Kitten

Today Joey is taking the kitten to get tested for diseases. I would do it except that I have to work right during the time the vaccine clinic happens, which is also when they do the testing.

Joey had to put down a name for the kitten at the clinic and he chose Yorick. It's a strange name, I know. He got it from a comic book he and I both read that I loved. It was the name of the main character. I don't read many comics--only the ones Joey recommends because he knows my taste so well. Thus far, he hasn't been wrong. :) Then again, I've only read a handful total, so there weren't all that many opportunities for him to BE wrong.

So the kitten tested negative for Feline AIDS and Feline Leukemia, which is good news. But he also was found to have ear-mites and ringworm. No good. So Joey bought some meds for him that we will administer once a day for the next four weeks. Since ringworm is so contagious, we will have to isolate Yorick away from all the other animals, until he is free and clear. Additionally, we have been washing our hands every time we have contact with him, which we will continue to do.

And now, a snippet from a paper I am writing for another class, History of the English Language. It is quite interesting, but so much info!

Candidly, Cantankerous

It is probably safe to say that for a majority of the words in the English language, we know the origins with fair precision. Or at the very least, we have some semblance of the origin. Often, the exact route of a word arriving in English is unknown, due to many Indo-European languages having the same secondary (after Proto Indo European) root language, such as Latin lending itself to the romance languages. Some words have a very ambiguous origin, practically unknown, which allows for many suppositions. “Cantankerous” is one such word.
Dating back to 1772, cantankerous was first recorded in the play She Stoops to Conquer by Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. Because Goldsmith’s play is the first recorded evidence of the word, some propose that it was Goldsmith who coined it. Strangely enough, this play came at the very end of his career, with his death following only two years later (Barrett, 235). Apparently the word hadn’t been used in his previous works, which could further support the idea that Goldsmith himself did indeed give it life, or could be taken to mean he stumbled upon it very late in his lifetime. According to Evans Bergen, author of Comfortable Words, it could very well be a dialect word Goldsmith picked up (Bergen). Bergen also thinks the word cantankerous suggests “one all cankered and tanked up with rancor.” That clearly makes sense, as “cankered” and “tanked” combined would produce something like “cantankerous,” but it still doesn’t explain how Goldsmith arrived at this particular word, this particular order of syllables. Bergen further posits that the word is used freely in speech, but rarely in formal writing, which would explain its appearing only a handful of times in texts between 1772 and 1886 (OED).

Eve

I may have mentioned that Joey found a kitten this weekend. He has a soft spot for animals, especially cats, and so he brought the little orange guy home. Because we have other cats, we have been keeping the new addition in the closet (which is large) in case he has feline leukemia or feline AIDS until we get him tested. Both my dogs have expressed some interest in his meowing, but I was only concerned about Revan's behavior due to his aggressive history. So today before I left for school, I put Revan in the living room, and put Eve in the bedroom, which is where I usually put both dogs. Eve could handle being in the same room with the closeted kitten.

I arrived home slightly earlier than usual, to Revan excitement, as usual. Eve wasn't banging on the bedroom door like she always does so I went into the bedroom to see what was going on. The bathroom is connected to the bedroom in my apartment. I didn't immediately find Eve upon opening the bedroom door, which is usually the case. Her jumping body will spill into me on regular days. I looked around the room and didn't see her. Where could she be? I went over to the bathroom and noticed the door was shut. I opened it, and out comes Eve. But not just Eve. She dug up the floor and half the door frame. I guess she went into the bathroom and sat or lied down which caused the door to shut behind her, locking her in the tiny bathroom. She panicked and tried to dig her way out. The linoleum is totally trashed. She went through several layers of flooring. Then she must have seen light through the crack of the door frame because she tried that option too. I was stunned upon seeing the whole spectacle. My first reaction was to cry, but then I laughed, and then I just stood there, wondering how to fix it.

When Joey came home and found the destruction (I at least swept up the loose chunks and pieces to make it look a little better), we decided that I will have to get a "regular" job to make up for this. I really don't think the destruction is too bad, as I grew up with a family who fixed everything ourselves. But Joey thinks the sky is falling and we could definitely use some "extra" income. Luckily, I think my classes will be a little lighter next semester, and at the very least the schedule is more favorable. I do tutoring right now, which pays exceptionally well, probably the best any college student could feasibly make, but the hours are very limited. Joey suggested I do some sort of seasonal help just for the next month or two. I definitely want to. I had thought about it before, but with several assignments piling up, I put the idea aside. Now, the idea has been shoved in my face, courtesy of Eve. Ah, the joys of pets.

Free stuff

Everyone loves free stuff. No, really, this is perhaps the one thing that the human race could agree upon--at least more than any other topic. It is for this reason, primarily, that I love craigslist. I haven't really gotten too much from it. Just an enclosed kitty litter box. But today I hit the jackpot. I realized that Saturdays are the best day to check because that's the day people clean out their garage or attic or backyard or whatever strange place stores junk. I found two desks and a bookshelf for free today. The desk looked too big to handle on my own, and my boyfriend was at work all day. Things on craigslist tend to go pretty fast, so time was of the essence. I contacted one of my guy friends who didn't answer. Then I contacted his roommate. He responded right away and I had to quickly get ready to go out and pick up the furniture. The ad had been posted at 11:31 am, and it was now 1:30 pm. Two hours is a long lifespan for a free craigslist ad, but it wasn't too far away from my apartment so I decided to go for it. My friend was out at a store, so he met me at the address. He actually arrived first and told me over the phone that the stuff was all still there. YES! So I get there and the desk is a great one, very sturdy. Stuff these days just isn't built to last. Even computers poop out after two or three years when they used to last five or more years. So we load the bookshelf into my trunk, a breeze cause it's small and not so sturdy (easily fixed with the help of some brackets, unlike desks which wouldn't benefit so much from brackets). Then we take the desk, larger than it looked in the picture online (I hear people look different in their pictures online too), and attempt to load it in my car. My Volvo is having none of it--the door doesn't open nearly wide enough. My friend has his bike in his car cause he was at a bike training thing earlier this morning and so we put his bike into the backseat of my car. Then we loaded the desk into his trunk. He just so happens to have a tow rope that came in handy to secure the desk, which was sticking a decent way out of his trunk. Anyhow, we got the two things home without any further problems and I found out it functions as a bonus for my cats. They think it is their playground and have been jumping up, down, and ducking through the shelves.

I got stung by a wasp tonight. I was planning to study at the UA library but apparently it closes at 9 on Friday and Saturday nights. Bummer. I was looking forward to making progress. The wasp sting happened at my mover friend's house. I haven't been stung by one of those fockers since I was about ten. This time it was on my neck. I'm not allergic or anything so it wasn't too big a deal. My friend didn't have ice so he gave me one of those icey-pops to put on it instead.

Modern Family

One of my favorite shows lately is Modern Family. It's about, as the name suggests, the modern family types. One family is the traditional mom, dad, three kids. The other is an older guy who marries a gorgeous Latina woman half his age who already has an 11-year-old son who acts like he's 35. Then, there's the (male) gay couple who adopt a baby from Vietnam. The connection between all three families is that the older guy who the hot Latina wife is the dad to one of the gay men and to the mom in the traditional family setup. It is such a funny show. And it's unique, not just in what goes on, but the basic structure of the families. Gay couples are not often portrayed on non-cable, prime time TV. One thing that strikes me as particularly funny is that perhaps the oddest character on the show is the father in the traditional family. Clearly, he was a nerdy kid growing up and though his looks may have changed for the better, he is still very much a nerd on the inside. Each character is fairly quirky. I appreciate that the idea for the show is new and fresh.

Another show I like is Shark Tank. The Office is still good, though I think as a whole this season hasn't been as funny as previous ones. I've heard this may have something to do with the whole writers' strike but I have no idea.

I can't believe the show Survivor is still on. I remember the first season. I used to watch it but after the second season, I became disinterested. It seems like a show that has long outlived its life expectancy, but I guess there are enough that still like it to keep it playing. What is it, in its fifth season now?

Getting away from TV shows, I am enjoying teaching English to Somali-Bantu refugees. But sometimes it seems so hopeless. They have seven years from the time they are relocated to the US to learn English and pass the citizenship exam. I think perhaps there should be length extensions for preliterate groups that come here, as the Bantus are. They are starting from a preschool level, learning their ABC's. Some of them can kinda read but I'm not sure if they know the letter sounds or if they merely memorize the words. In my linguistics class the prof talked about how preliterate groups have an amazing memory capacity because they have no other choice than to memorize everything. The part of their brain in control of memory is much more developed than literate people. Thus, I think that they are memorizing words instead of letter sounds. Not that it matters too much. But they MUST pass the citizenship exam or else lose their public housing and all their benefits. I do have one student who is young and her seven year term is ending in May. I have no doubt that she will pass.

Perfect Bedtime Snack

Three more months until I can move! We've been taking the dogs to Joey's mom's house and it works wonders. It's like magic. Having a yard will literally be life-changing for me. The dogs are a major point of stress, because of their fights and their messes. I've already looked at so many potential places online, even though I know I can't get one for three more months.

I just had the perfect bedtime snack: vanilla ice cream and Kahlua. Mmmmmm. Kahlua makes me want to sleep. My roommate started me on it three years ago. She would have it in milk to help her fall asleep cause she had an anxiety disorder where she didn't handle stress very well. So she would use it to get tired. She didn't do it all that often and neither do I. It's a nice treat. Actually, I hadn't had Kahlua in a long time but it was uber on sale a few weeks ago so I picked it up. Now that I think about it, she mixed milk, Kahlua, and a little vanilla. Perfection. I never realized until I mixed Kahlua with ice cream that it really DOES taste like coffee. The aftertaste does, anyway. I always knew it is considered "coffee liquor" but I never tasted much of the coffee.

I will be seeing this old roomie in less than two months. That is so strange. I haven't seen her in over two years. Sometimes I think it sucks that people are so transient. But it was me who moved, so I shouldn't be too upset about that. I learned the hard way. I originally moved in with her cause our mutual friend got married and thus her old roomie needed a new one. So I moved up there. Then that mutual friend moved away just less than a year later. Not so far, but far enough that seeing her required prearrangement, of at least a week or two. Hopefully it will be like a reunion and we can all see each other again, same time, maybe same place. Plus, there is a fourth girl who we are friends with and she is back home, which is Ohio for her, from her crazy adventures on a cruise ship and in Hawaii. I had always planned to visit her in Hawaii but I never could. Money was an issue, along with time. It sucks. I always make an effort to see people. Actually, this friend does too. She is one of the best people I know at keeping in touch with friends and family and she knows so MANY people. It seems like a full time job, with all the people she knows!

I guess Joey found a little kitten at work today. So it's coming home with him. We won't keep it--clearly we have enough cats. And since it is a kitten it will be easy to adopt out. The cool thing is that right now we have two black cats that look identical, and two gray striped cats that are even more identical. But we have Joey's orange cat which has no match and this kitten is orange. So Simmy would have a match! Haha.

Global Warming

I was sold on global warming when it first exploded into the media. I drove less, recycled, and did anything I could to help the cause. Then, they changed the name to "climate change" instead of the formal "global warming" because just maybe, this warming is a natural occurrence happening over many millions of years, potentially even having nothing to do with humans. Thing is, every time anyone requests hard evidence, none can be provided. The UN did a study on trees, and supposedly something with their rings was an indication of global warming. However, when pressed for their data, so that other science groups could test the UN's results, the UN suddenly couldn't find it. After a few months, after more pressure for data, the UN finally stated that they had destroyed the data in an attempt to clear some much-needed space. Later still, it was discovered that the UN had only used a total of 12 trees to conclude their results. Anyone with the most basic knowledge of science knows that the larger sample obtained, the more reliable the results. Even middle-schoolers do experiments with more that 12 test subjects.

Having said all this, I certainly don't think cars and factories are helping our environment. One need not look far to find pollution. So, climate change or not, I am still an avid recycler and I do what I can to save energy and protect our earth.

But having mandates in the US to stop climate change is rather preposterous. If scientists aren't even sure it has a human cause (many removed their names from the document on climate change shortly after signing it) and aren't able to prove that it does, why are we making concrete LAWS to stop it? Furthermore, the US is only one of seven continents. We undoubtedly have more cars per capita than any other continent or country, but I think the output of our factories pales in comparison to that of China. Efforts to stop climate change need to be global, meaning everyone takes part. Creating stricter laws in the US will only create more outsourcing, to places that have minimal regulations on pollution. Obviously, this further hurts our economy while China's continues to boom. So not only are we hurting our own economy, we are further aiding China's hold on the world market. The US is already greatly in financial debt to China, and now we will be putting even more jobs over there. I don't mind the Chinese people prospering, but I do have a problem with how they do things. Their government is extremist and seemingly corrupt, as I witnessed during the summer Olympics with the 86-pound gymnast who appeared to be 13 at most. Half their team was underage, and magically the birth certificates of the girls in question had be pulled from public record, along with recent articles exposing their ages.

If the supposed climate change is of human cause, then it should be a worldwide effort to stop it, or at least slow it as much as possible. But until I see solid evidence, not from the UN, I will remain skeptical.

Classes

I rather like taking 15 credit hours per semester. I feel like it's an appropriate amount, especially with upper division courses. However, I am considering taking 18 credits next semester. There is a class that my Education adviser pointed out to me that I need to take before I can graduate and I didn't have it in my schedule plan. I could probably take it the following fall (a year from now) but I hate to put things off because before ya know it, you've then got too much on your plate. I think I'd rather take it in the fall because like I said, I already have 15 credits this spring. Plus, I was hoping to start up tutoring again to bring in a little extra income. Taking 18 credits will make that nearly impossible. I really don't know how people do it. I had a girl in a summer class this past summer who has gone to school year round since her freshman year, every fall, winter, spring, and summer session. She's there, every session offered. She's a triple major, in three useless degrees. This semester she is taking 22 hours total. Outrageous! She also teaches English to refugees and actually got me started on it. Oh, and she is also Vice President of Mock Trial. I admire her but at the same time, what a life! I like not being so busy all the time. I did it for awhile, working about 55 hours a week at two jobs. It gets really old really fast. But it's such a catch-22: if you work all the time you have money to spend but no time to spend it, and if you don't work too much, you have time but no money to spend. Ha! But I hear other countries have it worse as far as work week. Italy works six days a week. But then, they have a siesta time every day where the shops close down for a few hours in the afternoons. Still, I'd much rather do five days of work with two days off, as opposed to their six-day setup with siestas.

Joey and I went to look at houses today. It's so much fun, but at the same time depressing because we still have three months left on our current lease. We have considered breaking it because we want out so badly, but it would be very costly, probably $800 minimum. We found some great places today, meeting our two main criteria of a YARD and tile floors. Having a yard is the whole point of moving, so that is absolutely a deal breaker. And in this case, size most certainly matters. Some places have a little ten by eight foot plot of dirt that they consider a yard. That just won't work for me and my large dogs. I'm a reasonable person, and don't expect a huge yard either, but there needs to be ample space for the dogs to tear around and get their energy out. I took them to my mother-in-laws today and yesterday and it is sooooo great when we get home. They just lie around the rest of the evening, not fighting, not really doing much of anything. This is how it will be when we have a yard!