Things that Go "ssssssss" in the Night

[rain_gryphon]

I saw Penguin-shaped humidifiers at the store. Unexpectedly, they're not from Japan. Steam comes out of the Penguin's beak, and it's like your room fills up with warm, humid Penguin breath.

I slept a lot with a humidifier (actually a vapourizer, but much the same thing) in my room as a child. It was black and aquamarine, and had a little dome on the top from which steam hissed. There was (as on most electical appliances of the era) a little orange neon pilot light. It made this sputtering, sizzling sound, like the radiator valves, when it was running. Underneath that you could hear the faint rumble of boiling water, and the buzz from the electrodes. I found the sound very relaxing and reassuring. That may be why I sleep so well now with background noise.

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I've found a way to use the laser pointer to make Flaster go backwards. If I shine it on his paws, then walk it up his foreleg, he starts to back up so as not to lose sight of the dot. It's much faster and easier to make the Qat go forward, but proves an entertaining challenge to back him across the room.

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I've found that Flaster seems to enjoy his food more (or at least eats more of it) if it's served off a plate rather than from a bowl. I don't know if perhaps it smells better that way, or if maybe the rim of the bowl tickles his whiskers.

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"How can the dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?" Reuters news agency quoted Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa as saying.

It's a pity there's not a Nobel Irony Prize.

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pawsie found this Qat-bathing and exercising machine:

Watch on YouTube

Whoever opens that door had best be wearing full armour.

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Al Unser involved in an highway accident. They've cited him for DUI, but as far as I know, he drives that way when he's sober too. Many years ago (early 90s) as I was leaving the Speedway on a practice day, he came blasting out 30th Street past the Coke lot in a black 911 and just flew (80mph, at least) through a tiny hole between my car and another missing each of us by about four inches. I've officially been blown off by Al Unser Jr.

Comments

[bluedeer.livejournal.com]

I know if =I= had been stuck in a little box and unable to get out, and suddenly the box started spraying water everywhere, =I'D= freak out just as much as that. Egad, that thing is cruel.

On the other hand, we used to wash our cats by hand and then we would put them in a device my dad built that we called a 'Cat Cooker'. Basically, it was a large box, with a grate flooring with a pair of heater fans with heating elements that blew up. The box was vented so they could breathe, it had a timer on it so we didn't leave them in it for long (auto shutoff), temperature control, and the cats seemed to love it. We'd put them in after giving them a bath, and they'd settle down and basically take a nap while getting dry. It was safe, humane, and nowhere NEAR as cruel as this thing.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I have to think the cat's not going to enjoy a bath, regardless. The bathing machine at least has the advantage of being quick about it.

I'm sure that was the first time he'd ever been put in there, too. The second trip to the cat bather is going to be the more interesting of the two.

[bluedeer.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I was thinking of "The Cell" in regards to this.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with it. The little jets in the floor remind me of this fountain plaza at Easton shopping centre. It's designed as a shortcut that you can take instead of going the long way around, but in summer jets of water now and again shoot up from ground...

[babsbunny.livejournal.com]

LOL! I love Flaster. :D

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Flaster's a sweet kitty :)

[maxgoof.livejournal.com]

Anyone who would bathe a cat that way is a coward. Blue Deer's cat drier, however, I can see where a cat would like that, especially after being wet.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I think it's signifigant that they don't show the door being opened, and the just-washed Qat being removed.

[rabbitboy.livejournal.com]

That video makes me smile, every time I see it.

I do want to see the "opening the door aferwards" part though. I think that'd make me smile too.

My parents still have a humidifier like what you describe, only it was black and yellow. Have had it since... sheesh, since I was a baby. Still works too. I used it for a little while when I was quasi-forced to move into their attic for a short time. Just two fat electrodes stuck down into the water, zapping away at the water for insto-boil action. I'm sure the same device today would be yanked from the market immediately for not being child and stupid adult proof.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I think seeing the door opened would inspire me to cruel laughter.

There's not a lot to break on the old humidifiers. The electrodes will eventually wear away, I'd imagine. That's about all I can see that would stop them working. Ours had the electrodes in a sort of isolation well, with a little hole in the bottom to let in makeup water, although I think that was for thermal efficiency (you're heating the little well, instead of the whole reservoir) as much as safety.