cat bed - Cursing Cats and Other Curiosities

To really capture the excitement I have over these fabulous rocks, let me transcribe the text messages my three besties and K’s biologist S.O. got from me today: Ehem:

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“OH MY GOD. I got my rocks and they are better than I imagined!”

**Insert five more pictures of close ups of the various color groupings — ask if you want to see those***

“There’s three types of Obsidian and they’re so distinct! The Gold Sheen Obsidian doesn’t look special until you hold it up to the light and, well, gold!”

“And what’s the Blue Sand Stone that looks like GLITTER”

“Hematite is heavy as fuck”

“The Opal is so gorgeous”

“OH MY GOD, you have to come over so I can show you my favorites”

“Look at the glitter in this one!”

“This is genius marketing. Like, I know these are the chips that come off [when they’re] making those carved stone skulls and angels and shit. They took their scrap and marketed it and I AM HERE FOR IT.”

“Look at this Citrine!” ***Insert picture of Citrine***

“Look at this, it’s pure black when not in the light”

“Oh and Louie got a window bed in my office”

“Opal was moms favorite”

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So needless to say, I was so excited! I’ve wanted these for months. And they weren’t expensive — Click here for the amazon listing for $41.99 plus a $5off coupon you can click. Gift giving season was coming up and I thought they were a good price point for a gift. They were at the TOP of my wishlist. Birthday, Christmas — Husband got me the shelves I picked for them to go on for my birthday, but no one gifted me the rocks! I figured surely husband would get the Christmas. Nope. It might be the fucking lame ass marketing. The Amazon name is “Consine Witchcraft Supplies, A Set of 49 Different Gemstones Crystals in Glass Bottles, Crystal Chip Natural Reiki Healing Stones, Random Stuff Witch Crystals for Meditation Therapy and Witchy Decor”

I suppose they are getting those hippy hits and all the Wiccans with this advertising, but some of us just like rocks, OKAY? Geology is fucking amazing! I can’t afford to actually own all of these beautiful stones. It would be an awesome collection though. It would also be a bit disorderly with stones of different sizes, and how would I label them? But when I saw THIS? Oooooooo ho ho. All the rocks in beautiful uniform little glass jars? Fuck yes. Give it to me.

Fucking genius marketing. Taking SCRAPS and selling them off. They just tossed their scraps in a tumbler (some aren’t even tumbled, actually — but most are).

The little jars are only 2 inches tall. I scoured Amazon for the perfect shelves for them. Honeycomb shelves! Are they made for Essential Oils? Yes. Fucking hippies all up in my shit. Husband gifted me the shelves for my birthday and they look great in my office! I even bought a cheap package of empty vials to set on the shelves (click for link. $8.99 I need an affiliate thing) — but I also plan to fill them with other things. Maybe other stones? Sand from Florida; Sand from Maine. Two are already filled with broken bracelets — one is pearls of different colors.

NOW LOOK AT MY OFFICE!

Of course, I already need more shelves. Maybe for Valentines 😉 Though I can’t find the white on Amazon anymore, so I might have to get the brown (click) and paint them all a uniform white.

I arranged the rocks by color for the shelves. First black to white to browns:

Then the prettiest shelf is reds to pinks to oranges to yellow to greens:

Then flowing with the rest of the greens into the blues and purple:

Are the labels jank? Yes. Yes they are. I might fix them at some point. It would be a lot of effort. But I could get some cute tiny printable labels (maybe in silver or gold?) and print them. Then put them on STRAIGHT and at the same level all across. That would also cover the miscellaneous jars I add. It’s an option I am considering. I was going to shelve them with the labels facing the wall, however, I don’t know their names. I also want to show people my favorites. As you can see from the shelf pictures, the Gold Sheen Obsidian and Blue Sandstone are AMAZING in the sunlight, but look bland and black on the shelf. Same with the Garnet and Blood Stone (though it’s more the lighting in the picture for the Blood Stone).

So yes, I am THRILLED. I love them. Guess what else? I rearranged my office today. My desk was facing the window. Theoretically, so I could look out the window. But work let me borrow these huge-ass monitors and I see no window. Also, Feng Shui says you should face the door to be in a position of power.

So I rotated my desk. Now I’m facing the closet and door — really the closet. But, the closet is blocked by my monitors. Now I’m sitting right next to the window with a nearly full view of the pool. And to my left is my wall of happiness — including my rocks.

And believe it or not, I also knocked a big very visible work task off my list today. I fucking love my office. You know what I can do? ADD CAT SHELVES. Husband won’t let me anywhere — BUT NOW I HAVE MY OWN ROOM.

OH MY GOD!

PS: Link to Louie’s new bed. He fucking loves it. Came with two covers that velcro on. No screws or anything required. You do have to have a functional window that opens though. It hooks into the window slot and braces against the wall. Oh the price has gone up to $22.90 since I ordered it — still totally worth. Clicky.

PS #2: I’m trying to change directorates (kinda like getting a new job completely — just less paperwork). If it works out, maybe they’ll let me work more than 2 days from home a week!

PS #3: On researching Blue Sandstone:

“Blue Sandstone (also known as Blue Goldstone) is a man-made stone made up of natural minerals (quartz sand, copper, gypsum and feldspar) Although this stone is man-made, its infused with naturally occurring minerals found in nature”

“Are you referring to the dark blue stone with a shimmering/sparkly star-like effect? If so, it’s also referred to as “blue goldstone” and a couple of other names.

This material is primarily silica glass. Some people make the glass from sand, which is why one name used is sandstone. The elements used change the colour; I think blue goldstone uses cobalt instead of the copper used in the brown version.”

This review is for Louie’s new cat tower. Or, as Amazon likes to call it: “Made4Pets Cat Tree Modern Cat Tower Featuring with Fully Sisal Covering Scratching Posts, Deluxe Condos and Large Space Capsule Nest.” This is listed at $159.99 right now, but there was a $17 off coupon on it when I ordered.

Not sure where to start this review. A pro/con list? Let’s start with getting the package. This thing was packaged wonderfully. Was there a ton of excess trash because of that? Yes. However, I appreciated that the acrylic bowl was situated in custom cut styrofoam to keep it from getting damaged. I also liked how organized all the assembly bits were in their neat tray. Just don’t open them upside down, like I did.

First, I laid everything out. Then I was intimidated. I love assembling furniture, but I have to say, this had a lot of pieces. The first thing I noticed, out of the box — All of the particle board pieces are completely finished on all sides – even those that meet and don’t show. That’s really nice. I wasn’t thrilled that the front and back pieces are just thin laminate and not solid “wood.” However, I did note that it would be easy to switch those two pieces so this tree could face left or right. That’s nice. The biggest con was the assembly method. It uses cam lock fasteners. I hate these things. They just don’t make for sturdy fasteners. They give too much wobble.

The instructions were pretty good. I’d watch the video first. I did not. Had I done that, I probably wouldn’t have done step 6 upside down and had to back track. Do you know how hard it is to get cam locks out? Real hard. Note that on the piece with the two entrance holes, there are predrilled holes towards the top for the top stair. It’s not just symmetrical.

Also, I posted a picture with some markups. 100% switch steps 11 and 12. This is stupid – do 12 first. That saves you from “some” of the gymnastics to get step 11 done. Good lord, good luck. You’re going in blind – literally, and trying to fasten things you can’t see at strange angels upside down. God speed.

That said, my cat was all over this thing during assembly. He loves it! I was putting the rug mats on and he was already climbing it and getting in my way. He went under the bowl and started attacking those four scratchers immediately. I sat him in the bowl and he started attacking the corner balls. Tons of fun for the cat. He hasn’t been into hiding in the boxes, but I, at least, appreciate the very fluffy butt pillows that are in there.

I found that he loved the bowl if I put him in it, but wouldn’t jump in it on his own. I think that’s because he can’t see that it’s a solid place to jump. So I put a blanket in there. I know, this limited the adorable toe beans and scrunched-up-cat-cuteness, but it’s probably more cozy with the blanket anyway. Even if it does distract from the clean aesthetics. Now that the blanket is in there, this is his GO-TO spot. He just trots up the stairs and gets in his little bowl. My husband says that’s mostly where he hangs out when I’m at work.

I bought this for the high bowl for him to hang out in. I wanted him to have a high place to sit in the window. This is perfect! He sits in the bowl and watches the people go by in the front window. I have to leave those blinds open for him. It is his favorite spot in the house. I also bought this for the clean design. Thank you so much, for not covering this thing in carpet! I hate those ugly cat trees! Also, if he barfs on it, I can wipe it up or wash the part he barfed on (the rug pads are velcroed on).

So in summary, I do love the finished product. If it was screwed together and not held together with cam locks, it would be 5 stars for SURE. Even with the cam locks, it’s pretty sturdy. My cat has leapt at this thing and it’s been completely fine. He loves it, I’m happy with the look. It’s great. So I give it 4 stars.