The Difference Between Pets and Animals

Animal Planet
A resident of the New York State Zoo, Hermie the turtle just had surgery and braces installed (complete with red and green rubber bands) to correct his overbite. I've witnessed this for horses, but never turtles. I was going to share this a fun story for the day, but unfortunately I later found out that Hermie died of unrelated health problems.

A Bear Is Born
So I found a better story. San Diego Zoo has been swamped with visitors to see Su Lin, the Zoo's first surviving panda bear cub. Tickets are selling like crazy, and the zoo gift shop has been doing great business with panda-themed merchandise. (Glad to see it's not about money.)

One Fish, Two Fish
Last night I came to the startling conclusion that there is a distinct difference between pets and animals. An animal is a creature with a set place in the Great Chain of Being (for you Renaissance scholars out there). This place was decidely inferior to humans, perhaps a reflection of God letting Adam name them and later assuring Noah of his dominion.

A pet, however, breaks all the rules. They are not animals. They are their own classification and they are not just equal to humans, I'm convinced they enjoy a state of life superior to most humans you or I know.

Red Fish, Blue Fish
I guess it doesn't matter, but I just can't shake my annoyance that we have humans all over the world suffering, and yet everywhere I look, someone is dropping $3,000 to have Rover's tonsils out.

A Word Is Born
Gentle reader, this all leads me to question if I am a pet-hater. In growing up on a almost-farm, did I grow to love animals but hate pets? I want to come up with a new word for it. Maybe zoophobic? I don't know. That just sounds like I am afraid of going to zoos, and I'm not. I don't think. I don't know. Will there be pet-lovers there?

Homemade Christmas Cards and Deer Hunting Pointers

Fun with Grandaddy
I am looking into having myself cloned so I can be more places at once. I say this as I’m wracked with guilt over the little bit of time I get to spend with my family. One person I especially love to tag along with is my grandfather. I’ve shared some of our adventures before, but tonight’s going to be one for the records.

History in the Making
Starting last August, Grandaddy began asking me to help him create a card for the family. I didn’t fully realize what he meant, plus it was an extra-busy holiday, so I put him off. This year I determined to join forces with him and make sure we do whatever it is he wants.

The Mission, Should I Choose to Accept It
Turns out, we are "creating" our own custom Christmas cards to mass mail to everyone in Louisiana (practically) with the last name Alexander, none of whom I really know. It's basically going to be a one page (hopefully) summary of the history of the Alexanders coming to America in 1800-whatever meets a "you need Jesus" shout-out. The funny thing is, I really believe God will honor Grandaddy's sincerity and use this to witness to some of our family. So I’ve trumped my failure to find Jesus Christmas cards with our own personal Alexander Christmas letter. And knowing Grandaddy, we’ll probably use duct tape.

Other (Just for Fun)
Long technical story, but because of the horse web site I created for my Dad, I get cc’ed on his Buckmasters daily e-mails. Today’s hunting tip, and I quote: Don’t Push That Wounded Deer.

Gospel News and Katrina

Gospel Entertainment News

• Cece Winans will perfrom Wednesday, December 14 on TNT's annual Christmas in Washington TV special.
• Mercyme will perform Wednesday, December 21 on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They are scheduled to perform Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.

Katrina News
Today I worked with some of my friends from New Orleans. Katrina is still a present factor. At this point people are praying that officials will say their homes must be demolished. Example: one friend has elderly parents whose house got 11 feet of water. Their insurance is requiring a statement from city hall saying the house must be demolished in order to pick up the bill. If it isn't deemed worthy of being demolished, it will have to be raised (after repairs). It costs $8000/sq ft to raise a house which the insured will have to pay. Their recourse is to choose to demolish it themselves at their own expense. So either way....

Shoe Sizes and Ol' Yeller Trivia

Life Rolls On
Life is good, people. And we Christians have lots to be thankful for. Of course, that doesn’t mean the going never gets tough, but that just makes us stronger, right? I say this as I prepare for a big day at work tomorrow. I’m nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. (I’ve waited for over two months to use that line.)

A Mile in My Shoes
Here is my next big dilemma for the day. After diligent shopping, I finally found the perfect-looking pair of brown shoes. However… they’re not fitting right. I don’t know how to describe it except that they’re just not right. I've tried shoe inserts. Then I tried cutting up the inserts and placing them strategically in the shoe. So I'm currently slipping and sliding in a semi-snug shoe.

In the middle of all of this, I’ve had a revelation. Remember my half-loaf bread idea? I have a new one: ¼ shoe sizes. That’s right, the half-size increment is not enough. We need quarter-size increments, e.g. 5, 5 1/4, 5 ½, 5 ¾, 6, etc…

I can squeeze in a 7 ½ but slide around like crazy in an 8. I am 100% convinced that I am a 7 ¾. Some shoemaker needs to catch on and help me out here.

That There E-Stuff
I have finally joined the rest of the world on Everyone’s Connected. Even as I say this, it is possible I am now advertising my identity to 820,481,935 stalkers. But I’ve never been that concerned with it. These days you can get online and find anybody’s address, phone, ssn, and satellite image of their house. So I figure if I’ve got it coming, there’s little I can do to stop it. Maybe I’m not cautious enough, but I pretty much ignore all that identity theft stuff. Of course, this is also coming from the person who never understood the whole “don’t talk to strangers” line. A good dose of paranoia would probably be good for me.

Anywho, I also made my first official ebay purchase last night. Surprisingly it was not a duct tape item, though I did see some that caught my eye.

See Spot Recover
Did you know that your pet can undergo dialysis and chemotherapy? I just learned this today and it astounds me. I’m glad to know there are so many people in the world with enough finances to treat their animals better than many impoverished humans. Whew. Here I was thinking times were hard. Makes you wonder if Ol’ Yeller would still be relevant in 2005.

Today’s Trivia Question
Oh but wait. That reminds me of today’s trivia. Who remembers the name of the Ol’ Yeller sequel? Yes, there was one, and I remember it well. Imaginary roll of duct tape to whoever e-mails me the correct answer.

Working on Sundays

It's the Most Busy-ful Time of the Year
70 minutes til our huge Christmas musical production--quite the extravanga for our Church CEO (Christmas & Easter Only) attendees. You know who you are, and we love you anyway.

I'm at work in flipflops and rehearsal started 110 minutes ago if that tells you anything about the way my day's going. Working weekends are so much fun! Everyone should do it!

Christian in the Workplace Dilemma
Anyways, answer me this. Which is the more effective witness:

1. Ditching your co-workers who are frantically trying to finish a proposal with the announcement, "I'm going to church you wicked bunch of heathens."
   
2. Working through church and resolving to be there early next time with a fresh appreciation for the privilege.

I'm guessing you're going to say it's something in the middle. I'm just having a hard time deciding where the middle is.

Reader Feedback
In my last post I complained about misbehaved children in public. I also went the extra step to question certain parental discpline tactics, which I'm sure you really took to heart given my "no kids" status.

I was fortunate to receive some input from a mother who clued me in to the realistic side of parenting. She mentioned that you never what the situation with an agitated child is by glancing from the outside, which is true. Not that I now hope to run into manic, screaming kids, but maybe I can think of my friend's input and be a little more understanding.