The life of a delivery driver.

I had a couple deliveries tonight at work that were worthy of a blog post. We have a "richy-rich" neighborhood in the city I live in. It's right on the water and there are huge houses everywhere with amazing views. Tonight, I had a delivery to one of those houses. I pulled into their cobblestone wrap-around driveway and walked up the stairs to their door. Before I ran the bell, I noticed that there was a video camera. Wow. I've never been to a house with a surveillance system. When the lady opened the door, she was incredibly nice and invited me in. I stood there while she went to get the money and took in all of the fancy decor and huge windows that showed an amazing waterfront view. I wouldn't ever want a big house but I definitely wouldn't complain about that view. Gorgeous!

Another interesting delivery was also out towards the water. As I was driving out there, I looked at their order ticket and the address remarks gave a dock number. Huh? Sure enough, I ended up in the marina with boats galore and drove around until I found the right dock number. When I got out, I had no idea where to go because I didn't see numbers by the slips. A lady came out of the clubhouse and asked if I had a delivery for her. Whew, that always makes it easier when someone flags me down. I followed her down the dock past a long line of boats until I got to hers. I've never delivered to a boat before! Another amazing view, of course.

Hope you enjoyed the peek into part of my work life. : )

Another way to bring the outside in.

I came across this on my Internet travels and thought I would share. I really like this idea but I'm sure Vampire Kitini would like it more, which would cause me to not like the idea nearly as much. : ) The mat currently goes for around $193.00 US dollars so it's a little pricey. I think I paid $10 at Kohl's for my current bath mat. This is a very unique item and I'm all about finding interesting things. Plus it would be fun to dance around and water the moss. hee hee

Water, water everywhere...

...and not a drop to drink. This quote taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English poet from the early 1800's. I'm a big fan of water and want to keep abundant clean water around from many years to come. Tomorrow is World Water Day. A day where we can begin to be more conscientious of our water usage. Below are a few tips on how to conserve and make good use of the water we have. Most are obvious but I included them just in case they're new to you.

1. Shut the water off when you're not using it. For example, when you're brushing your teeth. Only turn the water on when you need to rinse your toothbrush.

2. If you have indoor plants or herbs, set out buckets to collect rainwater and use that instead of tap water to give your plants/herbs a drink. Or if you don't have a place to collect rainwater, for some reason, use what's left in your cup when you have a drink of water that you didn't finish. Don't throw it out...use it!

3. If you've got a leaky faucet/toilet, get it fixed.

4. Spend less time in the shower and use a low-flow showerhead.

5. Watch how much water you're using for washing clothes. If you're not putting a bunch of clothes in the washer, don't select "large load".

All simple things to do!

If you leave near Fort Lupton in Colorado, be careful around your water!

Will we ever learn?

I talked about what happened with Travis the chimp in this story. Yesterday I came across two other recent situations involving primates. The first story comes from Planetsave.com:

A chimpanzee at Sweden’s Furuvik Zoo has been observed chipping at concrete to create discs to throw at visitors. He even made weapons at night to throw at visitors when the zoo opens in the morning.

While Santino the chimp’s retaliatory ways are amusing, they’ve also impressed scientists who believe this is the first evidence of a non-human animal being capable of making plans for the future.

“It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including life-like mental simulations of potential events,” said Mathias Osvath, a scientist who studied Santino for over a decade. “They most probably have an ‘inner world’ like we have when reviewing past episodes of our lives or thinking of days to come. I would guess that they plan much of their everyday behaviour.”

Osvath’s observations are only one of many studies that show that non-human primates are capable of some human-like thought. Another recent study showed baboons are capable of matching pictures and recognizing objects.

Unfortunately for Santino, the zoo didn’t think his stone-throwing ways were very cute. They’ve castrated the 31-year-old chimp, thinking it may lower his hormone levels and make him less aggressive.

The second story comes out of Thailand. Leilit Janchoom and his wife purchased a monkey named Brother Kwan. They bought him so he could climb trees and fetch coconuts for them to sell. Mr. Janchoom did not allow the monkey to rest and would beat him if he refused to climb a tree. It is thought that Brother Kwan eventually snapped and dropped a coconut on Mr. Janchoom's head, killing him on the spot.

Animals are smart, people, and you can't treat them badly or try to make a wild animal your pet because 9 times out of 10, they will get their revenge.

Humbled and outraged.

I chose the above picture because so many people see the kitten but don't realize that inside is a lion ready to get out. If you haven't read about the latest chimpanzee attack, click here to catch up. They say that one of the reasons for the attack could have been because Travis the chimp didn't recognize his owner's friend because she wore her hair up that day instead of down like usual. Chimps are smarter than that and you can't possibly use that as an excuse for his behavior. Another article said that Travis had taken the keys, unlocked the door and let himself outside. They aren't dumb animals!

Travis tore the hands off of his owner's friend and then bit her face off...literally. She has no eyes or nose and most of her teeth are gone. I heard the 911 call Travis' owner made and you can hear the chimp "screaming" in the background while he was attacking her friend. That was not the sound of a domesticated animal.

I don't understand how people think that it's okay to keep a wild animal. No matter how much you think you've domesticated them, they are still wild and will have their usual animal tendencies from time to time. This isn't even the first time that Travis bit someone yet the owner was allowed to let him freely wander around town with her.

This owner was irresponsible and naive for thinking that Travis was completely domesticated. She let him drink wine and eat dinner with her and her husband at the table. Other sources said that the owner used to dress up Travis in clothes and drive around town with him the backseat. Cute, yes, but this was a 200 pound wild animal and it doesn't matter how much time you've spent with him, he is still a wild animal and you need to keep that in mind.

I feel so bad for the lady that was attacked. Travis' owner had called her over to come help her get Travis back in his cage and when she arrived, the attack started. The owner hit Travis with a shovel and stabbed him with a knife to try to get him to stop. This bothers me even more because if you're going to have an animal like that for a pet, you should have a tranquilizer dart or something that would be effective in subduing it. I doubt that she owned anything like that.

Please remember the potential for danger when dealing with animals whether they be domesticated or not. They are typically faster than you and smarter than you realize.