Peaceful Protest?

What if people would actually treat others as they would like to be treated?  I really wish people would follow this simple guideline and the world would be such a better place!


Police brutality is an outrage and what happened to George Floyd at the hand of a policeman is certainly a terrible thing.  The video showed on the news was very upsetting to me and I was glad to hear justice will be done.  I just don't understand how these protests will make it better.  The policeman has been removed from duty, arrested and charged with murder or manslaughter so I don't know what more the protesters expect.  The police need to stop killing their suspects and use only necessary measures to get them into custody and get a trial they are entitled to having.

When I see protestors holding signs that read "Black Lives Matter" it gets me mad that Blacks still feel prejudices against them.  People are people regardless of race.  We need to get past grouping people by race and view everyone as a valued person.  Just like we need to get past labeling people as republicans and democrats.  We should all be Americans.  If only we could get rid of the labels and all the divisions this would be a better country!

I understand people have the right to PEACEFULLY assemble and protest, but I wonder--is any protest totally peaceful?  It only takes a few to start violence and in a crowd, it seems to spread pretty quickly.  People sometimes will do things in a large group that they normally would not do.

Certainly burning down the police station and destroying property, businesses and looting isn't going to solve anything, but just make matters worse.  Have these violent protesters never heard that "Two wrongs do not make a right"?  I feel bad for these many business owners who worked so hard to get their business to survive through the COVID-19 shutdown, only to have to deal with the aftermath of the violent protesters who ruined their business.   Furthermore, add to these protests the total disregard for the 6' recommended social distancing during this Pandemic and I can't believe how many people acted so irresponsibly.  I get so upset when I watch the news lately. 

Personally, I don't see that protests are ever productive, especially not these that are happening now!  There is no reason for them.  No one is happy with policy brutality, not even the police!  It reflects poorly on them.  When people become violent, as they tend to do at protests, it gives the police no choice but to do what they can to maintain some order.  Of course, people will get hurt.  They should leave before that happens!

Seeing these violent protests across our nation, including downtown Cleveland, makes me sick.

Jesus said in Luke 6:31 (contemporary English version): Treat others just as you want to be treated.
I try to do this, how about you? Don't you wish everyone would do this?

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Memorial Day Disappointment--Why Don't People Follow Rules???

First of all, I want to thank all those who are currently serving or have served in our armed forces on this very unusual Memorial Day.  No parade to go see this year.

It's a beautiful day, temperature in the 70s this morning and I was looking forward to playing Pickleball again with the group at Independence, Ohio.  I went up today only to be disappointed.  The was a big blue and white sign posted right next to the gate to the Pickleball courts which had some rules for playing:

Maintain 6 feet apart.
Only players allowed. 
Singles only.
Wash your hands at least 20 seconds when you get home and sanitize your equipment.
Courts will be closed indefinitely if these rules are not followed.

When I arrived, there was already a court going with three people so I made four.  I immediately pointed out the rules that we can only play singles, not doubles.  They all just scoffed at me saying they had played doubles last week, that it is okay.  Plus I noticed none of them even had masks.  It is extremely difficult to play 6 feet from your partner the whole time.  Therefore, I wore a mask and was very surprised that no one else did.  The one lady assured me that they live in Independence and know people so it was all right to play doubles, it wouldn't be shut down. 

I played a game trying my very best to maintain the 6' distance from my partner.  Mostly, I succeeded, but a couple times we were less than that.  The other side didn't even seem to be making an effort to keep 6' apart.  This really irritated me.  I played very well though and we won 11-4.  Another court started up with no masks and playing doubles as well. 

Another person came and I offered to play singles with someone but no one wanted to play singles so I left after just the one game.  I did not feel comfortable and couldn't get the others to follow the rules.  I was really looking forward to playing again with the group; however, it is not worth putting myself at risk.  I am so disappointed that people refuse to follow the rules to keep others safe!  I intend to check back to see if any will follow the rules, but if they don't, I'm out of there!

People who think they are above following rules is quickly becoming a pet peeve of mine!  I can't believe people are not taking COVID-19 seriously after all the deaths and all the precautions that the doctors and government officials have put in place.

This virus is not gone yet!  Please continue to be patient and stay safe.  Wear a mask when out in public if you cannot keep 6 feet apart.

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Roxy vs. Harness (Jury is still out)

I still do not like my new harness.  My plan is to continue to avoid it if possible.  If not possible, I will try to shake it off and when that doesn't work, will bite at it.  I know mom and dad realize I am not crazy about this thing and prefer just my collar.  Since mom bought the harness to make me happier so my neck does not get pulled on my walks, she should be okay with returning it since I am happier with must my collar, right? 

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Roxy and Her New Harness

Do I have to wear this?

After using Don Sullivan's, The Perfect Dog, collar and training DVD and cards for about 7 months, it seemed Roxy progressed as much as she was going to.  I felt bad not giving her treats when she did what I commanded, which is a fundamental no-no for this training program.  The collar has sharp points on one side of the interlocking pieces and has the capability of tightening around the dog's neck when pulled on.  I followed the method and sure enough, it worked to a degree. 

When doing the training, the method is to say the command only twice and pull on the collar to get her to obey.  I did not like this painful method of correction that hurt her neck.  It was described as being similar to the teeth of a mother dog and mimics the feeling of what a pup feels when its mother trains it.  If you give her the same command over and over, she will learn to obey promptly, which she did.  So promptly though that she would do the action even before I gave the command!  She got bored and so did I.  If I stuck with training sessions every day for 20 min., who knows if she would have gotten better?  The goal of his training system is to get the dog to walk off leash with you with distractions.  Where I live, we have a leash law.  Dogs must be on a leash when out walking.

I liked have the 10' long leash that gives the dog more freedom and is very lightweight.  The only drawback to it is that there is no hand loop at the end to hold so I have to wrap it around my hand and wear gloves so the nylon leash does not give me a rope burn.  

When I saw the Doggie Kingdom harness, it looked really sturdy and comfortable for the dog.  I felt it was time to give Roxy a break.  She walks well on a leash for the most part and only flips out if another dog walking close by starts barking at her.  On occasion she will charge at a bird or squirrel and a dog in a car with its head out the window usually barking at her.  Anyhow, the collar with her tags is still on so if we do need to correct her, we can always give it a tug or two, but there is not absolutely no pressure at all on her neck as she walks along.

The funny thing is, she didn't like the harness the first couple times she wore it.  She would shake and when that didn't get it off, she rolled on the ground biting at it trying to get it off.  If you look close at the picture, the side is scratched up a bit from when she scraped it against a tree.   I am happy to report though, that with each walk wearing the harness, there are fewer rolling/biting episodes.  Today we went for an hour and a half walk with her wearing it and rolling only a few times, some of which were in leaves that she would have rolled in even without the harness.  I think she just needed a little time to get used to it.  I really like the reflective strip on the front and the reflective stitching around the edges for walking when it's dark outside and her name and phone no. shows up very nice. 

It also comes with a lifetime warranty.  Check it out at Doggie Kingdom.net.

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How We Get Books With Libraries Closed

At the corner of our street is a "Little Library" where we found Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans, In the Dark by Brian Freeman, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.  I read Promise Me a long time ago but my husband didn't.  He read about halfway and gave up on it.

I have loaded several that I have not gotten to yet because before the Senior Center closed, I took a couple from there to read.  I just finished Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult and am currently reading Water From My Heart by Charles Martin.

With the libraries closed due to the Corona Virus, we've been reading books that we had from the library before it closed.  They were Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah, A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer, Bravelands--The Spirit Eaters by Erin Hunter.   We both Liked Turn of the Key and A Heart So Fierce and Broken best.

I also have loaded some to my Kindle that I have not read yet but which I plan to read.  My husband read Her Last Breath by J. A. Schneider; however, he prefers to hold a book.  He does not like having to press the lever to advance the pages.

Finally, to our surprise, a neighbor of our who is a librarian dropped off If It Bleeds by Stephen King for us yesterday.  It actually has four short stories.

We are managing to continue reading but still look forward to getting back to the library when it opens.

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Park and Shop 1960 Game

Park and Shop is a game I remembered playing from my childhood that I enjoyed.  Unfortunately, it got thrown away at some point, but I recently purchased a used one on Ebay.  It's a game that always changes because although the goal is the same, cards change your route from game to game and just like in real life, things come up that change your plans.  There are two versions, one where you just complete your shopping and get back home first to win, the other you have to use play money to make purchases and you earn points for accomplishing certain things.  We played the version without the money which is simpler, but I lost all the games! 

You get yellow cards that tell you what stores to shop at and you plan your route.  You get a red parking ticket when you park with another stop you must make on your way home.  If you land on the gray spaces, you have to pick a pedestrian card if walking, or a motorist card if driving and follow the instructions.  These may be good or bad, but usually they pull you off course.  When driving, you only use one die because cars have one engine and when walking, two dice because a person has two feet.  (This seems backwards though, since you can travel faster in the car than you can when walking.  I'd like to try changing this next time we play and see how it works.  The way the board is laid out, the parking lots are all close to the homes with all the stores more in the center of the board (blue spaces)). 

Anyway, it's pretty fun and even though I was ahead, those gray squares slowed me down enough for my husband to win today.    Since this was used, some of the token pieces are missing and I'm not sure what's going on with the motorist cards.  Most are red (like the parking ticket cards) and some blue, yet in the instructions, it says the motorist cards are red.  I'm thinking there must have been another version and some of the cards got mixed up.  Oh well, it's still playable, fun and one my husband can win.

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