Watchcat protocol CCXII

When you're a new watchcat, it's understandable that you'd request a safe space as your post:

March 31, 2019: Watchcat Lily uses a bathroom vanity as her guard post.

Watchbird protocol

When a watchcat needs to take a nap, Watchbird Headquarters permits watchbirds to patrol a property temporarily:

March 20, 2019: Watchbirds on temporary patrol.

Watchcat protocol CCXI

As long as a watchcat has a clear view of her assigned sector, Watchcat Headquarters does not prohibit using a blanket fort as a security post:

March 29, 2019: Watchcat Sylvia shows that comfort and gravitas aren't mutually exclusive.

Watchcat protocol CCX

Don't let their passive expressions fool you.  If two watchcats think you're doing something suspicious, at least one of them will pursue you--eventually:

June 2003: Watchcats Sammy and Rosie scan their assigned sector for intruders.

Watchcat protocol CCIX

Sometimes, when another watchcat can't be there to check your work in person, a virtual watchcat will monitor you through a computer:

March 2003: Watchcat Sammy monitors his assigned room from a blanket while Virtual Watchcat Rosie watches from the computer in the background.

Watchcat protocol CCVIII

No assignment is too small for a watchcat.  Rosie and Sammy exemplified this in Spring 2007 by monitoring a tiny bug:

Watchcat protocol CCVII

By necessity, a watchcat has to maintain a guarded demeanor when approached:

October 2010: Watchcat Rosie, maintaining a tough exterior.

Watchcat protocol CCVI

When you need to wash your fur...

...or view your assigned sector in side profile, Watchcat Headquarters permits the use of watchbird backups, as Sylvia and Nemo remembered in the Summer of 2015:

Watchcat protocol CCV

There's nothing like the satisfied gleam in a watchcat's eye when he completes the feather toy agility training course successfully:

December 2010: Watchcat Nemo shows his reflexes with the feather toy are up to par.

Watchcat protocol CCIV

Nothing says watchcat posts can't be comfortable, provided the watchcats stay alert:

2005: Watchcat Sammy surveys his assigned room from a comfy post.

Watchcat protocol CCIII

It's easier to be a watchcat when you can alter reality with a remote control:

Sylvia used this power--responsibly, I'm sure--in May 2010.

Watchcat protocol CCII

Watchcats are understandably satisfied when they pass the reflex agility test.  In Spring 2011, Rosie completed the test's final section, the shoelace grab:

Watchcat protocol CCI

Sometimes, a watchcat will have to vet a suspicious banana, especially one with eyes:

2016: Watchcat Nemo inspects a banana and determines that it's a friend, not a foe.

Watchcat protocol CC

When you're assigned to guard a museum, your watchcat post might be more modernist than a typical one.  No matter; an assignment is still an assignment:

September 2004: Watchcat Rosie on museum guard duty.

Irish luck?

Do I have the luck of the Irish when giving my cat, Sylvia, her medicine?  Even though I sometimes tell her, "Here's a pill for you to take that you'll spit out when I'm not looking," she takes her medicine most of the time, I think...

...except for the times when I find pills she spit out in the sofa cushions...

...and on the sofa blankets...

...and on the kitchen counter...

...and in the kitchen sink...

...and under the treadmill...

...and on the front doormat...

...as well as the back doormat...

...and on the stack of newspapers...

...and in the food bowl...

...as well as the water bowl.

So, yes, I think I have the luck of the Irish, i.e. a way of finding the positive in a not entirely positive situation. I cling to the belief that Sylvia takes her medicine most of the time, even though she probably swallows her pills less often than I'd like to believe.

Watchcat protocol CXCIX

As a watchcat, you never know when you might need to stop a hockey puck from sailing across a room.  In Spring 2011, Sylvia prepared for this possibility by practicing her goalie technique:

Watchcat protocol CXCVIII

Need someone to keep tabs on your decorative lamp?  Station a watchcat by it:

July 2007: Watchcat Sammy keeps an eye on a lamp and table.

Watchcat protocol CXCVII

To show intruders you mean business, never underestimate the effectiveness of blocking an entrance or narrowing your eyes:

March 2006: Watchcat Rosie was actually waiting for food when I took this photo but still looked menacing to intruders.

A linguisitic irritant LXXVII

I hate the term, "grace under pressure." I'll freak out if I want.  I'm the one under deadline pressure.  Why should I have to be graceful?

Watchcat protocol CXCVI

Watchcat training is a process.  Watchcat Headquarters asks its new watchcats to stay in one room, at first, and inspect the plumbing:

March 8, 2019: Watchcat Lily spends her first night getting acclimated to her new environment.

"What about your meow meow's food and litter needs?"

A follow-up to Saturday's post: While scanning my groceries, the "How's your meow meow doing?" clerk observed, "You did not buy anything for your kitty."  I told her that would likely happen on my next visit, after the food and litter supplies had gone done further.  "It is expensive," she replied.  "But they are worth it."

Yes, indeed.

Watchcat protocol CXCV

For a compact-sized watchcat, a stereo speaker makes a good monitoring post:

Spring 2013: Watchcat Sylvia commandeers a stereo speaker.

Another way to ask, "How's your cat?"

About two months ago, a grocery store clerk noticed I was buying cat food and litter and asked, "How's your meow meow doing?"

I liked that she asked how my cat, Sylvia, was doing that way.  That's considerate customer service, asking about one's meow meow.

Watchcat protocol CXCIV

A watchcat needs to relax now and then, provided he has backup security.  In June 2012, Nemo expressed his appreciation to his backup watchers, the sea lion and mouse:

Watchcat protocol CXCIII

You know you have the right watchcat when you ask to her to guard your kitchen chair while you're away and you come back to find her with this no-nonsense expression:

March 7, 2019: Watchcat Sylvia ensures that no one will take my kitchen chair.

Watchcat protocol CXCII

It's reasonable to give yourself a mental pat on the back when you've carried out your watchcat duties well:

October 2015: Watchcat Nemo, seemingly satisfied after inspecting the groceries during his kitchen island patrol.

A linguistic irritant LXXVI

I know it's a double standard, but I don't like the expression, "Time's a-wastin'," unless I'm the one saying it and it's my agenda that's being carried out.  Otherwise, I think, "I know there's only so much time before an upcoming deadline.  Stop reminding me."

Watchcat protocol CXCI

Another instance of double duty: Sometimes, Watchcat Headquarters will ask a watchcat to monitor a pair of shoes--and another watchcat:

2013: Watchcat Rosie guards a pair of shoes--and her fellow watchcat, Sammy.

Watchcat protocol CXC

Sometimes, a watchcat must pull double duty by checking behind the curtains of his assigned room and monitoring the backyard:

Make that triple duty, as he will also look over at you occasionally, to let you know he's taking the job seriously:

July 2003: Sammy, the multitasking watchcat, in the window sill.

Watchcat protocol CLXXXIX

In case you thought, "Watchcat Sylvia is just looking tough for show.  She's not really invested in guarding those coupons," think again:

2012: Menacing watchcat Sylvia narrows her eyes while guarding coupons.

Watchcat protocol CLXXXVIII

Watchcats Rosie and Sammy assured me they weren't nodding off when I took this picture in 2011.  They were just monitoring intruders--ants, perhaps?--who were close to the ground: