Play "Fuzzwords" at http://masscrosswords.com

Spatch posts the bulletin that Abbie the cat is back where he belongs tonight - and eating up a storm, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

Apparently, Abbie never went very far even as Spatch, his roommates and a whole lot of other people fanned out across greater Davis Square looking for him - he was holed up in the "bahn" of the house next door:

Tracy was at home so once I got the message and told him, he dashed out to check. Abbie had, at that point, wandered past our house to the house on the other side and was busy in their side yard. Tracy got the cat's attention, whereupon Abbie walked right by him and up our driveway. Tracy then carefully followed the cat, knowing full well there was probably Scared Cat going on, but near the back of the driveway, Abbie turned around and let the big-but-not-so-scary-guy-who-looks-kinda-familiar approach.

Once inside, Abbie quickly ran up the stairs, over to the dining room where his food dish was supposed to be (it was still in the house trap at that point) and began to loudly complain. ...

Peter Oehlkers videos the wren that got into his house yesterday when somebody (he's not naming names) left the basement door open.

No, really. Jason Feifer details the scam, along with a couple of tips: Never send anybody money in advance just to see a place, and never trust somebody named Louis Pontecorvo.

Lyss wonders:

Should I be pissed that one of my teenage neighbors and his friends think they're rap stars or DJ's or something and like to let everyone in the apartment complex know by hanging out on a porch playing music so loud that I heard it over my vacuum cleaner? Or should I just be happy that he's not out dealing drugs, underage drinking, or something like that? ...

When ice dams attack.

When postal carriers attack.

When douchebags attack (redux).

When weather attacks.

When Curt Schilling attacks.

When Jonathan Papelbon's dog attacks.

When lame-o reporters on the midday news on Channel 5 attack.

When bank robbers dressed like George Costanza and Waldo attack.

When the companies that make Christmas-tree ornaments attack.

When tire-pressure warning lights attack.

Hmm, maybe this'll finally help me get this "When [Fill in the blank] attacks" construction out of my head.

If only Maggie had been wearing these when she tried to take out the trash yesterday (don't click on that second link if you can't stand the site of some serious ouchies). It's not to late to stock up for this weekend's killer storm, of course.

Chris Lovett provides an interesting look at sub-prime mortgages and explains why the president's plan for dealing with the mess will do little to help places such as Dorchester, with a look at the condos of 43 Whitfield St., just outside Codman Square:

... After its conversion to condos, all three units were sold to a single buyer in February, 2006, each for $330,000, and each with a mortgage from a different lender. On paper, the buyer was committed to using two of the units as his principal residence. On a third unit, the lender waived the occupancy requirement. Within 19 months, there were petitions to foreclose on all three units.

By October the "contractor special," unit 3 at 43 Whitfield St, was on the market for $77,000. An ad says the unit has been gutted, with the start of a rehab and "some great extras," including "the start of a marble bathroom," not to mention a jacuzzi tub and "some new cabinets."

At least unit 3 might be better than unit 1, which is on the market for only $63,000, and which an ad says is only "partially gutted." Also mentioned in the ad: "There is no kitchen and no working bathroom." ...

Or why you should leave all the basement lights on all the time:

I went down to the basement today to get the laundry and opened the door into the basement and there was a thing that looked kind of like a chunk of lint or a sock hanging on the edge of the door. I grabbed it and it was warm and furry and surprising. I dropped it and jumped back. It was a bat. ...

'08 property taxes drop in Hub.

Three reasons: Property values continue to sink, commercial development continues to escalate, and Tom Menino got legislation passed that changed the way residential and commercial tax revenue related to each other (until this year, state law barred Boston from reducing residential tax income unless it did the same for commercial properties).

This contrasts with Brookline, where selctmen tonight are expected to raise residential property taxes.