My Fourth Finding Day!

As most of you guessed, today is Friday was my Finding (or Gotcha) Day!  (Slow help around here.)

I have been a Found Cat for four whole years!

AB Karen made a cake for me for my Finding Day.  I misunderstood and thought the cake was for my eating, but really it was in honor of my Awesomeness.  But I didn't realize that until after I licked the corner.  That's why there's a knife sticking up--it means "Reserved For Tober Do Not Eat!"

According to all reports, it was a very good cake!  I can say that the frosting was very nice.  :)

I got lots of extra treats and tummy rubs and hugs for Finding Day.  I managed to nap for a good deal of it, so I think it was a success.

AND, just when I thought Finding Day couldn't get any better, I received an Official Visit from two foreign (not from Boone County) dignitaries!  Janet and Bill Buckley came to see me, and they brought presents!

AAB Becki carried me, fresh from my midafternoon nap, to meet my visitors:

They brought me a package of Party Mix cat treats! and a special 'nip pillow.  Check this out:

Bill works at the Mooresville Public Library with Cauli le Chat, the Feline Roving Reporter.  Remember my visit with Flat Five?  She's a busy busy reporter-Cat, and I'm sure she had lots to do in Mooresville, but she sent Bill and Janet to document my Fourth Finding Day. I could tell that Bill and Janet are great cat people, so I did them the rare honor of Standing Still and Letting Them Pet Me. 

Cauli's minions are obviously much more "with-it" when it comes to blogging about important events in a timely fashion (Help is still Wanted, folks).  You can read all about the visit on Cauli's Blog, which got updated on Saturday--while my AAB Blog Helper is frantically helping me type this at 3:19 pm three days AFTER my Finding Day! 

Check out the snazzy shirt that Bill is wearing!  (Ideas are forming, TPL staff!)

To see the Full Report from Cauli and the Minions, see Cauli's Saturday post.  While you're at it, check out her other posts, and the really cool MPL book trailers and videos, too.

Thanks to all of my blogging friends for the Finding Day wishes!

Purrs, Headbutts, and Nose-touches,

Tober

Being Rotten

AAB Britta ate some Starburst candies today and left the wrappers in her trashcan.

I LOVE Posty-notes, gum wrappers, library receipts, and sticker papers.  Well, guess what?  Starburst wrappers are a lot like sticker papers!!!

To get to the tasty wrappers, I had to be sneaky.  First I knocked over the trashcan.  Then I took a surreptitious (that's Fancy-Pants for "stealthy") glance around the office to be sure I couldn't be spotted. 

Then I did some investigating to see what treasures the trashcan might hold.

Ooooh, a wrapper!  Smells like orange flavor!

Then I paused to let that one digest a little.

Then I fished out another wrapper!  I'm so happy AAB Britta likes Starbursts!

That one would have been tasty, too, but AAB Party Pooper took it away from me.  She said ONE candy wrapper paper is enough for one day, and that my love of candy wrappers (and other papers) will make me urp.  But I still managed to make a mess. 

The aftermath:

Do you want to know a secret?  AAB Party Pooper might think she's all strict and stuff, but guess what she did with the other tasty Starburst wrapper. . . Guess!

She threw it in her little trashcan.  Hee hee!

*nom nom nom*

Tober

I have my paws crossed. . .

. . . I sure hope someone opens this drawer and gives me a few treats!

It should work.  I'm pretty sure my face is irresistible.  (Actually, all of me is irresistible, but I didn't want to post a full-body shot and break the Internets, especially on a weekend.)

Happy Friday!

Tober

Easter Treats

I was feeling left out on Friday.

You see, on Friday, the AAB Easter Becki made these special treats for our Lunch Bunch. (The Lunch Bunch is the group of very Intimidating seniors who sent winter away about a month early this year. I would probably give them treats, too, just to stay on everybody's good side.) Here is what the treats looked like:


It is a bird's nest (not a real one) with little eggs (also not real) in it! Isn't that cute? And everybody got one--at least one--for a snack that day.

Except for me.

So I was feeling kind of down about how the day was going, because AB Karen had only given me, like, 23 Temptations, and AAB Christine had only given me 7 or 8 Temptations, and I only got 2 bowls of Stinky Fish Flakes and AAB Becki was One Half Hour late bringing me my special soft food dinner.

And then no Special Easter Treat.

BUT--then Peter Cotton Tail came hopping down the Farm Heritage Trail and guess what I got???


Yep. That's right! I got a special Cat-friendly version of the bird's nest treat!!!

How cool is that?


I am Loved.

Happy Easter, everybody!

Headbutts,

Tober

I spy. . .

I spy a bag of treats! They are surrounded by useless junk like Mentos gum and contact solution and Tums, but they're there!


Get me some treats, lady!


I don't understand why we have to do all of this camera-waving before I get some treats.

One Hungry Cat,

Tober

Bad Cat?

I have been told twice this week that I am a Bad Cat!

First I was called a Bad Cat because I was chomping on AAB Kathy's computer cord. AAB Christine was borrowing Kathy's desk on Tuesday night, and I kept walking under the desk to chomp the cord. Well, AAB Christine, not being cat-shaped, was unable to get to me, so I could chomp-chomp-chomp to my heart's content. She must've figured I was hungry, so she offered me treats. I came out from under the desk and had two.

Then I went back to chomping, so AAB Christine got the treats out again. I had two more, and put some furs on the monitor, and pulled a few hold slips out of AAB Kathy's books. Then I went back under the desk for some chomping.

Christine shook the treat-bag again, so I came out to have some, but guess what?

She didn't offer me any treats. She went "hrmph" and stuck them in the drawer! I waited very patiently and even stomped on the keyboard a few times, but I didn't get any treats.

So I went back to chomping on the cord again.

Christine shook the treat-bag, but this time I knew she was Lying to me. I knew I wouldn't get any treats, so I just looked at her for a while. She started hollering my name, and I just purred and purred, because I was under the desk with the tasty cords, and she looked silly on the ground like a Cat (only not so graceful or elegant).

So she got two treats out, and I decided I wanted to eat them. . . at which point she scooped me up, carried me out of the office (closing the door behind her), deposited me on the circulation desk, and declared me a Bad Cat. That would have hurt my feelings, but I was too busy being proud that I have effectively trained my first Staff member to reward me for chewing on cords. At last!

Then, the very next morning, I was again called a Bad Cat because my staff came in to work and discovered this:


What can I say? I got hungry in the middle of the night and I wanted a snack and I don't have thumbs. So I used my Sharp Teeth! I think I should be called a Smart Cat, and maybe the one who left the treats lying around can be henceforth known as Not-So-Smart Human.

None of this "Bad Cat" business would be going on if AB Karen were here--but she's on Unauthorized Vacation, so I'm having to suffer all sorts of indignities in her absence. Thankfully we will be reunited this weekend, and she'll call me a Good Cat and give me lots of tummy rubs and treats and Catnip.

For your weekend viewing pleasure, I have made a Movie:



It got a little boring after the apple toss, especially since I already found all the hidden gum-wrappers.

Happy weekend!

One Good Cat,

Tober

Do You See What I See?

Well, it's been a rough few days here at my Library, friends!

As you all know, Christmas is coming. That means three (3) things here at TPL:

1. Trees. Everywhere!

2. My stocking is hung by the chimney with care!

3. "Surprises" in the litter box. (Sorry AAB Cathie.)

I think my staff is watching the placement of Christmas bows a little better this year, since I'm such a bow-hunting master!

I kind of like Christmas decorating, especially at night after the staff leaves and I can inspect their handiwork. What I don't like is the Chaos that ensues on the day after Thanksgiving (Christmas Decoration Day). All of the stuff getting moved around, the staff not staying in their assigned seats, the treats sitting, forgotten, in desk drawers. . .

You're lucky to be reading this post.

BUT! A momentous and wonderful thing happened this year:


Did you see what I see?

Click the picture and biggify it!

That's right! I've got my Very Own Tree! It is decorated with Cat Toys Feline Training Devices, and lights, and garland! AAB Britta made it special Just For Me, and put it in the Young Adult Room so that everyone could admire it.

Dear Santa, I will try my very best NOT to eat the garland.

Speaking of Santa--Santa and his lovely wife, Mrs., will be here on Monday night to visit with any children (and hopefully Boss Cats) who would like to see him (and ask for special Christmas treats). Christmas is Snow Much Fun at the Library! We will also have an animal show presented by Silly Safaris (yes, they're letting that stinky really cool reindeer back in my Library again). And we have magician Marc Lehmann entertaining visitors of all ages, and snacks, and some snowflake-themed crafts for the little ones!

I will be Hiding in my Office for most of this, because Library Cats and over TWO HUNDRED (200!) people at one time! is a bit terrifying!

Since we have a Snow-Themed Christmas Party, I decided to check out the decorations:


The staff was all excited because I got Glitter on me. (AAB Ritchie especially loves it when Glitter gets in the carpet.) I was tormented by AAB Photographer's attempt to photograph Glitter on my furs.

If you look really closely in this picture you can see Glitter:


If you look really closely in this picture you can More Glitter (and a Pink Horsey):


If you look really closely in this picture you can see Irritation:


Thankfully the photographer remembered to turn the flash off for once.

Loving my special Tree-t,

Tober

Foodie Friday

Many of you were shocked and appalled when you found out that I did NOT get to try any of the Wonderful Foods at the International Food Tasting a few weeks ago.

I was shocked and appalled, too, and I let the Staff know that I felt left out and sad.

So to rectify this grievous error, my coworkers arranged for me to have a Food Tasting of my Very Own.


No Humans Allowed.

Here I have Posty-Notes, two kinds of Temptations, Pounces, Stinky Fish Flakes, Party Mix, Catnip, and a Gum Wrapper! I love love love all of these things!


Now, the Staff doesn't actually feed me Posty-Notes. What happens is, they use Posty-Notes to leave each other Super-Important Library Business Messages, and I eat them when they go home at night. I especially love the tiny ones.


I love the special Stinky Fish Flakes, too. AAB Cathie feeds me these special. Nobody else has any in their desk drawers.

I also love Gum Wrappers, especially Orbit Sweet Mint flavor. When AAB Christine gets out a piece of gum, I come running to see if I can have the wrapper. Usually she hides them in her desk drawer, because she discovered that if she puts them in the trash I find them and eat them.

I didn't get the Gum Wrapper in the picture because I'd already stolen one this week.

My Food Tasting was delicious and exhausting.



Now, furry blogging friends, I highly suggest that you demand a special food tasting of your own! What are your favorite treats? Do any of you have strange things you like to nom on?

Full of treats and Love,

Tober

New Snack Bar!

I am pleased to announce that My Library has a new cat-friendly snack bar!

For a comparison, let me show you the old snack bar:


If you will notice, it is filled with bland (i.e. un-smelly or -Catnip-y) items like juice, crackers, and chips. The children, they LOVE these snacks. The Library Cat. . . not so much.

So I was pleasantly surprised when a Mr. Chris Griggs visited and stocked a snack bar for Me:

I like fishes 'cause they're so delicious. . .

There is a nice variety of snacks in there, although they are very Small. (That is okay, because I'm kind of Small, too.)

Oh, wait. What?

Oh, so apparently these fishes aren't snacks at all. They're decorative, kind of like those bottles of oil infused with garlic and peppers and carrots and stuff. I can look, but no snacking.

I had AAB Photographer take some pictures of the fishes. She has never tried to photograph swimming fishes before, so it was quite a challenge (especially for her).

Here is a little Orange fish. He is Nemo:


We have two Dory-fishes. Here is one of them:


We also have lots of Crabby-things. NOTE: This is a different kind of Crabby than the Crabby I see when the Library ladies haven't had coffee and/or chocolate. THAT kind of Crabby makes these little Crabby-things look like sweet fluffy baby bunnies:


Now that we have more exciting fishes living in the snack bar fish tank, it's hard getting the staff to DO anything--like feed me dinner on time. They're taking this "fish tanks are relaxing" thing way too far. Pretty soon they'll have a La-Z-Boy installed at the Youth Circulation Desk.

Me, I'm just biding my time. Here I am using my superior mental powers to bend the staff to my will:


One day they'll forget to close the lid on that treat can. And when they do,

I'll probably be asleep.

Waiting for appetizers,

Tober

Very Important Stuff

For every two crummy employees, at least I get one good one. (See last post for recent Firements.)

AAB Ritchie, despite being a Lergic Allergic, is turning out to be a pretty good Assistant.

In the mornings he is the Very First person to come to the Library, which means he has very Important responsibilities. . . like giving me treats.

(I think he learned much of this when he was promoted to Assistant Boss for a week back in January.)

Last week I intercepted an inter-office email of Great Importance:


Please note that my name is in ALL CAPS while the rest of the email is in silly little baby lowercase letters. I'm sure that this is to draw attention to the importance of the subject (ME) so that AB Karen doesn't accidentally delete the email. (She gets lots of emails, mostly about Acai berries and Rolex watches and other things which I probably shouldn't mention. Occasionally some library business makes it through, too.)

It is good to know that my AABs worry about my happiness and comfort. Just for that, I'm going to leave extra furs on AAB Ritchie's computer monitor. I'm sure he'll be pleasantly surprised.

Treat-ed well,

Boss Tober

PS - A picture of me looking very Official:

Don't Get Any Ideas

Before I begin, let me make something absolutely clear. I am a non-circulating Cat. I am for In-house use only.

Why do I feel the need to mention this? One of my Assistant Assistant Bosses came across a travesty earlier this week.

Apparently the Yale Law Library recently had a pilot program during which they circulated Monty, the library dog, to stressed-out law school students.

Here's Monty:


What they don't tell you is that Monty had thick, luxurious furs before they circulated him. He was probably snow white. He also smiled more.

Seriously, Yale students could "borrow" Monty for 30 minutes at a time, during which they could pet him, play with him, or just hang out in the same room with him.

Everyone is welcome to come in my Library and pet me, give me treats, rub my tummy, give me treats, bask in my handsomeness, and most importantly, give me treats. . . but I am For Reference Only Not To Be Taken From This Building.


Hoping no one gets the Bright Idea to barcode me,

Tober, Non-Circulating Boss of TPL

Research

Ever since I decided on a fine of one (1) skid-load of Temptations treats for the assault on Garden Tober, I have been wondering how many treats are in a skid-load. I suspect that a skid-load will provide plenty for me to send to (you) my blogging friends and readers! So I have tried to Investigate.

My first Investigation led to a dead end. I have out-Googled Google. Look what happens when I ask Google how many are in a skid-load:


You might need to biggify, but you will see that I am the first Cat in the history of the Internets to ask Google how many are in a skid-load.

Now, since Google didn't seem to know anything, I went directly to the Temptations website, where I had AAB Christine fill out the little online form demanding to know how many Temptations come in a skid-load.

Well, a few days ago they replied:

Dear Christine:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Mars Petcare US.

Mars Petcare US is committed to developing quality products which meet your pet's nutritional needs. Your confidence in our products and continued goodwill are very important to us. We would like the opportunity to speak with you over the phone so please give us a call at 1-800-525-5273, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Standard time.

When calling, please have the package available and refer to file number 011040082A.

Sincerely,

K. Kelly
Mars Petcare US
Consumer Relations - Corporate Affairs

AAB Christine says she absolutely refuses to call the Mars Petcare people and ask them a stupid question about Temptations.

I think she needs to be Fired.

That got her all scared about losing her job, so she clicked on a linky at the bottom of the email from K. Kelly and asked how many Temptations bags come in a case, and how many cases get shipped together. Then we can Estimate (that means "guess" in Librarian) how many Temptations are in a skid-load.

All of this work is exhausting.


I hope the rest of the week is more peaceful.

Purrs,

Tober

Garden Tobers

Some of you may remember Garden Tober. He lived in the Library's Secret Garden for a very long time.


Well, I am Sad to report that Garden Tober has been replaced. He was mortally wounded while defending the Garden from Ice and Snow. (Actually his ear broke off and he looked tacky so AB Karen said to put him in the trash.)

I commanded that my staff replace him so that I was properly represented in the Outside World. They brought a very handsome concrete cat for the Garden and put my "Tober" necklace on him.

But then one of my AABs looked out the window this morning and saw this:


What happened here? Did someone covet my beautiful necklace? Were they trying to make Garden Tober II look goofy? I made AAB Photographer go out and put the necklace on properly. Soon I will contact CSI: Thorntown to discover who perpetrated this shenanigan! I will fine them one (1) skid-load of Temptations--the catnip flavor ones--and two (2) ethernet cords for their misbehavior!

But until then I will look handsome and purposesly not-pose with my picture:


How long do you think it would take me to eat a skid-load of Temptations? How many are in a skid-load?

Doing lots of maths,

Tober

Brought to you by the letter "B"

Last week I was a Busy B(ee) at the library.

On Tuesday nights I usually make it a point to supervise AB Karen and AAB Christine when they work Downstairs. They do not usually work Downstairs with the little ones, so I have to keep a close eye on them to make sure they do it right.

Last Tuesday when I visited I found that Miss Myrtle had put up a bulletin board for me! I really liked the last one, with the bows and jingle bells, and I was happy to see that my new bulletin board has hearts on it! And leaves and FLOWERS! Leaves and flowers--the fake kind--are especially nice to chomp on.

Here I am Busy trying to reach some tasty, crunchy roses. See how tall I can be?


After I was done inspecting my new bulletin board, I had to keep an eye on AB Karen's Very Important Papers. (These are Papers she drags all over the library with her. I don't know what they are, but they must be Important, since they follow her around everywhere.)

See how Busy!?


After that I Busied myself in one of the many nooks & crannies. I discovered a heart-shaped paper that was very nice to munch on:


Last but not least, earlier this week I was Very Busy Being MAD. My AB Karen decided that because she put Nasty Flea Stuff on her Cats and Dogs at her house, she should go ahead and put Nasty Flea Stuff on me, too. I knew something was wrong because AAB Traitor Christine was holding me and AB Traitor Karen was trying to give me a treat--this has NEVER EVER happened before, so I was suspicious.

Then I thought AB Traitor Karen petted me between the shoulder blades, but it was really her putting the Nasty Stuff on me and I don't like it because it makes my neck furs look stupid and so I fired her. She cried a lot, and I didn't want to do the State Report all by myself, so I re-hired her on the condition that she give me a few treats.

Here I was Busy being Mad.



One Busy B(oss),

Tober

A Forever Pepper and Other Gifts

I have been working on this post since last year--December 21 to be exact!

So before I start on my Pepper story, I want to say Merry Late Christmas and Happy Late New Year and I hope that everyone is safe and had a wonderful time with family and got lots of treats and tummy rubs and Catnip. I have had very Happy Holidays with my Library Staff and especially My Assistant Boss Mommy Karen who can't stay out of the library when it is Closed and spent lots of time with me when all the other slackers employees were off doing non-Tober related things.

Yesterday (really December 20, now!) in the mail I got a Forever Pepper.


It is green & orange like my little greenish orangish pepper (RIP) was, and it is cram-packed full of some powerful 'nip. I like normal catnip, but this catnip is super special. When I'm with my pepper, I lick it and bite it and chew it and bunny-kick it and rub my face on it and Love it with All My Heart.

Here we are together.

*This is where there should be a video of us playing together, but Blogger is being Bad and won't let me post it. So maybe I'll save it for later, and here's another picture.*


Because I love my Pepper so much and so violently, my Assistant Bosses have decided to keep it in my treat drawer, so that I can enjoy it while I'm being supervised. (I think they just want to take lots of pictures of me being fierce and Mancatly.) Thank you Pepper-givers for my special treat--you could probably go into business making Forever Peppers!

On Christmas AB Karen got my stocking down and I got treats! I got some from Santa and some from a kitty friend of mine named Chi.

Then, a few days later, I got some of Frankie Frank's Fabulous Feline Frenzy Inducing Homegrown Organic Catnip! And treats!


Here I am wondering why in the heck we're taking pictures of the stuff instead of rolling in it:


This Catnip is also not like the normal stuff (although I like that, too, Staff). This stuff makes my nose super-excited and I can eat whole leafs of it at a time! And then I take a nap. Thank you Kelly for my treats! Now could you please send Karen a note and let her know that she doesn't need to be all stingy with it?

My staff has been very busy un-decorating the library and leaving bits of garland and other sparkly things everywhere. They've also been working to make a January newsletter since (oops) it's now January. And on top of that they've been doing the usual library things like checking out books and shelving books and drinking coffee and eating chocolate. It's exhausting watching them work so hard.

Feeling like One Special Cat,

Tober

Happy Finding Day to Me!

I have been a Found Cat for two whole years! Hooray!

The day started with lots of people bothering me to let me know it was my Finding (aka "Gotcha") Day (as if I didn't already know). My naps have been interrupted all day. Here is a picture of an interrupted nap:


For my Finding Day, I got lots and lots of Presents from all of my Staff. We put them on the circulation desk with my picture slideshow so people could see that it was My Day.


Do you see that Dewey book, Dewey's Nine Lives? That book was given in my honor by my very nice staff. It will live in my Library now, and people can check it out.

I inspected all of my Presents while they were piled on the desk. Unfortunately I couldn't pick them up and shake them because I don't have Thumbs.


We had my Finding Day Party at 3:00 today. My Staff carried all of my loot into the catnip/lounge area, and I was presented with a Cupcake. I thought maybe my Cupcake would have a candle on, it, but I guess not.

Here I am with my Cupcake and my new catnip bag and my special salmon dinner (that got served early at 3:00 instead of 4-4:30 like usual).


And I got another new cool Toy Feline Training Device with a bell on it:


AND I got three cans of Friskies and FIVE bags of treats and some ribbon to chomp on. The staff got a bazillion cupcakes and brownies and danish-things and will all be lying in bed tonight holding their tummies and thinking of me.

I wish I could have a Finding Day every day!

But then, I'm kind of tired. So maybe one a year is enough.

A giant head-butt to my Assistant Boss Mommy Karen, who had the good sense to Find me,

Tober