Small Talk: Judge's Chambers

[SandyToes]

Cat people. Sigh.

(but that critter in the picture is a cutey)

[SRTouch]

14 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

@SRTouch  I am shocked, shocked that you would not know that Raven was obviously saving you from boogers in the house last night. You should be thanking the little thing.

That could be it. She was ghost hunting this morning - you know, when they stare intently at nothing, then stealthily sneak up, only to stop and look around.

[Guest]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 3:55 PM, Schnickelfritz said:

Wow. I just got sent down the same rabbit hole that several others have gone after reading your story. Much footage of Cowsills - ending with the documentary Family Band: The Cowsills Story. If you haven't seen it, you might be interested - especially the footage of the Newport memorial service. At 1:06:30 might be footage of Barry trying to share your parka. It's available  free on Amazon Prime.

Thanks for what turned out to be a great afternoon reliving many memories and having questions answered.

Thanks Schnickelfritz. 

I just returned from a series of conferences for work. 

I will check this out. 

[AngelaHunter]

2 hours ago, SandyToes said:

Cat people. Sigh.

I am not a cat person! I'm a dog person. Yes, I've been up to my ears in cats and kittens, but it's not my fault! They just end up here. My husband always said I must have a "Welcome" sign on my forehead that only cats can see.

For anyone considering being a cat person:

 

[Rabbittron]

3 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I am not a cat person! I'm a dog person. Yes, I've been up to my ears in cats and kittens, but it's not my fault! They just end up here. My husband always said I must have a "Welcome" sign on my forehead that only cats can see.

For anyone considering being a cat person:

 

That's me a crazy cat lady.

[AngelaHunter]

1 minute ago, Rabbittron said:

That's me a crazy cat lady.

In that case:

 

 

And... you might want to look into this. Okay, I'm sorry. Gotta go start drinking now.

 

 

[SandyToes]

Oh, that's hysterical!!!  Good thing they don't have puppy starter kits like that. I'd be a goner. I just don't see the point in cats.  Kittens, yes. They are cute and zippy and, according to @SRTouch, laughably destructive.  Then they turn into cats.  BORING!!!  You people are just weird.  @AngelaHunter and @Brattinella and I know a true pet loves you back.  So take that!  (My brand new* son-in-law had a snake for a while. Aside from the "ick/shock/phobia factor", seriously - is there a more UN-pet-like pet? Talk about pointless....)  

*Brand new s-i-l as of 9 days ago!  Wedding over, bride fabulously gorgeous!  Never been so proud of my Little Toes, or Mr. Toes' sob-worthy father-of-the bride speech.  Not a dry eye in the house.  But man, I'm glad to be able to sleep through the night again, not worrying about stuff!  Just so you know, outside weddings, in Texas, in August are HOT!  And in our case, mercifully short. I think I got more compliments on that than on anything else! ha! And yes, they considered having their furbaby be in the wedding as a ring bearer.  We dog people think like that. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by SandyToes

[SRTouch]

30 minutes ago, SandyToes said:

Oh, that's hysterical!!!  Good thing they don't have puppy starter kits like that. I'd be a goner. I just don't see the point in cats.  Kittens, yes. They are cute and zippy and, according to @SRTouch, laughably destructive.  Then they turn into cats.  BORING!!!  You people are just weird.  @AngelaHunter and @Brattinella and I know a true pet loves you back.  So take that!

Ah, but ya see that's the reason people become hoarders. Once the kitten gets a few years old, zany play time gets less and less. So, once they slow down, it's time for a new kitten. By the time they turn into seniors, they spend more time being foot warmers than chasing the red dot. My two oldest, 16 and 18yo, only play a few minutes at a time a couple times a week.... but they follow me from room to room and there's usually one or the other in my lap when I sit down.

Side note: as long as there are companion animals being put to sleep, I see zero reason for permitting dogs and cats to reproduce. With the exception of Silly, every cat I've had as an adult showed up hungry/injured on my door step - I have Silly because his owner moved into no pet/low cost housing and he was neutered before I got him. Each have been spayed/neutered as soon as they were old/well enough once they became mine (and thanks to our local low cost animal birth control clinic, I've had a few others 'fixed' over the years before finding them forever homes.)

30 minutes ago, SandyToes said:

 (My brand new* son-in-law had a snake for a while. Aside from the "ick/shock/phobia factor", seriously - is there a more UN-pet-like pet? Talk about pointless....)  

*Brand new s-i-l as of 9 days ago!  Wedding over, bride fabulously gorgeous!  Never been so proud of my Little Toes, or Mr. Toes' sob-worthy father-of-the bride speech.  Not a dry eye in the house.  But man, I'm glad to be able to sleep through the night again, not worrying about stuff!  Just so you know, outside weddings, in Texas, in August are HOT!  And in our case, mercifully short. I think I got more compliments on that than on anything else! ha! And yes, they considered having their furbaby be in the wedding as a ring bearer.  We dog people think like that. 

Congrats on surviving the wedding.... any chance the caterer/dress maker/new in-laws were so egregious that you'll be filing a small claims case - were the cops called?  - did the photographer  (cousin Wilbur with his smart phone camera) fail to capture the magic moment, despite being paid the princely sum of $200, cuz that alone would be worth thousands in pain and suffering.

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, SandyToes said:

Then they turn into cats.  BORING!!! 

They're not boring. At least not one of my was. Weird, kooky, uber-annoying, somewhat naughty, but never, EVER boring. Non-cat people think cats are aloof, solitary creatures, but trust me, they are not. My cats remained playful and very affectionate their whole lives and they do NOT like being alone. Even my husband who would have preferred to have zero pets, ever, commented when observing the 3 cats I had at the time,  "They're all so different!" Kittens are adorable, but a complete PITA, unless you enjoy being climbed like a tree and stabbed with 4 paws full of needles. I much prefer mature animals that have personality and character. I've had nearly every type of pet you can name, loved them all and I've cried over FISH! The last dog I adopted (the rescue asked me to just foster her - ha!) was nine years old. Good, I thought. This way I won't really get attached. Like hell I didn't. Hey, I'm the person who cried over my betta, Beetlejuice. He hated me, but I loved him.

 

1 hour ago, SandyToes said:

*Brand new s-i-l as of 9 days ago!  Wedding over, bride fabulously gorgeous! 

Congrats! So am I to assume there were no fistfights in the parking lot, no one became to tussling on the floor at the reception, and no law suits will result from a misshapen rose on the cake? Double congrats! You did good!

[SandyToes]

45 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

any chance the caterer/dress maker/new in-laws were so egregious that you'll be filing a small claims case

Heh.  Caterer and dress were beyond perfect. As is photog. DJ played wrong "walk down the aisle" song, but it didn't seem to matter too much.  Whew!  As for in-laws, well, yeah, we may be seeing them on the teevee.  I'll think of somethin'.   (But their son is just wonderful.  Baby girl did good!)

Rescue pets are the best.  People ask what kind of dog we have, and the best I can come up with is "Black and orange."  As for breeds, take  your pick!

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, SandyToes said:

As is photog. DJ played wrong "walk down the aisle" song, but it didn't seem to matter too much. 

Yeah, our DJ played the wrong "First dance" song, but for some crazy reason I decided to just let it go and not sue him (because there's nothing like a lawsuit to give those special wedding memories) for ruining my entire wedding and causing me enormous pain and suffering /PTSD, nor did I instigate a "physical altercation" with him on the spot.

1 hour ago, SandyToes said:

Rescue pets are the best. 

They're the only kind I've ever had (well, except for Beetlejuice the Betta) and each one has been wonderful.

Edited August 17, 2018 by AngelaHunter

[badhaggis]

Our kitty was abandoned out here (it happens quite a bit) my late ma and pa-in-law took her in as an outdoor cat. They got her fixed. Since we moved on to the same property we started taking her into our home. She is such an amazing kitty. The funny thing is she acts more like a dog quite often. She wants our approval quite a bit. Of course she does have her midnight freak out kitty crack head moments too!

[AngelaHunter]

12 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I'm the person looking out for the toads on my side porch, making sure they don't get stomped on.

OMG! You too? It took me 40 minutes to cut my lawn. I had to go really slowly and stop constantly to rescue little baby toadlets from the path of the mower. I'm also the person who, after the rain, gets a twig to lift stranded worms to safety and who catches bugs in the house (yes, even flies) in a glass and puts them outside. Took me ages to track down and capture a giant cricket in the basement, so I could let it go. I know my friends think me bizarre, but luckily they're used to me and just accept it. Once my husband said he needed a drink as we were working outside. "Oh, there's a glass just inside on the counter," I said. He snickered and said, 'Yeah? What was in it? Flies? Crickets? Moths?" XD

[SandyToes]

1 hour ago, AngelaHunter said:

Once my husband said he needed a drink as we were working outside. "Oh, there's a glass just inside on the counter," I said. He snickered and said, 'Yeah? What was in it? Flies? Crickets? Moths?" XD

I'm dying at this and Mr. Toes wants to know what's so funny. NO way in hell I can explain.  Good heavens, that's funny!  Great man you found! He gets you!

[zillabreeze]

4 minutes ago, SandyToes said:

I'm dying at this and Mr. Toes wants to know what's so funny. NO way in hell I can explain.  Good heavens, that's funny!  Great man you found! He gets you!

Does Mr. Hunter have a twin???? I get these funny little lady bugs in the spring that are orange.  Yes,the good glasses have been used as transport devices!

I sometimes get little tiny geckos hanging around in the shower in the summer.  I try my best not to splash them with shampoo.  

Can't we all just get along?

[zillabreeze]

So other court tv o'philes....  has anyone else seen the ever so cute, Judge Ferrer, pop up on the CBS Friday night show "Whistleblower"?  Good show!  Always liked his court drama.  This show is chilling.

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

So other court tv o'philes....  has anyone else seen the ever so cute, Judge Ferrer, pop up on the CBS Friday night show "Whistleblower"?  Good show!  Always liked his court drama.  This show is chilling.

I follow Alex Ferrer on FB, and he's very active in promoting the show.  He even responded directly to a comment I made on the FB page!  We're usually wrapped up in "Great British Baking Show," so I record "Whistleblower" and watch it the next day.  It really is fascinating.

[AngelaHunter]

14 hours ago, SandyToes said:

Great man you found! He gets you!

 

Well, it took awhile and quite a bit of effort to brainwash educate him. After some indoctrination, pursuasion,

he no longer ever kills a bug, harms toads, snakes or anything else, but always calls me if one needs removal, since he refuses to touch any of them.

 

3 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

And my four year old was on the counter at the sink when a tiny spider swung down from the curtain. She reached out to pull the curtain and I said Don't mess with him he is new

Strangely, in spite of my total lack of fear of any other creature, I am an arachnophobe, something that has impacted on my life quite a bit. Hey, I wonder if I can get total disability for this affliction? Byrd? Can you spare a few more dollars?

[Brattinella]

zzzzz

 

Wow, I don't remember doing this. :(

Edited August 23, 2018 by Brattinella
Ambienned-out episode I guess

[AZChristian]

11 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I guess I live in a bubble because I had no clue there was a category 5 hurricane bearing down on Hawaii until today and my first thought after hearing it was  @califred !!!!!!! I hope you are safe and out of harm's way! I have survived about six hurricanes here in NC and I wish  you well!  They are brutal. Weird thing is, we never lost a single thing in any of them (just miserable conditions afterwards) and then during the 2011 tornado outbreaks across the country I lost my entire house in a direct hit freak tornado. Anyway I hope you check in as soon as you can.

I found out about the Hawaiian situation from a claims investigator from Allstate.  He's part of a "disaster crew" that gets assigned to areas which have just experienced major weather situations that will result in a lot of property claims.  (We've just been hit with four huge monsoon storms in our area, so the team has been in Arizona for a couple of weeks.)  He said, "I'm leaving within 48 hours for Hawaii.  We don't know until we get done with investigating all the claims when we can go home."  

[AZChristian]

16 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

@AZChristianI saw a picture of the dust monsoon someone took from an airplane. It was unreal. I can't imagine dealing with monsoons yearly, haha. I guess if you live there it becomes a part of life. I do love to see extreme weather, which is weird, I know. Thunderstorms fascinate me, even now.

The "dust monsoon" is actually called a "haboob."  We alternate between haboobs and horrendous monsoon rainstorms - sometimes on the same day.  If your car isn't in a garage, it WILL be covered with mud on those days.

My philosophy is that almost anywhere you live, there are three months of the year where residents don't want to go outside.  For most people, it's December, January, and February.  For us, it's June, July, and August.

[AngelaHunter]

On 8/19/2018 at 3:51 AM, Brattinella said:

zzzzz

 

Wow, I don't remember doing this. :(

LOL! I thought my last post had bored you into a deep sleep.

16 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I guess I live in a bubble because I had no clue there was a category 5 hurricane bearing down on Hawaii until today and my first thought after hearing it was  @califred !!!!!!!

I  must be in the same bubble because I didn't know either. Maybe I need to change my home page, because it gives me news like "Hailey Baldwin's Engagement Ring Up Close!"

Only ever had tail-ends of hurricanes here and those were bad enough. The real thing must be terrifying. Hope Califred is safe.:(

[CrazyInAlabama]

The worst part of this Hurricane Lane coming in to Hawaii today is that they have had a foot of rain in 12 hours, and expect up to 30 inches.  This is the strongest storm to hit since Iniki in 1992.    The worst part is that it's a Category 4 if it's a direct hit, and there are simply not enough shelters for everyone, and many shelters are not strong enough to withstand a strong storm.     

[Brattinella]

2 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Hahaha, and yet, I thought I knew exactly what you were referring to with the zzzzz's. 

Nope, it was almost 3 o'clock in the morning, so I was 2+ hours into my Ambien.  I have no idea why I was awake and certainly don't know why I was posting! *blush*  I try to get into my bed within 1/2 hour of taking it, it is pretty fast-working.

[SRTouch]

I should have never watched that puppy case... but I did and it got me fired up. Taking a couple hints from the case,  breeder lives in Whittier CA and named Mendoza, I looked up dog breeders in Whittier. Two Mendoza's listed, but I think both for the same person. Lots of pups for sale - multiple breeds including mixed breeds - with prices from 800-1,000$. I'm guessing this is where D got this pup. Here's the link: https://www.puppyfind.com/l/?page=1&acct_id=425615&back=&sid=c9r3gfnr6jcs513m11mcve0131

Looking at the 20 pups on the site, I found myself remembering a recent Dr Jeff Rocky Mt Vet episode where he donated his services to spay/neuter a bunch of rescued pure bred Husky pups that a breeder was about to euthanize... because they were getting too old to sell as puppies and their price was dropping.

Ah well, I think it's cooled off enough.... think l'll harness up the kitties and see if there's any bugs to chase outside.

Edited August 24, 2018 by SRTouch
Added link to breeder site

[AngelaHunter]

20 hours ago, SRTouch said:

I should have never watched that puppy case...

I'm sure you would feel better had you not.

Okay, so here are just two of my "reject" pets. The cat I got when I trapped him outside as a feral and he was beloved more than I can say, for 17 years til I lost him last summer. He was free.

The dog I adopted when she was around nine years old, full of lumps and with bad hips and of course no one else wanted her. She wasn't designer, but an Australian Cattle dog mix, although I could have probably made up some stupid name for her like, AussieShep maybe, to impress people. She was the best 250$ (the rescue gave a discount for her age) I ever spent in my life and I loved her dearly. I like to think of them together again at the Bridge.

 

 

 

[edie3]

Did they show the town where the 2 women were from today?  It was the mother (I use that term loosely)who got married in the Domician Republic.

Edited August 24, 2018 by edie3

[AngelaHunter]

Okay, so never mind what I think about Meghan Markle. I'm all for anyone who is a public figure of any kind and speaks out for adopting rather than buying designer animals from scumbag puppymillers.

Her diction is atrocious (she sounds like a JJ litigant with her "she's, like" and "she goes" - don't they have a Royal speech coach and the queen must be appalled and, like, OMG!) but still she's someone to whom the young may listen. 

Quote

“Now, I don’t know her, but Ellen goes ‘Is that your dog?’ And I said, ‘No,’ and she’s like, ‘You have to take that dog.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m deciding.’ And she’s like, ‘Rescue the dog!’”

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/meghan-markle-prince-harry-just-130700261.html

[Spunkygal]

On 8/23/2018 at 7:33 PM, Brattinella said:

Nope, it was almost 3 o'clock in the morning, so I was 2+ hours into my Ambien.  I have no idea why I was awake and certainly don't know why I was posting! *blush*  I try to get into my bed within 1/2 hour of taking it, it is pretty fast-working.

Ditto! I occasionally take 1/2 ambien and make sure I am in bed when I do so!

I saw a bumper sticker on the way home from the gym this morning that Byrd would appreciate: “Work harder! millions on welfare depend on you! “

[califred]

On 8/22/2018 at 3:30 PM, stewedsquash said:

I guess I live in a bubble because I had no clue there was a category 5 hurricane bearing down on Hawaii until today and my first thought after hearing it was  @califred !!!!!!! I hope you are safe and out of harm's way! I have survived about six hurricanes here in NC and I wish  you well!  They are brutal. Weird thing is, we never lost a single thing in any of them (just miserable conditions afterwards) and then during the 2011 tornado outbreaks across the country I lost my entire house in a direct hit freak tornado. Anyway I hope you check in as soon as you can.

 

I’m sorry I just saw this! I live on Oahu and we barely got rain.  The Big Island however got 50 inches in 3 days.

 

i moved here from NC so I’ve been through it before. The weird thing here is that you don’t have the option of driving away. I’ve never driven away in NC but at least it was possible. 

 

Thx for thinking of me! 

Edited August 28, 2018 by califred

[funky-rat]

20 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

Is there anyone today who can live without putting every detail of their lives out there for public consumption? Does it never occur to them that prospective employers might Google them? Of course, that isn't a concern for AmberJean, I'm sure.

One of the jobs my husband applied for (delivering items to convenience stores, stocking shelves, etc) had right on the online application "We like to get to know our applicants!  Would you mind sharing your social media pages?" and it had spots for FB, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and some other stuff.  My husband has zero of that.  So I clicked an "other" box and wrote "I do not use social media".  They didn't believe him.  

[AngelaHunter]

9 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

right on the online application "We like to get to know our applicants!  Would you mind sharing your social media pages?"

I don't use "social media" either. Yeah, prospective employers want to know if they're hiring some jackass with poor judgment like this one, who called in sick to his job that day and then was dumb enough to post this on FB the same day and got his little ass fired.

 

 

[funky-rat]

10 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I don't use "social media" either. Yeah, prospective employers want to know if they're hiring some jackass with poor judgment like this one, who called in sick to his job that day and then was dumb enough to post this on FB the same day and got his little ass fired.

 

 

I think my favorite one is the one that was a few years ago where the girl said on Twitter that she got a job at Cisco, but then disparaged the job, and they caught her and fired her over Twitter.  Good stuff.

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, funky-rat said:

One of the jobs my husband applied for (delivering items to convenience stores, stocking shelves, etc) had right on the online application "We like to get to know our applicants!  Would you mind sharing your social media pages?" and it had spots for FB, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and some other stuff.  My husband has zero of that.  So I clicked an "other" box and wrote "I do not use social media".  They didn't believe him.  

Hee hee, if someone were to check out my FB page, they'd find LOADS of pictures of my cats - but not much else... and yes, I'm a crazy cat dude???

[funky-rat]

2 hours ago, SRTouch said:

Hee hee, if someone were to check out my FB page, they'd find LOADS of pictures of my cats - but not much else... and yes, I'm a crazy cat dude???

Yep.  For me it would be my cats, song lyrics, and youtube videos of my favorite songs.  Not a whole lot else.

[AZChristian]

42 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

Yep.  For me it would be my cats, song lyrics, and youtube videos of my favorite songs.  Not a whole lot else.

Mine would be pictures of my closet remodeling and reorganizing projects.  And our cruises.

[AngelaHunter]

I started a FB when a younger relative contacted me. I offered to email her, but no way - FB is the only acceptable means of communication for way too many people. So, I got a FB page on which I post nothing at all. The only page I follow and on which I post is the rescue organization where I got my plumpkin doggy pictured above.

[Brattinella]

9 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I started a FB when a younger relative contacted me. I offered to email her, but no way - FB is the only acceptable means of communication for way too many people.

You're a better (wo)man than I am, Gunga Din.  I did the same thing at the direction of a young relative, but I NEVER get on it.  I absolutely loathe facebook, and I won't do it, even for her.

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

  I absolutely loathe facebook, and I won't do it, even for her.

I don't do it either. I got an invitation from a former school mate, asking me to join their high school group. I ignored that. If I never cared to keep in touch with them in any way all these years, why the hell would I do so now? Sometimes while perusing the nonsense, I see someone say, "We're going away for two weeks, starting (on the date)", and never ever thinking their full name and city is listed and that thieves might be scanning FB and saying, "Oh, boy - empty house!"

The best are JJ litigants, often well past middle age, whining as a defense to some despicable act, "He/she blocked me on Facebook!!" Quel tragedy. I don't think I want to live on this planet anymore.

Edited August 31, 2018 by AngelaHunter

[CrazyInAlabama]

Exactly right.   A few years ago a former NFL player and his family were on vacation, maybe in Florida, and an older son called his dad and warned him that one of the teen daughters had posted everything about their vacation, and the complete schedule on facebook (I think fb, maybe more sites too).      The father notified the local police, and they did a courtesy visit, and found the mansion (it was huge and nice, before) had been totally trashed, with a party that probably included hundreds of people who broke into the house, and had a big, destructive party.  

I think some of the people who trashed the house were caught, and were sued by the homeowner, but the fact that it had been virtually destroyed was known by future buyers, and certainly not an attraction.    

I used to work as a civilian for the military, and we were constantly warned about keeping personal information off the internet, and people still posted deployments, vacations, and lots of personal information, and then were surprised bad things happened because of it.  

Edited September 1, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[Cobalt Stargazer]

18 minutes ago, momtoall said:

In the sixties I dated a young man whose father was a big wig in the union and his mother was doctor.  When each of their three kids turned eighteen they gave them $5,000 in cash to keep on hand in case of emergencies.  The parents kept a larger amount in cash (in a safe) for the the same reason.  This was over fifty years ago and it's still mind boggling to me.  I'm sure Judge Judy would not believe this either.  My sister in law still keeps large amounts of cash in her house in a family member needs cash in a hurry.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I would be very careful about keeping five thousand dollars in my house, and I live in a decent but not upscale neighborhood. Back in the sixties, maybe, but not today, not unless it was in a safe or a lockbox with a combination that only select people knew. Remember the case a few months ago where a twenty-something guy started pilfering money from hiss mom's house, and it totaled up to at least ten grand? That's the real world too, that even family can steal from you and still look you in the eye after they did it.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Remember the other case during the summer, when the 10 year old (maybe not exactly 10) went in late grandpa's safe, and stole thousands split between him and his little friend, and the parents weren't suspicious about them having tons of cash, because "he told me he mowed lawns".        Going on the show was just a way for the parents to get out of repaying the money, and they didn't care about the kids being felons.   I'm guessing the parents should keep practicing their stupid stories, because as the years go by, they're going to be in court, and paying for lawyers a lot.    Just like meth face heroin dealer's parents do.   I felt sorry for grandma, because unless she has others to help her, those parents will be making decisions about her, and then the little criminals will be stealing everything she owns.  

[SRTouch]

This is not a new complaint.... but WTH is Lester Holt wasting my time and interrupting the first JJ case to tell me about the "BREAKING NEWS" that a hurricaine is expected to make landfall sometime later tonight - oh, and hey, expect lots of rain and wind and a storm surge. Tell me, where was the breaking news.... now, if he had come on and said hey folks the storm has sped up/changed direction/ etc and warned people to change their storm preparedness and/evacuation plan I could see breaking into regular programing, but basically all that was said is everything just like before, watch the nightly news for more.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

On 8/23/2018 at 9:12 PM, SRTouch said:

I should have never watched that puppy case... but I did and it got me fired up. 

I follow a lady on FB and Instagram who called herself the Pug Queen. Her name is Izabella St. James and she lives in Los Angeles and rescues pugs all over LA as well as Mexico and other places. Apparently LA has a huge problem with backyard breeders and people have poor dogs tied in the yard with open sores, no water or food, etc in the blazing sun so they can breed them (pugs can't tolerate heat). The Pug Queen goes and pays money to these yahoos and takes the dogs to her place and rehabs them medically and emotionally and adopts them out. She has also rescued pugs from China (where they get sold for food, yikes) and other places in Europe. Interestingly this lady's love affair with pugs started when she was a Playboy Playmate and got her first pug as a gift from Hugh Hefner. 

[SandyToes]

On 9/13/2018 at 4:50 PM, stewedsquash said:

I am 70 miles from Wilmington, waiting to come out on the other side sometime tomorrow. No worries here, not my first rodeo but y'all keep up the good chatter about my beloved JJ episodes while I am without power. I hope others who are dealing with it do okay. Don't worry! Just get through it and it will be a chapter in your life experience book.

How you doin'?  Power yet? Hope you, your friends and family are all doing okay.

Been there, done that.

[zillabreeze]

On 9/13/2018 at 4:51 PM, ItsHelloPattiagain said:

I follow a lady on FB and Instagram who called herself the Pug Queen. Her name is Izabella St. James and she lives in Los Angeles and rescues pugs all over LA as well as Mexico and other places. Apparently LA has a huge problem with backyard breeders and people have poor dogs tied in the yard with open sores, no water or food, etc in the blazing sun so they can breed them (pugs can't tolerate heat). The Pug Queen goes and pays money to these yahoos and takes the dogs to her place and rehabs them medically and emotionally and adopts them out. She has also rescued pugs from China (where they get sold for food, yikes) and other places in Europe. Interestingly this lady's love affair with pugs started when she was a Playboy Playmate and got her first pug as a gift from Hugh Hefner. 

Oh Patti don't even get me started.  The backyard breeders make my blood boil.  You can get a full breed dog of your choice with two pokes on a tablet.  $200-300 with shots, neutered.  To FINANCE a puppy mill dog for $1000 is the most "stupidest" thing ever.

And pugs.  Oh lawd. You better know what your getting into.  Short nose breeds have all kinds of health issues that will make a vet very rich!

I really get steamed when JJ passive aggressive poo-poos rescues.  She's making it worse!

Full disclosure, I'm Greyhound mom.  I have an entire bookcase of cremains.  

So very sorry to hear about your brother.  My little sister drank herself to death last year.  My last memory of her was in a hospital bed, screaming in pain from cirrhosis.  Guessing you've cussed and yelled at your brother....Why?????

Anyway.  I feel close to you.  You get it.

[tiftgirl]

On 9/26/2018 at 12:33 AM, Brattinella said:

 

I can't say enough good things about Chewy!  I'm so glad I took a leap of faith with that company.  Stellar.

This!!

When one of my cats passed away last year from congestive heart failure I called Chewy to cancel the recurring order for his prescription food for his liver.  We had just gotten the most recent order a couple of weeks before and the lady said she would process a refund.  I told her that I wasn't asking for a refund and had already opened on of the bags and was in no shape to deal with returning the other.  To my amazement she said I didn't need to return it and could donate it or keep it for the girls if the vet said they could eat it, but, the refund was just to express their sorrow and understanding of what I was going through.  She then started asking me questions about him and spent probably 30 minutes or so just talking to me about him and how I was coping. (he had been showing improvement so this was a shock and unexpected when it happened).  The next week I got a hand written condolence  card from her.

I then called to tell a supervisor about this outstanding customer service and he was not surprised.  He then spent quite a bit of time talking to me about my boy and the girls I still had and dealing with grief.  He said I was welcome to call anytime, not just about orders, but if I just needed someone to talk to.  He said they take helping their customers seriously and they had all experienced losing or having seriously ill pets and wanted to help in anyway they could.

This was just the most outstanding customer care ( it went way beyond service) that I have ever experienced anywhere.

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, tiftgirl said:

This!!When one of my cats passed away last year from congestive heart failure I called Chewy to cancel the recurring order for his prescription food for his liver.

Sorry for your loss. 

[SRTouch]

Swiped from episode thread and brought over here before we get wrist slapped for off topic chatter

@zillabreeze said: 

Back in the dinosaur age, we had consumer math & household budgeting in Home Ec.  That stuff is clearly needed now more than ever.

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2 HOURS AGO, SRTOUCH SAID:

Ah, then you probably know how to cook real food instead of fast food -  nuking something from the freezer doesn't count - and mashed 'tators don't come in no box!

On a more serious note, I never took Home Economy - but Mom made sure all 5 of us kids (3 boys and 2 girls) could cook, do laundry and simple sewing repairs - heck we even shared ironing duties back in the day when laundry meant ironing... And when we got to be teenagers, everyone in the family had a day of the week when it was our turn to cook the family dinner... Dad made a mean round steak, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner - and often was the cooking supervisor when Mom worked late. (Mom was a full time RN/Office Manager, so Dad always beat her home - he was a grocery store Produce Manager and went to work around 430am.)

Just another shortfall of our education system - oh, like being literate and speaking understandable English (yes, at this point I don't even expect proper English - just freeking come close enough that I don't need CC.)

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Posted by @WhoaWhoKnew Love the family cooking plan! If I have kids I'll do that! I'll admit I'm really bummed cooking at home isn't en vogue for my generation. I've found myself preferring frozen crap over making the same thing from scratch. I used to love cooking dinner every evening when I was back in high school. I don't know what went wrong

________________

I'm a little of both..... I do a lot of my cooking in the crock pot, but since I'm a crazy old cat dude who lives alone, I freeze a lot of what I cook in single serving airtight plastic containers. Soooo, I both cook my food, but end up nuking frozen stuff.  lol

In fact, I just started a pot of white chili (the cats love it when I cook chicken in the crock pot (just the chicken, which I cook ahead of time) - it's pretty much the only human food they'll eat besides lunch meat - well, except for the kitten, Raven will eat anything.)

Edited September 30, 2018 by SRTouch
Added quote from ZILLABREEZE to which initially I replied

[tiftgirl]

9 hours ago, SRTouch said:

Sorry for your loss. 

Than you very much.  That is beautiful and so very true.  I miss him everyday still.