Balance of Power

Ever since we sent Tex to The Big House, the balance of power in our house has shifted completely to Basta. Another example unintended consequences.

Ever since we sent Tex to The Big House, the balance of power in our house has shifted completely to Basta. Poor Billie is getting chased all over the house, and the brawls erupt at random, so much so that we’ve had to shut Basta in the office at night, so we can sleep.

It wasn’t supposed to work this way.

The original goal was to give poor Cecil some peace. Tex would chase him at every opportunity, and it was making him crazy. Tex also made Billie unhappy, but the two of them left each other alone most of the time (with Billie slinking away whenever they found themselves in the same area).

We thought that if Tex were no longer in the house, Cecil would be left alone to enjoy his golden years, and Billie might get a chance to sleep on the bed with us at night.

As it happens, Cecil is getting more peace, and Billie is sleeping on the bed with us. That part of our plan worked.

What we didn’t realize is that crazy Tex was keeping Basta at bay, unintentionally protecting Billie by not allowing Basta to dominate in the bedroom. With Tex gone, there’s no one to keep Basta from roaming every room in the house, and chasing Billie whenever she can.

Unintended consequences. This is why fucking with complex systems usually leads to Bad Things…

Hang ’em All, You’ll Get the Guilty

Truly the only approach to discipline when your cats misbehave whilst you’re away.

Yesterday I got a call at work from Rochelle, who had just arrived home. “Your daughter has been a very bad girl.”

Uh, oh.

“What’s she done?”

“You’ll see.”

When I got home, I found a pound of powdered milk sprayed across the kitchen floor. Apparently a cat, in some sort of frenzy, had clawed at the plastic bag holding the powdered milk we buy to take baths in, and then knocked it onto the floor, where the bag burst.

No proof which cat did it. But Basta is the one with the plastic fetish…