Monday, February 22, 2010

End of an era


Since about 1979, we have had cable television.

For decades we were Time-Warner subscribers and ultimately also purchased telephone service from the company. The phone portion was unreliable and motivated us to look for a different supplier.

About three months ago we switched to AT&T Uverse. The telephone service is excellent but, in general, cable television is poor and getting worse. CNN isn't what it used to be and Court TV hardly exists. The endless right- or left-wing squabbles that make up a lot of prime-time programming on FOX, CNBC, and other stations along with an endless litany of programs about crimes, aren't worth watching.

About two weeks ago, I bought a small, butterfly indoor antenna from Radio Shack (see photo) and was amazed by the quality of the signal we receive free through the air. The antenna cost about $5.00 and produces better high definition TV than what we received from the cable. Evidently, cable companies compress HD images, reducing clairity, before sending them down the line. My neighbor, Larry, said this butterfly is all that is necessary to receive signals in a Milwaukee suburb from broadcast antennas about ten miles away. He is right, and as a result, we canceled our cable last Friday.

For the little TV we watch, that diminutive butterfly is all we need. Another factor naturally is the reality that we are now getting most of our news online or through our iphones. There is also plenty of television to view online, both archived and new and we have our computers hooked up to our TVs so the picture is more than acceptable, too.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Training cats and other animals

Dolphins jump out of the water and pass through hoops; then they dance across the surface on their tails. Then, usually, a trainer offers praise and a fish treat. This is how training generally works.

Intermittent reinforcement is stronger than constant but regardless of how often a reward is offered it has to be something the animal--in the case of scratching, cats--will perform for.

Try different store-bought treats with you cat or, if your gal or guy is fussy, try different table scraps. For example, small pieces of bread or vegetables. The range of foods customers have told me their cats love is astonishing. All cats crave some sort of treat, it's just a matter of isolating which...

This done, training a cat to do what you want it to and to avoid doing what you don't want it to becomes pretty easy.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Leo In The Center


All cats are amazing and no two are alike. Our white cat, Leo, though has a number of particularly endearing characteristics. First, he is affectionate well beyond the norm.

Second, he is not shy. He enjoys visitors and is especially fond of service workers who stop by to repair things ranging from the plumbing to the furnace. He's always happy to hang around and watch whatever they're up to.

Third, Leo also likes to be the center of attention. Recently I took the attached photo to accompany a Craig's List posting to give away a TV that no longer worked and would be too expensive to repair. As I was lining up the shot, Leo jumped on top of the set.

I posted the picture with him in it and added the note, "cat not included" with the free TV.

Leo might have helped because within an hour, I received an e-mail from a man who visited yesterday and picked up the set.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Kitty Treats And Catnip

Soon I will be adding kitty treats and catnip to naturalscratch.com. Both come in handy when training cats, so it makes sense to offer them to customers.

The catnip grows wild in Wisconsin, and I purchased it from a nice lady who harvests it during the warm months.

A business based in California named Full Petential offers the kitty treats I will sell at naturalscratch.com. One of them, Purr Fish, is greatly loved by our three cats. A good sign that they will appeal to most feline palates.