Michele

Sweet Bazz....... I was so scared on that jump - can you see that in the shot? LOLOLOL!!! You are such a good flyer - we managed to stay together! My first group launch from the van...oh man, that was a ball. Deuce letting go because of his helmet, Matt staying, Lummy getting lost, man...I miss everyone. Let me know when there's gonna be a reunion, and I'll be there. Deuce, effective or surgical or just not as frequently posting...someone pm'd me missing my stories, but I figure they'd get lost in the noise. I wish circumstances were better so I'd be out jumping more, but they're not. It's all right; the sky isn't going anywhere. I MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

More prayers for Ellie and his family...and for you, too, Con. It's been a hard year for you. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Phew. LOL!!!! I agree - there are lots of "acceptable" prejudice displayed here. And lots of unacceptable prejudice, as well. I can think of several posters who've used inappropriate terms, and gotten slammed (or banned) for their use. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Dave, that is a darling girl. Well done, and thanks for taking her in. Please spay her between 4-6 months, so there aren't a ton of little Katy Kats running around. If you have any questions about cats, I'd be more than happy to help. She looks like a little talker and firebrand! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Welcome home, Dustin, and thank you!!! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Happy birthday, Squeak, and may there be many, many more. Best to you!! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Not the way I sing.... Just a quick note. In one day, I had two confrontations about my smoking...both while I was a passenger in a car. The last one was vile; a car pulled up next to us, and he actually spit on me. Spit on me. Hawked a lugie and let fly. The driver was unable to follow him, or else I'd've had him up on a battery charge. I was absolutely abhorred and disgusted by that. I scrubbed my hand with alcohol, and still wish I'd been able to get his plate and/or had a "coversation" with the jerk. It was horrifying. And what was interesting was the self-satisfied look on the asshat's face, knowing I couldn't get to him, and being subjected to his spit and mucous. It's trendy and cool to be anti smoking. We pay extra taxes, we get called names, we get nasty looks. It's just another way for people to look down on other people; this time, though, it's supported by the government. But people won't see that; they'll hear the cry "it's for the children," and tax us and spit on us and ban us from smoking. And it's got nothing to do with the children...I haven't a child, and there was no child in the car with me. So why spit on me? because it's trendy...cool...and he was expressing a deep seated anger on an innocent citizen. Yuck. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

My prayers added to the rest...that God holds Rico in His healing hands, and that God's strength flows into his wife and family, showing them that the road may be rough, but it can be walked, given time enough and courage. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

No problem. I just can't stand to see a kitty put down because of a wee pee issue. No responses just yet, but the weekend is when people usually get some coordination/rescue done. Let's give it a bit, and see. And if there's no response, I'll see who else I can get. Do you have any photos of her? That might help. In the meantime, I'd try the catnip suggestion, and if the smell is really terrible, there's something I use called Folex which really really gets the stuff banished. It's rather amazing. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

I've been wracking my brain, and I seem to recall some cars (??) with additional unexploded bombs on 7/7. I could be totally wrong, but I remember thinking at that time that if that is true, this is not yet over. And I'm not speaking to the events in Leeds, although that is also connected in everything. Honestly, I thought it was copycats because of the ineffectiveness of the bombs, but I seem to have thought wrong. Damn. ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Well, all right...but it's what OBL said. I'm not making the conclusions up, and he specifically spoke to the Balfour treaty. Further, whether you've supported Palestine or not, it is the concept of westernization in the ME which is anathema to OBL. But blame Bush if you want... Steel did a rather admirable job in culling terrorist attacks to demonstrate something particular. I do agree that it was an attack on the US, but it was also an attack on ideology and way of life. Because of that, most western countries set on alert. Additionally, the first part of the Gulf War involved Brits, too. I'd research a bit more of the conflict, and see what OBL and AQ have been saying prior to 9/11 and just after it. Nothing to do with the current war in Iraq, and everything to do with ideology, westernization of the ME, and a particularly lethal combination of psychopathology, finances, and charisma. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Know what, Beerlight? I would if I could. A small 1 bedroom apt is just not big enough for a 6th...but just wait until I have a house! LOLOLOLOL! And a yard with rescue pups...yeah, I can get behind that. Kim, I've put out the word. I've asked for a rescue in Austin, TX, and they tend to be rather responsive. Give me a bit and I'll see what I can arrange. Deal? Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Sigh. Let me ask around. I have a large network, and they may be able to get someone out in your area. Give me a bit of time, all right? Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

I wasn't sure it was the same group, but they're now saying that the manufacture of today's bomb is identical to those of two weeks ago. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

As indeed it should've. Some amazing people came to serve during that war. Amazing people indeed. I saw a documentary on them once, and it was incredible what the Code Talkers were able to do. Rest in peace, Mr. Chibitty. You have indeed earned it. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

LOLing at all of you!!! Thanks...I appreciate the compliments. It's a good house for cats. I have a soft spot for those animals hurt, abused, lost and scared. Since I can't have dogs here, I have cats. And it's really funny, but I tend to not have the same issues as other people do (or at least they're relatively shortlived when they happen); my guys are pretty well behaved, but I think that's because they know - no questions!!!- they are loved and adored. They don't fight with each other, and 3 of the 5 were adults when they came in (the exceptions being Pie (2 months) and Simon (2 1/2 weeks)). The only problem is when it's 100 degrees, and the four that let me love on them all want to be loved on at the same time. Just too hot! LOL! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

She is doing really well. No contact yet, but she's constantly in the same room I'm in, has her toys (that the other 4 don't bother) and plays with them, her sleeping spot is in the open (rather than under the bed). She eats with the others, and is interested in the shenanigans of the house overall. In the last two months, I've nearly stepped on her several times, as she comes up behind me to see what I'm doing, or is curious as to what the others are up to and I just don't see her. LOL, those moments scare her, and yes, she still hisses and fusses at me, but nothing at all major. If she leaves the room, she's back within 10 minutes, and often I pass her about 2 feet away without her fleeing. We have moved up to treats and I'm trying to get her to be willing to be touched with a long feather wand. We had some success with that a while ago, but then things happened. It's time to start that process again. Yes, my Pengy is doing well...thanks, Tigra, for asking. I can't wait to touch her with my hand. That will be an amazing moment. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hi, there, Kim! OK. A few questions. 1. Has she done this all her life? Or did it start a bit ago? 2. Any recent changes? Anything at all which has upset her routine? Cats are routine lovers, and don't handle change well. Did you get new carpet, a new chair, new dishes, new cat box? A new perfume? Anything new/different at all? 3. What are you feeding her? A higher quality cat food (yes, I know...) can help with peeing problems. Friskies and Cat Chow are really bad for UTIs in cats. Try Iams, or Chicken Soup For The Cat's Soul, or something a little more "pure." Stay away from "meal" anything; if that's in the first few ingredients, it can really play havoc on a kitty's urinary tract. 4. Any unusual smell to the urine? The next time you get a spot, wipe it up with a clean kleenex or napkin (preferably white). Sniff it (yes, I know, gross...but...). If there is any overly strong smell, or any unusual smell, pop Kitty into the carrier and take her in. Any weird color? Darkish, or too light, or streaks? Blood? Same thing. Anything odd with her poo? Funny smell, funny color, anything like that? Sometimes a poo problem manifests with a pee problem... 5. Is she declawed? Often, declawing (cutting off the cat's claws at the top of the first knuckle) can create issues with litter. It hurts them enormously, and perhaps that's the issue. I know that some cats just can't walk in the crystals, and the simple switch to sand handled the problem completely. 6. Change litters and buy a brand new box. Go from crystal to clumping, or to shredded newspaper or pine/sawdust. Put the box somewhere that she can be totally private. Mix what you have now with the new stuff 50/50, and gradually (gradually!!!!) alter the mix until you're 100% new stuff. 7. When/if all the above is done, and there is nothing medically wrong with kitty, try getting something called Feliway. It's a synthetic cat pheremone; we can't smell it, but they sure can. It mimics the scent glands' output to indicate something is safe and is all right; no marking needed. It's really a wonderful thing...I've used it on all the rescues, and they've all been able to calm down pretty quickly. 7. Give her a high spot, if she hasn't got one. Somewhere up high - the top of a kitty condo, or the top of a cabinet. If she can get up high, she can "oversee" everything around her. That will give a sense of security and/or comfort. 8. Give her a sweaty shirt, and let her lie on it. That will reassure her that you're here, you're around, and you will be home shortly. I know a guy who gives his cats his shoes when he's going to be gone for more than a few days, and it seems to work. 9. Does she like catnip? Try getting a tub of the leaves (dry and shredded, not in a toy) and sprinkling that on the spots she pees in. The act of her rubbing her face on that spot will mark it as a no-pee spot. I've used this very effectively. 10. Remember that there is a reason for this going on, and once you can determine the reason, you will have handled the issue. Literally 75% of the peeing issues are medical, and the majority of the rest have to do with security/comfort issues. She's not peeing to piss you off; she's doing something because she has a need to be met and she can't meet it herself. I rescued 17 cats and kittens last year, and have 5 of my own. I am pretty confident in my methods, but if they don't work, let me know, and I'll forward some more (expert) advice for you. There is NO NEED to put her down... Quick story. Charlotte would pee ON my bed. I had a darned tough time trying to figure out what was wrong, and all medical stuff turned up clear. I used a combination of Feliway (the room diffuser, not the spray), a change back to my old carpet freshener, and the catnip sprinkles to get her past the issue, along with tons of love and lots of skritches. It's been years since she peed improperly. Let me know how else I can help. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

First things first....Brits, hang in there. My prayers and thoughts are with you all. Croz, I can't really support that idea in the least. One of the first fatwahs issued by OBL and AQ spoke of the Balfour letter, which was written in 1919 (I think...) which outlined the UK's intentions about the Jews and the ME. The fact that it took WW2 and the murder of 6 million Jews (along with millions of other "undesirables") to bring that declaration to the fore and work to establish Israel, and you have a very brief, overly simplistic view of why OBL and AQ has targeted the UK. The history of the conflict is important to understand, and the history goes back - in this case, at least - all the way to the beginning of the last century (farther, if you want to go there). OBL stated the issues clearly in his fatwah...and that was very much before the war in Iraq. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Maybe it's exactly that...our intelligence. There are so many things which don't have answers, and will likely never have answers, unless one sees the divine at work. Streetscooby speaks of rainbows and infinite reserves of energy; that, to me, is divine. Intelligence in no way ameliorates God. And in fact, it takes a great deal of intelligence to understand what faith is about, and what free will is about. It takes a great deal of foresight to see that errors we made when we were young reverberate throughout our lives - in time to not make them in the first place. And failing that, be able to handle the responsibility and to change the path. I've long held that we are not punished for a sin; we are punished by it. By the effects it has in our lives, by our failing to see that betimes our actions led us to a point of pain. If you look at that globally, we are still very young, and working towards a more indepth understanding of how our actions have consequences. I think that intelligence - or "evolution" if you'd rather - plays a large role in seeing, learning, and stopping detrimental behavior on a large scale, just as we are applying it in our lives on an individual level. My faith goes far beyond superstitions, to be honest. And my intelligence carried it there. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Isn't it funny when people do that? Either quote or at least attribute to the original author...like here.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Jason, this I think is the most likely sentence in your entire (interesting) rant. For me, that comment speaks to the issue of things: free will. A will to decide what we do, both as a global species and as individuals. A will to make things better, worse, or find the balance. A will to determine just how we are perceived in this world. Honestly? I have no hope of being remembered after I'm dead. It doesn't matter to me that much if I am, and, having no children, it doesn't look like it's going to matter to them, either. Spirituality, however, is vastly different from religion, and the difference needs to be understood. Spirituality is not a set of rules made by man to be followed by man; it is not an embodiment of a God who says: "kill these people because I said so." Spirituality is a deeper understanding of things unseen and unknown, things that lay just beyond our consciousness and un/sub consciousness, that let us know what is right, and what is wrong. A full understanding of spirituality takes years to come to. And takes even more years to internalize, and to be of inherent value to ourselves. I'm not anywhere near understanding things as well - and as inherently - as I'd like, but what little I do understand has come not from looking outward, but looking inward and seeing the expanse and enormity that is the universe sitting in my heart. I think God exists. I think that free will exists. And thus the mortal conflict you describe. And it is up to us as individuals to influence ourselves as a global species towards what is inherently right...but that can't be done until we know what's inherently right in our own little (enormous) universe. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

And I am wondering, as well as that, why no-one's mentioning that Plame "outed" herself, if I understand it correctly, back in the '00 election campaign when she donated to Gore's campaign? And I'm wondering if anyone thinks Joe Wilson is completely credible? And I'm wondering why people aren't realizing that Deepthroat did something pretty bad, too, if the same standards are held...and yet, those who reported on that episode weren't thrown in jail. Rather, they were venerated. Lots of things to wonder about, it would seem. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Thank you for the compliment, Rans....'tis appreciated. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~