Old Dog

They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I disagree. You are never too old to learn something new. If animals can do it, so can humans. I observe life. In all forms. I noticed something about my dog's intelligence, this week. My neighbor is "dog sitting" their daughters Labrador retriever. He is an unusually large dog and he is mean. For the last few days, every time I walk my dog, in my yard, the other dog comes racing towards us. So fast that he kicks up dust. My dog may be small, but he is no pushover. He defends his turf and barks back as if he is equal size. This morning as I took him out for his walk, he stopped just as we got out of the door. He looked left. He looked right. He even looked around the bend. Cautious. He was thinking ahead because he knew what to expect. This 16 pound puppy learned something new. He learned self preservation. Good for him!

Being Defensive

Every three years, for the past 18 years, I have taken a Defensive Driving course. I do this in order to get a reduction on my car insurance. When I first started going for the course, I took it in a driving school. The teacher focused on speeding and drunk driving. A few years later, I took it in a community college. The teacher focused on tailgating and sudden lane changes. This year I took the AARP course, for people over 50 years old. This time the teacher was barely focusing. When he recouped his train of thought, he went over how to drive with impaired vision, impaired hearing and stiff joints. We were taught stretching exercises and how to concentrate on being behind the wheel. I looked around and I think I was the youngest one there. It was a bit scary. Three years prior, when I took the AARP course, there was an accident, as two senior citizens pulled out of their parking spaces at the same time. This year we parked far, far away from any other car, just in case those people were taking the course with us again. Part two of the course is next week. I hope I can stay awake.

Language Barriers

I live in America. We are a multilingual society. Native born Americans are taught English as their first language.I do not understand how we can have such an appalling command of our own language.I am comfortable in my belief, that this does not happen in other countries. Is our educational system lacking the incentive to monitor how our youth speaks? Last night I was watching a mindless show named The Real Housewives of New Jersey. It was shameful that these women sound so uneducated. If this is how we see American housewives, I am embarrassed. One of them speaks so poorly, that I am not sure if she is joking. Unfortunately she is not. As an example, in this episode, she used the word "ingredientses". Yes, she pluralized an already plural word. She then proceeded to ask her husband if he wanted a "sangwich". Yes, a sanGwich. Is that something you eat as you sing? The last straw was when the "intelligent" housewife totally mispronounced a common word. It should have been pronounced as enVELoped. She said ENvelpoed, as in a piece of mail.  After that I shut my set. I just could not take anymore. My brain would have exploded.

Furry Little Friend

I was never a "dog person". I grew up in a home where the only pets we had were fish and birds. I never understood the love that people felt for their animals. How could you love something that was not human. One day I decided I needed a puppy. Not wanted ....needed. A cute little furry object. Maybe it was seeing all of those tiny dogs being toted around in designer pocketbooks. I went to the pet shop and ordered a puppy. It had to be a small breed and blond. Just like me. We waited 2 months for him to be weaned and shipped from Minnesota. The minute I laid eyes on him, I understood why people felt as they did. He has become a valued member of our family. I get up in the morning and can't wait to see his big brown eyes look up at me. I know when I come home from work he is patiently waiting to be played with. It has been three years since we adopted our "baby". He is one of the family and brings light, warmth and love to us. Getting him was one of the best decisions I ever made.

9/11

The title of this blog says it all. September 11. No matter what the years is, since 2001 and forever more, 9/11 will be ingrained in the memories of Americans. I am a New Yorker. I remember standing in front of my house looking west and seeing large puffs of smoke, for days. I remember where I was, when I heard the news. I had friends who lost family members that day. I had friends whose children survived. They only survived because they had the sense to disobey orders to stay calm and remain at their desks. They did not listen. They ran down 77 flights. They lived. I hate the saying "All's fair in love and war". All is not fair. Some suffer more than others. That isn't fair. I pray for the families who lost loved ones. I pray that the victims are in Heaven, resting in peace. Since 9/11 the world has been changed forever. We lost our innocence that day. We now look over our shoulders. I will spend today at the Christening of my daughter-in-laws' god son. I am glad I will be focusing on a happy event.

Switzerland

I have always been a neutral type of person. I blend in and fly just under the radar. Ever since I was young, I never needed to have many friends. Just a few was enough for me. I was never the first one picked for a team, but I was never the last one, either. I got along with everyone because I was non confrontational and easy going. As I grew older, I remained the same way. I never joined Facebook. I had no desire to find long, lost friends. If I didn't talk to you in high school, I don't need to be part of your life now.Through the years I have seen some of my friends become close and then drift apart. Sometimes even the most solid friendships faltered. I never get involved. If I have no vested interest in you, I do not need the aggravation. I am like Switzerland. I don't take sides, mainly because I don't really care. When all is said and done, it's your family that can be counted on when times are tough.

What's It Worth

I have a value system for every purchase in life. I weigh what I feel the price should be, by what I want to pay for it and what I think the other person should reasonably charge. I know that people need to make a living wage and retailers have an overhead, so I take this into accountability. Yesterday, I was interviewing cleaning services for my daughter-in-law, since she was at work and unable to be there. Since she has not moved in yet, the house is empty. A popular service, one with the name Maids attached to it, came to look at the house. We had done the primary cleaning but wanted it done once more. All she needed was a dusting of window sills in 3 bedrooms, wash the kitchen floor, counter tops and appliances and have 1 1/2 bathrooms cleaned. Remember.... this is an empty house. The woman walked around with her clipboard, like she was doing an estimate on building a sky scraper. After writing, and calculating and looking deep in thought, she gave me "the number". $353.08. You read it right. $353.08. I tried to keep a poker face and not laugh out loud. Was she nuts? Needless to say she was not hired. I would rather do it myself. The ER bill for pulling my back out would be less.