Tag security blanket

Kitty Blankets

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I know that there are dogs who obsess over blankets and often claim a special one as theirs, but I have had two cats over the decades who have had their own blankets. The first one was Pebbles (1988-2000), an extremely sassy but loveable tortoiseshell who essentially threw hints at me while I was analyzing a knitted afghan project. I had laid out eight knitted squares in front of me and was trying to decide whether to continue, or unravel the squares and start over, when Pebbles proceeded to walk onto the squares and knead on them. The gesture amused me so much that I figured I would stitch the squares together and see if Pebbles would continue with her biscuit making. She indeed did continue to knead on what I later referred to as her blanket, and she would also suckle on the blanket and drag it around while it was hanging out of her mouth.

Whenever I threw the blanket in the washing machine, Pebbles would become quite agitated and would keep meowing at me until the blanket was fully dry and ready for her. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Pebbles’ sessions with the blankets occurred several times daily, up through October of 2000 when she became very ill with kidney disease. She was so attached to that thing! When Pebbles passed away in December of 2000, I put the blanket in storage, and I still have the blanket to this day.

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The second cat in my household who has exhibited a keen interest in a blanket is Tenshi, my blue American Burmese who just turned 15 years old on December 29th. Last February, we had an issue with our HVAC furnace, resulting in home temperatures around 58 degrees Fahrenheit (NOT fun). The property owner dropped off a heated throw to help us battle the cold, and Tenshi promptly claimed the throw as his main hangout spot, visiting it on a daily basis. He will knead it every once in a while, but since he isn’t a wool sucker like Pebbles was, he doesn’t engage in that bizarre behavior. The main draw for Tenshi with the heated throw is that it imparts lovely warmth which his arthritic super senior body definitely appreciates. We have even gotten into a routine in which I turn on the throw right when I enter the living room each morning, and Tenshi heads over to it within a few minutes and settles in for a snooze.

I Don’t Know How I Feel About My Cell Phone

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My cell phone and I have a relationship which could best be described as “it’s complicated”. At times my cell phone will play this little game in which it won’t allow a call to go through on my vehicle’s Bluetooth, upon which I will stubbornly try the call again and again, finally giving up after about five tries. Once I reach the person I was trying to call (NOT using my car’s Bluetooth), the person will say, “Why did you call me so many times?”. Thanks, phone, for making me look like an idiot.

Another game which my cell phone has been playing with me lately is that it won’t focus on an object I need a macro shot of. This makes taking pictures of documents to send to people rather useless, since they can’t read the print on the document at all. This issue has become so irritating that I finally broke down and called Square Trade to initiate the second warranty replacement in the two years in which I have had an HTC One. I actually squeaked in two days before my warranty was about to expire, so I guess that’s a good thing.

The day after I called Square Trade about the camera issue, I lost my cell phone. That bastard of a phone hid between the passenger’s seat and the door, and though I would normally be frantic over the loss of my beloved phone, a feeling of complete defeat washed over me. I rely on that phone, and realize how ridiculously important it is to me. When I couldn’t find my phone, I felt completely cut off from the world. Honestly, it’s just a phone. Actually, wait a minute. It’s a handheld computer, external brain, scheduler, calculator, GPS device, Kindle, music player, camera, pocket graphic designer, etc. No wonder we lose our minds when we misplace or damage our phones!

Now that I have a warranty replacement, the task of transferring all the data from my old phone to the replacement phone falls on me, and I need to do it quickly. It takes HOURS for my carrier to transfer the over 7,000 contacts I have on my phone (I know, seems a bit much, but that’s what I have on my phone). Contacts, apps, images, etc. all need to be transferred over, and it will take forever. For all the convenience which technology affords us, it also can be a major pain in the neck!