Sweet childhood "pet" memories...........

When I was little my sister and I had two bunnies. Chocolate and Frisky. I barely remember them. Chocolate was brown and white (surprise) and Frisky was grey and white. They were just regular bunnies. Nothing fancy about those two. They weren’t one of these gems— Were they boys or girls? I have no idea!

http://www.pinkyshollandhutch.com/forsale.html

http://home.pacbell.net/bettychu/2003allbreedbisris/verissa_1c2.jpg


Who knew there were so many kinds of rabbits? Which is the one I love to eat?
Not one of these fancy boys I hope!

I barely remember playing with our rabbits. I’m not sure how long I had them before they “ran” away. I still don’t know how they got out of the hutch since it had a latch and was high off the ground. I think they were eaten by something but my mother still swears that they “ran away”. I think they were massacred and my dad saw a mess in the hutch and had to clean it up in a hurry.

I don’t remember crying or being sad or even asking for another bunny. I don’t even remember what became of the hutch.

My parents were really great about letting us have pets. My sister wanted a cat and she got a cat. It wasn’t a kitten but a nasty old she-male. It was white, had one blue eye and one green eye an no claws. I think that was the attraction honestly. I don’t know why my parents didn’t just get a kitten for my sister. It isn’t like it required training!

Oh, and it came named…..Muffin. Awful right? I called it a she, I think we all did but it was a boy…….I think. It loved peanut butter. I took her out a few times in my baby carriage and she did well. I also put make up on it once and my mom was really mad….blush and all.

Then my dad let us get baby chicks on Easter……..he tried to talk us into the ducks I think because at least they age well and can roam around and look neat. No, my sister and I (I bet I was the brains behind the take over) wanted chickens. I forget how many we had but it was a lot, at least 6. They are so cute in the beginning but within what seems like hours turn hideous and mean. It was my first lesson in how things can change, the true colors of things……how everything is cute when it’s little. I tried with all my might to keep them as long as I could. I don’t remember my sister spending two minutes with those chickens. I raised them myself. They practically changed over night. They were awful. We kept them in the garage with the plan to move them outside I guess when they reached more than a few days old! Not really, but when they were big enough to survive. I don’t remember how we got them home but I guess in the car. Anyway, they pecked each other, bit me and smelled. They shed their fluff and were awful. We gave them to a lady that already had chickens. I visited them once.

There is a chicken that would a great pet. Did anyone see the PBS documentary about chickens? It was great. Anyway, it’s a Japanese Silky chicken. Here it is. This would be fun to have. The lady on the documentary was a little crazy..she had one and she swam with it in her pool. It wore a diaper.

http://www.pbase.com/tomsview/japanese_silky_chicken

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1428832

I was sure it was Avian Flu headed our way.....

Damn drunk birds!

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=animals_oddities&id=3872404

Hmmmm, wish I was on this highway!

This could be a dream come true for the right person. I prefer the chocolate pop tarts...I wasn't allowed to have them as a kid. I remember in school kids loved the one with the white or pink frosting.

mmmmmmmmmm pop tarts

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=traffic&id=3872806

Whatever happened to.......

I got sucked into COPS the other night. When is the last time Inner Circle had a hit? I guess they survive by the royalties they get from the show. I bet they are big in the islands!

http://innercircle-reggae.com/


Remember this hit! Actually I was in Italy when this song came out. I came home and it was all the rage. There was another song too that was a big hit by not by this dude.....Oh, I know, The Transporter........I came home from Italy totally shell shocked.

http://www.lyricsdownload.com/ini-kamoze-here-comes-the-hotstepper-lyrics.html

He was in prison when he wrote this if I remember correctly.

Also, can I get an update about Elian Gonzales??? Would it kill his family here in Miami to update a brother?

You could really go crazy on a site like this!

This is a good site for the paranoid. (or hopeful)

http://www.pandemic.info/influenza-pandemic.htm

I like the close up of the chicken.......scary

Hmmmmmmmm...chicken

What will they think of next?

I love a good novelty item.........I wouldn't want to use this per se as I feel it isn't safe...hygenically speaking.

I guess this says a lot about how Cubans feel about Senor Fidel.

http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CFM&Product_Code=TP0001

I don't even have business cards............

I'm obviously in the wrong line of work. What's up wit dat?

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles?id=n20060126072009990002&cid=936

No one will believe me but I promise it is TRUE!

Ok, I was just looking at my aol and I almost fell off my work chair at this story!

Those of your that follow my blog religiously will notice that I just asked about this little superhero last week!

John does this mean Avian Flu might hit this week?

My mother was born with a "veil" on her face. For those of you that don't know what this gross thing is, it's a piece of skin that isn't attached per se but covers an infant's face like a veil. It is removed at birth but those that have it are considered to have psychic abilities and believe me...my mother does about a lot. She claimed "a little bird told me" all the time when she knew things but it was the veil........in fact, she carries it in her wallet (it was laminated when she was young) it's good luck, she's Italian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caul

Anyhow, I might have inherited some of this power. I can always smell a rat and have pretty strong intuition. I once dreamed some numbers that came out in the lottery the next day. I didn't play. You gotta play to win.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060130064409990007

Yeah! Something new to fear!

I was just coming back from lunch in one of our 4 new elevators. They are so nice.....it's amazing what those people can do.....I wish I could post a "before" and "after" photo.....but even with the new elevators which I am sure cost a pretty penny ( I have no idea what elevators go for these days......would love one in my house......or an escalator!) there have been "issues". Sometimes the elevator doesn't stop on the floor where it has been designated to stop. Other times the floor of the elevator and the floor of the floor aren't quite level. Now, I've been a passenger on some pretty shady elevators. Once in Germany my friend and I were on an elevator made of wood that had no doors. You got on, stood back and it went up floors and you just jumped off at the floor you wanted (we were backpacking and heard that Vidal Sassoon Salons had $8 haircuts so we were on our way there.......so you can imagine it wasn't some ghetto place where we were going) of course being young and fearless we rode the unsafe, unregulated, wooden coffin-to-be a few times.......
So, I heard about elevator safety or lack thereof before. You know they are quite dangerous. People have lost limbs. Have you ever been in one and you put your arm between the doors to help someone that is trying to catch it and it doesn't stop closing the doors? That's happened to me. So now when I am on an elevator and someone yells "hold that elevator", I pretend I have an imaginary walkman (well Ipod) on......I'm not risking losing my favorite watch for some stranger!
Here are some classic examples of dangerous situations on elevators.
http://www.monzy.com/elevator/
Keep in mind, elevators aren't the only dangerous way to get from a to z. Escalators and moving walk ways are also treacherous.

Here is another scenario to keep you paying attention on elevators.....stop looking at people on them, reading over people's shoulders.......looking up at the floors........pay attention and for God's sake be the one near the phone box!

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/elevator.asp

Here's a law firm specializing in such accidents in case you need one. Remember if you lose your head....they won't take your case!

Utter disappointment..............

My friend John and I have been waiting months for Avian Flu to hit the US.......Most people won't agree with us and think we're nutters but have you ever wanted something so badly and when it doesn't happen you are left feeling so low?
A few months back was when I was the happiest. Avian Flu was so exciting. It was the topic of so many water cooler conversations (we don't have a water cooler, too cheap, but I have discussed it at the scuzzy community microwave, I don't dare use the microwave I just go there to chat about the Flu)
You couldn't turn on the television without some story about the threat of Avian Flu, which I affectionately refer to as "my AF". Then Dateline did a show about the real truth...the real threat and how the only company with the secret remedy was Roche in Switzerland and all these countries have enough Tamiflu for everyone and the USA has like -4 doses! London even designated areas for morgues because they just KNEW they would run out of space....Brits are never wrong. I even called my doctor to get Tamiflu. She didn't give it to me though. I'm still angry at her for that.....if I'm paranoid let me be paranoid! What's the harm in filling a one time script for that? It's not like I asked for a narcotic. I already promised people a pill and they were counting on me.
So, living in Philly I knew about the Spanish Flu of 1918 (how did I know about that you wonder? (I love diseases, maladies if you will) so I read all about it.
http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1198/lynch.html

It was fascinating. I knew it could happen again, why not? So I was even more upbeat. Perhaps I was day- dreaming and not taking the threat and all that it meant seriously. I was thinking about all the time I would have at home to do things I never do. All the projects I'd be forced to accomplish. All the reading I should do......
Then I realized that although I wouldn't have to work......it didn't mean "snow days" for me necessarily. I wouldn't be able to walk to the corner for a coffee...you see, everyone would be quarantined and that's no fun. Eventually the electric company workers would die or be stuck home too....same with cable.

The Spanish Flu only lasted 6-12 months so maybe I could do it.
Then I thought about food. I think I have enough canned goods to get me through. I do not have enough water or cat food though. The other reason that I am utterly disappointed is that I hate that the USA was "right". They didn't get the doses......they didn't follow the bandwagon of panic....and they were right not too! That makes me so angry.

So, we wait and wait as the flu season comes to an end........maybe next year. At least it gives me time to come up with more projects and stock up on water and cat food. In the meantime I'm hoping for a miracle but I say outloud and with conviction "Damn you bird flu.....damn you".

Any chance Peter Jennings put curse on World News Tonight?

I was lying in bed last night thinking that it would be a hoot if good ol' peter jennings put a poltergeist-type curse on World News Tonight........like no one is good enough to fill his shoes you know? Then again, this wasn't just a random fluke accident like being struck by ligtening on the golf course or even spontaneous combustion (by the way, when I was a kid I was petrified of spontaneous combustion.....also the mafia and sharks (my dad took me to see Jaws in the theater and that might be precisely why kids shouldn't see certain movies I guess)

So, back to Bob...yeah, it wasn't something out of the blue....afterall he is in Iraq.....so maybe Peter had nothing to do with it. Here's hoping.