I have been the victim of a drive-by punning

First I need to refer you to point 6 of this previous post. The "paradigm shifting" has become an inside joke in the lab. It's officially my job now, I am lab paradigm-shifter. So in order to propagate the joke, I made a sign and hung it above my desk. It's just a printout that has "CAUTION" in an octagon, and underneath it says, "PARADIGMS SHIFTING, watch your step". Well, this morning I came in to find someone had added to my sign. Someone, and I don't know exactly who, made a photocopy of two coins, two dimes to be exact, and taped it to my sign. Yes, they added a "pair of dimes."

I don't know what's worse, the pun, or the fact that it took me like an hour to get it.

Also, Larry, you should've told me you were visiting Indiana.

In other news, I am getting a kitten. Eventually. Sometime in September. I'm getting a purebred Siberian. In a sense, I feel a little guilty about it. What with the pet overpopulation problem in this country, it'd probably be more...ethical? eco-conscious? to go down to the animal shelter and pick up a kitten there for $75 instead of spending over $1000 on a purebred. But you know what, that kitten was going to be born anyways. Plus, I have my reasons for getting this specific breed. For one, I want a cat that's more on the cuddly-side, one that likes being picked up and held. Certain breeds do better with that than others, and the Siberian is one of those. Of course, individual results may vary, these are cats after all. But with a stray it's just a crapshoot. The second reason, and while not most important it may end up being just as critical, is that Siberians are considered hypoallergenic. They produce a lot less of the cat allergen protein FelD1 than pretty much any other breed. People that have asthmatic allergies to cats can own a Siberian with no problems. I am allergic to cats. This wasn't going to deter me, I had just planned on buying cases of Claritan, but if I can get away without it, then hey, so much the better. In addition, the purebred lines have been checked and cleared of genetic disorders, which means hopefully less problems down the road. Plus they are so friggen CUTE. The kittens are just adorable little fluffballs, and the cats look just how a cat should look.

Out of curiousity, I looked into the supposed "real hypoallergenic cat". These things start at $10,000 and go upwards of $30,000. The company is noticeably vague when it comes to describing exactly what they did, but with my scientist instincts I was able to get a general idea of what they did, and it's total crap. All they did was genetic screening and a deliberate breeding program, which is crap. If I had the money to breed cats, I could do it myself. The end result is not any better than the Siberian breed, really. It's not like they actually made a transgenic cat, deleting out the felD1 gene. That might warrant the price, not what they actually did. Sometimes it's good to be a scientist.

Anyways, this morningI made a deposit this morning for a kitten with this very nice couple in New Jersey. They are from Russia, though the fact they breed Siberian cats may be just a coincidence. They are also scientists; developmental biology and biochemistry. So they are actually 'colleagues' of mine, which is just super cool. They understand the lifestyle of the scientist, and it's just awesome to deal with a kindred spirit. The queen gave birth to her litter just last night to six kittens. I'm third on the reservation list (of 5 people now, Siberians are very rare, only coming to this country in 1990, and are incredibly in-demand), so I'll get my pick from 4 kittens. They are ready to go to their new homes at 10-12 weeks, so sometime in September my little sweetheart will be coming to me. I am so excited I can't even describe it. I just have to get all the equipment and get the place ready now.

I almost got a Somali, 'cause damn, how can you not love a cat that looks like a little fox. It's the tail, it's all in the tail. If I ever get a second cat, it'll be one of those.