In Loving Memory of Our Cat Boo.

Well, this morning we had to say goodbye to our sweet old man cat, Boo. He was a good cat and very old, we think he was about 19 years old. So he lived a long good life and gave us a lot of love, but it was his time. We are unsure of his exact age because we got him when he was already adult size in October of 1991. We rescued him after he was cared for by my mom's friend for a bit, but the weather was getting cold and her kids had very severe allergies so he couldn't go into her home. She knew what animal lovers we are at our house and called my mom. Of course she was willing and we all fell in love very quickly. We named him Boo since we got him in October and he looks like a ghost with his white fur and one yellow eye and one blue eye. He has moved from Utah to Arizona and back to Utah, although with his thick fur, we thought he was a goner our first summer in Mesa. But he was a stronger cat than that. A fighter when he had to be, even though whoever owned him first had had him de-clawed. It didn't seem to slow him down. He was just a more creative fighter. He was also a cuddler with a very loud purr when you got his motor going. In his old age his affection became even more adamant than earlier years and he even got demanding about us sharing our food with him. Such a funny old man, he was. He always slept in the strangest positions. He had a fun Garfield & Odie act that he put on with Merlin. He would egg Merlin on to attack and then he would box Merlin's ears. They were quite entertaining. We will miss him immensely. We were worried about him staying here when we move to Palmyra, New York next month. We knew it would be hard on him to have us gone, but way too hard on him to take him with. So, at least now he is at peace and taken care of before we go. Thank goodness for pictures and long memories. We love you Boo.

Computer Dependency

Oh, how on earth did we ever get along in the world before personal computers? As is the same for quite a few of you, I am completely dependent on the ever changing, inexact science that is the PC. My computer has been acting up lately. Which really shouldn't be shocking since it was a Christmas gift in 2001. I took my tower in to have it looked at before we head off to New York. It turned out pretty much as I expected it to. The tech took it to the back to blow out all the dust and then he came back and told me immediately that my system is toast. Some of what he said after that I kinda already had guessed. But not ALL of what he said. Sheesh. The power supply is dying. The hard drive is dying and that might be connected to the fact that the CPU fan, isn't always spinning. Another fan next to it on the motherboard doesn't spin anymore. And finally, the fan on the video card is no longer spinning either. Also, there are at least four capacitors on the motherboard that are quite visibly blown. In short, it is amazing that I can EVER get this thing to boot up(that is why I usually just leave it on). Plus, I didn't bother taking in the monitor, but that is dying too. Anytime I turn is back on after being off for a bit, it makes a quiet but high pitched pulsing blank screen for at least twenty minutes before the screen finally comes back to life.

I really don't know it it will survive the move to New York. But hopefully I can get it to hop along for a bit longer, as finances aren't great for needing to replace it yet. I don't know how I would survive with out it though. I email, network,and blog all the time. I pay bills and such more on the computer than checks or mail, I hardly ever have to buy stamps. I relax online or playing freecell and listen to music. Losing it might not be tragic as losing other things in life, but I admit, I am somewhat obsessed and might flip out if I can't get a regular fix. AHHH! It hurts to even think about. So, if I disappear from cyberspace in the near future, you'll know why. Sad.