Gators

If you can stand another post about animals, I can say that if I was an animal with a problem, I would rather be picked up by the Houston SPCA than I would Miami.  They seem to euthanize animals pretty quickly in Miami.

Case in point:  a beautiful black lab stray had been running loose and was hit by a car.  He was in pain but still could walk to the SPCA vehicle; the control officer gave him a shot to help with the pain and then searched for a tag or microchip but finding nothing to identify the owner, she then euthanized the animal on the spot, even though as she was getting the injection ready the lab's tail was wagging furiously and thumping the bed of the van.  Sweet dreams, doggie.  Even in Philadelphia the SPCA will perform surgery if necessary to a dog that appears to be adoptable, and I've never seen any animal euthanized so quickly.

Another thing about Miami is the gators.  There are over a million alligators in the state of Florida, and evidently they are moving to Miami in droves (or whatever you call big groups of gators).  Because of development and the encroachment of their habitat by humans, the gators are coming in to canals, lakes, ponds, and wherever they can find a source of food, which can include small dogs and children.  When they catch the gators, the big boys are always "humanely euthanized", while they may relocate the smaller animals.  This is because the large ones have developed a homing device that brings them back to where they were taken from.  I think that's how it has been explained but I could have it all backwards. 

I'm not crazy about alligators, crocs, or any kind of snakes, but in their own habitat they fit in the larger scheme of things.  Too bad humans take over their habitat and then routinely euthanize them.  An interesting statistic is that the alligator was once an endangered species in Florida, but that's all changed.

I tackled a job this morning that I have been dreading, and that is I got my down comforter inserted into the duvet cover.  I removed the cover to launder it back about the time I had pneumonia and I just now felt like trying to put it on the comforter.  It's a really difficult job, even though it's just a queen size comforter.  I am sure the cover weighs much more than the comforter, and getting everything spread out evenly was a real chore.

I have errands to run today but if I feel up to it I might attempt to finish washing the paneling in the living room later on today.   I can always do it tomorrow.  

What to do when my Tracfone days of service run out is something I need to deal with very soon.  I considered paying the small monthly fee to be added to Jeannie's phone, and even toyed with the idea of getting an iPhone myself.  But when I think about it I absolutely don't want an iPhone, for many reasons.  First of all I don't like touch screens and prefer to stick to a keyboard.  That's why I returned the iPad I bought about a year ago.  Secondly I would go crazy with all those little icons clogging the screen, although I'm sure you can make them go away if you choose.  Thirdly, and maybe the most important, is the fact that I don't want to carry around a cell phone in my hand, constantly glancing at it.  I can never remember where my cell phone is at any given time, and I'm comfortable with that.