Things I Recommend - Cursing Cats and Other Curiosities

Review: Close to perfect notebook!

Posted on January 31, 2023 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

This is a review for the SUNEE Graph Paper Notebook. Or as Amazon likes to call it (click for link): SUNEE Graph Paper Notebook – 300 Pages, 5 Subject, 8.2″x10.8″, 5 x 5mm Grid Lines Notebook with 5 Pocket Colored Dividers, 3-Hole Punched Quad Ruled Paper, Black Graphing Spiral Notebooks for Math, Engineering, Writing/Drawing Journals, Home & Office. Amazon has a beautiful way with words.

I debated giving this a 4 or 5 stars. It deserves 5 stars for being amazing but I half wanted to give it 4 for not being absolutely perfect. It’s so close though! The specs:

Page Number: 150 Sheets/300 Pages
Page Weight: 80g/m²–Ivory Color
Metal wire-o twin loop wire binding
Cover is waterproof frosted plastic
Five movable subject dividers with pockets
Perforated pages with three ring punched holes
Available in graph paper or college ruled

So I needed a notebook for work. I was using a three ring binder but I quickly found out that it takes up too much room on a crowded table in meetings. So I needed a ringed notebook I could fold over. I prefer engineering graph paper. It’s super light colored so still easy to read over and gives you a million options for what you want to write, how large, drawing tables, endless possibilities. This came in graph paper so close enough. It’s also smaller than the average graph paper squares at 5 per inch so not too bad.

I also work on a lot of different projects. So I decided to look for something with multiple subject dividers. This not only has 5 subject dividers — they’re also movable and have pockets! Pockets are an obvious win for handouts and notes from meetings. And the movable dividers mean I can devote more of the notebook to larger projects. It also had something I didn’t realize I wanted: 3 hole punched pages. This means if I need to save something long term, I can pull it out and put it in my binder of things to keep for reference. Excellent addition.

When I received my notebook I was very pleased! The black plastic cover is understated enough to be professional without looking like you tried too hard. The subject dividers do not stick out past the book width as they do in the product photos which means it won’t get messed up when I toss it in my bag. I’m pleased with the thickness of the wire and the style of the double wired spiral. The first thing I did was stamp the front and back pages with a big “unclassified” stamp, as one does. I was sad to see that I could see the ink through the other side of the page. It didn’t bleed through completely, but it’s obvious that I won’t be writing double sided on this with my favorite gel ink pens. That said, if one were using regular cheap pens or pencil, this is certainly thick enough to work double sided in that case.

So for this to be the perfect notebook, I’d want it to be the engineering graph paper and thicker paper weight. Maybe an ostentatious cover as well. That said, however, it’s the best notebook I’ve ever found. I will most likely buy another when I need it. I also added it to my list of “Things I recommend 100%” (click for link).

A Good Thing: Flamingo Lights

Posted on June 8, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

My sister posted a video on Facebook of these little guys bobbing around her pool. She has eight – her own little flock. I immediately wanted some for my own pool so she told me she got them on Amazon. I looked them up and saw that they’re lights too! I couldn’t hit the “buy now” button fast enough!

First of all, they’re adorable. Their blank stare just seems to follow you. They bob around like they’re dancing together. Any breeze sees them turn their heads and race in a new direction. Sometimes they seem to follow you around the pool. And then when it’s too dark to swim, they light up and the fun continues.

They take on an anthropomorphic personality. We had a party and they were a huge hit. Everyone loved them. We found ourselves wondering who they liked the best. Which one is the fastest? And is the loner always the same flamingo or does it change? My friends even added accessories to them so we could see if the loner was always the same flamingo – maybe that one’s heavier or defective. The one we put the sunglasses on was the ladies man. The one with the dress ribbon around its neck seemed to be the most solitary. By the end of the party it was decided that they must all have names and the girls needed eyelashes.

This isn’t exclusive to us. My sisters want to give theirs identifiers so they can bet on which one will win the race across the pool. These little guys just take on personalities.

My first idea was different colored ribbons making bowties around their necks. However, it occurred to me that I have a box full of leis for parties so I got those out. I made mini leis for the guys and used some of the extra petals to make flower corsages for the girls. And yes, they got eyelashes thanks to a sharpie.

They’re freaking adorable. You absolutely need a flock of your own for your own pool. I cant walk past a window without checking on them day or night.

Things I Bought Today

Posted on May 25, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | 2 Comments

1) Solar light inflatable flamingos for the pool. I saw my sisters in a video and they were adorable how they bob around in a little flock with the wind. They’re also big enough to not go in the skimmers. So I was like “I want those!” When I looked them up I saw they were actually also SOLAR LIGHTS. Fuck me, I bought them right then. Hell yeah. Got a set of 4. My sister has, like, 10 but we aint rich over here.

2) A cat harness. Does Jack have a cat harness? Yes. Yes, he does. However, his cat harness has some issues. First, it’s a bit tight in the neck. It’s a bit tight in general, really. He wasn’t with me when I bought it. Second, it’s a pain in the ass to put on. Thankfully Jack is a good boy, but every time you put it on him, you have to weave the chest buckle through the loop in the harness. And it has to go over his head. Yeah cats love having shit shoved over their heads. Third, it’s one of those multi-pet harnesses. So a dog harness, really. This one I ordered is just for cats. It’s also been advertised to me like 3 times and I’m a sucker. But, to be honest, I really do like the way it has a big neck hole and that there’s no straps around the cat — just fabric. And its a step in, not over the head. Plus, while it does buckle, it velcros before you buckle it. I mean it does look like a damn good cat harness. Jacks harness is shitty. So… I bought. He got the blue lined in orange.

3) I did NOT buy more Pair Frame toppers for my glasses. A while back I ordered some “blanks” that were 3D printed on Etsy. I got 5 for like $20. I bought them to try to salvage the “fuck” tops by gluing them to plastic so they wouldn’t be floppy. This failed. I did, however, paint two pair! First, I popped on one of the just white blanks. And I actually loved the way the white frames popped. But they were matte finish and if you looked close you could see they weren’t smooth. So I got some white nail polish and now they’re so shiny! While shopping for nail polish I went for something more fun too — one of those ones that changes color depending on the angle you look at it. I went with green because green is my favorite color. Check it. With all 5 blanks and both nail polishes, these were actually cheaper than buying Pair brand toppers:

New Glasses from Pair Eyewear

Posted on April 26, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | 2 Comments

What if I told you that, in all of these pictures, I’m wearing the same pair of glasses?

That’s right, they’re all the same glasses! They’re the “Ella” from Pair Eyewear. The plain black base frames (available in other colors like clear) have magnets on them. This allows you to switch out an infinite number of toppers to match your hearts desires!

They release new collections of limited edition toppers a few times a month (on Wednesdays, I believe). So there will always be new ones for your fancy. And there’s already a huge community of custom makers who sell custom tops. My white fuck tops and the black bat wings are both custom orders. As far as limited editions, I already missed out on the bokah dots by mere hours! It was heart breaking. They were in my cart and then when I got my prescription uploaded and went to checkout, they had already sold out. Sad times. Sad times.

If you look around, there is generally a 10% off coupon for new customers — or you can use my referral link to save money and give me points toward purchases too! Here’s my link. Right now, in April — it’s worth $25. After April, I believe it will go down to $20.

The base frames start at $60 with simple prescription lenses. Each topper is $25 for regular, or $30 for sun toppers. I added on light responsiveness (knock-off Transitions), blue light filtering, and a bunch of toppers. I even got a sun topper. Why would I get a sun topper when I have the light responsiveness? To use in the car, baby! Hell yeah! Transitions don’t work in the car (they’re triggered by UV rays) — so now I can store my sun toppers in my console and drive in sunglasses! I got to try it for the first time today and I felt so cool.

I tell you what, these have exceeded my expectations. The quality of the frames is perfectly on par with frames you pay 5 times as much for. In fact, I’m suggesting Mr C get his next pair through them. Even if he doesn’t use the toppers, the price is excellent. They have a good return policy (I already returned one topper that made me look like I had a unibrow). I added on an optional warranty too. And the magnets are stronger than I expected. They work great! I’m in love.

I’m pretty sure K is already sold on buying the “Wandas” for a pair of cheaper glasses she can wear on trips where she doesn’t have to be heart broken over losing a pair of glasses that cost $800 in a lake.

Some things:

You can simply upload a picture of your prescription to the site.
There are lots of shape options. I have the “Ella.” If you look around, smart entrepreneurial types have already started selling card stock cutouts of the different frames for you to try on. I paid $5 for a full set to “try them on” before I committed.
If you know you pupil distance, awesome! Give it to them. If you do not, they have an app where you hold any card with a magnetic strip (AKA size of a credit card) up to your forehead and let it take a picture. This is what I did and mine came out perfect.
Seriously, use my referral link. You save $20 and I get a $20 credit to spend on toppers!
They have kids sizes as well as adult! Affordable for your kids to run around the playground in while rocking dinosaur toppers!

New Garden Tools!

Posted on March 11, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

I got new garden tools! As a near-40-year-old, spiffy gardening tools bring me great joy. Tis the season to spring clean the flower beds! Especially since I’m having surgery next week. Shits gotta get done before then. I called out the lawn guy for an estimate on cleaning up the branches in the yard and cleaning the leaves and branches from the pool area. He tried to up-sell me on letting him take care of my flower beds. He said trimming and mulch could really spiff them up. Well, I usually take care of that myself. I just hadn’t got around to it yet. Plus I don’t like my azaleas over-trimmed. They’re supposed to look natural, not square. And don’t dare trim my spireas! They’re not yet full grown. So last weekend I got my ass out there and weeded and put down and ungodly amount of Preen (supposed to keep weeds out). And I ordered myself some new goodies.

First, a hedge trimmer. Last year I didn’t trim my hedges. It was a year of mourning. In the years before that, my mom would just bring up my sisters hedge trimmer for me to borrow that once a year you need one. Well, moms gone. So I bought my own hedge trimmer.

Click the picture for the link. Why this one? Well because all of my garden tools are 40 volt Black and Decker. This means all of my $100 batteries fit all of my equipment. Do I need three batteries to get through trimming my hedges? Nope. But I sure do need at least two batteries when I’m doing a lot of weed-eating. Keeping everything from the same line of products means a lot of cross versatility.

I was so excited to use my new hedge trimmer that I trimmed hedges on my lunch break Wednesday. Ah, the perks of working from home. I wish I had a before picture. It’s just so satisfying how nice and clean everything looks with just a bit of a trim. My Japonicas needed a hair cut badly. The azaleas got just a tad bit of a trim to even them out and keep them below the window line. I particularly like a hedge trimmer because it makes me feel so powerful. I shall cut ALL THE THINGS. But not my arm off — like a chainsaw. Chainsaws are terrifying. Hedge trimmers are satisfying without being terrifying.

What else did I order? A garden wagon.

Don’t make fun of my garden wagon! I need this thing. I hate my freaking wheel barrow — it always wants to tip over. And every year it needs new air in the tire. So I finally got a garden wagon. With solid rubber tires that won’t ever need air. And it’s huge — holds more than the wheel barrow. Holds 220lbs too! And it folds up! Fuck yeah it does! No disassembly required, just folds up. What?

God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I’m gonna use it Sunday to pick up all those branches I trimmed and haul them off. Then I’ll use it to drag bags of mulch over to where I need them. Then Mr C can load it with 8 bags of fertilizer I bought and walk the property line and fertilize my arbor trees. Then this summer, I can use it to haul all those 40lb bags of salt and pool chemicals out to the pool. Or a load of chairs for a party.

What I’m saying is, I’m excited about this wagon.

Some Things 3/4

Posted on March 4, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

1) New highlight moment:

Backstory – I always preorder my deli meat so i don’t have to wait in line to get it cut. Also, I’m wearing capris to show off my sweet goomba tattoo.

*I Grab my ham from deli fridge*

Deli guy: “Are you picking up for Roberta?”

“No,” *indicates ham* “I got mine.”

Deli guy: *100% talking to my goomba (its obvious, its my ankle, approximately 5 feet below my eyes):* “You’re [Mrs C]?”

“Yes. Thank you”

Deli Guy: *Still starring down my goomba* Cool

Goomba basically got cat-called, yall! Mr C better watch out. Soon all the young nerds will be torn on whether to look at my new boobs or my sweet 8-bit tattoo.

Also, Roberta is a terrible name. Surely, Roberta would not sport such a cool gem as this.

EDITED FOR CLARIFICATION: He called me by my name, not “Mrs C.” No, he did not recognize me from my blog. No one reads this shit, especially not the guy from the deli down the street. He probably sees my name on online orders all the time from my deli meat and picking up subs for Mr. C so was just associating a face (actually a goomba) with a name.

2) I live in a swamp. People might not know it’s a swamp because it’s highly developed with nice housing, but dude, you live in a swamp. So the wet areas are really wet. This leads to swarms of frogs. Frogs singing in such loud masses that it sounds like a summer song. I’ve only ever heard this in Florida — Specifically, from the roof of the condominium we have stayed at every year since I was conscious of time. The frogs in the undeveloped lot across the street that was there when I was little. So hearing them now makes me a little nostalgic for my mom. Us going up to the 16th floor to look at the ocean and the lights and hearing the song of the frogs. It’s bittersweet.

3) My second surgery is in less than TWO WEEKS!

4) I recently found myself with a few hours shooting the breeze with a lawyer. Vaccines came up, of course. You go through the “do you want me to wear a mask, I’m vaccinated, but if it’ll make you more comfortable” — usually because I’m wearing a mask. They’re required at work and I wear them to the store and stuff. So we were discussing how hard it was to get the vaccine when it first came out and we were both in the “give me that shit” category. Now of course a lot of people are antivax. Those people suck. Good thing you weren’t around when we needed to eradicate polio.

Tangent, sorry.

So he was curious how my fellow engineers reacted to being required to have the vaccine. (We work government contracts in this city, so it was a requirement until some court shit postponed it). I told him everyone I knew was all for it! We’re engineers. We think logically, not emotionally (“which is why you don’t like us on your jurys”). We work with SMEs all the time. Subject Matter Experts. We are well aware and taught that some people know way more about this thing that you can ever hope to know. A lot of us become SMEs in our career. We wrote the damn program and were on it from its conception. You’re the SME. Just like my lawyer is my law SME. I don’t know shit about the law, so I pay him. So when the engineers were told by a shit ton of medical SMEs that we better get the vaccine — we didn’t worry and hem and haw. They know more than I ever could about it. The people I immediately work with felt the same. We were gunning to get that shit in our arms LOL

Be smart. Listen to the SME. Doesn’t make you a sheep. A sheep can’t tell who the SME is. I’ll give you a hint, the SME didn’t get their degree from youtube.

5) This shit is fucking delicious:

Ascent Recovery Water. I was in Sprouts looking for something low carb to drink as I was thirsty. Grabbed this watermelon water. Holy shit. It’s fucking delicious. Tons of flavor! And after I drank it I was looking over the bottle — 20 grams of protein! What? It has whey in it. But it was crystal clear pink water. Is this sorcery? Why is sorcery always so expensive!? If this was affordable, I’d drink them daily for sure!

It’s a Good Thing: Pentel EnerGel RTX Retractable Liquid Gel Pen Review

Posted on February 3, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

How about a product review? I just reordered some of my absolute favorite pens. I’m pretty possessive of a good pen. I covet them. You will not take my good pen. And ever since I found these Pentel EnerGel RTX Retractable Liquid Gel Pens (Amazon Link), the purple one has been my precious. I’ve ordered a set of just purple and now I’m ordering another set of the multi-colored package because almost all of them have run out.

Here is my original Amazon review (I’m a whore for Review “likes” — so feel free to hop over and mark my review as “helpful”) :

I signed into a meeting Monday with a brown pen — the color was meh (brown) but the ink line was fantastic. It flowed perfectly. Perfectly. I wanted it. I asked whose it was and it belonged to the meeting coordinator — he was not going to let me have his pen. So I asked to borrow the pen and wrote down everything about it. Then I went home and ordered a pack of my own. Now I have purple and dark green (and 7 other colors since I gave three to my husband). They arrived last night. *SQUEE*

Purple is my favorite color of pen to use at work. I’m an engineer so I have to keep it semi-professional. This pack has a lovely dark purple, a dark green (looks lighter in the picture — there are two greens, one is lime and one is dark), 3 of 4 blues (I’m counting the turquoise here), black and brown. I consider all of these seven colors professional enough for work purposes. There are other lovely colors here but those will stick to home use. The Navy pen looks almost black when you write with it. I prefer to avoid black and similar pens at work because I need my writing to pop on printed pages. So this multi pack was an awesome choice for me. Next time I might just order a set of purple. However, I wanted to try all the colors first.

I’d consider getting a nice metal version of this pen and just switching in these ink wells. However, then I’d be even more possessive of my amazing pen. I might develop a tick when someone asks to use it.

“My precious…”

Tubing!

Posted on August 1, 2021 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

I finally got to go tubing! It was just as awesome as I expected it to be. We had 7 people linked in a circle, so steering to avoid obstacles like hanging tree limbs was a thing. We had loads of fun though.

I found a great deal on the mesh-bottomed River Run tubes at academy. 100% recommend the mesh bottomed “River Run” tubes. I’ve used them before at the lake at Mr C’s Aunt L’s house on the lake. So I knew they were exactly what we wanted. So I spread it around the group and we all had the same tubes. Why does that matter? Because they all interlock. So we were able to lock together in a big floating circle and chill out and easily chat.

A few things we learned: Tips on tubing, you could say: or for SEO optimization: how to prepare for tubing, tubing tips:

The bigger the group tied together is, the harder it is to get that snaky circle to avoid obstacles like trees and water weeds. It’s easy to move one person. Not so easy to move seven.
The double floats suck. Two friends went with the double float. It was pretty cool because it had a cooler in the middle. That’s where the pluses end though. They were too high out of the water to help steer. Also, carrying that thing was a beast. Two people walking in tandem like you’re moving a couch. Also didn’t fit on the shuttle, had to go in a pick-up truck. And while all the singles stack up nicely for lunch and shuttle rides, that behemoth is taking up a lot of space. Would not recommend.
Grilling food is delicious, but unpredictable (it was a windy day) and takes a lot of time. Time you could have spent on the water. Next time we will brown bag it.
I thought this was obvious, but you need strappy shoes or water shoes that are gonna stay on your feet when you’re walking through a muddy creek bed. Flip-flops and slip-ons aren’t gonna cut it. That said, prepare to have shoe tan lines.
Bring the sunscreen with you on the tubes. We sun-screened up so much before each float, and still got major sun.
Wear a hat. Hats protect your face from the sun.
A water proof phone bag is a must. Even if you don’t use it for your phone, your car key fob probably doesn’t wanna get wet.
If you don’t plan to pay to get your tube inflated, for fucks sake — make sure you have the right attachments to blow it up with your pump. These river run tubes have the awesome fast release valves — which is great, but requires the appropriate fitting for inflation. However, the back rest requires a regular pool float valve. Be prepared.