The weekend Thread

[Tig***]

Dropping off our grand daughter after the night at the new boardwalk, this kitten walks up to the car. I get out and she comes right up and lets me pet her. Big mistake!

Say hello to our new kitten, Sophie. She is part of a litter born in a car and while running wild, is very affectionate and likes people. She is already getting used to the dogs and fits in well.




She's even more comfy on the greyhound pillow...



Lulu isn't so sure, so she's sitting on Ziggy for protection.

[R_of_G]

Adorable cat Tig! Welcome to the family Sophie!

[Spudman***]

Did some catering in the Tetons. I was so busy I didn't get a lot of photos. It was a plated dinner for 120.

A nasty squall blew in right at the start of dinner but didn't destroy anything. Then we had to deal with all the Leprechauns making their way to the end of the rainbow. At least they didn't try to mooch any desert.

[deeaa*]

Cute kitten!

We've always had a cat or two around since I was the size of a fire extinguisher. Currently only have one only, though, and I'm torn between whether to take in any more pets when she passes - which will be in a few years I'm sure, she's already like 15 or so.

I need pets like a hole in my head with two super energetic sons...can't imagine having to walk a dog and finding care for it when we go somewhere...and for cats...I dunno if it's worth the ripped furniture and the hair everywhere and not being able to offer room to lots of allergic people we know, like my god-daughter...so many downsides.

Part of me wants a pet, but the older I get, the more I think they're there only for personal fun and pleasure, and I don't know if it's morally the right thing to do to animals...maybe animals should be just wild and not domesticated to be toys for humans basically. That's just theorizing, I've nothing against pets and pet-keepers and might become one and AM one, hell, but I just don't know if I can justify the morality of keeping pets for myself any more if I think of it. It's kinda twisted morality anyway, I see no issue in raising pigs for a year in a box to be eaten...they know of nothing better...but I just wonder if keeping a dog or a cat in the confines of a home etc. for instance is not just prolonged torment to a wild animal who can't do anything about it because it can't survive alone.

But then again, when I was a kid we had pets from mice to fish to birds and whatnot, and I'd like for my sons to get the same experiences as well...and cats are such nice company too. Mine used to always sleep on my pillow curled around my ears till I got married and had to evict the furballs from the bedroom :-)

[Tig***]

I see what you are saying. They can sometimes be more damaging than they are worth! I have always had some kind of pet(s). Mostly rescued from the outdoors or adopted. I hate the thought of animals (heck, people too) suffering needlessly if I can make a difference. That means spay/neutering them, as the world is rarely in short supply of kittens and puppies. My wife and I are suckers for a pet in need of a good home. Some of our rescues were miss-treated, left to die in trash bins, or just abandoned and in need.

I'm not supportive when it comes to taking wild or exotic animals and making them pets. We raised a few raccoons growing up, but they were abandoned in our attic. However, cats, dogs, and horses thrive when paired with humans, so that seems natural.

[deeaa*]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'd like to get our next pet(s) from an animal shelter too. Only, there's not much else there besides cats...and much as I like 'em...suffices to say I'm usually the one doing the cleaning and buying new furniture round here :-)

[Katastrophe]

Shelters (or stray rescues) are the only way to go, in my opinion. Our shelter dog, Kickers (a three legged wondermutt), is the best dog ever.

My ex and I once rescued a stray as a puppy, that turned out to be this HUGE hound mix. The doc that neutered him apparently forgot to count to "two," and he managed to break through the fence of the neighbor where he lived (we found him a home) and managed to sire a litter.

[deeaa*]

Went to this old mine yesterday that's been converted into a tourist attraction...here's a few cellphone pics:

[deeaa*]

...and then our car decided to go swimming...

[Katastrophe]

Oh, Dee, that SUCKS!

What happened to cause such a calamity?

BTW... My stepdaughter's comment - "That's carpooling gone WAY wrong!"

[deeaa*]

Handbrake snapped...I had just lowered the boat and walking round the car when I heard this *SNAP* and it started rolling...I got inside and tried to stop it, and did before it went completely under & saved my phone from the cradle, but that was it.

FD came and pulled it out...it'll probably have to be scrapped, it isn't valuable enough to repair any more after extensive water damage. Hopefully the insurance will pay something. But, I'm just happy nobody was hurt and it's also kinda fun to shop for a new car too :-)

[Katastrophe]

Man, it's a good thing no one was hurt.

Cars can be replaced.

[sunvalleylaw]

Saturday night visited a buddy at his home on a private ski lake near Shoshsone, ID. Got to get pulled behind his nice boat. You see him and his son as he pulls me around the "islands" that break the boat wakes as the boat turns around. Great fun!



Also got to ski and wakeboard and tube with the kids at the reservoir with my boat today. I will get some film of that up later!

[Tig***]

Wow, that really sucks! It could have been worse if you or a family member were still inside.
This is one of those "the last thing I expected to happen" moments.

[sunvalleylaw]

Wow Deeaa! I just posted my deal and missed seeing yours! Glad everyone was ok!

[deeaa*]

Insurance paid a few hundred for the stuff inside the car, but nothing for the car. Oh well.

I bought a Skoda Octavia 2009 to replace it...



4x4 drive, 1.8 turbo, pretty well equipped with parking radars, touchscreens etc. I'm happy now :-)

Funny though, since it's all white and black windows, it looks EXACTLY like a police car undercover / watching for speeders...most everybody slows down when they see me coming now :-)

[Katastrophe]

That's a nice looking family hauler ya got there!

The insurance company cut a check quick, too, even if they should have given you something for the value of the car. After all, before the dunk in the lake it was operational, and therefore, had some value, even for parts.

[Brian Krashpad]

Zoiks! Mojo on the loss of the car and congrats on the new one Dee!

Congrats on the kitty Tig.

Nice scenery Spud!

Had a crazy Friday night, gigging. Separate thread w/pix here:
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.ph...iskaidecaphobe

Skipped church band practice on Saturday morning.

On Sunday I played bass in church, since our bassist wasn't there and there weren't any leads in the songs anyhow. It was fun to play bass again, hadn't played bass in a lonnnnnnnnng time. After church met with a friend whose wedding we'll be playing in September.

[deeaa*]

Cheers guys!

Well, I had purposefully kept the insurance at the lowest possible level - it would have paid for only the damages to an other car in an accident as well as vandalism/fire/theft/running into an animal. But the limited insurance won't pay a dime for anything other.

It's cool tho, since I had the car on limited insurance for like years already and thus saved something like $2500 in insurance and I don't think they would have paid that much for the car anyway.

I did get ~$200 for the iPod and some other stuff. And sold the wreck for a hundred, plus will sell the wintel r tires I had for it with rims for probably 200 or so. Can't complain. It's basically just a question of having to get a new car a year early...the old one had almost 400K on the clock anyway and had some weird pollution control issues that would have made it nigh impossible to sell anyway and likely expensive to repair. So I can't really think I lost much at all. Maybe like $1000 at the very best, and that's peanuts easily shadowed by the fact I now have a car I'm truly happy with. Considering I do have to haul the family and being a bit frugal by nature I can't think of a better car I would want.