Miss Manners on the Bus

If only the people I encounter on a daily basis would follow the guidance of Miss Manners, the world would be a better place!  Why can't people just be nice?  Is it so hard to say please, thank you, excuse me, can I get you another piece of pie?  Is it so wrong to want a little peace and quiet?  A gentle excursion through the day?  An envelopment of fluffy nicities?

Then there are the people who have conversations via cell phone on public transportation, aka the #31 that runs between downtown and River Park.  I used to think that these odious specimens were arrogant, that they assumed that other people are interested in the sordid details of their petty lives.  But then I realized that it is much worse than that.  For these Miss Manners violators other people do not figure into the equation at all!  It doesn't dawn on them that their actions may be offputting to their fellow bus riders.  Sadly, this kind of behavior is not limited to tweens, teenagers, and twenty-somethings; even people old enough to remember the original Miss Manners have fallen prey to this most loathesome habit.

So when did scooping become the norm?

When I was a kid, no one carried plastic bags with them when they walked the dog.  The dog did his/her business wherever he/she damn well pleased.  I don't recall dog owners attempting to "va-poo-rize" the existence of said poop.  When we lived in Klamath Falls, OR, my dad had some sort ofI device to aid him in picking up the poop from the front and back yard, a long metal pole with scooping pincher claws at the end of it.  This was a chore that I resisted mightily but was sometimes forced to do.

I live in a neighborhood with LOTS of dogs and dog-walking.  When I see a medium to large-sized dog, all I can think about is how much poop the owner had to scoop.  That can't be a pleasant task.  Jerry Seinfeld did a bit about Martians studying humans and dogs and thinking that the dogs were the ones in charge since the humans were performing such a menial task. 

You Were Always On My Mind

I've heard that animals have an ability to pick up on sensory or supernatural information that humans can't detect.  About the time that my sister and I began to have "visits" and contact from Georgia, I noticed some unusual pet behavior.  It happened again last night.  I came upstairs to the bedroom to find Squeaky (cat #2) staring at the ceiling and howling.  But it was more than that; she appeared to be following something with her eyes, as if she was seeing or sensing something was was invisible to me. 

On the anniversary of her death, i felt her presence with me, an unusual occurrence.  Most years the day passes like the day before and the day before that.  It has been so many years (she died in 1975) that I cannot recall what her voice sounded like, how she moved, what she smelled like.  But this year she was with me. 

You've found your long lost friend...now what?

Oh what a joyous occasion to find that olde friend on Facebook. The joy I experienced when I re-discovered Rueanne was almost indescribable! Of course, my reaction might have been different had she not been equally excited about my finding her. The last time I saw Rueanne was 1984 when I was a bridesmaid at her wedding. I was just a few months sober and was very nervous about being at the reception around the alcohol. So our reunion was sweet rather than bittersweet, as we both felt as if no time had passed. We were freinds....we didn't talk to each other for 25 years...we met again...we are freinds. Of course, there are many variations on this theme, and that's what I'm interested in tonight.

It's so easy to type in a name and hit search! There have been several people I've found and eagerly sent friend requests off to, checking frequently to see if they responded. And when they do? A few messages are exchanged, facebook photos examined, status updates studied, profile information perused. And then....what's left to say after that?  Say there's this guy who I hung out with for about a year; I think we went on two dates.  I couldn't recall what he did for a living or even where he lived. So why was I interested in finding him in particular? Because I can AND he has the distinction of having a name unusual enough to be uncommon, which makes him easy to find on Facebook!

There are several Mr. X and Ms. X on my facebook friends page. Perhaps they feel the same way about me! Perhaps there will come a day when I notice that they are no longer on my friends' list because there is nothing left to say!
But you know what really freaks me out? To receive friend requests from people I went to high school with. It was the most horrible three years of my life, and I have successfully blocked it from my consicousness for decades. So I find it incredible that anyone remembers me from that time. Why? And what do they remember? When I look at the photos of the people from Bella Vista class of 19 _ _, some of the names seems barefly recognizable. It's as if those years of my life happened to someone else. Ah, but that's another tale to tell.....good night!

The New Year

I have this little blog.
It's calling out to me.

Will anyone read it?
Does it matter?

If I want people to read it,
I will have to post interesting items,
now, won't I?

There is a ghost in my house.
I think it's my mother.
She is trying to tell me something.
I am listening.

She has also spoken to my sister Betsy.
There is something she wants us to know.
Perhaps it is a different message for each of us.

The last thing she said to me,
in her suicide note,
was "Learn how to bend."

Day 1, 2, and 3 of Retraining Cats and Owners

After Dr. Malamet and her colleagues from UCD left, Trace and I felt overwhelmed with all of the information provided. It was a fascinating process that left us wondering if we were capable of the work and effort it was going to take to change the behavior by changing the environment AND changing how we respond to the actions of Andi, Squeaky, and Patsy.

In the last three days, we have focused on putting as many things in place as possible, time permitting. The first order of business was to separate Squeaky from Patsy and Andi to address her litter box aversion

XMAS 2008

I am so low key about the holidays that I'm practically in a coma, or so i like to say.

Had breakfast with Betsy, Ric, and Lucas - omelets and biscuits.

This post is so boring that i'm falling asleep.