My Keep Portland Weird Story from yesterday

Chris and I are walking down a residential street and we come across what looks like an elephant sculpture sitting at the curb. I take a picture, walk around the side, see it has wheels, and become even more curious. I step back and think, maybe it's for a parade or for camping. I walk around to the back where there is a small door and a window, where I then exclaim, "I am really curious about what this is!"

"IT'S MY HOUSE!" a voice bellows from within.

"It's a very cute house," I reply, stepping, but nearly falling backwards.

We scurry away.

      

Prozac™ and the Cat: A Bitter Battle

Cats, like humans, can suffer from anxiety or depression, but often these feelings manifest themselves in behaviors such as compulsive licking, aggression or litterbox neglect. If you find that your feline has exhibited such behaviors and physical causes such as parasites and allergies have been ruled out, it may be time to consider psychological causes. The ASPCA's Pet Behavior Database reveals that compulsive licking and other behaviors can be a result of changes in the cat's life: addition or subtraction of another pet or family member, moving, and home remodeling, to name a few. Pamela Perry, DVM, of the Cornell University Feline Health Center, notes that if your cat is seriously stressed, a form of temporary anti-anxiety drug therapy prescribed by your veterinarian may be in order. Veterinarians have taken to prescribing human-grade Fluoxetine (Prozac™) to felines as an off-label use to treating these symptoms. While this makes for an easily-obtainable and inexpensive treatment, due to its availability in generic form, there is one significant drawback to the pill, and that is its bitter flavor.


Hiding the flavor is extremely difficult. Compounding the medicine into a chicken- or tuna-flavored liquid to mix into food may not be enough to fool most cats. Hiding the pill inside a treat or pill putty can be effective if the treat is small enough and the cat swallows it whole. If the cat bites the treat, rest assured, it will most likely spit it out. Transdermal preparations are possible, but they are also expensive and research is inconclusive regarding absorption into the body. Furthermore, applying a transdermal preparation to the ear, even if ears are alternated from day to day, can still potentially cause irritation to the skin. The only practical solution may be to pill a cat or give him or her the compounded liquid directly. This article is not to instruct the techniques for pilling or dosing a cat; there are plenty of instructions available through doing searches. Rather, this is a discussion of a few additional hints to make easier, whatever method you may choose.

First, do not administer the pill or preparation during meal times. Kitty may start to lose trust in you if you are repeatedly fouling dinnertime with “poison.” Wait until the cat is settled into another activity, in perhaps an hour or more, before your attempt. Fluoxetine is known to cause poor appetite; making mealtimes unappealing and uncomfortable will only exacerbate the issue.

Second, do not administer the medicine in kitchen or wherever your cat’s bowls are placed. Again, the idea is to separate this activity from normal feeding sessions such that the cat will not associate something traumatic with an essential daily activity.

Third, do not dispense the medicine via any food or treat that he or she is already taking. If the cat refuses the tainted food or treat, it may not return to eating it when the food is not dosed. The distaste may remain a cat’s memory for some time. This is especially important if the cat is already being administered other medications via these routes or if the cat is on a special diet where switching food types may not be possible.

Treating your kitty's illness may be a challenge, and you may feel helpless when your pet is unwilling to cooperate in daily dosing. There are many options for administering your cat’s medication, and it may take much trial and error before finding out what works for the both of you. That said, the aforementioned suggestions can help smooth out the process, keep it from getting more complicated, and prevent resentment on the part of your cat.

Sweating Out the Heat in the Kitchen: Strategies for Summer Cooking

When the sun appears higher in the sky and the air around you becomes a veritable steam bake, it’s time to start thinking about cooler solutions for the kitchen. If cranking the air conditioning into overdrive or ordering carry-out leaves a bad taste in your mouth and wallet, and the usual cold soups and salads get start to get old, it’s time to explore some ideas for efficient cooking while surviving the summer heat.

Consider taking it outside, and that doesn’t just mean grilling or building a summer kitchen! Slow cookers can be set in a covered area outside while you’re working or sleeping. One of the most efficient appliances for cooking, a slow cooker simmers at a low temperature while the heat is contained under a glass lid. The lid provides the ability to view progress without disturbing the cooking process and releasing the contained heat. Slow cooking is a particularly effective method for roasting leaner, less-expensive cuts of meats that would otherwise lose moisture and be rendered tough by other methods of cooking. It is even possible to bake quick breads, muffins and the like in a slow cooker; there are special inserts for some cookers, but simply using a few balls of aluminum foil to raise the pan from the surface of the cooker interior will allow the heat to circulate more evenly.

With the small plates craze that has been popular in many restaurants, why not create your own quick tapas/meze meal at home? Set out plates of store-bought hummus, cheeses, olives, some good bread or crackers, and even summer sausage. Round it off with a classic green salad. Greek yogurt with honey and fruit for dessert make it perfect—as does a bottle of good wine.

If you’re willing to experiment with making some of the above tapas, instead of using store-bought products, try the following ideas. Marinate olives overnight in the refrigerator in oil, garlic and vinegar (red wine, balsamic, flavored or whatever suits your tastes). Take canned chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and lemon recipe for hummus and adapt it by substituting black beans for the chickpeas and lime for the lemon. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to try something new, substitute toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for the tahini.

Poaching a batch of salmon or flattened chicken breasts will come in handy later in the week for sandwiches, wraps or salads: cover in a skillet with water, seasoning and white wine, if you wish, and cook until it reaches a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat, keeping the pan tightly covered, and allow the meat to continue to cook in the broth for 20 minutes.

Another quick-cooking idea includes the egg, an economical staple often forgotten after breakfast. An omelet is good any time of the day, but substitute Asian-style vegetables for the filling, top with packaged gravy and frozen or premade rice and you’ve got egg foo yung in a pinch.

Beans are another often-overlooked fundamental food. Combine a can of white beans with tuna, olives, tomato, cucumber and dressing for a filling for a delicious wrap or the topping to a crisp salad. Requiring a little more prep work, homemade black bean veggie burgers can be whipped up in minutes by draining a can of black beans and combining it in a blender with oats for filler, along with spices and eggs for a binder. Shape into patties and lightly fry for a few minutes on each side.

One final solution worth mentioning is induction cooking. While an initially expensive investment—starting at around $125 or so, along with the potential cost of additional cookware—an induction cooker emits little heat energy from the unit itself. It operates by producing an electromagnetic field that generates heat within the cookware and transfers that heat to the food. This is far more efficient than conventional methods of cooking where generated heat is transferred from the unit to the cookware and then to the food, allowing for a loss of energy on the way. However, because the field is electromagnetic, only ferrous metals (cast iron, magnetic stainless) can be used on the cooker; you’ll need to consider the cost of purchasing additional cookware, if needed.

When summer heat leaves you wanting to get out of the kitchen, seek out some creative solutions to cooking. By incorporating one or more of these strategies, recipe suggestions or technologies, your kitchen will be cooler and your appetite sated.

  

Choosing Dinnerware for Your Needs

A typical, well-outfitted dining room has both casual dinnerware and formal china, but when space or monetary limitations come into play, one may be left making a choice amongst all the available types to suit all serving needs. This short article will examine dinnerware types that use traditional materials: china, porcelain, stoneware and glass.

Bone China is the most expensive of the types of dinnerware. Produced from clay containing bone ash, it has enduring beauty and is lightweight, yet durable. China is fired to an ivory color that is classic and elegant and perfect for formal place settings.

Porcelain, like China, is durable. However, its cost is less than that of Bone China and it can move between casual and formal place settings with greater ease. Porcelain is made from a white clay called kaolin that is twice-fired to vitrify, or turn into a glasslike material, at over 1300 degrees. Its main drawback that colors and patterns often lack the vibrancy that can be characteristic of a casual setting. Adding more colorful pieces made of other materials can make for an informal, but festive table setting.

Stoneware is cheap, colorful and widely available. It is singly-fired at a lower temperature and lacks the glasslike elegance of porcelain. But don’t let this be a deterrent: the often vibrant hues available lend a fun feel that makes the meal all the more enjoyable. Stock up on a few extra pieces, however, or be prepared to mix and match; stoneware can chip or break easily when coming into contact with harder surfaces.

Glass is another inexpensive option. Usually it is colorless, but colored pieces are available. It is durable, but may not add the punch to your place setting that an opaque and colorful piece of dinnerware may.

Laminated glass is an alternative to regular glass with which you may be familiar. It’s made primarily by one American company and is known for its unbreakable quality. Inexpensive, durable and lightweight, it is a good option for those starting out or the college student who may be moving back and forth from home. The most significant drawback of laminated glass, however is that it can look “fake” compared to the natural richness of other materials because it is coated. There are also a limited number of patterns due to this product being made by a single manufacturer.

With so many options, it may be difficult to narrow down one’s needs for the setting the table. In some cases, adding a few pieces from another category of materials may be the way to bring some elegance or cheer to the setting.

The Ultimate Easy Cat Scratcher

While some cats like to scratch at cardboard floor scratchers, others like to stretch out and give a reach at something higher up. You need not purchase an expensive piece of cat furniture to meet your pet’s needs. Instead, consider this budget-friendly jute scratcher that will hang on the wall inconspicuously.

Purchase a roll of jute rope for around $10 at your local hardware store or DIY center. You’ll need a length of board around 5-8” wide and around 24” long. If you’re off by a few inches on the length, don’t worry; the hanging height can be adjusted to be high enough. The goal is to do this project on the cheap. If you have a perfectly good board lying around that needs to be used, use it. You’ll also need a few pieces of hardware: a handful of fence staples or heavy-duty staples and a staple gun, two small “L” brackets, and a few screws. Tools include a hammer and screwdriver.

Begin by wrapping the rope around the top of the board and staple to hold in place. Now, wrap the rope around the board until you reach the bottom of the board. If you have a few inches or feet left over, try and push the wrapped rope towards the top of the board to make room for the leftover rope. Now, hammer a fence staple or staple in a heavy-duty staple every few inches, alternating on either side, to keep the rope from sliding around and exposing the wood. Fasten the end of the rope to the board, covering it with the last piece of rope wrapped around the board. Hopefully you won’t have much rope left over, or if you’re lucky, none at all!

Attach the board at cat-scratching height. With a cooperative cat, stretch her paws out as she stands. Make sure there is a significant amount of board left past that point—never underestimate how far a cat can stretch. Attach L-brackets at either end of the board and mount on the wall in an inconspicuous or out-of-the way location. You should preferably mount to a stud in the wall for maximum stability. However, if you do not have a stud available, toggle bolts should provide anchoring power enough to resist any pull from your average, or even above averaged-sized cat.

  

Technology and the Traveling Library in the New Millennium

In April 1905, Hagerstown, Maryland, librarian Mary Titcomb decided, “the book goes to the man, not waiting for the man to come to the book.” She packed a wagon full with volumes, put the library janitor at the reins, and embarked on what would be the first bookmobile tour. At first, the public was a little leery—the unusual wagon confused rural citizens, who mistook it for, among other things, the “dead wagon.” Titcomb then painted the wheels and doors a cheery red, and from that point on, the book wagon gave life to the communities it served. Within six months, her meticulous records indicated 1,008 volumes had been distributed to rural families via the wagon, which traveled an average of thirty miles per day.

For five years, Titcomb’s mobile library moved across the county with relative ease. However, in 1910, a collision with a freight train ended the original book wagon’s run.  While the driver and the horses survived, the wagon was damaged beyond repair and the traveling library was put on hiatus for a year. When another $2500 was found a year later, the book wagon’s successor was put into service. However, it had an engine.

If one were able to step into a time machine at that time and travel one hundred years later, one might be surprised to learn that the traditional bookmobile still exists, given the amount of “virtual” technology available now. Yet the traditional bookmobile still travels into the community, though its horses have been replaced with horsepower and it carries substantially more materials. What is even more impressive is the way these more current “virtual” technologies have been incorporated into the mobile library in order to serve the needs of a given population. The Memphis/Shelby County Public Library System in Tennessee, for instance, declared the traditional bookmobile format “all but dead” until it was revamped and updated. In 1999, the InfoBUS was put on the road with traditional materials, as well as four Internet-accessible terminals in the form of notebook computers.  Notebook computers would not only allow Internet use and training classes to be performed within the bus, but could also be removed and taken into a facility for a presentation or removed from the vehicle as a security measure.

Taking a look at a library system on the other side of the country, one finds another fleet of traveling libraries serving a different population, namely, the senior citizen. King County Library System in Issaquah, Washington, found its senior population tripled between 1990 and 2000, going from an elderly population of 31,405 to 113,965 within ten years, according to the US census.  Traveling Library Services (TLC) made its debut in 1979, but more recently the county added Techlab, a smaller, technology-focused information center on wheels, that visits low-income housing projects, senior centers, rehab centers and hospitals across the county. Between 1999 and 2004, it served over 10,000 people, 95 percent of which were seniors. The Techlab bus is equipped with eight laptop computer workstations, a full productivity software suite, broadband Internet access, and a screen projector for group instruction. The Techlab service offers courses in computer and Internet basics, word processing and spreadsheets.

Meeting the needs of an underserved community in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, meant adapting new technologies to their traditional bookmobile services. While bringing books and story times with their bookmobile like any other mobile library, the bookmobile staff would also unfurl carpets and put out tables to create an impromptu Internet café for patrons. Children could play online games, adults would check their email, and teens could frequent social networking sites. Once the program is completed, the staff packs everything up and heads off to another neighborhood.

While traditional libraries provide the familiar bookmobile service, a different type of organization is providing books on demand. In 2002, Brewster Kahle of The Internet Archive began driving around San Francisco in his Internet Bookmobile, a secondhand Ford Aerostar van equipped with a satellite dish and an on-demand printing system.  Kahle would go from neighborhood to neighborhood, his van advertising, “Bookmobile ... Print Your Own Book ... 1,000,000 Books inside (soon) ... archive.org.” Inside the van were a laptop computer, a binding machine and a guillotine paper cutter.  Kahle would download the file for the book, which was in the public domain, and bind the book immediately at a cost to him of approximately $1.00-3.00, depending on the size of the book and whether it contained color printing. The technology employed for the printing made it possible to print a professional-quality book within minutes. Kahle’s printer turned out about twenty pages per minute. The printed material was then placed inside a cover and bound using a device that heats the glue applied to the spine of the pages. The binding process was especially well received by children, who were eager to be part of the bookmaking process.

In a similar vein, the Digital Bookmobile tours America as a supplement to the library’s outreach efforts. Libraries host the bookmobile to distribute eBooks, audio books, music and video. The 74-foot tractor-trailer is equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, sound systems, and a variety of portable media players. OverDrive, Inc., the Digital Bookmobile’s founding company, has partnered with over 7,500 public libraries to promote that host library’s digital media collection and ‘Virtual Branch’ download website. Within a year of its tour beginning in 2008, the Digital Bookmobile has traveled 18,000 miles and hosted more than 150 events with 25,000 library patrons in twenty-eight states and Canadian provinces.

Even special libraries have had their opportunity to contribute to the ongoing tradition of the bookmobile. In 2001, The International Council of Nurses (ICN) formed a partnership with the Merck Foundation and Elsevier Science, a publisher of scientific reference textbooks, to initiate the ICN Mobile Library, which would bring the most up-to-date knowledge to health workers in developing countries. The project was modeled after the World Health Organization (WHO) Blue Trunk Libraries, a transportable book collection of 100 health texts written for various levels of practitioners which could also be customized for local health concerns. Each ICN Mobile Library consists of about 80 texts, including books, manuals, fact sheets and selected training units. Topics include medical knowledge related to maternal health, HIV/AIDS and sexual transmitted diseases, child health, surgery and anaesthesia, as well as practical knowledge, such as refrigerator maintenance and how to manage supply stores.  While the library itself does not employ impressive digital technology such as wireless Internet services or e-books, it does use current protective technologies that enable it to be resistant to moisture, insects and hard knocks indicative of difficult conditions in developing nations.  By 2005, the library had brought materials to health workers in rural communities in Ethopia, India, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia and Ghana.

The bookmobile first made its mark over a hundred years ago by bringing reading materials from the library to rural farm families in Maryland via a horse and wagon.  Mary Titcomb had a vision that grew from sending books in boxes to the general stores and post offices in small towns and villages to taking the library in abbreviated form directly to the patron. Over a century later, the traveling library is still charting a path and adapts for the community it serves. It may even fall outside the domain of the public library. Using the bookmobile concept, librarians and other organizations can adapt mobile library services.  With an open, flexible design like this, surely it will be on the road come another hundred years.

For more information on some of the projects mentioned, visit these web sites:

http://www.internetarchive.org

http://www.digitalbookmobile.com 

http://www.who.int/ghl/mobile_libraries/bluetrunk/en/index.html