Have you ever had one of those days ...

Have you ever had one of those days that you should either stay in bed or wrap yourself in bubble wrap? Today was one of those days and believe me, I feel a little worse for wear.
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It started this morning when I came into the living room, and on my way to the kitchen I stubbed my toe on a side table. We’ve had this side table for months now, but I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve either bumped my knee on one of the corners, or kicked the legs with one of my feet. It’s a fairly big table, and you would think that I know by now how to navigate around it, but apparently my calculations need some work.

Next I was putting away some laundry, placed T-shirts in a drawer, closed the drawer, but forget to remove my hand. Ouch, my fingers.

All goes well until Dieter came home from work and I went to the kitchen to make coffee. I opened the overhead cabinet where the coffee is kept, bend down to pick up a spoon and ... well, if you have even the slightest imagination you’ll know what happened next. Right, my head banged against the corner of the cabinet door. OMG that hurt!

Was I done now with bad luck? No, not quite.
For dinner I cooked macaroni. I read somewhere that if you place a wooden spoon between the lid and the pot, it prevents the water from boiling over. I tried this and yep, it works.
Twenty minutes later I went to check on the pasta. I removed the lid and the grabbed the wooden spoon to stir. Good heavens, I dropped the spoon with a scream. It was boiling hot! Why did the writer of the article not mention that a wooden spoon between a lid and a pot not only prevents a mess, but gets hot in the process? I know that metal spoons absorb heat, but who would have thought that wooden spoons get hot too?

And if you were to think that with all that bad luck, now I’d had enough, you would be wrong. While doing the dishes I (almost) slipped on a piece of pasta. I managed to stay vertical, but can you imagine if I’d gone down and sprained or broken a wrist, what I would have said to the attending physician ... sorry doctor, I slipped on the macaroni. 

So here I am, with bruised toe, a sore finger, a slightly burned hand, not to mention a headache. Since I can’t stay in bed all day, perhaps I should invest in a few yards of bubble wrap.

Chanel 2000 - 2016

On Thursday, March 10th, Chanel passed away at the age of 16. I remember the day we adopted her like it was yesterday.

We had decided to get a cat, but being new to Toronto, we didn’t really know how to go about it. There were plenty of ads in the newspaper stating “Kittens seek a good home”, but without a car it was hard to get around.
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When a neighbor told us that Petsmart has animals up for adoption we wasted no time. On the bus I was a little worried though, how was I going to choose a cat? There would be so many there, all with a pleading look in their eyes to pick one of them.
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As it turned out, the choice was easy. As soon as we walked into the adoption center of Petsmart, there were these two adorable white kittens playing with each other, and huddled in a corner sat a sad grey kitten.

The kitten looked at us with eyes that said “Nobody wants me, compared to those two, I don’t stand a chance.”

Well, she was wrong, ever the champion of the underdog I decided that this was the kitten for us. I filled out the form, paid the $180 adoption fee and before we even left the store we had decided on a name ... Chanel.

Chanel was like every other kitten: she explored, she played and she got up to no good. As she grew up she developed a unique personality though, she turned out to be a caring cat.

This became most evident when I was diagnosed with pneumonia. During those first three dangerous days, Chanel stayed with me the whole time. She didn’t move except to eat, drink and use her litter box.
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When I got a little better and moved from my bed to the couch, she parked herself on the backrest of the chair while I lay and watched TV.
When I made some more progress and was able to get up to use the bathroom or make myself some lunch, Chanel followed.

I could tell a hundred stories about the 16 years Chanel spent with us, but since a picture is worth a 1,000 words, lets rather look at Chanel's life in images.

Last but not least, Chanel inspired me to write "Kitten Diaries". In print and in memory, Chanel will live on.

Office Team - Totally Unprofessional

If ever there was an unprofessional agency, it’s Office Team. Every so often one of their consultants calls me to come to their offices to update my resume.

I have done this no less than five times. Every time the consultant who looks after my file leaves the agency, and I’m handed over to another consultant, I have to go to their offices to be considered for employment.

The consultants don’t listen very well though. Even though I clearly stated in my application that I can only work downtown and uptown Toronto, North York and Scarborough, they called me twice now for a temp assignment in Brampton and Markham.

When I told the consultant that I don’t have a car and the commute as such would take too long, she got rather snooty with me.

Today one of them called me to come and update my file for the sixth time. When I explained that I had been to their office several times, she responded with “You dare to raise you voice to me.” I didn’t raise my voice, I was trying to be heard over a rather bad phone connection.

When I mentioned this conversation to a friend, he nodded in understanding. He is an ex-Office Team consultant, and stated that every consultant has to have a certain number of job seekers on their books, or their own job is in jeopardy.

He stated not to bother with Office Team, as they have the worst reputation, both with clients and with job seekers. The agency has their favorites, who get called again and again for temp assignments and the rest ... they’re just “book fillers”.

Will you help?

Asking people for money is never easy. But where it comes to cats’ well-being I have no scruples. So, once a year I ask everyone I know, and even some I don’t know, for a donation to the Toronto Cat Rescue Bowl-a-ton fundraiser. I’m not asking for much, $1, $2, whatever people want to give (although donations of $20 or more get a tax receipt). Now I can imagine that some people might think, “Why should I care, there are homeless cats in my neighborhood.” And you would be right, why should you care.” If you’re supporting a local cat shelter, I think that’s wonderful, homeless cats can use all the help they can get. But if you think about it, if you’re already donating to one cat shelter, why not one more? A little donation is not going to break the bank. I’m not selling tickets that cost $100, $50 or even $25 a piece, I’m asking for a donation you’re comfortable with, even if it’s only $1. If twenty people give $1, that makes $20 and those $20 pay for twenty cans or more of food. Let me tell you a bit more about the Toronto Cat Rescue. This cat shelter is not a regular shelter where cats sit in cages and are euthanized when nobody wants them. The shelter isn’t even a shelter as such, but a series of foster homes where cats and kittens end up, waiting to be adopted. Not that just anyone can adopt a cat. Adoptive parents are screened so the kitties go to a really loving home. In the meantime the cats and kittens who are housed at these foster homes need food and are spayed/neutered to prevent pregnancies and more homeless cats. All this costs money, and that’s where the donations come in. http://savecatsfromthegutter.com/about-tcr/ For twelve years the Toronto Cat Rescue has been raising funds for their kitties and personally I’ve been involved for ten years. In the beginning there were only about six teams and we raised only $3,000, but over the years the fundraiser has grown and now we’re aiming at raising $20,000. Several large organizations donate prices to the Bowl-a-ton and several individuals reward supporters with their own gifts. Personally I give everyone who donates the choice between one of these hand colored pictures. All the person has to do is contact me atconny.manero@gmail.com, specify the amount donated and tell me the picture of his/her preference, and it will be emailed to them. So what’d you think ... can you spare a dollar or two to support the kitties who need your help? It doesn’t matter if you’re not from Toronto, in the past, donations have been received from Dallas, New York, Last Vegas, Chicago, St. Louis, Sidney, Perth, Dublin, Zermat, Bonn, Lyon, Toulouse, and more. You can donate through my PayPal account atconny.manero@gmail.com or throughhttps://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/toronto-cat-rescue/bowlathon/team/grumpycats/ For inspiration, please view a few pictures from last year's event. 0 Comments Leave a Reply.

The easiest flower to care for

Soon it will be spring and millions of people will make their annual journey to the local nursery to shop for flowers.

If you have your heart set on geraniums, know there are several different kinds.

Geraniums are one of the most popular flowers because they are beautiful, versatile and easy to care for. Whether they are planted in flowerbeds, hanging baskets, balcony containers or window boxes, a geranium will grow without needing much care. Available in a variety of colors, leaf shapes and sizes, get acquainted with the different types of geraniums.
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http://www.ebay.com/gds/Different-Types-of-Geraniums-/10000000208404070/g.html

Would you believe .....

Many years ago, we had a cat named Pitoe. 

Pitoe was a hybrid, his mother was a Persian, his father was a gigolo. The result was a very affectionate, white, long-haired cat with blue eyes.

Being an indoor cat, Pitoe was a pampered pussycat. He slept ‘till noon in a soft basket, had lots of toys, and was fed the best food. For exercise, and fresh air, he was walked a few times a week in the yard on a leash. Not that he did much walking. He preferred to roll around in the sun on the driveway, or smell the flowers of his favorite shrub (I think it might have been catnip).

One morning I went to the garage and saw a small mouse sitting on the front tire of my car. I scooped up the little thing and holding it cupped in both hands, I went inside to show Pitoe. Just to show him, mind you, nothing else.

OMG was that a mistake. When I opened my hands so Pitoe could peer inside, he took off like a bat from hell. He literally sprinted from the kitchen, dashed through the living room, only to disappear to my bedroom, where I found him hiding under my bed.

Okay, so Pitoe suffered from musophobia.

If you think that’s bad, it gets better.

Meet Gabriel ...

Gabriel is a ragdoll, and he suffers from ichthyophobia, which is fear of fish. Seriously, we have a hexagon aquarium with ten goldfish, and it sends poor Gabe into a flat spin. While Holly likes to sit on a chair and watch the fishes, Gabriel won’t go near them.

Actually, I must correct myself. Yesterday, for some reason, Gabriel scraped all his courage together and jumped on the chair near the aquarium. His decision to face his fear only lasted seconds. As he sat in front of the glass tank, he did not only look at the fishes, several fishes came to look at him, and that was too much for Gabe. He bolted off the chair and went into hiding.

Finally, meet Holly.

Holly is also a product of a Ragdoll who met a gigolo. She’s a happy go lucky girl, who – although the youngest – rules the roost. She has one weakness though ... she suffers from a severe case of ornithophobia, fear of birds.

You would think that cats are fascinated by birds, love them even, but apparently Holly is the exception.

My neighbors across the hall recently acquired a bird, you see. A little parrot to be more specific. The bird doesn’t talk yet, he peeps, or tweets, whatever you want to call it, and Holly doesn’t like it one single bit.
She’s alright with the calls of the bird while she’s inside, but the other day were walking up and down the corridor – for her daily exercise – when she heard the bird screech and she panicked.

As fast as her little legs would carry her she set a new a new record in the 50 meter dash, pushed open the door of our condo with her head, and went into hiding in the bathroom.

Would you believe that cats can suffer from phobias? You bet they do.

I'm baaaaaaack !

Happy New Year to all my readers. I wish you all a pleasant, healthy and fulfilling year.

Did you think I lost interest in my blog? Far from it. I am aware that my last entry dates back to November 2015, but in my defense … I have been very busy writing guides for eBay.

Some of the guides I produced are:

Best tile for shower walls

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Best-Tile-for-Shower-Walls-/10000000206370563/g.html

Best outdoor window cleaners

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Best-Outdoor-Window-Cleaners-/10000000206327831/g.html

Best ice cleats

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Best-Ice-Cleats-/10000000206302225/g.html

These guides are not to be underestimated. There’s extensive research involved, writing the guide, looking for suitable images to accompany the various paragraphs, adding links to make a shopping experience easier, and publishing the guide.

In future, I will share more of these guides as they become available as they might be helpful to some people. I will write the introduction, provide the link and then it’s up to you to click the link, be taken to eBay and hopefully learn something new or be guided in your shopping.