Feeling good

Week four, and my incision is finally to the point where I can wear pants that aren't super wide. These are a little big on me now, but they used to be so form-fitting that the only way I could get them off was to peel them off wrong side out. 😅 I think they're 22s and I wear an 18/20 now. Mostly. You know how women's sizes go. They may even be a 24. I didn't look. I can still wear them as long as I don't overload the pockets. But I was a 30/32, so that is a big change. But I'm trying to wear pants instead of shorts now just in case a dog forgets him/herself and gets up on me. They don't want any open wounds for surgery in case of infection, especially near the surgical site. The dogs have been really good, the closest was yesterday one got onto the bed with me when my roommate left my barrier down (my door has reached that time of the year when it won't stay closed on its own, so we use a dog gate, and he pushed his way in, because he loves me and my bed). Actually, the cat has been the closest to getting me, as when he's hungry he does these little bites, and he almost got my ankle the other day. Still, I'm just being careful, keeping an eye out, and wearing pants till surgery, even the skinny ones, except on PT days, which I only have one more before surgery.

Random things about this week

• Sunday we didn't actually play the game.  Brenda came over, and we talked and played The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, which was quite fun.  We mostly visited and snacked.  Afterwards, I applied for the second time for a job that had been re-posted from the public library.  I'd love to work there, I'd love to do this particular job, it's a great branch to work in serving a diverse population, and yes, it would mean more money and better financial security.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that at the very least I'll get an interview.  Given my track record of getting nervous and tanking during interviews, cross your fingers again that I'll actually do well on that.  I've got a couple of books on questions to ask and answer and I'm thinking (at a co-worker's suggestion) of running through scenarios with YKWIA, who is a good critic.  The little dog apparently went into the bedroom and harrumphed as she laid down because I froze her out of my room with the fans on, YWKIA told me later.  She's older and gets cold easily.
• Monday:  I had to shoo a duck out of the driveway to go to work.  She was quacking in an annoyed fashion and walking up to the house when I left.  Work was busy.  I came home, was asleep by 8 or 8:30 pm, and woke up just long enough to take my medicine at midnight.
• Tuesday:  It was a good day at work.  Either Monday or Tuesday (I can't remember), there was a spectacular car wreck outside our building where someone ran the red light and one vehicle was literally on top of the other.  One person got out on their own, and (I think the one on top) had to be taken out.  Hope no one was seriously hurt.  I came home, had dinner, fed the dogs, and still fell asleep by 7:30 pm and woke up at midnight.  I'm not really sure why I was so tired.
• Wednesday: I started out the day by accidentally killing either a small rat or a baby opossum by turning on my car engine, which bothered me greatly, but thank goodness it wasn't the neighbour's cat.  It was another busy day at work.  There was a major accident at Alumni and Nicholasville Road that I avoided while taking a co-worker to her car at her boyfriend's workplace.  Despite all that (I do have driving anxiety, after all), I ventured back out and went to the church where the Bluegrass Orchid Society meets, only to wander aimlessly through a very large church wing trying to find it.  I finally ran into some nice ladies who were members of the church, one of whom had the phone number for the president of the society.  Apparently, their speaker came down with pneumonia and they couldn't come up with a replacement programme, so they cancelled it by letting the membership know by phone and posting it on their Facebook page (which I neglected to check, so that's on me).  They may reschedule that talk (on general orchid culture) to a later date.  There is one in May on orchids and viruses.  I may go to that. But kudos to me for speaking up and asking for directions, as I'm shy and don't usually do great at approaching strangers, even nice middle-aged and older women.  That night I checked my account, and I discovered that the treasurer for the state association for health science librarians to which I belong cashed my dues cheque a day early when she said she'd hold it, thereby over-draughting my account. :(  She must have forgotten.  I'm debating if I should mention it or not. I'm sure she would apologise, but it's not going to undo the damage.  The fee was twice the amount of the cheque, which at least was paid by the bank, so I guess that's a bright side. I almost never write cheques because it's harder to track when they'll come out.  I so should have mailed it in.
• Thursday:  I had a blood draw first thing in the morning and got up early for that.  YKWIA had me move the carcass out of the driveway before I left. I saw a former friend/co-worker there at the doctor's office and caught up with her on what's been going on our lives. Then I went to work and was in physical therapy almost all day learning how to do things so that I can fill in for a woman who's going on maternity leave.  It's a much slower pace but there's a lot of little things to do with many steps that require a good bit of work.  Then I went back upstairs for about a half an hour and caught up on my e-mail and checked out the last patient.  A co-worker went with me to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine YKWIA needed, and then she treated me to an excellent dinner at Planet Thai as a birthday treat.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I had fried tofu (which I adore, although every Thai restaurant I've been to does it differently) and three-flavour (I think that was what it was called) fish, in this case, salmon,  with a medium (3 on a scale of 5) spice.  It made my sinuses run, was very tasty, and was very filling.  Feliz' drunken noodles came in a huge order; I think 3/4 of it had to go home in a box.  We had a good time and talked a lot.  I feel like we're kindred souls.  I'm pretty jazzed from lots of Diet Pepsi, too.  I took her to her car and then stopped by the grocery for bananas.  Now I'm home and I've changed into comfy clothes.  I think I'll listen to some music before bed.
• Tomorrow should be a calm day at work, a catch-up day (I have about five issues to e-mail about).  I don't really have plans for tomorrow evening. It should be about 76 degrees tomorrow (it was close today), which is remarkable given that we had snow early this week, freeze warnings every night, and frost on the cars in the morning.  As far as my productivity at home, I think I'm falling asleep early to avoid the financial issues I'm having.  I should sit down and work on finances, as my bills are piling up and I'm really not sure what to do about it.  It's like everything's haemorrhaging out.  It's really my main subject of stress. I don't have enough to pay for the preparation of my tax forms, which are sitting at H&R Block, and next week is the deadline for filing--and let's not even get into what I actually owe for my taxes.  I don't get paid for two more weeks.  I'm not sure what to do.  Things are looking bleak.  Maybe YKWIA, who is quite sensible about the management of money, can help me get back on track in terms of planning.  I don't know.  That money could milk money from a walnut.

So anyway, that's what's going on in my life.  It's just a little below average due to the financial woes, which will pass eventually, especially when I sit down and face them head on, which I will do tomorrow and this weekend, for I really don't have much choice.  Avoiding the situation further will only make it worse. :(  Otherwise work and personal life is going well.  So while my emotion tracker on my phone, Daylio, has been set at 'meh' a lot lately, it's not too terrible.  'Good' has to be just around the corner, and 'rad' days will happen, too. Let's try to avoid 'fugly'. :)

I woke up at 7 am, but went back to bed till about 9

And I feel great this morning. I've eaten the last of the bread with peanut butter and banana, started a new loaf going, let the dogs out, fed the animals, let the dogs out again, had a shower, and caffeinated.  Technically I'm not supposed to feed the animals or let the dogs out in the morning, as we want to discourage the little dog from barking in the morning or otherwise expecting me to do everything.  But it was 10 o'clock, YKWIA stayed up late reading and was still in bed, so I took care of them.  I usually do those things in the evening.  But I think they're okay, and hopefully, they won't associate me with morning breakfast in the future.

YKWIA is waking up.  Or at least we talked for awhile about his dreams, and then I left him to start the wake-up process.  But he hasn't ventured out of the bedroom yet to make coffee.  I can hear him, though, so he must be awake.

Since I did so much yesterday, all I have to do is do the kitchen floor, finish the laundry (after the bread is finished, as it's on top of the washer), and load the dishwasher (after he unloads it).

I'm both excited about and dreading the game today; so much is riding on us in this adventure.  Not just saving the world, as we do that fairly often.  We're time travelling, and He Who Shall Not Be Named (and I don't mean Voldemort--Google Cthulhu Mythos and that if you'd like) is trying to eliminate a family from the timeline that includes our time-travelling ride home, and every single one of Brenda's characters except the two on this adventure, plus one of mine, and one of my character's children, plus various other children.  Literally, they could be wiped from existence, as if they never existed.  Well, they wouldn't have.  It's looking dire.  And even if we survive Norman England, there's the third leg of this campaign that is set in the far future.

Okay, I'm going to go work on the floor and check how the bread is progressing, and YKWIA is up, so I'm going to give him some quiet time for waking up fully.  Hope you have a good day.

Today's tasks

• Take YKWIA shirt shopping.
• Pay a bill.
• Take out the trash from all the receptacles throughout the house (that's five).
• Take out the recyclables.
• Do the cat litter.
• Clean the bathroom.
• Clean out the car.
• Collect bottle caps from various jugs and bottles for a co-worker who collects them for her kids' school.
• Do laundry.
• Load and run the dishwasher.
• Water the plants.
• Sew a button back onto one of my shirts.  It came off at work one day, one from my belly (it was loose, the shirt's actually too big now), and the only thing that saved me was the safety pin I was wearing on my hooded sweatshirt that day (rather than wearing my jacket), the pin that was there because I'm a bleeding-heart liberal who wanted to send the message that I don't mind who you are or where you're from, you have worth as a person and shouldn't be demonised by racist twats.  On the other hand, it also meant I had a safety pin handy for button-popping incidents, and since I didn't have my sewing kit handy (I am going to move it to my backpack for future incidents), it was a good back up.
• Take some materials back to the library.

Now I'm pretty tired.  I still need to go out to the library, as one of the books is one from YKWIA which hid in his backpack and is overdue, but I want to wait until the laundry is finished in the washer as it sometimes overloads during the spin cycle.  I've put the things to go back to the library in a plastic Kroger bag that has some air in it to cushion it; one is a CD and I don't want the case to break.  I tried to return it the other day and realised that the CD itself was at home in my player, and I'm glad I looked.  The other book I have out is an heirloom gardening book whose spine has broken and the pages, as I turned them, began to come apart.  So I put them all in a bag together with a note about the gardening book needing repair.

It's almost time to feed the animals, too.  The cat is acting out, trying to claw things and harassing the dog.  YKWIA is sacked out (I think our foray out tired him; he doesn't care for shopping, and we went to both Meijer and Target).  Also, I was really frustrated earlier with the trash, as one of the bins is broken and you can't get the liner of the can out, you have to pull everything out by hand (it's mostly paper, but still, it's frustrating), and the bathroom trash bin is intact, but the handle always gets in the way when I empty it despite my best attempts, and the stuff goes everywhere.)  Anyway, my frustration levels were up and I was growling, practically, and he may have decided to get away and have some quiet time for a while.

So now I'm online and trying to chill a little, let all the tension drain away.  I think I'll listen to some music.  That'll help.  Then I'll feed the animals, deal with the laundry, water the plants (some of which are in his room, and it's dark, so I'll wait till he's awake again), sew on the button, and take the stuff to the library and put it in the book drop.  We found the book just as the library closed, but if I can get it in before tomorrow morning when they open, that's one less day of fines.

Speaking of libraries, there is a job opening I'm considering applying for.  It's at the university, is technically a technician job, so I don't know if they'd consider me, as I am over-qualified, but it pays more than I'm currently making and more than I can in the public library field in the surrounding area, as a full librarian.  It can't hurt to apply, anyway, right?

Okay, must go deal with laundry--both of the buzzers have gone off.  I'll write later, hopefully.

The cold continues...

It's supposed to be six degrees tonight (Fahrenheit) with a wind chill down to minus 15.  I went to the store on my way home tonight and it was so cold going out, as the wind had picked up.  We're not really getting the snow you see further South, just a few flakes here and there, and I'm thankful, as it's too cold for salt to do much good.  A lady on the UK shuttle was talking about a friend in Myrtle Beach freaking because they'd had a lot of bad weather.  When I lived there in 1972, we had an ice storm followed by seven inches of snow.  We wound up piling into a neighbour's recreational vehicle and driving to Garden City so that we could plug up at a K-Mart parking lot--all nine of us.  It was miserable.  So yes, it does happen, but rarely.

Today started a bit shaky.  I didn't get paid till about 9 am (it's usually there at midnight) due to the New Year's holiday, so I didn't get breakfast at the University of Kentucky Dining but rather ate some homemade bread that I'd brought for lunch.  But it all worked out.  It was a slower day, especially about mid-day, and we got a lot done on queues.  I showed one of our co-workers who helps out in her department how to do check out.  All in all, it was a pretty decent day.  I didn't get a shower this morning, mainly because I couldn't contemplate it as cold as it was, I wanted to save time, and also because my friend went to the bathroom and I didn't realise he was finished for ten minutes.  He said he told me, but I didn't hear.  Anyway, by that time I was past the window for the shower, but really, the idea of getting wet and then going out in this didn't appeal to me.  So my hair wasn't as nice, but really, I have thin, baby fine hair, so it pretty much never really does much of anything.  This afternoon they sent an e-mail out saying that we were going to rebuild the employee directory on the intranet, where employee photos are listed by department and name, so you get to know your co-workers.  We had it at the old place, and apparently, they took it down when they moved.  I was trying to show one of the new co-workers in our department who the care managers were, for example, and the doctors, and it wasn't up anymore.  Anyway, they sent out the e-mail stating that they were bringing it back and instead of having pictures from our badges (which are usually bad), they invited people to send in a favourite self-portrait, take one in our work area (for which they are giving a prize for best 'selfie'), or the public relations department will take one if we'd like.  So I looked through some pictures and didn't really like any of them, and decided to take a picture in my work area, even though I didn't feel like my best.  It came out pretty well, actually.  Here it is:

YKWIA says I always do this thing in portraits where I put my head out like a turtle.  He's right.  But this isn't too bad.  I could use some makeup, and the hair isn't as bouncy as usual, but they always say hair is easier to style when dirty.  Of course, I just combed it.  But anyway, that's what I sent in for my 'selfie'.

I did better with my blood sugar.  They've been running normal, but I haven't eaten much lately and yesterday it was hard to gauge how much insulin to take. I wound up testing my blood sugar AFTER lunch, and it was 56 or 58.  I downed quite a few glucose tablets, as that was all I had with me, and brought it back up.  But I was pretty shaky.  Today I dialled the insulin down, taking 55 units of Lantus this morning, I think, rather than the normal 70-80.  That definitely helped.  If I can come down on the two insulins, I think that would be a wonderful thing.

We ate some wonderful soup with egg and homemade bread along with a lentil salad for dinner, then shared an apple that Brenda left on Sunday for us to try--it's the Opal variety.  It was very good.  I found some 'lunchbox'-sized McIntoshes at Kroger and got some.  That is my favourite variety, and I hadn't seen any at Kroger in probably a good three or four years.

The cat and the dogs have been fed; I didn't leave the dogs out but a few minutes.  The night is not fit for man nor beast.  The cat's in his post-prandial cuddling phase.  He likes to curl up with us afterwards.  YKWIA is reading, and of course, he wants in his lap.  I think I'll go listen to some music in bed, and so he'll probably come in and climb up on me.

Tomorrow I have two doctors' appointments, with my psychiatrist at 8 am, which is pretty early, about the time I usually get to the University, but it's further away.  I have to take a shower before I go, either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think I'll try to do the latter and wake up earlier. My ophthalmologist and field of vision test are at 2 pm.  On the bright side, because I'm coming and going for appointments, my boss put in for me to have one of the five spaces in the back parking lot.  Yay.  They're doing a lottery for any spaces that aren't used on a daily basis, which is fun, too.  But tomorrow, I get one for its intended purpose.

So, I think I'm going to sign off here.  Have a good night.

My phone was giving me some trouble

Suddenly, when plugged up with my normal, factory-provided charger, it was saying that there was moisture detected. I'd turned off the phone and restarted it, but it still kept popping up. I've only had that happen when trying to use a standard USB charger that isn't adaptive fast charging for the Samsung Galaxy S7.

So, I looked at some troubleshooting and decided to take a cotton swab and gently swabbed the port with dry cotton, and it's working now.  So it must actually have somehow detected some humidity.  It's snowing outside, so I'm assuming the air isn't the normal winter 'dry'.  I've had the phone for a year or more now, though, and it's never done that, at least with the charger that came with it.

I pulled out my box (with the quick start guides and the SIM-card drawer key) and the only other thing that came with the phone, a caddy with earbuds (which I don't use; I use my old S5 ones because I don't like the S7 shape of the buds, so I use them as a backup, only.  Inside is one other thing, a  USB to micro USB connector that, for the life of me, I have no idea as to why it was included with the phone when it came with a transfer USB to micro USB cable as part of the charger, and those sorts of cables are ubiquitous.  I just never got it.  I typed 'what is the purpose of the USB micro USB connector that comes with the galaxy s7' into Google and it's for Smart Switch, the Samsung method of transferring files from one phone to another device.  Still, I found it kind of weird. They did mine in-store using their Wi-Fi, except for the applications, as I had about 500 of those (I had 750 the other day, and I thought perhaps I should delete some I don't use.  But that's the number that comes up on the scans, and probably included pre-loaded ones). So since I was trying out the charger and cables anyway, I'm backing up my photos and music (that are already on a microSD card) further, by putting them on to my laptop.  It's about a third of the way through the music.  The pictures didn't take that much time; the estimated time for the music is one hour and 15 minutes.  I don't think it's going to take that long, though.

YKWIA and I have had our custard and nog.  The animals, who were fed late, are fed and the dogs are out for a bit in the snow. It's not really accumulating, really, just tiny amounts.  The laundry, which I've done in a leisurely manner, is almost finished.  I did the dog blankets and YKWIA's bedding, too.  [He accidentally fell asleep with a cup of tea in his hand last night, and spilt the whole thing, practically].  Tomorrow I plan on doing my bedding and clothes.

I had planned to listen to some music, stretching out on the bed, when the charging thing happened.  I went from 60% to less than 40% in very short order trying to figure it all out.  But it's charging now, albeit not as quickly as when plugged into the wall, given that it's plugged into the laptop.  We're  over halfway to the music backup being finished, so yeah, it's going pretty quickly.

Okay, that's all for now.  May your Christmas Eve be pleasant and warm.

I decided, rather than nap

to print out some pictures on photo paper for the friend I walked with today. I'd taken a picture of him and his dog in front of the fountain, so I printed those out. And then, because he's spoken a lot about a dear-departed pet of late (she was a Rottweiler, and a co-worker of his has a Rottie puppy, so she's been on his mind), I printed off several of her. While I was at it, I printed out some of the ones I have of the three dogs they currently have, as well as the two cats. I'll give them to him tomorrow, and maybe he can show them to his co-workers, as I know he speaks of his pets often.

I think I have had enough caffeine today that I can avoid napping altogether and so, while I'm going to go back in the bedroom, I do not plan to sleep for awhile. I would like to get further along in that novel, though. Good night (again).

I laughed so hard at this I had to calm down because I couldn't hit the 'share' button on Facebook

But it was too good not to put here, too. Sometimes life seems like this, you know? Okay, back to working on the house. I had to take a short break; I've been working steadily and got overheated.

Life, explained.

This is some kind of metaphor, I'm sure of it.

Posted by George Takei on Monday, September 7, 2015

Think animals don't have emotion or caring?

She Told The Chimp She Had Lost Her Baby. What The Chimp Did Next Was Heartbreaking

From the Wikipedia article on Washoe:

One of Washoe's caretakers was pregnant and missed work for many weeks after she miscarried. Roger Fouts recounts the following situation:

People who should be there for her and aren't are often given the cold shoulder--her way of informing them that she's miffed at them. Washoe greeted Kat [the caretaker] in just this way when she finally returned to work with the chimps. Kat made her apologies to Washoe, then decided to tell her the truth, signing "MY BABY DIED". Washoe stared at her, then looked down. She finally peered into Kat's eyes again and carefully signed "CRY", touching her cheek and drawing her finger down the path a tear would make on a human (Chimpanzees don't shed tears). Kat later remarked that one sign told her more about Washoe and her mental capabilities than all her longer, grammatically perfect sentences

I know it's only 9 pm

but I have to get up early tomorrow and take friends their animals to the vet. So I'm calling it a night. Have a great weekend!

My, I'm weepy today

due to my hormone cycle. I cried during Monster High earlier, and Horns. I was on Facebook just now and there's a group I follow that is called Lost and Found Pets of Lexington, Kentucky. Someone had found a dog who had been hit on New Circle Road and circled back to get it, but it had died. She took it to an animal hospital because it had a tag for a rescue group that usually microchips, and the hospital was going to try to find the owner(s) and break the bad news. There was a picture of a black dog that accompanied the post. The purpose of the group is to find pets, including providing closure when they die as a result of getting lost, but it absolutely tore me up and I started crying. I really am being a bit labile, and animals being hurt or killed is a trigger for me to just go into tears. The second time I watched Dances with Wolves in the theatre years ago, I had to leave during the scene where the horse and wolf die. I hid in the bathroom (as did another woman). I cried when we watched Sounder in school. I refuse to consider watching Old Yeller. As it is, I was almost barred from watching 'Lassie' as a child, and also 'Run, Joe, Run!' I just have a soft spot for animals, and I hate to see them suffer in any way. I hope this family gets some closure. I feel so badly for them. As far as I'm concerned, pets are family. I love the ones in my life, even though I don't have pets of my own (except fish). They are wonderful to have in your life, yet it's so painful when they die. I think that's one reason I still don't have any of my own--when Cerys died, several years ago, I just couldn't bring myself to try to 'replace' what was, for me, the perfect dog. And I don't have the right environment for a dog, anyway--I'm not home enough, although I'm home more than I used to be. Sometimes I think of getting a cat, though. Sometimes.

Okay, I promise, just one more goat video, and then I'll stop for awhile :)

Mr G the goat was rescued from an animal hoarding situation and taken to a sanctuary, but wouldn't eat for days and acted very depressed and lethargic. Apparently his best buddy, Jellybean, a burro, had gone somewhere else, and he couldn't bear the separation. So one of the folks at the rescue made a 14-hour trip to bring Jellybean to Mr G, even though they'd never taken in a burro before. The change in the goat is absolutely amazing. :)

Mr G and Jellybean have their own Facebook page, actually: https://www.facebook.com/mrgjellybean

There are people who honestly believe animals do not have emotions or form bonds like people. This sort of thing demonstrates that they are terribly wrong.

This is cool

Thanks to YKWIA for showing me this.

Sad; we need to do better

Kentucky Ranks Last In Animal Protection

Kentucky comes in last or near the last in a lot of things. Turns out we're bad at protecting animals as well.

Okay, one more animal-related post

This from Wired.com:

Why Can’t We Be Friends? Top 10 Interspecies BFF Videos

What is it about interspecies friendship that makes it universally cute, hilarious and heartwarming?

I don’t know the answer, but if you tell me there is something better on the internet, I won’t believe you. These videos of friendship between a tortoise and a hippo, a gorilla and a kitten, and an elephant and a dog are all the evidence I need.

There are some interesting similarities among many of the videos. Many involve domesticated animals, not only dogs and cats, but apes, elephants and pigs. Many also result from freak accidents, like a tsunami that washed the baby hippo to shore, where it was raised by the tortoise. Or the baby squirrel that fell out of the tree, was rescued, and raised by a mother cat.

Many of these animals seem confused about their identity. My guess is the hippo thinks he’s a tortoise, the baby squirrel thinks he’s a kitten (it even learns to purr).

The elephant and dog I wrote about the other day are there. I was so glad to see Koko and her kitten All Ball as well, as that was back in the 1980s. But she's had several cats over the years she's been very close to. For more on Koko, check out koko.org.

So cute!

Check out the lion cam at the National Zoo

They had four cubs born a few days ago and while they're inside with their mum over the next few weeks, there's a camera so you can watch them. Right now, for example, the cubs are nursing, not surprisingly.

I found out about the webcam from Baby Lion Cub Live Webcam Launched from Wired magazine.

I haven't figured out how to view it in Firefox (the plugin for Windows Media Player doesn't seem to exist for WMP 12, which I'm running on a Windows 7 x64 version sytem, so that's an issue), but I could view it in IE8. Let me know if you have Firefox on a Windows 7 machine and know where there's a plugin I could download. Thanks!

PS There are a lot of webcams at the National Zoo, so if you're interested in watching other animals there, be sure to follow this link: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/.

I saw this the other day at YKWIA's, but it's in my subscription list, too

It's quite excellent (well, it is the BBC, what do you expect?) Particularly riveting are the gazelle protecting her fawn and the wrath of the buffalo. The cinematography is just wonderful; it's well worth a look:

Speaking of animals

You might want to take a look at 'Last One', an article by Verlyn Klinkenborg, with photos by Joel Sartore.

Did you know there were only 195 ocelots left in the US, with less than 100 in the wild? How about only 300 wolverines left in the lower 48 states? There are only 3,500 polar bears estimated left in Alaska, and less than 2,000 Mexican spotted owls. There are only 40 of the woodland caribou in the lower 48 states. And of the 320 Mexican grey wolves left, only 60 are in the wild.

We should all care about this. Oddly enough, I write this as a fur advertisement airs on the radio. We can't let the loss of environment send these species and others into the oblivion of history.

The photographer's wife developed cancer a few years ago and although she's healthy today he said, 'Kathy’s cancer made me realise how little time any of us really has.' National Geographic Editor in Chief Chris Johns adds, 'Time, our most precious currency, is the most valuable thing we humans can spend.' Well said, and it applies equally that what we do with our time matters, especially if it's aimed at making the world a better place for it. Conservation of endangered species and support of efforts to do so are one of those things that we can do to make the world a little better.

I can't imagine just abandoning an animal in a house

surely even a kill shelter is better than that...

Foreclosures Lead to Abandoned Animals

Well, the other downside they don't mention is the poop issue

You Would Be a Pet Bird

You're intelligent and witty, yet surprisingly low maintenance. You charm people easily, and they usually love you a lot more than you love them. You resent anyone who tries to own or control you. You refuse to be fenced in. Why you would make a great pet: You're very smart and entertaining Why you would make a bad pet: You're not interested in being anyone's pet! What you would love about being a bird: Flying, obviously What you would hate about being a bird: Being caged

What Kind of Pet Would You Be?