I noticed Q*Bert had some scabs on the back of his neck, and some bald patches on one of his legs, so I took him to the vet. Much to my surprise, the vet said he has fleas. Fleas! Q*Bert and Max are indoor cats. However, Q*Bert has managed to escape a few times and did have a visit with the neighbor cat a few months ago, so maybe that's where it came from.

The vet said we had to shampoo Q*Bert twice, wash everything, and vacuum every other day for two weeks. Have you ever tried to give a cat a bath? We took Q*Bert into the bathroom and shut the door so he couldn't escape. Max was outside the door, wondering how we were torturing his poor brother. Q*Bert held up fairly well, except for the rinsing part. Chris held him over the sink and I dumped warm water all over him with a measuring cup. That's when the yowling really went full blast.

He was so miserable sitting there with shampoo on he didn't even want any cat treats. But he forgave us pretty quickly afterwards.

You may not know this about me, but I have a fear of being buried alive. I think it started with two things: an Edgar Alllen Poe story, and the urban legend about Martha Washington.

I don't remember the name of the Poe story, but in it a man hired someone to build a special tomb that would have an alarm, so if he were buried while still alive, he could ring the alarm and be rescused. The guy building it decides to do it on the cheap and not actually hook up the alarm, because he figured, who would ever need it? and then, a ha, gets trapped inside and is unable to escape.

The Martha Washington myth is that they dug up her coffin and found fingernail scratch marks inside the coffin, where presumably she had tried to claw her way out.

Anyway, the whole thing kinda freaks me out so at first I decided, I'll just be cremated. But I've read more about it and it uses up a lot of energy and what's left but some useless ashes. Then I thought, ok, well, you can bury me, but you gotta chop off my head first. But I guess it's not very fair to ask anyone to do that.

But the idea of being buried in a cemetary bothers me for other reasons...I feel it's a waste of land to have a bunch of dead bodies lying around, with fancy headstones and all. I know it's a comfort for some people to be able to visit a grave, but my family has never been big on that stuff. I don't even know if I have any relatives in cemetaries.

On the TV show Myth Busters, they had an episode to debunk the buried alive myth. It seems you'd suffocate pretty quickly and would not be there until you starved to death. Also, a doctor on the show said that nowadays they're 100% sure that you're dead, whereas in the "old days" they might make a mistake.

So I think I'm back to being buried over cremated, but now I want to be buried somewhere outside of a cemetary. But I guess that's against the law or something. The other night I did some research on the web, and there does seem to be a movement towards "green" burials. These are designated park-like areas where a certain number of bodies can be buried in biodegradable materials. There is no grave marker.

Sounds perfect! Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of these places in the United States. Seems much more popular in the UK. But I hope by the time I die this will be an easy option.

I'm not trying to be morbid. I don't have any plans to die soon. But I should put a will together and I just want to get these kind of details worked out.

Here's one of those things floating around the web these days..

Do I Remember

1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (Nov. 22, 1963)

Wasn't born yet.

2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (May 18, 1980)

I don't know that I remember the exact moment it blew, but I remember the aftermath very clearly. My cousins had a cabin near there. If I remember correctly, their cabin survived without too much damage, but the cabin next to theirs was destroyed. Afterwards they sold trinkets like pens with ash in them.

When we went on our annual visit up to Washington, my dad made us wear masks where the air was cloudy with ash. Also he had a T-shirt that said "Where the hell is [man who did not evacuate and was never found after Mt. St. Helens blew]? Having a beer with D.B. Cooper." Of course at the time I had no idea who D.B. Cooper was.

3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (January 28, 1986)

I don't really remember where I was. I must have been in school. I remember being relieved that the teacher we'd picked (my computer science teacher Mr. Thomas) hadn't won after all.

4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (October 17, 1989)

Yep. I was getting ready to go to Rheem (nice name) to help set up for some "Don't Do Drugs" dance (what a goody goody). I was in my room in Walnut Creek and the floor started slowly roooollling back and forth. It seemed to go on forever. It was actually rather fun during it (there was no damage at our house). Then we turned on the news and saw the aftermath.

5. When the Berlin Wall fell (November 9, 1989)

Not really. I mean, I remember it happening and all but I don't recall watching it on TV.

6. When the Gulf War began (January 16, 1991)

No, not the exact date.

7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (June 17, 1994)

Yeah, I think I was out to dinner with Phil and Cristy and one of my favorite pizza places, and we came home and turned on the TV (in San Diego).

8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (April 19, 1995)

Not the exact moment.

9. When Princess Di was killed (August 31, 1997)

I was at my parent's house and I remember watching the news on TV.

10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (April 20, 1999)

No, not the exact time.

11. When Bush was first announced President (November 7, 2000)

I can't say it was a flashbulb memory.

12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA

What?

13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center (September 11, 2001)

I was in England, at Chris's parents. We'd just come in from visiting Sherwood Forest. I went upstairs to put my jacket down and Chris's mum called up "Cathy, come quick, something terrible's happened in America!" It was quite surreal being so far away.

I can't believe that after 31 years, I have found a new kind of candy to like. I mean, the candy itself isn't new.. Heath Bars have been around since 1932. But for some reason I didn't eat them as a kid.

Well, what was I thinking? They're delicious.

The kind I really like are the Hershey Bites--tiny little chocolate-covered toffee.

I think as I've grown older I like chocolate more. I was never a big chocolate person, and even now I prefer chocolate when it's mixed with something else, like caramel. And I'm not big on things like chocolate cake or brownies. But Twix? Heath Bars? Peanut butter cups? Rolos? Sign me up.