Plants and Flowers

Ends and Odds

I was looking at old posts a while ago and came across this video I posted 10 years ago, and I still enjoy it.  I didn't know who it was then, but it's At The Bottom Of Everything, by Bright Eyes.



I actually had this as a draft and scheduled to post on June 8, exactly 10 years after I originally posted it, then must have forgot to hit 'publish.'  Somewhat relevant as I just posted about airplanes, and I came across it today so here it is.

I also had this cartoon that I saved some time ago, I forget from where, because I liked it.  I don't mean to offend anyone who believes in religion, but I don't, obviously.

I did some more work on the long-fabled cat box area project today, still a long way from being done but it'll get there.  I have everything I need now but the good back for it.  After a couple weeks without one, I may have another fire tonight.  Gif below is from last night.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Planes, Planes, Planes

We live on the near east side of Madison, Wisconsin, just a couple miles south of Dane County Regional Airport and Truax Field, home of the 115th Fighter Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.  The main runway is in line with a few blocks to our west, so we get a really good view of the air traffic.  The amount of traffic can vary at times, actually rather busy as I type this, and consists of very small to medium/large passenger planes.  Depending on the day and weather we either get take-offs or landings.  I like the landings as we get a better view of the planes, while the take-offs can be louder because planes are accelerating but they are also getting higher and can veer off to either side.

We knew about this aspect when we bought the house ten years ago, and it wasn't a concern then and it still isn't now as we really love our house, our location, and our proximity to work and local businesses (and the bike path though we need to take more advantage of it).  I've even grown to really like watching them - in fact, I think I always have liked it.  Sometimes the jets can get real loud, but they are somewhat fascinating as well - and nice to know we are so protected here in the upper Midwest.  And they almost always go in twos, so if you hear one, get ready for another one coming.  They also usually advertise when they will be doing extensive training, but that doesn't seem to stop some idiots in the neighborhood from complaining on the neighborhood farcebook page (I'm told).  Once, we even saw a military transport plane taking off over us - it was so big and so low it felt like I could throw a rock and hit it!

Pursuant to a conversation with blogger friend Blue Witch in the comments a few posts ago, I thought I would try to get some video to share to show what we see daily.  Now, I may hear scores of them go by on a single day, but I'm not usually in a good position to capture it on video.  In fact, the first one I took after that conversation may be the best of them all.  It's the first one in the video compilation below, in the evening with the plane's lights on.  Over the last week or two I've tried to get video and found it's not as easy as I thought.  First, I've not had a fire the last couple weekends so I've not spent that much time out in the yard and ready to record.  I've tried running out when I hear one coming, but to very mixed results, as you will see.  And I always seemed to miss the bigger ones, and the Frontier ones where I can try and make out the animal on the tail.  I've no video of the jets yet though I'll keep that in the back of my mind for future, but they're not just loud - they're freaking fast!

Total, I got over a dozen videos, 11 of which are compiled below, one of which I would take out if I wanted to spend more time on it.  Only the last video is of a take-off, this afternoon and right overhead.  I used Windows video editor for the first time to make one video out of all the clips and spent very little time on it.  Sorry, but it's good enough for this purpose.  It is posted to my YouTube account, but it is not listed for the moment, it's only posted here.



Yes, we have noise in the background here on the near east side; airplanes, street traffic, even and railroad tracks a few blocks away.  I've noticed this more than ever during this recent time of trying to get video of airplanes.  I do remember once several weeks ago, later at night out by the fire, hearing a plane, a train, and the traffic all at once and thinking that would be an interesting thing to capture.  Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!  We'll see, maybe that opportunity will arise this summer.

Basil's Vet Trip Today

Basil has not had a good year so far.  He's had crystals in his bladder and urine, blockages, several trips to the veterinarian, and eventual surgery in late March.  Since that surgery and spending a month in a cone things have been going relatively well until recently we noticed him leaving little pink dots on the carpets.  He had a urinary tract infection, which he is more prone to now since the surgery.

Today I took Basil to the vet.  For as many trips out of the house this year as he's had, he still gets seriously stressed.  We prepared by not letting the cats see the carrier and then separating them with Hamish in the front of the house and Basil in the back, like we had to do for several weeks after the surgery.  He did not want to get in the carrier, but we got him in and he only howled a bit as I drove the few blocks to the vet's office.  My wife, meanwhile, had a family event to attend at that same time.  Once Basil and I got to the vet he was quiet and eerily calm, even letting me pet him in the carrier - until they tried to take him out of the carrier.  He didn't overtly attack as they had a good hold of his scruff, but he hissed and screamed bloody murder a lot.  He peed himself in the carrier, pooped on the table, briefly had is teeth looked at though he showed them to us lots, got a rabies vaccine and generally did not have a good time.  But they got enough pee out of the carrier to test and confirm the UTI.  We left with antibiotics, Gabapentin for his hyperesthesia (twitchy butt) and pill pockets.

He was quiet on the way home, and I could see the hope in his eyes when I got the carrier out of the car.  Once inside, he exited the carrier immediately (more poop in the carrier) and ran for a quiet corner and started cleaning himself.  I got out treats right away and he was right there eating them up, which was a good sign, so I gave him the first antibiotic in the pill pocket.  I let Hamish out of the front of the house and the cats greeted each other, but Basil did get hissy.  Since then, Basil has cleaned himself more and they hung out on the porch for some time and I only heard a few hisses since.  I think we'll be okay now.

Some time ago I mentioned that I wanted to write about Basil and how he'd been doing.  At that time I thought we were done with this kind of thing, but he got hissy with Hamish that very night.  Over the last several weeks things have actually been pretty good, the only issue is mornings and evenings when we give them wet food.  When they are about to get fed, Basil gets jumpy, defensive and is easily startled - leading to more hisses and running away.  For a week or two now he just stays out of the kitchen and we bring his bowl outside the kitchen door and put it on the inside front door mat and he seems happy with that.  Hamish, meanwhile, has shown more patience with his brother than I originally would have thought.  It can't be easy having your brother act weird and hiss at you a lot, but I think he could tell his brother was not well.

So, Basil's saga continues, poor thing.  At least we're back on track and hopefully he'll feel much better again soon.

Fire And Ice (Cream)

I don't think I ever saw an ice cream truck when I was a kid, but I knew them from books and TV.  Now I see them every summer - well, we mostly hear them.  I don't normally see them go down our street, but it kept getting louder as I sat by the fire last night.  I should have had my money ready!