Cat Care (according to Robert)

Awkward adj.:

One flu over the cuckoo's nest
It seems that the only thing spreading faster than H1N1 - a.k.a. the Swine(less) Flu - is hysteria. I blame the government, for once, as opposed to the media. The media, it seems to me, has done its level best to deal with the onslaught of 'updates' issued on a regular basis from Health Canada, the WHO, and, here in Quebec, the Ministry (whose web site it, it must be conceded, very useful and informative). While the government has issued several statements regarding the relative mildness of this strain of flu, they have responded to the initial global panic, which started in late spring (remember? That was

Bite-sized brain bits*
I don't think I have an single full-course post in me at the moment, but there are few tidbits I'm willing to share... 1. Further evidence of the suckage of Dell Following my traumatic relationship with the sexy Dell laptop (I fell for its looks, but like most gorgeous creatures, it was fickle, unreliable, and ultimately a failure in the hard-drive area), I naturally 'unsubscribed' from the usual barrage of software update notifications, promotions, reminders, etc., etc. I have now unsubscribed three times. Unsuccessfully. So on a weekly basis, at least, I get happy fuzzy e-mails from Dell. Ok, I know that e-mail is relatively innocuous, but my Dell experience was bad

Go forth and multiply
A friend recently contacted me, and a few other friends who are also parents, and asked for our input - she has a friend who has a one-year-old child, and who is struggling with the decision to have another, or not, and when. After I sent in my two-cents, it occurred to me that I could share this fiddling small change with the rest of you. I realize none of you actually asked, but until you DO start suggesting topics*, this is what happens. So, here's what I sent to my friend - and I'll forward any insight from the comments, should any be forthcoming: I have two boys, 25 months apart, and although sometimes we sit back and wonder what the heck we were thinking, t

Take this job and... this job, and this job, and this job, and...
A few minutes ago, I updated my facebook status as follows: Maggie quit two jobs in two days, and feels AWESOME. Panic has ensued, which, in a weird way, makes me feel loved. I think I have issues. But my friends and I aren't getting any younger, and I don't want to stress anyone's system more than necessary, so an explanation is in order. I should start by saying that I did NOT quit my actual job, as a college English teacher. In fact, for those who missed that announcement a couple of weeks ago, I just got tenure, so I'm not going anywhere for a while. I should also amend my original statement, in the sense that I didn't actually "quit" anything: Job #1: Content e