The Skunk is on the Porch

I repeat: the skunk is on the porch.

Sounds like a coded radio message used prior to the D-Day landings, huh?

A few days ago I wrote about a skunk hanging around and I've since changed the outside cat's feeding procedure. I don't leave any food out for her, just enough to eat in one sitting and I pick up the foam plate after she's done. It's probably not as much food as she'd like, but I think it's more than enough to keep her alive and if she doesn't like it, she's more than welcome to go somewhere else.

I opened up the door earlier tonight to see if the Beej was ready to come in and eat something and a large bushy tail was just a foot in front of the door. As I reached down to give it a yank, I saw the female cat standing on the edge of the porch. Yup, was the skunk and I'm glad I didn't give the tail a yank. It was on the porch again later, and is currently out there as I type. I don't know what I'm gonna do about it; I have a small animal trap I used to capture the possums last summer, and I'm sure I could catch the skunk, too, but what would I do after I caught it? I *think* I could throw an old blanket over the trap to protect me from getting sprayed or to calm the animal while I picked up the cage to put in the back of my truck, but how the hell would I get the door open after going somewhere to release it?

It's that stay cat's fault, so to keep from having to put food out that will attract the skunk, she'll have to go. I hate to think of taking her to the pound, but I don't know of any other thing to do - no one is going to want a stray cat that's not been fixed or had its shots, but OTOH, if I take her to the pound, there's a near 100% chance of her getting...well, you know. I think maybe I might just have to shoot the skunk.

Maybe I could trap the skunk, then call animal control. They'd see that cat, then trap it too, or worse yet, see the Beej w/out a tag (he keeps losing them) and want to trap him, too. Like I said, looks like I'll have to shoot the skunk. Damn.

And I Thought it Was Worthless

I've checked this blog's "worth" several other times in the past, but found this new website that evaluates a site's worth: How Much is My Website Worth?

As much as I enjoy my blog - even though I'm not so good about keeping it updated - I'd sure as hell sell it for that.  I'd sell just about anything I got for 800 bucks ...except for the Beej.

The Long, Lucky Weekend

My weekend didn't start out so lucky; I deleted several off of my Facebook friends list because they had never liked anything I had posted or commented on one of my comments to their posts. I "like" a lot of my FB friend's posts if only to show them I read it and I don't know why others can't do that too. (my best online friends do it - you know who you are and I appreciate it and love you)

I then had a comment from someone I thought I had a fairly good rapport; she was a fairly recent FB friend and had left a cryptic comment saying she would comment, but that I wouldn't understand. It annoyed me because she really didn't know me. I don't mind people disagreeing with me so much, but to go to the trouble of posting and not let her opinion to be known AND letting me know she had an opinion, but that I wouldn't understand? That's OK, she's off my friends list now. Petty, I know, but I'd rather spend the time reading through "real" friends posts than someone who posts the equivalent of "I know something you don't know!" isn't worth the bother.

I was at the grocery store Saturday and as I was leaving, I stopped at the lottery machine to get a Powerball ticket. The jackpot was fairly high, the only time I play that particular game. I dug in my billfold for a couple of dollars, intending to get the multiplier option which can increase any "lesser" prize one might win, but also doubles the cost of the ticket. I was distracted for a second, looked up then without looking plugged what I thought was the first of the two dollar bills I would need to purchase the lotto ticket.

Oh no! I had put in a ten dollar bill instead! Frantically, I tried to pull it back out as the machine was sucking it into the tray, but couldn't. At first, I thought I would get a store employee to open up the machine and get my ten bucks back, but there weren't any around. Sure as shootin', if I left the machine someone else would come along and use up my $10 credit.

So, I thought I'd just use the money for my lottery ticket and get the rest in scratch-offs. I got a five dollar ticket, something I never, ever purchase, a couple of $2 tickets and a single, using up the entire ten bucks. (forgetting my lotto ticket I was intending to purchase)

I got out to my pickup and started scratching. Nothing at all on the five dollar ticket, but got five dollars on one two dollar ticket and two dollars on the other. I started scratching the one dollar ticket and found I had won on every single play on it, $20 worth! With the others, that made a total of $27 for a "profit" of 17 bucks.

I then realized I hadn't purchased my Powerball ticket, so I went to a nearby convenience store and used the two dollar ticket for a quick pick. To make a long story a little shorter, I only had the powerball in the drawing, but with the multiplier (x5)it meant I won $15! So, my ten dollar mistake turned into a nearly doubling of my money!

Then, earlier Sunday, I had an email from an address I didn't recognize. It was informing me that I had won a copy of The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, considered by many to be the bible of ice cream making. I had forgotten I had entered the contest on one of the many recipe sites I subscribe to in my reader. I generally don't enter those but sure am glad I entered that one!

Thanks to the long holiday weekend, I've still got one more day and hope I am as lucky as I was the last two!

Have a good holiday everyone!

I'm a Lone Night Owl.

That would make a good nickname, I think. "Lone Night Owl"

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You Are Independent

You dance to your own drummer, and you like to live life on your own terms. You do and say whatever you feel like. People are sometimes shocked by your outrageous behavior. You have a wild and passionate side that you love to express. You have your own way of doing things. You are a bit of a loner at times. You need space to grow and become who you really are.

What Does Your Favorite Time of Day Say About You?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

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Dunno 'bout the "outrageous behavior" but the rest is right. I like the nights because they're cool and quiet.  Of course, they're really cool during the winters! 

Back when I worked on drilling rigs, I always preferred "morning tour" or graveyard shift as it's called everywhere else but the oil field.  It was always easier to find a job - because most guys didn't like working nights - and there were hardly ever any bosses or company men out there at that time.  I hate to paint and the night shift seldom had to do that, especially during winter. 

You also had the entire day "off" if you wanted to look at it that way - at least you could go to the bank, something that was hard for the day shift to do or if you worked evenings you had to get up "early" in order to do any business or laundry.  I treated the night shift just as a day shift, staying up until I got sleepy, usually around noon, then trying to get eight hours of sleep(at least, always seemed I needed a little more when working nights than I did the other shifts).

I also like mornings, as long as I'm up of my own accord for them.  Being woken by an alarm clock is nearly one of my least favorite things.

I'm Six Weeks

...and craving double chocolate chip chunky cookies.

Over the last few days, I've seen this and similar variations on several women's Facebook pages. After seeing it on several female friend's walls, I decided I'd Google it to see just what the deal was. At first, I thought it might be some sort of hint that they were pregnant, but knowing a few of the women were past childbearing age, I decided it might be a code. I was right; it's a "secret" thing women are doing to promote breast cancer awareness. Here's the code:

Your Birthday month = weeks and the actual day = candy (ie: June 1st = "I'm 8 weeks and craving skittles!")

Jan - 1week
Feb - 2weeks
March- 3weeks
April- 4weeks
May - 6weeks
June- 8weeks
July- 10weeks
August- 12weeks
September-13weeks
October -14weeks
November-16 weeks
December -18 weeks

AND IM CRAVING.
Skittles -1
Starburst -2
Kit Kat -3
M&Ms -4l
Galaxy -5
Crunchie -6
Dairy Milk - 7
Lollipop - 8
Peanut Butter cups - 9
Malt balls-10
Twizzlers -11
Bubble Gum-12
Hersey's Kisses-13
Chocolate Mints- 14
Twix -15
Reese's Fastbreaks- 16
Fudge-17
Cherry Jello - 18
Milkyway -19
Pickles -20
Creme eggs - 21
Skittles - 22
Gummy bears - 23
Gummy worms -24
Strawberry Pop Tarts - 25
Starburst -26
Mini eggs -27
Kit Kat -28
Double chocolate chip chunky cookies -29
Smarties – 30
Snickers -31

That's all fine and dandy, I suppose; breast cancer is an insidious disease that everyone SHOULD be aware of, but the question I want an answer to is this: How does posting your birthday in code make anyone aware of breast cancer? After my search, I found several forums with women gloating "Tee hee, let's make all the guys wonder what we mean!"

I've seen much dumber things posted on Facebook, but this one just seems silly to me and does absolutely no good to help a worthy cause.

Have You Been Hiding?

In my toilet?

From the spam folder:

That's why I keep some Ex-Lax handy.