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Dudo and Moose have lived with us more than 11 years. They were 10 months old when they arrived. It’s taken a long time, but I finally have them trained. Now they only receive treats whenever they want them. They tell me I should be very proud. So I am.
The temporary fix of the plastic undercarriage on our Prius is no good. The corner of the undercarriage flaps at highway speed and scrapes the ground when we drive slowly over speed bumps. So, we’ll use the car as little as possible for the next two weeks until the permanent fix is done. I was stunned to learn that the permanent fix will be to strap down the undercarriage with plastic zip ties. Replacing the undercarriage is apparently exorbitantly expensive. It’s a common problem and the zip ties are the common solution. I’m disappointed in Toyota.
I dialled The Kid Brother Tuesday night for our video chat and got no answer. Frustrated, I turned back to my computer to connect to Skype and phone his landline. However, a video call immediately came in on my mobile. It was The Kid Brother! I was ecstatic. I told him how happy it made me that he was the one who called. I then asked him how he got his [damned] phone to work again. He said, “I paid the bill.” Note to self: When The Kid Brother tells you his [damned] phone isn’t working, ask him if he paid the [damned] bill.
We ended up having a lot of rain Thursday late in the day and into the night. It was heavy, steady, and lasted for hours. The wind was gusting at about 60 kph (37 mph). Although we had to take the screens out of the windows on the terrace and close the kitchen door, I thought it was glorious. It wasn’t so glorious in other parts of the country where Storm Aline caused dangerous flooding and serious damage from high winds.
I bought a pair of Skechers for my travels, soft and wide to accommodate the bunionette. They came with two sheets of tissue paper, which I of course gave to the cats. Moose was unimpressed. Dudo has already shredded one. The second is still floating around the living room — alongside Dudo’s skid marks, as you’ll see in the video.
Dudo y Moose han vivido con nosotros más de 11 años. Tenían 10 meses cuando llegaron. Ha tomado mucho tiempo, pero finalmente los entrené. Ahora sólo reciben aperetivos cuando quieran. Me dicen que debería estar muy orgulloso. Así que estoy.
La reparación temporal del chasis de plástico de nuestro Prius no sirve de nada. La esquina del tren de aterrizaje se agita a velocidad de autopista y raspa el suelo cuando conducimos lentamente sobre los badenes. Por lo tanto, usaremos el automóvil lo menos posible durante las próximas dos semanas hasta que se realice la reparación permanente. Me sorprendió saber que la solución permanente será sujetar el tren de aterrizaje con bridas de plástico. Reemplazar el tren de aterrizaje resulta aparentemente exorbitantemente caro. Es un problema común y las bridas son la solución común. Estoy decepcionado con Toyota.
Llamé a El Hermanito el martes por la noche para nuestra videoconferencia y no obtuve respuesta. Frustrado, volví a mi computadora para conectarme a Skype y llamar a su teléfono fijo. Sin embargo, inmediatamente entró una videollamada en mi móvil. ¡Era El Hermanito! Estaba extasiado. Le dije lo feliz que me hacía que fuera él quien llamara. Luego le pregunté cómo consiguió que su [maldito] teléfono volviera a funcionar. Él dijo: “Pagué la cuenta”. Nota personal: cuando El Hermanito te diga que su [maldito] teléfono no funciona, pregúntale si pagó la [maldita] factura.
Terminamos lloviendo mucho el jueves a última hora del día y hasta bien entrada la noche. Fue pesado, constante y duró horas. El viento soplaba a unos 60 kilómetros por hora (37 mph). Aunque tuvimos que quitar las mosquiteras de las ventanas de la terraza y cerrar la puerta de la cocina, me pareció glorioso. No fue tan glorioso en otras partes del país donde la tormenta Aline causó peligrosas inundaciones y graves daños por los fuertes vientos.
Compré un par de Skechers para mis viajes, suaves y anchos para acomodar el juanete. Venían con dos hojas de papel de seda que, por supuesto, les di a los gatos. Moose no quedó impresionado. Dudo ya ha destrozado uno. El segundo todavía está flotando en la sala de estar, junto a las marcas de derrape de Dudo, como verás en el video.
• Dudo se unió a mí para tomar una siesta la otra mañana.
• No hay descanso para los cansados. Dispuesto a despertarme para servir la próxima ronda de aperetivos. Esto pilló a Moose entre maullidos.
• La rosa del desierto esta mañana.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
The cats have such innocent faces, but evil lurks behind their matching green eyes. I’m disappointed in Toyota, too. Zip ties do not make a permanent fix. Now that I know what a bunion is, I’m afraid I have one on my right foot. Or maybe it’s a bunionette. It hurts.
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
If the bunion is on the side of the small toe, it’s a bunionette (aka Tailor’s bunion). I really am shocked by Toyota and the plastic undercarriage. And the Prius rides very low to the ground. NOT very practical.
It’s definitely a bunionette.
janiejunebug:
Yep.
Can we let the cats take over the world?
David:
Let? They say they don’t want to be in charge after the mess we created.
I love those gatos! And that desert rose, just lovely!!
tobyo:
Los gatos keep us busy. It’s been almost 8 months since the first desert rose started blooming. What a show.
LOL! Cats can be SO hilarious!
So can Kid Brothers!
Jim:
After opening and closing the terrace door 12 times last night because the cats couldn’t make up their minds, I realized The Kid Brother had been preparing me for this his entire life.
Not long after I bought my Toyota, my service guys warned me not to pull up too close and scrape the bottom of the front bumper on those concrete end pieces in parking stalls or on curbs. They said such scraping would eventually wear down and break the plastic clips holding on the undercarriage cover and it was very difficult to fix that, once done. So I’ve always been careful to park about 6 inches away from the end of stalls, curbs or wherever else I park. I betcha that’s what happened to your car. I don’t know if this is a problem unique to Toyotas or whether it’s good advice for other cars too. Every damn thing is made of plastic on cars these days.
I have a 2008 Toyota Rav4 and accidentally got too close to a high curb and scraped the undercarriage a few years ago. My son-in-law crawled under the car and put a couple of plastic zip ties on it. So far, so good. Knock on wood, fingers crossed, and all those other superstitious sayings to prevent disaster.
TexasTrailerParkTrash:
I might have to crawl under the car and see what I can do in the meantime. Argh!
Debra:
The Prius rides really low to the ground, which makes it even worse. A summer rental neighbor hit our car in the parking lot and did damage to that corner (no note of apology or insurance info left behind). I think that’s what did it. But the idea that this is such a common problem to have and the solution is either very expensive or very chintzy makes me not want another Prius. Our first one in the States, a 2004, was our all-time favorite car. The 2016 doesn’t measure up. And we’ve only got about 19,000km on it!
So amusing to watch a cat react to an inanimate object (like a piece of string or, as here, a piece of paper moving in the wind) as though it had a mind of its own – or even not moving when they think it should, Natural entertainers all!
Raybeard:
I try to get videos of Dudo going nuts with some toy or bag. But the minute he sees me with the camera, he stops what he’s doing (as he did in this video). He’s so easily entertained… and so am I.
I’d love to see more videos of them whenever poss. They always look as though they feel it’s their duty to keep the world in order.
Raybeard:
I’ll keep trying.
Ohhhhhhhh, my heavens, what fun! Thank you for the video. Chuckling away, here.
Beautiful desert rose and sky 🙂
Judy C:
I need hidden cameras. Dudo doesn’t like being recorded. (I wonder if he has a past he doesn’t want to catch up with him.)
Moose: “It’s tissue paper.”
Dudo: “IT’S TISSUE PAPER!!!!!!!!”
Bob:
You understand perfectly.
Anything that’s noisy and moves of its own accord is cat heaven! I love how Moose shrugs it all off. I am more Moose than Dudo, I think.
Steve:
I’m more Dudo than Moose.
That is great news, but you know those cats.. I think they have you into a false sense of security. They make you think you have them trained. But it’s all smoke and mirrors Mitchell, beware..
Mistress Borghese:
Oh, yeah. They’ve convinced me I’m in charge by LETTING me give them what they want when they want it.
I’m guessing the cats could handle the Prius without any problems. Train them, Mitchell, or have them train you.
Hugs.
Anon:
I should send the cats to deal with the Toyota dealership.
Duct tape time!!!
Ron:
I’ve read that’s a common temporary fix.
Cats are odd creatures – give them an innocuous object and they’ll behave like cheetah after a gazelle on the Savannah, then just give up, sit down and lick their arse like it’s the most natural thing in the world… Jx
Jon:
Our previous cats never left skid marks (one, though, did throw up every day). These two drive me crazy. We have a little pink spray bottle that works wonders.
Cats should come wrapped in tissue paper. Like shoes.
Walt the Fourth:
Can you imagine?!?
If you’ve shown videos of your cats before, I haven’t seen them. Nice to watch one in action.
Kirk:
I think I’ve made a few. I try to get them inaction but when they see the camera they stop what they’re doing. (The little shits.)
Hiya, Scoot! Good to see the boys. Isn’t trained cats an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp?
I see I’m back to anonymous again. Good grief, don’t comment for awhile and you’re all but forgotten! It’s Deedles.
Deedles!
I was just about to write you. I wondered if you were hibernating. So great to hear from you. Yes, trained cats is an oxymoron. At least that’s what I learned from military intelligence, and that’s my unbiased opinion.
Deedles:
And just so you know, if you write Scoot, I know it’s you.
I too had to guffaw a bit at the title. As Noel Coward said well darling you go on thinking that if it comforts you.
Urspo:
Noel Coward was such a wit.