Since multiple people have expressed a willingness to spread the word about the kittens, this is a public post that people can link to.

For anyone not already following the story, about a month ago I discovered five kittens in my yard. I caught two and gave them to my sister. I've since caught a third one plus a tiny little kitten that I think someone dumped. The third of the bigger kittens really needs a home. He's feral but he's not unwilling to let me touch him. I had him in a carrier for a few days and I could reach in and pet him and even scritch him under his chin. Then I let him out and now he's mostly hiding, like many cats do when introduced to a new home. He does use the litter box. I haven't caught the other two yet, but I'd like to find homes for them as well. (I don't actually know that the tabby is a boy. I'm hoping to get a good look at him within a few days.)

These are the three that need homes. The tabby is the one that I'm working on taming.





This is the tiny kitten. He may be staying with me.




I'm in southeastern Pennsylvania and I'm willing to drive at least a few hours to get these kittens to a good home. I'd prefer that they go somewhere where they'll be kept inside.

This is a public service announcement for Verizon internet users.

If your ISP is Verizon, check to make sure you're not getting billed $4.99/month for security software that you don't use. Verizon recently started offering an online Norton Security package. They're offering a 30-day free trial and after that you start getting billed for it. Since you can buy the Norton Internet Security Suite yourself for less than $60/year, it is not a good deal. It has also caused problems on every computer I've seen it installed on. Worse than that though, is the fact that you don't have to have installed it or even have any knowledge that it exists to be charged for it. I'm not sure if they added it to everyone's account without being asked to do so or if that has only happened to some people, but I've definitely found people who got it added without their knowledge. So if you have Verizon, go to your account information page and look at what add-on services your account is signed up for.

Several weeks ago, I mentioned trying a recipe for spicy ground pork. It was okay, but not great. Last night I altered that recipe and made a chicken version of it. I liked my new version much better. ( Recipe hereCollapse )

This recipe is nice and quick to make. Cooking the rice actually took longer than the main dish. Given how often I come home tired and ready to eat NOW, coming up with a good, quick recipe is nice.

For those of you who don't necessarily want to stick with the web browser that Microsoft pushes down your throat, Opera software has just released the second preview version of Opera 9. Opera 9 TP2 includes bittorrent support and widgets amongst other improvements. Find out more and download it here: http://labs.opera.com/ . Or download and share via torrent: Windows or Mac.

Opera 8 (in Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris flavors) was released this morning.( http://www.opera.com ) For those of you who don't know, Opera is a wonderfully configurable browser that is much more secure than MS IE. I'd definitely recommend that anyone who currently uses MS IE to give it a try. Not using MS IE for browsing is one of my big recommendations for maintaining a secure computer.

New technology announced by Opera software:
http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/04/01/index.dml

Is anyone interested in filling out marketing research surveys online? I've been doing surveys for a couple of companies for about two yers now. I fill out surverys, they give me points and those points can be used to order prizes. I just discovered that Harris Polls has added $5 cards for both Borders and Best Buy to the list of what I can get. NFO will send me cash, which is even better. Seems like it is time to redeem some of my points. I haven't ordered anything before because I didn't want any of the lower-priced items from Harris and I didn't have enough points to get cash from NFO yet. I do now.

If anyone is interested in participating in these surveys, let me know and I'll send you invitations. Both companies will give me points for helping them find new members, so this does have some advantage to me.

What is it with the weather this month? Last week it rained up to 6 inches on Monday. (I think it was about 4" at my house.) Trees fell, floods happened.

Then there was Isabel, which generated a huge amount of fuss and much wind but little rain. Trees fell, lots of power outages. Some schools had a "snow day" on Friday, some opened late.

Last night it started pouring. The wind whistled through the open windows until I gave up and closed the bedroom windows. So far we've gotten over 3-1/2 inches of rain and it is still coming down. Trees are falling again. Floods are happening again. One school district is having a two hour delay this morning do to flooded roads.

It seems like there are two types of weather - no rain and way too much rain. I'm feeling really glad that I live on the side of a good-sized hill.

It's snowing again! When is this going to stop? I've had enough. The forecast is calling for 4-8 inches of wet white stuff - the kind that breaks tree limbs and brings wires down. The way it is coming down now, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot more than 8" inches actually falls. although at least some of it is melting after it falls.

On the way home last night we went past a billboard that said this:

Make Love, not three-car pile-ups.

Okay. As if anyone chooses to make a 3 car pile-up.

The Pennsylvania turnpike authority has been doing a whole series of these silly 70s flower-childish looking billboards, but this one really takes the cake.

I'm bored. I have way too many things that I ought to be doing and I don't feel like doing any of them. I want to do something different and entertaining and maybe even exiting. What can I do on a wet Saturday night that doesn't cost money (of which I have virtually none)?

If you are going to carry $4,000 worth of crack cocaine and over $1,500 in cash on the front seat of your car, it is a good idea not to drive erratically and point your gun out the window at other motorists. The authorities arrested a man who lives about 6 blocks from me for doing just that. I assume he'd consumed a good portion of his product before getting into his car. How much sense does it take to figure that waving a gun while driving on a busy local highway might bring you to the attention of the police, who just might be interested in all that crack next to you?

I'm bored and I want different music to listen to. I think I need to do something about the fact that I've got hundreds of vinyl records and listening to them is a pain. I think I need to copy them to CDs. Any suggestions for appropriate (and inexpensive) software, assuming I get the energy to move the stereo components and the computer close enough to each other to run a cable?

Just in case anyone is looking and doesn't see anything, most of what I have to say is limited to my friends, so let me know if you want to be a friend.