the cat whisperer...

we all know that a cat's gonna do what a cat's gonna do...so why, then, do we get so annoyed when they do it ?...in my case, I think it's often because I fail to "head 'em off at the pass...", in other words, they outwit/outsmart/outrun[pick all that apply] me and make me look "less than brilliant", [I HATE that... almost as much as a cat does], but I digress... as I have illustrated before,
[see any/all "homeowner follies"blogs...]..I live in an old [c. 1929-30] house that is doing a good imitation of a "money pit" lately and I'm following in the footsteps of "Mr.Blandings"["Mr.Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse" Cary Grant,194-something.....so, in my blog of 11/13,[sooner or later...], I detailed a few misadventures of the homeowner kind, but left out one of the cat staffperson-kind...as the drawers were out of the built-in dresser in the hall to be primed and a piece of cardboard had been employed as a "cat-deflection"device (since the inside of the dresser led under the house[into 'possumland'] and outside to FREEDOM[think : Braveheart]), this was VERY necessary to preserve the health of the kitties and my sanity...J had "secured"[he has a dog...] the cardboard in a manner secure to him ,but yet, an "invitation" to a cat... he noticed it was "down" and then saw Gracie, snooping inside, beyond arms reach , but not yet out of sight...Gracie had been a bit "miffed " anyway, as she had been "ignored" and not properly "feted"[only an occasional pat or sweet word...] the ENTIRE day to this point...now, of course, she was center stage and loving it ,[I'm ready for my close-up...]...I used my "teacher"voice, scourge of 7th & 8th graders for 20+ years and cats for longer than that, she flicked her tail... I got down on the floor, she moved farther in.... I dangled an extension cord, using my best "enticement" voice, more tail-flicking... of course, now, the others are coming to Mom's sweet,"kitty, kitty" voice and looming too close...I shooed them away and opened, a can of FOOD !... now she's yawning and losing interest, turning around ,"to explore"...at this point, Mr. Skilled Cabinet-Maker/Carpenter said, "You want her out ? I'll get her out"...after checking that he did NOT have the Sawsall in his hand, I said, "OK". He came to the opening,talking softly to Gracie,who was instantly captivated by him...she came right up to him to be petted and after a few pets and a few "meows",[SHE doesn't understand my "specialness"...] she allowed him to pick her up and hand her to me...as we re-secured the dresser area, Gracie, very much "smitten", continued to tell Mr. S.C.M./C. how nice he was, how available she was, how mean I was,etc... this is a cat who had been in the same house all morning and into the afternoon with this man, had said "Hello" and passed the time of day like a normal feline[...pretty much ignored him...], and was now, absolutely besotted with him... he had calmly said, before she came to him, that he charged $1.50 for "cat retrieval", so when I paid him later that day for the shutters and the closet door, I added on $1.50, and wrote on the check, "carpentry and cat retrieval "...I figured it was worth it just for the goofy look on Gracies' face...that cat owes me big time...