Grrrr! Cell Phones...

There is nothing that compares to receiving a phone call, or text message, on your emergency telephone line at 4 o'clock in the morning.  If my regular, old-fashioned home telephone (an honest-to-goodness land line) rings in the middle of my sleep, that's startling; but when my emergency phone rings, or buzzes, it scares me, because I think of all of the things that can happen to friends, family and pets.  I waited a very long time to get a cell phone.  I do not like the damned things - and I hate talking on them.  I only got one when it became apparent that sometimes my clients felt the need to contact me while I was walking their dogs.  I even had clients offer to purchase a phone for me, and put that phone on their plan, with them paying for it monthly.
   I finally broke down and purchased my own cell phone.  I give the number out to a very few friends, to family, and to my clients.  When I start working for them, I tell the clients, this cell phone number is for emergency purposes only - call my home number, or e-mail me, if you want to schedule something.  No one listens to instructions anymore.  If I did not follow instructions regarding the care of these folks' animals and houses, I'd be in BIG trouble.  But my requests and instructions regarding making contact with me are totally ignored.  It's amazing...  One of my clients calls multiple times each day, just to chat, and/or to ask my opinion of a certain pet product.
   I don't seem to remember living anywhere as narcissistic as Boulder.  Here, it seems that everyone believes that "the rules apply to others, not me."  People walk across busy streets in the middle of traffic, not using crosswalks.  People go through and turn on red lights, if no one is approaching.  The law says that one must pick up your dog's poop - but less than half do it (I do, even though the dogs I walk are not mine).  People on bicycles blast through Stop signs and red lights.  I heard a teen-ager on the bus tell his friend that he'd left his tablet on the bus - and the other kid said, "Oh, I don't like that one.  My folks will buy me  a newer, better one, when I tell them I lost it."  This stuff just astounds me.
   Anyway, I was sound asleep at 4 o'clock in the morning.  My cell phone was plugged in and charging on the stand beside my bed.  I was caring for Bop and Tiko, two cats, whose owners were on their way back from Spain.  They were due back at home between 6 and 7 that night...  Suddenly, my phone started buzzing and crawling across the night stand - then it whistled three times in a row.  That meant I either had three voice messages, or three text messages.  My mind immediately flew to several older critters that I have cared for over many years, and I worried that one had passed away.  I turned on the light, grabbed the phone, and saw 3 text messages.
   Tiko and Bop's parents/owners were at Heathrow Airport, outside of London, on the way home - how were the boys, how was the weather, any problems with the house?  Two pages of questions...  Then the third text was - "Whoops!  Forgot the time difference - you're asleep, aren't you?"   "Not any longer," was my response....
    Boulder is in a valley on the edge of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  Even though there are plenty of micro-wave towers, reception for cell phones is very spotty.  Sometimes the cell phone will ring in one part of a specific house, but nor in another.  My cell phone only works in my bedroom of my apartment.  Even so, people's voices fade in and out - that's why I prefer to use my real telephone - it doesn't fade in and out, and always has good reception.  I still think that cell phones are NOT a convenience.  Guess I'm still an old-fashioned so-and-so!

Lindsey Vonn Out of Sochi Games

It was good to see Bobby Bowden out on the field last night, even though it was only as an "Honorary Co-Captain" for the FSU team.  Dad always had great respect for he man, and I grew up with that, also - it's just too bad he couldn't be the Coach of the team for the BCS Championship game.  Dad always emphasized, too, that the game game wasn't over until players and coaches left the field.  He would have loved the Auburn versus Alabama game - and the way that a lot of football games (both collegiate and professional) have ended recently.  And he always rooted for the underdog - which I have a tendency to do, also.  Anyway, for the first time, Florida State University won the national title.  I guess I have to say, "Go, 'Noles!"
   And with all the uproar about the name of the Washington Redskins, I just have to chuckle about the wild entrance of the FSU Seminoles' mascot - the young man, dressed in buckskin, wearing a full eagle-feather war bonnet, carrying a war spear, and riding in on a leopard Appaloosa horse. It's too funny....  This person is supposed to represent Chief Osceola, a half-Creek Native American (and half Scot), who led the Seminole tribes in resistance against the US Army.  Osceola spoke English, Creek, French, and what became the Seminole language.  He usually wore a cloth turban with a single feather in it, when meeting with US representatives.  He was not known for wearing buckskins, a Great Plains war bonnet, nor for carrying a lance or spear.  He occasionally rode a Florida Spanish mustang, probably bay or dun; he did not ride a wildly marked Appaloosa (a breed that was developed by the Nez Perce tribe along the Snake River in Idaho).  Oh, well....
   Why do people speak more loudly than normal when on a cell phone?  My idiot neighbor ducked into the corner of my patio yesterday, and, with window and door closed, spoke so loud it seemed as if he was shouting directly at me...  And he was telling a friend that the Boulder Police Department has an outstanding warrant against him, and if he's picked up, he'll be spending at least a week in jail...  Is that really something someone broadcasts at the top of their lungs?
   The big news here in Colorado is that Lindsey Vonn will not be participating in the Sochi Olympics.  Her knee just cannot hold up under the strain when she's skiing.  Of course, Colorado will have it's eyes on the rest of our "kids" who practice for the Winter Games in our state.  I'm just sorry that Lindsey won't be competing - she is a joy to watch, and tons of fun to talk to.