Coral Rhedd

Thanks Mokele. I knew you'd know.

When I lived in the country, I trained all our cats to use the bathroom outdoors. This was no problem. I read somewhere that something like 75% of cats can learn to do this. Twice my neutered female was locked in by accident while I took an extended trip to town. She used the drain hole of the bathtub as a make shift toilet. (Cats are very smart.) Toilet problems arise with unneutered males. If they begin to "mark" your indoors as their territory, you will never get rid of the odor.

Mokele, while you are here, could you tell me why lizards do push ups?

Oh please.

A dog. You cannot necessarily depend upon a cat to be friendly. You can accomodate a dog in your home if you can do the housebreaking, but sometimes you can find older dogs that are already housebroken. You will need to budget for the initial vaccinations and your nearby vet can inform you about what those cost. A small dog does not eat much but my German Shepherd consumes about $20 worth of dog food a month. Vet and possible kennels costs can run you some considerable bucks. Working class dogs are your most intelligent breeds but sometimes mutts can be great. What interaction do you anticipate with your pet? Most dogs can be taught to fetch and can accompany you on walks. One of the best things about a dog is that they will demand attention. They will want you to pet them. One of the things people living alone sometimes miss is that stimulation of the tactile sense. No, dogs cannot hug you but most of them will kiss you. Since budget is a consideration, you might want to do a little research on the genetic diseases of dogs. Avoid breeds that can have hip displasia (larger working breeds) and cervical disk problems (dachsunds) and blindness (collies). If you live in an apartment and are concerned about disturbing your neighbors, avoid the yappy breeds. Regards, Coral

Sayonara, I took a cue from your question. I thought it might be dominance behavior on the theory that even pigs must rebel against "Mom," but when tried to google dominance behavior/pigs I got too many sites on George Bush too wade through. Although I am not very good at searching the internet, even I could see the reasons behind this outcome.

Yes. When I lived on a ranch there were feral pigs. These were domestic pigs that had escaped and gone wild. The hunters (accidentally) shot and killed a sow and brought me her piglets to raise. I bottle fed them and they grew up quite tame and atttached to me. The male developed a strange habit. When I would be hanging up clothes on the line outdoors, he loved to sneak up behind and grunt loudly. This would startle me and I would jump and sometimes even scream if I was sufficiently surprised. He would then make a strange chortling noise and run around me in circles in apparent glee. I took this for a sense of humor or at least the joy of playing a practical joke. He thought it was much funnier than I did. I found pigs to be the most intelligent animals of my personal acquaintence. I never noticed that stupid animals (chicken, sheep) seemed to get much fun out of life -- except the rooster when he raped the hens.

Wow, I am turning pale just reading your posts Sandi and Phi. I did not even know about the four categories of Assets, Liabilities, Income and Expenses. What is a Liability -- besides me? I can pay my income taxes but I might have a little trouble coming up with the Social Security taxes. I hope they won't break down my door and seize my computer or something if I can't pay. How do I decide if I am on a cash or accrual -- or does the government decide that for me? I beginning to think I should apply at the local community college for adjunct work again. I know I sound like an ignorant A$$. There is just so much I don't know. I will get in touch with SCORE and maybe they can help me evaluate if I should go forward with this.

If you have managed to get access to the President's personal email address, then I predict you really have no need of him. Please understand that he only respects rich people.

Actually, I don't even want to work 8 hours a day, five days a week. I am one of those lazy Americans who give everyone else a bad name. I would say that most people I know work about 45 hours a week. But when you count commutes and lunch meetings, I do know people that devote time to work of 70 hours a week. When I was a child my father worked up to 70-80 hours every week. This kind of burned me when it came to work. I would have felt differently if he had seemed happy.

But then again people may simply not want to mate with relatives. Seems they don't pass the smell test: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/origins/scent.html

Cousins mating. Oh dear. That would be like going to the dogs. http://www.bullmarketfrogs.com/pages/generalarticles/caninebreedingprograms.htm Where or not marrying one's cousin would be bad would depend upon whether both cousins were healthy specimens in the first place. When good characteristics are bred for, the result is improvement. Alas, human beings are not so deliberate.

This link will provide some information for those of you who would like to understand the thinking of the rebelling American colonists concerning British law: http://www.assumption.edu/ahc/1770s/coreconstitution.html Initially, the colonists were angry not because they wanted to break away from being British citizens but because they felt they were not being afforded the rights guaranteed to British citizens.

Your question has no relevance to my post.

I cannot believe you really think this. English Common Law had a such significant influence upon our own law that it is still very much a factor in decisions made today. Do you think all cultural connections and common bonds were severed by the Revolutionary War? I suppose you see this thinking as patriotic?

He's getting a little repetitive, isn't he?

Is the Greenspan bio a good read?

Too bad there is no laugh out loud emoticon. I already apologized for offending your sensibilities about age. You just refuse to accept my apology. As to trying to badger me into taking some sort of position or other just so you can argue with it, be assured that I reserve the right to decide what I will argue and what I will not. As to your opinion of my debating skills, I do not care. This is a forum, not life itself. If you want to make it some sort of passion for red meat of aggression, be my guest.

I did not like it. But I like the result.

I believe that Syntax was referring to people but only he can really confirm this for us.

Syntax, do ever bother to actually read more than skim anyone else's posts?

Thanks 5614. Just as soon as I figure out to make Outlook work for me, I hope to make progress towards a more computerized system. I am also trying to learn Excel.

Small objection to the fruitcake designation: Mental retardation is in no way the same thing as mental illness. It's not nice to torture anybody. Fruitcake designation is not nice either.

Terribly sorry. I added something to my post just as you posted. Bad habit of mine to revise once I have posted. No divorce. Rand was married to a low key man, former actor, pretty boy named Frank O'Connor. She probably should have divorced him but I suspect he played a very supportive role for her. Instead, in middle age, she began an affair with Brandon who was only in his early 20s. He was studying to become a psychologist (which he eventually did) but she named him her intellectual heir. She arranged a marriage for him to a poor woman named Barbara and then she took him as a lover. When he began to think for himself a bit, she ostracized him. Actually, as she grew older, he was a little less interested in her physically -- but she wouldn't let him go. About the only way he could get free of her was to really reject her by beginning an affair with yet another woman. Younger of course. The story is fascinating. To me it shows that, in her time, Rand was willing to take a very sexually assertive role and take a lover the way so many men with power and money have often done. She didn't give a damn what anyone thought of course. The fallout was awful for her inner circle. It sort of shattered that ideal of happy productivity. BTW, everyone smoked. It was required.