Salt Kelp Manager

During the last basho, clam brought over some new snacks, and I saved the wrapper because I love this guy:

When I told mrguy that this had contained shiso candy he said something to the effect of "When I see this guy that's definitely what I think is in the package", so I looked him up. When I asked Google AI for more information about Shio-Konbucho, this is what it told me:

"Shio-Konbucho (塩こん部長), which translates to "Salt Kelp Manager," is the highly successful, dramatic mascot for the Kurakon Foods Corporation. First introduced onto packaging by the marketing department in 2007, the character single-handedly reversed stagnant product sales and sparked consecutive years of double-digit growth.

Key Facts About the Character

The Dramatic Persona: He is illustrated in a classic, intense, thick-lined gekiga manga style. He wears a standard salaryman suit and tie, usually with his jacket slung over his shoulder or making an intensely passionate face while discovering a new food combination.

The Name Pun: His name is a deliberate Japanese wordplay (pun) combining Shio Kombu (salted kelp) and Bucho (department manager).His Corporate "Role": According to Kurakon, he is a highly talented General Manager whose entire job is coming up with creative recipe suggestions to show how versatile savory seaweed can be in everyday cooking.

Interactive Marketing: The character has an active social media presence in Japan where he "replies" to customer comments using a commanding corporate-boss tone while sharing recipes. He also regularly stars in live-action television commercials portrayed by actors.Collaborations: Beyond traditional kelp bags, his massive popularity has allowed him to branch out into collaborative snack items like the Daimaru Honpo Plum Candy shown in your image, as well as limited-edition corn snacks."

I will now attach him to my final work notebook.

I'm Sorry, Old Boy

Mrguy and I have been joking for a while that our oldest boy is "post grooming". At *almost* 21 years old he spends a lot of his time in his heated cat bed, and he doesn't wash a lot. 

 
He has arthritis, and needs motivation to go most places. He's mostly deaf and calls to us when he can see us from his heated cat bed. On occasion, he'll wander out to the kitchen, get halfway to where we're sitting in the kitchen den, meow at us once, loudly, turn around and go back to the cat bed, which is in the bedroom. Actually there are four cat beds in the bedroom, and he moves to a new one every few hours during the afternoon, always in a clockwise manner.

This morning he actually joined us in the living room, which requires him to come downstairs (with great effort). But it was sunny by the window and he wanted to bask in the sun. Then he started grooming! Old habits die hard, I guess. He even got around to his posterior, which probably hadn't been visited in quite a while. He kinda got stuck there with his leg in the air, but managed to get his back leg under control again eventually. It seemed a shame to do what I was going to do, but I'd already told him that he had delights in store later today.

By which I meant I was going to put him in the sink and wash him. Poor boy. So undeserving, but his feet were really filthy and his tummy fur was matted, and after a while it probably isn't very comfortable to be unwashed, even if you're a cat. 

So I did this:

An amazing amount of fur was caught by the little sieve I put in the drain. Thank you Daiso for that clever little item!
 
And then I fed the old boy some Mon Petit Crispy Kiss which is an imported delight from Japan that the cats are INSANE for. I think I bought it at the 1000 Yen store or Lawsons or something and brought it home for them in September. When I ran out in December I panicked, but a friend going home to Okinawa for Christmas hooked me up. Thank goodness for Mon Petit Crispy Kiss (which, of course, I had just bought for the name) and my friend.

After a bit more afternoon drama he calmed down, and now is pretty soft. Tummy fur still needs a trim, but in general things are ship-shape.