Basic primer on XEvents (SQL blogging, feel free to skip)

(This is pure tech blogging. No need to read it if you're not tech-inclined. But if you do read it, and think you would understand it *if* you understood the references, I'd love to know that.)


Okay, if you've had your ear to the ground since SQL 2008, you knew that XEvents were A New Big Thing.

And you'd try to learn about them, and, if you were like me, you walked away stunned and confused. Here's an attempt to dispel some of the confusion.
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Feeling blessed...

So, I acquired two kittens about six weeks ago.

Maybe this isn't *too* amazing, but it feels that way. I mean, I picked kittens who seemed to understand that "human" = "not too bad, and sometimes they have food". And they were kittens, with minimal time to learn bad habits or fears.

But they love each other and wrestle and tear around the house, and play together (and take turns chasing the laser pointer or cat-fisher), and snuggle together when I'm not around.

And they love me, cuddling up to me at night and purring when cuddled (which never lasts too long - they are kittens!). They also like people; they don't always run to the door when someone comes by, but they are clearly unafraid and look to people as "possible source of cuddles and playtime, and maybe even food".

They are kittens, of course - no understanding that computer keyboards, electric cords, the tie for my robe, books, paper, feet, and anything-else, is not a cat toy. They don't door-dash, but they seem sure that there's another wonderful world on the other side of any door that's closed.

They have names, now. The first feature I could reliably spot on them was one has Spock-ish eyebrows (technically, his eyebrows are more like McCoy's - but that doesn't matter), so I named him Leonard, to pair up with William (often "Will" but I refuse to have a Bill The Cat!).

(If you don't catch the reference, I figured that a Kirk/Spock name-pair would work for two such similar kitties, so the one is named after Leonard Nimoy (or, technically, Leonard "Bones" McCoy), and the other after William Shatner.)

Leo is growing like a weed; he could be a not-too-big full grown cat, now. He's got the predator musculature that I associate with healthy cats. William is growing slower; definitely starting to lose the kitten-scrawniness, but I think William is going to be a bit smaller, and not as predator-muscled, as Leo.

They've finally learned that legs are neither scratching posts, nor a sheer rock wall in which one must drive pitons, but I still prefer to wear long pants around them :-).

All in all, I'm very glad that I made the choice to repopulate my house with a feline presence.