Microchip your pets! A story of the lost...

I walk out of my apartment this morning after a down pour of rain all night. Passing another gentleman walking his small poodle mix I am nearly run over by this medium size lab mix. She is muddy, soaking wet, and confused.... and collarless. She seemed distraught running around in circles as if to ask me how to get home.

This is a very personal subject to me. I am the proud parent of two beautiful rescued cats.

She was friendly and loving, not at all what I would expect from a lost animal. Around her neck the hair was flattened as if she had been wearing a collar previously ( for a long time). This beautiful creature is also trained! Sit, stay, shake, she knew them all.

So, I called First Regional Animal Hospital.

They offered to check her for a microchip, and if needed hold her for the owner or animal control to come pick up. I cannot keep a dog in my apartment so either way she needed to go to FRAH. On the drive over she sat in the back seat whining at me, as if to say 'This isn't the way home!" it was heartbreaking. They gladly met me outside with a temporary leash and led her inside. This dog loved everyone and everything, she was given water and treats while being scanned for a microchip.

To my horror. No chip.

What. The. Hell.

How could someone love this animal so much and not microchip her? It is not clear why she didn't have a collar on. She could have lost it, been let out without it, or worse.... was dropped off without one. I can't imagine the last one as a possibility, so we're just going to ignore it. She's beautiful, groomed, clean, trained, and at some point collared. Someone loves this animal, and it is clear she wants to go home.

BUT SHE ISN'T MICROCHIPPED.

Microchipping could have already had this girl back home. I would have happily drove her to where she needed to be. I am confident she belong(s/ed) to someone here in the apartment complex, so while at FRAH I took about fifteen pictures to make a flyer for her. At this point no one has claimed her. I put up two flyers on either side of the mailboxes, dropped one off at the office, and posted one on each entrance of the local Wal*Mart.

People, please. Microchipping is the only voice your animal has if they lose their tags for any reason and are lost. Its also smart to have them insured with the microchipping company, most offer insurance for a 5-15 annual fee if your pet is injured while lost. It is also a good idea to consider pet insurance, you never know when a tragedy like this or something serious could strike.

Do yourself, your family, and most of all, your pet a favor and microchip them. In nearly all cases the animal doesn't even feel the injection. Be a hero. Microchip and insure your pets! Locally here in Arizona, the humane society will microchip your pet for about 25.00, thats it. 25.00. Is your pet worth it?

( going to a vet to have it done could be as much as 150.00... )

Home Again - Microchips

Trupanion Pet Insurance

Valucre

I remember.

I remember way back when…. When it was cool to Role Play.

When people gave a shit about spelling, grammar, and punctuation. While anyone and everyone is welcome on this website, its nice to finally have a place where people want to get better at their Role Play… Where people are ACTIVE. Where the staff is ACTIVE. All in all, this is a great web forum to express creativity.

Ah. Creativity.

Funny isn’t it? That people get too busy ( including myself ) to be creative? It’s a shame; really. Valucre has been my home on the net for a while now. I silently stalk the pages and pages of Role-Play, while working behind the scenes with their PR&M (Public Relations and Marketing) department. Valucre is quickly becoming one of the best free-form Role-Play sites on the net.

218 active members. 148,578 posts. 11,199 threads.

The most active Role-Play section is Terrenus, with almost 15,000 individual posts between the “Lands of Terrenus” and the “Towns” section(s).

While this could be considered a shameless plug, check out the site, and maybe it could be your home too. <3

Valucre - Best Freeform Role-Play on the net!

Valucre - Facebook

Valucre - Twitter

Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-mJJIxurAIQ

Let's hurt the bankers.



Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Nov.Fifth

Find a Credit Union Near You: www.findacreditunion.com

This was a lesion I learned YEARS ago. I have not used an actual bank since 2004. The banks are money hungry assholes. I was denied credit cards, loans, and other means of financial assistance. I was charged outrageous fees and costs of just having an account.

I have encouraged every single friend, family member, or stranger I have ever struck up a conversation with to move to a credit union. Credit unions are owned by the people, ordinary members like you. They are not a hungry, irresponsible corporation looking to make a buck.

Why Credit Unions?

“Banks are community, regional or national for-profit corporations owned by private investors and governed by a paid board of directors chosen by the stockholders. The board of directors is authorized to make major decisions without consulting (and sometimes even notifying) the banking customers. The select group of private owners share any profit. Funds are insured with federal deposit insurance (FDIC).

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives owned by their members and governed by a board of directors elected by, and from among, those members. All members (anyone with money in an account) is entitled to vote on major decisions affecting the credit union. Usually there is a common bond among the members, such as belonging to the same organization or living in the same geographical area. Credit unions accept deposits from their members and use them to make short-term loans. Deposits are regarded as purchases of shares, and all earnings of the credit union are paid out as dividends to members. Credit unions with the word "federal" as part of their name are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a U.S. government agency, and are federally insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). This fund is maintained by premiums paid by federal credit unions. Because credit unions have a historically low failure rate, the NCUSIF, according to a Treasury study, is one of the most secure federal insurance programs in existence today.

Both financial institutions usually offer basic banking services (checking and savings accounts, consumer loans, etc.) with many offering a fuller range of services (online banking, debit cards, credit cards, mortgages, foreign currencies, etc.).

At the end of the day, banking with a truly local bank is better than a corporate-level bank, but credit unions will have more of a positive impact on the consumer & his/her local community.” – From Bank Transfer Day’s Notes http://www.facebook.com/Nov.Fifth

Don’t fall for this.

Don’t stand for this.

Move your funds to a CREDIT UNION before or on NOVEMBER 5, 2011.

WE ARE THE 99%.

LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD.

The Occupy Movement and .Anonymous.

  

I’ve been keeping up on the #OccupyEverywhere.

http://www.occupytogether.org/

http://occupylove.org/

Something needs to change. When you really sit down and look at this world it’s shocking to me how blind people are. How can you look at this world and not see a serious miscarriage of justice? I applaud the people standing up for the rest of us to make a difference. Our voices will be heard. The years of oppression, corruption, and greed will end. This is the beginning of something amazing. I hope this movement will change the world.

I have not been able to stand among the people that I working toward global equality. I, like many others, are a slave to the dollar. I am infuriated by the 1% that have more then half the country’s money. Our children are poor, hungry, and illiterate, but the 1% have nothing to ever want for.

How has this become so acceptable? It isn’t.

I have also become aware of the importance of the Anonymous. They have saved so many. I applaud their work. They have done what the government, the police, and so many others, have not been able to do. They have busted a huge ring of child pornographers. I have never seen a more powerful and meaningful operation like DarkNet. You know who you are. Don’t stop until every single disgusting human responsible for these acts are behind bars, or dead. This is unforgivable.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAnonMessage

I have never been so proud of such exceptional human beings in my life.

The more I hear and see if the Anonymous group the more I have hope that this world will get better. They have exposed so many things that the public would have otherwise been blind to.

Don’t stop.

Departure Flights

Dear Steve Gonsalves [ Ghost Hunters ], I get you bro.

You go through all these emotions when you make the decision to fly somewhere. For me, this was a new adventure in a place I had never been before. After I booked the flight, I was scared, anxious, excited, and unsure, a crazy concoction of emotions. I counted the days down excitedly, but that uneasy feeling did not go away.

I did all my research before I packed my bags, everything under the 3.4FLoz was met in accordance with the TSA website. I packed for warm weather, cool weather, and comfortable. Because of my careful and obsessive compulsive disorder, I made it though airport security without a single issue or an out of place eyelash.

I got my Starbucks.

Arriving at my gate, I watched all the people boarding their flights, saying goodbyes on phones, and checking in baggage. It was interesting to see how anxious some of my other would-be passengers were. It was almost reassuring that I wasn’t the only one. I had my boarding pass in hand, scanned it, and was on my way.

A quick scan on the plane reviled it was less then 1/3 booked. And me, being me. Was sat in the only section on the whole plane making it full. The two other women in the row were flying together. I was the outsider. The informed me in an almost ‘do this’ fashion that ‘once the flight attendant gave the okay, we could change seats - if we wanted’ I assumed we was me. I was happy to oblige them, and moved as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

As the plan taxied the run way, I became nervous. This was only my second time flying - and I was alone. This time there was no one to hold my hand. There was no one to share the experience with me. Nervously, I looked to the woman sitting across me in the  ‘new’ row, searching her face for some kind of comfort as the plane readied its position for take off. Though she glanced my direction, she offered no reassuring smile or gesture of comfort... to my dismay.

I sent my last text message before we were in the air, it was to people who I wanted to be the executors of my estate if something did happen, because, lets face it, doesn’t everyone feel ‘if something is going to happen, it can, will, and does.... to me.’ I realized when I sent these messages that I was truly afraid. There are many things I plan to do when I get home, a will being one of them. While I don’t know if my text messages to my loved ones would serve proof that I wanted them to have ‘the power’ if something happened, I felt it was better then nothing.

It seemed like an eternity before the plan was ready to actually take off. My new seat was directly over the left wing. A series of tests was done, starting, stopping, testing breaks, the landing gear, the wing gear, everything.

They pressurized the cabin, sending me into a silent, full on, panic attack. I tried to breathe slowly, and deeply, but this just wasn’t working. I pictured the plane crashing on the runway and how it would play out on the nightly news. I couldn’t help it, however morbid it may sound. 

The creaking and winding of the of the plane made the issues worse. The turbines. Oh the turbines... As I felt the plane lift off, the ground now a sad casualty to the magic of flight... I was freaking out. I prayed. ( I am writing this while waiting to arrive in Oakland, currently 40 minutes and counting. ) I sat in the middle of the row with the windows open, convinced I needed to make myself see this take place, maybe it would make me less afraid.

I don’t know how far from the ground we were when we started hitting turbulence. If I thought I was afraid before, it didn’t compare to how upset I was now. Before leaving home I had taken motion sickness pills ( I also suffer from rare but severe vertigo. ) and in all my careful planning... had forgotten my ibuprofen. With a stuffed up sinus, it started to become a migraine, and my panic did not help.

I looked around for the flight attendant when we finally got into the air. They were chit chatting in the back of the plane - while I starred at them in a needy manner. You know the look. Well, they ignored me. The pain grew worse while I waited my turn to be served. Finally. I let them know I needed pain killers. They did get me what I needed. More turbulence. At this point, I was done with it. So over it at this point. Then, I needed to potty. On the last flight, I was so afraid of getting out of my seat I waited three hours.

I wasn’t going to be able to wait, I unbuckled my seat belt with my trembling fingers, and walked to the back of the plane to use the lavatory. I hurriedly did my business and went back to my seat, promptly buckling my seatbelt. The flight attendant checked on me and let me know I could use my Macbook if I wanted. I did, I am. More turbulence as I write this. It sends my mind back to visions of the nightly news....

I can’t wait to get my feet back on the ground where they belong.

I think that if I want to pursue a job that affords me the luxury of travel, I need to get over this. I can’t drive everywhere.... right? Right.

We’re now decending at 2200 feet... or did he say 22000...? I have ‘The Dark Knight’ in my ear, so I am not sure. But we are about to arrive. If I manage to post this online... I made it.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

Think Different - Narrated by Steve Jobs

To anyone under 25 that doesn't think Steve Jobs changed the world:

If you've ever watched a Pixar movie, customized your computer's appearance, downloaded a song instead of buying a CD, took 1000+ songs with you, used an app on any portable device, or found pleasure in using a tablet, laptop, or computer, then you can thank Steve Jobs for that. You may not know it but you live in the wake of his genius everyday.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs. You made one helluva dent. - samirageb 2 days ago

The Spidey Sense

The idea of my style of blogging is simple. I want people to read this and stop and think about their actions, their lives, and their responsibilities, to make them see what they could be doing to someone else. The harsh reality is that most people don’t know they’re hurting those around them in some shape or form. By blogging it is non-confrontational, there is no yelling or screaming or pointing of fingers, there is only truth.

The rules of my blog:

-I will never name names. If you think it is about you then it probably is. That is the point.

The Spidey Sense

Why is it when people lie they expect not to be caught? Really? Are you so full of yourself that you think that telling the lies you will be able keep things going the way you want them to? No. That shit explodes. And if it hasn’t yet – it always will. In recent weeks we have had a massive explosion of bullshit. While this is centered on a specific individual, you are all aware of the rules that accompany my blog. No names. Ever.

While I could spend hours ranting – I will try to keep it short and generalized.

For some reason people think that lies will save them from the sad realities of the cruel world around them. You know what? The lies wont fucking save you. No. They wont. Why is it that people feel the need to lie in the first place? Guilt? Pleasure? Fantasy? Unable to face the facts? Whatever the excuse, most of us are equipped with a bullshit meter. Guys, when your spidey sense start to tingle - fucking listen. For people with morals and trust in others listen up. While it seems naïve its actually a good practice to expect people to be honest. Innocent until proven guilty? Live that shit. You are not wrong for wanting to believe in the good in people. Unfortunately people aren’t always who we think they are. It blows. But damn it ‘Luke’ use the fucking force. Listen to yourself.

In light of recent events, ( as many of you reading this are fully aware ) one among us attempted to divide and conquer us. The plan was simple. Lies, and victim cards. Why not just step them fuck up and be responsible and just say how the fuck you felt? Because that would be too easy wouldn’t it? That’s it. Honesty isn’t something you can look down on someone for. Stop being afraid of people not accepting the choices your making. THAT’S JUST IT. THEY’RE YOUR CHOICES. And I mean this of EVERYONE. Stop trying to hold someone else responsible because YOU felt the need to lie not only to YOURSELF, but YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, and EVERYONE you ever knew. It is irresponsible to expect the people your CHOOSING to lie to, to stick around and just live with it.

I’m sorry you lied about the most relevant things in your life right now. Here, let me just clean that mess up for you right now. No. I’m done with it. We are all fucking adults. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS. Don’t claim ignorance as an excuse for your lies. Own the fuck up people. I’ve mentioned this in MANY if not ALL my previous blogs.. It all comes back to accountability, responsibility, and your moral obligation to generally tell the truth. Once again guys when that bullshit meter starts going off – fucking listen. By nature, I am a distrusting person. But sometimes even I don’t see shit coming. Like this time. No. There was no honesty, there is no remorse ( no let me correct that. ) GENUINE remorse, there was only lies and darkness.

Lies destroy relationships, transform friendships, and most generally end in a fucking fiery mangled wreck. Use whatever metaphor your want. Now, I’m not saying ALL lies are bad. White lies aren’t always a bad thing. Like telling someone how much you paid for a gift. Not a bad thing. Usually. ;) We’re talking about the next level bullshit here. Just don’t fucking do it. I am a person who hates liars, lies, and all other forms deceit. Once someone has lied to me its not a bond that I can reform. Generally, I will never trust that person again. But, in the same token, I will give you the fucking shirt off my back until you give me a reason not to be there for you.

You know who you are. You know what you’ve done. You have lied and ruined every relationship you laid your hands on. And for what? Three months worth of time? I hope it was worth it. You leave none of us with any other option but to leave you to deal with the chaotic mess you call your life. We can and will carry on without you. Does this mean all our bonds with you are permanently destroyed? No. But that largely depends on the kind of person you decide you want to be in the future. The level of just machiavellian bullshit floors all of us. And every single day we all sit down and continue to put the fucking pieces together. You have no remorse, no thoughts for the people you lied to, AND LIED ABOUT. You lied about all of us and to gain what? The only thing I see here is that you LOST every friend you lied to and about. Bad call I think. But hey, I’m just jaded and your just a perfectly innocent black widow princess right? Riiiight.

No I don’t think I can just forget what has happened, maybe forgive but certainly never forever forget and there will never be the kind of trust we all had with you. Lies and manipulation on these kinds of levels have ruined our trust in you – and our friendship.

People take a step back and look at yourselves. Lies to anyone are generally considered unethical. Take comfort in those who truly love and care about you – cherish those moments while you have them – we never know what is going to happen tomorrow, and you never know when an avalanche of bullshit is going to come rolling down the hill.

Own YOUR feelings. You ARE NOT going to hold ANYONE else responsible for you how feel. YOU’RE the one with the problem. And that’s fine. No one should turn on you for the truth – and if they do, then they weren’t worth it. People need to understand that when it all comes down to it, the relationships with the people around you are all you really have in the end.

BUT you are the only person you can always count on to be there… but if you had to choose would you rather be alone?

Lies are a choice. And because you make the choice to lie, you also accept the consequences that come with them. 

Healthy Boundaries & the Vicious Cycle

The idea of my style of blogging is simple. I want people to read this and stop and think about their actions, their lives, and their responsibilities, to make them see what they could be doing to someone else. The harsh reality is that most people don’t know they’re hurting those around them in some shape or form. By blogging it is non-confrontational, there is no yelling or screaming or pointing of fingers, there is only truth.

The rules of my blog:

-I will never name names. If you think it is about you then it probably is. That is the point.

Healthy Boundaries & the Vicious Cycle

Why is it people have such a hard time owning up to their responsibilities? I take a long hard look at the lives of those around me and I simply do not understand. The things some of the people in my life are going through right now absolutely disgust me sometimes. Responsibilities consist of so many different things… Some of these things are responsibility for your own actions, reactions, ideas, thoughts, feelings, promises, and obligations. Leaving ANY of these things unfulfilled constitutes a failure on YOUR part. It is NEVER the responsibility of the OTHER party to take that responsibility for YOU. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE, DO NOT BE MISTAKEN. It has been said throughout history, “Evil prevails when good men fail to act.” and I cannot agree more.

It is nothing short of evil stealthily finding its way into our minds and hearts when we ignoring the duties we have to not only pledged our selves to, but the ones we hold the most dear as well. In a perfect and ideal world all people would treat everyone fairly. I know this is not always the case. Let me ask you, the reader, this: If you saw someone being mugged, would you really feel right simply walking away? I’d hope your answer to this would be no; that you would feel guilty by not attempting to help this person who very realistically needs you. So why would you do the same thing to someone else? You have an obligation as a HUMANBEING to be responsible!

I know in the heat of the moment people say some fucked up things to one another, things they never should have said in the first place. While you are indeed way over stepping your boundaries, you, and ONLY you, is responsible for owning up to that mistake. Now, this street does run BOTH ways. It doesn’t matter who started it, its completely inconsequential once the shit flinging has started. WHAT DOES MATTER IS WHO PUTS THE STICK DOWN FIRST. An admission of guilt is NOT a bad thing. People, you need to GET OVER YOURSELVES. YOU ARE NOT THE MOST IMPORANT THING TO WALK THIS EARTH! What matters most is that you have enough common sense to suck up your pride, to humble yourself and admit your mistakes.

 Most people are not good at communicating their emotions well enough to adequately address issues like this, and that is okay. You, or your significant other, or your friend, or your family member is just going to have to understand that apologizing is hard sometimes. As long as you conduct your behavior in a truly sincere way the message WILL get across. DON’T STOP COMMUNICATING. Even if you communicate poorly its better then not communicating at all. Clear communication is a learned trait, it is not a magical behavior only to be bestowed on the fortunate. It is like any other talent, some are just better at it then others by nature. You can learn anything, and be anything if you had the mind to practice!

I want to be clear: I am throwing all of you under the bus, and I do mean ALL. EVERYONE can always improve their behavior. At this point in your lives you need to re-evaluate the way you handle situations good and bad. Could you have been a little more sincere? Forgiving? Less sensitive? More sensitive? Controlled your temper better? Held your tongue? Been more encouraging? STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT. We are all people, we all make mistakes, what matters is the content of your CHARACTER. Personally I have a very high sense of responsibility. I know this, I know not all people can own up, I know not all people are responsible. BUT YOU SHOULD BE. YOU ARE NOT EXCUSED DUE TO YOUR LACKING CONSCIOUS. YOU DO NOT GET AN EXCUSE. You don’t have one, just forget it.

Another common thing I am experiencing is people using a fraise: “Well if you hadn’t done BLANK then I wouldn’t have reacted this way.” No. Stop. You wrong. This is YOU pushing responsibility for YOUR reaction onto someone else. Stop trying to make it out to be anything but: you are lacking responsibility. The other party is responsible for what they said, but you are responsible for how you react! Is it a wife’s fault the husband beat her because she went out when he didn’t want her to? NO. He is responsible for his actions! Just like all the rest of us! He could have chosen to sit down and talk to her about his hurt feelings, his jealousy or whatever the case may be, but instead he beat her. This of course is an extreme example. But you SHOULD get the point.

Marriage should not redefine the way a relationship works. Being married to someone does not suddenly evolve into ownership – FOR ANYONE. This means husbands and wives alike. You do not get to choose your significant other’s friends, family, or interests. You do not get the right to tell them what they can and cannot do. This does not become a matter of “As my wife/husband you should do this.” Again, you are wrong. Just because you are married does not give you the right to rule over ANYONE’S existence. Your relationship should still contain all the freedoms you had when you where dating them. They can go out see their friends, have a good time, get a break and not need to be around you ALL hours of the day. THAT IS NOT RELAISTIC.

While some people choose to live their lives this way, it is a CHOICE. And for others, like myself, I WILL NOT. I will not do what you want me to based on the fact we’re in a relationship, I will do the BLANK because I want to and it will be for no other reason. Right, wrong, good, bad, fair, or unfair. I will make my OWN CHOICES. AND SO WILL YOU. It is NOT a matter of “Well if you love me you would.” Wrong again. It is a CHOICE. A relationship, any relationship is about give and take. Do NOT ask someone to do something you your self would not do. And respect them if they do not want to live their lives the way you think they should. Even if you think the choice is wrong. At the end of the day we are all going to do what we want to do regardless of anyone. The hope is that we would conduct ourselves in a way that is just, honorable, fair, loving, considerate, passionate, forgiving, selfless, and RESPECTABLE.

So many of you are blinded by that ugly monster called pride. And where others do not have a voice, I will speak for them. For all of you. There are two sides to every single story. All of us share the fault in an argument. It takes two to argue. Remember that. Now go, put down your sticks and love one another. You don’t know when this life will end, is that how you want to be remembered? The last time you ever spoke to this person was with hate? Now is all you have, live in the now. Forgive the past and love.