Good Morning!
What would you like to talk about?
Quote of the Day
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
John Adams
Wandering Views
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Wandering Views 
Good morning. We are enjoying an extended field trip also known as family vacation. 🙂
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Yesterday JoeB (aka Drivesguy) commented to Karen about how dogs seem to know intentions better than humans.
I have seen, especially on the net, in recent years, pictures of cats and mice eating together, a polar bear and huskie playing in the snow. Other cases of natural enemies peacefully mingling.
Critters do seem to know intentions by some sixth sense.
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Good morning to all on this beautiful day.
That’s a great quote to start a discussion, but I have a feeling that it won’t take long before partisanship will show the thin veil that separates opinion from fact.
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This makes me laugh because my Little Man Amos is terrified of men. Just the other day I was talking to the across the street neighbor and I as inside the back fence and he was standing at the gate. Amos went tot the middle of the yard and barked and barked. Let ex-husband or Mr. P come in the front door and he is barking, wagging his tail, and his whole little body is shaking until either of them picks him up and starts petting and talking to him. He has tried to crawl UP both of their legs (ex and Mr.). He does the same thing to two of my friend’s husbands but any other man? No way, no how.
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Regarding the quote of the day it reminds me of a refridgerator magnet my stepmother has: My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.
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Good morning! Partisanship? Cats and dogs, elephants and donkeys, and what about all those football teams?
Since Chas brought up the animal kingdom, my husband was watching a program last night on public broadcasting (we don’t have cable) and cats had a camera attached to themselves so people could witness how they spend their hours. Surprise! They are ruthless hunters and actually kill other little creatures. The thought has made some say that all cats should be either kept indoors or caged. A lady who loves her cat and also loves birds was seriously distressed to see what her cat does.
We no longer have cats but when we did we had a neighbor who was chasing our cat in the bushes in our yard because the cat had a chipmunk in its mouth. We also had a gay male neighbor living down the street who was upset with cats in the neighborhood. The cats would leave their catch on his door mat. He sent out a threatening letter to all the neighbors that there would be some unhappy children in the neighborhood (threatening to do away with cats) if the kitty litter did not stop. We were one of the few folks in the neighborhood with a child. Another neighbor complained that our cat used the bathroom in the bushes under her window. We have a cat which visits us now and has scratched our car and the same thing has happened recently to my brother’s car.
Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this subject?
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Kim, I thought you might want to know that when I saw how you spelled refrigerator it reminded me of how I use to spell it. It is a funny thing that if you put something in the “fridge” it is proper to include the “d” in the word, but the full word does not include the “d.” I am not trying to appear to be a spelling pro. I was just surprised to find that out and thought you might be, too. It is one of those things in our language that lacks logic IMO, but some of the more intellectual might enlighten me on the reasoning.
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My experience has been that if one neighbor has an unrestrained cat that the entire neighborhood has a feral cat problem. We feed birds and I don’t know how many times I’ve seen cats stalking and killing songbirds at our feeders. All it has taken is one new neighbor who places poison on his property and the number of neighborhood cats has been greatly diminished. I’m of the opinion that if you have a cat you have a responsibility to keep it on your property and not make it a nuisance for the entire neighborhood.
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Why isn’t my moniker there?
Cats are natural preditors. Kittens chase string if you play with them. Dogs won’t.
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Thanks Janice. When I spelled it, I knew I was spelling it wrong, but couldn’t figure out what to leave out. It didn’t look right, but I was, like you said, trying to use logic on our illogical language. Funny thing is I learned phonics and Latin. I understand root words, prefixes, suffixes, etc and used to be able to spell any word that came along. Now? Not so much.
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We lived in a small village (pop. 137) where there were many, many stray cats. One of the town councillors had more than 20 cats, so there was no way a bylaw could be passed dealing with the cats. I had to deliver a notice to his place once and as I got out of my Jeep, the cats scattered, reminding me of a movie where rats were scurrying everywhere – kind of creeped me out. This guy would take a bucket of cat food out to feed his cats and they’d all come running and gather around – a veritable herd of cats. Many people asked to borrow our ‘cat killing’ dog. (He was labelled that after a cat did not make it out of our yard fast enough one day)
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So, in thinking about it, maybe if one has a property large enough to give the cats lots of space to roam it would be okay to allow the cats freedom, but in residential neighborhoods where homes are rather close together it would be better to not allow cats to roam? I know cats are good to cut down on the rodent population so that is a consideration, too. Those rodents carry fleas which carry bad diseases. There is an up and down side to it.
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Even though I live in the Deep South, I live in a pocket of “do-gooders”, fruits, and granola’s. We have several areas where feral cats are rampant. There are a couple of vets around that have cages to catch these cats and bring them in for free spaying and neutering. There is a whole group of people who sign up to feed the cats. This has been going on for about 1o or 15 years now and the cat population has shrunk.
Last week and part of this week I have had a guest cat. Her name is Moe because she belongs to a man and his two sons. She was supposed to be a male but surprise she wasn’t. She has been de-clawed so she couldnn’t/wouldn’t go out. She did hiss and spit at Amos –and all the poor little puppy dawg wanted to do was be friends with her. I determined that my house is way too small for a litter box. The only place I had to put it was on top of the dryer. (Amos loved Kitty Snacks when we had Callie Leigh) I even bought Tidy Cat for Small Spaces litter which was twice the price of plain ol’ Tidy Cat. Nothing helped.
Mr. P laughed at me when we tood Amos for a walk and I took a plastic bag to clean up after him. I gagged and choked and tears ran down my face. He asked me how I ever got through a human baby. God gave me the ability for a finite amount of time. That time has passed. He is threatening not to share his grandson with me. 😉
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We lived in a small town which had a leash law for cats. I think we were the only ones who followed by it, as several other cats would roam our yard. The landlord told us the city used to shoot cats on site if found roaming, but he convinced them to give one chance after his pure bred (can’t remember which breed) was shot. The penalty: a $75 fine for the first offense. Then they would put them to sleep.
As for feral cats in cities: There is a small city in Iowa that has an abandoned house at the edge of town where cats live. Or at least there used to be one.
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I know this isn’t a politically correct thing to say, but one of the “do-gooders” is Mr. Chin. He is quite the nice old man, but there is just something about parking at the local Chinese Restaurant and seeing all the feral cats out back eating.
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Feral cats are a problem everywhere. We have large numbers of them living among the rocks along several of our beach areas (which makes walking the dogs there an interesting experience).
The former head of the LA animal services department (and many others) have long advocated the TNR approach (trap-neuter-release) as a way to control the numbers.
It’s a good theory, but from my observation it must be done with complete vigilance to really work. And the people I know who are involved with doing that say their efforts are often thwarted by people who will dump yet more cats/kittens in the colony, figuring it’s a good way to get rid of unwanted cats.
So then they’re back to square one.
My cat is an indoor-outdoor cat (she was “running” with a feral colony when volunteers nabbed her and arranged for me to adopt her). She hunts but doesn’t stray too far from home. I’ve been fortunate that the neighbors on both sides of me are cat lovers, but I realize some people really do dislike cats.
My vet said he and his wife (also a vet) had a cat who was a champion at catching rats in their neighborhood where tree rats were common. The cat would patrol up and down the street — eventually, the rat population all but vanished to their neighbors’ delight.
Rats or cats? I’ll take cats, thank you.
But large number of stray cats are a problem.
And it cracks me up to watch how curious my cat always is. Just last night (I do keep her in at night), she (again) got that adventurous gleam in her eye, jumping on top of all the bedroom furniture, walking from dresser to the high top of the armoire (then falling down behind it, later crawling up to a chair to free herself). Then it was on to the closet. Who knows what’s in there!?
Eventually she settled down and went to sleep. But it’s almost a nightly routine for her to explore every nook and cranny of the bedroom, she’s sure there will be a monster rodent or lizard lurking in there somewhere …
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Speaking of refrigerators, my new one arrives today. I hope it fits. The vertical measurement didn’t leave much wiggle room under that overhead cabinet, so I hope I measured the space correctly.
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Our neighbors let their cats roam during the day, but anyone how doesn’t bring their cats in at night risks (and it’s a high risk) them being eaten by coyotes. I don’t mind visiting cats, I just don’t like having to clean up after them 😦 Our neighbor gives so much attention to her cat that she (the cat) spends most of her day in our backyard 🙂 I white, long-haired cat, this neighbor actually asked us to remove a plant in our yard so the flowers would not get into its coat.
Onto dogs, I was speaking to a PR agent who told me that John Mayer’s womanizing–no matter what he sings about daughters–was good press for him until Jennifer Anniston said her dog never liked him. The agent said, “We have been trying to clean him up ever since. People trust dogs.” Maybe we can run the presidential candidates by a dog panel.
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Rats or cats? Owls!
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DonnaJ, Corona Del Mar has had significant success in reducing the feral cat prolem at Pirate’s Cove with their TNR program.
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One of my mom’s dogs, a tan shepherd mix, didn’t like men for some reason.
Meanwhile, they’ve found bedbugs (eeeewwwwwww) in the central L.A. Library:
“We’ve had reports [of bed bugs] from all over the place. We’re spraying all over. But we hadn’t heard they’d gotten to Literature yet,” the woman was told, according to the LA Weekly.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/09/07/bed-bug-sightings-confirmed-at-l-a-central-library/
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Maybe we can run the presidential candidates by a dog panel.
Wouldn’t work. The loser would “howl” and it would be like “tossing a bone” to the press.
Any other puns we can make of this?
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Ooh! More pun fun with this one: “We’ve had reports [of bed bugs] from all over the place. We’re spraying all over. But we hadn’t heard they’d gotten to Literature yet.”
The bedtime story might have a bite to it.
To spray or not to spray, that is the question.
We’re we’re still getting the bugs out of the new computers, literally.
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My pet rock was feral until someone painted it. It has no interest in other rocks.
Nor anything else for that matter.
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We never, ever let our cats outside.
Estimates are that there are over 185,000 feral cats in Baltimore City.
There are a variety of trap-neuter-release programs but there are also those who say that those programs are actually cruel because the cats are being release into an inhumane environment where their lifespan is less than two years and they get diseases, parasites, get hit by cars, and attacked by dogs and other cats.
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Sounds like Random got his predicted earthquake last night.
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And Allen, this is for you, “Sigh.”
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Janice, In both football and politics, it’s red elephants all the way Roll Tide! Mitt for President! 🙂
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Once a cat passes a certain age as a feral cat it is almost impossible to tame it. What else are you supposed to do?
Speaking of Beasts I have 4 girls I think I shall awaken and feed. They knew they made me mad before bed so they cleaned my house last night.
My rule is that when I go to bed I take all cell phones with me. K told me last night that after the last time I took her cell phone her Mama told her she didn’t have to give it to me. Hmmm. Ex-husband told me this morning to handle it with the mother or he wouldn’t just burn the bridge he would napalm it.
I took BG’s phone and disabled the wireless internet when I went to bed. If they got on their cell phones to post to FB or anything else they burned up data minutes their parents were paying for.
New rule is that before anyone can spend the night I will speak with the parents and if they don’t want me taking cell phones perhaps they need to keep their child at home.
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🙂 Kbells, planning my day around a 2:30 kickoff.
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Regarding refrigerator and fridge, I’ve never heard anything about it, but the logic has always been intuitive to me. If it were spelled without the D, it would be “frig” (or perhaps “frige”), neither of which would be a good idea. The soft G sound in the middle of refrigerator is obvious from the spelling. A hard G would require 2 Gs. But at the end of a word, a single G makes a hard G sound, so the D is required to make it into a soft G.
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Planning mine around a 12:20 kickoff. I’m glad for that. We have a yearly community block party at 3:00. They changed the date just for us. So we feel obliged to attend.
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“There are a variety of trap-neuter-release programs but there are also those who say that those programs are actually cruel because the cats are being release into an inhumane environment where their lifespan is less than two years and they get diseases, parasites, get hit by cars, and attacked by dogs and other cats.”
Feral cats are wild animals. That’s the environment wild animals live in. What do these critics propose as an alternative? And are they shedding tears over squirrels, chipmunks, skunks and opossums too?
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As far as pets getting along, I think it has more to do with age than species. My old dog Shanna and my old cat Piper got along fine. They pretty much ignored each other. But Piper hates both new dog Chasey and new cat Katy. Katy and Chasey get along fine and even play with each other.
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Regarding the quote of the day, I think it’s philosophically naive because as far as I can understand it, it rests on the false modernist idea of “facts” as a bunch of neutral uninterpreted bits of information.
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Linda, I don’t see anything about an earthquake in Random’s neighborhood. What did I miss?
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Ree,
I see the quote more as saying that even if none of us can help interpreting those bits of information in one way or another, our interpretation doesn’t change what the facts actually are, and sooner or later that reality manages to collide with our interpretation. To use a rather mundane example, my son is busy mowing the lawn right now, and it doesn’t matter if his interpretation about picking up sticks let him rationalize leaving some of the smaller ones as not being a problem – when he tries to mow over them the lawnmower still stops.
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🙂 What I actually came on here to say is that my younger son is now older enough to mow the lawn, so I don’t have to! Though I do still have to fill it with gas (even I have trouble holding a full 5-gal gas can to fill the mower), show him how to clear clumps of wet grass jamming the blades, and sometimes restart the mower for him.
😦 And buy a new drainage hose to connect to the pipe from the sump pump, because it didn’t occur to him to move the hose before mowing and he cut it in half.
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Give it time Pauline. I am now at the stage where I insist on mowing most of the lawn and weed eating it (stress relief, you know), but they are quick to run over and help me with clogs and twine and picking up stuff from in front of the mower, restringing the weed eaters, and filling with gas, etc. Hopefully, the older ones will still be around when it is time to teach the younger ones all those things. They have had to teach me several times, and I try to practice when they are not looking just to keep the skills up for another time.
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I know a situation, not my kin, where a kid spilled some gas on his pants while fueling a lawn mower. The gas dried and he continued to wear the pants.
Later, at a cookout, his pants caught fire. Fortunately his dad was nearby and prevented severe burns. He did go to the hospital for treatment, but is fine now.
Be careful with gas.
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You maycall me g2-4ed159f or short if you wish. 🙂
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Last night when my husband watched the program about the cats, it was not about feral cats, but about pet cats who roam the neighborhoods. My husband thought it was quite silly to expect the cats to do anything but be natural hunters and carnivores. He thought the suggestion of caging the cats was horrible. It is taking away their freedom to be natural cats. It is allowing other animals to have all rights while taking all rights from cats. I could not help myself in relating it to how Christians are losing their rights in this country because others want all the rights. I know some people keep bells on their roaming cats so the birds are alerted to their presence. Maybe if we solved the cat problems in the world it would give us a clue as to what to do about the people problems.
I have never been around an area with a feral cat problem. It seems like a really sad situation to me.
I once had an indoor cat and then got a puppy. Until I could get a fence installed in the back yard I had to keep the cat and puppy together in a bedroom which did not have any furniture. I taped large black garbage bags on the floor for the dog to use and the litter box was on the plastic, too. I was amazed to come home one day and see that the dog had done her business in the litter box. Of course the little pile was not covered like a cat would do it. But it was truly amazing and unexpected. I always wondered just how the cat got the dog to do that.
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I can remember the hullabaloo when Wisconsin legislators proposed a law that would make hunting/shooting feral cats legal. Studies showed that feral cats killed far more songbirds than mice or rats, between 47,000,000 and 139,000,000 songbirds killed per year.
http://chippewa.com/news/article_da030bd7-43c3-5c58-80a3-607f50eb95a6.html?print=1
One legislator was asked to define what a feral cat is and he said that if it was roaming without human supervision it was feral. The bill did not pass.
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cats…well, I just happen to have an opinion on that. But let the facts speak for themselves.
Our two cats are outdoors, where cats belong. They kill a lot of mice and gophers and shrews and moles. I appreciate that. They kill a lot of birds. I do not appreciate that. Now that they have exterminated the songbirds and hummingbirds, they have moved on to game birds. They are now bringing in young quail and pheasants. I do not appreciate that. We still have to set traps in the house when the mice come inside. I do not appreciate that.
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Ever the optimist, I keep hoping they will take on a tom turkey and that will be the end of the problem, but it has yet to happen.
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Photoguy, I can tell you are a bird lover. I, too, really like birds. Is that a hawk you have for your avatar? Do you do bird watching hikes? When my son was young he had a computer program from Peterson’s guides that had lots of bird songs on it so he could learn to identify them in the field.
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JaniceG, I have that on cd’s. The children seem to groan when I turn on the Rock Doves… no idea what is wrong with those children.
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Well my life is full of DRAMA. I just got a call from one of the team members where I am now working and she wanted to let me know how the team worked and how upset she was that I tood a lead away from her and gave it to someone else and she grew up in that town and she had sent an email to C–the guy who actually runs the team and hired me— and that there WOULD be a meeting and that she grew up in the area, blah, blah, blah. I waited for her to take a breath and said “Wait, let me say something. This is a conversation you need to have with C. I am new. I am not calling everyone’s leads I am just calling the ones C has assigned to me. I didn’t take it away from you and assign it to someone else.” She ended the conversation by telling me she would be calling the rest of the team to discuss it with them and she hated that she and I got off to such a negative start. (Yeah, right, Drama Queen. You knew what you were doing when you dialed my number and NOW you are going to call the rest of the team to stir the pot?)
After I hung up I called the team leader told him of our conversation and what she told me about the meetings she had asked for with the broker, etc and that she had informed me whether I wanted to attend or not I would be attending and that she was calling the rest of the team to call a meeting. C apologized and said she had already called and ruined his day. I told him not to worry about me, she hadn’t ruined mine!
I also reminded him of my stance on gossip. Please don’t tell me anything you don’t want repeated because I can’t keep a secret. I will just blab everything I know.
Remember what I told all of you a while back…A dog that will bring a bone will tote a bone. I am sure this woman would love to have had me say something she could repeat to everyone on the team.
Of to do laundry now.
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Janice, my avatar is a Peregrine Falcon that I photographed in captivity, but most of the birds that I photograph are in the wild. I’ve never been involved in an organized birding hike, but I do have birding CD’s so that I can identify the calls of songbirds in the field and I’m out prowling with a camera every chance I get. There are some great products out there for people interested in birding now and Peterson’s produce some of the best.
What a beautiful habitation our Creator has prepared to exalt His glory.
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Pauline,
I got curious and looked up the context of the quote, and he used it during his defense of the soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial. So he was apparently referring to forensic evidence and in that context, his quote does make sense. But the way I initially read it was in support of an evidentialist epistemology in which “facts” are narrowly defined as those things which can be empirically proven.
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It is allowing other animals to have all rights while taking all rights from cats.
Animals have rights? Scary path you are taking there, Janice. So, if cats should be allowed to roam free, what about dogs? Why do so many people think a leash law is okay for dogs and not cats? It could be because dogs tend to roam in packs and do more damage to property than cats. But don’t cats spread more disease than dogs?
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g2-4e7ed159f92383407b363e3c7752aa87 on September 8, 2012 at 12:11 pm said:
You may call me g2-4ed159f or short if you wish.
Oh, Chas, I think g2-4e is a great name without the extension. Can’t we call you that?
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I never posted rants or raves on the appropriate thread on Whirled Views, but I’m posting a rant now–even without a thread dedicated to that purpose.
I HATE junior year of high school! I don’t know if others have this experience, but my 3rd child just started her junior year a couple of weeks ago and, although I had high hopes that that, for a few reasons, things would be different with this kid, they’re not. There’s just something about junior year that seems to create constant friction between my kids and me. So far with this kid, there are no real blowouts or anything. Just a feeling that I’m walking on eggshells all the time trying to avoid irritating her for reasons I can’t fathom. There were inklings of it in the summer shortly before school started, but it really became apparent when school started.
I know it’s a stressful year with hard classes and lots of demands, but it’s something more than that. It’s a combination of lots of things, I guess, but it’s amazing to me how it’s happened at exactly the same time with each kid. Senior year gets easier, but it’s never quite the same as before.
I guess I can be thankful that God is preparing me for their leaving–making it seem less awful when they go. But it’s profoundly depressing!
😦
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Well, it was in Oregon, but to us east-coast folks, that’s close enough.
http://newsbrk.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-09-08-045744-md-34-oregon-451-1227.html
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Peter, I did not feel as strongly about the cats as my husband did. Maybe that is because in his younger years he spent more time in the summers on a farm than I did. I can truly see both sides about the cats, but cats aren’t worth arguing over. I just like to see what other people think so I am better informed in case we ever decide again to have a cat (other than our visiting friend—Hissy Cat).
Photoguy, I like your avatar and was interested to see the difference between a hawk and falcon. We have hawks that visit our neighborhood. They frequently have cawing crows in pursuit and sometimes mokingbirds are after the crows. It is not the same as the big fish goes for the smaller fish, etc. How did the birds get it so backwards? 🙂
Here is what my search turned up for anyone who wants to know the difference between a hawk and falcon: http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-a-hawk-and-a-falcon/
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I live in the city, so an outdoor cat thing ain’t happenin’. Too many cars, other disease ridden felines, and stuff. My girls stay indoors always. Fixed, fat, and female is how we prefer our kitty’s.
But if I lived on a farm I could see the benefit of an outdoor cat or two. Fixed of course. Just for rodent control if nothing else. We love mice, but only the domesticated fancy type. We don’t do wild common mice, and don’t have a problem when the cat grabs one. Once they’re named, they’re pets. Unnamed mice are rodents. If they ever get a lawyer, I’m probably looking at a legitimate discrimination lawsuit.
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I agree with Peter L. Cats need to be restricted in their movement in the same way that dogs are. Most songbirds are killed by cats that are allowed to roam freely all day and are then confined and treated as pets at evening/night when owners return from work or school. Where I live owls and coyotes cull the cat population that prowls at night, so it’s the day roamers who are killing birds and using the neighbor’s flower beds as litter boxes.
We had cats as pets years ago and we always made sure that they were strictly house cats (never allowed outside without being contained) and it made for better relations with the neighbors and didn’t decimate the area songbird population.
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Our Jack Russell Terriers are better at rodent control than any cat that I’ve ever seen.
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We had indoor cats until we had our son who had asthma. The cats had to become outdoor cats so we could keep our son. 🙂 Now the cats have gone to cat heaven (if there is such a place) and our son is away at college.
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How old were you when you became a Christian? What inspired you to become a Christian?
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I got a cat for rodent control — and since she was previously a feral, though friendly so she probably was dumped or lost, but no ID — having her and indoor-outdoor cat seemed logical to me. I also think it’s a more natural way for cats to live, but I sympathize with the birds and lizards and even the little mice sometimes.
We had a pergrine falcon next on our bridge over the harbor for years — they were protected so it created some real challenges when the bridge had to be painted, etc.
As a cool aside, one of the experts I interviewed by phone — he’s in central Cali — turned out to be a guy I went to elementary school with. And he was into birds of prey back then, too. So fun to see that he wound up in a career centered around that.
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A few years ago I had the opportunity to sit with a Rat Terrier by my side in a chair while I read. I fell in love with that little dog. We really bonded. That is what I would like to have if ever I get another dog. That dog would escape from the owner’s home and turn up in the neighbor’s house because it learned to enter through the cat door and go get the cat food.
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OK, in what seems to be a miracle based on my experience, the refrigerator delivery guys called to say they’d be (cough cough) 2 hours EARLY. Huh? So I had to really race abound to be ready.
It’s in now, but heavens, if it had been 1/2 inch bigger it would not have fit even through the kitchen door! They had to remove the door to the kitchen just to get it in. (Old 1920s houses weren’t built for 2012 appliances.)
Anyway, my kitchen was then turned upside down, there was more scrubbing to do on the floor once they hauled the old one out, I pulled some kind of muscle in my left hip — which now goes with my banged up right hip still hurting from the battleship tour. Yikes. I’m a mess.
But here’s a question: The owner’s guide says it’ll take 24 hours for the temp to set. It now reads 72 degrees inside, but it is set for 37 (and 0 for the freezer).
Soooo, I guess I shouldn’t expect food to be kept cool in there until tomorrow? I was going to go grocery shopping but maybe I need to wait.
It’s been nearly 25 years since I’ve bought a refrigerator so I don’t have a clue.
It sure is purty, though. 🙂 🙂
Now I have to put the kitchen back together again. Sigh.
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That is really neat, Donna, about the guy ending up doing that for his career.
Since you mentioned doing a telephone interview, I need to do one for a little article I am going to write. What do you suggest to use for recording the interview? I am totally new at this but want to do it professionally. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for any advice you may give.
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Janice, a friend of mine who is highly competitive (she was a cheerleader or drill team person or something, I think, back when she was in high school, she’s very athletic) trains and competes rat terriers in dog agility. They travel all over the country for competitions.
Her ratties also have done some modeling for advertising, dog calendars, etc.; her dogs are quite the little rock stars in dog circles. 🙂
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Our rat terrier is also death on rodents. And snakes. And wildbirds. And chickens. And turkeys. So he is confined to a pen. Sad life for such an active dog but he gets a couple of good walks each day and the big dogs to play with along with some children.
We did confine the cats in the garage when the fledglings were out.
The turkeys are also death on rodents and snakes. And the wild birds kill the turkey babies.
I was fourteen, though I know God called me when I was much younger. I was inspired to become a Christian when I realized if there was a Hell, I was headed there with no out except Him. When I found out He had taken care of it, I was in. I am delighted with the changes He has wrought in my life.
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On the phone I just type as they talk (using headphones); if you’re a fast typist that usually is the most efficient.
Recording is the surest way to get everything exact but I haven’t really done that via telephone (and you do have to let them know). In person I usually rely on old-fashioned shorthand notes, but the iphone or a small digital recorder comes in hand, too. I’ll use those if I’m interviewing political candidates where I want to make absolutely sure everything is word-for-word.
But recording requires you also to re-listen to the interview which can slow you down. Since we usually (not always though) have daily deadlines, scribbled notes work best for me.
But phone interviews are nice because you can get a pretty accurate transcript (again, if you’re a fast typist) which is the easiest thing to work off of in writing the final story.
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modestypress, I was in my 30s when I became a Christian. I had been raised in the church and was a nominal Christian before. It was when I read the Bible through for myself that I became a fully believing Christian. It was the word of the living God that transformed me then and I read the Bible more and find that it applies to my daily life situations I continue in the process of transforming (sanctification). I can remember a really big sense of emptiness or lonliness before I knew Jesus as Lord and Savior. I have never experienced that same feeling again. When I was younger and had times of sadness it was overwhelming but now I can still experience sadness but I have felt joy even in the midst of sorrow.
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Hey, my gravatar came up! It’s the barred owl who lives near us. He or she often sits in the trees, hungrily eyeing our chickens. Sometimes it sits on our porch, hungrily eyeing me. One day I saw it catch a squirrel and a bunny in about two hours span of time and rip them to shreds. I bet being an owl is similar to what people say about Chinese food. It’s good, but pretty soon you’re hungry again. I can’t tell if that’s a prejudicial remark.
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Thanks, Donna, for your good advice. I am not such a fast typist and I am not under that kind of deadline. This is something for a quarterly so for my first effort thankfully I have a generous amount of time to pull something together.
I had thought of doing an e-mail interview, but another writer I consulted said she only does those with people she knows and that it is more appropriate to record a telephone interview. It is good to hear how different people approach these things.
I think I would send the person to be interviewed the questions by e-mail and tell them I will be recording for accuracy in my article. This is not a big deal kind of article, but I want to get it right for my first effort.
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I can’t change my gravatar. I’m not dumb on the computer. I’ve followed every step and it simply refuses my password. I change the password. I have it sent to my email. I put it in. I can get into gmail. I can get in to my WordPress blogs. I can access all my other emails. But, the gravatar site will not let me post with my gravatar and keeps telling me that my password is wrong. It isn’t. SIGH
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I’m frustrated. Here I go again.
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Ach! It finally let me! I think I lost years off my life!
New photo of my dog. 🙂
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Janice G. and Photoguy13 … were you posting as other people back on WMB? I would love to either greet you or to know who you were so that I can connect you with your former selves. 😉
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That is a beautiful owl, modestypress. We have an owl whoot lives in our neighborhood. My husband saw it swoop right by him between the houses sometime this past year. It was a real surprise, so unexpected, to see it up close.
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Janice, sounds like a good plan. It’s nice when you have some time to work on something like that. And recording always is the safest way to make sure you get quotes accurate (it also frees you up to listen more to the person, I think, knowing you don’t have to be scribbling or typing every word).
But I do remember as a novice reporter working for my first newspaper doing a very important interview with our local congressman who at the time was under attack for a scandal.
My editor (and the publishers) came along for the interview and I brought a tape recorder.
Later, the editor says to me, “Once when I was interviewing someone the tape recorder didn’t work, but I didn’t realize that until later. I hope you were also taking good backup notes.”
Yikes.
I wasn’t particularly, so I had a total internal meltdown (trying not to show him I was nervous) until I could double check the recorder and see that, yes, the thing had worked through the entire interview and I had everything I needed.
Whew.
Sometimes it helps also, if it’s not too long, to then transcribe the interview on the computer — that way you can sort & highlight the notes more easily since they’re in printed form.
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Hi, Tammy, I posted as Toobizy so you know me. I like your dog avatar, too. I use to use the avatar of a cross. If you click on my current avatar it will take you to a few more pictures and one is what I used on WMB.
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Yay Tammy! 🙂 (Janice was Toobizy & Photoguy was In His Shadow; I think that’s right, anyway).
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Our cat (formerly cats, until our oldest passed away) have been indoor cats their whole lives (or at least since we took the girl from her feral life and the boy from his farm as a kitten.)
In the past, we’ve always allowed our cats to be indoor/outdoor, but these last two were kept indoor for a variety of reasons. And, the girl lived to a ripe old age of 18, then died in her sleep after a very short illness (I was still debating whether to even take her to the vet or not). The boy is now about 13 years old.
Most of our indoor/outdoor cats in the past did NOT die of old age. So, I think we’ll stick to indoor only.
However, we have owned a few cats in the past who would not have stood 5 seconds of being told to be indoor only. So, I completely sympathize with those who let them out.
Also, I just don’t get why other people dislike outdoor cats. I guess I’m not much of a gardener, so I don’t have to worry about running into buried cat poop! I don’t mind kitty paw prints on my car … I think it is cute. 😉 And, I will even pet other cats that show up in my driveway or whatever.
As for song birds … nice, but I figure the owl that lives in our backyard probably does his/her share of eating those too, and I’m certainly not keeping it in my house! (I love the hooting sound it makes at night. 😉 ) Honestly, except in rare instances, I figure that most song birds have enough babies, that they are in no danger of becoming extinct. With all the cats in our neighborhood, we still had robins nesting on our back porch every year for years. They finally stopped, but I don’t think it was because of the cats. Who knows?
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Thanks, Donna, I like that idea of transcribing on the computer for highlighting.
I have been warned about recorders not working. What a bummer! I will have to practice with whatever I end up using. I even considered using a speaker phone with a recorder. I think there are many options these days. I am just not very knowledgable about technology. I have an old cell phone and there may be a way to use it as a recorder. I need to find my book!
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Speaking of which, now that he’s gone, I miss Mr. Stupid Robin. That’s what I called him, because he (the male of the two, of course) would constantly attack our windows and back sliding glass doors. He was, of course, attacking the “other male” in his territory and defending his mate a fledgling family. But, I’m surprised he didn’t clock himself battering at his reflection like that!
I didn’t really care for it at the time, but missed him when he stopped showing up about two years ago. He’d been coming by with his mate for at least 4 or 5 years before that. I don’t know how long songbird live.
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1 of ?
I have a proposal for an experiment or a great work of science fiction writing.
As an experiment the ethics would be problematical, though no more so than one most of us perform at one time or another. As an experiment, the practicality and feasibility seem quite daunting and difficult – close to impossible at first glance — but similar experiments have been carried out in reality. In fact, one such experiment is going on right now.
As a work of literature, it would take one of the greatest writers ever known to create it. The first name that comes to mind is William Shakespeare (regarded by many people as THE greatest writer who ever lived). The work that comes to mind is THE TEMPEST.
Other great writers who comes to mind are George Orwell, Austin Tappan Wright (bet you never heard of him), H. G. Wells, and Aldous Huxley. A fine writer (too early to say if he deserves to be called “great”) alive today is T. C. Boyle.
Ancient writers who come to mind are Plato, the people who write the Bible, and the people who wrote the Koran.
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All our cats when I was growing up were indoor-outdoor and they did make it to old age (the older they got the more time they spent indoors). I realize cats are safer inside and are likely to live longer, however.
Janice, to this day I’m paranoid about tape recorders. Last time I used one extensively was in covering a political race here in the city of LA — and I was constantly checking it to make sure the numbers were counting down, etc. It all worked fine — and those digital recorders are nice.
The iPhone also has a recorder app that turns it into a tape recorder, very handy.
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Random/Steve/Modesty: I grew up in a Christian household, which had a great faith in Christ (my grandmother and parents), but not much strength in regard to a Christian worldview, Biblical understanding, or apologetics. So, when I went off to college — a very Liberal college, as most of them are — I became a very, very nominal Christian. I still identified as Christian, but my world view and practice was not Christian.
Then, I had my son. At the time, I was working as the secular teacher for an Orthodox Jewish school. I saw how seriously they took their religion. And, I didn’t want my son growing up without a moral compass. So, I started researching. I started with the premise that I would believe ANYTHING, so long as it was true. I pulled my husband along with me (also a rather nominal Christian).
After much research, I was “led” (and it did feel Providential some of the books and other things I ended up finding and reading) back to Christianity, but a much stronger, much more informed, much more powerful Christianity than I’d grown up with.
So, was I really a Christian in my youth? I don’t know. But, I am most definitely one now, and I CHOSE it after examination and rational consideration and finding it to be the most reasonable choice I could make.
In the end, the last few steps of the process always depend on faith … just as they do for atheists or agnostics. But, I found that Christianity had the most reason and the most evidence for it.
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Donna, you need this: http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/pulse/
My son has one that he uses at college. You take notes, but the pen also records. Interestingly, when recorded on the right paper, you can then press the pen tip onto any part of your notes and hear that part of the recording! It will also download to your computer, make the content searchable, and it has all sorts of other amazing helps that make it indispensable for a reporter!
Also, you should know that your iPhone will make awesome recordings … much, much better than a tape recorder. And, they automatically download into Itunes, and you can then give them names and keep them very organized. 😉
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So, pen plus iPhone backup, and you never need worry again. 🙂
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Sorry, Donna, I hadn’t finished reading, and now I see that you know about your iPhone’s great recording capabilities! Check out the pen, though. Very cool. 😉
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Also, sorry Janice, I see that Donna was helping you out. Must be one of those days for me. 😉
BTW, thanks for the info. Now I can put Janice with TooBizy and Photoguy with In His Shadow. It really does help. I find that I don’t keep track of people well by their writing styles or anything (some of you seem to be really good at that!) But, I do put a great deal of store into their gravatars and posting names. 😉
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When I was in college I received an invitation to go to an event with the Moonies. I was on the phone making arrangements to attend but then decided not to go. I am thankful that I did not. But that is an example of how I did not value being a Christian at that point in my life. I had a roommate at one point who along with her boyfriend were followers of a yogi known as BaBa or something. I was not being influenced to follow the Christianity of my parents. It was as an adult through questioning and reading through the Bible that I determined Who Jesus was and is and what He did for me and what He means to me. As an experiment, since you are so oriented, modestypress, you could try several different religions and the Christian faith and see how they work for you. I know you think they are all science fiction as your post indicates. But you will never really know unless you are open to being drawn to faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. I became open to that drawing, I sought to know what the Bible had to say about life and I found it to be true. That is the whole Bible and not just bits and pieces taken out of context.
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Tammy, that pen looks great.
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Well, the child is safely back with her mother.
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Ree- Concerning your rant about junior year: I don’t think it is only the stress at school, but the age. Most juniors are 16 going on 17 (the song from “Sound of Music” playing in my head now) and are changing from children to adults. They have a drivers license and think they are responsible, but many are not yet. They have their first job and are learning to relate to people older than they are on a level they are not used to. I understand your frustration, but most grow into wonderful adults if guided by their parents to handle stress correctly. Love them. All mine are past that year (youngest now a senior). The sophomore and junior years were the worst with her.
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Random,
I became a Christian when I was 24. I became firmly intellectually persuaded of the truth claims of Christianity to the point that I could no longer deny it (as I’d been doing for the 10 or 11 years prior since my first real exposure to the gospel at the age of 13). And my heart followed my mind in the process of my conversion.
Prior to that I’d identified myself as an agnostic with no religious affiliation. My family background was nominally Roman Catholic, but I was around 5 or 6 when I rejected those teachings. It may have coincided with the time of my “First Holy Communion” that I rejected Roman Catholicism which seems kind of ironic. But it actually makes sense since that’s the time when the teachings are first explicitly taught.
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Thanks, Ree, for your earlier comment about the D in fridge and not in refrigerator. Your explanation makes sense.
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Peter,
Yes, I think it is just part of the process of maturing. Unlike my middle child, my son, who was extremely irresponsible, my youngest is actually hyper responsible–almost to a fault. But I think she, like the others, is just going through the process of separating from her parents. I can live with the end result, but it’s the process that I hate! And some of the circumstances of our family just complicate things.
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You’re welcome, Janice.
🙂
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Looks like Our Daily Thread might make it to 100 today!
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For those guys and gals who hunt or shoot. I sighted in my Mossberg with a Nikon Mil Dot Scope. Bambi Burgers anyone?
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I love venison, but the thought of Bambi Burgers—too sentimental to fathom.
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Where is AJ to pick up 100?
I really enjoy reading the daily quotes he picks out. They are all keepers!
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You made it Janice. You are 100
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Bambi Burgers is tongue in cheek. The Oklahoma Fish and Game commission is asking hunters to take more Doe’s rather than Bucks. I really doubt that I will have a place to hunt. I usually like to target shoot mostly. Long Range Accuracy is what I am after.
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I am not a hunter and not a good shot. However, I once amazed myself by shooting a squirrel in the eye at 30 yards or so. With a pellet rifle. Pa Ingalls would then have cleaned it and fed it to his near-starving family. I threw it into the woods for the coyotes or crows to scavenge. I am not only an incompetent homesteader; I am a hypocrite as well.
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When my son and wife visited last month they brought venison jerky. I still have a little left. I don’t eat much meat, but he made it himself, so I couldn’t resist.
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Random,
I was 14 when I became a Christian. I had just gone through confirmation class at the church I had grown up in, and discovered that – contrary to what I thought when I started the class – I really did want to have faith in God. They didn’t give me any idea how to, though – the idea was that they would tell us things that people had thought about God throughout church history, and then we were supposed to decide for ourselves what we believed.
I couldn’t make up my mind. There seemed to be a wide range of beliefs about God, even within the broadest definition of Christianity (anyone who claims to be Christian, even those who would be disowned by many others with more traditional beliefs), let alone non-Christian beliefs. My mother had Jewish parents (one from an observant family, one from a one observant family), was raised in Christian Science, had belonged to my father’s church (Congregationalist, which had become United Church of Christ) for a while, then went to Unity Church until she left due to personal conflicts with the minister, she tried Transcendental Meditation for a while, also Guru Sri Chinmoy, went to a psychic research institute, read a book called The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Pisces Age. She believed in reincarnation as the answer to the problem of sin – we eventually mature enough, through many, many lifetimes to go on to a higher plane of existence (though some people like Jesus do it faster).
Then my sister came home from college, where she had gotten to know some evangelical Christians and had become a Christian herself. That was a big surprise, because until then she had said she only believed in what science could prove. She started going to a different church, a fundamentalist church. Our parents had always expressed disdain for fundamentalists – they were narrow-minded, they tried to push their beliefs on other people, they believed the whole Bible, even the parts that were obviously man-made myths. And now my sister was one of those people.
I was curious enough to visit the church with her, and I was impressed by how happy everyone seemed. Even the music was a lot more upbeat than at our father’s church. But what really mattered to me was that they offered a clear path to faith in God. I wanted to know what to believe and what to do, and they told me. So I did. I didn’t believe all of it immediately, but over time I came to accept it.
I don’t consider myself a fundamentalist Christian today, not because I don’t believe the fundamentals of Christianity but because in some regards my parents were correct. Some fundamentalists, at least, are narrow-minded. That particular church now teaches that the sun goes around the earth, because – they say – the Bible says so. Most fundamentalists don’t go that far, but a lot of them in my experience have little use for higher education or the arts (or for that matter, a great deal else) except to the extent that it directly contributes to evangelism. I see our calling in life as broader than that – all we do is to glorify God, but we do that in a variety of ways, not all of them directly involved in evangelism.
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Random. I shot rock chucks and ate them when I was stationed in Idaho. The cost of living was high for single enlisted military personnel who had to live in the local community. It took a lot of them to make a meal. I used a Remington 5mm magnum. It is the equivalent to the 22 magnum.
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Although I have never met Pauline in person or spoken with her on the phone, (though I am pretty sure she exists because I did once speak to her husband on the phone) in a sense I consider her a “twin sister” because many of our childhood and family circumstances are so similar.
We both come from “Jewish” families. (I consider “Jew” to be a meaningless term, but I am prepared to declare myself a Jew if the Nazis show up. Oddly I am going to a rather mysterious Jewish gathering at a Christian church on Monday.) My family members were not for the most part religious believers, but there was a strong “New Age” element in my family similar to ones she describes in her family.
One of sisters was “born again” at the age of 13 and to this day is a zealous Christian. I consider a kind of harmless narcissistic monster. I do not describe all Christians as narcissistic or as monsters.
A brother had a “death bed conversion” to Christianity after a heart attack. He survived and is still alive about 30 years later. He also has been diagnosed by psychiatrists as bi-polar and schizophrenic. He is crazy. He is harmless. I do not describe all crazy people as harmless. I do not describe all Christians as crazy.
I consider Pauline (whom I have never met in person) as a sensible, intelligent, and pleasant Christian. If she were indeed my twin sister (which she is not), I think we would get along fine, but probably would not spend a great deal of time together either. Pauline is one of the most intelligent people on this blog and everyone should read her comments with great respect and care.
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I grew up in an LA suburb with an indoor/outdoor cat. In retrospect I can see why neighbors might not like outdoor cats roaming the neighborhood, but I don’t remember ever hearing a complaint at the time. Perhaps I was just oblivious.
How would you confine an outdoor cat to your own yard? You can fence dogs in, but cats climb fences.
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Tammy: Donna J is right, I was In His Shadow on WMB. I was primarily a reader and a rare poster.
I agree with modestypress’s comments on the value of Pauline’s comments on Our Daily Thread. I enjoy her posts because they usually seem well thought out and independent of “the mainstream mindset” of Christian blogs. How’s that for coining a phrase?
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Random, I grew up in what you might call an unchurched God- and Bible-respecting home. We didn’t talk about it much. I consider myself to have become a Christian somewhere around 8-9 years old in a neighborhood Bible club for kids where the Gospel was presented in a way I understood and responded to.
In high school I didn’t think about it much, and when I did I wondered if it might be a fantasy. I didn’t know of any Christians among my schoolmates (though I found out later that some of them were). I remember dividing the books in my bedroom between fiction and non-fiction and putting my Bible in the middle so I was covered either way.
When I was a freshman in college, God kept putting Christians in my path, both upperclassmen who reached out to me, and fellow freshmen. I was kind of surprised to meet people — especially at a renowned science/technology school — for whom being a Christian was relevant from in daily life. I shared my doubts with them, did a lot of reading and thinking about it, and gradually came to the conclusion that the faith I had embraced as a child was real and powerful.
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How did I miss Give-Random-Your-Testimony Day? Random, I was raised in an ahteist household. My folks had the theory that we could decide when we were older, until we got older and three of the five of us became Christians. Then the debates started. But my dad had taught us to debate without snark, insult or taking it personally when we left the table. I never converted him, but God did 🙂 in the last two years of his life.
Good to see you back Random, I am the old Adios btw.
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Adios, you and I are so old we might as well be new to each other. Thank you for our testimony. We are so old you know I am up to mischief.
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Drivesguy, when were you stationed here? Hubby was back in the day, in the only place Navy gets stationed much in Idaho.
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Random, it is true! Love to hear about your mischief. Mine at the moment is trying to save our local strawberry fields from becoming a shopping mall. I have made a few rich people in LA quite mad at me.
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USC finally got their groove on at the Meadowlands. Whew! Slugfest in the Rosebowl. Hate to route for UCLA, but the alternative is the cornhuskers 😉
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I appreciate Pauline’s posts, too. She is very intelligent. I spend a good bit of time with people I consider to be very intelligent. I recognize that I am not on their level, but I also recognize that God made me unique for His purposes and He placed certain skills and talents in me for some reason that I have not yet quite discovered.
Kevin, what you wrote reminds me of my pastor who went to Georgia Tech for undergrad. He tells stories about being at that school with Christian friends. So there are scientific types who are believers. They don’t have their head in the sand.
I have enjoyed reading the sweet stories about how people got to know Jesus.
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Adios,
It was brief and concise, but I loved reading your testimony. It’s just a great reminder to me of the sovereignty of God. All testimonies are, of course, but yours just especially struck me right now.
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Mumsee. I was stationed at NPTU Idaho Falls Idaho in 1975, I think. It has been awhile. I will have to check my Naval Duty station papers. I was in Class 7502
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Random. I got you beat on Age. I was an Able Bodied Seaman on the Ark with Noah.
😆
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Adios – Are you talking about the big strawberry fields near the 5 freeway? [Actually, I really can’t think of any others that are left.] Is there any hope? We certainly don’t need yet another mall, that overpriced outlet mall is really close to that area, it’s more than we need.
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Hubby was there in 74, class of 7401. Funny. He wants to know what a Marine was doing there. He remembers standing in line to get in when it was thirty four below zero.
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Thanks Ree.
Kay, that’s the one.
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Cbad (the rest is too long!), I’m glad you let me know that you’re the old “Adios” as I would have been confused.
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And, drivesguy? Remind me of your old handle again?
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Drivesguy was JoeB
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Busy day today on the blog…took me a long time to catch up!
modestypress–I love your avatar! And thank you for your questions at 2:35 pm. I want to take time to ponder them, so I’ll get back to you another time, maybe tomorrow.
Our family (minus 1st Arrow, who had to sleep today before his night shift tonight) had a very nice day today getting together with 2nd Arrow and my sister-in-law, who met us at a rest stop about halfway between our residences for a picnic. My daughter gave me an early birthday present and a lovely card that made my eyes get misty, it was so sweet.
The younger kids enjoyed seeing their oldest sister again after she had moved away to go to college a few weeks ago. The youngest two took turns sitting on big sister’s lap, and all of us had a very nice time visiting and enjoying a beautiful day outdoors for a few hours.
Today is the last day of my 40’s. Tomorrow’s the big one…the big 5-0! I’m wondering what God has for me in the next half-century!
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Happy Birthday, 6 Arrows! (It’s your birthday now where I am, I don’t remember where you are.)
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And if you ever forget who the new Adios is, just check the icon/gravatar — a surfer. 🙂 Then you’ll remember.
I could never hunt, I’m afraid. I just plain wouldn’t have it in me, could not pull the trigger on an animal … unless there were some disaster and we were all starving, I guess.
I am absolutely, head-over-heels in LOVE with my new refrigerator. Pretty shallow, huh? I just got back from the grocery store and am trying out the fruit crisper (which they say you should keep on low humidity; the vegetable crisper on high humidity. Or is it the other way around?)
Ran into an old friend at the dog park today who’s been a program producer on cable TV stations (and has won a couple Emmys). Like so many, she’s out of the loop now, still on contract but out of the mix due to a “reorganization.” So she’s thinking of starting a doggie day care in San Diego. She says she’ll hire me if I’m ever out of work. 😉 I told her I’d be a good water pail carrier and all-around helper.
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I had a very bad relationship with my father and eventually I probably killed him. This statement is not true enough for a cop to arrest me, but it is not completely imaginary either. As both my wife and I came from messed up families, we did not plan to have any kids. Even though we used birth control (such as it was 46 years ago), she got pregnant on our honeymoon. We considered abortion, but did not. (Waits for silly cheers from “righttolife” fanatics.) [My irrational unoriginal position is abortion should be legal and rare. View a long and excellent documentary called LAKE OF FIRE by an atheist who is neither pro nor con for the rest of the sane story.]
Now I am going to brag shamelessly and tediously. Skip to the next message.
Anyway, my daughter was born good and has always been a wonderful child, even though she threatened to run away from home to grandma when four years old. Cruel parents said, “We’ll help you pack.” We opened the door, made sure her coat was on (it was a cold winter day) and laughed about what she found when she reached Grandma (we were in Seattle; Grandma was a drunk in Calif).
After four or five minutes, there was a knock on the door. Daughter said, “I think I’ll run away later.” We said, “Welcome back. You must be cold; we’ll fix you some hot chocolate.”
Daughter did run away eventually, going to college for two years on Vancouver Island; four years in Ohio (Oberlin) bringing back a wife though they are not yet legally married and a degree in biology; three years in Ithaca, bringing back two cats and a Masters in Horticulture; and eventually millions of years at University of Washington medical school where she is about to earn a Masters in Medical Statistics, one of the hardest degrees you can earn. It’s not an MD degree. It’s probably harder than an MD degree. You don’t have to cut up dead bodies, but for a while she worked for a doctor doing lung research and killed and dissected bunnies despite being totally grossed out. She is a tough little chick.
By the way, when she applied to the statistics program, she was turned down. They said, “You have a good record in biology, but everybody else applying has an undergraduate degree in mathematics. So we cannot accept you.” Did daughter whine? No, while working full time at a mutual fund/investment advisor, and being a co-mom to our granddaughter, she completed the equivalent of a degree in mathematics through distance learning. She applied again. Scared to death of what this crazy woman would do if they rejected her again, they accepted her again.
Anyway, while she was going through all this, we loaned her $1000.
As she is within a month or so of completing her Masters in Statistics, she applied for a job at the leading Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Surviving five solid hours of intense interviewing, she was offered a job. After they made the offer, she negotiated it up $5,000 before accepting.
Tonight my wife opened a letter from our daughter. My wife screamed in dismay. There was a check for $2,000 (to help us pay for the train trip we are about to take across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax – then dropping down to Portland to see my brother and sister – no, we won’t stop in your favorite church on the way there and the way back by Amtrack across the US to pray and thank God.
My wife snarled, “I told her she didn’t need to pay us back. Especially not $2,000! It was just a loan.” (I guess my wife a very bright mother of a very bright daughter doesn’t really understand the word “loan.” I glanced at the letter. It said, “Don’t give me any snark about the check.” Well, I guess it’s just natural for moms and daughters to not get along very well.” Then my wife said, “How many times have I told her what town we live in – she got the name wrong again, though she did use the correct zip code. So I guess my daughter is kind of dumb, also. By the way, she’s a lesbian and an atheist. Hell is preparing the pit as I type.
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Perhaps, Steve, your daughter will come to know the Lord. It happens. 😉
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Happy Birthday Six Arrows. Just a child. Younger than my son. But 20 years older than my oldest GD.
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I used to be Chas. You may shorten it to g2 if you wish. 😆
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Good morning! Thanks for the birthday wishes, Kevin and Chas (or shall I say g2?). And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kim’s Baby Girl!
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Happy birthday, 6 Arrows! I’m not there for another 2 1/2 years!
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Happy Birthday, 6Arrows and Baby Girl!
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Thanks, Kare and Ricky!
Kare, that 2 1/2 years will go quicker than you think! Oh, BTW, you’re pretty close in age to one of my sisters (you’re probably a bit younger). She was born in February 1965. When is your birthday?
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February 65!
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And I’m sure it’s just going to fly by!
I’m looking forward to church today – haven’t attended regularly all summer as my hubby works weekends in summer – it’s an hour long drive and I just haven’t felt up to going by myself most Sundays.
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Welcome to the 50s 6 Arrows!
Thanks for the story Random. My hubby would have reacted the same way to the loan payment and I would have reacted just like your wife 😉 Hope we get to hear road stories on your trip.
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Adios and Random – I would have reacted like you and hubby would have objected to the ‘loan’ repayment. 🙂
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And I would be proud that my daughter remembered her obligations and followed through on them.
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G2 must be Chas’ Star Wars name.
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I’m so confused by these strange names full of random numbers and letters. Why are people picking them?
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“I had a very bad relationship with my father…”
Based on your feelings toward God, Random, I think that’s kind of a given. But thankfully, it’s not an insurmountable obstacle.
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Happy Birthday Six Arrows. Today my Baby Girl is 15!!!!! I am still in awe. She is what I never knew I always wanted.
I attended the Traditional Episcopal (1928 BCP) service today. It is a small church that my church is helping. The church is built in the American Gothic style. It is beautiful. I had forgotten how the church can apeal to all six of our senses in it’s best form. I has been years since I attended a “traditional-1928” service. There are some differences. We did not read a Psalm and there was no Peace. I especially enjoy the peace and being “right” with my fellow man before I receive communion.
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Thanks for the welcome to the 50’s, cbadwjh/Adios! I’m glad to be here!
Kim, thank you. And wish Baby Girl a happy 15th! I loved your comment, ” She is what I never knew I always wanted.” What a beautiful gift that line, and the love behind it, is.
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Happy Birthday, 6 Arrows and Baby Girl!
The “names” made of a bunch of seemingly random numbers and letters are coming from the commentors Gravatar profile. If you want to change your name, draw the cursor over anyone’s picture, then click on “view complete profile,” it will take you to their profile. Near the upper right corner there is a tab called “my account [it’s to your account, not the other person’s]. Click on it, scroll down to “edit my profile,” click on it. The third line down is “display name.” You can change it to anything you want, then scroll all the way down to “save profile” and you’re done.
I can’t explain why Chas’ keeps changing back and forth.
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BTW, 6 Arrows, you are less than 3 months older than Daughter, but don’t tell her I told you. 🙂
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“I had forgotten how the church can apeal to all six of our senses…”
All six of our senses???
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Thanks, Kay, but now I’m even more confused. I have no idea how people get those photos or anything? In fact, I’m not even registered cuz it seemed too confusing.
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I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and even attended a Catholic school for some years. By the time I was in college, I no longer sure about God. Then I met my future husband who had a view of God as very personal, loving being. Long story short: I prayed a typical sinners prayer and began studying the bible. It began to come alive for me. It took awhile to see God as a loving Father and to really know some other wonderful truths. There is and more and more truth to learn here on earth and probably in eternity. After more than forty years of bible study and much reading and thinking, I am a stronger believer than ever. When did I become a believer? I will leave that in the Lord’s hands. I just see all the signs of life that a believer would have. It is all more and more reasonable and yet, miraculous at the same time. There is nothing more precious to me.
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Sight, the colors, the light, the wood. This season in the church is green
Hearing, the music
Touch, the wood, the silver, the hard benches.
Smell, the wax candles (sometimes incense)
Taste, the Host and the wine.
And since I was stupid enough to say SIX senses instead of FIVE! How about the knowledge that whereever two or more are gathered in His name He is there?
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We’ve finally made it into the second chapter of Romans (vs. 1-5). 🙂 Good sermon today reminiscent of Nathan’s “You are the man” confrontation with David, a reminder that no one needs Jesus any less than anyone else.
The pastor also touched on how “thou shalt not judge” has become the unbelievers’ favorite Bible verse. 😉 God’s goodness, forbearance & patience with us is to lead us to repentance. When he hung out with sinners it was not a message of “He accepts everyone as they are,” end of mission. But the world doesn’t often remember the rest of the call in these biblical accounts, for people to “go and sin no more.”
Our music included relatively new songs we’ve added (“Mighty to Save,” “Father Long Before Creation” and “It’s Your Love”).
And as it often does each week, Communion took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes, just remembering His love for us.
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Happy birthday, Six arrows! Happy birthday, Chloe!
shuffle bustle hustle hurry
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Oh boy. Cake(s).
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Yeah, it was the six I was wondering about, not the idea of worship appealing to all the senses. So, knowledge as a sense, huh? Hmmm. That’s one to ponder. But as a quick save, I’ll accept it. 😉
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Kay, thank you, and I won’t say a word.
😉
And thank you, Mumsee! Birthday greetings AND cake!
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//Big day here. Birthday money, curling iron, perfume, flowers, iTunes card, candle, Moroccan oil for hair and Morocccan oil soap, an Alabama Teddy Bear, and throw, cake, ice cream, Mexican food,promise of a TV for her room IF she keeps A’s and B’s…yep it has been a good birthday for a Baby Girl.
Today’s sermon was from Luke and Jesus healing the 10 lepers and how only one thanked him.. Many of us has been healed…I was healed in order to have her. She was a 5 year project. I halfway thought I would never have her but here she is. Which was part of her birth announcement.
A Hershey’s Bar wrapped in pink that said HerSheIs: Chloe Catherine . The “nutition label” said
DOB 9/7/1997
Weight 5lb 7 oz
Time 1:50PM
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So 6 Arrows is 50. Oh so young. Happy Birthday!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
meltinyourmouthchocolateicing
raspberryfillingraspberryfillingr
chocolatecakechocolatecakecho
colatecakechocolatecakechocola
vanillaicingvanillaicingvanillaicin
justapinchofchipotlechipotlechip
chocolateicingchocolateicingchoc
chocolatecakechocolatecakechoco
latecakechocolatecakechocolateca
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who slammed the door???????????
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Wait a minute! Who let him in? There won’t be any left….
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Oh noooooooooo! I was going to say thank you to Peter L for the birthday wishes, but did he eat the whole thing?????? This can’t be happening…not on Chloe’s and my birthday!!
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Sorry Six Arrows, I tried. But ever since Lynne started leaving doughnuts with Joe’s coffee it has been happening. There will be excuses and claims of innocence, but does anybody see any cake??? Nope.
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Good try, Mumsee. Can’t wait to see how the guilty one(s), whoever that may be, will try to get out of this one. Absolutely incredible!
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Kim, I love that “Here She Is” bar. We have one for our son, DOB 6/3/97. Instead of a baby color like pink or blue it’s the standard Hershey’s brown, and it says “Here He Is”, which doesn’t work quite as well as “Here She Is”.
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But, you know Six Arrows, you ought to thank him for the good wishes, anyway. He cannot help himself. And it is only fair that somebody like that get all of the cake rather than the rest of us.
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Uh, mumsee? Are you blind? The cake is still there, all of it. Right above you “Who slammed the door” post. And I guess the right end of the lines don’t align themselves as well on this blog. Sheesh! Still blaming others when you probably ate it all thinking it was ruined by a few misplaced line ends. Your accusations, as well as the right side of your cake, are unjustified.
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Peter, I think maybe she just needs new glasses. I see it, plenty left for all. Mmmmm.
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Oh, and thanks for making it, Sis.
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I just saw a headline from a 2-week old newspaper, “NASA to Send Drill to Mars”. I don’t know why they even had an article about it, it hardly counts as news for Drill to go to Mars, considering all the places he’s been.
He did make it over here from WMB, didn’t he? I haven’t seen him lately.
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So sorry, Peter L, old habits are hard to break.
Which, when you think about it, rhymes with cake.
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I have been wondering about him myself. Maybe somebody should go knock on his door. Watching one’s step of course, and paying attention to the large birds lined up on the barn.
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I also wonder about Major Vic over there in Russia.
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Looking back I see Drill was at least here the first day of Wandering Views. Maybe we haven’t seen him because NASA didn’t give him Internet access on his trip to Mars.
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Happy 50th Birthday, 6 Arrows!
(And Happy 15th to Chloe!)
Re: Cats – A veterinarian, writing in the local paper several years ago, wrote that unless your home is in the country, your cats should stay indoors. He pointed out the obvious dangers of cars or predators, but also said that cats tend to be the targets of cruel people for torment & torture. 😦
Friends of ours once found their cat hung from a tree branch.
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I grew up in a nominal Catholic home – so nominal we never went to church, & I really don’t know what it’s like to really be Catholic.. Somehow, though, I had a strong sense that there was a God & “took it for granted” that Jesus was His Son, though I didn’t at that time have a relationship with Him.
At 24, after my fiance (who had backslidden but was on his way back) said that we could be together forever if we both had a relationship with Jesus Christ, I asked God to forgive me & for Jesus to be my Savior. (I had had some Christian friends in high school, & others who had witnessed to me since then, so I knew the basics.) But I still didn’t totally “buy” the truth of the Bible, or of Christian doctrine.
One day, shortly after I was married (we weren’t yet going to church), I had the realization that truth was truth whether I liked it & agreed with it or not. So I asked God to help me understand what His truth really was, even if I wouldn’t like the answer. (I didn’t want to believe in a real hell, for instance.) And I asked Him to give me peace to accept whatever that truth would be.
It didn’t happen all at once, but after maybe a year, I realized that I believed in the veracity of the Bible, & I had a peace about the things that used to bother me. It was definitely a work of the Holy Spirit in my heart & mind to convince me.
My faith & trust have grown deeper & stronger throughout the past 25+ years of walking with Him. He has never disappointed me, but has always been faithful & reliable.
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Mumsee, you are right…and you’re a good peacemaker. Peter L, thank you kindly for the birthday wishes, sir. And how nice of you to call me “oh so young”. (Too bad my eyes are so old I didn’t see that cake sitting right there. Oh well, when I was 30, my optometrist said I had eyes like a 40-year-old. Now that I’m 50, my eyes should be old enough to get a senior citizen discount, doncha think?) 😉
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Karen O, thanks for the birthday wishes!
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Have been on a get away with Paul…lovely weekend in the mountains..the aspens are turning a glorious gold…we’re still in love 🙂
Happy Birthday to Chloe and 6Arrows!! I’ll skip the cake…trying to cut out sweets and bread…but oh so blessed to celebrate our Lord’s wonderful creation of these two very special ladies 🙂
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Happy Birthday, young ladies, 6Arrows and BG.
Question: As you get older do birthday cakes get bigger because of all the extra candles? That would be one good reason to get older. 🙂
Sounds like everyone had a really good day. Blessings!
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Suggestion on cake baking: move the cake down so it does not get out of alignment due to the placement of the avatar!
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hello
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Odd, I tried to post a better cake. It told me I had already done that and then told me I was not a registered user and could not be sent my password which I apparently forgot. Am I back?
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ahem, let us try this again…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
meltinyourmouthchocolateicing
raspberryfillingraspberryfillingr
chocolatecakechocolatecakecho
colatecakechocolatecakechocola
vanillaicingvanillaicingvanillaicin
justapinchofchipotlechipotlechip
chocolateicingchocolateicingchoc
chocolatecakechocolatecakechoco
latecakechocolatecakechocolateca
Hmm, it says we already have too many cakes.
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Wow. That was weird. I was a nobody for a couple of minutes there.
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I’m glad I stayed up late for some great cake! Yum! Thanks, Mum.
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There’s no such thing as too many cakes. And besides, I didn’t see the younger birthday girl or her mom around here, so we’d better save that second cake for them.
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Mmmm, that melt in your mouth chocolate icing…ah, a most satisfying birthday! Thank you, Mumsee.
🙂
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Janice’s question: ” As you get older do birthday cakes get bigger because of all the extra candles?” My cake was a single layer round GF cake, and because nobody remembered to look and see how many candles we had on hand, it only had 6 candles on it. One for each arrow, I guess! Not sure 50 candles would have fit on a 9″ round cake, anyway, so that was probably just as well.
😉
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Oh, and thank you to Nancy Jill and Janice for the very nice birthday greetings? Did I acknowledge everybody?
It was a great day–thank you all for making it even better!
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Glad to hear it was a good day for you, 6. Now go forth and have a joyful and fruitful year!
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Oops, I meant to put an exclamation point rather than a question mark after that first sentence!
Time for bed!
🙂
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Thank you, Kevin, I intend to do so! 🙂
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Good morning—-Oh, just in time for a sliver of birthday cake for breakfast! Happy (belated) Birthday, 6Arrows!
Have a great day all.
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Thanks, Debra! Glad there was a sliver of cake left for you! 🙂
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YIKES!! I think I missed Kevin’s birthday!! So sorry…I didn’t read up that far as I was catching up yesterday….HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!! I hope it was a most blessed day…the day of HIS wonderful creation of YOU 🙂
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198…
🙂
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Just doin’ my part…
The next one’s yours, AJ.
😉
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Taken.
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