Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for April 22, 2020

Uh oh, looks like Lupin is on the ceiling…

This is the best meeting, Man, are you kidding? More meetings should be like this!

(Also, good swording, Boy and Girl! Good antennae, too.)

“How many cats do you have?” Sounds a bit like my household. XD

Good to see Elvis is still needs to see some ID on the telecommuting intruders.

LOL! This is indeed the new norm!

I’ve noticed that many newscasters that are now broadcasting from home are “interrupted” by their pets! It’s great; I love it!

Aww, Goldie looks so contented! I wonder if she is particularly attached to the Man IRL?

So many expressions of cat moods in that last panel … From sweet and cuddly, to stuck to ceiling loony, and, of course, the classic “WHO THE HECK ARE YOU? YOU BETTER STAY IN THAT TINY BOX OR ELSE!!”

I love seeing Goldie snuggling with The Man!

1. I love that The Man is dressed just like Puck. 2. Pets and children crashing video meetings are pretty much the only thing getting me through right now. True story.

My small grad school went online in the middle of last month to cope with the coronavirus. At last week’s faculty meeting, courtesy of Zoom, two profs reported they’ve instituted an official time toward the end of each online class session for kids and pets to appear. This structure goes well as long as the kids and pets can’t reach the door handles. Needless to say, kids and pets are still making random appearances.

I’ll have to share today’s strip with them! :-)

Twenty-plus years of online meetings and classes with Tatiana the Cockatoo yelling “HELLO!!!” to the attendees!

And if ANY of the cats are anything like my little fuzzball, the normally simple option of “shutting the door” won’t work because then the meeting’d be serenaded by a Song Of Pure Misery From The Wrong Side Of The Door, With Optional Four Part Harmony. She’s made herself heard on a few learning from home work classes before!

(…I just had the mental image of one of the Boys or Goldie pulling out a tuning whistle for warm-ups before beginning the song…)

The more the merrier.

The gang still hasn’t disproved my belief that cats and toddlers are interchangeable.

There’s a BBC YouTube video of a female sportscaster who has a cat wandering around behind her, and it isn’t her cat. It came in through the second floor balcony door. I saw an article yesterday about this farm who is now renting out a minature donkey to spice up business video conferences. I mean a humorous surprise. Get your mind out of the gutter!

He doesn’t have any cats. They have him.

What are those wooden block like things in the boy’s hands? Are they building blocks? Lincoln logs? Do they still make Lincoln logs?

Any word from LadyKat and how Paul is doing.

Cute photo bomb!!!!!

Good one Georgia. Made me laugh and almost spit tea everywhere. I love the idea of them all crowding the camera.

Upside down Lupin TOE BEANS!

Sword wielding kids.

The proper answer to the conference man’s question is “There’s always room for more.”

Those who watched the reading yesterday on the youtube BCN channel will have seen the Girl with her pretty antennae as well as her fairy wings. At least I think they’re fairy ones. Perhaps insect?

If the Man is doing his tele-meeting on Zoom then Elvis might simply be making sure that his meeting is not getting hacked. Gotta love the kids and the felines all showing up at the same time with Lupin probably rocking to "Dancing on the Ceiling " by Lionel Ritchie!

Pucky in the last panel looks a lot like Albert A.Cat. He’s never happier than when perched on the shoulder of his Man.

That reminds me of Yum Yum putting her two cents’ worth in when I’m on the phone too long. I’m on the phone a lot these days.

OFF TOPIC: PAUL

Fellow orbsters, can I please ask for a boatload of good will for Paul? I had a teleconference with two doctors yesterday: there is a mass in his tongue and at the back of his throat, and a large spot on his lung. Biopsies will be done today or tomorrow to determine whether these are malignant. Thank you so much.

Read an article that stated something to the effect of all this work-from-home is going to change the whole genre. Kids and pets are a fact of life and if they interrupt, the person on the other side of the video is gonna hafta wear their patience hat. And, Bosses can’t expect work-from-home to have NO interruptions, after all, even in the office, there are plenty of things (and grown adults) that stop your work, so why should work-from-home be expected to be some sacrosant interruption-free zone. Gonna be INteresting to see how it plays out.

I think a lot of us can relate to this!

thats why im glad my dada is algic to cats and dogs

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Lupinium: Cat of Adventure, across the floor

I do the Cat dance don’t you know.

If I move too quick (oh meow)

Things fall down like a domino!

Queen Catshepsut the Golden: Thank you for the wonderful performance, Lupinium. Now, Royal Scribe, your report.

Elvis-Anum: Thank you, Your Majesty. I’ll start with my commerce report. In the bazaar…

Lupinium: All the bazaar cats by the Nile

They buy the kibble, you can bet!

Then take a nap (oh meow)

They find a sunbeam and don’t get wet!

Elvis-Anum: Perhaps I should start with my report on our foreign allies…

Lupinium: Foreign cats from all over say

(Meow, meow, meow)

Leap like an Egypt Cat!

Elvis-Anum: Stop it, you goof ball!

The Queen: We can get to your report in a minute. Now, Royal Seamstress, I see you have a lovely robe for me.

Maat-Tilda: Yes, your majesty. I am honored to present to you this fine linen robe.

The Queen: You have done a magnificent job adding those jewels, Maat-Tilda.

Maat-Tilda: Oh, they were just a few Bangles, Your Majesty.

The Bangles: Walk Like an Egyptian

“Climb ev’ry mountain … " – Rodgers & Hammerstein

Just got down from upstairs, locked the keyboard, oh boy!

Got to sit down, take a meetin’ on the ’cam

Imagination sets in, pretty soon I’m singin’

Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ thru my web cam

Lupin doin’ cartwheels, third day of my ordeals

Look at all the happy creatures gathered ’round my desk

Cannot use profanity in front of my cute family

Doo, doo, doo, meetin’ thru my web cam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aae_RHRptRg

Lookin’ Out My Back Door – Creedence Clearwater Revival

With my employer, people are usually happy to see pets/kids on the screen.

Okay, I haven’t much time before the cats see what I am doing. Since being home, they have been controlling and keeping me a prisoner….We better talk in code.

I am Daddy. The house is the Banana Patch. The cats are tiddlywinks. And rescue is pie.

Quick, let someone know that Daddy in the Banana Patch needs to get pie and saved from the tiddlywinks.

I have to go………………………………….

How many cats does he have? Well, the answer to that is obvious:

Not enough! :D

“Wow, man, how many cats do you have?”

It almost sounds like Sammy Davis, Jr. on the other end of that telemeeting … But HOW ??!! …

Next, if the guy sees the Robber Mice, he’ll ask if they’re part of The Rat Pack !! ;)

Georgia posted a picture of Goldie and Lupin keeping a safe distance from each other, though from the look on Goldie’s face I think she might want the spot on the nice fluffy blanket where Lupin is:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_RcW7oJ12P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Our weekly staff meetings currently feature “show off the pets” for the last few minutes.

Georgia, I must respectfully ask you to tell me where you hid the spycam in my dining room…

Heh. I do my telemeetings on the sofa. Taz often wanders past the back of my head or settles down behind me when I’m in a meeting.

I was on a teleconf last week, and in one of the participants’ video frame you could see the top of a vertical cat tail going back and forth while the cat was presumably walking on his desk; it was hugely adorable.

“I haven’t counted this morning. I’ll have to check with my wife.”

Love it

I was recording a video announcement for the school when my cat jumped in my lap and waved her tail in front of the camera. I then tried to get her to stay in place by petting her and making her part of the announcements, but she tied to flee and I had to hold her in place.

Today is Earth Day. It is also Jelly Bean Day. We should all celebrate by singing “Das Lied von Der Erde” while planting jelly beans. Who knows, in this crazy world, they might just sprout!

I’ve been using “I’m going to apologize in advance for any strange noises you might hear: I have two large and energetic cats” as an icebreaker on video calls to vendor representatives I don’t know. It works pretty well – one rep insisted on meeting the cats too, another chatted with me for a bit about his new puppy. I’m not good at phone calls so it’s ironically turned out easier for me to make video calls from home!

You can never have too many cats.

One of the best dates hubby and I have had since lockdown was watching Georgia’s Story Time yesterday while following along in our own copy of Take It Away Tommy.

OT. The Big Gray Kitty is healthy as a horse, whoops that is horse-cat. Vet said results didn’t reflect those of a 14 year young cat. So happy. He is conning me for more food, but she said to up his intake to try and stop it. Note to self don’t let him con you into more food than necessary. Thanks for all the notes. I read them to him, but he didn’t care, he just wanted more food. Happy Wednesday!

Fortunately, while telework features prominently in my office these days, we are able to get by with a minimum of teleconferencing, and no 2-way video. So I’m free to work in running shorts and a tee-shirt, with a cat on my lap, without distracting colleagues.

Well, at least Tusslemaina is over with and he doesn’t have to worry about Tommy, Bea, Sophie, Tabitha, Sir Figaro, or Burt coming in on the conference.

Forever typed as a cat hoarder, the man saw his career stall.

Goldie looks so happy. ~<3

O.T.

I’m a little jealous. My girls avoid me all day long. It’s day 35 at home and the first day Xiva came into the living room while I’m working.

OT: Has anyone heard from Maizing? I haven’t seen her post for a day or two …

As a survivor of many an unnecessary meeting (and the associated finding of “PowerPoint Poisoning”), I say seeing the occasional pet/child/significant other/roommate on the screen during the process is not a bad thing.

This was me every time we had a Medieval Latin online during the summer. The cats photobombed every session.

My roommate’s dog always seems to know when I’m doing an online meeting or class. She demonstrates this by coming up behind me and loudly lapping from her water dish whenever I turn my mike on to comment.

That meeting is cat-astrophic.

this morning I made chocolate chip muffins. my little brother immediately took one done to our dad, who was on a call. I went to tell him not to disturb our dad just in time to hear “can your daughter mail me some? those look pretty good”

I can see the future right now he has 4 but in the future he will have 6