Russian politics and Romanian cats

Putin's ever fervent attempts to distance himself from the Yeltsin-era oligarchs continues... Take that, Khodorkovsky!

So in our very best impression of a Chinese Fire Drill over the phone, it took about 10 phone calls for Timmy to leave Denver for Philadelphia. See, Mara will be here over Christmas (what with her having gone to Detroit for an early Hanukkah over Thanksgiving), but very few others who know Timmy will not. Timmy has a charming little cat from Romania named Huzat (which is the evil Romanian wind that sneaks in through the cracks in the doors and gives you toothaches and colds and whatnot) that will not go to PA with him (the trip from Bucharest to Philly to Denver this summer having been a nightmare), and Mara will watch her. (I who am not wild about cats....previously Cy was my only feline chum...LOVE this cat...she's sweet, slightly evil, smart, tiny and loves the feathered pink bangle bracelet from Chuck E. Cheese more than catnip, cat toys, food, or Timmy himself). However, Ashley took Timmy to the airport early this morning as I was shuttling my aunt around Denver. Mara's in San Diego until tonight. How would Mara get the keys to Timmy's house to get in, play with, show pictures of Timmy, walk her on a leash, change the litterbox, and tell her that she is a loved kitty cat at least 5x a day so as to avoid moodiness (seriously, this is all in the instructions Timmy left)? Well at long last, I got a spare key to Timmy's car, in which he left his house keys, from which I would collect said keys and present them to Mara tonight when she gets off of the plane.

In Huzat news, however, I think she's lonely, because she's never been super cuddly with anyone except Timmy, and today she was LOVING me... Sweet cat with BAD taste in jewelry.