journey of life

Below are some wanted requests I’ve seen come through on my local freecycle:

- good reading books (this gal actually admits to the group that she is unwilling to go to the library, she wants new stuff and she wants to read at her own pace).
- Hercules hooks (as seen on T.V.)
- treadmill
- two highchairs, a crib mattress, a sofa (bed), a desk, an office chair, a microwave oven, and a single stroller…all in a single request.

Then, there are people asking for tables, valances, sofas, with stipulations, like, please take a picture and needs to be (fill in the blank: size, color, age) and somebody wanting a cell phone of a certain carrier. But the kicker for me is the woman who has posted over fifty requests in two months who has asked for *everything* I have offered.  In my mind, this is excessive and definitely not the intention of freecycle.

I have offered to assist in moderating this forum (because I don’t see anybody doing it), but have yet to receive a response from the gods that be.  So, as a result, I have set up a filter to automatically send any email with a “wanted” in the subject line to the trash.  There.  Problem solved.  It’s like automatically having credit card offers immediately shredded for you so you can open the real mail and packages!

Our youngest dog has had a puking problem. It started several months ago, and recently has gotten more frequent. She only vomits when she is “over-hungry”, right before she eats, and the vomit is foamy, watery and yellow (sometimes clear) in tint. Too much information? Sorry.  But, if you have/had a dog who does/did this and have some suggestions, I’m all ears.

Our vet is not concerned about this at all. Apparently, it’s fairly common, and what little research I did supports her belief.  But, she did suggest giving our dog treats before bed and in the morning before she started moving around. Then, in the morning, as soon as she gets up, we shuttle her outside to do her business and feed her as quickly as possible. This really wasn’t working well, so we have a different plan of attack now. We are feeding her a total of a cup of food a day. A half a cup in the morning, a quarter of a cup at 5:00 pm (or thereabouts) and the remaining quarter of a cup close to bedtime (10:00 pm or so). Will it work? We will just have to wait and see, but it has seemed to work these past few days. The competitive eater she is (seriously, she could kick ass Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest) actually left her breakfast to come see me this morning. Usually she doesn’t leave her post until it’s all gone. Anyway, if our new method doesn’t work our vet suggested 5 mg of Pepcid AC at bedtime might help, which will be our next step. And, lastly, it could be the food, doubtful but plausible, something else we can alter.

Which of the following do we not have in our neighborhood?

a. Mexican restaurant
b. hardware store
c. gourmet cheese shop
d. farmers market
e. candy store
f. butcher
g. post office
h. coffee shop
i. pottery classes
j. Thai restaurant
k. movie theater
l. coffee shop
m. convenience store
n. library
o. ice cream
p. playground
q. yoga classes