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  <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-12-26:1277314</id>
  <title>Mallory's Camera</title>
  <subtitle>Every Day Above Ground</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>Every Day Above Ground</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2026-06-07T12:43:25Z</updated>
  <dw:journal username="mallorys_camera" type="personal"/>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-12-26:1277314:1399246</id>
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    <title>Missing Little Green Men; Feuding Cats</title>
    <published>2026-06-07T12:43:25Z</published>
    <updated>2026-06-07T12:43:25Z</updated>
    <category term="cats"/>
    <category term="missing"/>
    <category term="garden"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>8</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Whaddiya know.  The cheap weed wacker did &lt;u&gt;exactly&lt;/u&gt; what I needed it to do once I reassembled it so the retaining cap didn't keep falling off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, the feature I &lt;u&gt;really&lt;/u&gt; wanted—six little green men who crawl out of the box, fall to their knees, and begin weeding out stumps and roots—was not available.  &lt;u&gt;That&lt;/u&gt; still needs to be a by-hand shovel job.  Hey!  You get what you pay for.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;###&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;i&gt;kiskas&lt;/i&gt; are hating heavily on each other this morning.  They spend about 30% of their time grooming each other and 40% hissing and batting at one another.  (The other 30% they spend sleeping obliviously on opposite corners of the Patrizia-torium.)  But this morning, they were going after each other tooth and nail with such fury, I had to get out the spray bottle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What set them off, I wonder?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mabel was so pissed off about something that she actually woke me up around 5—leaving me under-rested for the Schlock alumni luncheon that I have somehow agreed to go to later today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I went downstairs, I found the front door wide open.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is another one of the peculiarities of the House of Icky:  The front door does not stay closed when it's windy out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fortunately, the house is in a remote rural area.  Unless a serial killer has recently escaped from one of the local prisons, an open front door is unlikely to endanger me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However!  &lt;u&gt;Molly&lt;/u&gt; likes to think of herself as an indoor-outdoor cat, and I have found her wandering outside a couple of times after the door has blown open.  &lt;u&gt;That&lt;/u&gt; is worrisome because if a hawk will go after a chicken, it will also go after a cat. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did Molly wander outside last night?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did Mabel wake me up to &lt;u&gt;tattle&lt;/u&gt; on her?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;###&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chatted a little with Ichabod last night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Realized that while I was quite good at keeping myself occupied and productive when I lived on the other side of the river, I am &lt;u&gt;miserable&lt;/u&gt; at it here.  Though I did &lt;u&gt;try&lt;/u&gt; when I first moved here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really not much I can do about that:  It &lt;u&gt;is&lt;/u&gt; the place; it is &lt;u&gt;not&lt;/u&gt; me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, of course, it &lt;u&gt;feels&lt;/u&gt; as though it's me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm part of an epidemic!  Isolated senior citizens.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If I were more of an egomaniac, the Work in Progress would sustain me.  I would think of this isolation as a kind of literary retreat and funnel all of my energy into &lt;u&gt;words&lt;/u&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But my ego is simply not strong enough for that kind of role-play game.  Yes, the words are important.  To &lt;u&gt;me&lt;/u&gt;.  But I have no idea if they'll ever be important to anyone else, and I need involvement in stuff that is important to everyone else to round out my resume as a Real Human Girl.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;Anyway.&lt;/u&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll book the Michigan trip today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If that doesn't work out...  It's Ithaca.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One way or another, I need to start thinking about &lt;u&gt;packing&lt;/u&gt; and &lt;u&gt;moving&lt;/u&gt; logistics (ugh).  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was thinking I might hire Sarah to help me pack.  Sarah is the sweet, over-burdened single mother who appalled me that one time at Schlock by dressing so the crack of her ass showed when she sat with a client.  (She was actually a reasonably competent tax preparer.)  I am probably going to need someone to help me pack.  I'm really going to that luncheon today to get her contact info.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mallorys_camera&amp;ditemid=1399246" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
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