Category: Life

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The Circle Of Life

Our ‘Prince of April Wind’ – Bear
I’m sad to share that our puppy Bear, who was nearly 17-years-old, passed away on Saturday. He’d been on medication for a heart condition for the past few months but was doing well. Thursday night he was fine, occasionally taking the time to bark at a friend’s basset hound we were dog-sitting. But out of nowhere on Friday, he stopped eating food and barely took any water and couldn’t keep the water he did drink down. Listless and a bit disoriented, he was very quiet and basically slept all day. In the past, he also experienced brief seizures that began coming more often. He’d had them before, but usually weeks between episodes. Friday night, he was very restless and couldn’t get comfortable. We were up most of the night watching him. On Saturday morning, we were already very concerned, but then the seizures came again. He had six episodes throughout the morning – each more violent than he has ever had. Heartbroken, we knew what we had to do. We had to be his “humans” and take his pain away.
Michael with Bear
Our ‘Prince of April Wind’ crossed the rainbow bridge – on his favorite blanket that he slept on every night – with the help of two very compassionate veterinarians who came to the house.
I took this photo of Bear looking out the front door just days before his passing
Bear was born last in Michael’s hands, and over the years his timid nature put him down the pecking order in terms of alpha-dom. But in the past seven months, being the lone dog of the house, he flourished and grew confident. Even in his last moments, when the vets came into the bedroom on Saturday, he stood up and barked ferociously defending us from what he perceived as a threat. Our prince had become a knight.
Me with baby Bear getting some water during the puppy days
With the passing of any loved one comes grief, but in addition to losing Bear, we find ourselves at the end of our wonderful 23-year adventure with this beautiful dachshund family. We began with the mama, Sabrina, in December 1997. Daddy dog Bruno joined the family in 2002, and in July of 2003, their puppies Tyler, Bandit, and Bear were born. As our friends know, the dogs ruled in our house. For years, the house was full of boundless dog energy.
The dogs help Michael take a break from work
Everywhere we look, the dogs’ presence is undeniable. Five water dishes spread around the house, six beds, the pantry full of treats, their blankets on our bed… For all these years, this furry family has loved on us and brought more joy than words can describe. We realize that, as adults, for the past 32 years, we’ve both always had dogs in our lives. But in 2011, we lost Sabrina. Bandit passed in 2017, Bruno followed a year later, and this past November Tyler departed.
Me with all five doxies
As we lost them over the years, there was always the surviving pups to love on and pour our hearts into. Now, just silence. We are heartbroken and the pain is so deep we are both literally numb. Rest in peace our little teddy Bear – your family is there waiting for you on the other side of the bridge. It’s the end of our Doxie Dynasty.
Bruno being daddy with the puppies as Sabrina looks on

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Memorial Day 2020: Remember And Honor

Wishing everyone a great holiday weekend, and I hope that folks take some time out to remember why we celebrate this day as a nation. It’s not “National BBQ Day,” you know. Think of those we’ve lost who stood up for, and made possible, our freedoms and liberty here in the U.S. A few facts about Memorial Day: • Originally known as Decoration Day, the observance began in the years following the Civil War honoring those who fell during that conflict. • During World War I, the tradition expanded into a day of remembering all men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. • In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as a federal holiday to be held on the last Monday in May. The law went into effect in 1971. • Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time. • Memorial Day typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end. • Memorial Day has a different focus than Veterans Day. Memorial Day is a day of remembering those who perished while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. • The average age of fallen U.S. soldiers is 26½. The New York Times reports that Arlington National Cemetery is running out of room and may need to consider new rules that may turn away eligible soldiers.

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#CostcoTison Wins The Day After Rude Customer Booted From Store

CostCo manager Tison and Mr. 3K
The latest video to go viral on Twitter involves a CostCo store manager who politely stopped a shopper in his Colorado-based store who wasn’t wearing a face mask. For health reasons involving the current COVID-19 health crisis that has killed over 90,000 Americans to date, the store posted its requirement for all shoppers to wear a mask weeks ago. Tison let the gentleman know he needed to wear a face mask – like all the other shoppers in the store – or he’d need to leave. The shopper began recording the encounter and proudly announced his bigly 3K following on Instagram. Mr. 3K informed the store manager he didn’t have to wear a mask because “he woke up in a free country.” Tison politely looked in the camera and restated the policy. When Mr. 3K refused to wear the mask, Tison took the man’s shopping cart and departed saying, “Have a great day.” “So you’re gonna take this cart from me full of stuff?” the shopper asked, to which Tison replied, “You are no longer welcome here in our warehouse. You need to leave, thank you very much.” “He’s gonna take the cart away because he’s a pu**y little bitch,” said Mr. 3K as Tison walked away. “There he goes walking away with all my stuff, there he goes because I’m not a f**king sheep.” Note – the goods weren’t Mr. 3K’s yet as he hadn’t paid, but I digress. Mr. 3K apparently posted the video (thinking he was victorious) on Reddit, but soon deleted the clip as he was being ridiculed across the interwebs. But, as they say, the internet is forever… Here is Mr. 3K and our hero, Tison via Twitter. For the record – what I see here is a responsible front line supermarket employee doing his job and enforcing company policy, he did not deserve the abuse.

“People of Twitter thank you for all of the support,” @Thoff821 tweeted. “I was just trying to protect our employees and our members #Tison.”

Mr. 3K came back to announce, “I got every f—ing right to not wear a mask,” he said. “This isn’t about wearing a mask, it’s about control. I’m not the f—ing sheep … I was one of the only people in that store not wearing a mask.”

Dude, you pay ‘membership’ to belong to CostCo and the rules state membership may be terminated at any time. Plus, policies and practices may be amended from time to time.

And, saving the best for last:

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Red Lobster Rumble As Customer Slaps Employee On Mother’s Day

It was a rumble at a Red Lobster restaurant when another ‘Karen’ lost her mind waiting for her order and slapped an employee. The term ‘Karen’ has become popular in the modern-day lexicon referring to “a strident middle-class white woman who talks down to people of color, usually in serving-staff positions.” According to the York Daily Record, a video posted to YouTube shows several employees forcibly removing the woman (who was not wearing a face mask) from the restaurant. As she attempts to push her way back inside, she loudly demands her “motherf**king money back.” With the patron outside, she continues to be unruly. The employees inside appear to be trying to find a way to solve the refund issue when suddenly the woman hauls off and slaps a female employee. And all hell breaks loose. Once the moment seems to be defused to some degree, the employees start to head back inside the building as the woman declares, “I was assaulted and have a whole crowd to see it.” The Daily Record reports Springettsbury Township Police were called at 4:26 p.m. to the location. Lt. Tony Beam told the newspaper, from what he could ascertain, “She was upset because her food wasn’t ready. She wanted her money refunded.” Beam went on to say that the customer was gone by the time officers arrived at the restaurant, but they spoke with her at a ‘nearby location.’ No charges have been filed in regard to the incident. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, patrons weren’t allowed inside the restaurant, only employees. Pick-up orders were to be brought out to customers on the sidewalk. One commenter on the YouTube page said a friend was there and all the orders were placed and pre-paid either through GrubHub or the Red Lobster app. While there was an hours-long backlog, customers who wanted a refund apparently had to make those requests using the apps as local staff wasn’t hooked up to do refunds. I’ve worked in the service industry, and it seems apparent from the unified front of the restaurant employees throughout the video, the woman must have been putting up quite stink inside. Plus, if she’s ordering Mother’s Day dinner from Red Lobster, she’s got bigger problems.

Nicole Bott, director of communications for Red Lobster, provided this statement regarding Sunday’s incident:

“We understand that we may have disappointed some of our guests on Mother’s Day when due to COVID-19 and changes to our operations and staffing, we were not able to keep up with the demand at some of our locations. We apologize that some of our guests experienced long wait times, crowds, and in some cases, did not receive their orders.

“It is always our goal to provide our guests with a great seafood experience, and unfortunately, for some guests, we did not meet that goal on Sunday. We are working to better understand what occurred and how we can prevent it occurring in the future.

“That said, we do not tolerate violence for any reason in our restaurants. We expect our team members treat our guests with respect, and we expect our guests to treat our team members with respect in return. We are grateful our Manager and the guest involved were not seriously injured in the incident on Sunday.”

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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My Favorite Thing Today: ‘The Great Realisation’

"The Great Realization" by Tomfoolery (Tomos Roberts)

Olivia Newton-John sent this to me and I found it to be uplifting and utterly enchanting. There’s a magical quality to this poem. Just a few lines:

But while we all were hidden amidst the fear and all the while The people dusted off their instincts – they remembered how to smile They started clapping to say thank you and calling up their mums And while the car keys gather dust they would look forward to their runs

The caption on the YouTube video reads, “A bedtime story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020.” You can find more from Probably TomFoolery on YouTube here.

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My Favorite Thing Today: ‘Beast Mode’ Daddy & Daughter

Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth (Sweet Charity, Chicago the Musical) retweeted this on Twitter and it’s my favorite thing today. Check out how this adorable little girl and “beast mode” daddy get in their stay-at-home workout. #ColorMeImpressed

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Saturday: Chilling At The Cement Pond

Stepping away from the computer for a few minutes of pool time on this sunny, slow Saturday. Hard to believe Bruno the wonder dog (above) has been gone for over two years now, but every memory of him makes me smile. He enjoyed these days with me like no one. And he loved to cruise around the pool – even if his paws did rip up his float a bit. Thinking good thoughts for all of you this afternoon. #morewine

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A Reminder Of Presidential Empathy

Former President George W. Bush strikes a beautiful balance and tone of what the word ‘united’ can mean to the nation. I especially was struck by his statement, “Let us remember that empathy and simple kindness are essential powerful tools of national recovery.” Empathy. Kindness. I don’t need to elaborate. You know what I would write next. I wasn’t a fan of George W. Bush. Not his politics or policy. I’m sure some readers will be surprised I post this. But despite my disagreements with much of his administration, I am able to recognize that in this message, I find comfort. Moments like this (or Barack Obama’s a capella rendition of “Amazing Grace” at a funeral service for victims of a mass shooting) remind me of an important, vital role our leaders can play at times of turmoil. Just watch. It’s not about GWB but having an uplifting minute or two to remind us who we are.