Tag: Patti

• Fugitives, Relocating, and a Possum Named Steve – Thoughts from January 10, 2026

  

  Patti and I are fugitives. If that doesn’t make you interested, I don’t know what will. In case this is the first Thoughts from Life you’ve ever read; I’ll briefly explain the situation. Patti (my wife) and I (me/Brian) have adopted an outside cat (Archie). We would let him come into the house, but we…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 30, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2026, an opossum is in the trap, animal trap, apple pieces, Archie, Brian, bushes to hide, California, cats, Competition ruins everything, cut up apple, fugitives, giant rat tail, illegal activities, illegal to relocate a possum, illegal to relocate a raccoon, meowing endlessly, opossum, outside cat, Patti, Patti’s truck, porch, possum, possum’s open mouth, proper punctuation and grammar, Scout, slim chance of survival, Steve, thoughts, Thoughts from Life, trapdoor closed, undisclosed location, wire cutters, zip-tied door

• New Year, Cassette Repairs, and Cats Living Together – Thoughts from January 5, 2026

  

  This is my first entry for 2026. After screwing up and writing 2025, I wrote 2026 for the first time this year. I thought about it the other day and figured out I don’t have many opportunities to write the year anywhere. These entries are one of the last places I write out the whole…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 23, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, 2026, 8-track ADAT audio tracks, ADAT cassette, Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, Archie, cassette tape, cats were freaking out, champagne, CNN, commercials, countdown started, digital tape, done working in my office, drinking throughout the night, fit of laughter, Hulu, illegal fireworks, karma, lip sinking to songs, live TV, living in the same house together, meow-screams, mid-90s, nerd talk, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, Patti, putting it back together, regular TV, signing something, taking apart a cassette, thoughts, tiny parts, toast the New Year, too much noise, VHS tapes, writing the year, YouTube

• Hosting Christmas Eve and Remote Controlled Gift Frenzies – Thoughts from December 30, 2025

  

  Patti and I hosted Christmas Eve, but we couldn’t do it at our house because our kitchen and the rest of the house are not usable. I planned to work on the kitchen on my four days off from work, but rain prevented it. We had our hosting night at Patti’s sister’s house. It’s much…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 16, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, Archie, asleep on the floor, battery powered tools, blindfold with eyelashes, blindfolded, cats, cats freaking out, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas games, cotton balls as snowballs, dietary restrictions, enourmous kitchen, exchanged gifts, gift exchange frenzy, gifts for a child, growling bear, hosting Christmas Eve, kitchen island, kitchen remodel, leftovers, meowing, new carpet, no shoes rule, our cluttered house, outside noises, overflowing cotton balls, packing the car in the rain, Patti, Patti’s nephew, presents, rain, remote controlled Disney characters, Scout, Scout’s kids, shoes off, snoring, stuffed mushrooms, thoughts, younger relatives

• Triggered Traps and Monster Wreaths – Thoughts from December 13 and 17, 2025

  

  December 13, 2025 For those of you who were waiting on an update to the trap in our yard, I have the first happening since we put it out and filled it with apple cores. To catch up, our outside cat, Archie, was having his food eaten by one of the animals in our backyard.…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 9, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, animal trap, apple cores, Archie, atheism, backyard animals, bow on the door, cat in a stocking, cats, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas town, Easter bunny, favorite movies, giant Hello Kitty, Jack Skellington, learning from your mistakes, monster wreath, neighborhood cat, opossum, outdoor decorations, outside cat, Patti, plastic coat hanger, raccoon, religious decorations, relocating a raccoon, Santa, smart animals, squeezed out like a hamster, Stitch in a Santa hat, taking religion out of American holidays, The Nightmare Before Christmas, thoughts, trapdoor closed, triggered the trap, zip ties

• Stealing Archie’s Food, Relocating Animals, and Happy Endings – Thoughts from December 9, 2025

  

  This Thoughts from Life is going to take us into the lives of five cats. Four of the cats are indoor cats and one is an outdoor cat. The inside cats are Scout, Willow, Luna, and Beatrix. Scout is the mom of the other three. They are all female cats. The outside cat is Archie.…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 26, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, after living happily ever after, animal control, animal stealing Archie’s food, Archie, author created world, autobiographies, backyard animals, Beatrix, belief in supernatural happenings, déjà vu, fantasy stories, fate, five cats, friendships, grammar checker, I keep it random, indoor cats, keep myself interested, lazy writing, live happily ever after, Luna, my story writing, non-believer, nothing is predestined, opossums, outdoor cats, Patti, pest control, raccoon, raccoons carry rabies, religious concepts, relocating, relocating raccoons, relocating raccoons is illegal, romantic concept, Scout, sups, the problem will solve itself, thoughts, Thoughts from Life, vocal orange cat, wet cat food, whatever happens will be the solution, wild animals, Willow

• Jury Duty, Early Mornings, and Golden Tickets – Thoughts from December 7, 2025

  

  In November, I got a jury duty summons. It was for Tuesday, December 2. The good news was I didn’t have to report until noon. For someone who works at night, this takes planning to get there at that time. I normally get up at 11:00 am, but that day I got up at 9:00…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 19, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, bailiff, being excused, conflicted feelings about America, courthouse, courtroom, courtroom dramas, Do you want to be on the jury?, extreme point of view, filling out questionaires, getting out of serving jury duty, going to bed early, golden ticket, group number, hearing the judge, impartial juror, in the jury box, judge, jury duty, jury duty summons, jury room, justice in America, legal knowledge, legal questions, my good ear, no paid time off, Patti, pink jury verification slip, sexual assault case, shortened version of my routine, they never ask about religion, thoughts, working at night

• Lazy Susans, Black Friday, and Pesky Creatures – Thoughts from December 6, 2025

  

  Patti and I are continuing to work on the kitchen. We have two lazy Susans that are only slightly less difficult than the sink is going to be to install. Attaching them to the wall is the hardest part. You must attach 2 x 4-inch pieces of wood together on the wall and for the…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 12, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2 x 4 pieces of wood, 2025, animal trap, animals under the porch, apple cores, Archie, Archie’s food, base for an upper cabinet, Black Friday, Brian the Builder, cats, convert upper cabinet to lower cabinet, cutting into weird places, future counter, handsaw, kitchen remodel, lazy Susan, makeshift workbench, miter saw, Mommy Dearest, No wire hangers!, old countertop as workspace, opossom, oscillating tool, Patti, pesky creatures in the neighborhood, portable miter saw, raccoon, sawhorses, setting the animal trap, table saw, thoughts, wire hangers, YouTube Videos

• Avoiding Wheat, Error Code 9, and Nerdy Audio Discussions – Thoughts from December 3, 2025

  

  Patti and I went to Thanksgiving at her nephew’s house. None of her older sisters were there, so the day was incident free. The only thing I avoided eating was the stuffing because of the wheat. Patti made it from a mix and said I wasn’t missing much. The new baby is walking around now…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 5, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, 26 screws, 8 tracks, ADAT machine, audio cables, audio interface, audio meters rising, audio tracks into the computer, avoiding wheat, boring holidays, brilliant idea, digital audio, easy holidays, error code 9, finishing leftovers, leftovers, nerdy audio discussion, new baby, Patti, shy baby, simple discussions, stuffing from a mix, syncing machines, tape playing mechanism, Thanksgiving, thoughts, Thoughts from Life, transferring audio to the computer, transport belt, tricking the machine into working, VCR tapes, weird restroom habits, XLR audio cables

• Archie, Other Animals, and Building Skills – Thoughts from November 18, 2025

  

  Along with Archie chewing on a mouse that I mentioned in my last Thoughts from Life, there is a new story involving Archie and a cast of other animals. Because I work at night, I come home at about 1:00 in the morning. When driving into my spot beside Patti’s truck, I saw Archie on…

  Brian Kirwan

  April 28, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, adding to the chaos, anchor point, animals eating cat food, Archie, attaching cabinet to the wall, backyard animals, barking aggressively, Beatrix, building skills, cabinet between two vents, cast of animals, cut off connection points, drawings, food and water, fout indoor cats, hiding under a chair, inside cats, kitchen remodel, large dogs, large headed raccoon, Luna, measurements, meowing, new tools, outside cat, Patti, planning, planning for future cabinets, porch, raccoon, Scout, small notepad, splotchy black cat, stray male cat, sups, thoughts, wet cat food, Willow

• Playing with Mice, the Mean Streets, and Infections – Thought from November 11, 2025

  

  Full disclosure, I wrote this on a different day, but 11/11 is such a cool day. It was at least around this day when these things happened. I could have just said nothing about my rearranging of time, but I like to keep these Thoughts from Life interactive. If I’m fully disclosing everything, I should…

  Brian Kirwan

  April 21, 2026

  Uncategorized

  11/11, 2025, 2026, Archie, Archie’s game, being cruel to the mouse, cat acting like a cat, cat bite, cats, cats from the mean streets, chasing a mouse, chewing on the mouse, distracted by us watching, doing what cats do, drawing blood, four cats, healing slowly, holding a mouse in his mouth, infection from cat bite, infection from the mouse, keeping physically active, large red mark on her arm, losing the mouse, mouse catch, mouser, mousing capabilities, outside cat, Patti, Patti’s health, physical activity, playing with a mouse, playing with a real mouse, retirement, scars for weeks, Scout, staying healthy, thoughts, Thoughts from Life, written by artificial intelligence