Come to think of it, I was always going to name a dog 'Hector' because my Mom always used to say "since Hector was a pup" and I figure I should make it come true, sort of.

Matilda the Cat

Aww, I don't think I knew that. That is lovely really.

DH had suggested naming a dog Dude for calling purposes. Dude! Dude, come here right now!

My nephew and family are going camping next week so they asked me to move into their place with my cats for the week. We previously distributed my used litter around the perimeter of their place as a mouse deterrent. They think it helped, but they still have sounds in the walls. Apparently a lot of people in the area have an issue with mice this year. I haven't had any except the one I saw the first day I was here. He fled and apparently told his friends I had cats. So field trip (they only live a half mile away) with all the animals. Skinner will come too. Also, my niece knows I like my solitude and that has been denied with my son & GF here, so she thought a retreat would be cool.

Sounds win-win, Laura.

Cat names I have known that might work with dogs and not with humans:

Bogart

Skipper

Cooper

Binx

Moxie

Spike

Kolla

Coco

I've also known a few cats whose names would work for dogs of certain coloring (Midnight, New Moon), but not for reddish-brown to tan.

My cats names have been: Anna ( original suggestion Ann for Ann Wilson), Dean (originally Nalu but named for SPN Dean), Maddie (came named that way), Penny (originally Bernice, then named for Big Bang Theory), and we also have Duchess in the house (originialy Dumpster Duchess bc she was found next to a dumpster) and Scrappy ("he's a scrappy little thing"). So I guess I lean more toward people names.. but nick names for the current cats are:Penny Pen, Pen Pen, Penners, Penerella, Pudgerella (although Penny isn't as pudgey as she was), Duchy duch, Viscous, Evil (Duchess is devoed to M and hates/on a good day barely tolerates anyone else so she is called Evil...also she will scratch M if he annoys her too much.. and then she'll come back and spend 15 mins bathing his hand or his face).

My grandmother had a cat named Rocious - short for Ferocious. She liked me, she liked my grandmother, and no one else.

so the private equity firm that owns the department store chain I work for put in a bid to buy JC Penney. If they do I guess they'll convert all the Penneys to our store and close the stores where there are both stores already.

which I guess if it happens could be a good thing in terms of job security or they could be biting off more than they can chew and it will be a bad thing..

That would be quite a major purchase for sure. I don't know about the future of department stores. Pretty risky. Yet I'll bet a pretty good bargain purchase. I should hope they have a sound plan for what to do going forward.

Just a couple days ago we drove to 'the city' to pick up printer ink for my sister. She normally gets it on line, but was in a hurry. Went to the Staples she had gone to for years. Closed. Permanently. And this was the only office supply store in Utica.

When I was four, my family had a dachshund named Penny. She was not a good dog for a family with young children, or perhaps a family with young children should have monitored them better around dogs. Anyway, she ended up rehomed with another family. But Penny for a dog with reddish bits seems reasonable.

Whoa, askye, that's interesting. I will be sad if JCP disappears completely, I am sentimentally fond of that particular department store, but I hope the acquisition goes well for you. Belk isn't really nationwide, is it? That could be a big expansion.