realitytest

My cat lays in his cat tree and looks at them for hours. Normally, he faces the other way, so I know it is the lights that have caught his attention.

I don't like Yahoo presuming to go in and clean it up for me. I just exported all contacts to another provider and then deleted them in Yahoo. Step 1 in leaving.

If we allow them to intrude on us like this, it will get worse and worse.

Deleting my contacts without permission was the final straw for me. I'm closing yahoo mail.

Does anyone know how to save or move emails that I want to keep?

I have heard that pollen counts are higher the morning. I also hear that it is good to stay indoors when it is windy. Where I live, (Albuquerque) this time of year, there is very little wind in the morning, and lots of wind in the afternoon.

Am I better off going jogging on a calm morning or on a windy afternoon? (I am allergic to Juniper in case that makes a difference.)

I have heard that pollen counts are higher the morning. I also hear that it is good to stay indoors when it is windy. Where I live, (Albuquerque) this time of year, there is very little wind in the morning, and lots of wind in the afternoon.

Am I better off going jogging on a calm morning or on a windy afternoon? (I am allergic to Juniper in case that makes a difference.)

My cat is a short-hair. I used a furminator on my previous cat, but this guy won't stand for it.

Primarily, I want something to get some of the dirt off him when he comes inside. (He is mostly white and loves to roll in dirt.) He sheds more in the spring too. Mostly I just want something that he might enjoy so he will let me brush him for more than 10 seconds.

Any recommendations on what type brush to get - or to avoid?

All I can find are the record lows over the entire 24 hours.

Specifically, I am looking for the coldest it has ever been in the daytime, in Albuquerque, in April.

I let my cat outside about 4-5 hours a day. He would like to be outside much more but I try to limit it for various reasons.

I walk nearly every day. He is already naturally inclined to follow me outdoors.I am considering teaching him to walk with me on a leash so he could have more outside time. The walks with me would be in addition to his leash free outside time, not a replacement for it.

My concern is that this could extend the area he considers to be his territory. Might this result in him wandering further away during his outdoor time.I wouldn't want to encourage that.

I have also heard of cat strollers, but it seems the territory enlargement question would apply to those as well.

My cat is mostly white, with black spots. There is sparse white fur on his ears, but it is so thin I can see his pink skin with black spots underneath. His nose is pink. He is outside just a few hours each day, but we live in the high desert where the sun is extremely intense.

Should I put sunscreen on his ears and nose? I assume a cat would be licking off the sunscreen when he grooms and I don't know if the sunscreen would taste bad to him or even be harmful for him to ingest?

I usually dry my sheets outside on a clothesline but today the pollen is high and it is windy so maybe that's a bad idea? If it were just high pollen but no wind would your answer be the same?

I used to use wunderground but since Weather Channel bought it last year it has been getting progressively worse. The continued stupid and irresponsible naming of winter storms is my breaking point.

Any suggestions of good sites devoted to weather instead of infotainment? I especially like to follow wind speed and direction of storm cells in the Southwest US.

Thanks and please refuse to use any phony weather channel storm names.

Not from a horse, I just thought this section is where I might find ropers. Can it be done, or are cats,just too small? What if the cat likes playing with the rope so he is following it instead of running from it?

How the heck do you do that?

There is a broiler element on the top and another on the bottom. I don't see how I can avoid getting spray on them.

My cat has a multi-level tower and there is a stuffed mouse on a string hanging from one perch. He likes to lie in the perch, hang over the edge and bat the mouse hanging below.

Last night I heard him growling and went in to see he had somehow gotten the string tightly wrapped around his paw and he couldn't get it off. I had to cut it off. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been home.

Do you have any toy hazard stories that others need to be aware of?

I know they have poofy fur coats to keep them warm, but how do their feet stay warm when they are outside and it is cold? Are their feet less cold sensitive than ours? Even if I were wearing a fur coat I still wouldn't want to be outside barefoot in the cold. It is 15 degrees and my cat doesn't want to come in.

My apartment has a under the counter type light over the sink. For several evenings it flickered on and off a lot when I used it. (I sort of liked the haunted house effect.) Then it stopped working completely.

Is it normal for fluorescent tube bulbs to flicker like that before they burn out completely, or does this indicate something wrong with the fixture?

I've never changed the bulb and I've used the light 2-3 hours a day for 2 1/2 years.

I'm making gingerbread from a mix. It says to add 2 Tbl. flour for high altitude. (I am at 5200 ft.) I was wondering how it would affect the bread if I don't make the adjustment.

I would prefer a gingerbread that is more dense and less cake-like than I usually get from a mix. Might I get that result if I bake it without the added flour?

I often hear people claim that the life expectancy for cats is 15 years for indoor and 5 years for outdoor cats. I am skeptical of this estimate and wonder if the figures are made up by people who have a bias. Is there any actual DATA these estimates are based on? I have looked but I haven't found anything.

Please don't give a link to a web page that just repeats this statistic without providing any information about how the data was collected. There are thousands of those. I want to know how their conclusions were reached. Animals don't have death certificates so where do they get their figures?

Does the outdoor data lump stray & feral, intact, non-vaccinated cats with outdoor-access de-sexed cats with good medical care?

Cats who go outdoors may be at higher risk of certain injuries, but those who escape those risks may live longer than indoor cats because they get more exercise & are not overweight. My indoor/outdoor cat died at age 21 and I am hearing more & more about indoor/outdoor cats being the ones who live the longest.

I've never heard any of my cats fart, but I assume they must. Are they just polite enough to excuse themselves to another room or outdoors?

I don't know the correct term to describe this. When I make potatoe cheese soup I dice potatoes and then cook them in broth until they are soft. Then I use an old fashioned egg beater to mash the potatoes with the liquid a bit, but it still stays sort of lumpy, instead of making it completely smooth. (I like it that way). What is that called? Is that a type of puree' or something else? How would I describe this in a recipe better than I have here. :/