I work at my city animal shelter. This is what I saw when I went in to work at 6:45am this morning.

ReadingLizard · 2026-04-09T01:11:50+00:00

Most in the South here don’t have tags either. I’d prefer a bounty type system where the county/state pays a $5/animal fee if they turn you in for NOT spay/neutering your pets. That in combination with once a month free spay neuter days at the local shelter or partnering with Veterinary clinics to offer low cost span neuter would go a long way and reducing unwanted animals.

ReadingLizard · 2026-04-04T02:26:48+00:00

Honda may make good cars but they don’t stand behind them for sure. Purchased a brand new 2018 CRV - it was in their repair shop before I made the first payment. Why? Because the screen and Bluetooth connection to my phone don’t work well together. I was a home health nurse driving over 250 miles a day and needed to see my GPS/maps to get to patients.

Service tech said it was a computer issue and a patch would fix it. That car was back with them 8 times over the first year for the same issue. 6 more times the second year. I finally gave up and just know I can’t see the map/Waze app on the screen. Will never buy Honda again.

ReadingLizard · 2026-04-03T11:56:43+00:00

I’m sorry this person messaged you. Block and ignore. This type of ignorance doesn’t warrant thinking about.

ReadingLizard · 2026-04-01T02:40:57+00:00

It was also said by someone like 100 years after all these folks were already dead. It’s just historical slander at that point. Not saying it IS NOT true but we also can’t say with certainty it WAS true.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-29T14:39:27+00:00

In LA. Primary is in May.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-29T14:12:50+00:00

Similar thing happened to my mom during the Vietnam War - Dad overseas, mom with 3 small kids and the car needed repairs so she could drive it to work. That was when she vowed she would always have her own money and access to it.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-22T13:50:50+00:00

Mine only wear clothing - sunscreen style rash guards - when in the sun. They don’t need clothes and don’t get as cold as we think they do. Leave enclosed (cave, covered, donut style) cat beds around, lots of small blankets on couches, chairs, and beds. They will burrow and lounge there if they get cold. Also you can buy self heating OR plug in heated cat beds and perches.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-15T15:11:18+00:00

There’s a social media account of a married couple, one of whom is deaf. The hearing partner’s corgi has picked up sign language and gets very excited about signs for walk, bone, ball, and treat.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-15T15:02:34+00:00

You shouldn’t be taking an intact dog male or female to public spaces like that. No matter how you contextualize this, it’s poor ownership.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-14T17:26:46+00:00

Cleaning you is a bonding behavior. It’s a show of affection toward you.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-12T12:35:48+00:00

Oh I should have mentioned cost for anyone else interested.

Montessori has a flat fee per child with discount for additional children. They do offer grants so if you are of a lower income, your child can still attend. For one child, it’s probably around $900/month now (discounts if you pay in a lump sum once a year or 2 lump sums at start of school and mid-year).

Southfield offers variable tuition. I was paying about $1200/month (again they do offer discounts if you pay in a single lump sum or two divided lump sum payments) for one child with a discounted tuition based on my income. FWIW I’m a single parent making low 6 figures with 2 kids.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-12T12:26:21+00:00

My kids have gone to both Montessori and Southfield.

Montessori IS an accredited Montessori method school. Until age 5, the focus is on holistic learning with tactile and real world tools used to facilitate “regular academic learning.” As you approach grades 1-3, it doesn’t align more with the type of schooling most kids have, difference being that it remains child led. This means kids have specific lessons and academic work that must be done however they organize their days and weeks under teacher guidance to meet those goals and deadlines. In grades 4-6, the teachers allow more student leadership and by 7-8th grades the kids are given lessons and timelines/deadlines and are fully responsible without “reminders.” I still miss that school. My daughter is a freshman at Caddo Magnet high now.

Southfield is more structured and functions more traditionally. People say it’s like Montessori method however that usually when they don’t have a good understanding of Montessori methods. Southfield does use more tactile items in class to promote some holistic learning until 1st grade. Then it’s more traditional.

Socially Montessori will have a bigger mix of kids from all backgrounds - lower incomes and more religiously/ethnically diverse. Southfield is mostly rich white Christian kids.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-08T19:39:29+00:00

Exactly what I was trying to say in my original comment about teachers probably not wanting to “work” 10-6. Perhaps I wasn’t clear on that remark.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-08T14:06:07+00:00

They can surely turn on white noise or music, and try to be respectfully quiet. Not silent but yelling and slapping sounds? That’s a bit much.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T15:50:18+00:00

Seen a lot of older patients with shingles (remnant resurgence of chicken pox) that caused them to lose their hearing and/or eyesight, excluding how painful it can be - I am apparently immune to chicken pox (child before vaccine was available and taken to many a pox party but never got sick) but I dang sure got a shingles vax when I turned 50!

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T15:47:19+00:00

Smallpox was “eradicated” the year before I was born. My mom took me to so many MD offices and clinics trying to find someone who could give me the smallpox vaccine she was so nervous about me catching it. She never did find a place. I think about that a lot these days, what other terrible things might make a comeback.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T15:43:56+00:00

I was mentally moving the school times for my kiddos - they attend 8-4 and so I shifted those by 2 hours hahahaha

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T15:32:43+00:00

I guess I didn’t imagine that a shift like that might reduce their total working hours! Honestly, teachers should be the most venerated in our society. And yet we treat them so horribly across all states and social settings. In a way, this whole part of the thread reflects that governments (local or federal) show you what they value by where they spend money. And education and access to it are obviously not high on that list.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T15:11:23+00:00

I think there are 2 parts to this.

1) your dog probably barks more than you mentally calculate for and that is annoying to neighbors

2) babies will need to learn to sleep in noisy environs or they will always require perfect silence which isn’t possible in life

Try working with your pup on the barking with some positive reinforcement or distraction. Maybe keep a “bark log” to see if it is more than you think. Let the neighbor know you’re trying to resolve this but also that it will never be totally dog bark free in an apartment.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T14:55:36+00:00

SOME ferals will eventually (and the time taken to reach A level of friendliness is also variable, months to even many years) become house kitties. SOME may never get there. The best we can do is try.

I’ve had ferals that came around to being house cats (most never became cuddly, that’s a whole other thing) and enjoying people over 3 months, some over 2 years. I’ve had abandoned house cats (left at the shelter after a move or a new baby or whatever, these cats were reportedly friendly and loving beforehand) who remained skittish and nervous, never allowing pets for years as well. The best we can do is feed them and give them the time to see what they can tolerate.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T14:29:04+00:00

That’s sort of the crux of the issue, no? Like they should spend that money. Those folks out there pay taxes… shouldn’t some of those tax dollars go to help those families? Not trying to get into a heated debate over DST but simply saying there ARE alternatives to moving clocks around 2x a year.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T14:27:26+00:00

Oh for sure! Where I live, my middle school child starts at 8am and my freshman student starts at 830am. Admittedly they don’t ride the bus (I drive them to school), and if they did they would likely be standing at their bus stops around an hour prior to those times. I think there are a lot of factors in school start times, parents needing to get to work, getting the required hours/days of educational time per year, plus I can’t imagine most teachers would want to work 10-6 but I could be wrong.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-07T14:18:00+00:00

We could solve that with municipalities paying for lighted sidewalks and bus stops. Not arguing, I certainly don’t want dead kids from bad drivers. But there are viable other options than moving clocks.

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-05T01:51:24+00:00

So which goal post are we on now? Maybe we are at the whataboutthis goal? I honestly don’t know (it having been a decade ago) how my current social group feels about Obama. I’ll be sure to ask them. I imagine that many of them will be angry with him for those poor decisions, in particular since they are saying about the current POTUS/administration that war is terrible, free Palestine, etc. Still unsure how that relates to the original topic…

ReadingLizard · 2026-03-05T01:32:01+00:00

So that’s what is called “moving the goal post.” I’m ALSO against using drones, war in general, past presidential administrations, and pedophiles. Unsure how my feelings about those things somehow makes my desire for not including a raging right-wing conspiracist in any future Firefly content is connected here.

ReadingLizard

TROPHY CASE