 The Shaffer Journal
Volume 3 Issue 11 November 1997
What follows is the November 1997 journal published by our company as written, produced, and managed by us cats. Lots of good stuff this issue thanks to us kitty cats. We are in the middle of the wonderful and tropical Florida Keys. And, by dawgie, us cats lubs it lots. The human bean is getting water logged at the pool plus scorched by the tropical sun. Enjoy this edition. We all worked really hard on it, especially those of us with paws. That human bean don't ever do nuthin cept complain. Meow already! July 1997 was a sad time for I Ebony, me Abby, and our human bean. Kitty became very sick the early part of July. She suddenly died of a stroke on July 9, 1997. These journals are now dedicated to her spirit. We all loved you, Kitty! Click the cat graphic below to visit Kitty's Memorial page. Kitty Talk
 Kitty born June 6, 1982. Died July 9, 1997. I Ebony and me Abby want to say something about human beans what thinks of all cats are so smoochable. We no like kissing or stuff like that. We are killers with fangs and claws. Us cats like squirrelies, boidees, lizards, but definitely no smooching and not kissing neither. Me Abby WhiteCat's mottos: If day wanna kiss you, din kiss dim backs. I not like Ebony and her no kissing policy. Me lubs smooching. And anudder motto of mine is: If you think it will bite back, paw slap it really quickly and jump back. Lastly: If you want to smell it really good, mash your nose into it! Dees be words of wisdom for cats and beanies alike. Me Ebony likes rest areas while traveling with our human bean. O, stop complaining. I can too change the subject. Ice roll in the mighty fine dirt and dust while Abby wants to go opposite way from me and our beanie. Once back in dat big black truck of beanie's, I ready furr catnap and catnip. But pyrometer in the way of me Ebony. As kitten I used to fit in hollow of dash by pyrometer. Not now since Ice a big cat. So me head or butt in the way now. Funny to see me head or butt stuck up in the air. I Ebony paw it, and it won't move. Me Ebony bite it, and it won't move. Me paw slap it and then chawed on it! Finally, me flops down and just accepts the pyrometer pushing up on me butt. Computer Ate It!
I have been extremely lucky with my computer until last week. Since I used to share my computer with family awhile back, I had the computer set up for multiple users. But then the user section setup on my account crashed. I could get into everyone else's account but not my account. Now guess where all the good stuff was? Yes, that's right, on my account, which no longer worked. I had to change back to one user, one computer - no multiple users for one computer. Then I had to restore everything back the way it was before. Thank goodness for tape backups. Here is what I had to do with the majority of things. I changed the computer configuration to one computer single user and deleted all the users no longer needed. I transferred all the files held in my user account to the one user account. I had to delete some files in the one user account to get my old files to work. Then I tested each program and using find and replace substituted old programs for the one user account. After three days, I got it all back to normal or very close to normal. Hope I never have to do this again. Lesson: Do your BACKUPS regularly and test it! Internet Stuff
I have been ranting and raving about all the good things about the Internet. Now I am going to explore some of the bad things: spam, porn, flamers, slow web pages, Netscape vs. MSIE, and malicious hackers. The worst of the bunch is spamming. Spamming is sent to a bunch of people who really don't want the email. Congress just recently passed a law making spamming illegal. Porn is porn, enough said. Flamers are people who email impolite and rude comments to others. Best thing here is to ignore them and report to their ISP. ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. Slow web pages are pages not coded very well. Break up content onto several smaller pages. I don't care which browser is better; I just want it to be free and work. Lastly, malicious hackers take joy is ruining other peoples' computer content by devious methods. Yet on the whole the Internet is still a joy to be a fun part of. Doesn't make sense, does it? Hockey News
I picked a good time to abandon the Tampa Bay Lightning it appears. Season ticket prices up higher than promised. Poor performance. Firing of Terry Crisp. Team for sale. The only other thing wrong is failing attendance. Rangers and Panthers are out of the gate slow. With the Rangers, who knows why, but Gretzky still doing his thing. Panthers have had lots of injuries, but they have got to overcome that. Scoring down everywhere. Still too early in the season to panic yet anyway. Who, me, panic? Electrical Adventure
When my fifth wheel travel trailer ground wire burned off of the generator power relay switch recently, it took a lot with it. But with Murphy's Laws operating, the total of the repair was just under the insurance deductible. You just can't win sometimes. That event took out the microwave, stereo, cellular telephone battery recharger, and one of my air-conditioning units. Lesson: Always make sure your ground wire is NOT loose! Poetry Corner
One of the most enchanted places I got to visit while I was in the US Navy was the small town of Gove in northern Australia. "Gove Sunrise"
September 23, 1989 Night deep and dark
The waves beckon
Churning, flaring to white caps
The sound of boats Into the night
Breeze full of ocean
The spray fragrant
Waking from a dream Onto land, dawning near
Look around, see the life
Hidden there and there
Faintly we live Strains of music
Fair and pleasant
Echoing in memory still
The dawning, the dawning... Upon the land, so dear
Light appears, heart racing
Morning color dazzling light
Sunrise pressed upon memory In The Park
On the Pinellas Trail in Tampa Bay area I met some strange and wonderful people and animals: tan male and white female dogs who carry their own leashes and stop at stop signs before crossing; in-line skater with his parrot on his arm, must gently poke in the beak periodically to keep from falling off cause so relaxed goes to sleep; squirrel run back and forth several times try to decide when to cross trail; slithering black snake picks up speed on hot asphalt. Great memories! In the Florida Keys I biked past the new Marathon airport. I jogged to the seven-mile bridge. I am in love with the heated swimming pool that looks out onto the Gulf of Mexico. Sunsets are the most beautiful in the world even comparing to those at Gove, Northern Australia. Tourist season doubles the population of Marathon and finds the Gulfstream park busier than ever. Traffic on US-1 highway is now heavier than ever. Now all the restaurants are opening up. The busy summer season is now replaced with the fun of the holiday crowds and the wonderful snow birds. "The Mountains of Ao"
I am almost done rewriting Tears from Ao so that it can continue serialized each month in the Internet webzine called The Outer Rim (http://outer-rim.lweb.net). Soon Tears from Ao will be available electronically on the Internet at The Temporal Doorway. Then I can continue on with The Mountains of Ao chapter ten of twenty-two. The Dull Stuff
Inputs and letters to this journal are subject to approval by Ebony. All inputs may be edited for content and become the property of Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company. The address follows:
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PO Box 501833
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(305) 743-9648
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http://RunesofAo.com/ebony/index.htm [Previous Journal] [Journal Index] [Next Journal] 34You brood of vipers, how can your speech be good when you are evil? For words flow out of what fills the heart.35Good people draw good things from their store of goodness; bad people draw bad things from their store of badness.36So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word people utter they will answer on Judgement Day,37since it is by your words you will be justified, and by your words condemned.
The New Jerusalem Bible: Reader’s Edition, (New York: Doubleday.) 1990. |
