Thursday, December 12, 2013

Brave

Friends, fame has been very tiring for me!  Here I am napping the Youth Department after all of the Baker & Taylor Cat Calendar excitement.  My library staff also made my Calendar cover the front of our 2013 library Christmas card, and I'm on the front page of the Friends of Thorntown Public Library, Inc. newsletter (again).  I have to take these frequent naps to preserve my Handsomeness for future photo shoots, you know?

ZZZzzzz. . . .zzzZZZZzzzz. . . ZZZzzzz
Now--long-time blog readers will know that my library is home to two big dead birds.  One is a juvenile (but still ginormous) Bald Eagle.  The second one is a Red-Tailed Hawk that was given to us by Ronald Johnson, the Boone County Conservation Officer.

These birds are sometimes almost as popular as I am!  There are children who go to the Upstairs when they visit the library just so they can see the Eagle and the Hawk (I'm sure they've already seen ME in the Youth Department, of course). 

Well, Mr. Johnson brought a new critter by yesterday.  Thank goodness it wasn't another dead bird.

Rrrowrrr!
This is Bob the Bobcat.  She was hit by a car (boo!) in Carroll County Indiana before becoming an attractive taxidermy display.  We have her under a glass case now, but AB Photographer took some pictures before we covered her up.  (The staff seem to think that little ones would want to pet her!)  Of course, I wanted to check her out to see if I thought she was worthy of library display:

*sniff sniff sniff*
I gave Bob a good sniffing.  See how I'm not the least bit afraid even though she's got her battle-face on?  My staff ladies sure thought I was one Brave mancat!

Here's another view of Bob.


I decided that Bob is no threat to my Librarycatdomhood and so may stay at the library for a month or so.  I am absolutely unimpressed with her bigness and ferociousness. 

The "Back of Disrespect" or the "Back of Trust"--which is it?
(Okay, I'm a little impressed.)

Thank you Boone County Conservation Officer Ronald Johnson for bringing another dead animal this beautiful Bobcat to my library.  Maybe I'll get to relax a bit while everyone is admiring Bob!

Exhausted purrs,

Tober

Saturday, November 30, 2013

The Year of Tober

Most of you humans out there (should) know that you get books from a library, right?

Well.  Have you ever wondered where the library gets its books?  My library gets a whole lot of books from Baker & Taylor.  They are a big-time book and entertainment distributor and they are very good at getting us books and movies and things super-fast.  They also have two cats as mascots.

Here are Baker and Taylor:


Baker and Taylor were Scottish fold cats who worked at the Douglas County Public Library before becoming international superstar mascots in 1988.  Their images continue to appear on Baker & Taylor marketing materials, and they are usually featured on Baker & Taylor's calendar.

This year B&T had a special Cat Calendar Contest in June.  Thankfully, June was back before AB Christine became a lazy bum, and she managed to take a whole 20 minutes out of her "busy" day to enter me in the contest. 

I was really excited to hear that I would be included in the 2014 Cat Calendar!

I wasn't quite expecting this, though:

I am gazing into your soul.
You guys.  I am a Cover-Cat!  Lookit this:

Click to biggify!
Too small?  Maybe this will help:

 
Guys.  I am on the front of 16,800 calendars!  All over the world, excited librarians are opening their eagerly-anticipated B&T calendars and seeing my gorgeous eyes and magnificent whiskers.  Probably fainting, too.

It's a good time to be a librarian--and a great time to be a Library Cover-Cat!

I'm on the BACK cover, too!


Here's the little "About Tober" box so you can read it better:


Our library's B&T sales consultant, Joan, made a special trip to the library to see me and take pictures and leave a few extra calendars for my staff.  (I thought there might be a scuffle over the couple that came in the mail.)  Joan was really happy because TWO Indiana cats made it into the calendar.  Uma (Miss August) was entered into the contest by Becca from Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library!

There are lots of nice-looking cats in the Baker & Taylor calendar, and I am honored to be the one chosen for the cover. 

It's obviously my whiskers.  They are pretty great whiskers.  Or my eyes.  Pools of molten gold.

Okay, I'd better wrap this up.  AB Christine is getting fussy and muttering something about a Big Head. 

My head is perfectly proportionate, thank-you-very-much. 

Maybe that's why I'm on the Cover.

Cover-Cat Purrs,

Tober

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Insult & Injury

Note:  This is a late post.  AB Traitor Christine was having "rotation issues" with her phone.  That's what she gets for putting me through all of what you'll read below.

Well, I went to the V-E-T today for my Annual Rear-end Stabbing.  I almost got lucky.  AAB Karen took a day off and left AB Christine in charge of taking me in, which was not a very smart thing to do.  AB Christine was all "La-de-dah, Tober's appointment is on Tuesday, La-de-dah, typity-type" and had no clue that I was supposed to be somewhere at 2:20pm.  It's extra funny because AAB Karen emailed her from HOME to remind her and she was all, "I got this" and still she forgot. 

So we got a call from the V-E-T office (they don't want to miss a chance to torment a cat) saying "Hey where is Tober?" and my posse rounded me up and away we went.

AB Christine drove (!) and AAB Britta hugged me.

So we got there thirty minutes late and I got weighed and Britta and Christine told the technician how awesome I am.  I don't have any lumps or bumps and I eat Good Life and I use the box and I most certainly do NOT scoot because gentleman-cats do not do such things. 

Then the technician said she had to ask extra questions this time around because I am--you won't believe this, guys--a "senior" cat.


A senior cat.

There's something off about that, though.  I looked up this nifty Cat-to-Human age chart.

This is worth Biggifying!

According to this chart and due to my Indoor-onlyness, I am forty-four (44) in Human years.

Here is your assignment, blog readers:  Go find a 44-year-old Human and offer her a Senior Discount.  Let me know what happens.

Anyhoo, I do not feel like a senior cat.  I am in my prime!  And it's how I feel that matters, right?

Then Dr. Jon examined me (which is very rude) and stabbed me in the rear-end while Christine laughed and took pictures and Britta felt sorry for me.



See me grabbing for the edge of the table?  Cats, that's a good move to use--one of these days it's going to work and I'll never have to go to the V-E-T again!  (Dogs, I'm not sure if your paws are flexy-bendy enough to accomplish the "counter grab" so you might want to experiment a little before trying it at the V-E-T.)

After the poking and prodding and staring into my eyeballs and earholes Dr. Jon's minion presented me with THIS:

Feline equivalent of an AARP mailing.
See all of that stuff?  Click to biggify the picture, or I suppose I can just tell you what you're "missing."  There's a whole stack of stuff on "senior" cat problems, none of which apply to me.  There's also a bag of enormous, stinky vitamins that AB Christine tried disguising as treats.  (I did not even come close to falling for that shenanigan.)

Oh, and don't forget the HOT PINK feline training device!  It's in Christine's drawer right now, but it was kind of fun seeing how well she's trained.  She throws it across the library, and I stare at her until she goes to pick it up.  So maybe I should call it a Human Training Device!

My library ladies say I should be Thankful that I have such a fantastic V-E-T office staff and I suppose they are right.  THANKS Dr. Jon and Thorntown Veterinary Clinic staff!  I was only sore for one (1) whole day.  They're definitely a great place to take your pets to be tortured treated.

My next post is going to be super-awesome!  Something special arrived in the mail today!

Healthy, prime-time purrs and vigorous headbutts,

Tober



Friday, October 18, 2013

Happy (slightly early) Finding Day to Me!

Today is the day we are celebrating FIVE WHOLE YEARS of my Librarycatdomhood!  (Finding Day is really tomorrow, so maybe we celebrate for two days now?)

My Finding Day is big news here at the library.  After all, how lucky are my employees to have a handsome orange Mancat for a Boss?  Here is the article on the front page of the Friends of Thorntown Public Library, Inc. newsletter, which has a circulation of 330.

Important words--biggify to read!

Actually, they goofed the "Boss" thing earlier this week.  More about that later.

As with all celebrations here at Thorntown Public Library, we must have cake.  These folks are the cake-eatingest bunch you're likely to find.  So, in honor of my Finding Day, we had a special cake:


That right there is a Kitty Litter Cake!  I thought everyone would be super-excited to dig in to my special cake, but for some reason everyone thought it looked yucky.  Trust me, it is nothing like my litter box, which is scooped faithfully and enthusiastically each and every day!

The Kitty Litter Cake was deemed okay, and everyone got to try and lump or two of it.  One lady was disappointed because she didn't get a special "deposit" in her portion!  Hee hee!

Here was my special Tober's Finding Day display at lunch.


You will notice that there is only one present on that table.  It's from AAB Becki, who also slaved away over my Kitty Litter Cake.  I really don't know what the other 11 staff people are here for.  Seriously.

The OcTOBER reading challenge is called Be a PAW-some Reader in honor of my Finding Month.  Children get to read books with the added bonus of submitting entries to win cool prizes.  Myrtle made a great display on the bulletin board.


I've had so many tummy rubs and hugs and pettings and treats today!  I even let complete strangers pet me!  (They were nice.)  AB Christine only interrupted my nap one time--usually she's a pest.

My Finding Day wish is for Everycat to find a fantastic Forever Home where they are loved and admired and fussed over.

Just not at my Library. This is a one cat only facility!

Oh---and just let me tell you about the Great Boss's Day Fiasco of 2013!

Boss's Day was October 16--two days ago--Wednesday.  I was very excited because it meant TWO me-centered celebrations in one week!  Fantastic, right?

Well, the staff here apparently got their wires crossed and thought that they should celebrate AB Christine's being "Boss" for some reason.  So they decorated her office with balloons (black, the color of sadness and misery) and made her a card.

Of course, she wasn't even HERE that day.  She was off doing stupid stuff like laundry and grocery shopping, and wasn't doing any Bossing at all!

She came into work on Thursday and saw her office.

Guys, it was kind of sad.  She got all excited like she got a promotion or something.  Maybe she got confused and thought she had been made Boss during her day off?  I don't know.  I felt bad and let her pet me a little extra yesterday.


I mean, just look at me.  My presence is so very Bossly--was there ever any doubt?

If anyone wants to try Kitty Litter Cake, we have half a pan here at 124 N Market Street in Thorntown, Indiana.  It's in the fridge in the kitchen, and we're open from 10-4 tomorrow!

Celebrating 5 years worth of headbutts,

Tober, BOSS

Saturday, October 5, 2013

My Q & A with Laura the Librarian

Hi everyone!  Here is my interview with Laura from the Kuopio City Library in Kuopio, Finland. 

FYI right now in Finland it is 49 degrees (Fahrenheit kind of degrees) and it is 9:51 pm at night.  Right now in Thorntown, Boone County, Indiana, USA it is 76 degrees (still Fahrenheit!) and it is 2:51 pm (well, 2:53 pm; AB Blog Helper is pokey about looking these things up).

I hope you enjoy the interview!

Q:  Tell us something about yourself.
A:  I hope you have enough space on your website for all of this!  Firstly, I am a very fit and handsome orange tabby Mancat.  I am approximately seven (7) years old.  When I was smaller (before I moved into the Library), my first set of people had my front toenails removed.  I still have a set on my back feets, though. 
My favorite treats in the world are whatever happens to be in Assistant Assistant Boss (AAB) Kathy’s desk drawer.  (She is our Children’s Librarian and has great taste in treats.)  I also love to eat gum wrappers (the paper kind), Post-It Notes, and Ethernet cables.
I also love tummy rubs and paw massages.  I’ll stop for now, because I’m sure you’re getting ready to ask me even more excellent questions.
Q:  You are a library cat, could you tell us more about how you became a library cat?
A:  I was Found by my AAB Karen on October 19, 2007.  She saw me sitting all by myself on the side of the road and decided I needed rescuing.
At first she tried to make me a House Cat.  She brought me to her house where she had a few other cats and two obnoxious weiner-dogs (some people call them Dachshunds, I think).  I hid under the bed since I didn’t feel like dealing with all of that commotion!  After a few days she decided that I wasn’t very happy, and she thought I might make an excellent Library Cat.  (She was the Library Boss, so she could make those decisions.) 
When I first became a Library Cat, I had to stay in one room all of the time.  It was terrible!  AAB Karen finally decided to let me have the whole Library to myself, and now I go wherever I want whenever I want.  Except the storage rooms and Archives, but those places are just full of junk anyways.
Q:  What kinds of qualities are required of a library cat?
A:  Well, a good Library Cat must be an excellent bug-hunter.  Sometimes bugs and wasps get in the Library, and it is my duty to kill and eat them.  A Library Cat must also be tolerant and put up with getting mauled by small children who haven’t learned how to properly pet a Cat yet.  This is the toughest part of the job, especially when the small children are noisy and squealy.  I also have to deal with my photo getting taken all of the time.  There’s nothing like being woken up from an afternoon nap by a camera-flash, or being photographed while taking a bath!
Q:  What does your typical working day consist of?
A:  At 5:59am I go to the door to meet AAB Ritchie, our custodian.  (If I get there a minute before he does, he thinks I’ve missed him all morning.)  When Ritchie comes in I flop over for my first tummy rub of the day, and then he gives me a few treats. 
At 8:00am AAB Becki comes in and brings me breakfast.  Breakfast is a big spoonful of soft food, and I like it best when there’s lots of gravy in the food!  I hang out downstairs in the library while the staff are arriving.  This maximizes the tummy rubs, treats, and pettings that I receive.  For my morning shift I pick a good soft chair on which to nap/supervise my Library.  If AAB Karen is around, I follow her for a while until she sits down and then I ignore her—AFTER I get more treats, of course!
Where I spend the middle of the day depends on who is working and where.  If AAB Kathy is in her office, I visit her and knock stuff off of her desk.  If AB Christine is working on something important on the computer, I make sure to go stomp on her keyboard.  If AAB Britta walks from one end of the library to the other, I flop down in front of her for a tummy rub.
I sit at on the Youth Circulation desk around 3:00pm.  That’s when the children come in after school.  The good part about sitting on that desk is that I can be admired by all of my visitors, but it’s also easy to get jjjuuuuusssttt out of reach of the really small noisy children! 
Around 3:30pm I make my rounds of the library to make sure no one has forgotten supper.  If AAB Becki is off work that day I have to work extra hard to remind staff to get supper for me.  AAB Becki gets my supper (another spoonful of soft food!) at 4:00pm and also scoops my litter box around that time, too. 
I try to spend the evening napping in sunpuddles.  When it’s dark out I move to the Youth Department circulation desk and nap in a nice pre-warmed chair.
I spend my nights patrolling the library.
Q:  In your opinion, what are the best things in the library?
A:  The very best things about my library are the people—both the employees and the library patrons who come in to visit!  My staff tries very hard to be helpful to everyone, and that’s easy to do when our visitors are so nice.
My second favorite thing is the abundance of Post-It Notes that staff leave unattended when they leave for the night.  YUM! 
I also like books.  Even though I don’t have toenails anymore, I like to stretch my paws on the books.
Q:  What is your most memorable experience as a library cat?
A:  Oh, wow—there are so many things I’ve gotten to do since becoming a Library Cat!  Let’s see.  I had my picture taken with Santa Clause my very first Christmas in the library.  I also got petted by an entire Kindergarten class—about 30 children petted me IN A ROW!  It was crazy!  A little boy once visited and read a book to me.  My staff arranged a treat taste-test for me—I got to sample 8 or 9 kinds of treats at one time!
The worst memorable experience is when a man put me Outside.  He did not know that I was an Indoors-only Library Cat.  He saw me in the library and put me out.  I came back in.  He put me out again. 
No one noticed anything amiss until AAB Britta and Christine came in to work at 11:00am and didn’t see me (they say HI to me first thing).  Everybody went looking for me, and they found me right next to the East door in the bushes.  I DID NOT like being Outside!
Q:  Have you ever heard of a country called Finland?
A:  Yes!  We have books about Finland at my Library!  I decided to do a little reading.  I learned that Finland is a Scandinavian country and that your winter lasts a lot longer than the one here in Indiana.  You have short, short days and long, long days, depending on the season.  I also read that Finns appreciate and use public libraries a lot, so you must be awfully smart.  Go, Finland!!! 
I learned that Kuopio is 4,469 miles (7,193 km) from Thorntown.  I don’t think I will be able to visit you since I’m kind of small and that’s a long way away.
Q:  In Finland, there are reading education assistance dogs in some libraries, but supposedly no library cats. What do you think of that?
I think that Kuopio City Library should lead the Library Cat Revolution!  We have lots of Reading Helper Dogs here in Indiana, though none that come to my Library (whew!).  But Library Cats are even more awesome because (a) we can live in the Library full-time, (b) we are better at managing staff, (c) we don’t bark and drool like dogs do, and (d) we have purr-fect personalities for library work! 
TA-DA!!!

Have good weekends, everybody!  I received my first Finding Day Card today, it was awesome!
Oh, and here's a picture:
 
Purrs,
Tober
 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Famous in Finland!

Guess what?!?

I'm famous in Finland now!  Laura from the Kuopio City Library in Finland interviewed me for her library's website.  She said that the library chooses a theme for each month of the year, and October's theme is CATS.

Well, that's a purrfect theme for OcTOBER, don't you think?

Laura asked some very good questions about how I became a Library Cat and what my most memorable experiences have been.  You can visit the Kuopio City Library website to see my interview.  I will post the English version here in a few days, but you can also let Google take a crack at translating it for you--it's kind of fun that way, 'cause you know Google doesn't always get things quite right!

I'm glad it's OcTOBER, because that means (a) Festival of the Turning Leaves/Book Sale/Carpet Cleaning/Mess Week is OVER and (b) it is time for our special Be A PAW-some Reader OcTOBER Reading Challenge!!!

Here is a picture for you.  It seems that there is a Tober Imposter lurking about, probably trying to weasel his way into MY Library.  About once a week A Concerned Citizen will rush into the library and tell staff that I am Outside.


Nope.  I don't do Outside.  Nope, nope, nope.  He is not friendly like I am, and he is a little skinnier and looks like he's up to no good.  He's welcome to nap in my flower beds, though.  He also drinks from my fountain sometimes.



Okay, AB Christine says she needs the computer so she can make the newsletter.  She seems to think she has "vacation" time coming.  Whatever.

Have good weeks, everybody!  I still owe you Creature Feature Part 3!

Purrs,

The One and Only Tober (Inside)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Creature Feature Part 2

We had a lot of strange animals in my library this summer.

Firstly we had those Ants and that stupid kitten back in June.  I really thought that would be the end of it, but NO, we invited more strange "guests" into the library for the Dig into Reading Summer Reading Kickoff.

The fine folks from ANIMALIA brought all sorts of weird critters into the library, much to the delight of children and grown-ups alike.  Oh, and one of the critters pooped, which is apparently a good thing for an animal program.

No one cheers and claps and giggles when I use my litter box, and I hope it stays that way.

Here are some of the animals that we got to learn about:

The first critter was a Weenie-dog, also known as a Dachshund.  AAB Karen has two of those things at home and I do not like them at all.

Mongoose the Dachshund
The second critter was a destinkified Skunk named Stoke.


The third pair of critters were Ferrets named Humboldt and Beluga.  They were really squirmy.


We got to meet Burrow the Prairie Dog, which isn't really a "dog" at all.  Burrow's whole life is a lie.  Poor Burrow.

Looks tasty.
The final critter that ANIMALIA presented was Sulcata, an African Spurred Tortoise who was ginormous.

FYI this is the Pooper.
The program was really fantastic and was enjoyed by all.  The ANIMALIA people did an excellent job teaching children and grown-ups about these neat digging animals.

Here's the thing, though.  There were EVEN MORE creatures in my library this summer!  I will tell you all about them in Creature Feature Part 3, which will be posted, you know, about a month after I say it will be posted.  I will keep on Blog Helper about her lack of Helping and see what we can do!

Oh, better let you see a Handsome Photo of ME, too, before I go:


Sunshiney Purrs,

Tober

PS Sulcata escaped from his enclosure near Thorntown a few weeks ago.  If  you live in Boone County or thereabouts and see what appears to be an enormous rock creeping through a field/along the side of the road/etc., please contact ANIMALIA.  They miss him!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Dots

AAB Kathy is working really really hard to prepare a new program for our small and medium-sized library visitors.  (These also tend to be the noisier visitors.)  She was inspired by AAB Britta's "Teen Crafternoon" program (which was probably ripped off from some other unsuspecting library, kind of like our 2011 Festival of the Turning Leaves float) to host a Crafternoon Jr.

One of AAB Kathy's crafts is a fall scene that requires lots of little paper dots for "leaves".  So she hole-punched and hole-punched and hole-punched until her paws were sore and put all of her dots in a little cup.

And left it on her desk.

For ME to find.

*nom nom nom*
I just had to investigate what was in that little cup. . . and I like to see things fall on the floor!  An accident happened when I did them both.

Whoops.
Since AAB Kathy was all mad and stuff, AAB Karen came in and picked up all of the little dots one by one.  (We couldn't use the sweeper because they were still needed for Crafternoon Jr.)

I don't know what everyone was so upset about.  It could have been glitter!

Here's the link if anyone wants to see the really cute craft that the children will be making.

Off to see what other interesting things I can find in staff offices,

Tober






Saturday, August 17, 2013

The End of the Long Summer

I have really missed you, Blogging Friends.  I've been on a bit of an unannounced hiatus, haven't I?  I have spoken with AB Christine about her crumminess as a Blog Helper, for all the good it will do.

We have had a super-busy summer at the library, and I will do my very best to get everything caught up!  BUT, I'm going to work in reverse, since we had a bit of a ruckus here last night.

SOMEONE (or someones) thought it would be a Good Idea to have *ahem* a Teddy Bear Sleepover at my library.  Yes.  My staff invited complete and total strangers to spend the night in my HOME. 

How would you like it if someone invited a bunch of people to stay in YOUR home without your consent?  Yeah, that's about how much I liked the idea.

Well, all of the little buggers got dropped of between 3pm and 6pm yesterday.  They had to wear ID bands ('cause the can't remember their own names?) and their children signed permission slips so they could stay the night.  Here's the whole gang:


Notice that I am not in the photo.  I was NOT ready for a sleepover.  I was ready to sleep, which is very hard to do when there are eight barely-supervised (I'm talking about you, AAB Kathy) Stuffies running loose in the building.  Especially that Scooby one--he was LOUD going up and down the stairs!

Anyhoo, Benny, Chloe, Dotters, Hershy, Jellycat, Lola, Sad Panda, and Scooby-Dooby stayed overnight in the library (for the most part).  There were all sorts of Illegal Library Shenanigans going on, and I have the evidence to prove it!  See a slideshow of their activities below.


I decided that the Teddy Bear Sleepover wasn't a terrible idea after all, though it did interrupt my Handsome Sleep a bit.  I'll have to take a few extra naps today to recover.  Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday--I can rest!

I hope you enjoyed our Teddy Bear Sleepover!  I'll try to upload some more pictures of ME next week.  AB Christine has a case of the Dumbs and can't seem to get any other photos to upload right now. 

I hope everyone is doing a-OK and has fantastic weekends!

Glad to be back in business,

Tober

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Happy Anniversary, Dr. Jon!

This month my tormenter V-E-T, Dr. Jon Culbertson, is celebrating 25 years of putting thermometers where thermometers shouldn't go.

Yay.

Once a year (and only once a year, if I'm lucky), my posse travels to the Thorntown Veterinary Clinic to make sure I'm healthy, trim, alert and responsive, and able to continue eating treats at an epic rate.  Dr. Jon gets to gaze into my remarkable eyes, look at my pearly-white teeth, pet my luxurious furs, and *ahem* look at my immaculately clean hindparts.

Then he stabs me in the butt with a ginormous needle and AAB Karen gives him money.

Here he is with his minions:


Well, "minions" might be a bit strong.  "Apprentice evildoers" maybe.  "Henchmen" (and "henchwomen").  Hmmm.  I'll work on the terminology.

Anyhoo, he's the one on the right. He's probably in the middle of an evil laugh.

My posse tells me that it really isn't that bad and that I couldn't possibly find a better, nicer group of people to do all of the rude things that Dr. Jon and his staff  do to me. 

Then I show them this picture:


This is almost exactly like my Thunderboomer Face, only my pupils aren't quite as biggified. 

Oh, geez, now AB Christine is accusing me of being melodramatic

FINE.

Dear Dr. Jon and TVC minions Staff,

Congratulations on 25 years of poking, prodding, and stabbing poor helpless animals.  You are very good at what you do.  Thanks for being an awesome V-E-T and keeping me nice and healthy!

Purrs and headbutts (and a bite if you come near me with a thermometer),

Tober

PS They put pictures of the "Pet of the Day" on their Facebook page.  It's kind of fun to look at.  All of the dogs are like "Hey, yay!  I'm at the Vet!  I have no idea what's getting ready to happen to me!  Yay!  I rode in a car today!  Yay!" and the cats look a little more, uh, apprehensive.  Yep, we know what's up.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Special Delivery

So this was on page 8 in the May 15 issue of Library Journal:


At first I was a little worried about the author's sanity.  I mean, why would any library lucky enough to have a cat send it away?  And what is Michael Kelley going to do with all of the cats that show up at his place?  After I read the article, I learned that they just want photos and stories--and boy oh boy, do I have lots of those!

Library Journal, for those of you who don't have a human who works in the library biz, is a magazine that shows up a couple of times a month.  As you can see in the picture, it makes a really nice place to sit.  It also has articles about libraries and books and library people and all of that stuff.  Edge-of-your seat reading, second only to Cat Fancy.  Lots of pictures, too!

Well, apparently the very wise Mr. Kelley has decided that LJ (that's snazzy-speak for Library Journal) needs to get with the program and feature some Library Cats.

I am composing my brief bio this week.

I hope LJ is ready to bask in the glow of my Awesomeness,

Tober

PS:  This Saturday, June 8, is our Summer Reading Kickoff Day!  Come by from 10:00am to noon and sign up for summer programs and enjoy snacks and activities!  At 10:30 am there will be a very special "Can You Dig It?" animal program presented by the fine folks from ANIMALIA.  Stop by and join in the fun!                                                

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Creature feature!

Hi guys!  Long time, no see!  You can blame my absence from the Internet on AB Christine.  Big surprise.  First she claimed excessive busy-ness, then she took Unauthorized Vacation, then she called the Library and said she had something called The Floo.  Meanwhile, I've been languishing away in the book return (which has been moved so that no books are returned on top of me).

Before all of the busy-ness and Vacationing and Floo, we had several interruptions in my library life.  It was absolutely horriblefying!

First, THIS showed up in the mail:


What could possibly be in that package?  Huh.  Let's open it.


Oh look--snacks!  The kind you can hunt down, then eat!  I gave them a few sniffs to see if they were high-quality ants or some generic off-brand.


Guess what?  They would have been really tasty. . . but these were "special" ants.  AAB Kathy ordered them to live in the library's Ant Farm this summer.  They're on display in the youth department if anyone's interested.  FYI all of the ants are girl ants, and all of them survived AB Christine's refrigeration (which included setting a timer, then leaving said timer in ANOTHER ROOM, then going "OH NO" and thawing the ants a few minutes too late, then realizing she wasn't ready for them yet, then re-refrigerating them while she inhaled more ant-sand, and finally dumping them into their new home).  These ladies must have some sort of ant superpowers to survive her "care."

Personally I don't know why we had to order them.  All we really have to do is drop a cracker on the tile and leave it overnight; then we would have an antstravaganza the next morning.

Here they are in their new home:



I was relieved that these "Live Creatures" were not soft, fluffy, and lovable.  I demand ALL of the attention around here, and I don't want some silly Ant Farm decreasing my daily allotment of pettings, treats, and tummy rubs.

Then something UNTHINKABLE happened.

Do you remember Not-Tober?  He was that funny-smelling, MY litterbox-using Imposter that my treacherous library staff made a big fuss over a couple years ago.  I was pretty mad about that incident, and rightfully so.  I fired almost all of my staff (except Kathy) because they all fell under his spell.

I re-hired them soon after because it's easier to scam treats out of multiple people each day.

Anyhow, I thought they learned their lessons.  Well.

Exhibit A:

Pig.
Exhibit B:

Lazy.

I would post more pictures of the rotten little thing, but I already know all of the human readers are "aawwwing" and "squeeing" and probably fainting with happiness over seeing such a tiny smelly kitten on my blog.  Okay, okay. . . AB Traitor Christine even took a MOVIE of the dumb kitten:


Notice how the silly little thing has NO sense of "personal space" and very little in the way of coordination.  NOT cat-like at all.  Very likely defective.

Thankfully someone stuffed it (i.e. placed it gently) in a (well-ventilated) cardboard box and took it (to a good) home at the end of the day.

Bossing is hard.

Purrs & Headbutts,

Tober

Friday, May 3, 2013

Hideout

I found a new place to snooze and escape the pressures of running a whole library All By Myself.

AB Christine seems to think I'm "living on the edge" because I choose to take my naps in this place.  (She can be so dramatic!)


Can you figure out where I am?  Whoever guesses right in the comments will get. . . um. . . to feel the thrill of victory!

Have peaceful, nap-filled weekends,

Tober

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Snack-time

Working in a Library as busy as mine can be very tiring, so we need Snacks to keep our energy up.

The problem with being a Cat is that I don't have thumbs, so it's hard to open drawers and treat-bags on my own.  Luckily I have helpful (and sometimes Not Terribly Bright) staff to open things for me.

AB Christine served up a pile of treats for me the other day, though it took her half a bag of carrots to realize that I might want a Snack, too.

*nom nom nom*
I ate my treats up really quick.  They are low-calorie Crispies, so I looked to see if any more might be offered.  (Also, AAB Karen wasn't working that day, which usually means treats are harder to come by.)

So I looked to my Right. . .

Let's see. . . any treats over here?
And I looked to the Left. . .

Any treats over there?
Hmmm. . . what's a Handsome, Intelligent, Thumbless Mancat to do?


*boop*

*nom nom nom*
Success!  Now maybe I can get some more Bossing done around here!

Purrs and productive headboops,

Tober

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Spring Cleaning

Today is a very thunderboomery day in Thorntown.  I have been staying very low to the ground (except when an AAB picks me up to cuddle), and I have even let some children comfort me! 

Aaaahhh.  Spring time in Indiana.

Here's a little "Spring cleaning" movie I made during happier, less-thunderboomery, Springier times:


If you need me, I'll be smooshed into a corner on the stairwell.  (That's where all the Brave Mancats hang out during storms.)

Nervous Purrs,

Tober

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Weed Killer

***Public Service Announcement***

If you have any weeds or other invasive plants in your yard or garden that you're having a hard time eradicating. . .

RIP Jade Plant.  You never had a chance.

. . . dig it up and send it to AB Christine.  She'll "take care" of it.

Thankful I'm not a plant,

Tober

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Tober, Cover-Cat

BIG NEWS!  

The Lebanon Reporter (that's our local newspaper) is reviving a local quarterly magazine, called B Magazine.  Guess who they selected to be on the cover of the very first issue???

Yep!


Look at me!  I'm on the cover of a real-for-real magazine!  AAB Karen got to be on the cover, too, since someone had to hold me up.  I think that the reporter took an excellent photo of the two of us together.  I am looking handsome and imposing, as usual, and Karen is smiling because, well, who WOULDN'T smile when holding such a handsome cat?  

Now, the article is well-written and overall very good, even if it does go on about Karen a bit more than it does about ME.  Hats off to Sara Lang for being a very hard worker and good writer.  I do have a few bones to pick with some folks around here, though.

Exhibit A:


Let me help, in case you don't feel like biggifying this picture.  It says, right there in black and white, that "Tober is jokingly referred to as the boss of the library."

JOKINGLY?  Who's joking?  I very seriously am the Boss! (For what it's worth, that second sentence is absolutely True.)

And then, I read this little tidbit, which I will call Exhibit B:


"He's a little spoiled. . ."  Do you see a problem with this statement?  Friends, I am not being properly spoiled--there must be opportunity for MORE spoiling.  Apparently my staff has been withholding treats and tummy rubs and gum wrappers and probably even spoiling techniques that I'm not even aware of yet!  

I'm working on a staff memo this afternoon.

Just "a little" spoiled,

Tober, BOSS