I had a bunch of quarters in my pocket. About six dollars worth, along with a couple of one dollar coins.
I pulled all the change out of my pocket and placed it on a desktop. I walked away.
A few minutes later, I went to grab the coins so I could bring them to my office and toss them in the coin jar.
One of the coins, quarter or dollar I can not say, was standing on its edge.
My hand was faster than my brain, so I grabbed all the quarters up, thus knocking down the standing coin. I was therefore unable to test the hypothesis that if you drop some coins somewhere and one stands on edge, you can hear people’s thoughts until the coin falls over.
I do remember hearing a static like sound that meant nothing. The only other creature in the house was the cat. So, that makes sense.
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The cat: “Am I hungry? I haven’t eaten in at least 20 minutes.. Long time. I’m hungry. Gotta eat. Is he going to feed me now? I’m hungry. Let’s lobby him again. Food! Is he going to feed me? My bowl is empty.. So’s my stomach. When do I get to eat again?”
Hey! Don’t dis the cat:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201302/how-smart-is-your-cat-1
We’ve all seen the video of a cat who saves a boy from a dog attack. And let’s not forget Nora the cat:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_(cat)
Personally, my last cat was quite chatty and regaled me with many fine tales and opinions on a variety of matters. I don’t know what he was talking about, but he was very responsive and definitely not static.
I do suspect that a lot of it was about lizards.
Thousands of years ago, they came out of the desert night to our granaries to feast upon the rodents eating the grain. It was, and is, and evermore shalt be, about food! And IIRC, it was the first and last time cats ever really did anything useful in exchange for the Whiskas.
The risk of being eaten in your sleep by pets is approximately 202.6 times as high for cat owners as for people who own other types of pets. Statistical fact. Cats are evil.
Get rid of your cats.
Evil. Morality attributed to cats dating from the Middle ages when they were tortured and ‘executed’ en masse.
If a house cat tries to eat me, I’m pretty sure I’ll wake up. Otherwise it probably won’t matter. In any case, things tend not to get out of hand if they’re treated properly. Same with dogs.
Food. Same with dogs. Btw, lizards, which I mentioned above, are part of a desert cat’s diet and supposedly taste like fish — which may help explain why they like tuna so much.
Anyway, if you think domesticated cats can’t bond with humans (or other animals), you don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course if you think companionship is useless…
———
Leonard: Okay, fine. Live with cats. Be like my Aunt Nancy. She had dozens of them. And do you know what happened after she died? They ate her.
Sheldon: You don’t have to sell me on cats, Leonard. I’m already a fan.
~ From the Big Bang Theory (Yes, I went there again.)
There’s an old Centauri curse: may you be nibbled to death by cats.
Obstreperous Applesauce @5: 🙂
I’ve never watched the Big Bang Theory, so the context of that little discussion is beyond me.
No, no, I was kidding. I love cats BUT – during the 12 years we had one, I developed a pretty solid cat allergy and now I cannot share a house with a cat. Which is a bit of a bummer, really.
BBD@3: Cats still hunt rodents, among other types of animals. And they have been known to present their kills to their humans.
OK, maybe you don’t think that’s terribly useful, but they do.
Just static eh? Wasn’t people unless they were trying to think. Based on conversations shouted in cell phone on college campuses, most calls involve location information. “I’m going downstairs now.” “I’m at the parking lot.” etc. and, like chimps, “Where are we going? What are we going to eat when we get there?” Oh, yes, and arguments.
The “static” was a cat joke.
IIRC the idea is that they are trying to encourage / teach *us* to hunt.
If only they knew how good we are at killing things.
Dean,
Sorry I tend to forget that others may not have those reruns playing in their heads.
Basically Sheldon is portrayed as a theoretical physicist with an odd take on the world because of his myriad psycological and social issues. In this instance he has gone off the rails and surrounded himself with cats. His response to Leonard is counter-intuitively but eminenently practical in a bent sort of way. He is completely oblivious to what Leonard thinks is a valid (emotional) point.
In the language of the show’s meta-humor, he has “subverted expectations.”
Sitcoms aside, if it helps you locate where I’m coming from, I guess you could say that I’m kind of a critter person with a broad fondness for natural history.
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/16/nyregion/campus-life-arizona-artists-take-up-pens-to-save-unusual-course.html
I’m willing to go into my take on the whole cat thing depending on how this thread goes.
Damn. The link in my comment at # 11 was for something else, and I meant to edit out the last line. I swear I’m losing my grip.
—–
BBD,
Got it!
🙂
#3, likely why the ancient Egyptian worshipped them as deities. They’re little land sharks, tailor-made for hunting vermin. But of course they’re a god, come to earth to save the granaries!
However this characteristic has become a liability in too many cases: they are one of the most destructive “invasive species”, responsible for the decline and near extinction of many indigenous birds and small animals in many places. They don’t even need to have become feral.
#9: Long ago, a landlady of mine had a ginger cat (of course named “Morris”) who liked? to hunt…
More than once I would depart for work in the early morning, only to be greeted by a dead mouse or rat on the front mat. However, his quarry weren’t just freshly killed and presented to us as a gift, or encouragement to hunt ourselves.
I’m convinced this cat wanted to go to medical school or something to become an anatomist. He would carefully “disassemble” the corpses into parts: arms, legs, head, pelt, each internal organ, removed and separated… But not bloody.
What made it especially weird was that he would arrange the parts on the mat, everything arrayed in uniformly-spaced rows and columns. No kidding.
Ah! I’d forgotten about that — and rubbing balloons on the cat…
Which brings to mind this other thing that people do:
http://stuffonmycat.com/
“I’m willing to go into my take on the whole cat thing depending on how this thread goes.”
No need (for me at least). It isn’t that I hate cats, I just am more than indifferent towards them. We had a few around the farm when I was a kid, but didn’t care for them then and have never had a hankering for them since.
Re the Big Bang: I’ve heard it’s good. It’s just that I don’t watch much television at all. Baseball, hockey (although both have been painful recently, since I prefer the Tigers and the Redwings), 3 regular shows, and the more than occasional (bad) monster movie on SCIFi. If I’m not busy with something here I prefer to be out roaming around, with dog or camera or both.
Yeah, I meant to delete that line about going into my take on cats. It was unnecessary and peculiar. Which I guess you could also say of just about anything on TV. I have a knack for wasting time.
However I do believe that a wee dram of aged, single malt scotch makes for time well spent!
Brainstorms #15
Mebbe the moggy was just saying: look, weird-eye idiot, I’ve unpicked this one for you – look at all the good and yummy shit there is in there. So stop wussing about and get some killing done like a proper cat!
“However I do believe that a wee dram of aged, single malt scotch makes for time well spent!”
Indeed
Everyone who is owned by a cat knows they like to toy with your fear response while they plot your sudden death. Ever notice how the more precarious your balance is the more your precious tabby will try winding itself around your legs? Not a coincidence – case closed (I have to go feed my cats)
As we pet owners know, “Dogs have masters; cats have servants.”
Excuse me, I’ve just been informed that I’m required to feed my little ones now…
BBD: “It was, and is, and evermore shalt be, about food!”
Indeed:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/watch/pet-nile-monitor-lizards-turn-owner-in-victim/vi-AAh1TEs
(I picked this link because of the lurid fakery of the picture…)