Recently in Pets Category

Wow. Winter sure did arrive in a big way, eh? For those not fortunate enough to be located in the land of frozen tundra, allow me to share a few of our fair region's weather events: moderate temperatures abruptly turned to bone-chilling cold, accompanied by strong winds, wrapped-up with an awesome dumping of super powdery snow.

Needless to say, FiFi has been less than impressed. I've been shoveling a path and circular area for her to use; the winds have been covering it with blown snow. I've had to coax her with copious amounts of treats, and I've been crating her during the day to avoid coming home to "presents."

And while I don't know if anyone will appreciate this photo, it makes me chuckle - here she is "doing her business" in the cleared-out area:

She's giving me a look that seems to say, "Why did you move me here? Why are you forcing me to be out in this cold weather? And, most importantly, why are you taking my picture right now?!"

When I woke-up this morning, my digital thermometer showed a temperature of -6F... nice. To Feef's credit, I was able to get her outside without too much hassle. Once back inside, she bolted for her favorite spot - the recliner with the Packers fleece blanket on it. She burrows herself into it, gets completely covered, and then growls if you try to move or disturb her. She loves this thing (I uncovered her to get the picture)...

The cold weather and recent dumping of snow means that I've been running on the wonderful dreadmill... lucky me. I had to use it on Thursday, Friday, and this morning. I think I'd rather be water-boarded than to spend 40 minutes on a treadmill. They're so incredibly boring, and for some reason, my quadriceps always ache after I finish using it... I must change my stride/gate while on it.

The good news is that I've been staying extremely consistent to my plans - haven't missed a workout since 1/1, and haven't eaten anything bad since 1/1. I'm rock solid right now, and have dropped 17.4-pounds and 3.9% bodyfat since 1/1. I guess that's what happens when you're as strict as I've been - 900-1000 calories per day (primal foods: grilled lean meats, grilled non-starchy vegetables, no sugars, and no more than 1/2-cup of black beans). I've been running 6 days per week and cycling 4 days per week. TRX workouts take place 3 times per week.

So, with my diet and workouts in solid form, I was a bit nervous to accept a ticket to the Badgers hockey game - the notion of some pretzels, popcorn, or nachos could've been tempting. Alas, they didn't even appeal to me, and so I enjoyed the game with my co-worker Dan. Here's where we sat:

The Badgers absolutely routed the UAA (University of Anchorage, Alaska) with a score of 4-0. Thanks again, Dan, for the ticket! I appreciate it!!

I spent today helping a friend that I used to work with at the MidTown Pub; Evan needed some new tires for his Tahoe, so we placed a call to my other friend Dan (Newhart episode flashback? No?) from Topel's Towing & Repair. Dan was able to get Evan some excellent tires at a great price, so we drove to Lake Mills this afternoon and I mounted and balanced the four new tires (Dan was the only one in the shop and was also on wrecker duty; he was called-out on towing jobs twice while we were there).

Here are the nearly bald tires that we removed from Evan's Tahoe:

They were like slicks - I don't think there was even 1/32" of tread on them!!

Here's one of my old "friends" from my days as a technician... the Coates 20/20 pneumatic tire changing machine. Back in the day, this thing was an absolute beast! It's still more than capable, but I suspect newer versions are even better:

And the fruits of our labor - new shoes on the Tahoe. There's nothing like new tires on a vehicle... they ride quietly, smoothly, confidently, and have such a great "feel" - it's truly awesome, even when it's not my vehicle that has the new tires. :-)

We finished-up the work at just over an hour-and-a-half, then waited for Dan to return from a towing job. Evan settled his bill and we trekked back to Madison, where I had a little friend waiting for me back home. Care to guess where she was waiting for me?

That's right...

And here's what we're doing right now:

So there you have it... the past few days - bad weather, good dog, staying on target with the diet, a hockey game, and new tires for a friend. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I took a TON of photos of the dogs and cats while in Arkansas last month. I didn't feel like writing/crafting a mega-long entry, so I dumped them into Adobe Lightroom, made an album and uploaded it to the site.

Here are a couple of samples to help whet your beak a bit...

If you'd like to view the rest of the pictures of "the kids" without any captions, stories, or info, please click on this link to see the photos.

All of the pictures were taken with my phone, so excuse any lighting/contrast/color issues... sorry in advance!

...Oh, and this Patriots vs. The Donkeys game is awesome - so glad that Tebow is getting stomped!

Link to Arkansas 2011 Photo Album

While I'm not big on the holiday season, I am thrilled with this year's Christmas gift. Meet the newest addition to the crew: FiFi

FiFi is a five-year-old female Chihuahua that came to me by way of The Bella Vista Animal Shelter. She has an interesting history, albeit a bit sad.

Her "human mom" had to move into a shelter for battered women, and when she did that, the Bella Vista Animal Shelter (BVAS) took-in FiFi with an agreement that they would take care of her for 30-days. The woman got out of the shelter and picked-up Fifi. A few weeks later, the woman called the BVAS to see if she could surrender FiFi, as (in her words) "FiFi tries to bite the baby."

It's not clear whose baby FiFi was trying to bite, but the BVAS agreed to take FiFi. And so, FiFi entered into shelter care, sometime in October of 2011.

I had been considering a Chihuahua for quite some time - ever since I met Zeus (scroll to the end of the entry, and you'll see him). I didn't want to rush into anything, as I'm not around the house as often as I'd like to be, and I wanted to make sure I could adopt an older dog with the right personality.

I was browsing Petfinder, looking at Chihuahuas and MinPins, when I stumbled across a few dogs that really piqued my interest. As luck would have it, FiFi was located at the BVAS - imagine that!

So, when I went down to the house for Thanksgiving, I took the opportunity to meet FiFi, and, well, I fell for her. How could you not?

I brought her home, and she's doing great. She loves to snuggle - she'll happily sit on your lap all night, and loves to crawl under any available blanket. In the car, she rides like a champ, and she's 100% house-trained - it's such a dream. It is funny to see her next to the cats; she weighs less than 5-lbs... Shiloh weighs 11-lbs, and Mack weighs 15-lbs... FiFi is literally 50% the size of the cats! And compared to Monica (our Great Dane), FiFi weighs about 5% of what Monica does.

FiFi eats 1/8 of a cup of food in the morning, and 1/8 of a cup at night. A 5-lb bag of food will likely last 6-7 weeks (compared to burning through 100-lbs of food when we had 2 Danes, 1 Boxer-mix, and 1 Whippet). It's unreal how little she eats, but I have to remember that she's about 4.5-lbs at the most...

She's not really a fan of the cold weather... I bought her a few sweaters, which have helped, but she'd much rather run out, do her business, and run back into the house. Once she gets into the house after being outside, she likes to race around at about 100 miles per hour, jumping on and off of the couches like a maniac.

She also likes to sit on top of the couch and look out the window:

I forgot how nice it is to have a dog in the house. She's thrilled when you come home from work (or running, or the store, or taking the garbage out), yet she calms right down and rolls into a ball on your lap. I like taking her out for walks (they're short, but it's still a walk), and with any luck, I'll teach her a few new tricks (she knows how to sit).

So, there you have it - FiFi, the newest addition. Merry Christmas to me.

By now, you're all likely to be sick of my constant complaining about bad dieting, working out too much, and so on... but, man, July 2011 may have been the single worst month in my diet history - something has to change, and it has to change pronto.

I failed on my diet for 21 days in July. That's simply inexcusable. I gave-up during this month... I had friends in from out of town, a house warming party, several work functions at restaurants/bars, a skydiving celebration, and a solid week of "I don't care about anything" self-pity. The net result? I gained 27-lbs in July. I'm sitting at nearly 185-lbs, which is ridiculous given how hard I had to work to get to a healthy weight.

I consumed 99,655 calories over a 30-day period in July. For comparison, in July of 2010, I consumed a total of 39,012 calories. I burned a total of 10,300 calories through exercise in July of 2011, compared with 26,455 in July of 2010. It's no wonder I'm blimping-out.

So, I vow to get back on track. I feel miserable right now - my joints hurt, my face feels puffy, my stomach is flabby like it hasn't been in a long time... I've eaten so many donuts and cookies this past month that I honestly believe I'm burned-out on them, which is probably a good thing. It'll make me less likely to want to binge on them over the next few months.

I spent yesterday re-mapping a viable, long-term plan for nutrition and workouts. I created spreadsheets, daily meal plans, daily workout plans, and scheduled 2 specific cheat meals for August. If all goes to plan, I should be back into the groove and taking care of myself in no time.

It started today with a 58-mile bike ride, followed by a 4-mile run. As heavy as I currently am, and as painful as it was to run, I hammered out the 4-miles at an average pace of 8:12/mile... that shocked me because I'm usually an 8:30/mile runner, and, I hit that pace after an intense 58-mile ride.

I rode with a group of folks from the Capital Brewery; we left from Madison at 7:00am sharp and wound our way up to Prairie du Sac. At several points along the way, we crossed the Wisconsin river, which was absolutely beautiful:

A 58-mile ride sounds impressive, but we didn't ride "straight-through" - we stopped in Prarie du Sac for a breakfast break... I had a scrambled egg and 2 pieces of this awesome homemade cracked whole wheat toast. I gave 2 pieces away - my fellow riders thought it was "top 10 toast" (if there is such a thing).

The breakfast was made all the better by the surroundings - we stopped at the Blue Spoon Cafe & Creamery in Prairie du Sac, and scored outdoor tables, which overlook the Wisconsin river. Even though it was approaching 80F by 9:00am, it was quite enjoyable out there. After our break, we hit the road for the return trip; the total ride took about 3.5 hours, with a 30-minute breakfast break. I averaged just about 19-mph, which was really pleasing.

After the ride, I ran (in Madison) on a nice trail - I forget how glorious it is to run on crushed pea gravel. I like the sound, I like the feel, and I like the softer impact. After my run was finished, I headed to the house, where I hung out for about 2 hours.

My boss and I then went for a 12-mile bike ride; he just got his first real road bike and wanted to take it for a spin, so I joined him for a quick spin. I returned back to the house and hopped in the shower, at which point I noticed that the sun had gotten the best of me, despite my lathering-up with sunblock. :-)

Here's my arm and leg (note the bike shorts/watch tan lines):

Even my feet got tan/crispified... I ride my bike without socks, and here you can see where the sun worked its way through past the hooks/loops in my shoes:

For dinner I had 2 grilled fish tacos (4" corn tortilla, broccoli slaw, grilled fish, cilantro, lime) and 1 smoked brisket taco (4" flour tortilla, smoked brisket, onion, cilantro) and an iced tea. So tasty. I really enjoy and feel better when I eat "clean" - I have no idea why I crave crappy foods when the good stuff tastes as good as it does.

After dinner, I went grocery shopping and prepared meals for the rest of the week. I then gave Mack a good brushing... how she isn't bald is beyond me:

Tomorrow will be more of the same - ride/run and focus on getting back into taking care of myself. If the weather permits, I may try to sneak in a late afternoon/evening skydive... we'll see how things go.

I have a house guest for the weekend.

Amy came up from Arkansas to visit her folks and her sister (who is also visiting from Colorado), and she was kind enough to bring Riley along. I spent Friday evening with Amy and her family - we had a cookout and caught-up on things; it was a super nice time, even if it was nearly 100F outside!

On Saturday, Amy and Kelly drove in to Madison so that Kelly and her son could go to a birthday party. Amy dropped them off at the party, then came to the new house, along with Riley. The cats aren't too sure if they like Riley or not, but thankfully they all get along without incident. I wouldn't say they'll be exchanging any Christmas cards this year, but things could be worse. :-)

Amy and I had a cookout, with some absolutely phenomenal steaks from Wyttenbach Meats, a sweet potato, and some stellar grilled asparagus. After dinner, we took Riley for a walk (I think her ears just perked-up again), then went to a local pub for a beverage. Amy had to run to pick-up Kelly by 8pm, so it was an early evening.

Riley is staying with me for the weekend while Amy and Co. head up north to her parent's cabin. I'm pleased to report that Riley slept like a dream last night - no whining, no whimpering, no roaming around. She hopped into bed, went under the covers, curled-up into her usual "hot pocket" position, let out a groan/sigh, and slept the entire night.

We woke-up at about 6:15, went for a walk, had some breakfast, and then I went for a run. We're now sitting on the couch watching the Early Show on CBS. Plans for today: bike ride at 10:00am, followed by taking pictures of the house (for the blog), and that should be about it.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

I spent my Sunday riding from Madison to Eau Claire with a newfound friend - a "hitchhiker" of sorts, if you will. His name was Bryce and he was the perfect traveling partner; quiet, relaxed, grateful, and really fun. I was lucky to spend 3 hours with him in the 'ole car.

What?! "Steve picked-up a hitchhiker? What next?"

Here's me and Bryce, riding along, somewhere on I-94 north of Tomah:

Not quite what you may have pictured, eh? Hehe.

I had an opportunity to help a group of rescues transport five (5) dogs and one (1) cat from various locations in the south to a rescue and/or final homes in Minneapolis. It was my first-ever venture with transporting a large group of animals as part of a multi-leg "tour." It was pretty interesting, and the folks who coordinated the trip did an amazing job of lining everything up.

It started with an e-mail from the transport coordinator that was re-posted on a message board at my workplace. The e-mail begged for volunteers to help drive/shuttle these dogs and cat - they really needed drivers to cover the legs from Illinois through Minneapolis. I looked at the available legs and the approximate timeframes and figured, "eh, what the heck? I'll give it a shot."

So, I e-mailed the coordinator and volunteered to drive from Madison to Eau Claire. The only problem was that the Prius can only accommodate one or two dogs at the most, but I had nothing to worry about as the transport had lined-up at least two vehicles per leg to help accommodate the six furry passengers. It also turned out that the Madison legs were covered, but they asked if I could drive from the Wisconsin Dells to Eau Claire. I said, "No problemo," and prepared to meet the other transport drivers in Wisconsin Dells at around 12:15pm on Sunday.

We met at a convenient location near the interstate, figured out who would transport who, swapped leashes, handed-off paperwork, and prepared to hit the road. Here's a few of the other volunteers from the transport - I believe these folks drove from somewhere in central Illinois:

Bryce, my passenger, was a lab-mix of sorts and appeared to be 2-3 years old. He was surrendered to a shelter in Georgia because he was supposedly "uncontrollable" and "wild." If he was wild, I'll eat my shoes. He may have been one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met - an absolute gentleman in every respect.

He immediately jumped into the car and sat respectfully near the back hatch. I sat down next to him and snapped a quick photo of us together. He's about 45-50lbs - perfect size.

The weather was awesome, and the traffic was light, so the trip went really quickly. According to the GPS, I drove about 145-miles with Bryce by my side. I had him tethered to the inside of the car with a carabiner and a 4-foot leash, but he really wanted to sit in the passenger seat, so after a few miles I decided to let him ride shotgun with me. He curled-up into a classic "dog ball," rested his head on the armrest, and snoozed away. I'd pet him every so often, talked to him a bit, and enjoyed my time with him - I really do miss Monica, Regis, and Riley... dogs are simply awesome.

Before I knew it, we were in Eau Claire, so I started telling Bryce about what was going to happen next and that I was going to miss him. He sat-up and tried to talk a bit - I think I got him a little excited...

We met-up with the next shuttle drivers just north of Eau Claire, I bid Bryce farewell (along with the other four dogs that rode in the other vehicle), and headed back to Madison. The trip back went just as quickly - 175.8 miles later and I was back in Madison - total mileage roundtrip? Just over 350. But well worth it. I'll definitely do this again - it was really rewarding and enjoyable.

The only unenjoyable part? Dealing with AT&T's horrible cell coverage. Man, are they awful - AT&T has to be the worst cell provider on the planet; if I didn't love the iPhone so much, I'd drop them in a second (and probably still will when my current contract expires). Here's what I saw for signal strength during 75-80% of my trip along I-94 from Tomah to Eau Claire (look in the upper left corner):

Only about a year until I can switch to a reputable, reliable cell company like US Cellular.

I'm really digging the new snowshoes.

So much in fact, that I find myself wishing for more snow - just the opposite of what I wished for last year. There's just something about being outside, walking "on" the snow, and the serene nature/feel/vibe of it all that is really appealing and enjoyable. The workout doesn't hurt, either. :-)

I decided to take a trip to the Aztalan State Park last weekend, and I'm glad I did. I had visited the park as a kid, but haven't been back to it for many, many years. It's a pretty cool place, not only for the landscape and scenery but for the story and background.

I parked the Prius at the "main gate" area of the park; there are two large parking areas - one near the highway's main gate, and one closer to the Crawfish river (deeper into the park). It was about 3:00pm, the sun was setting, the air temperature was in the low teens, and I was the only person at the park. Perfect!

Aztalan is believed to have been a small community with ties back to the Aztec indians; it was inhabited around 1000AD and now serves as an "important archeological site" for Wisconsin. It supposedly contains some burial grounds and may have hosted sacrificial ceremonies back in the day... creepy. :-)

I made my way up-and-down several small hills and then trekked into a small wooded area that bordered the the Crawfish river. The snow was still "painted" to the trees, and I thought it made for a cool picture (although the phone doesn't do it justice):

You can see the tracks from cross-country skiers and snowshoers - I guess a lot of other folks like to enjoy the hilly terrain here, too. The wooded area afforded several options for exploring - I walked around back there for a bit and then made my way out toward the river, which was just beginning to freeze over:

I could actually hear the ice "moving" or forming in the water - there was this grumbling noise every so often, and at first it was a bit unsettling, but ultimately pretty cool. I could see tracks from where people had walked out onto the ice, which seemed completely crazy to me; it couldn't have been more than an inch or two thick...

I kept making my way along the river and eventually hit a turnaround point - there was a small stream that branched from the main river and prevented me from traveling any farther south. I turned around and made my way back to one of the large "forts" that exist on the park's property. There are remnants of a perimeter of sorts around many sections of the park; they're large wooden poles that are laid-out with complete precision:

It's even more impressive when you consider those things were cut, positioned, and hoisted into place more than 1000 years ago!

I completed two "laps" of the park, which was good for about 3.5 miles or so. The sun was quickly setting after my second lap so I decided to call it a day. I managed to burn a cool 700 calories or so while out and about, which definitely helped, as I joined Dan and Tara for dinner and the Packers game later on that night. Here's my summary of the trip to Aztalan:

The funny thing about snowshoeing is that despite the cold temperatures (the car showed 14F when I was done), I found myself being too warm even though I only had on a wool baselayer (fairly thin), a windproof mid-layer, a lightweight fleece, and my Columbia "shell" (no insulation). I was actually sweating pretty heavily, and normally I freeze. My cheeks were a bit cold, but everything else was too warm - go figure.

Upon returning home from my little adventure, I hit the couch and Shiloh joined me... he seemed to be pretty relaxed:

I woke-up this morning and went for a run - only my second run of the week, as I've been trying to take it easy after the race last weekend. It's my hope that by relaxing and recovering for a while that my legs will "mend" and feel better than they have over the past two months or so.

So, I did an easy 4.5-miler this morning; the weather was perfect - low 60s, no humidity, no wind, and lots of sunshine... all at 6:30am... it was gorgeous. When I returned from the run, I fed the cats, brushed my teeth and got ready to take a shower. As I was getting ready to hop into the shower, it dawned on me that Mack wasn't anywhere to be found - normally she's "first in line" for food.

I started to panic - had she somehow snuck outside? Was she sick or injured and hiding somewhere? Was she in a closet? So I ran around the apartment, opening all of the closet doors, checking in the bedroom closet, looking under the bed and couch, all the while calling for her. I looked out on the deck, ran down to the garage, and was really getting nervous when I heard a faint, "meow" coming from somewhere - it sounded like the bathroom... I checked the tub - nope. I looked behind the toilet - nope.

"Meow," I heard it again - it sounded like it was coming from next door??? And then I opened the cabinet under the sink and found this:

Ugh! I must have left the cabinet open earlier in the morning and she must have crawled in to explore. Truth be told, as soon as I found her, I closed the cabinet door, ran to get my phone so I could take a picture, and then took the picture - so, it was a bit "staged," but the story remains the same. What a crazy cat... she's more or less fearless (the complete opposite of 'ole scaredy pants Shiloh). I had to coax her out of the cabinet - I have a feeling she would've stayed in there for a few hours if given the chance.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful - work was "business as usual." I left a tad early to get a haircut, and then arrived back to the apartment at around 5:15 or so. I fed the cats their dinner, and took a few minutes to relax on the couch. I looked over and thought this would make a good picture:

Just after taking the picture, I noticed that it was nice and shady out on the deck and the temperature showed 80F, so I grabbed a Siggi's Skyr plain yogurt, added 1 Tbsp of McCanns Irish Steel Cut Oats, mixed them together and went outside to enjoy the nice weather. I sat on the deck for a solid hour, just watching traffic and relaxing - it was quite nice, to say the least.

As I mentioned earlier, I've been "resting" my legs a bit this week, so I only ran twice (for a total of 8 miles), rode once (19 miles), and swam twice (maybe 1500m). I've also been focusing on my diet - I think the key is going to be watching my glycemic load - keeping the blood sugar level and steady. So, I've been researching low-glycemic load foods, while trying to not go completely "low carb."

Imagine my surprise when I learned that black beans offer an ideal low-glycemic load solution. Yep - 1 cup of cooked black beans provides 227 calories, 15g of protein, 15g of fiber, a glycemic load index of about 10 (which is low), and a nice mix of complex carbs (no sugars).

I've not been a black bean fan in the past, but I figured I'd find a recipe and give them a shot. After some searching, I found a recipe for "cuban black beans" that looked simple to make and didn't include any extra items like oil, corn, rice, and so on.

I made the beans on Wednesday night, tried them last night and fell in love. I had them tonight, along with a grilled chicken breast (with 2 tsp of salsa), a broccoli veggie mix, and a tomato. Here's dinner:

463 calories, 3g fat, 52g carbs, 12g sugar, 17g fiber, 51g protein. The majority of the sugar came from the broccoli mix - 6g, followed by the tomato with 4g. Thankfully the sugars in those are relatively low-impact as well, so no spikes. :-)

Dinner was tasty, but I couldn't help but think how deliciously wonderful a fish fry would've been instead... but alas, I've been eating terribly for most of the summer and I really need to get back on the wagon. Next weekend is the Taste of Madison... argh - guess I won't be going to that, either. :-(

Tomorrow's supposed to be a lot warmer, so I'll be getting up early to ride and run. I'm not sure what else I'll do tomorrow - maybe go see a movie or something?

No fish fry reviews - sorry. The 'ole waistline needs a serious break from that Friday night ritual, so I've been actively avoiding that temptation.

I did however attend a Mallards baseball game last weekend with my friend Dan and his family and we had a blast. Dan and Tara purchased some awesome seats that were located literally behind home plate:

Not a bad seat for $7!

The game quickly became a lop-sided trouncing as the Mallards went ahead of their opponents (from LaCrosse) in the second inning to the tune of 9-1... So, we had to find other sources of entertainment and the most obvious option was to watch and shout along with a Mallards staple: The Beefstick Guy.

He sells a variety of items, but as he climbs up and down the stairs and makes his way through the seats and bleachers he shouts, "Peanuts, sunflower seeds, caramel corn," (and then with heavy emphasis on the "EE" and with the crowd of 7,000 people joining him) "bEEEEEEEEEEEfsticks!"

You'd think it gets old... but it never does - the whole crowd yells along with him and before you know it, you're joining the crowd. I figured I'd take a picture with his legend:

I also took a picture with Dan; upon review of the photo we promptly noticed two things - one, we're getting old, and two, we got "photo-bombed" by a little kid in the background... classic!

The night quickly came to a close and was capped-off by some fireworks and live music. We weren't able to stay for the music as Dan was there with the entire family (including his nephew who was visiting from New Jersey), so we watched the fireworks for a bit and then called it a night.

In other news, I'm continuing to get the apartment "in order." I got a magnetic knife holder and a few Victorinox Fibrox knives:

And, I finally got around to mounting the TV on the wall... what a difference that made. I'm waiting on one more component to arrive and then I'll be done with the set-up of the living room entertainment pieces (and I'll be able to get the last cardboard box out of the area).

I also bought a "cat sitter" DVD (I'm embarrassed to admit it) to help entertain the cats a bit. At the old apartment, the cats enjoyed watching birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and other critters as they scavenged bird seed from my upstairs neighbor's (aka "Psycho") porch. Here, they don't have that luxury, so I hoped the DVD might be a nice diversion from time to time. Turns out Shiloh loves it:

...Probably the best $5 I've ever spent on a DVD.

And finally, here's one last shot of Shiloh sitting on his favorite toy. I'm not sure why he chose to sit on it like this, but I thought it would make a fun picture.

Received some sad news last night - Lump-Lump, our parakeet, died unexpectedly and apparently of old age. Amy reports that she heard an unusual squawk from the office (where Lumpy lived in his cage) and when she went in to check on him, he was laying on the bottom of the cage, dead.

Poor little guy. I always felt bad keeping a caged bird - never seemed really fair to him, but he apparently enjoyed his cage quite a bit. There would be times where we would take him out and try to get him to "spread his wings" a bit, but he'd always work his way back into the cage - I guess it felt safe and familiar.

For those not familiar with Lumpy's story, he was found in Bentonville - he flew up to someone and landed on them. They brought him to the animal shelter, and Amy and I agreed to foster him for a while. We were supposed to hand him off to a family from Oklahoma, but for one reason or another, we couldn't ever sync our schedules. Then, we discovered that the family's house burned and several of their pets perished in the fire... had we met them when we were supposed to, Lumpy probably would've met a similar fate.

We decided that it was probably a sign to keep Lumpy, so we upgraded his cage and did our best to keep him content. I can still hear him singing - he had a nice "whistley" voice that wasn't annoying or unpleasant - it was just a happy, feel good whistle. He loved his mirror and he was a sucker for bird seed... we tried to feed him healthier options, but he was quite the seed junkie (an exclusive diet of bird seed is actually not real healthy for birds).

Anyway, we had him for around 6-7 years, and while he wasn't actively involved in our day-to-day lives, he certainly was an enjoyable little fella, and I'll definitely miss him. Take care, Lump-Lump.

I'm glad I had my phone near me to grab this picture. Not that I couldn't have gotten up to get the camera... they're zonked out.

Poor Shiloh - he's got a urinary tract infection.

I noticed he had been using the litter box a lot, and was spending a considerable amount of time "sitting" in the litter box. It started on Sunday - he went to the box at least 6 times in an hour, and when I checked the box to see what was going on, it was obvious that he was having trouble urinating. Instead of big clumps of urine, there were six or seven pea-sized marbles of urine. :-(

Urinary tract infections (or "UTI" for short) are usually quite painful for cats and quite stressful, so I knew I had to get him in to the vet first thing on Monday. Blockage of the urinary tract as a result of a UTI can lead to a prompt and painful death; males are more prone to blockage than females. I was nervous all day on Sunday.

The rescue group warned me that Shiloh was difficult to get into a pet carrier, but boyhowdy did I underestimate just how tricky and difficult it really was! After trying to corral him for a solid 20 minutes and getting scratched and bit a few times, I finally trapped him in the bedroom. Big mistake...

He was on the bed - I could tell he was worn out from the chasing - so I went to grab him and must have spooked him something fierce because he immediately emptied his bladder on the bed... which included my new comforter. :-( Got him into the carrier, then promptly doused everything with Nature's Miracle, and threw what I could into the washing machine.

Because he emptied his bladder just minutes before getting to the vet's office, they weren't able to express any urine for testing purposes (to test for stones, crystals, infection, and so on), so we took a best guess that he had a UTI. A quick shot of antibiotics later, and a few hundred bucks lighter, we headed back home. I forgot how expensive vets are when you aren't getting "the shelter discount." ARGH.

Once home, Mack stepped in and took care of Shiloh:

I'm happy to report that he's doing better now. Made some adjustments - he's getting wet food now (Wellness Core) mixed with his dry food (Wellness Core), and then doused with a 1/4 cup of warm water. The extra water from the wet food and dousing should help flush his bladder and keep things tidy. I might also add that the cat food bill is now higher than my own grocery bill - that stuff is pricey!

And speaking of tidy, we made some changes to the litter box scene as well. His foster family used a DIY litter box system that included an unscented clay litter; I was using traditional boxes with scented litter (Fresh Step) - perhaps that was adding to stress, and stress can cause UTIs in cats. So, I figured I would try to make things as "familiar" as possible.

Thanks to the good folks over at catinfo.org, I learned how to build a "proper" litter box - it's quite simple, much less expensive than a store-bought box, and the cats seem to enjoy the extra space and privacy.

Step one: purchase a large Rubbermaid (or similar) tub, with lid. I found this 22-gallon unit at Menards for $10.

...you can see my Trek trainer bike in the background - I found that on Craigslist a while ago for a decent price. I use it in the trainer so that I don't beat-up my Cervelo during the off season.

Step two: cut a decent-sized hole in the tub, near the top. Don't cut through the top lip, as it provides support for the overall structure. Don't cut down too far, otherwise litter may spill out or get kicked out by the cats. I used a utility knife to cut the opening as shown here:

Step three: fill it with litter! I used Dr. Elsey's Ultra Precious Cat litter. A 40-lb bag is $15 at Petsmart, which is a reasonable price for litter. The 40-lb bag perfectly fills the big tub. It's unscented, low dust, and clumps nicely. Note that Dr. Elsey's website has a ton of helpful information for litter box training, clean-ups, and cat assistance (in general).

... I think Mack was excited to see a familiar litter box coming together...

And that's it - put the lid on, and you're all set. Here's the finished product, in place and ready for some customers:

All-in-all, it took about 10 minutes to make this box and the cats seem to enjoy it. I also feel better that it's unscented litter (which is supposed to be better for the cats in general) and that it may help reduce a little stress from Shiloh and Mack's new world.

I'll keep you posted on his condition, but I suspect he'll be back up to 100% in no time.

And finally... look at how my "dumb" stock pick is doing:

If you'll recall, I purchased that stock at $0.11 per share about 14 months ago. It was at $0.81 per share a few weeks ago. Now it's at $1.05; it was up to $1.09 at one point today... sure am glad I bought that stock! Wish I would've bought 100x more than I did, but then again, I'm apparently not too sharp when it comes to this stock stuff...

I'm not sure which title is actually worse - "crazy cat guy" or "fish fry fanatic"? Regardless, the cats are doing really well. They're adjusting to their new surroundings and are providing a ton of entertainment.

Shiloh is "Mr. Daring" - he wants to get into everything, and if there's something going on in the kitchen, he's all over it. It's nearly impossible to prepare a dinner, as I usually have a turkey wrap or something like that, and he has to keep close tabs on my efforts. The other night, he stole a chunk of scrambled egg whites directly out of the frying pan!

He's also started to enjoy hanging out in "sniper mode" as shown here:

He climbs up above the cupboards and waits for the right moment to swoop down and grab something from the counter. While it can be annoying, it's usually too funny for me to hold any type of grudge against the little guy.

Mack and Shiloh have also found a new favorite spot to sleep - it's on my $50 craigslist couch (which, after a gallon or six of Febreze doesn't smell too badly now), as shown here:

They love that spot and will sit there for hours while I ride bike or work on the computer. Sure am glad that I bought them a really nice bed that they never use. :-)

Oh - in other news, I saw my first "good" accident the other day... Wisconsin drivers have this wonderful tendency to "block the box" while attempting to turn left at any intersection.

"Blocking the box" refers to pulling your car into the middle of an intersection and waiting for the opposing traffic to open-up so that you can turn left (across their lanes). It's about the dumbest thing you can do, because you're literally out in no-mans land, blocking the intersection and making things unsafe for everyone.

Well, blocking the box is "the norm" around here - everyone does it all of the time. Wisconsin drivers also love to run red lights - they "sneak through" even after the light has gone from yellow to red.

Combine these two traits, and you're bound for a collision, which is what happened last night. Minivan blocking the box, waiting for traffic, with a Jeep waiting directly behind it (a double-block situation).

Lights turn red, and the van and Jeep both start to accelerate through the rest of the intersection. Bad timing, because a brand new Ford F150 was trying to run the red light as well, and ended-up hitting both the van and the Jeep. I just shook my head, because you could've totally predicted it.

Everyone got out - the van guy yelled at the truck guy; the truck guy yelled at the van guy; the Jeep guy was from another country and was on his cellphone as if nothing happened.

I pulled-in to a parking lot, started to get out and walk to the accident, but by then two cop cars were arriving, and there were two other cars that saw the accident as well. So, I figured it would behoove me to not get involved and just go home... which I did. And along the way, I saw another "blocking-the-box" move... ugh.

Next time I'll rant about how ignorant and inconsiderate the drivers are of pedestrians here.

It's been a few days since I brought home Mack and Shiloh, and I'm pleased to report that all is going extremely well. They're both coming out of their shells and are quite the characters.

Mack is a bit more aloof than Shiloh - she's happy to sit next to me rather than on me, although she does follow me everywhere throughout the apartment. If I get up to grab a soda, she's right by my side. She's so cute - she just sits quietly, waiting for me to finish whatever I'm doing, and will then follow me back to wherever I'm headed.

Here she is standing behind me while in the kitchen. I think I was grabbing a Diet Mt. Dew at the time.

Shiloh on the other hand, is quite outgoing. He walks around "talking" constantly - meowing and "griping" for attention. He's curious about everything - including my cereal from the other morning:

Just in case you're curious, the cereal is Fiber One with Silk Light Vanilla and fresh blueberries. 1/2 cup of Fiber One, 1/4 cup of silk, 1/4 cup of blueberries. Makes an excellent 100 calorie breakfast. I'll sometimes mix the Fiber One and blueberries with vanilla yogurt for an evening snack. Try it - it's awesome.

Spent the day working out. I found the "Insanity" workout DVDs on craigslist and have been working my way through them. Today was "Plyometric Cardio and Max Abs" - about 45 minutes of pretty tough core/aerobic exercise.

I followed that with 2 hours on the bike on the trainer (ick). At least I was distracted from the boredom of the trainer; I watched the "Big & Rob" series on DVD - it's a hilarious show about Rob Dyrdek (a pro skateboarder) and his bodyguard, Big Black. It was on MTV for a while and I never paid any attention to it, but a friend told me more about the show, and based on his description, I had to see the full series. If you can catch a rerun of the series, I suggest you take a look - it's really entertaining.

And then finished the morning with an 8-mile run around the neighborhood. The temperature was in the low 20s, and there was a solid northerly wind... made for a chilly run, but anything is better than the treadmill, so I didn't complain too much.

The rest of the day was rather unexciting... Cleaned the apartment (the cats don't seem to be afraid of the vacuum), did some laundry, made a dinner of egg whites, pico de gallo, some turkey breast, and a flax wrap, and am now sitting on the couch catching up with computer stuff.

Here's Mack, sitting next to me:

And here's Shiloh and me, writing this blog entry together:

Fish fry review to come next!

I adopted two cats from the local animal shelter. Meet Mack and Shiloh.

Mack:

Shiloh:

I was originally planning on adopting a single cat, but these two cats have some special needs. They had been at the shelter since 2008, because both have FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus), which is the equivalent of kitty AIDS. There's no cure, and no real form of treatment - they live with it, and you hope for the best.

FIV cannot be transmitted to people or other non-felines, and it's usually only spread to other cats by way of a deep bite. So, there's relatively little harm in having a cat (or two) with FIV, but for some reason, most people get scared and freak out about it. Most shelters and vets will euthanize cats with FIV because they are more difficult to place into homes than your standard cat might be.

So anyway... I saw Shiloh on Petfinder and really took a liking to him. I saw that he had FIV, but I was familiar with the condition, and knew it wouldn't be a big deal. So, I went and met him, and it turns out that he had a foster sister that he was absolutely in love with. Apparently Shiloh and Mack were best buddies, and would benefit from being placed together in a "forever home."

Shiloh is a bit scared of new people/environments to boot, so I figured that it would probably be best to keep them together, and as a result I came home with two wonderful kitties - one boy (Shiloh) and one girl (Mack). Mack is short for Mackerel - apparently the people who found her fed her Mackerel, and so the name stuck.

Mack is really outgoing - she follows me around everywhere, sleeps on me at night, and seems comfortable with everything. Shiloh is a bit more timid, although he did spend a considerable part of the night sitting on my lap and then laying next to me while in bed. I think he'll warm-up fairly soon.

So, there you have it - Mack and Shiloh, chillin' at the apartment. There'll be plenty of more pictures (and stories) to come, I'm sure. These photos aren't that great - I took some quick pictures while on lunch today. The apartment is a bit cluttered as well - I'll be cleaning/organizing this weekend (after fish fry, of course).