I have been reasonably quiet on the blog side of things for about 7 days. Last week was the final week of the term. Year 12 finished up prior to their final examinations. I have been preparing for the NavCon Conference in Gosford which starts on this Tuesday and finishes Friday. On Sunday I fly to Singapore to give a week’s worth of Web 2.0 workshops and a presentation. I have to update my materials for that as well tomorrow. I plan to clean the swimming pool, have breakfast with fellow adventurer Diamond and sort out some clothes tomorrow. Plus fix up some photographs for the school magazine. Goodness gracious!

Like many other cats Sootie loves the adventure and sheer excitement of a brown paper bag. He has been playing with such a bag during the last few days and I thought why not make a hole in the bottom of the bag and obtain a different perspective of Sootie as he plays with the bag. The first video is simply Sootie chewing the handles. The second and third video reveal a carnivore in full flight.

Last week the television set in our living room came to an end. See the blog entry earlier “Sootie is a hero”. Anyway, the television set was less than fours year old. A bit disappointing that it did not last longer. I was not thinking of a new plasma or lcd TV at this point of time. I would rather spend that money on renovating the house.

Well, after the bush walk on Saturday morning I arrived home and there was a replacement TV set in the living room. The damaged set was on the floor. The new set is smaller, less intrusive and fits in better with the furniture. It is a Sony with a trinitron screen. Shao Ping had bought it while I was out. She picked it up at a garage sale for twenty five dollars! Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

Tonight my cat Sootie did something quite remarkable! I was in one part of the house near the bedrooms and Sootie came in looking alarmed and frightened. He miaowed loudly and was looking down the hallway. I thought that perhaps there was a burglar in the house and I gingerly went to investigate. When I reached the living room at the other end of our home there was smoke gathering around the ceiling! There was a fire! I looked for the seat of the blaze but could not find any. There was just smoke thinly accumulating near the ceiling. Perhaps a “down” light in the ceiling had shorted.

I called my neighbour Dale. He switched off the power. He had a look in the roof but found nothing. We went back to the living room and came to the conclusion that the TV had shorted based on the smell of the smoke. We restored power and the TV is indeed dead. Perhaps it had made a loud noise when it shorted. Anyway, Sootie is a legend and perhaps he saved the day!

Our smoke alarm is further away, nearer the bedrooms. I think the smoke would have eventually set it off if I had not opened the windows and the door. Sootie was uneasy for quite a while afterwards. He hid in our bed during the drama.

Well, even Sootie has a blog now. He has made two entries so far and you can subscribe to his blog with this link.