Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part 2

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MikeE3

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Aging is a ..... .. I've said since I was a young whipper-snapper that I would never retire .. I do what I like and I like what I do .. the only guy that complains to me is the guy I look at in the mirror ..

I've seen too many friends and family that have whithered away in a sub-par Nursing Home or what not .. I've seen relatives that thought a semi-well off loved one was living too long and went as far as to have them put in a Home, where they were suddenly jerked into a germ ridden environment and taken out of a house they had lived in for 40 years only to pass from a Nursing Home provided germ ..

I've watched as folks slowly degenerated into dementia and Alzheimers .. losing what grip they had on reality .. yet Modern Medical Science, the miracle or curse that it is, is able to somehow keep people going, regardless ..

What few relatives and friends that I have left I refuse to go out with them seeing me in that sort of state ..

So, yes, I have a Directive .. and I know it sounds callus and cold, but I, if at all possible, will go out under my own terms .. that's how I've lived, that's how I'll go ..

And the physical goods / real estate / etc will be cashed out / auctioned to the highest bidder and proceeds provided for scholarship funds for an Education in the Arts .. with my cremated remains sprinkled into the Mighty Mississippi, the Mother River of the Blues .. making their way to the Delta, the Gulf and the Ocean ..

he, he - seems you strummed the right cord

 
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Janet H

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Andria, from what I've seen on TV it sure looks like a mess down there. Hunker down if you can. We got everything taken care of that we could and now just plan to stay in and look out the windows. Ours is just starting here.

I just flipped on the lights on the back deck and opened the door to check and scared away some deer. So I quietly closed the door and went to check out the front door and scared some deer away from there too! They're coming to the bird feeders to eat the seed. One time we saw a buck stand up and thump on the top of the feeder to knock seed out! How did he know to do that?? Earlier today there were about 8 in the back yard and the 4 younger ones were romping around in the snow. Typical kids. Guess they're looking forward to it?
 

AndriaD

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heh... a couple years ago, we lived in the northern, more rural part of this county, and I was sitting out on the carport one day, and looked up... and there was an 8-pt buck in my front yard, staring at me!! I mean, he was HUGE!! A real stag, with those humongous shoulders, and huge rack (settle down guys, I'm talking about his ANTLERS!). We also saw huge golden eagles a lot when we lived up that way. Down here, we're much closer to the center of our little metro-Atl town, but we have Great Horned Owls! along with smaller but still quite large Barred Owls. We had to start always bringing our cat in before dusk, so she wouldn't become an owl treat! Those things are MASSIVE, would make short work of our kitty, no matter how fierce she is.

We're fine here, haven't lost power obviously (I'm on the PC!), and the pine trees near us appear to be standing upright rather than bowed down with ice, so they should be ok. Thank god it was sleet and not freezing rain! And yesterday my husband got milk and my cigarettes on the way home from work, and we're ok on food, so no dramas here. It's just a huge mess on the roads, hence missing work for 2 or maybe 3 days; his company isn't even opening, nobody can get in to open it! (well... actually my husband could, we're only 2.5 miles from where he works, he could WALK there! but he's not "management" -- and nobody else is this close anyway, so what diff would it make).

C'mon, spring!!!!! :D

Andria
 

AndriaD

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Ok, I've found one more thing to be somewhat happy about, and in the middle of crappy weather like this, I'll take what I can get: it's not getting that cold tonight, it's still hovering right around 30 degrees. So, if it warms up *at all* tomorrow (or the sun comes out) it should start melting, because the 4 days before this crap hit were in the 50s; the ground should still be quite warm from that. So maybe Friday won't be a total washout -- which is good, as it's supposed to be payday! :banana:

Andria
 

amoret

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My brother and sister-in-law are retired now, but she was an army officer and he was a nurse. (Lots of fun with bankers, potential landlords and such who always assumed the reverse.) So being from North Dakota, he was always the one who actually made it to work when the weather got bad in any of the warmer places she was stationed.

He totally freaked out his coworkers when he would ride his motorcycle to work when there was snow on the ground, which he had to do, of course, just for the effect. Of course the effect was kind of startling even in good weather, since you don't see too many very large men in whites tooling down the road on bikes.
 

Rat2chat2

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Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy. We have the most snow I've seen in years and years. I feel sorry for my pups trying to find a place. At first they thought it was fun but now they stop at the door and look at me and I swear, I almost hear them say, "I don't think so". heehee But the 180 lb half wolf I have is in heaven. He loves the snow. Me? I wanna wear flipflops....... :wub:2all
 

AndriaD

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My brother and sister-in-law are retired now, but she was an army officer and he was a nurse. (Lots of fun with bankers, potential landlords and such who always assumed the reverse.) So being from North Dakota, he was always the one who actually made it to work when the weather got bad in any of the warmer places she was stationed.

He totally freaked out his coworkers when he would ride his motorcycle to work when there was snow on the ground, which he had to do, of course, just for the effect. Of course the effect was kind of startling even in good weather, since you don't see too many very large men in whites tooling down the road on bikes.

Heh... my husband is from St Louis, so he too would ride his motorcycle through the ice and snow we get here in GA, just so he could get around all the idjits who just leave their cars in the middle of the road. Of course, he was a very small man, in black leather. :D

Andria
 

Janet H

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Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy. We have the most snow I've seen in years and years. I feel sorry for my pups trying to find a place. At first they thought it was fun but now they stop at the door and look at me and I swear, I almost hear them say, "I don't think so". heehee But the 180 lb half wolf I have is in heaven. He loves the snow. Me? I wanna wear flipflops....... :wub:2all

We got 12 inches of snow here, then sleet/rain and now it's stopped. We'll be getting more after dinner, but not as bad as last night. It was snowing so hard earlier we could barely see to the end of the yard.

Your pup reminds me of our Cairn Terrier. Their legs are pretty short so any snow over 2" would swamp her so she couldn't squat. Mike would clear a path around the front yard for her to go out to do her thing. It was funny watching her from the upstairs window as she tried to see over the wall of snow.
 

AndriaD

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ROFL! We let our cat out for a look-see, she's been going nuts, cooped up in the garage.... she walked a few feet, then went back on her hind feet and held up her front paws like "what the hell is this cold wet stuff???" then turned right around and came back into the garage! Curiosity satisfied! :D

tuxieavatar.jpg


Andria
 

AndriaD

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Yep, we can always count on her to come in on her own, when it rains; she HATES wet feet! When everything started getting white outside, she was at her usual perch looking out the garage-door windows, and she was truly ALARMED! When we came in to make sure she was warm enough, she came over and *cowered* behind our legs! She did that two wks ago, when it snowed, and yesterday too. She'll be 3 on Jun 1 -- arbitrary date set by our best guess as to how old she was when she turned up at our house, starving and utterly bedraggled -- and the last 2 winters were very mild, no snow/ice and even damn little frost -- so she's never seen anything like this, and has no idea what to make of it! When we let her out to check it out for herself, she goes maybe 4 ft before she decides, no thanks, I'm going back in! :D

Andria
 

Janet H

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ROFL! We let our cat out for a look-see, she's been going nuts, cooped up in the garage.... she walked a few feet, then went back on her hind feet and held up her front paws like "what the hell is this cold wet stuff???" then turned right around and came back into the garage! Curiosity satisfied! :D

View attachment 305558


Andria

Tuxie looks a lot like our Maggie and Phoebe. They're tuxedo sisters.


One of ours is half Himalayan, bred for cold and snow, right?

Nah, she's just like your Tuxie. "What the %&#@ is this white stuff between my toes???!!!"

Step. Lift and shake paw.
Step. Lift and shake other paw.
Step. Lift and shake hind paw.....

HA! Maggie and Phoebe are the first cats we've ever kept indoors. They don't even try to escape anymore. We loved showing our other cats their first snow and they did exactly what your cat did. What a riot! And they'd always look indignant when they came back in - like the snow was our fault!


We had an indoor/outdoor cat once who was a very accurate weather reporter. He would always "go" outside until the temperature got to exactly zero. At that point, when we opened the door for him, he would turn around and very clearly say "Got that litter box ready?"

Cats are no dummies. Our Phoebe can tell time. She knows exactly when her dinner is due.
 

AndriaD

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Tuxie looks a lot like our Maggie and Phoebe. They're tuxedo sisters.

She's *almost* a perfect tuxedo -- except one white foot, and 2 other feet with white toes; it's like she's all dressed up, but forgot to remove one white sock. ;) I love that white stripe down her belly, like a reverse-skunk!



HA! Maggie and Phoebe are the first cats we've ever kept indoors. They don't even try to escape anymore. We loved showing our other cats their first snow and they did exactly what your cat did. What a riot! And they'd always look indignant when they came back in - like the snow was our fault!

She's the first cat I've *ever* had -- lifelong severe allergy, but now there's 24 hr Zyrtec! But, still she's primarily an outdoor cat, with nights in the garage. It's been so cold this winter, I'd almost just let her stay in here with us, but we have no way to close off the kitchen, and the idea of a cat on my kitchen counters... knowing where those feet have been... nope, just can't handle that idea at all. So we keep the space heater running out there, to keep her warm. She seems accustomed, though she does come in thru other doors, and take a "tour" through the living room, before running to the garage door to go back to her "house." :)



Cats are no dummies. Our Phoebe can tell time. She knows exactly when her dinner is due.

I totally agree, they're amazingly smart! My husband gets home about 5:15 every day, and at 5 PM, she's at the garage-door windows, waiting for his arrival. She gets her main meal in the morning, with crunchy meow mix thru the day as she feels the need, but she gets her "California Treats" when "daddy" gets home. :D He's a total cat lover, so imagine his delight to finally have a cat, after all these years of cat-less marriage! :D

Having never had a cat before, I find her a complete revelation, and I'm just astonished by how cool cats are -- you don't have to train them, they know EXACTLY what a litter box is for -- that amazes me! I had to get a book at the library, "The Cat Whisperer," just so I could learn a bit about them and their various behaviors. I'm a convert -- I still love dogs, but cats are just... neat! So quiet (except when she had her first heat, before we got her fixed), so clean, so affectionate; yes, sometimes she gives that "you talking to ME?" look, but mostly she's a delight. ;)

Andria
 

Iffy

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Wish I had a vid cam when our first dog, Taco, went outside for 'relief' after her first snow in Denver ('69)! Ever see a dog wee on tiptoes? I day-um neared wee'd myself watching her!

The next winter my bride's min Poodle (Cher) came back inside with massive snowballs on her legs and belly. She could hardly walk. Thank goodness fer da hairdryer!

Thanx fer da fond & humorous memories...


BTW... dogs have owners. Cats have servants!
 

Janet H

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That's Phoebe on the left and Magnolia Mae on the right.



We love dogs too. The last 2 years of our dog Julie's life she was very sick and we were pretty tied to home with her. When she died we decided to get 2 cats to keep each other company. That way we could go away for the weekend and not have to have someone come in to take care of them. They are easier to care for than dogs, but dogs wag their tails and get all excited to see you and they can be taught to do things. Cats teach us what they want us to do.
 
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