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Quirky Folk - February 2009

Brown-o and White-o go Through Puberty

February 26th 2009 21:00

Photo by Fir0002. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.



It was interesting to watch our ducklings go from tiny fluffy things who could fit in the palm of my hand into the large beautiful ducks they would later become.

Ducky puberty was the most fascinating part of this process. It was literally like watching a boy become a man.

The first thing we noticed was Brown-o and White-o getting larger. At the same time, their fluffy down gradually started to disappear. Their voices broke. When they were babies they would emit little high-pitched cheeps. Now the cheeps would end with a lower-pitched sound. Over time, the cheeps became quacks.

As ducklings, Brown-o and White-o had tiny wings, which they couldn’t do much with. Upon reaching puberty, the wings grew longer. To give you an idea what ducks look like when they are undergoing puberty, just check out the picture above. Notice the funny-looking bodies? They look half-duckling, half-duck.

To complete this biological process, Brown-o and White-o started growing feathers.

From memory, it took several weeks for our ducklings to become fully-grown ducks. My sister and I were amazed by how quickly this transformation took place. My sister wasn’t entirely pleased by what was happening in front of her eyes. To this day, she still wishes that ducks can remain palm-sized. Not only does she think they are cuter that way, they do smaller poos and therefore, are easier to take care of, and therefore, more landlord/lady-friendly.


My sister has a good point there: if you’ve ever seen how frequently ducks poo, you would understand why few landlords/ladies would allow tenants to keep them, especially in a unit.
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My Ex-Neighbour’s Contingency Plan

February 25th 2009 21:00


My ex-neighbour's beautiful jet-black Higgins


My ex-neighbour and I are no longer speaking, due to a disagreement we had several months ago. I naturally take this to mean I am no longer part of her contingency plan.

Being the owner of two Bombay cats, my ex-neighbour constantly worried about what to do if something ever happened to her and no one could care for her beloved cats, Higgins and Miggins. My ex-neighbour told me she always left a note lying on the table specifying what to do with Higgins and Miggins should she die.

Originally she was going to have them put down by her vet. Shocked by her plan, I suggested she donate them to an animal shelter but my neighbour thought that would be even worse for them. So I offered to take them in.

“What if your landlord objects?” she asked.

“Then my sister will take them in,” I said. “It would be a shame to have them put down when my sister and I can provide loving homes for them.”

Shortly after I moved, she gave me a copy of her contingency plan. On it, she had written down her relatives’ and vet’s contact details. She told to take good care of her cats and if I was unable to give them a good home, to contact her relatives and see if they were willing to take them in.

I thought it was wonderful she cared about her cats so much as to have a contingency plan in place. If only other pet owners could do the same thing.
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My Ex-Colleague’s Tabby Troubles

February 24th 2009 21:00


Someone I know is having whiney cat problems again. You would know this story. A few months ago one of my colleagues was complaining to me about his neighbour’s whiney cat. The neighbour would leave it in the hallway until she came home late at night. In the meantime, the cat would go around miaowing outside each unit, until it found someone who would feed it.

That someone turned out to be my colleague.

That was months ago. My colleague has since changed companies but he still keeps me posted on the cat situation. He and his girlfriend had been feeding this cat for several months until a few nights ago when he found it miaowing again outside his unit. He opened the door to find it lying there. He let it in and gave it some food but later on, it started miaowing again. Except this time, it wanted to be let out.

Annoyed, my ex-colleague opened the door and grabbed the water bowl and tipped water all over its head as it exited.

That made me think of a book I had bought a few weeks ago called Wet Cats. In one of the hundreds of photos of wet cats, there is one of a tabby called Floyd. Floyd is standing in the bathtub when a little boy throws some water over his head. Floyd sees the water coming and shuts his eyes. The element of surprise is quite funny and the same applies to my ex-colleague's tale. Still, I shouldn’t laugh as I doubt the cat would have appreciated the dunking.

Take a peek at some sample pages of Wet Cats at the link below:

Amazon link
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The Mysterious Cat Man

February 23rd 2009 21:00

Photo by CarlosTheDwarf. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


[ Click here to read more ]
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If I Was Married to Butterscotch

February 22nd 2009 21:00
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Stop Whining

February 19th 2009 21:00
I heard my colleague chuckling loudly from her cubicle one Friday. Mystified, I went over to her desk to see what she was laughing about. Then I saw this email:

Say after me ~~~~~~~~~

[ Click here to read more ]
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Photo by Lerdsuwa. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

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Gingersnap and Butterscotch asleep on Brett’s lounge

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Photo by Bastet78. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.


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Lisa’s Hesitation About Getting a Cat

February 15th 2009 21:00


Photo by Dcoetzee. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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An Unexpected Cat Lovers' Gathering

February 12th 2009 21:00


Riley and Lenny asleep outside Susannah Place Museum

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Recycling: Myth or Reality?

February 10th 2009 21:00


Photo by NekoJaNekoJa. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

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One Maudlin Book

February 9th 2009 21:00


It’s amazing the treasures you can uncover when you’re out shopping. I came across this book with the rather maudlin title of Grandma’s Dead: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals. Just as the title suggests, pictures of innocent-looking baby animals are juxtaposed with grim messages such as “You don’t matter” and “It’s syphilis”. The messages are printed on postcards – a perfect way for the coward to break the news to the poor recipient. Check it out at the link below:

[ Click here to read more ]
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Heat Wave

February 8th 2009 21:00
Given the recent heat wave, I truly empathise with this poor koala. I don’t get why people like summer so much? There is nothing comfortable about feeling hot and sticky every day. And just think of the poor animals like the one in the email that is being circulated in my office below…

How cute is this?

[ Click here to read more ]
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My Mum’s Kitty Litter Concerns

February 5th 2009 21:00
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More Gross School Experiments

February 4th 2009 21:00

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


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How to Tell if Your Feet Stink

February 3rd 2009 21:00
This email had me laughing hard as it reminded me of my sister’s smelly feet. She loves to wear sneakers and the lack of air circulation in them causes her feet to pong at the end of the day. She has had this problem for years, one day prompting my dad to declare to no one in particular, “Susan’s feet smell of cat p*ss.” This has become a family joke and I still like to say it to her whenever I notice her feet smelling.

How does my animal-averse dad know what cat p*ss smells like? Oh, that’s an easy one. There used to be a blue Persian cat who loved to kick up the soil in our front garden before going to the toilet there. I think she liked it because the soil was loose, light and sandy. It used to form clouds of dust whenever she kicked it. The problem was my parents liked to use that same patch of soil to grow vegetables. When my dad was doing the gardening he would notice the smell and complain about what a pest that cat was. I once took a whiff out of curiosity and yeah, the soil smelt pretty pungent – just like my sister’s feet whenever she takes her shoes off.

[ Click here to read more ]
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R.I.P. Snowflake

February 2nd 2009 21:00


Photo by Jack11 Poland. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Book of the Week: Wet Cats

February 1st 2009 21:00
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