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Friday, April 17, 2015

A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

Our mail man is a French Canadian - he uses a Canada Post truck ( I've never seen him walk except from the truck to my house actually )
He parks outside after he delivers our mail ( around noon ) and has his lunch almost every day.

On Monday he pulled up with music blasting - BLASTING - ( I would guess he's in his early 60's )
So what was he listening too?
A French ballad perhaps?
Nope !
Good mornin' America - how are ya?
Don't you know me I'm your native son 
With a perfect French Canadian accent - it was priceless lol - and I've been singing it all week.
Without the accent.
Now you can too.
You're welcome.
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Has anyone else noticed how many exclamation points are used in Bloglandia ?
I'm over the top with them - sometimes using them in almost every sentence !
What is it with that ?
If we added them all up they'd surpass the population of the planet !
Just food for thought !

Someone should do a survey on it - bet we use them more than anyone else !!!!!!!
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Spring clean up has officially begun in the backyard
Our little dining section had John's summer tires stored in there - covered in plastic bags and the remnants of Fall leaves.
I decided to drag all the tires out to the edge of the pool.............partly as a barrier for Soda - and because I wanted to get in there and clean.
Upon depositing the 3rd tire I noticed movement on the top step of the pool.
( I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture - the camera was outside with me )

Now normally I would go BAT $HIT crazy - really I'D go into a state of frenzy over this..................
This time I just did a quick shuffle - soft shoe - side kick - picture Ginger Rogers a little frightened - and called out to John,

Suzan says - JOHN !!!  COME QUICK !  BRING THE POOL NET !
John says - I'm not ready to work on the pool - I've got things to do out here first
Suzan says - GRAB THE NET AND GET OVER HERE !  PLEASE.!

John comes over with the net
Suzan says - Get HER !!!
John says - What ?  Bash her on the head?
Suzan says - OMG - YOU MONSTER - CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S PREGNANT?  She's ready to pop !
John says - What do you want me to do ?  Assist in her delivery ?

She was nervous, I could tell and I was terrified that she'd end up in the pool and drown.

Suzan says - Lift her out with the net !
John says - And than what?
Suzan says - Run down the street and deposit her somewhere safe.

And that's how Mrs. Mouse made it to a safe haven.

So if any of my neighbors read this blog - and thought John was losing his mind - running down the street with a pool net and me jumping up and down screaming Go GO GO !!! ( like a cheerleader ) well now you know.
If she ends up in your yard please be kind.

And what happened then?
Well in Valois they say
That the Grouch's small heart
Grew 3 sizes that day !!!

We watched as she scurried along a path and disappeared.

And I planted a big fat kiss on the grouch's cheek.

I can tell you that's the first time I've ever been moved by a mouse.  ( or directed a move of a mouse )
I have a phobia about them - but I'm obviously bigger than my phobia - I am woman - I am strong - I am invincible................

Somehow the true meaning of Spring cleaning came through
And I ?
Well I found the strength of 10 Suzan's.......................plus two.

But I still have a trap in the kitchen - I mean if they're going to have the audacity to actually come in my house - well that's a whole different story.

Still I've come a long way - P.E.T.A. - if you're looking for a model please contact my agent.

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The Grackles are back...................I've said all I'm ever going to say about them HERE
Miserable things.

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I don't know why - but I left my white net curtains hanging outside all winter.................pretty stupid and I can't think of any reason other than I was simply too lazy to take them down.

John says - Why did you cut the curtains like that?
Suzan says - I didn't cut the curtains !!!
John says -  Well I didn't - and there's no way they cut themselves.
John says - You probably cut them off for a project and can't remember
Suzan says - I DID NOT CUT THE CURTAINS !!!!!!!!!!!
Suzan says - The squirrels must have done it running across them all winter
John says - C'mon - you think I came over on a banana boat? ( see previous Friday chat for that quote )
Suzan says - Do you seriously think I came out with a pair of scissors and cut half the curtains?
John says - I don't think you did it - I KNOW you did it


My Son had come over to do some work in the den and joined us outside for a minute.

Gordie says - Wow - looks like the squirrels attacked your curtains Mom.............................
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GOOD NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK - what an amazing young man !

HUFFINGTON POST

CEO SLASHES PAY

Three weeks ago, Dan Price took a $930,000 pay cut.
Growing income inequality had been on his mind for months. But as he went for a hike with a friend one afternoon and listened to her describe her struggle with rising rent prices, he realized he had to do something for his own employees.
So Price, the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments in Seattle, decided to raise the minimum salary at his 120-person payment processing company to $70,000. At a company where the average pay was $48,000 per year, the move -- which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday -- affected 70 workers, 30 of whom saw their salaries double.
Most of the money for these raises will come from cutting Price's salary -- which is now $70,000 per year rather $1 million. The rest will come out of the $2.2 million the company expects to earn in profit this year.
“There’s greater inequality today than there’s been since the Great Recession,” Price told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “I’d been thinking about this stuff and just thought, ‘It’s time. I can’t go another day without doing something about this.’”
The $70,000 figure is just below the $75,000 salary pegged in a 2010 Princeton University study as an ideal benchmark for achieving happiness. About 28 percent of Americans said they would feel successful earning at most $70,000 per year, according to a 2012 survey from the jobs site CareerBuilder.

That's from a salary of 1 million dollars -

Wouldn't it be something if all CEO's of major companies followed suit?

The Walmarts - Banks etc......................who are making a lot more than this young man - followed suit?

A lot of those companies CEO's are making 350 times what the workers are paid............the highest disparity in history.
Something's wrong..................something's terribly wrong with the " system ".
The greed is staggeringly shocking and I think they could learn a thing or two from this young man.
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Let's see, we've covered the Squirrels -
The Grackles
The Mice
All that's left to make an appearance are the Ducks ( last year's run in HERE ) Mr. Ground dog - and the 2 skunks.....................

Ok - I've got to take down those curtains - the squirrels obviously aren't going to finish the job !

Have a wonderful weekend everyone -
Hope the sun shines for most of it!
Much love,
Me





21 comments:

  1. You and John are heroes for rescuing the pregnant mouse. The squirrels also love you very much for providing such nice and free nesting materials.

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  2. At least those are the 4 buck IKEA LILL curtains Love em
    Have them in 5 rooms in my house!
    Big spender here

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    1. I know - it won't be such a big deal to replace them LOL !!!
      They hung in my last house too Mo !
      xoxo

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  3. Good Morning Canada, How are you? Well, that answers itself...kind of crazy, as usual, which is what keeps me coming back here!
    Love your story about the mouse and the squirrels and the man with the net running down the street. I could almost see them coming with a net for YOU...but stopped the thought short.
    Hope you have a wonderful day, my friend. xo Diana

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  4. What a fun post! Note the exclamation mark. :) Guilty here on that one. Loved the mouse story. I wonder where she ended up having her babies. EEEK!!!!! I hope you have a great weekend. xx Pam

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  5. Your Friday post today was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. I love your Friday chats. And I hate grackles. They've run off my cardinals and chased the blue birds off their nest! :(

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  7. Suzan, you are a delight. Love the mouse with the babies bump..
    https://sciencewhiskers.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/screen-shot-2012-08-19-at-19-02-34.png
    Now, about those squirrels. :))) lol
    Glad to hear about your postal delivery person... what a vision. :)
    Thanks for the laughts and have a fabulous weekend!
    ~ Christina

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  8. I wouldn't have been able to harm the poor mouse either. What an amazing young man to give up most of his salary. That's an awesome story! And...I don't know what you mean about the exclamations! LOL!!! I know I use them way more blogging than any other time. Too funny! Have a great weekend...free of rodents and birds!

    Hugs, Vicky

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  9. I take it John doesn't know much about squirrels and the damage that they can do
    Great Friday post.
    Hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable weekend

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  10. I have to thank you again for the chuckles, I wish you had filmed John running down the street with the pool net...as for the rest I can totally relate, it seems that each spring and summer I try to compromise and find a way to live beside the wildlife in our yard. I am hoping we fare better than last summer, the deer ate my hostas, and we had a menagerie living under our deck. My husband trapped and relocated a total of 28 critters. Everything from skunks to raccoons, possums to groundhogs, you name it it was living under our deck. Now in case you are thinking I live in the country think again, we live at a few miles from the Jersey Shore in a suburban neighborhood. Did my neighbors have these issues? No, apparently my gardens and flower beds have the best eats around for miles! (Oh dear, another exclamation point)

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  11. I'm so glad you allowed the pregnant mouse to go unmolested! I discovered several years ago that field mice are quite the homemakers. I had one that had set up housekeeping in a dresser in my garage. It had one drawer for its kitchen in which it had stored corn, one drawer for its bathroom and one for its living room which was well decorated with bits and bobs, old Christmas decorations and yarn...and I didn't discover this until I had caught it in a trap which did not kill it until I let it go and then it stumbled off a few feet and died! It was horrific, especially after I found its little condo!

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    1. Oh my gosh Teddee - that is hysterical - a 3 room condo !
      That IS a horrific ending.............someone once told me they caught a mouse in one of those old fashioned traps and it only caught it's tail so it was running all over the house with this trap clacking all over the place.
      I'd pass out.
      Without a doubt!
      Have a great weekend !
      xoxo

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  12. Texas hates grackles, too.

    p.s. sending you a possum to add to your menagerie. FedEx Shipping No. F3356 90338. Estimated arrival Tuesday, April 22.

    patty

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  13. Suzan, you are some special comedian lady and writer! I love reading your philosophical (?) observations! Your reports about your tit-for-tat with John are SO funny! I really admire how you and he communicate--sorta like my husband and me, except you are so much more civilized and nice! I usually storm out in a huff because my Chemist husband has no right brain and I have no left brain, or vicey-versy, (however that works)! He is a lot like Sheldon on the show "Big Bang Theory", I don't know if you are familiar with it. Anyhoo, I always use too many !!!!! And...I also do not like to kill, (such an UGLY word), any of my lower-on-the-food-chain brethren, so bravo for you--you are my hero, (or is it heroine(?), that sounds like a bad word too, nowadays. I also use too many (( ))!
    I love that your Postman is young in spirit, but at 60, maybe he's getting hard of hearing!! (giggle)
    That CEO is an ANGEL! I agree, there should be many more filthy rich guys doing the same---too much GREED in this world!!
    I love your descriptions of living in Canada. I love Canada! Thank you for making us laugh. I just love it! (P.S. I guess I must have missed your post about why you have such pretty curtains in what looks like a potting shed, a chicken coop, a garage that is ramshackle, somewhere outside? I plead ignorance, I AM sorry I don't know--oh, I use caps too much, too,...and commas.....and dots....and......
    The very best to you!
    Laura Marec in So CA, (as in California)

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    1. Hey !!! That ramshackle structure is my outdoor dining area LMAO !!!!
      I'm peeing my pants here - oh how we've fallen lol...........
      You seriously made me laugh out loud with your comment so thank YOU !!!
      I never considered that he was hard of hearing - he's grumpy as hell I can tell you that LOL
      You have yourself a wonderful weekend Hazel !!!
      xoxoxoxo

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    2. Dear Suzan, My most humble apologies about my description of your outside dining area! I told you I was Ignorant! The cropped picture in this post didn't show much, so I was not able to notice that it was a gorgeous plein air eating area! I am so very sorry! Truly, I did not mean to be snooty or critical! Once again I have my big foot in my big mouth!
      I do so love your sense of humor and how you write. Please write a book, or... I can just continue to read all of your posts! You are the BEST!!!! Lots of love,
      Laura (Hazel)

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    3. Oh Hazel - I was just teasing you LOL !!!
      It DOES look like a ramshackle shed in the photo above !
      Please don't apologize - I giggled when I read it...............and so I have to thank YOU ! I don't know how big your foot is - but get it out of your mouth already LOL
      And your kind words?
      Over the top THANKS for them
      xoxo

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  14. No squirrels in England, we'll send them some! Bravo to you and John for relocating Mrs. Mousie. There is one that has overwintered in our cellar that will be getting relocated too as soon as we catch it. Still watching the snow melt, not happening fast enough. Enjoy your garden and a beautiful weekend. Love the laughs you provide - keep em coming! xo Patty

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  15. Happy weekend to you! We'll be outside doing yard work all afternoon, and hurrah for it.
    And big kudos to you on the whole mouse thing. Gives me shudders just thinking about it. ;)

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  16. You realize that mouse will be back with her dozen babies!!!! in tow looking for room and board....just saying!!!!!!!!!!

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Due to a large amount of spam ( that I'm tired of going back to posts and deleting ) I'll be using comment moderation from now on !!!
Can I beat these spammers at their own game? Probably not - but I'm going
to try my damnedest !!!
xoxo