I began following Ethel’s journey early in the week on FaceBook. A good friend lost her beloved senior dog, Charlie, not so long ago. When she was made aware that a shelter dog was to be put down the following evening, she stepped in and decided to foster Ethel. You see, Ethel failed her food bowl test and needed rescuing. My friend explained the “food bowl” test (in a shelter they deprive animals of food so they are hungry, put a bowl of food in front of them, poke them with a stick and take away the food to see if they display aggression) and asked that everyone following Ethel’s story to simply do a Google search to verify. I did.
I felt bad for my friend — everyone was leaving comments reference how she should keep Ethel. She kept explaining (over and over again to no avail) that she was looking for a forever home for the black lab and wasn’t ready for another dog so soon after losing her friend of many years. One friend in particular evidently took her seriously.
Here’s the latest:
Well a sad day for us but a joyous day overall. Ethel went to her forever home tonight. The look on her face as she raced at top speed in **name omitted**’s backyard was awesome! They love her already and Ethel felt the same as she made herself right at home! Good news is we get to babysit whenever she needs us! Ethel has her miracle!!!! God is good.“
I sure wish there were more people like my friend. It makes me sad to think of the animals that are put down because they are no longer wanted or don’t fit pet adoption protocol (seriously, you guys — could YOU pass the food bowl test??), but I sure am thrilled for Ethel.
It’s Facebook Friday… where I share the craziest thing I read on FB for the week! Better than reality TV because you don’t have to watch the drama unfold over an hour — you can read it right here in minutes and maybe even learn something. Like… I’ll bet you didn’t know that in jail, drywall hangers are in a different cell block than those accused of domestic battery. And, I’m pretty sure this can also serve as an example insofar as how to find new love on FB:
Her: Hey whats up Him: Not much Her: How do u no me? Him: Im not sure. Her: do u no (NAME OMITTED HERE) Him: Ya i know him. Her: I use to date him and he bet me up really bad 4 nuttin he said he blacked out he thinks he is a bad ass Him: Damn tht sucks. I just got out jail wit him couple weeks ago. I wasnt in same block. Im a drywall hanger. Her: Thats awsum i just want to hav fun and treat a man 150 percent
On a serious note, my friend, Mark Mayfield, posted something earlier in the week on FB that was an eye opener for sure. Even though the person coming down with a cold sort of gets picked on (how would THEY know what else was going on — and, it’s sort of like me blabbing about FB when Malaysia’s Flight 370 is still missing), it’s still a good share:
And because I need to include a photo for front page formatting, here’s one from yesterday’s lunch — Perry and I spend lunch every day treating the ears of a hound dog because the first thing she does when she gets outside is grind them in the grass. I think Perry is trying to match the color of his beard/mustache to Gracie’s hair color. He’s just about got it, you guys!!
I posted yesterday about developing a design for @scottmckain’s Twitter page. It got me thinking about my social media interactions and how I measure up to others in that regard. I suck, you guys.
I’m weak in all social media aspects with the exception of posting here (according to Wikipedia, blogging is a form of social media although some disagree). I’ve been sharing random stuff on whatifitdid.com since 2008 and I still don’t know why anyone (other than family or close friends) would read this crap.
I guess I don’t really think I have anything to offer when it comes to social media. With no small children I can’t be a ‘mommie blogger’ that’s become so popular; I’m too busy keeping the wheels on the business bus and babysitting an aging dog that I rarely travel; I’m no longer a resident of that “small-town” where this site originated; and there’s way too many business and photography blogs already out there with people who are a lot more knowledgable than I am providing the information. I’m not into tweeting someone else’s quotes 5 times a day or blabbing about what I’m eating for dinner.
You know, I feel like one of those bad Investigation Discovery shows where you have to watch it play out for an hour when the whole darned story could’ve been told in 15 minutes. I guess I’m just not sure where to go from here…
How social are you? What does being involved in social media “give back” to your personal or professional life?
Libby thinks it’s all a big waste of time and I should instead just bask in the sunshine peeking through the windows — right after I wash them.
I woke yesterday morning to a message in my Facebook inbox that wished me a happy birthday and told me that FB said I was older than what I already am. Not like good ole’ FB wasn’t already on my bad side, but seriously? I made a status post explaining that it wasn’t my birthday but I appreciated the well wishes (of course, this is AFTER I checked to make sure it wasn’t some sort of revenge plan by Perry).
Funny dialog followed until my brother commented, “This isn’t your birthday — but, it is the anniversary of when the police brought you to our house and dropped you off.” He failed to explain the inside joke that he used to tease me… tell me I was adopted and the police brought me (insert Bill Cosby, To My Brother Russell Whom I Slept With). So then, I started getting private messages asking what I was arrested for. Oh my!
To get my mind off of turning another year more ancient and 1k “friends” believing I’ve spent time in the “big house,” I began creating a new design layout for said brother’s Twitter page. Left of the red line in the image below is the final design (check it out and follow that Scott McKain guy — @scottmckain), but to the right of that red line is what I initially considered:
I probably would’ve uploaded it if not for the fact that I enjoy working 20 hours a day. And because our ‘casual Friday’ meetings are REALLY casual and may include 2 dogs, a 3 year-old, and a dollhouse.
I always make a conscious effort to start my day with a positive mental attitude… and a big ole’ cup of Big Easy Bold coffee. I hug my dogs and look outside and think about how grateful I am. It’s a fact that we must face many life events that we know are going to shrivel our souls to about the size of a raisin, but we can choose to ignore trivial things that are upsetting or make us crazy. Like certain Facebook status posts…
Yes, every single day I choose to scroll fast right past certain types of information my ‘friends’ provide on Facebook. The 5 types of statuses that are most abrasive to me are:
“I’m taking a week off from Facebook.”
Why exactly would you need to announce that? If you need a FB break, take it. Take a year if you want! We aren’t stupid… you put it out there hoping we will ask you ‘why.’
“See this photo of a dead dog in the snow? Bring your dogs inside during the cold.”
Pointless & upsetting, you guys. Those of us with pets who care about their well-being already know to bring them in when conditions are harsh if they don’t already sleep in our bed every night. Assholes who don’t care aren’t going to bring them inside just because you shared a morbid photo on FB and told them they should. Sharing images for ‘shock value’ stick in my brain even when I scroll fast. In general, I wish everyone would stop it — this includes sharing graphic images from wrecks, deformed babies, injured animals and bloody abuse victims.
“My life is perfect. My parents are happy and I am happy and my kids are happy and I live in a mansion surrounded by rainbows and butterflies and pink mushrooms and glittery unicorns.”
Ummm… no. Most of us KNOW BETTER! What makes this worse? Others who also KNOW BETTER but still click the “like” button on the ridiculous status post. Seriously? C’mon now!
“Please pray for ME. My {insert loved one here} is sick or dying or is getting deployed or divorced or is constipated.”
How about you ask for prayers for THEM? Ok, I admit this is a pet peeve of mine — the ME ME ME thing gets old quick. NOTE: You will get blindsided by these posts and read them before you know you shouldn’t have.
“I want to keep all my stuff private. Please click on my name and then on the settings tab and then on the share button and then click that you won’t share my stuff with your friends who aren’t my friends and then…”
FB is a social network. It’s not private. That bunch of garbage you just posted? It’s a hoax. Before you blah blah blah stuff you want your friends to do, go to Snopes and do a little research first.
So what types of status posts do YOU choose to ignore?
I began following Ethel’s journey early in the week on FaceBook. A good friend lost her beloved senior dog, Charlie, not so long ago. When she was made aware that a shelter dog was to be put down the following evening, she stepped in and decided to foster Ethel. You see, Ethel failed her food bowl test and needed rescuing. My friend explained the “food bowl” test (in a shelter they deprive animals of food so they are hungry, put a bowl of food in front of them, poke them with a stick and take away the food to see if they display aggression) and asked that everyone following Ethel’s story to simply do a Google search to verify. I did.
I always make a conscious effort to start my day with a positive mental attitude… and a big ole’ cup of Big Easy Bold coffee. I hug my dogs and look outside and think about how grateful I am. It’s a fact that we must face many life events that we know are going to shrivel our souls to about the size of a raisin, but we can choose to ignore trivial things that are upsetting or make us crazy. Like certain Facebook status posts…