Author Archives: Janet

The Curse of the Gravitational Pull

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Did you see the full moon last Sunday? Wasn’t it magnificent? I don’t know much about full moons, except that they cause high tides because of the lunar gravitational pull on oceans facing the moon. But that’s not all.

Researchers discovered that during a full moon, people spend 30% less time in deep sleep (known as NREM sleep) and sleep for 20 minutes less than nights without a full moon. Could this explain why people seem a little more loony than usual during full moons? Could 20 minutes less sleep really cause that?

Now don’t get me wrong; this post isn’t meant to be educationally enlightening, as the extent of my knowledge concerning full moons is quite meager. But what I’ve noticed during this once a month event is that people seem more agitated, annoyed and grouchy, to name some not-so-pleasant behavior changes. I can’t blame it on 20 minutes of less sleep, as I myself am lucky to get 5 hours a night, yet I think I’m a rather pleasant person regardless of limited shut-eye. But evidently a full moon actually does wreak havoc on us — the gravitational pull and all that. If it can affect our tides, why can’t it make some of us a little more anxious and irritable?

Thus is the extent of my full moon knowledge
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The Kiss of Death

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Have you ever driven down the freeway and thought to yourself: Wow, there’s hardly any traffic today. How lucky am I? And then you crest the hill only to witness a mass of cars seemingly attached like miles-long sausages. Or, if you brag to friends about rarely getting sick or injured, you’ve pretty much just guaranteed the next day you’ll get the flu and fall down the stairs.

Why do I bring this up? Because a couple weeks ago I had the audacity to actually say to someone, “I’ve been so fortunate these 39 years in my home because very little has gone wrong that needed fixing.” And that was, in 4 little words,

Now don’t get me wrong; a fire didn’t demolish my residence. The roof didn’t blow off during the huge storm we endured a few weeks ago. No trees fell on my car; nothing that bad. But apparently simply commenting about one’s good fortune just about guarantees it will soon change. I was never a true believer of that myth, until now. And here’s why…

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What Do I know?

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Okay, so here’s the thing.

I don’t consider myself to be an idiot (AKA a nincompoop, ignoramus, halfwit) even though at times I do idiotic things. Now don’t get me wrong; I could easily fill this blog with some questionable choices I’ve made and maybe I will when I’m drawing a blank one day, hours before my Sunday posting is due. But as you know, my brain goes on strike with anything involving technology. Even at the mention of, say, a router, and my eyes lose focus. Happens every time.confused 2

So you may understand when I tell you I was recently the recipient of an attempted scam, while innocently checking my computer emails. Yes, I, who always wonder how people can fall for emails saying they have 10 million dollars waiting for them in a bank in Nigeria, got hoodwinked.

I hear the elderly fall for this type of scam, called phishing, fairly often. So I guess I’m old. But to my credit, my brain came out of its fog and screamed at me, What the hell are you doing, Janet?! Have you lost your mind? And I’m sure this is exactly what my friend Hilary will say after reading this. She’s a tech nerd, after all.stealing pesonal data

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Eight is Enough

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Now don’t get me wrong; lest you get the mistaken impression I’ve entirely lost my mind, I have to tell you something I hope will sway you in the direction of believing I am not, after all, crazy. Yes, it might very well appear that way, but as we already know, appearances are deceiving. At least that’s the rumor.don't believe everything you think

Anyway, what you need to know is that I’m currently fostering feral kittens #199 and 200. But that’s not the crazy part. I’d say 95% of my fosters eventually become adopted through Marin Humane. The other 5% I relocate to outdoor properties because they’re still not adoptable after socializing. That leads me to foster #198.

A few months ago I relocated a couple ferals to a family who wanted mousers on their property and Panther seemed to fit the bill. But as it turned out, he fooled us all into believing he was a wild man when all along he was a master of disguise.disguised cat

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I’m an Idiot

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Last week I wrote about my being a genius. But this week I’m here to tell you I’m an idiot. How quickly the tide turns, huh? And in this particular case, live and learn did not prove to be exactly, how shall I say…correct? In fact, I’m finding that living and learning do not always go hand in hand.

Live and learn

I often type these blog posts on my laptop so I’m not shackled to my office computer. I can watch TV and type, be on the phone and type, sit in the garden and type. You get my drift. There are obvious benefits to working this way, especially when multi-tasking.

One of the things you should know about me is that I’m not tech savvy in any shape or form. It’s just one of the ways I’m an idiot. Therefore, I’m a bit skeptical of suggestions like downloads and updates, stuff like that. Normally I ignore them until my computer barely functions anymore. Only then do I consider the latest updates. Call me stubborn.

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