MSI Press Blog

  Cats are often accused of making people less social. Mine managed the opposite. What began as a campaign to keep my cat comfortable eventually turned into an unexpected course in how to enjoy parties. For most of my life, I treated parties the way many cats treat vacuum cleaners: with caution, suspicion, and a strategic eye toward the nearest exit. My cat, however, had a different philosophy. She believed every visitor existed solely for her entertainment. When guests arrived, I worried about whether there would be enough food, whether conversations would flow, and whether everyone was having a good time. My cat immediately implemented a far simpler strategy: walk into the room, assume universal admiration, and collect attention. Amazingly, it worked. Lesson 1: Enter Like You Belong There My cat never peeked nervously around corners.  She never stood in the hallway wondering whether she had worn the correct fur pattern. She entered every room as though she owned the building...

People assume that firefighters learn their skills from rigorous training, grizzled veterans, and years of experience. In my case, the credit belongs largely to a twelve-pound orange cat named Walter. Walter never attended fire academy. Walter never read a safety manual. Walter's understanding of emergency preparedness consisted mainly of knocking things off tables to see what happened. Yet I am convinced he made me a better fireman. It began with his fascination for confined spaces. No cardboard box was too small. No cabinet was too crowded. No shelf was too high. If there existed a location that appeared inaccessible to all known forms of life, Walter considered it a personal challenge. One afternoon he vanished. After a frantic search of the house, I found him peacefully sleeping inside a kitchen drawer that had been closed for at least an hour. To this day, I have no theory. A month later he somehow became trapped behind a bookcase. The following week he locked himself in a bat...