A Few Lifetimes Ago

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile  now.

Years and YEARS ago, like 25 years ago, I was tending bar for a living.  Not the best job I ever had, but it paid the bills.  All the loose change I got in tips during the night I wanted to keep somewhere.  I really don't remember now how I came to own the pig but I remember being so excited to have it.

There was a spot in the butt of the pig that you could break out to get the change out, then close it back up with a cork.  I remember having my Dad break it out for me and he's also the one that got me the right size cork.  Dad couldn't believe that I would have enough change in that pig to make it worth it, but I knew better!

I had the pig a few weeks and I had a car payment due.  I had Dad bust the hole out of the pig's butt, I counted and wrapped my coins and had more than enough for a car payment.  I did this every month!  Wrap enough to make the car payment, leave the rest in the pig.  Life was good back then.

The pig is kinda ugly, this big red thing with flowers on it but I loved it.

Forward a handful of years to 1995.  I was packing up my apartment and moving from Erie PA to Houston TX.  My friend Jeff came with his two boys to help with the packing of the moving van.  Either I had more crap than I thought or I just didn't get a big enough moving van!  There were a few things that just wouldn't fit into that moving van, no matter how hard we tried.

Jeff and his boys stepped up to the plate.  What didn't fit in my moving van, fit into their van and then into their garage.  Some of my stuff they were able to use, like some TV trays.  But my poor pig was put into the garage and there he sat.  Poor pig!

The last time Ruth and Jeff came to see me here in Ohio . . . they brought me my pig!!!!  What a special surprise!  It's been a lot of years we've been separated but we are now together again!

C'mon!  This pig is so ugly, he's CUTE!!!  I wasn't getting what I thought was a good picture of the pig on the floor so I put him up on my cedar chest to take a picture.  Benny I think took offense!

I love my pig and I missed him.  He's a great place to throw your change!  I also love my friends Ruth and Jeff and I miss them too.  Every time I see my pig, I now think of my friends and smile.

I am more excited than I should be!

I'm old.  I know that.  Most times, I accept that!

I am almost ashamed to admit it but there is a show that I LOVE and it's called Teen Wolf.  It's an original series airing on . . . are you ready for this?  MTV! 

I have no idea how I started watching the first season, back in 2011, but I've watched every episode and am obsessed with this dang show!  Considering it's about werewolves and a few demons thrown in for good, I am amazed that I am watching it.  I am the queen of nightmares and don't usually watch scary shows or movies.

Maybe it has something to do with all of the scenes with Tyler Hoechlin (who plays Derek Hale) without a shirt on.  Hmm, that could definitely be the reason I watch this show!  Hubba hubba makes me want to be 25 again!

Did I mention that Tyler Hoechlin is without a shirt on during the show?  Often??

I am way too old to be this excited over a TV show.  Especially a TV show where I am NOT the demographic that the show was made for.

Season 4 starts tonight in 34 minutes.  Too old or not . . . I will be there!

WalMart

I was at WalMart in Lorain yesterday afternoon.

The lines were ridiculous!  Only five lanes open and in each one, the lines were so long that the cross aisle was blocked to people trying to get from one end of the store to the other.  This was Saturday afternoon for crying out loud!

My friend Lynn had been in the same situation at WalMart recently.  She used her phone to call customer service, told them about the lines, and WalMart actually remedied the problem.  I thought that was a great idea!

Gotta love a smart phone!

In line with my one item, I looked up WalMart's phone number and called them.  I told the woman in customer service that I was one of her customers stuck in a long line at the registers.  I said that it would be a huge help if she could get someone to open up more lines since the lines were now 10 people long.  She said she would pass that along.

A supervisor came walking over a few minutes later, looked over the lines, helped bag a few items for a few cashiers and then did nothing but watch.  Seriously?  Nice customer service!

When it was finally my turn to check out with my one item, I saw this sign next to the register.

I wasn't thinking of blogging on this subject so I didn't get the whole sign.  To the left of the sign was a picture of the store manager, Mr. Christmas.  (I don't remember his first name, Robert maybe?)  I thought what a great idea!  I took the picture so I had the phone number and as soon as I got to my car, I called to talk to the actual store manager about how I was NOT satisfied with my shopping experience.

As soon as I got to my car, I called.  Unfortunately, it ended up that the number I called was the same number I called from line.  It's my guess that customer service suddenly suffered from a case of Caller ID-itis and wouldn't answer the phone.

Thanks for taking my call, Mr. Manager.  I'll keep that in mind next time I'm willing to spend some money.

When morons are allowed to write copy

Check out this great MSN video - Adorable kitten slap fight - who's the winner?

This is NOT what I would call an adorable kitten slap fight.  The tag line on the link was put there by MSN.  These cats are not happy.  Both of their ears are way back and their tails swishing like that means they are irritated.  And, I would call both of these adult cats, definitely not kittens!

Just sayin'

Who'd Have Thought . . .

I fell in love!

With a DOG!!!

I know, who'd have guessed it!  Me, terrified of dogs, fell in love with one last week.

Last Tuesday night, June 10th, I stopped home from work for a few minutes before going out for the evening.  As I pull into my driveway, I always look through the spaces between the bricks onto my front porch to see if any kitties are there eating or waiting for food.  I didn't see kitties but I did see a big black lump curled up under my glider on the porch.

I've had raccoons on my porch during the day so my first thought was a raccoon.  But, I didn't see any stripes on the back end of whatever was up there.  I just saw a black lump.

I left my car at the end of the driveway, got right out of my car and went up onto the porch to investigate.  I know . . . this is NOT like me!  When I saw it was a DOG, to be honest, I almost crapped my pants.  Here I was, on the porch, alone with a DOG, and the door to the house is still locked and I couldn't get to my car fast enough.  I really was having a mini heart attack as this puppy turned and saw me.

I started talking softly to her, I sat on the railing of my porch and bent down to offer a hand for her to bite.  I mean sniff.  She walked to me from behind the glider with her head low, her eyes on me and her little butt held high in the air with her tail wagging a mile a second.  I don't know dog behavior, but I was hoping at least that wagging tail part was a good sign.  In cat language, a wagging tail like that means they are irritated!  I was a little worried.

She stepped tentatively to me, sniffed my hand and we were buddies as long as I kept petting her.  I saw the food and water bowls were empty so I extricated myself from her and walked slowly to the side door to go in and get her more food and water.  She really wanted in my house with me and I had a heck of a time getting in without her.

All I had was cat food but I figured that was going to be good enough.  I have the bin of food right by the front door so I went out the front with the full bowl and she came running from the side of the house when she heard me.  As she was busy emptying the food and water bowls I went back inside to feed my cats.

I didn't know what to do about this dog.  I didn't want her running the neighborhood and possibly getting hit by a car.  There is a fair amount of traffic on my street.  I couldn't take her in because in spite of sitting there and petting her and loving on her, I was still kinda terrified of her and afraid to move by her.  So, I called my friend Lisa and left her a message about what was going on with me and a DOG!  I told her I was heading out for awhile and I'd call her again when I got back home if there was still a dog there.

I made it back to my car in one piece and left.  I was kinda sad, not sure if I wanted her to be there when I got home or not.

A few hours later I returned home and there she was . . . curled back up under my glider.  She was thrilled to see me and couldn't get enough loving from me!  As long as my hands were on her, she was a happy girl.  Yes, she had me at hello.

She had no collar on so no tags.  I called Lisa back and asked what to do.  I could not take a dog in my house, especially since she growled at the cats through the door!  The cats weren't happy with me out there with a dog and the dog wasn't happy that four cats were looking at her through the door.

Now that we established our boundaries, I was stuck on the porch waiting for Lisa.  She was coming with a cage that we could hold our little girl in until morning when I could call the dog warden.  I didn't want to do it but it was my best option.

As we waited on the porch, the dog got very protective of me and my property.  My street has a good amount of car traffic and also a good amount of foot traffic with the park right up the street.  This girl was chasing people left and right that dared to walk or bicycle in front of my house.  That was not good as she was NOT being friendly with them.  She chased one guy out into the street TWICE.  He's yelling at me to get my dog and I'm yelling at him that it's not my dog!  Ugh, it was scary.  Then she'd come running back to me after barking and growling at strangers and I'm trying not to jump out of my skin!  Lisa couldn't get there soon enough for me!

Like a good friend, she came to my rescue.  She brought a huge cage and a leash.  As Lisa opened her car door to get out, the puppy ran right up to her for some loving too.  She had to have been some one's pet because she took right to both of us and she took right to the leash like it was no big deal.  She also knew a few commands and listened well when she wanted to.  Lisa took her to the front of the house to get some pictures of her then I took charge of her while Lisa set up the cage in the garage.

We made her as comfy as possible with a couple of blankets in the cage and then shut her in for the night.  We went to sit on my front porch and we could hear her crying for me.  I'm telling you, it was hard to not crawl in that cage with her!

Eventually she settled down, and she was quiet for the night.

I heard her crying again in the morning though.  Putting my big girl brave panties on, I went out with leash in hand and closed myself in the garage with her.  Once the garage door was shut, I opened her cage to let her out and she was a happy girl!  She let me put the leash right on her, I opened the door and off we went.

We didn't go far since I didn't know how to control her if she got wild, but we walked all over my yard until she found a good spot to pee.  I kept walking her around waiting for what I know comes next but she just wanted to play.  So we walked some more then back to the garage we went.  I closed the door, put food and water down for her and then put her back into her cage.  She wasn't happy about that part, and to be honest, neither was I.  But I had to get to work.

I called the local PD to see if any one called in a lost dog.  I gave my name and number and a description of the dog so that if anyone called they could contact me.  Then the hard part.  I called the dog warden.

Again, I told the story of why she was in my garage and let them know my fears of the dog, of her chasing people away from my house and her growling at my cats.  There was just no way I could keep her.

A few hours later, two nice people from the dog pound came to my house, Phil let them into the garage, and they took my girl away.  You know it's freezing in hell when I am crying over a dog.  After work to see that empty cage in the garage with water bowl, blankets and a ball and no little puppy, heartbreaking.

Lisa promoted this puppy through Facebook trying to find an owner or a new home for her.  Whatever they do to dogs at the pound, they took her in on June 11th but she was listed that she would not be available for adoption until June 17th.

June 17th was a great day for that little girl as she was ADOPTED!!! 

To her new humans:  Thank you for choosing this little girl!  Please take good care of her.  Show her lots of attention, love and a few doggie treats now and again would be a good thing.  She loves to walk and she loves to have her chest rubbed.  I wish you many years of love and happiness with her!

To the little puppy:  Thank you for choosing me to run to when you were scared.  I am glad I was there for you with a bowl of water and a bowl of cat food and lots of hugs and love.  Thank you for teaching me that I can love a dog too!  (Thanks for not biting me!)  I wish you a long, happy and healthy life with your new humans.  Be a good girl, don't pee on the carpet, and show them all the love you have in you!  I will always carry a piece of you in my heart.

Above, eating at the food bowl and below, really wanting to come in!