Author / greg-in-washington

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Posts by greg-in-washington

Cat guy. I live in Pierce County, Washington, USA. Like cats, old photographs, and short blog posts.
by greg-in-washington

Orange cats

Why is Marigold orange? Why are orange females rarer than orange males?

Female cats have two “X” chromosomes. Male cats have an “X” and a “Y” chromosome. All colors, including the orange color, are attached only to the X chromosome. I will call it Xo. The Y has nothing to do with color. A male cat XY who has a single Xo chromosome, now XoY, is always orange. That is why there are many orange male cats.

To get an orange female, she must have two orange X chromosomes. She must be XoXo.

Marigold’s father had to be an orange cat to give her the Xo gene, as only orange males carry the Xo gene. Her mother would have been at least a non-orange XXo. She would not have to be orange. Of course, she could have been an orange XoXo. In either case she donated one Xo, and the orange father the second Xo. The result is an orange Marigold female, who is outnumbered by orange males by a factor of 3 to one.

If a female has one Xo and the second X is a different color (X?), the two colors blend XoX? and you get tri-color or calico cats which are females. If Marigold’s mother was not orange, this is the color cat she would be. The rare Male cats like this are genetic mutations and sterile.

Do you have an orange female cat?

Marigold

Marigold

Since this photograph was taken, she has been to a groomer and had much fur combed out. She is ready for summer.

by greg-in-washington

The Ghost in the penthouse

The penthouse has become very popular with Miss Opie and her brother Zeke, since I moved it to where the Christmas tree used to stand.  Zeke likes to jump upon the dining room table, and then jump into the top of the penthouse, where he rests or sleeps.  Opie likes to sleep up there as well.  We will see Zeke on the table, ready to jump into the penthouse, but Opie is in there!  At this time of day, he is supposed to sleep there.  Does she not know this?  Below, he is too tired to hold his head up.  Note that the curtains behind him are tightly closed.

100_5483P c nmd

It has been a very long time since I have seen any “ghostly” anomalies in any of my photographs.  The previous post was written in 2011. Sometimes I just take random room photographs.  Then, I examine them.  For a very long time—nothing.  In the photo of Zeke above, the orange glow is from a lamp in the far corner of the room, reflecting upon the glass in the picture frame.  The next photograph is different.

???????????????????????????

Above we see Zeke disappointed to find Opie in his place.  Above Zeke’s head is a large transparent object.  Is it a reflection from the window?  Is it a reflection from anything else?  You can see the curtains are tightly closed on both photographs.  There is nothing over there to reflect off.  Perhaps it is one of my four (yes, 4) ghost cats checking out the new penthouse?  I wish I had aimed the camera a little bit higher!  The photographs were taken 2 days apart with different cameras.  I have since taken photographs, trying to reproduce the same mysterious effect.  I cannot duplicate the “ghost.”


 I believe in both human and cat ghosts.  This is not because I am crazy.  This is because I have seen, heard, and felt them.  Just because you do not believe something, does not mean it is not true!  If you have lost a cat to death, pay attention to your surroundings.  You may get a surprise if you look hard enough!

marigoldcloseupnometadata_thumb.jpg

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” (“Ghostbusters” 1984)

Marigold and opie on computer table

by greg-in-washington

Opie in the sun

This is not the first photograph of a cat sleeping on a sunny patch on the floor, but it is the first one of Opie doing this. It is not cold, and she has much thick fur, but for some reason, she likes it. Maybe she has a vitamin D deficiency? She has been sleeping in that spot lately, even when the sun is not shining.

Opie in the sun

Opie in the sun

Opie in the sun

Opie in the sun

by greg-in-washington

New Monopoly Cat Token

New Monopoly Cat Token

New Monopoly Cat Token

In February 2013, Hasbro, the makers of the game Monopoly held a vote of the people on the internet, to decide on a new game token. The choice was between a cat, diamond ring, guitar, helicopter, and robot. The winner was, of course, the cat! My second choice would have been the diamond ring, because, after all, the game is about money. The flat iron was discontinued. R.I.P. Iron (1935 – 2013). Personally, I would have deleted the “battleship”, which has it’s original 1940 design. The game is not about war. The cannon was introduced in 1940 along with the battleship token. They were both parts of game titled “Conflict” which failed miserably commercially. The two pieces, already produced, were simply added to the Monopoly game, when America was at the eve of war.

Deleted Monopoly Tokens

Deleted Monopoly Tokens

The horse and rider appeared in the 1950’s. I do not know when it was dropped. The cannon disappeared in the 1960’s. There was a money bag which came, and went in the 1990’s.

In August 2013, the new game featuring the cat was delivered to stores. They also introduced the Monopoly Classic Limited Edition Golden Cat Token! (Wish I had one now!)

Monopoly

Monopoly

I decided I had to go out and buy one of the first edition games introducing the cat. The box was already produced with the dog prominently displayed on the front. Rather than print a new box, they stuck a round yellow sticker on front, letting us know that the new “cat” was inside! If you pay attention, you will see my photo of the real cat token is looking to the left, while the cat token shown on the yellow sticker is looking to the right! It is a mirror image of the real cat token. I do not know how that happened. Perhaps if I keep this game for 50 or 60 years, I will become rich! I purchased this game at “Target” for $12.99 (€9.37).

Oops! I just remembered something! In 1957, I received a Monopoly game, which I have been playing to this very day! That is 57 years ago! There are many memories associated with that game.

I checked on “ebay”, and there was a mint condition, never played 1957 edition with an asking price of $70 (€50). My game is well worn and played, so no riches for me!

1957 edition

1957 edition

1957 edition

1957 edition

If you want a cat token, but do not want to purchase a new game, I have a suggestion below.

100_5509N 550 Opie token

I call this one the “Opie token.” She is quite willing to walk about on the game board.

There is a version of the Monopoly game called “Cat-Opoly.” Every part of the game is cat related. There is, however, no cat token used in the game!

Was the new Monopoly cat token added to new Monopoly games in countries other than America?

pagesource

by greg-in-washington

Feline Cafe Control Center

Here we are at the Feline Cafe Control Center. We had a large project recently. We replaced Windows XP operating system with another. My 8 year old desktop runs much better now. I hate getting rid of things that work, and get the job done, just because they are old. The mania here is to buy the newest thing as soon as it shows up in stores. You cannot live without it! That would be a blog subject in itself, but I am trying to stay on the topic of cats as much as possible these days. As you can see from the photos presented below, I have lots of technical help when I am trying to do something!

Marigold and opie on computer table

Marigold and opie on computer table

Marigold and opie on computer table