Welcome to the most competitive puddle on the planet!

If there's something that's fascinating to me about cats is the fact that they can be poured. Well, not like actual liquid, but they have a way of moving that makes it feel like they are melting, right in your hands! And it's not like they are boneless… this is something that is so incredible about them that it should be considered a type of Pilates… maybe pet Pilates!

If you think about it, that is something weird that they do, and I'm sure it has a scientific explanation, but for normal people who witness cats being able to bend and to literally melt, we prefer to think that it's because they are majestic, and that's it. They are creatures that have bones and can carry little kitties inside… so it's weird that they can actually look and act like they don't have any insides! 

And the same happens with people who are awesome at stretching and Pilates! They have the ability to put their leg behind their head as if it's nothing… how can they even do that? Where did their bones go? Clearly, I'm not a flexible person… But imagine how cute it would be to host a Pilates class with hoomans and cats! I'd be so purrfect.

Now, let's get it back together… because you already know me… the second I start talking about cats, you've lost me. But I'll try to keep it together.

I'm really amazed by those flexible cats that can transform their bodies and adapt them to where they want to lie down. And it doesn't really have to make sense to any of us… they know what they're doing. If a cat feels like he wants to rest half of his body on a chair and the other on a table, so be it! That's why their ability to be poured is so fascinating! If you're not sure what I mean about a pet Pilates class, or cats melting, I'll leave you to the amazing pictures I gathered today. Let us know in the comments if you have the stitches of a cat to join their Pilates class!

So the entire office should organise itself around Maureen's paranoia?

According to this story, that's the case. Some people are so lost in their own delusion that they will attribute any action to some secret agenda. Of course, I don't think we should all walk on eggshells because of people like this, but in this case, I think it's fair.

Maybe after this, Maureen will realize she isolated herself. Did she really think this was the best way to feel invited to a group? I think it is one of those strange cases of negative self-importance. The person feels relevant, like everyone is paying attention to them, but in a negative way, like thinking everyone is thinking about them. The truth is, most people don't even notice us, and that goes for most people. It's bittersweet to know we're not that important, but it's nonetheless freeing.

This act of malicious compliance, or how I like to call it, 'petty decency', might push Maureen to the brink of her own delusion, but I think it is for a good cause. Everyone at the office, and hopefully even she, will realize how ridiculous it is to organise breaks like that.

The other, more mature option would be to directly address this issue with Maureen. Maybe all she needs is to feel seen and to realize she is making a fuss over imagined scenarios, but her coworkers chose a funnier path; let's see where it gets them.

I believe paranoid folks like this deeply wish to be included, but it would take a bunch of positive leadership qualities to actually achieve that, and I assume her coworkers just want to have fun and keep not caring about her.

Do you think this problem will get bigger and bigger, or will Maureen finally come to terms with the truth that nobody cares that much?

Twelve years ago, a kitten's desperate screams in the middle of a rainy night led one cat lover straight to a tiny roadside rescue they'd never forget.

One cat lover was walking home in the rain at 1 a.m. when they heard a kitten screaming somewhere in the darkness ahead. There was no way they were going to keep walking.

Having grown up with cats, they knew this wasn't the usual kitten calling for mom. They followed the cries until they spotted movement beside a lamp post, only about 20 centimeters from the road and right near a blind corner. We don't even want to think about what could have happened if nobody had heard him.

The second they picked him up, the screaming stopped. Just like that, he was completely calm. Excuse us while our hearts melt a little.

There weren't any occupied houses nearby, and the kitten was covered in oil. His rescuer figured he may have climbed into a car before falling off near the sharp curve. Whatever happened, this little guy had clearly had enough adventure for one night, so home he went.

Waiting there was Loki, the resident 10-year-old only cat, who was initially less than thrilled about getting a surprise sibling. Luckily, he came around pretty quickly.

The kitten was named Nox, Latin for "night," after their late-night meeting. He was covered in black spots that survived his first bath, so his new hooman initially thought they were markings. More than a month later, the last spots disappeared and revealed a completely white kitty underneath, complete with a pink nose, pink ears, toe beans, and gorgeous eyes.

Now somehow 12 years have passed, and Nox is still as sweet and energetic as ever.

The Cat Distribution System has even delivered two more street kittens over the past three months, and Nox has welcomed both with plenty of patience.

He may be the senior cat now, but when the midnight zoomies begin, Nox is still right there keeping up with the youngsters.

Do your kids have a 6th sense for snacks?

As a non-official superpower, kids can smell snacks from miles away, while also refusing to eat any regular food. Also, when they do get snacks, they like to save just one bite for MONTHS until it looks like it has come to life, just to offer it to you as a little gift later. If you refuse, they will scream). These are some of the unexpected wonders of parenthood nobody ever tells you about. Moments of parenting you could never have prepared for, and that gets you wondering: did I ever do this when I was a kid? The answer is yes, you absolutely did. We all did. 

As your respect for your parents grows every time your toddler takes on a new activity, or when your teenage child feels the urge to correct every grammar mistake, you start to wonder how you'll survive parenting. You already have a busy weekend of soccer mornings and birthday party afternoons. It feels impossible! I am no expert in childhood nor in time management, so you're on your own for that. However, if there is something I know, it's memes. I might not be able to fix your once-white-but-now-very-colourful couch, but we can help with the aftermath by making you chuckle at these images. It's just a couple of decades more before your kids have kids of their own, and you can go ahead and tell them: "I told you so…" (Exactly how your parents did to you, so let's keep the traditions going.) Maybe start saving some of these memes for your future grandparent self. 

Don't feel guilty, we know you love your kids, and you would literally make friends with the most annoying parents in the class so they could get a play date with their friends. Nonetheless, when they stand at your bedroom door staring like stalkers at 4 am on a Sunday, it's okay to laugh with some relatable pieces of comedy.  You can scroll through these while you wait for your kids to pick up their toys, which we all know means you will wait for what feels like forever. However, forever doesn't feel like such a long time when you have good memes.

The places that people choose to dump kittens continue to surprise us and this story is no different. In the rural areas of this nation the dumped of pets is very common, so common in fact that there are known spots to do the deed. But even with such ease of access as it were the dumper in this story decided to head towards an abandoned home in a far away field. It was incredibly lucky that someone was there to find them.

Our story begins with a message that our cat rescuer received. It stated that the person had been caring for some newborn kittens in an abandoned house but was unable to give them what they needed and so they turned to this cat rescuing tiktoker to help. Luckily he was able to make time and got straight to work going out in the middle of the night to collect the kittens from their derelict home. With all the luck in the world the kittens were in good condition and easy to find, making for a quick and quiet rescue.

From there things only got better for the sweet felines as their new home came with everything a kitten needs when they have been separated from their momma too early. They even had a hooman caring for them who knew exactly how to make up for the missing presence of momma, and give these kittens the best chance to grow up and live healthy happy lives.

 

Are written updates an advantage or only a different kind of bias?

We have to accept that verbal meetings give more influence to those who feel comfortable raising their voice, speaking, and making themselves noticed. Those meetings primarily benefit the socially dominant. Written updates, on the other hand, are more objective, and if everyone writes them, there is no social bias.

It happens a lot; in verbal meetings, we favour people who are more confident speaking, even if they objectively did less work, so opting for a written update regime changes the focus to what really matters.

Some people say not everyone feels comfortable writing, so we'd be exchanging one bias for another, but I'm not so sure about it. Lists are easy; they don't need special social skills or even writing skills. They are mandatory for everyone, and they just require having something to add to them.

If you can't write what you did on a simple list, maybe you haven't done that much. If some employees have a hard time writing, management should do something about that, but I definitely think writing is way easier than speaking in public.

Maybe some people don't like updates like this because they were succeeding using only their social skills, and now they have to get to work. It's normal; it takes time. We live in a society that consistently rewards that. I even get tired of reading internet posts about how upper management always rewards those who look stressed over those  actually working.

At any rate, this is just my opinion, and I'm open to debate if anyone thinks this is not the best route to take; I just want to hear consistent arguments as to why that is.

A new species of wild cat was discovered in Bolivia's cloud forest, the Yungas forest. Leopardus tilcayo is a new cat species discovered by scientists for the first time in more than a century.

Pspspsps is what everyone is thinking about right now. 

People were thrilled by the new cat, so they asked the wildlife sanctuary that is taking care of him how the story went. The sanctuary Senda Verde explained on their socials that Tilcayo is the name local people use for the species and that Tigrino is the individual currently under their care. The cat was taken from the wild by a man who mistakenly thought he was a domestic cat. The man soon realized he had captured a wild animal, and when he found out it was not a regular cat, he gave it to Senda Verde. Now, the sanctuary has received a large number of donations for Tigrino, since people loved him and we all want him to have a good life. Long live Tigrino!

How are there more cat species in the world? The planet kept one tiny spotted feline hidden in a cloud forest. Finding out that the world contains one more kind of cat feels like a surprise bonus from nature. By the way, this is a very catlike story. Existing quietly for ages and then, out of the blue, allowing humans to notice when they finally catch up? Sounds like something a cat would do. 

There is still a lot to learn from this species. What we know now is that the tilcayo weighs around three pounds and measures about 18 inches, making it smaller than the average house cat. It has the appearance of a tiny leopard that could disappear beneath your couch. But he belongs in the forest habitat, so we should admire him from a respectful distance. Recent findings suggest that they are active at night and eat small rodents, but their population size and many details of their behavior remain unknown. For now, I would welcome them to the feline family with a virtual pspspsps.

Nothing says "you're fired" like one last corporate lie…

Getting fired is no fun. Even if it was something you expected or not, walking into a normal workday and realizing it might be your last can be really nerve-racking. However, there's one thing that can actually make it better: comparing it with other internet users' biggest lies they've been told the day they were terminated. Because we all know it, sometimes companies need to shorten the staff, but they don't know how to actually do it. And we don't blame them: HR are people as well, and they get nervous when facing this situation. But… some of these reasons are not even believable.

We should all get past the awkwardness that comes when someone is getting fired. I mean, if you want to fire me, be honest and tell me the truth to my face… because this is very uncomfortable as it is, but if you're nervous and don't really know how to cope with it and you tell lies about what's going on, it's only going to make the situation ten times worse. Nonetheless, and like I said before, the positive side to all of this is that we get to laugh years later when comparing all the lies together! And this is why we're here for, folks!

Some of these lies are so funny that they look like a cameo taken out of a TV show. People are straight lying to your face and pushing you to sign documents that don't really make sense with what they are telling you to your face, and you know that is going to affect you in the future. Also, how is firing someone not personal? I think it is the most personal thing that can happen at work! Unless there was a huge mistake or a big mess-up, if the company is letting yoy go is a 100% personal thing. That's what I mean by honestly: don't lie to me, don't make me feel worse.

Anyways, prepare yourself for the amount of dumb excuses HR ever said when terminating people's contracts… they are too funny to even be true.

Who's in the mood for being purrfeclty spooked today? 

If there's one thing cuter than our furbabies, it's our furbabies in a little costume. If you're skilled enough to get them to stand still while you put the costume on without getting scratches all over you, you'll be left with a fluffy furball in a cute little dress looking at you like you've just disrespected all its ancestors. I wouldn't be surprised if, from one moment to another, they started speaking out of nowhere and said, "This is preposterous, Karen" (insert squeaky voice here).

For us, seeing our kitten cities all dressed up is something that nearly makes us explode with cuteness. Our gallery of photos is already running out of space from all the pictures we take of them; the last thing we need is to make them look even cuter, fluffier, and more pawdorable than they already are. We're going to need a second phone to contain only their photos and not worry about other non-important things taking up space on our phones, when what we really want is to have it full of our fluffies' photos. Or maybe we could go vintage and get a real camera, and use it exclusively for our furbabies' photo album. That's another idea! A real photo album of all the cute stuff our cats do. We could have it all ordered by date, like, "On October 5th, he curled up on the couch beside me," with the photo on the side. People used ot do those albums for their children when smartphones weren't a thing, so what's stopping us from doing the same for our feline children? After all, they probably are the only children we're going to have. We might as well just spoil them now, and use some of our free time for an artistic project. Those albums take quite a bit of work, and if we want it to look nice enough to be worthy of or cat's cuteness, we're going to have to put a lot of effort into it. But for now, while we get all the materials we need, we can get inspired for the next Halloween with these photos of kittens in costumes!

If you encourage new rules, don't be surprised when your employers follow through with them.

Some bosses love setting up new rules without thinking about whether they will work or if they are even right for the work that is done at that particular office. And to me, that is simply and directly bad management. Not every rule will work in any office. You have to take into account the employees, the systems, the product, the clients, and so much more before applying a new rule. So, blatantly placing it as an obligatory curse can cause major disasters at the company. That's why not everyone is born to be a boss. A good one would have taken all that and more into account before making it a direct order. And then, a bad boss has even the nerve to act surprised when things do not work out, and they don't know where to hide. They want to blame somebody for the rule not working, but it's just their fault, due to their lack of abilities toa ctually be a boss. 

In this story, we get to see the reality of when you fix something that isn't broken --I love that phrase. This person, the boss, decided to change something that was working fine. I assume he had two reasons to do so: one, to avoid paying extra time to the employee, which is illegal. And two, because it was his way of making people understand that he is the new boss and he can do as he pleases. Well, he got exactly what he deserved. A new problem was born from trying to fix something that was working perfectly fine. He could have just accepted that he had no place to change anything, and everything would have been fine. But no, he needed to put his head in something that didn´t require anything from him. Sometimes, some bosses need to understand that not everything needs their opinion or supervision. You can just remain quiet. If anything needs to be changed, you will notice that there is a problem, like the one this boss created after changing things up. 

Cats ponder too, just like Nietzsche.

Philosophy is around us all the time, whether we think about it or not. Every moment is an opportunity to analyze, to compare, to reflect, or to think about things. There are endless thoughts, and some may say that a thought is no more valuable than a piece of trash, but it's not true. If it matters to you, then it matters in the world. Cats think too, even if they don't seem like it. They're always pondering when they will get tuna again, or how to destroy something in the house they've already destroyed. They might think about what it'd be like if they were born a dog, or a bird. The important thing to remember is that you don't have to be a genius to have an important opinion or to be valuable. Value lies in places where you put it, so put it right here in these wise cat memes teaching you about life in ways you didn't realize existed. And of course, some very famous quotes by some very famous philosophers. 

Marcus Aurelius: "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control."

Aristotle: "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."

Plato: "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

Thomas Aquinas: "The things that we love tell us what we are."

Niccolò Machiavelli: "Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception."

René Descartes: "I think, therefore I am."

Baruch Spinoza: "I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate human actions, but to understand them."

Immanuel Kant: "Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end."

Friedrich Nietzsche: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."

The generation divide often seems greatest at work.

The workplace is one of those environments where people who would never usually cross paths get thrown together to interact for eight hours a day, whether they like it or not. While this state of affairs is notorious for causing some friction, it is also a great way to expand your anthropological knowledge if you look at it the right way. Here are a bunch of individuals from walks of life that you may not be exposed to by choice, but they could teach you a thing or two about where they're coming from. It can be as interesting as it is annoying.

One of the most intriguing differences in the average workplace is age. Plenty of offices right now have employees who range from boomers to Gen Z, and it is fair to say that these generations don't always see to eye to eye. However, with the right attitude, a workplace like this can be a good place for people to try and understand those age groups that are older or younger than them. There is no need to be divided and bitter all of the time, not least when there is an opportunity to build bridges.

Sometimes returning to the office means that they're hoping that you quit…

Returning to the office is a big point of contention in a lot of workplaces. It seems to be happening at a pretty fast pace now that life is a little more normal than it once was and we're getting back to how things used to be. But so much has changed, and it's important to take the right lessons from that. Working from home allows employees so much flexibility that they don't always get in their day-to-day lives. And if you have a long commute, you were probably grateful for the time saved in your day. Commuting is not a fun thing to do. It can feel like it's eating into your free time in a way that your company doesn't recognize. 

Cats are creatures who teach us about boundaries very quickly. They also understand boundaries themselves. 

Some cats are very cuddly. Some cats are not. And that's fine. We, as their owners, accept our cats exactly as they are. A cat who is not very cuddly coming to cuddle with you is the biggest honor. But even if your cat is a full-on velcro kitty, you should still appreciate every single time that this cat comes to cuddle with you. Because you never know how long you will have your cats for. Every moment like that with them is meowgical, even if it happens often. 

It's also part of your job to encourage them. When that meowgical moment happens, when your "aloof cat" finally comes to cuddle with you, you have to let them know that not only is it okay, it's wanted. Because cats understand boundaries when it comes to personal space, and some of them will even respect these boundaries. That's what the person in today's story didn't realize. They didn't know that one mistake was enough to mess up. 

At some point, without even realizing, they must have reacted in some way that made their cat believe that his owner did not want to cuddle with him. A lie. A painful lie. A misstep that had consequences for a long time. This owner simply thought that their cat didn't like cuddling, and just like the cat thought that he was respecting his owner's boundaries, the owner thought that they were respecting the cat's boundaries. 

It was completely by accident that this owner realized the misunderstanding going on between them and their cat. One day, the cat fell asleep cuddled up next to them - something that never happens. The owner was overjoyed. The cat, on the other hand, was embarrassed when he woke up. He shyly tried to leave. But his owner realized what had happened, brought him back, and petted him throughout his nap. And there was no going back after that. Now, it's enough for this person to turn off the light and pat the spot next to them for their little cuddlebug to appear by their side. 

The mother-in-law being a witch is supposed to just be a storytale.

What would you do if you were pressured into buying a house all to find out to be a storyline created by your mother-in-law so that you are now responsible for caring for your adult brother-in-law? Well, that is the story here, unfortunately for the people involved. It is sad how a mother decided to carry out a malicious plan that benefited herself and caused problems in his son's life and marriage. Is also sad that the only two people being involved in the whole situation are the women of the family: the mother-in-law and the person suffering this whole outcome. But what makes everything worse is thinking that a family that you marry into will do a well-thought-out plan just so they can delete themselves from the situation and the responsibility and put it on somebody else's shoulders. 

The only thing that is a favorable outcome from this whole thing is that if they set a boundary now, then I will set a boundary into the future. Is important that they stand their limits si that they are not involved in a situation like this ever again. 

A little cat detour from whatever you were supposed to be doing today…

There's always that time of day when the only thing you need is a little break from all the tasks and noise out there. You know that feeling where all the things that need to be done start getting overwhelming, and you just know that it's going to take a while? In that exact moment, stand up from your desk and go for a little walk. Sometimes, things aren't as hard as we think they are, but we need some perspective to come to that realization. The good thing is that the internet can be a good place for your brain to relax, although that may sound contradictory.

If you don't trust me and aren't sure that the internet can have a little soft and wholesome corner, you've come to the right place. Hi, I'm Cata, and I'm a writer whose favourite task of the day is writing about cats. This feline animal is a great example of what wholesome actually is, and looking at them can be very soothing for an active brain that needs a little rest. Think about it for a second: animals don't think about their future, nor do they think about the past. They can only focus on the present moment, and only do the things they want and need to do, based on their instinct.

Yes, we can't do that, but it's not bad to watch and learn some of their principles. If they are tired, they rest; if they are hungry, they eat. We can translate this cat-logic into the human world and find that sometimes, although there are things that need to get done that go beyond our instincts and desires, we focus on future things, and that can really upset us. Accepting what's coming our way can be a great tool when dealing with stress. If you have a cat at home, take a moment to spend with him, and you'll see what I'm talking about. But if you don't, you can scroll through this collection of wholesome cats, and maybe you'll mind, and your soul will relax. 

This guy's workplace treats resignations like a breakup where one person refuses to accept that it is over. He hands in a notice, offers a clean handoff, and is met with a reaction that basically says:  "We would rather set a cardboard box on fire than watch you walk out with your box of stuff"

Notice periods were invented by businesses in the first place because they make transitions less painful for BUSINESSES. But this story proves they only work when both sides of the 'employee leaving' coin can act like adults. 

And here it fell apart because Boss decided the fastest route to closure is to usher the person out before their badge even stops working. A bold move that might have made him feel powerful in the moment, like slamming a door before the other person can say one last thing. But imust've felt much less powerful when the work that person was supposed to finish stays floating mid-air with nowhere to land.

What a great way to say "thanks" for all the hard work he has done over the past 15 years. 

In an ideal world, all of your requested PTO will be approved every time. After all, you earned your PTO by working for the company, so you should be able to use it whenever you see fit. Unfortunately, that's not always the case in every company. Some companies do have "busy seasons" that aren't the best times to take off, but if you work at one of those companies, you usually learn pretty quickly when the "busy season" takes place and can plan accordingly. If it only spans six weeks in the summer and six weeks in the winter, then it's pretty manageable. If the busy season is 10 months out of the year, you can't even really call it a season, can you? 

Some jobs inflate their importance. They act as if it is impossible for you to miss a week of work and still keep the business afloat, even though everybody knows that is not true. They cancel your PTO requests at the last minute because things are "just so busy," even though they were just as busy the week before, the week before that, and the week before that. They just want to control their employees because they think it will get more work out of them, even though it will do the opposite. An employee who is well-rested after a vacation will do better work than an employee who hasn't had a real week off in years. 

The employee in this story just wants to go on his honeymoon with his wife, but his job canceled his PTO request at the last second. He doesn't know whether to quit now or let his job fire him.

Every purrfet Caturday must start with the best cat content of the week! 

Take a deep breath of fresh air, everyone, because the week is finally over. Caturday is here, and we are more than ready for a break. We are ready for a whole day of doing absolutely nothing. We want to spend this day at home, socializing with our cats solely, wrapped up in a warm blanket, a hot cocoa mug in our hand, scrolling through a whole bunch of pawsome cat memes. 

That's all we need to have a purrfect Caturday. And that is exactly what we are about to give you in our weekly Caturday meowgazine. Here, you will find only the best of the best that cat internet had to offer this week. The best memes, the most wholesome stories, the most viral Tweets. We have everything that you can possibly need to start this day on the right paw. Have a lovely Caturday, y'all! 

Two brothers questioned why they were offered a fraction of their apparent inheritance while their uncle contacted them through social media, requesting they sign a dubious legal document and resisting providing any formal accounting

Whenever a key member of an extended family passes on, it can literally tear a family apart. Not only is the glue that was holding all the cracks together now gone, but the advantage-seeking members of the family are all scrambling to pick up all the proverbial candy that is scattered on the ground like a big piñata.