sebastian to wonder around the flat again, I moved Diana and the kittens to the closed balcony. I’m hoping Diana will still be able to wonder in and out through the gaps in the window slates, but just in case she doesn’t find her way out, she had plenty of food, water and litter inside, as well her as lovely family.

He’s Back

Watching a movie in Cinema City’s VIP lounge is a wonderful experience. An open bar, plenty of popcorn and reclining comfortable sofas in which to sit back and enjoy. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon, and a brilliant idea for a company event.

Yesterday afternoon at the Cinema City’s VIP lounge there was enough fun and alcohol flowing to make any movie interesting. Well, almost any movie. It was still not enough for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Here’s a warning before you go on reading: I have no intention of holding back details, as I don’t think it matters. I can assure you that nothing will be a surprise anyway, and that even if you really like the genre and all the previous Terminator movies, you will miss nothing if you go on reading this review and skip the movie. If you don’t want to know anything, please stop reading after this paragraph, and come back another time.

Obviously, a movie targeted at a very male stereotype. The new Terminatrix is the main attraction, a sexy leather-wearing dominatrix, she’s strong, very flexible, and she can enlarge her boobs at will! Isn’t she great? On the other hand, the other main female character, Kate Brewster is bound by fate to become a spouse to John Connor, and the only nice thing he has to say about her throughout the movie is: “You remind me of my mother”, and that’s only when she proves her usage of a machine gun.

Fate is not only about that single fact. It is used by the writers of the movie as a lame attempt as adding a philosophical touch. From the beginning we are told that there is no such thing as free will, everything is determined by destiny. And in case this wasn’t clear enough for everyone, there are also some efforts of deep meaning sentences like “all the stuff you take for granted – it’s not going to last”. These are so obvious, that they are a serious insult to intelligence. Let us saving you any brain power – we will do the thinking for you.

And just in case you needed a bit of catching up on previous movies, this is given too, in the form of monologues that remind everyone what happened. Just like in a good soap.

Normally in such movies, there will at least be something good to say about special effects and animation, but T3 is also lacking in this department. The most realistic technological fact is that when the Terminator loses it, it makes sure to restart itself. Just like a good Windows operated computer that needs a reboot from time to time. Throughout the movie I haven’t seen anything which was technologically interesting or seemed to involve challenging effects work. A large part of the movie is taken by a car chase, which is too long and noisy to keep concentration.

The race to postpone Judgement Day does not surprise in its methods or ending. It is merely a long trailer for Terminator 4. Since the Arnold Schwarzenegger famous “I’ll be back” promise is only given in the variation “She’ll be back”, it is safe to assume that the next movie will not involve the big man, but we have plenty of porn-quality Terminatrix to look forward to.