signal boost: Purina food could be hurting your pets
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siderea for pointing me to this post about problems with Purina pet food (dog and cat, at least). After seeing this I read the last several month's worth of consumer-affiars complaints, and older ones about the specific foods relevant to me. (Warning: can be gross.) This goes well beyond "ew, yuck" to "get that stuff out of the house before it contaminates anything else". Fortunately I don't use their dry food (infestations), but I do -- or did, until now -- use Friskies canned food (toxins) sometimes.I didn't find anything on Purina's site about this. Since this isn't in the news I don't know how I would hear about a response from them other than searching from time to time.
random bits
Buying subcutaneous fluids from the vet is expensive, except that they had a price-match policy so it wasn't. But they restricted that policy, so I asked for a prescription. I was going to fill it online but it'd be easier not to, so today I talked with someone at CVS who determined that yes in fact they could order these (by the case -- which is fine). So today I dropped off the prescription and met the full force of the paperwork engine. After supplying the cat's birth date, drug allergies, insurance information, primary care physician, and a few other things, we were ready to go. I wonder if Giant Eagle, where I had the Prednizone filled (but they don't do fluids), just punted on this info, filled in N/A, or what.
I got a postcard notice of a class-action suit this week. They know their typical audience: "how much can I get?" and "how do I get my money?" were in bold; "what is the suit about?" took rather more digging. I've gotten money from a few class-action suits over the years (and I'll send this one in too), but I always do so with some degree of ambivalence, not knowing which ones are real (and people should be compensated) and which are "it's easier to settle than prove plaintiffs are on crack" -- and in the latter case, how I feel about benefiting from ill-gotten gains given that the defendants are going to pay the money out anyway. But I also admit that thus far I haven't been motivated enough to actually research any of these cases... the moral high ground is way over there, not here where I'm standing, it would appear.
Links:
The comic on this Language Log post made me laugh. Three negatives in six words indeed!
In the spirit of the song, kinda: Weird Al, Stop forwarding that crap to me (video).
Google+ circles you can use. Social networking: new media, same old problems.
- cats,
- cats: baldur,
- dani,
- house,
- internet,
- memes,
- music,
- theatre,
- vision,
- work (general)
triskaidekaphilia
tangerinpenguin:
List thirteen things that are going well for you this Friday the 13th:
1. The customer who sounded like he wanted Big Complicated Things (In A Hurry) thought my first draft was about 80% while I was assuming 25%.
2. Two significant projects (and some lesser ones) at work want me and my manager will support whatever I want to do. Cool!
3. I read a letter on the eye chart this week that I don't usually get.
4. Some more e-books that I want to read are available as free downloads.
5. Good conversation with my rabbi last night.
6. Bought gas for $3.09/gallon (loyalty card) and it should hold me for a month.
7. Cirque du Soleil is coming to Pittsburgh and this time their web site allowed us to buy tickets. (Totem -- not interested in the Michael Jackson thingy.)
8. Waking up to a cat on my feet every morning still, even though the weather has gotten warm.
9. Baldur is eating better.
10. Mesura et Arte del Danzare -- lovely recording!
11. Neighbors taking care of things along the property line that they might have been able to get away with not doing.
12. The rain seems to have ended before I have to leave for Shabbat.
13. Dani makes me happy. (Why yes, that is redacted. :-) )
short takes
(My question, still not satisfyingly answered as this recipe didn't do it so well, was: how do you get the cheese to stay on the fish? I was speculating about egg, as you often do for breading, but this recipe called for olive oil. I ended up with fish and cheese in proximity to each other, which was tasty but not what I was going for.)
Larry Osterman passed along this video showing upgrades from Windows 1.0 through to Windows 7 with all intermediate steps (except Windows ME, which doesn't play the upgrade game well, it appears). It was amusing to see what did and didn't survive upgrade (Doom almost hit 100%!), and amazing that it actually worked.
Bohemian Rhapsody on
ukelele (video), from siderea. I didn't think I could
imagine it, and I was right. Nifty!
Cool bedroom, and not just for kids! Link from talvinamarich.
The internet is for cats. Cats in sinks. Be careful; this is like TV Tropes on four legs. Don't say I didn't warn you.
And finishing up with another one from siderea:
this funny ad for milk (involves cats).
housekeeping
He usually crawls under the covers at night and is often there in the morning. In the last few weeks he has started returning there immediately after his breakfast. (I don't understand how he breathes under there, but obviously he does.)
notes to animals
It is wonderful -- nay, astonishing -- that you chose to get some exercise last night. If cats could sweat you probably would have worked one up. That's great for an elderly tubby tabby. So I really hesitate to say anything, but... that squeak-toy was not provided by any of the household humans, and you know how I feel about ambulatory toys, especially on the similarly-colored carpet where I might not see their remains. I'm sorry I took it away from you while it was still moving, but you know the rules. Yeah yeah, cycle of life and all that, but not where I'm going to have to deal with it, ok?
Dear squeak-toy,
I hope you made it. If you did, please warn all your murine friends that the cats who reside here are either too stupid or too self-centered to kill you quickly, and they are also too well-fed to eat you afterward, so your death would be in vain. We'll all be happier if you try another house. I nominate the guy up the block who never shovels his sidewalks; he's got a karma deficit.
random bits
Serendipitiously, 15 minutes after seeing that scam I saw
this excellent
tutorial on password management by vonstrassburg.
No, not the "how to choose a good password" hints you already know, but,
rather, how to deal with the fact that that doesn't really work. I
particularly like his suggestions for managing the database file.
From browngirl: Mordor or Iceland? Match the pictures to the source.
I have recently been participating in a small discussion of renaissance music notation... on a mailing list for Jewish worship. No, I didn't start it, but I could hardly let those comments just sit there... And now I have pointers to other editions of Salamone Rossi's music that seem worth investigating (Don Harran in particular). The edition I have is funky; the music is fine, but it's a transcription of a 19th-century French edition and Hebrew transliterated into French phonemes breaks my brain. I transcribe pieces from this book if our choir is going to do them. (What I really want to see is a facsimile edition...)
This tiny horse
(link from anastasiav) gave me a serious case of
the "aww, cute!"s.
Some iGoogle plug-in served me this cat picture, and all I could think was "yeah, I've had days like that". It's tempting to turn it into a userpic, but I don't know whose property it is.
Erik sometimes makes a squeaking sound now where I would have expected a meow to come out. He still has a full-voiced meow, so it's not like he's caught kitty laryngitis or something, but it's still odd. Embla's normal mode is a sort of chirp (I've only heard her actually meow two or three times), but this sort of thing is new for Erik. Weird.
- cats,
- games,
- humor,
- links,
- music,
- pesach,
- politics,
- programming,
- religion (general),
- tech
short takes (link round-up, mostly)
Tangentially-related: a short discussion of overly-pediatric seders.
Same season, different religion: researchers have found that portion sizes in depictions of the last supper have been rising for a millennium, though I note the absence of an art historian on the research team.
Same season, no religion: I won't repeat most of the links that were circulating on April 1, but I haven't seen these new Java annotations around much. Probably only amusing to programmers, but very amusing to this one.
Not an April-fool's prank: xiphias is planning a response to
the Tea Party rally on Boston Common on April 14: he's holding a tea party.
You know, with fine china and actual tea and people wearing their Sunday
(well, Wednesday) best. It sounds like fun.
Edit (almost forgot!): things I learned from British folk songs.
From nancylebov:
Harry Potter and the
Methods of Rationality looks like it'll be a good read. Or, as
siderea put it, Richard Feynman goes to Hogwarts.
Real Live Preacher's account of a Quaker meeting.
Thanks to jducoeur for a pointer to
this meta community over
on Dreamwidth.
I remember reading a blog post somewhere about someone who rigged up a camera to find out what his cat did all day. Now someone is selling that. Tempting!
In case you're being too productive, let me help with this cute flash game (link from Dani).
cats and doors
Erik reaches out a paw, pulls the door open enough to go through, and walks through.
Embla does that thing that long-haired torties specialize in where all the cat volume seems to vanish, and then walks through. Or, if that doesn't work, she does as Erik does.
Baldur uses his head as a battering ram, pushing at the space between the door and the frame until the door opens more. He might or might not then walk through.
Each of these reactions perfectly fits the personality (and observed mental acuity) of the cat in question. :-)
how do you take a cat's blood pressure?
Resistance is futile:
If you fight you get a different indignity:
Guys, we are not going home like that!
birthday
( Read more... )
the quest for the sunbeam
short takes (no election content)
Erik's appetite has been much improved this past week. I'm not sure what's different, but I'm glad to see it. We have not started him on prednizone yet; my vet is playing phone-tag with assorted specialists first.
Porridge: what really happened that fateful morning.
A funny cat video (from a locked entry, so identify yourself if you like but I won't).
This bunny hero made me smile (link from
paquerette). I had a house rabbit for a few months a long time ago (before the cats). He was a rescue, and I'd read that rabbits were smart enough to be trained to use a litter box. I failed at that and wasn't interested in keeping him in a cage his entire life, so he went off to live with other house-trained rabbits on the theory that there's power in crowds.From Language Log: be careful your translation says what you think it does.
Hey, CMU alum from approximately my generation, and others who enjoy quirky folk music: Michael Spiro has made much of his music available for free download. (I'm going to buy one of the CDs anyway, because he asked nicely and I believe in supporting independent musicians. I have the other on vinyl, so I probably won't buy the CD.) I particularly commend to you "The Folkie" and "Killing Me Softly With Kung-Fu". I would also point you at "Music, Sex, and Cookies", except the file appears to be corrupted. :-(
short takes
Does anyone know where I can get some of those microfiber cloths that sometimes come with glasses and things with delicate screens? Or, failing that, a reliable way to wash them so that they (1) get clean and soft and (2) don't die in the wash?
"The other day, I bought a toaster. It came with a free bank." -
xiphiasTwo cat links:
Leslie Fish on smart cats (funny, from
thnidu) and how a blind cat saved his owner's life (touching, from scaharp).Microsoft announces 20 editions of Windows 7 (from
dr_zrfq).Presidental candidates play an RPG (forwarded by
siderea).Fun, unconventional greeting cards from
ohiblather."What's the capital of Iceland? About £3.50." (forwarded by
nancylebov).And finally, an edible Flying Spaghetti Monster from
kmelion (cool!):
short takes
I've had a loaner cat for a few days, while a friend was out of town dealing with family stuff. The visitor is a very easy-going cat; two of my cats need to learn to chill. :-) But, he's gone home now and all is well. (When I wasn't home I kept him in one room lest there be trouble otherwise, and this had the effect of turning him into something of a puppy-dog when I let him out. Very friendly cat...)
Someone named Darter, who does a lot of photography in the SCA, posted his Pennsic pictures recently. Hey, I recognize that singer. (Seriously, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I see a reasonable picture of myself, because I can't do decent posed pics no matter how important it is, and I'm rarely the subject of candids.)
Speaking of Pennsic, I had to call a number of trailer-repair places before I found someone who would talk to me about the damaged axle on the Pennsic house. About a week and a half ago I talked to someone who promised to go take a look soon. I sure hope he got up there this weekend. (How did I find repair places? After several false starts trying the referral path, I started working my way through the listings here.)
Thursday I got a phone call from the "retention manager" at the Trib, who assured me that they are trying to solve my delivery problem. In the last few days I haven't missed a paper, which is good; I do wonder how long it will last. We've done this before. Well, she asked me to call her Tuesday with an update, so I can ask her about the long-term fix then. This is, by the way, the first time someone has called who has left a return number, so that's progress.