Happy Sunday! Today is the day I worship God in a more formal way (informally everyday), sleep in (sometimes til 11 am), take my laundry to the laundry mat (which will end as soon as I move into my new apartment this month as it comes with it's own coin-op laundry area), and play with my kitties (who may or may not want the attention). I would also be packing, but I am saving that for tomorrow = day two of my weekend.
And I took my friend and her fur-baby to the vet. I was surprised that her vet's office was open on Sunday, but even more surprised to see how busy it was. During the hour I sat in the waiting room I spoke to at least a dozen nice people and pets. The office is decorated with large, beautiful paintings of turtles, by the way, and I didn't expect that either. Celeste would have loved them and would want to take them all home with her. There were cats and dogs represented too in the usual way: pet magazines, advertisements for collars & tags and urns (don't want to think about that), and the scary "vaccinate and protect your pet" advertisements, with a scary blow-up tick hanging from the ceiling. Since it's Halloween, the area was decked out with the usual garb, but this staff added something extra in the form of ACTUAL x-rays of skulls, paws, tails, etc. Creepy, but definitely in the spirit of the season. Who thinks of these things?!
When I walked into the vet's, I saw a woman standing at the counter crying. Turns out her dog was hit by a car. It was heartbreaking and reminded me of wanting to be a veterinarian when I was young. That dream lasted a very short time because I realized I would have to treat sick and injured animals. Librarian it is! I won't have to worry about animals being hurt at the library, right? Wrong. Actually, yesterday I called the police to report a small dog left in a vehicle. I attempted to find the owner of the vehicle by announcing over the intercom (twice) but no one responded. I took water out the the puppy, but he wouldn't drink. The window was down a few inches, but when I put my hand in the car it felt very hot. I noticed him when I returned from lunch and heard his whining and barking. At one point he had his head out the window, but mostly he was laying down and panting. This vehicle was also parked in a handicapped spot without a placard or license plate to offer proof.
As the library security guard and I stood waiting, both the police officer and the owner of the minivan arrived at the vehicle at the same time. She did have a placard that the dog knocked down, but because it wasn't in view she almost got the $500 ticket anyway. She stated that she had only been in the library for 5 minutes and didn't hear my announcements. I was waiting 15 minutes, and don't know how long the dog was there before I saw him, and the officer had report notes, so her excuse didn't hold up. I am happy to report that the officer lectured her about animal safety, and the fact that it was too hot to leave an animal in the car, and that dogs have small brains that will burn up quickly (thanks for that image) and then took her information down to document the visit. If it were me, I would have put HER in a fur coat, locked HER in the vehicle, and let her tell me again how fine it is.
Back to surviving this day without a phone. I was so busy roaming the social sites this morning, while drinking coffee, that I decided to place it back on the charger before I left. So I left without it. Every few minutes I found a reason to think about my phone. No taking pictures of beautiful views, no searching for mattress stores in Hilo, no food coupons using my apps, no calling my daughter to tell her something I remembered, no music to connect to when K-LOVE isn't coming through the radio, and no clock, calculator, calendar, email, social sites, or texting. Hard to believe that I could function just fine before carrying around an $800 mini computer in my purse! Dependence. I have a monkey on my back, actually in the front pocket of my purse. Anyway, it was nice to be disconnected for a bit and I tried to enjoy the lack of distraction, but since my girls are the most important part of my life, I was disappointed I missed a call from Olivia. Enjoy your electronics, but do it responsibly; don't text & drive.
And always look on the bright side! Do Good, Be Positive-Michelle :)
