a99kitten's Musings

…if only Washington was as smart (hahahahaha…I crack myself up – as if THAT would ever be true.)

I need to buy the Duck Tales series and see if Uncle Scrooge has any other good tidbits…besides swimming in his gold that is :)

…you stupid, ugly skank.

Fail you idiot designers. We no longer live in caves where we need the warmth to survive. I hope PETA finds your homes…

…behind a slow, idiot driver I sometime fantasize about ramming the back of their car demolition derby style.

Maybe THAT would shake them out of their daydreaming state that seems to be keeping their foot off the gas pedal (and on the brake pedal…as they go 10+ mph UNDER the speed limit…..UPhill!)

I know I get a little smile as I imagine it. But I don’t do it. And there is the difference between normal & crazy…impulse control.

Sure might be fun though…:)

Vader’s silence (and then action) is a WAY more powerful tool to relay to us ignorant audience members what is going on with Vader’s conscience (and soul…and midichlorians…and whatever else) than him saying anything. Grrrrrr….

I love ya George, but you REALLY NEED TO STOP MESSING WITH CLASSICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sigh…all I can say is good thing I still have the original original trilogy. WHERE HAN SHOT FIRST!

I receive a lot of HR newsletters. Super fun reading (no, not really.) And most of them just annoy me due to the ridiculous one-sided nature of court cases, decisions and public opinion about the evil bosses and owners of the world out to screw over the little guy. Pfft. Anyway, I just read this story:

http://www.hrmorning.com/big-sticking-point-in-nfl-lockout-workers-comp-benefits/

So NFL players can file Workers Comp claims in the beyond-bankrupt State of California if they’ve played ONE game here and been injured. WTH? Our Workers Comp system is already bogged down by corruption and “oversight”. But now players, who in some cases already exhausted WC benefits in other states, can make a claim here. Just because they hurt their widdle knee when they were playing in a game, that they picked as their chosen career even knowing it can be dangerous, and already fought to receive numerous other guaranteed benefits from their teams/owners.

Look, someone gets seriously injured and gets cut from their team and salary or can’t play for a year (although pretty sure players still get paid by the team in injury cases) – I understand the desperation of wanting to make sure your family is cared for. But there are other things you need to do and put in place for your own protection. Like SAVINGS and not buying a Rolex for you and 10- closest pals. You chose a career where one bad play and it could end. So you need to be responsible for putting protections in place for yourself and family. Not game the system which is exactly and absolutely what this is.

No. No. No. But of course, our bloated no-longer Golden State of California says Yes. Yes. Yes. And apparently Michigan too (big surprise…)

That’s it. I’m totally on Team Owner now. I need a t-shirt.

ARGH!

P.S. And a big FU to the illegal immigrants who come here ILLEGALLY, then LIE on their applications and then claim WC too. Double-ARGH!

http://www.hrmorning.com/illegal-immigrants-can-get-workers-comp-benefits-too-court-rules/

Read a tweet by someone at CNBC that Steve Jobs was likely the only CEO that “Joe Six Pack” knew by name. The tweet even said “Warren Buffett? Isn’t that the guy with the margaritas?” Seriously? Is the general public so completely uninformed? I have a hard time believing that but maybe I shouldn’t. I’m not saying everyone needs to know the name of the CEO’s of every Fortune 500 company. But come on people. Read. Something besides US magazine.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. At election time, people have so many opinions about how they have been wronged and how they want things changed but I bet half those same people don’t know who their own representative is. Or the voting record of their favorite candidates. Or where they stand on most issues. They might just know their standing on 1 issue in particular. I am pretty sure this is how most people vote. And probably explains a lot about why our system is so completely broken.

But good thing a lot people know all about Snooki’s one night stands. And the minute by minute life choices of the Kardashian family.

I need my own island.

Reading about the chaos at this weekend’s preseason “Battle of the Bay” game between the 49ers and Raiders makes me angry. I think a start to a solution is to ban alcohol at the games. Except for maybe the private boxes where any stupidity can be contained. Does that sound wrong? Maybe to someone. And probably classist. But I am a 100% acknowledged classist so no big surprise. But my sense of classism is more geared towards ghetto, tacky, rude, etc. It’s not how much money you have. It’s how you act. How you treat others.

Most of these fights (and stabbings, shootings, etc) are caused by drunk jerks (probably a few that aren’t even drunk but I guess more are.) You take a person who is already a jerk and then let him drink non-stop from 8am when tail-gating begins and wonder why they become belligerent? Can most people have a beer and watch the game and have fun? Of course. But guess what – all you need is 1 (or 15) drunk jackasses to seriously hurt people.

Going to a sporting event should NOT be dangerous. You should be able to go to a game wearing whatever the heck team jersey you want and not have to worry about someone punching you. Or worse. That is ridiculous.

And you don’t need alcohol to have fun at the game. You can tailgate or watch from the stands and be sober and still have it be fun. If you can’t, then you have bigger problems to address. If you want to get stupid drunk while watching the game, then stay home and watch it on TV.

I always hate when you have to make rules to conform to the lowest common denominator because these are usually the people that I think don’t even deserve to breathe. But I’m fairly harsh that way. The world is over-populated anyway so let’s lose the a-holes first. And then the world is a better place anyway. Win-Win. Makes sense to me. But my rant is digressing to a different rant.

For public safety – yeah – I would support banning alcohol in the parking lots/tailgating, sold at the stadiums, etc. Will that ever happen? After hell has its own sea of glaciers. But maybe someone should try it as a test. How much could the stadium lose? Who knows. But how much does it cost to have in-stadium police stations (Philadelphia and Tampa Bay do that I know of – probably more.) And all of the extra police needed to control thuggish crowds.

Ghetto fans, gang-bangers and just plain drunk jerks are always going to be around. Certain teams do seem to attract more of a thug crowd (looking right at you Oakland) but all cities/teams have them. For all sports. Look at all of the stupidity that occurs when teams win OR lose championship games. “F Yeah – our team won/lost – now let’s loot and set fire to stuff!!” Now, all of those people probably aren’t drunk (just insanely stupid or plain criminal) but my guess is a good chunk are somewhat inebriated. So you can either have an entire police force at a silly game to attempt to keep peace or you can try taking away something that is contributing to the mayhem. Do I blame alcohol? *Absolutely not.* Fact: people are responsible for their own condition. Plenty of people can have a drink or 2 or even tons and still be perfectly sane (and probably just vomit or fall asleep.) I blame stupidity, jerkishness and a Lord of the Flies mentality.

Some people argue that these people aren’t real fans of the teams so why penalize the fans. Well, they are fans. Are they fans of the team for the “right” reasons? Probably not. Oakland has had a thug, gangster reputation for a long time. LA gangs LOVE their merchandise so then display their devotion to the team. They are liked because they were seen as the thug team. Great reason. Of course now they are just the crap team. But with the same “Black Hole” Orc fans.

I have been to probably 7-10 49ers games. And about 15 or so Giants games. The thing I always liked about them was that the SF crowd definitely seemed to be nicer. I went to the SF/Oakland World Series games and the difference in crowds and atmosphere between seeing them in Oakland and seeing them in SF (including the “earthquake game”) was vast. Now, I am definitely not saying SF doesn’t have thug fans. I know they do. But you couldn’t pay me to see another game or concert in Oakland. Not worth it. I don’t ever want feel so unsafe for simply being in attendance at a game or anything else.

Stories came out after the game that the 49ers will be cutting tail-gating hours. That might help a little but it’s still going to be 4 hours or so. So 4 hours of drinking and then game time drinking is more than enough for mayhem. And some of the players (49ers) came out and said how the violence worries them since their families are also in the stands. Frank Gore came out and said “it’s just game.” So if the people getting paid to play this game want you losers to knock it off, pretty sure by being thugs you are showing the rest of us just how big of ghetto losers you are. Sadly, it never seems to be you who gets beat up, shot, stabbed, etc.

The owner of the 49ers also said he has requested that the Battle of the Bay game be discontinued. This is a very good idea. It’s a dumb preseason game anyway. I hope the NFL agrees. If not, then they can pony up for the National Guard unit to come in and keep the peace at the next one.

It’s pretty gross that Congress takes a month off (yeah, yeah they are going to visit their constituents. Uh-huh.) The President (and God knows how big of an entourage) is going to Martha’s Vineyard. The EU leaders (as well as most workers in EU) get all of August off as well. At least the British Prime Minister acted like a leader and came back to deal with the scum-sucking, pieces of crap rioters who all should just be shot and dealt with that way.

But no. The average American is lucky to get to Disneyland for the weekend or take a few days off to spend with their kids on their summer vacations from the pathetic institution of public schools. But our leaders get to take the summer off while our markets tumble, our economy continues to falter, we have high unemployment and we continue to fight wars in Afghanistan and Libya (this has been a long few days for our troops helping the UN there.)

But right…I forgot. This is all George Bush’s fault. Or the fat cats on Wall Street. Or the private jet owners. Finger-pointing = done. Time to hit the beach….

Last weekend, I went outside to take care of my kitty Gypsy. She lives in a big outside kitty house with kitty trees, shelves to jump on, etc. She used to live inside with her brother Jack. Then we got Angelus. He would chase the cats but generally left them alone once they jumped up into one of the trees or out of his way. Then we got Storm. Storm’s addition to the pack turned Angelus’ wolf/pack instinct on BIG time. BIG time. They would chase the cats. So every day when I got home, I would go inside, put the cats away in our home office, and then bring the dogs in (who always went to work with me). Then at night, would bring the dogs into the bedroom and put up the puppy gates, and then let the cats out to have the run of the house at night. Then in the AM – they got put away and the dogs were out in the house as I got ready for work. Rinse/Repeat. Every day.

Then when I was out of town and husband was in charge of this schedule for a day or 2, he let the dogs in before the cats were secured. They instantly found Jack and, as husband described it, acted just like wolves and chased/tag-teamed Jack and Angelus grabbed his butt in his mouth and Storm grabbed his front end in his mouth. All the while Jack was scratching at Storm’s face and Storm did not care. This all happened in like 3 seconds and then husband picked up both dogs by the scruff of their necks and they dropped Jack who ran into the closet and likely began plotting everyone’s deaths…or at least whose stuff he was going to pee on first.

Husband told me this and I freaked. He said we needed to find the kitties a safer home. I was sad about this as I had Jack before I had husband. But they weren’t safe here and that was not fair to them. At the same time, trying to find 2 kitties a home is pretty hard. And I was not just dropping them off at a shelter. That was not an option.

In the meantime, husband drove to Fresno or some such inland hellhole and bought a cat house. No – not a whore house. An actual cat house that you build – they supply all the pieces. He brought it home and had it built in the backyard over a weekend.  We put 2 cat trees in as well as various levels of beds in there. And moved the cats out there.

It made me sad. And I still feel like a cat mom failure.   Jack died 2 years ago. This left Gypsy alone and this made me feel even worse. She really belongs inside with someone who will let her cuddle and luxuriate around the house. Maybe even in bed.

I try and visit and spend time with her every day. Sometimes it’s just to check her food and water and a quick pet. Sometimes I hang out and just pet her. Still not the same though.  She needs a new Mom.

But she has always been on Advantage. And the dogs have always been on Frontline. I have literally NEVER seen a flea inside the house or on any of my animals EVER. Not ever.

Then, last Sunday, I went outside to spend more time with Gypsy than a quick pet and food check. I swept her floor and cleaned her water fountain (we ran power down there from under the house and she has a running-water fountain.)

I usually let the dogs out in the backyard while I do this, as they like to sniff around. Especially Angelus who likes to sniff around for critter scents.  We all went inside and upstairs. I went outside to the top deck to pet Storm and saw like 10 fleas all around his face. ARGH! ARGH! I was thinking it was the beach or something weird as we had just returned from Mavericks before I went out and saw Gyspy. I took a pot of water and a brush out on the deck and brushed and picked every flea off Storm – drowning them in the water. Since he is white and half naked, this was fairly easy.

I still was thinking this was beach related and went back outside to put the freshly washed and dried blankets back into Gypsy’s beds and then I saw my pants were covered in fleas. ARGH!!!!! ARGH TIMES 100000000!!!!!

I dropped everything. I tore all of Gypsy’s beds and blankets out and threw them onto the deck.  I ran inside, ripped my clothes off and threw them all into the shower and closed the bathroom door. I changed and wrapped everything into a large towel and then started a laundry cycle of my clothes, then the dog beds in the bedroom (that I had to run by) and then rewash all of Gypsy’s stuff in hot water, double rinse and then hot dryer.

Meanwhile, went upstairs and checked the dates on the dogs Frontline and Gypsy’s Advantage. The dogs had just gotten their Frontline applied about 2 weeks ago so if any fleas bit them, they would definitely die. But Gypsy’s Advantage was due in a few days so I went ahead and did it early. Same thing – they had to bite her to die. These things aren’t repellant. They are supposed to actually work longer than a month though so there was NO reason they wouldn’t be working.

I researched stuff online as I did not want super poisonous stuff around any of them but wanted some kind of spray to use outside. White vinegar supposedly repels/kills them but otherwise, you needed to buy stuff. I used some white vinegar in the laundry but pretty sure the hot water and laundry detergent was probably fine.

I then had to brush and pick off fleas from Angelus. Angelus has 2 thick coats. He is the fluffiest beast I know.   Excellent. I was wiping a cloth with white/vinegar and water on him as well as picking the fleas off and drowning them. They were concentrated on his face and paws. Same as Storm.   I know they were poking around behind our shed while we were down there and I think the fleas have come from critters in the yard. We have a family of either raccoons or skunks living under the house. I hear them sometimes and Angelus knows there is something under the deck as he tries to dig under there if left alone in the backyard. Which is why he is not allowed.

So off I went in search of a natural flea repellant and killer. It uses peppermint oil and other oils that apparently fleas hate. Turns out Pet Club had it. As I was looking at the various products they had (a whole aisle) I overheard the worker telling 2 women about flea control. He is describing the benefits of Frontline and other topical stuff for dogs. But then he is adding how the fleas need to bite the dog to die. So you need a repellant in addition to the topical. I have never had to use this. I guess the coastside has fewer fleas because it’s never really warm enough for them to thrive. And Tahoe has no fleas. Another reason to live there.

Anyway, he says to them “the stock market has been down almost 1000 points lately. Do you know what this means? It means people lost a lot of money. Then you have people who have lost their jobs. This means they have no money. You know what they give up? Pet care. And not food – but flea control.”  I think to myself “Ok, CNBC market commentator/Pet Club guy? Really?” But Ok…he’s not wrong either.

He goes on to say we might put topical control on your pets, but others may not. And then think of all the dogs your dogs meet and play with at the beach or in the park, or the cats that go through your yard, or the wild animals that do, and all those animals could carry fleas. And the fleas will be there until they bite your pet. ARGH!

So I bought the carpet powder, the spray for the beds and the dogs and then the spray for outside.  I HATE bugs. HATE. And fleas and ticks are on the top of that list.  So I wanted to use everything I could to get rid of them. It smells a bit but the dogs didn’t seem to care when I put the spray on my hands and them rubbed in into their fur.

So then this morning, I went out and sprayed all of Gypsy’s trees and then all around her house. I get inside and see about 5 fleas on me. ARGH!!!!!!!!! Because let’s be real here – all of the animals are flea protected and I just sprayed repellant on everything so if you were a plea – where would YOU jump? ARGH!!  I freak out once again (please be aware how much I truly I HATE bugs. Hate them. In a kinda sorta completely irrational kinda way hate. I would rather a bear was in my house eating all the food in my fridge.)

So I tear all my clothes off and throw them in the washer and turn on the hot water cycle and then go change. And then realize my iPhone was in my pocket. I yell out loud NOOOOO! And run to the washer. It was full. With hot water. And I stuck my hands in the hot water searching for the phone. Found it. On the bottom of the washer. And my right hand/lower arm seem a bit scalded. Phone is done. So I need to go buy one on Monday. Driving over the hill and getting annoyed by tourist traffic to do it over the weekend will just be rubbing salt in the wound.

So the fleas have cost me $80 worth of flea products. $400+ for the new phone on Monday and a ton of stress and time. The money is an annoyance. The stock market took far, far more of my money this week. But the stress pissed me off.  And the feeling of ARGH upsets me. I will now go through another day thinking bugs are on me and mentally freaking out.

This could have been an episode of I Love Lucy. This seems like a ridiculous Lucy and Ethel kind of situation. So Happy Birthday Lucy. You wear 100 well.

And yes, fleas, and the people that might not use flea control, are the scourge of the Earth to me today. Fuckers. Obviously wild critters who just happen to get fleas can’t be blamed. And I can’t go around buying them all Frontline. THAT would be a good Lucy episode though. Or maybe more Laverne & Shirley.

Sigh. Is it too early to open a bottle of wine?

Took the huskies to the beach this morning on their walk. We came across this:

This is the kinda stuff that makes me believe Singaporian justice isn’t such a bad idea. The people that leave their trash like this, whether on the beach, in parks, in lakes, on the side of the road, wherever, are people who have little or no sense of personal responsibility. And if they are doing this, there are far worse and stupid things they are doing.

They are scum-sucking maggots who will only continue to behave like this (or worse.) People who probably offer no real benefit to society, and more likely, are a drain on it. People who will probably breed and spawn little scum-sucking maggots who will go on to also be of little use or benefit to society.

So yes – a good caning would, at the very least, make me feel better about it.