Daily Archives: Thursday February 19th, 2009

“The grease can incident”

Reggie Sees all

Our cat Reggie Miller was a real small runt when compared to his litter, when we got him his body was so much smaller than his head that it made his ears look huge, and when he ate it was in a “panic” as he tried to eat everything as fast as he could and since he was the youngest of 4 we made sure he knew the anarchy and he would have to wait his turn and we made sure he always got his turn so it was something he learned. He was also the longest haired cat so that meant he was often the dirtiest, and for some reason his front claws all were “splintered”, even to this day, and his eye’s tear up twice as much as a normal cat, the vet said its like a constant runny nose for a cat, no real big deal, just annoying and nasty looking so he was often the “dirt ball” cat.

When he was about a year old his fur just kept getting worse and worse, even matted together, we would have to bath him once a month to manage it and his claws were all a deep nasty brown around his claws and he HATES his toes to be touched, so we just thought he was in pain so we took him to a vet who said it may be a rash and his body just creates more oil than average so he would just be a “dirt ball”.

After months of baths and vet visit’s (when we was dirt poor) I finally figured out why he was such a “dirt ball”…

I grew up in Indiana and as with most midwesterners we either boiled or fried everything, so it was somewhat common to have a old soup can on/near the stove full of old grease from fried chicken or whatever, you just drained the grease into the old can and when it was full and cold, you threw it away so when Pauline and I got together we had our own “grease can”.

Reggie was jumping on the stove at night and reaching into the grease can and scratching the grease with his claws and licking it off and since his mouth was so greasy when he groomed himself he just licked the oil onto his fur…

I got thinking of this tonight as I watched him stand next to the food dish and reaching into the dish and grabbing the raw meat I put into it and eating it from his paw so he wouldn’t have to be troubled with bending over…

Stoopid cat….

 

Discussing Race Relationships

Eric Holder is correct.  America is full of cowards when it comes honestly dealing with the issues of race.  We put our heads in the sand.  You know all these people who say that we don’t need to discuss it and need to move past it….most of them are (ding-ding) white.

Of course, they don’t see it.  They don’t get pulled over just because they are white, they don’t have to worry about whether they are going to get shot at because they are black, that some people will cross the street to avoid a black male, they don’t have most of their history ignored …..and don’t get me started on what we as a country have done to the Native Americans….some won’t even use the $20 bill due to Andrew Jackson being on it and what he did to them.

We may work together, but our social circles in America normally don’t mix when it comes to race.  I don’t think it is thought out that way, it just happens.  And we as a country are cowards on asking why and trying to actually understand where the other person is coming from.
You know my biggest surprise when I moved to Indiana….that I ended up in a school without a person of color until about year after I been there.  I was like where the hell is everyone? It had everything to do with just how areas self-segregate.  I ended up there because we needed to help out family, but I wasn’t happy about the lack of cultural mix.

That isn’t what I grew up with, I grew up with faces of color and accents.  I loved it when we visited South Beach in Florida and Curaco because you heard a bunch of different accents and languages when you are there.  I missed having that on a regular basis.
With all the issues that military faces (and yes there are racist there) you still have a more cultural mix and better chance of socialization and learning from each other.  In fact a few years ago, they came out with a study that the best integrated communities were the ones of military retirees around military posts.  That is what I really missed when my dad retired and we moved to be closer to family.

I’ve never felt comfortable in all white sittings.  I think that is why I took so many African American classes in college.  Hell, if I had paid attention I could’ve gotten a minor in it….doh  I love learning about other cultures, I think it is also because I want to understand our race relationships.  If you learn about our racial history you get a better understanding when you meet people, you know where they are coming from even if you fully can’t understand it unless you’ve been there.

Tweets for Feb 18th

08:35 This sucks, garbage mean @ 0630, phone spam @0717 & recyclables @ 0740…talk about screwing up your morning sleep. =(

13:39 It was rough on the treadmill today, but I made it through it. Trying to get my brain focused on what I need to get done.

21:22 We are is just waiting for 30 of LOST to go by so we can watch it by DVR without all the crappy commercials