Fall is Overrated

 Fall is here, and all my coworkers have become ecstatic.  A little bat-wing crazy, if you ask me (which no one does).  For example: 

• Pumpkins are literally everywhere.  (Why is there an obsession with a round, orange, vegetable?)
• Spooky decorations are in the Youth Department that I have to live with for a month.  
• And don't get me started on the motion-activated decorations. 

(Those can actually be funny.  Newbie Lillian walked by the singing skeleton five times the other day, and every single time she jumped and yelled "Oh geez!".  You would think that after the 3rd time, she would remember that the skeleton was there.)

Part of the craziness of fall always happens during the Thorntown Turning of the Leaves Festival.  The library staff ran around trying to make a parade float that was bigger and better than the year before.  Which really meant that Barb and Christine ran around convincing people to help them with their crazy ideas that take weeks to plan out.  

And in the middle of all that they decided to throw all the furniture on top of things so the carpet could be cleaned.  And then there was nowhere comfy for me to sit all weekend while everyone else was out enjoying the festival.  :( 

This year for the festival they made a pirate ship called the "Golden Tabby" to go along with the Festival theme of "Go for the Gold".  I like to think that I was the main inspiration for this idea since it was practically named after me, and a skinnier better-looking version of me was also on the front of the ship.  I'd especially like to take credit for this idea since it won first place for originality.  

The Unofficial Chance Mascot

The staff forgot one important thing though.  You'd think that in creating a parade float for the library, they would think to put the library's name or logo or some sort of identifier on it.  But nope.  Only when they were on the parade route and people kept saying "Who are they??" did they realize the error.  

Oh well.  At least they remembered to include me.  Important things first.   

The Golden Tabby

So anyways, fall is overrated.  And a little crazy.  And definitely over-hyped.  But at least its not summer reading crazy.  And now I can actually get back into my routine of taking a nap in the youth department during the day again without grabby hands disturbing my sleep.  

Currently avoiding the motion-activated ghost,

Chance

Everyone Blames the Cat

 No one respects cats these days.  Forget blaming it on the dog- for some reason, humans have changed their minds (as they frequently do) on dogs being the main makers of mischief and have started blaming it on the cat.  As if.  

My fellow feline friends, if you have mistakenly been given the blame by one of your human employees, rest assured that in reality, IT IS THE HUMANS FAULT. 

I recently became friends with a fellow library cat named Mr. Kitty, from Noble County Public Library.  Mr. Kitty and I bonded due to a *situation* in which his reputation was at stake.  

As it turns out, a vase full of water was mistakenly knocked into a bin full of books belonging to other libraries.  The blame was placed on none other than Mr. Kitty.  To make up for the damaged books, the staff at NCPL sent an apology note on behalf of Mr. Kitty.  

The apology 

The apology reads as follows:  

To the Circulation dept. 

The item we are returning to your library was the unfortunate victim of water damage by our library cat. 

There was a vase of flowers next to the crate of books that were ready to be checked in and he felt that the vase, flowers and water belonged in said crate. 

This was not at the hands of any patrons, we apologize.  Please bill our library, if needed.  

Thank  you,

Noble County Public Library

And the unrepentant culprit

To which I sent back a letter:  

Which reads as follows: 

Dear Mr. Kitty,

I wanted to let you know that your staff have (I believe) falsely accused you of damaging a library book.  They made up some cockamamie story about a vase of flowers and a crate of books blah blah blah whatever.  

My staff received the book and accusation letter and have decided not to bill your library.  My fear is that the replacement cost of the book would come out of your treat and/or catnip budget, which really would be criminal.  (And we don't need more banjo players running around, after all, so whoever actually soiled the book has done the world a favor.  You can let them know that.)

I hope you are having a nice summer and are not overwhelmed by an overabundance of noisy, smelly, grabby children.  They are nice in small doses, but yikes!  they are coming to my library in droves.  (I find it best to visit the youth staff in the morning, when it is quieter.)

Never apologize for your cattitude.  

Headbumps, 

Chance

The whole thing inspired Mr. Kitty to write his own blog post, which I am in full support of.  The more cats can fill the internet with our insight and wisdom, the more the world will become a better place. 

And maybe humans will finally understand that it's time to stop blaming the cat.  We all know the dog did it.  

Chance

Summer Sun

 Summer is about to be in full swing and you know what that means- longer days, and more sunshine.  Which means more sun puddles.  Which means lots more sunbathing and sun-napping.  

I started off the summer by finding a giant sun puddle.  But of course, it was right where I was NOT supposed to be taking a nap.  The best spots are always in the off-limits places.  This particular spot happened to be at the end of the hall outside the meeting rooms.  Technically, I'm not not allowed to be in the hall.  I'm just usually shooed out of the hall as soon as I step foot into it.  

This was a particularly large sun puddle at the end of the hall.  So I used all my sneaky cat powers to tiptoe my way to the end of the hall (which was particularly difficult due to a bell someone attached to my collar), and slipped straight into the sun puddle.  

It was pure sunshine bliss until the paparazzi found me and started all the photography nonsense.  Can't a cat enjoy his sunshine in peace?  

Eventually someone discovered my new secret sun-napping spot and brought clouds of grey into my sunny world as they shooed me back out of the hall.  Don't these humans know I'm the boss around here and I make the rules?  

Looking for more sunshine,

Chance  

Movie Star

 Make way for America's next brightest star, because I just landed my biggest gig on the screen as of yet.  It's only up from here. 

I recently starred in a promotional advertisement for the Thorntown Public Library and our summer reading program.  

Now you may be thinking, "Chance, Thorntown Public Library isn't exactly the big-time movie screen".  And you would be correct. BUT, how many cats do you know who have even acted once??  Exactly, not many.  

So how exactly did I land this prestigious gig?  Well, charm mostly.  And being annoyingly persistent until Assistant Lillian finally relented and put me in her video. 

The video describes all the fun things that a cat (or a kid) can do at the library this summer.  You can check it out at this link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqWurbt5gOw or on our brand new YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/@ThorntownPublicLibrary.  

Assistant Lillian had a lot of ideas for how to film this video, and some of them were NOT good.  

For example, she thought it would be a good idea to cover me with soap foam to advertise our foam party in the park.  That was basically just a bad idea all around.  I did NOT consent to be covered in soap when I agreed to be her star actor, and the suds make a mess!  

Grumpy because I have suds on my head

The second thing Assistant Lillian did that I did not agree to, was videotaping me while I was sleeping.  No one likes being watched while they are sleeping and especially recorded while they are sleeping.  But now there are several clips of me sleeping, completely unaware that I'm being recorded, that are now on the internet for the whole world to see.  And it makes me look like all I do is sleep, which is FALSE.  I have other hobbies... a few anyways.  

zzz

The third thing Assistant Lillian did was follow me around the library trying to get what she called "candid shots".  At first, the paparazzi were nice.  A famous cat, who is about to have their movie debut, needs a few candid shots.  But after the fourth, fifth, and sixth shot, I was beginning to feel like all privacy was *poof* gone.  I was afraid to use the bathroom because if I did, I just knew Assistant Lillian would find me there for another "candid shot", and I could NOT let that get on the internet.  

Candid of me walking upstairs

Candid of me "playing dead"

Despite her attempts to make me look bad, I think the video promo turned out pretty good.  You'll have to be the ultimate judge of my acting skills, but if I look bad, it's because of Assistant Lillian's subpar video editing skills, and not my fault.  

The paparazzi are chasing me again,

Chance 

Cows

 I've told you before that I'm not a dog.  Well, I'm also not a cow.  I'd think that would be obvious.  Something that is perhaps not quite as obvious as the fact that I am *not* a cow, is the fact that I don't even know if I like cows.  I've never met a cow or seen one in real life (unless you count one of those reindeer things Santa always brings with him during our Christmas party).  So how would I know if I liked cows?  

    Maybe you're wondering why I'm going on a rant about cows.  The reason is this.  Last month, Barb L. bought me a soft and fluffy blanket in the Youth Department.  And I LOVE it.  But it's decorated with cow print.  Cow print.  I'm a cat.  

The Cow Blanket

Toe Beans

                                         

 Despite it being covered in cow print, it's currently my favorite napping spot.  This makes Karen and the upstairs staff sad.  I used to spend all my nap time upstairs in the offices.  But now that a soft fluffy blanket is downstairs, I kind of spend all my nap time downstairs.  Karen has tried to coax me off my blanket multiple times by using bribing techniques.  She should know I don't fall for those.  

Karen trying to convince me to come upstairs

    The worst part about this blanket (besides it suggesting I like cows) is that it frequently disappears.  For some reason, the staff thinks it's *gross* that my cat hair gets all over everything when I hang around all day.  So they take it home and wash it.  Which is nice because it makes it all fluffy again.  But it's hard to part with my new napping blanket for even a day.  And then I have to rearrange it again when it gets back.  

They should know not to mess with the Boss's stuff without express permission.  

Someone messed up my blanket. Again.

The other potentially bad part about this new napping spot is that it is right in reach of all the *grabby* hands.  Good for when I'm being neglected by the staff and need extra scratches.  Bad for when I just want to sleep.  But also good for being admired by my local fans and adoring staff.  I guess when I want to be alone I'll just have to trek upstairs to my second favorite napping spot.  

Anyway, it's far past time for today's nap and I need to rearrange the blanket again...

Chance