Unlike Boabdil who, in 1492, gave his last sigh as he topped the hill and lost sight of Grenada, I neither sighed nor looked back after leaving my keys to the office building downtown and headed to the new office building with the last load on office supplies. April 1st begins a new chapter for office life in a new building.
Monty Python had a penguin on the tele. Since I don’t have a tele, I step outside and look up into the sky to watch TV.
Nora Owl deciding what to think about the chatty paparazzo.
After I got home from work, I left the laundry for tomorrow, gathered up all the energy I could, and walked the mile north to check on Nora. I ran into Leslie who was also checking on Nora. Leslie said Nora was hunkered down in her nest so she could hardly see her. When I got Nora’s tree she was pretty hunkered down in the light of the setting sun. I started talking to her and asking her if she had any owlets yet. After about ten minutes she started responding and sat up a little. Then she sat up more and look different directions. Her breast feathers looked pushed up as if she had something under them. At one point she tilted her head back and pushed her chest out, but I couldn’t really see any owlets yet. After 30 minutes of pestering poor Nora Owl with my pesky paparazzo chattiness, I left so she could sit in peace. I think the owlets have hatched, but they are still too small to poke their heads out. I think Nora Owl made her best attempt to show them to me. Osric Owl started hooting behind me. When I found him he gave me “mad dogs”.
Rebecca at Tea Toast & Trivia interviewed me on the subject of Blogging, Photography, and Connecting. You can listen to my attempts to impart words of wisdom about blogging, photography, and connecting at https://wp.me/paMWWK-Cs. I really had a great time with the interview. Rebecca and Don, who does the recording, are two of the loveliest people I have ever met.
Still giving me steal eyes while starting to sit up more.
I think this was Nora’s best attempt to expose the owlets.
Osric Owl giving me “mad dogs”.
The pTerodactyl watching the sunset.
It was quite a sunset the pTer was watching.
The Dance Floor Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price
The Dance Floor is an original song I wrote and recorded recently. It’s a song reminiscent of the days when people could gather together, dance, and put on whatever charm they could muster in attempts to go beyond the dance floor. Maybe Dancing Daze will make a comeback.
After another long day of dismantling the old office, configuring VPNs, and breaking into the WiFi units in the new office building and configuring them, I did manage to get out to see Mama Owl and Daddy Owl after I got home at sunset. I couldn’t see Mama Owl in her hole when I got in view, but I called her, and she gave me an ear tuft up to let me know she was still steadfast on her nest. Daddy Owl was gazing out at the bosque and gave me half eyes over his shoulder for my calling out to Mama Owl.
Speaking of chicks, I did see a few on my way to and from my visit to the owls. Our mini daffy’s bloomed.
Towhee
Sparrow
Kitten Party Lyrics by Timothy Price, Music by Rick Nelson
Since I worked for 10.5 hours moving stuff, building shelves and desks, and then another hour testing and troubleshooting the new VPN, I’m posting another parody. Lyrics are below the photo of a kitten party.
The kittens partying with Sasha.
Kitten Party
Lyrics by Timothy Price
Music by Rick Nelson
I went to a Kitten party to see my old cool cats
A chance to purr, meow and spray and chase some rats
When I got to the kitten party the black cats looked the same
Jumping and bouncing all around they were really quite insane
The kittens are uptight now, they’re rolling all around
You see, the old cats they growl and hiss, so the kittens want a kiss
Tomcats came from miles around, the kittens were in heat
Oh no there’s a bobcat, who we don’t want to meet
The kittens ran all over, pouncing on their treats
Taxidermied mice with silly eyes looking like mousie freaks
The kittens are uptight now, they’re energy abounds
You see, the old cats want pay to play because the kittens they are strays
Kittens-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow-meow
The kittens have some odd times, but they don’t really care
They attack one another, with tactics that seem unfair
Tried making up a kitty haiku, seven, five, and three
They knocked the syllables out like Spunk, quite hilariously
The kittens are uptight now, they’re jumping up and down
You see, the old cats they don’t want to see because the kittens won’t let them be
Kittens-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow
Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow, Meow-meow-meow
Someone opened up the side door and in stepped Bucky cat
Followed by Garfield, Odie, Satchel Pooch, and a great big spat!
If you’re going to a kitten party, you will get all scratched up
You think you’ll make it out alive, all I have to say is good luck
The kittens are uptight now, they pounce in one bound
You see, the old cats all they do is frown, and slap the kittens around
Kittens-meow-meow-meow-meow, Kittens-meow-meow
Kittens-meow-meow-meow
The kittens are uptight now, they’re meowing all around
You see, the old cats won’t play with anyone else, so the kittens play with themselves
After a long week starting to moving into our new office building, WordPress giving all kinds of trouble again, and getting my second vaccine against covid cooties this morning, I’m feeling like how this poor frost-bitten tulip looks.
Bloody Binding Queen Lyrics by Timothy Price. Music by Abba
I can’t think of anything better for a Friday night at the end of a long week than a bloody awful parody about our Bloody Binding Queen. At the end of last month, Erma was compiling thousands of pages of final reports for facility condition assessments, punching and assembling them into a whole bunch of binders. She kept getting paper cuts and used up all the bandaids we had in the office. I told her she was a “Bloody Binding Queen!” The light went on. After I got home that night, I found the music for “Dancing Queen” by Abba, wrote the parody lyrics (see the lyrics at the end of the post), learned the song, recorded the parody, and sent it to Erma. She was pleased because that was the first song ever done for her.
Since we have had hard frosts the last few nights our tulips are looking like bloody binding queens all frost-bitten and shriveled up. I finally got the IT Department’s office in order, and I got various cuts and bled in the process. We also got Internet, a new alarm system and new tile in the kitchen, copier room and workroom in the new building. So we’ve made a lot of progress.
Looking into the IT office from the door to the office.
Another sad tulip
Bruce’s desk
A Vulture heard there was a bloody binding queen and started circling overhead.
My desk
Dale’s Peach Tree is blooming
Dede’s desk
Daddy owl watching
Looking out into the open work area where multiple workstations will go from my desk.
Mama Owl peeking
Bloody Binding Queen
Lyrics by Timothy Price
Music by ABBA
Ooh, you can bind, in the grind
Compiling the papers you find
Ooh, see the girl, with the punch machine
Bleeding the binding queen
Friday night and it’s time to go
Look at the papers not that low
Where they are piled high in the binders rings
Although a vegan might go to a Burger King
Look at the clock and you sigh
It’s getting old paper piled high
With a final push, you can meet the deadline
You’re in the mood to dance
But there’s not a chance
You’re a binding queen
A paper cut from page seventeen
Bloody binding queen
Hear the grind of pages shredding
Oh, crap
You can bind, in the grind
Compiling the pages you find
Ooh, see the girl, with the punch machine
Bleeding the binding queen
You’re a wheezer, from paper spawn
The cuts are burning the bleeding goes on
Looking for another plaster anyone will do
You’re in the mood to dance
Look at the clock and you sigh
It’s getting old paper piled high
With a final push, you can meet the deadline
You’re in the mood to dance
But there’s not a chance
You’re a binding queen
A paper cut from page seventeen
Bloody binding queen
Hear the grind of pages shredding
Oh, crap
You can bind, in the grind
Compiling the pages you find
Ooh, see the girl, with the punch machine
Bleeding the binding queen
Bleeding the binding queen
Sasha blocking the Xtreme blender box with Beowulf for backup
Whenever we place a box on the counter, all the cats go crazy over it, especially Sasha and Spunk. Many years ago, we were burning out run-of-the-mill blenders every two weeks making smoothies, frozen margaritas, soups, and whatever else would blend. Eleven years ago I broke down and bought an industrial 3.0 HP blender. We finally wore that one out, with a little help from the ghosts who would turn it on and off at 3:00 am. The ghosts were probably ROTFLTAO watching the two of us muddling around in the middle of the night trying to figure out where the jet engine sound was coming from. I had to start unplugging the blender at night. I replaced the 3.0 HP blender with a 3.5 HP Xtreme industrial blender.
Laurie was using the Xtreme blender box to scan Beowulf in the original Old English with her iPad. She scans Latin and Old English texts and then writes on the scanned text on her iPad while she’s translating it.
Intermission: I received a package from France. It’s a book of French comics.
Spunk says Sasha may look like a tough Xtreme box blocker, but, as you can see, she is no longer blocking the box. I think Spunk is better at channeling his inner Beowulf. The old worn-out blender is on the table in the background.
We did get rain, snow, and high winds last night and most of the day. We got rain in the valley, but the Sandias and foothills got snow with really high winds.
The afternoon light from the sun peeking through the clouds was intense on the cottonwoods.
Looking SE to SW after sunset.
The Sandias with clouds at sunset.
Cottonwoods, dry irrigation ditch, and gate.
Looking west.
Dramatic light on the Sandias.
I moved our 48 port switch to the new building today. I got 3-foot long patch cables because I didn’t know where in the rack I was going to put it. The screws that were left in the rack are slightly too small, so they pulled out of the holes under the weight of the switch. So the switch is on top of the rack for the time being with a mess of spaghetti-like patch cables all over it. We also got Internet installed today and the alarm techs were installing new alarm equipment since the old alarm was old and the person who installed it is long gone. The old alarm system didn’t call out to anyone, so if it got set off, then only people who would know about it are the tenants on the west side of the building. We will be able to monitor and control the new alarm system from our phones. I got Bruce’s desk built between working on wiring, answering questions for the alarm, and tracking down the wiring for the WiFi.
A wider view of the wries, surveillance monitor, the new alarm controller on the right, the old telephone system punch blocks, and the electronic access box.
Bruce’s desk that I was using to test the Internet.
The Internet we installed is 50MBps up and down highspeed wireless. The test is showing faster speeds.
Loki is a bit dazed by all the tech talk.
Guess who?
Daddy owl looking like a king with a royal robe wrapped around him.
Mama Owl was peeking over the edge tonight.
The forecast is for snow tonight. I believe it.
A major irrigation project is underway in the field west of Nora Owl’s tree.
This tractor is supervising the irrigation project.
Off Center & Not Even 