So what did you do while PF was down?

[ZapperZ]

I baked cookies, lots of cookies. I made a batch of Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, and snickerdoodles. If I gain weight, I'm blaming it on PF.

I also repotted my plants, trim my orchid plants, and generally being very productive around the house.

Now that PF is back, I can go back to being a couch potato again.

:)

Zz.

 

[Kalimaa23]

See this thread

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=129230

 

[Astronuc]

I was able to exchange some PMs until yesterday afternoon. Interestingly, the journals, PMs, and top level directories were accessible, as well has articles on the home page.

I also visited some guys undernetphysics group on Yahoo.

I have reservations about José Soler's "creativity index".

Most of yesterday though, I was at a Celtic Festival up in the mountains nearby. There was a lot of good music and interesting things to do and see. I bought a tie in the tartan of one of the clans of my ancestors. There was plenty of Guinness, Harp, Newcastle and other beers, but since I was driving and my daughter brought along a friend, I didn't drink any beer.

I found some great hiking places.

 

[3trQN]

I sat here mashing F5 & laughing like Dr Evil..

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I really didn't want to go out last night, saving up for stuff, but because PF was down and I had nothing better to do I did. I went to a beer festival where I found a delightfull golden hoppy ale that suited me fine. I left early to get a train, unfortunately the next train wasn't for an hour, so I went to get a taxi and was overcharged by 100% for some obscure reason(out of city tax or some nonsense, yeah like seven miles is worth double, *******) Frigging outrageous. I was going to say keep the change out of a tenner, since it was 12.50 though he was angling for a verbal rather than a tip, but since I tend to be rather placid and merry when inebriated I just paid and left. In other words it was fun, but it went sour and it's all PF's fault. I could of stayed in got inebriated on a good wine and saved myself 20 Earth pounds! Dammit!

Social interaction on a physical level is overrrated.

 

[ZapperZ]

I also visited some guys undernetphysics group on Yahoo.

Wow! You must have been REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bored!



Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

Nah, I was looking for signs of intelligent life.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Nah, I was looking for signs of intelligent life.

Whenever someone says they we're looking for some sort of intelectual experience. I always think of this song.

So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Try Tau Ceti-Gamma is my advice

Mind you it's only the news that gives me this impression. If you ask me PF is in another galaxy.

 

[alias25]

I cried :( looool. i was shocked!

 

[Moonbear]

Well, you were all deprived of my stories of the kitten I'm getting (I know, Cyrus will be SHOCKED), and I had to go to another site to get help naming her, so you've all been deprived of another kitten naming thread, and then I went shopping for her to get her all the necessities and plenty of non-necessities (Kitten TOYS!) and then Zz emailed me about all the cookies he was baking, so made me hungry for cookies, so I made some Tollhouse cookies too, which means between the two of us, we have a TON of cookies to share. And we're all blaming Greg for the weight gain.

 

[Astronuc]

It also came to my attention that NASA is preparing for STS-115 and the launch of Shuttle Endeavor in just 7 days!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

BTW - May I humbly recommend that people subscribe to PF. Only $25/yr. It costs money to host such a site, and a dedicated server can be fairly expensive. Then there is bandwidth to support a large number of users, especially where graphics is involved.

Support PF!

 

[Kalimaa23]

Well, I promise that if I start a PhD part of my first stipend will be spent on a subscription!

 

[alias25]

(does any have subscribtion to the 'astronomy now' magazine? my friend won the pic of the month on that :) happy for her...i think, wel she told me that a teacher told her that, he just entered her painting of the moon without asking her.)

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

I died a little bit inside ;)

 

[Mk]

What do you mean PF went down? I live in PF, and didn't notice anything. There was a strange lapse in time though...

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

What do you mean PF went down? I live in PF, and didn't notice anything. There was a strange lapse in time though...

Cool do you get to race round on light cycles and play weird games with frizbies, and can you see the mentors in their true forms? What's it like to drive one of those tanks they look neat? Just wondering? Are you trapped in their if so, will the mods ever let you out?

 

[Gagan A]

I completed my assignments faster than I usually do. But maybe it is because of the tests starting (and ending too, in 3 days) starting from next week.

 

[Lisa!]

Oh I was reading book and slept alot!

Wow! You must have been REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bored!



Zz.

Why did I think Zz never use smilies?

 

[Math Is Hard]

I took swing dance lessons, shampooed the carpet, read the book Mind Wide Open, and went back over some old C++ exercises and lecture notes.

Moonbear is getting a kitten!?

 

[Mattara]

I laid in featal position eating on my pillow hoping that the nightmare would soon be over.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonbear is getting a kitten!?

Yep, you were right, the right one would find me. This is what happens when PF is down and I get lonely, I start adopting furry creatures!

She's a little calico, dark orange and black, with a white face that's just a little yellow around her mouth so it looks like she's always getting her face into something dirty. Her eyes are sort of a blend of gold and green. She's one of the farm kittens I've been talking about. I hadn't expected any of them to be at all friendly when they were finally found since they're about to be weaned and are only now getting their first contact with people. I haven't seen all of the litter, but I saw her and her brother (they were the first two caught). Her brother is all scared, hisses when you try to pet him, then cowers into the corner, which is pretty much what I expected of all of them. They said the calico was hissing a bit too when she came in, but I reached into pick her up and she just was as happy as could be to be held and petted, and then she crawled up to my shoulder to get a better look around, and when I went to put her back down, that's when she cried and put up a fuss. Awww...how could I resist when she is so friendly and doesn't want to be put down? Of course, that was only for a moment, then she wandered off exploring the room. Besides, all the other good kitten homes have already adopted kittens from the last two litters. The rest of these are likely to wind up getting adopted by students, and that's never the best home for a cat (they're likely to wind up returning in the spring when they can't go home with the students).

Oh, and she's now named Ember. It suits her colors, and I think she's going to have a little fiery personality too. I'll post plenty of pictures when she comes home (she's not quite weaned yet, though Momma Cat is definitely looking ready to wean them...she's not being particularly tolerant of their nursing at all, so this week is it; and the vet has to get her all her shots...that's the nice thing about adopting a kitten that was found by a farm vet, you're guaranteed she'll have all her shots before taking her home).

 

[ZapperZ]

Yep, you were right, the right one would find me. This is what happens when PF is down and I get lonely, I start adopting furry creatures!

While most of us were having a breakdown while PF was gone, trust Moonbie to be having kittens instead!

:)

Zz.

 

[Evo]

While most of us were having a breakdown while PF was gone, trust Moonbie to be having kittens instead!

:)

Zz.

Greg doesn't realize the serious side affects of PF being down. I was so distraught I ate some tainted food and got food poisoning.

Moonbear, you didn't wait for us to name the kitten? Oh well, it's a great name though, can't wait for the kitten pictures.

 

[Moonbear]

While most of us were having a breakdown while PF was gone, trust Moonbie to be having kittens instead!

:)

Zz.

Sorry, Evo, I couldn't wait! I was just too excited to sit around thinking about names on my own, and what would I tell her when I see her tomorrow if she still didn't have a name? I went off to another site and asked for them to help with kitten names, and it just happened that one of the first few was Ember, and that just seems perfect in every way. They had a lot of other good suggestions too, but Ember really stuck. So, by the time PF came back, it was too late, the naming was done.

 

[Pyrrhus]

I was taking my finals... so PF being down was actually good .

 

[Astronuc]

Our first cat was a calico. She was an kitten of few months apparently abandoned with her siblings when some student just took off.

We named Pumpkin. She was mostly white underneath with white checks and chin, but on top she was black/dark grey, brown and orange.

 

[Moonbear]

The first cat I ever wanted was a calico. She was also a feral kitten born to one of the neighborhood strays when I was a kid. Like this one, she was the only one of the litter who was friendly and would come up to get petted. I begged and pleaded to adopt her since, in my mind, she had already adopted me, but my parents had them all picked up by Animal Control.

I've always had a fondness for calicos, I just think they are the prettiest cats. This one has another calico sister, but her sister is more gray, orange and white. (Then again, the vet is trying to convince me to take two...less to find homes for. )

 

[Evo]

The first cat I ever wanted was a calico. She was also a feral kitten born to one of the neighborhood strays when I was a kid. Like this one, she was the only one of the litter who was friendly and would come up to get petted. I begged and pleaded to adopt her since, in my mind, she had already adopted me, but my parents had them all picked up by Animal Control.

Noooo, that's a certain death sentence.

 

[Moonbear]

Noooo, that's a certain death sentence.

The rest of that litter was untouchable...they didn't just hiss, they tried to claw anyone who got near them, so they weren't going to ever be adoptable, but that one calico had a chance of being adoptable. The animal control officer we had then wasn't as heartless as most though. He would try to adopt out any animals that were friendly enough, but he didn't really have a lot of space to hold many for long if they didn't adopt out quickly.

 

[Math Is Hard]

That's wonderful, Moonbear. And I love the name you chose , even though you will find that you have 3-4 nicknames for her by the end of the 2nd year! I adore calicos. I have one of my own. I call her "my good fortune cat" since some cultures believe they are lucky.

Calicos are also interesting to me because the males of the breed are such a genetic rarity (essentially "Klinefelter Kitties" since they are XXY). You might enjoy reading Cats Are Not Peas: A Calico History of Genetics if you can get a hold of a copy.
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/10_00/cats_not_peas_review.php
It is written more for a layperson like me, so the genetics material will be old-hat to you, but I thought you might enjoy reading the baffled reactions she got from vets after presenting them with a male calico!

 

[Moonbear]

The research assistant at the farm said she had a male calico once. Pretty much guaranteed to be sterile. They are definitely a rarity.

I didn't know calicos were considered lucky. That's good to hear since I'm in the midst of grant writing! She'll definitely be allowed to sit on the keyboard if she's lucky.

3-4 nicknames, huh? I was intent on making sure I had a name for her before she came home, just so she didn't wind up with a name like, "Little Brat" or "Goofball."

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I've been really busy with work so I spent a good part of Saturday sleeping. Friday was a 19+ hour day.

I've only had about three days off in the last two months, however a few of those work days were about as easy as they come [right Moonbear? ].

 

[Mickey]

I don't remember. I think I blacked out.

 

[star.torturer]

when was this?

 

[Moonbear]

Ember is home! She's having a bit of a rough adjustment to suddenly leaving her brothers and sisters and being transported to a strange place, though seemed to calm down once I put out some food for her (she really tucked into that pretty good...I'm a little glad she came home hungry so the food could help her realize it's an okay place). I can't post pictures yet, because I can't move anywhere...she's lying on my stomach while I'm typing and looks like she just might fall asleep, which would be good for her. Or not...I think she's now thinking of helping me type.

 

[Moonbear]

Oh this is just too cute. She finally fell asleep in my lap and is kneading with her paws in her sleep!

 

[ZapperZ]

<ZapperZ sits back and waits for when Ember poops and pees for the first time>

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

Thanks, Zz! I'm kinda hoping she'll wake up needing to pee so I can show her the function of the litter box sooner than later.

 

[Janus]

During the down time I did this:

http://home.earthlink.net/~parvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/stein.jpg

No, I didn't drink, rather I rendered this with Pov-Ray on my computer.

 

[Math Is Hard]

That's really cool, Janus! Nice reflections!

 

[Moonbear]

Here she is! This is Ember.

http://img247.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img247/3114/1156216245jz1.smil

 

[nazzard]

Here she is! This is Ember.

http://img247.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img247/3114/1156216245jz1.smil

so cute!

And yes, you can tell her: "You are adorable! And you got some cool toys too!"

Edit: I've never seen this slideshow feature before, that's pretty handy.

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, she's not really very modest. She's still trying to insist she's the boss by hissing once in a while, but she's had a really rough day, so I won't tell her otherwise just yet.

 

[Math Is Hard]

awww, she's very cute! You have a real live tri-color http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/~mono93/cat/english/what_e.html" .

 

[Moonbear]

awww, she's very cute! You have a real live tri-color http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/~mono93/cat/english/what_e.html" .

Does that mean I need to get her a red collar? She had her left paw out, so that means she's inviting people? Aww...how sweet of her.

 

[Mickey]

when was this?

Maybe you blacked out too!

 

[Math Is Hard]

Does that mean I need to get her a red collar?

I think she would look precious in a red collar, especially if it had a tiny bell.

She had her left paw out, so that means she's inviting people? Aww...how sweet of her.

I guess you'll know if the doorbell starts ringing non-stop!

 

[Evo]

Moonbear she is absolutely adorable! I loved the slide show. (a star is born)

I can see why you fell in love with her.

 

[Astronuc]

Here she is! This is Ember.

She's still trying to insist she's the boss by hissing once in a while, . . .

Moonbear, that kitten is adorable. She is about the same size as our little Pumpkin was when we found her at our front door. Pumkin was always a small and slender cat - never much above 10 lbs. In contrast, we had to other cats were somewhat larger 13-18 lbs. The 18 pounder was a large tom, who had to loose weight (~3lbs) and ended up about 14-15 lbs.

Calicos are tempermental. Pumpkin would hiss once in awhile, and taking her to the vet was an ordeal. I had to hold her since she would not let anyone else near. I was called to the vet one time to retrieve Pumpkin from the cage. No one could get there hands in the cage because she would attack.

 

[hypatia]

I went raceing! Had way too much fun and ended up with a sun burned nose!