She’s so busy with work and friends
We might butt heads but always make amends
I rise with the sun, while she’s deep in hibernate
How to connect? A quick brunch date!
Author: chungwipff
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
This Made My Day
We were walking behind our lovely Airbnb off Route 66 in Parks, AZ (to get away from three-digit temperatures)…
in a National forest…when Ava I noticed something hopping about.
This lovely creature is the Arizona Treefrog!
According to reptilesofaz.org, this is their call (audio file). We think it sounds like a bunch of muppets.
The Arizona Treefrog grows to 1.5 inches. They breed in mostly temporary waters, which I find strange because they look like they need a lot of water.
“In Arizona, Arizona Treefrogs have been found to feed on beetles, spiders, earthworms, flies, and bark beetles. They likely feed on a variety of other small invertebrates, as well.”
reptilesofaz.org
This finding was a lucky one as they are nocturnal animals. However, it appears that their skin is toxic and holding them is not the best idea. Oops. Well, I didn’t feel any after effects. My family is doing a collective eye roll as I tell them this because I once caught this in a jar:
According to Sciencefriday.com, being stung by one of these is painful. Quite painful:
“The pain is so debilitating and excruciating that the victim is at risk of further injury by tripping in a hole or over an object in the path and then falling onto a cactus or into a barbed-wire fence.”
Aren’t you glad I passed this on to you? Now you’ll be extra careful when you try to catch one.
Gimme
There are a number of ways to draw new customers to your business:
- Advertising
- Coupons
- Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth is powerful because it means others can vouch for the quality, service, and value of what you’re selling.
Advertising might be necessary just to get your store/gig/restaurant some attention. But if you are stellar, Word of Mouth will take care of it.
However, coupons often draw the worst customers. They come in expecting something for (close to) nothing. These “clients” will use a $30 coupon towards a $33 meal and leave a 75 cent tip.*
Is this the kind of clientele you are seeking?
*This just happened to my daughter, a server, and I’m pretty sure they were supposed to spend more than $33 to get the discount…but she’s 16 and new…but the point is, the coupon drove people like that to the business.
Heat
+
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Utopia
“You are way off of baseline.”from Blade Runner
About this piece:
I watched the scene regarding baselines from “Blade Runner” the other day. I started thinking about society and laws and citizenship and what true self-determination might be. What is patriotism? Citizenship? What are our obligations and how does the individual contribute to the mass?
Want Fries with That?
Unlike Opal, it appears that Olive was not abused in her former home. It’s a mystery. She’s not afraid of sticks or the hose…she can sit and shake on command. Aside from near-starvation and ticks, she is a pretty happy dog.
And curious.
Maybe her last home did not have a lot of technology. Olive is still surprised when she hears the ice maker and irrigation system. Yesterday, my daughter wanted me to bring Olive to her work so that her co-workers could meet her. First, though, she wanted me to pick up a Crunch Wrap from Taco Bell.
I went to the drive-through window and rolled my window down. I spoke to the black box. It spoke back to me. Olive jumped in my lap and looked for the man. She whined when she couldn’t find him.
“Sit, Olive!” She sits back in the passenger seat, still whining.
Next window, there he is (!) to take the money and give me the bag.
Ah, life makes sense again.
Spirits
The Body
Sitting around or lying around all day makes you weak. (Livestrong.com)
With the pervasive use of screen time, people are being increasingly physically passive. I heard this quote the other day that rang so true to me:
The body will become better at whatever you do, or don’t do. You don’t move? The body will make you better at NOT moving. If you move, your body will allow more movement.
— Ido Portal
Exercise, we all know, is good for the heart and the bones. It keeps your blood pressure in check.
As we train our newly adopted pitbull mix, I wanted to ensure we handled aggression in her properly.
“Dog exercise burns the dog’s excess energy and helps maintain the dog’s healthy state of mind. This is important because, in order to talk to the mind, you need to remove the energy from the body.”
Cesar Milan
I can totally relate to this! I need to exercise and (re)move energy in my body so that my mind can work better as well. Perhaps more humans (especially in cars and on the Internet) would be less aggressive if they exercised daily.
In the end, you only have one body and it’s your sole vehicle for moving about in this world. Help your body take you where you want to go.
Projects
Just a quick doodle and post today. I’m interviewing two people tonight for my research project on “First to Graduate from High School and/or College.” It’s my hope to compile a series of inspiring stories for graduate hopefuls and get those rates of retention up!
On the dog front, Olive is on Day Four at our house and is doing well, although she and Opal can argue when they don’t see eye to eye. Mostly though, they are pretty chill:
Kismet 