We’re almost to our Annual Outlook report. As part of the process we employ a number of “thinking tools” and ways of looking into the future that anyone can use.
The future, understand, is all about perceptual domains. Not everyday stuff, certainly, but with the pressure off for another couple of days, it’s always good to kick back, try on some new mental finery and be better equipped for whatever comes next.
The further reason to do this becomes evident after a few headlines and the morning’s ChartPack.
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Consider yourself fortunate to have had the time with Zeus. Think of all the stories and memories you and he will share on the other side. No doubt he’ll be waiting for you.
Peace.
Poor old pussy cat, prayers for Zeus – may he live out his last days with a minimum of suffering
For Zeus…
The guys who make that popular dog vitamin supplement widely advertised “Dinovite” (Stupid name — nothing to do with dinosaurs), also make a cat version.
Also on Da ‘Zon is a cat probiotic,
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RKQF6QA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
that while pricy, lasts a LONG time.. Couple years. (use a smaller dose than labeled.)
The combo of both helped Fred The Second (American Shorthair “Tuxedo” cat — mostly black, some white) greatly. (Freddy Deuce)
– 73 –
7.295 day, 3.999 nite
As one who has stood at the side of beloved pets as they drew their last breaths, I can tell you it is one of life’s most emotional moments. As tough as one appears on the outside, this can bring a flood of tears that are impossible to hold back……for me at least.
Here is my prayer for Zeus. Well done kitty. You gave many years of happiness to your caregivers. May there be a peaceful finish and a big bowl of catnip waiting for you on the other side.
Had dogs by my side since before I was Able to say the word.
Since the time I laid next ( right outa the hospital) to a 120 lb Shepard female named Flicka, to the present with 3 Aussie siblings, all rescues.
I’ve had to send a few on myself, Hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I ain’t no little fellow (6 foot 4 in my boots) and I can say this with no regrets…………..
I’ve cried WAY More tears for my animals than I’ll ever cry for a person.
As has been said,
“A person spends Its entire life, learning how to love Unconditionally”
“While a Dog knows how, the minute they are born”
WilbursHuman.
Daisy was that way for me.. boy that was tough.. she was scared.. if you walked in the door.. you had to get a hug from one of us in the house.. if not she would be leary of you.. she bit someone.. not out of anger but out of fear.. the insurance company told us we had to drop her.. or we would never be able to get home owners insurance again..
the pleading look in daisies eyes haunt me to this day.. I had to give the OK.. never again will I do that..
AMEN… my sentiments exactly.. prayers sent .. not only for zeus but his faithful owner to..
It is harder to let a faithful companion go than a person would like to think.. My prayers for Zeus are on the way.. I rescued a dog years ago.. Ginger.. she was a ginger color.. someone had thrown her out with her pups.. we got her and she was nothing but skin and bones.. they were planning on euthanizing her.. had to carry her to the car.. then at home I had to carry her out to go potty then carry her back in.. took me a year to encourage her to go out the door.. she was afraid I would throw her away.. the fur grew back.. she would fight coyotes and raccoons to save her pups.. a good faithful friend.. had her for forteen years then she got bone cancer.. it was so hard to let her go..
Fang.. the same thing..
Fluffy.. was an angora cat.. some creeps hung it in a tree then beat it and poured gasoline on it and lit it on fire.. seen it.. and they were going to euthanize it.. and brought it home nursed it back to health.. it turned up to be one of the most beautiful cats I have ever seen.. would hide if someone other than us came in the room.. one day a sad little girl was at our house and the cat came up sat in her lap trying to comfort her.. the parents said.. I wish we could find a cat like that for her.. I believe fluffy decided she was her new owner.. sad to let them go.. in many ways sadder…. that is why I could never work pedes.. children don’t know what is going on.. and the pain they suffer would rip my heart out..
Saying goodbye to a fur covered kid is tough! Just remember memories are pictures we take with our heart! Take a few more with the time remaining!
“mental finery and be better equipped for whatever comes next.”
“When a Fisherman can’t go to sea, he tends to his nets.”
~ unknown
“sales to hit new record”
Does that mean volume of goods or volume of $ spent? Looks like a con.
The $1.00 pack of hot dogs is $1.54. Physical sales of hot dogs can be down 33% but same site sales by $ volume will hit a record. (Over 2020)
Pomegranates and grapefruit are double the price and half the size. The softball sized fruits are no longer. Now the fruits are racquetball sized. Peels are the same thicknesses.
Famine is slow motion.
The thing I noticed @ $WMT is they haven’t had large bags of branded import rice from Thailand or the Himalayas.
$WMT does have house brand “distributed by” rice. “Distributed by” doesn’t have country of origin so it could be the cheap-o stuff from CA or the rice grown in Chinese swamp sewage.
“Distributed by” is lower cost than the country of origin labeled imports so I’m leaning toward Chinese swamp sewage. ‘sell it to the Americans they’ll eat anything.’
The local Walmarts did have PS5s in stock ($599 +tax) and those weren’t in stock last year so will help sales by stuff volume and $ volume.
Weather here has been wet and miserable since the middle of the week, so I have concentrated on my holiday project, a new home firewall server.
I have been using a minimalist firewall router appliance with a repurposed HP desktop running the Untangle firewall behind it in bridged mode for years. The router is still made and supported, and is plenty fast, so I am leaving it in service after applying a July hotfix, and fine tuning the outgoing firewall rules a bit. In this configuration, the router does the network address translation, basic firewall port filtering, and is the only device on my system my ISP can see.
The Untangle firewall has been renamed Arista NG, and is a major commercial firewall product. I opted to stay with the supported commercial firewall software. It is available in a free version, with basic functions, but the virus scanner for the free version no longer gets signature updates . The upgrade Home version is available for $50 / year licensing with no supported virus scanner, or $150 /year with a decent commercial-grade virus scanner. I have complained previously about the lack of good security software for Linux. $100 a year for a good commercial Linux server security app is actually not that bad, based on what I have seen of the end point Linux security software pricing.
The hardware box I used is a fan-less mini-computer with a Celeron J4125 processor, 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 16 GB DDR4 memory, and a 240GB SSD drive. The board has all the latest security and AES hardware acceleration. $600. This one came from a CA outfit with a reputation for secure hardware. A unit shipped in from the far east would have saved $150, but I am wary of security from such sources. It barely gets warm with the load I put on it. I had it supplied with an Ubuntu image, just so I could check the function before installing Arista NG Firewall off a boot USB.
Installation was typical for a boot USB installation of a a Debian 10 appliance, which is to say, nothing was obvious and it took me two or three tries to do the install. It took a couple of hours, tops. I spent another couple of hours fine tuning the software, re-cabling and setting up the firewall rules and other configuration.
I bought the server box with a Wifi card ($50), with the hopes of turning it into a Wifi access point, without the external Wifi access box I now use. While Ubuntu recognized the Wifi card, the firewall server could not, and the Arista GUI had no hardware configuration interface I could find. My phone can’t see it, so I don’t think it is active. After reading up, I concluded that while Debian 10 has a really easy setup of access points with the GUI, trying to set up wireless with the command line was not for a casual hobby project. I have my old access point plugged in, and working, and I am looking for a WPA3 enabled desktop access point replacement.
The project went over budget a bit, but it works well, and I got my holiday Debian Linux fix.
Happy Holidays to you all.
My cat of 20.4 years of age was euthenased yesterday . Agonising for wife , me and daughters but extreme pain and it was time . Amazing coincidence I see but 2 sad to comment . RIP sneeka
Great post, n_____. Can you provide a bit more detail (model/part numbers and the name of the CA seller) for those of us who might wish to try a similar recipe?
Here you go:
https://protectli.com/vault-4-port/
They also have a little DC UPS I am looking at in the accessories section.
I asked a young man once, shortly after having one of my old dogs sent on, “Why don’t we have them longer”?????
His response………………………
“Because when they come here, they Are Perfect. They aren’t here to learn lessons like we are, so they don’t need to stay as long”
Never ever, forgot that.
Hi, George,
I am so sorry about your cat nearing death. Losing a beloved pet is very hard. I have buried three beloved dogs, one husky and two malamutes, and helped some friends with life termination of their pets. It never gets any easier. I believe that our pets join the significant people of our lives in greeting us when we cross the threshold into the spirit place and leave this world behind. My thoughts are with you.
My wife attended the euthenase I could not I just cried outside . November 26 4.10 pm . Instead of putting a plate down at the table in her spot I lit a candle . Really sad . From experience time heals . It’s so dark now . She was so peaceful and beautiful before
Zeus the Cat – I am sorry to hear this. I lost my “Backyard Buddy” of 17 years – last year. Hit me kind of hard. She went everywhere with me. Never crossed my mind that she would leave before me. She went from a stray kitten to Queen of the house.., she had a very good life.
– I am sure Zeus feels the same.
– My sincere condolences……….,
Peace to you, Elaine, and Zeus. Always hurts to lose a fur baby.
JB
Yo G, best article i have read in a long while, discussion about the ”sins of information warfare” by Dr. Robert Malone.
https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/sins-of-information-warfare
Definately a man of integrity, a quality severely lacking in this day and age. God Speed to Zeus, his antics will be missed…..
Yo Mark,
From your referenced blog….
“on the battlefield of the current 21st century unrestricted media and information war which we are immersed in”
Tells me you’d really enjoy the information provided this week (reading between the lines of her politically correct answers…and failures to answer) by Dr. Pippa Malmgren (also found on substack)
A Lot of information in a 90 minute interview you can also download. She starts at about 13 1/2 minute mark, if you don’t care about the price of oil.
https://www.macrovoices.com/1134-macrovoices-351-dr-pippa-malmgren-update-on-all-things-geopolitical
Enjoy !!
Hey Zeus, when you pass over into kitty heaven be sure to look up Kittyboy who was my Maine Coon, and Crystal who was our Siamese. Both lived until almost 20 years and both were dutiful and trustworthy cats you would like to hang out with! Have fun playing!
Hi Westcoast,
Sounds like Our house, through many moons, Maine Coon and on and on.
And sure as hell know the pain, 4 Shepards and, if I have the count right, 6 Pusscats. Pretty much tears Your heart out.
George + Elaine are going to be hurting.
Feel free to pass it on.
You may have seen the “Rainbow Bridge” poem, which has appeared in several versions over the years. (Wikipedia has an article about it.) It
holds that when beloved pats die, they go to a lovely great sunny and warm green field where they have plenty to eat and drink, and spend their
time playing together and awaiting… …you. When you pass, you go through there, meet your old friends, and together move on the Heaven,
permenently.
Of course it’s silly. The logic is full of all sorts of holes. How about food cattle? How about jungle and woodland animals who have no significant
humans? How about predator animals, like wolves? How about animals you’ve harmed (probably accidentally — I hit a cat once with the car.
Stupid creature darted out right in front of me, impossible to miss…), they wouldn’t necessarily be pleased to see you again.
Still… There’s something ineffable about a dog or cat you’ve shared your home with for a long time. They seem like… …more.
One of my favorite unanswerable questions is: “ARE you a soul, or do you HAVE a soul?” (or spirit, if you prefer.)
If you think you do, then what is it that does the “having?”
Two choices, really. You are a blob of senseless, purposeless, meaningless protoplasm. When your pointless existance ends, you degrade and
decompose into various inanimate chemicals, minerals, and water — and you dissipate back into the ecosystem.
Or…
You are a Transcendent Intelligent Being, working out the various purposes of your existance, with one foot on the Earth, and the other… …where?
In a Realm of another plane of consciousness, where your True Self resides?
Suppose for a moment it’s the latter. You do have an Eternal Soul. (Why not? Is that any less sensible than the existance of the Universe itself at
all?)
Look deeply into your loving cat’s or dog’s eyes? Can you not see… …feel… …sense… … there is a small soul there? A self-aware
consciousness as Real as your own? Different — to be sure — but Present. Alive as you are alive?
Are you so arrogant as to conclude YOU have a soul, but the cat does NOT? I’m not. Surely, there is Somebdy Home behind those eyes.
Are these “Small Souls” somehow less valuable? Is there a dividing line? People have souls, but animals do not? Ever encountered free
dolphins? I have. There is MIND in the sea… If there IS a dividing line, what’s it based on? I.Q. Score? “Righteousness?” If not, then How
Low Does It Go? Mice? Planaria worms? Rotofers? Single-cell creatures?
I have NO idea. I know only this: I will not be surprised to awaken at some point, in some “place,” and I will not be surprised to find I am
surrounded by dogs and cats I know well, who — yes, “who” — are delighted I’ve finally joined the party.
May it be so.
WoRR
Here’s the Rainbow Bridge poem, and I hope George and Elaine find comfort in it. My dog died 21 years ago, but I still cry every time I read this:
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…?
You mean Zeus dares to leave “Editor-In-Chief” duties to the fat old man now? Godspeed.
I’m thankful that Zeus lived as long and well as he did! I’ve had many cats over the years, but there was one who melted her way into the center of my heart. She was a black cat very similar in appearance to Zeus, with somewhat more feminine facial features. As a kitten, she would jump twice her length into the air trying to catch butterflies. I lost her several years ago and I was with her at the end – she was 17 years as best I can estimate things. It took me many months to get over the shock, and she’s now buried in the back with the other family pets. Her energy stayed around this place for nine months and then suddenly one day, it was gone! I’ve always cared for the beloved cats, and a couple of dogs too, but there was nothing quite like losing my only companion for years after the family went their separate ways. I’m very glad that you(George) and Elaine have each other, and perhaps Sam(antha?) might sense your feelings and become more approachable. There’s no such thing as a replacement cat – they’re all so distinctive and have their own personalities and attachments. Zeus had his place in the world via this column even though he was resident to the East Texas woodlands.
I wish for Zeus the easiest possible transition and perhaps he will visit in your dream realms. I can’t believe how emotional I’m feeling writing this about the cat I never met! Godspeed Zeus!
Some of you on here might be interested in this …
https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/why-arent-you-in-jail-already-internet-erupts-after-sam-bankman-fried-confirms-participating-in-new-york-times-dealbook-11669295184
I understand Dr.Malone’s point and yes, it is ridiculous to think all sudden deaths are attributed to the vaccines.
However, considering the fact that deaths have increased by huge percentages since the vaccines, is not to be overlooked. Embalmers finding a very unique form of blood clot in vaccinated people and the difference seen between the blood of vaccinated and unvaccinated, is something that needs to be alert to. – I know Phlebotomists personally who have said there is a difference in the blood, same as mentioned in “Died Suddenly”
I don’t like “informations wars” and we should not allow ourselves to become so cursory about all this, to reduce discussion to that.
I have a hard time listening to someone say something is very bad but they did it anyway. (Make ensemble?)
We need truth.
Zeus will be missed by all of your readers. We feel your sorrow. I am facing similar circumstances with my old dawg, Diego, although he isn’t ready yet. It is never easy to lose these wonderful family members.
May Zeus have a clear passing over that rainbow bridge. I am certain he is grateful for the home you have provided while here in this realm.
I had a warm, loving conversation with him about the price of cat food. Suggested a lottery ticket would be a fine present from the afterlife.
George, you need to be explicit when requesting such things! You need to request the Grand Prize Winning lottery ticket for your preferred lottery!
Otherwise, you may just stumble over some random ticket that’s best off tossed.
My last words yesterday were good girl . Her ashes will be on the mantle to inspire me . 20.4 great years
I am sure your sense of humour will serve you well here Mr. Ure. Remember the times Zeus followed you into the bathroom for your middle of the night pees and tried to destroy your aim with his leg presses.
We put our 17 years 6 months old doggie to sleep a month ago.
It turned out to be a horrible experience which we did not expect.
They took our dog away from my hub right after we got there.
I was sidetracked checking in.
I asked for our dog 3 separate times, but by this time we had been maneuvered to another room to go over price and pay. Again, where is our dog?
He was brought in 10 minutes later as close to death as 2 heavy sedatives on a 40 pound dog could get.
He was brought in, on a raised cart, like a slab of meat.
I didn’t get a chance to hold him, comfort him, and say goodbye while they sedated him.
His eyes were rolled back in his head and he was cold.
I was very upset and left hub alone, as he tells me later, then, vet shows up to deliver death shot, and our doggie was gone in 5 seconds.
So watch out for the fancy vet places that charge high fees for assembly-line euthanasia.
So, my husband cried alone in the room, and said his good-byes.
I am in the car, also upset beyond belief that this creature we had cared for loved and treasured since he was 6 weeks old gets separated from us, and goes through his last minutes on earth with strangers.
That was Friday afternoon.
Sunday morning he came to me in a vivid color dream in resplendant glory, full coat, healthy, and his purpose was to give me a chance to say good-bye to him; which I did. He let me know he loved me and he knew I loved him, and he came to say good-bye, too.
Sorry to hear about Zeus, you made sure he had a good life.
Loved the stories about Zeus!
Buried a beloved cat in the backyard next to large catnip bush. Next morning there were lots of footprints and the catnip bush had been totally eaten. Must have been a heck of a neighborhood farewell cat party for “Mouse” my Russian Blue. LOL
George, China is in turmoil, with the dual triggers of the lethal covid lockdowns and the World Cup telecasts, where the Chinese saw others competing and winning after having had covid! They are revolting(to a degree) against the CCP and police, which is often lethal. This is happening in disparate locations all over China – possibly coordinated through the universities. It’s truly grass roots! The people have had enough, according to this familiar pair of adventurers who built their channel on Youtube while riding motorcycles in China:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPRDLqggwQU
They’ve both lived in China for over 10 years and married Chinese wives. They’re probably best able to know and report what’s happening on the ground in China since they traveled so much as regular folks, albeit westerners, and have many contacts. I’ve seen very little in the regular media on this. Whether this turns into a real revolution or not, its truly noteworthy for China, where nobody would dare say “F**k Xi Jin Ping!” They’re saying it now.
Jennifer Zeng’s Twitter regarding the above:
https://twitter.com/jenniferzeng97/status/1596087043184115712
A contracting economy and a largely male population with no easy prospects for a wife and family make this situation a potential powderkeg.
19 years ago, my husband found a starving black cat left behind at the apartment complex where he was employed as maintenance guy. Cat was licking candy wrappers for food. Nick started bringing cans of tuna to feed him. Landlord said stop feeding cat or you’re fired! So Nick quit and brought the cat home. “Scruggs” also lived around 19 years, was skin and bones at the end (Nick set up a comfy “hospice” in his workshop), and was heavily mourned when he left us. We pray that Zeus will peacefully pass to a heavenly meadow full of sunshine and lots of mice!
Kremlin plotting to liquidate Lukashenko, seize control of Belarus army – think tank
“On the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his return from the latest CSTO summit, the Russian military intelligence may attempt in the coming days to pursue a scenario involving either an assassination attempt targeting Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko or its imitation, with the aim of ultimately intimidating the latter and prompting him to finally order his troops to directly engage in the war on Ukraine, alongside Russian troops,” sources report.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3622211-kremlin-plotting-to-liquidate-lukashenko-seize-control-of-belarus-army-think-tank.html
Higher-end LED grow lights 25% off site wide
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AAAAaargh! Pets. I do absolutely love big dogs – Shepherds, Malamutes, Setters, Retrievers and what have you but I’ve put my foot down on getting any more with the grandkid and her ally, The Wife, about getting another one.
The last two died about a year apart and I got lucky with the last one. After 3 days of the first one lying in the same spot despite any attempts to help her I finally took her to the ranch and had to dispatch her myself. How do you do that to someone you love? Animals sometimes have it better than people.
The other one had some kind of cancer we didn’t recognize until it was way too late. On her last day I went out to visit with her in the back yard and, after a short while, she walked around me, pressed her forehead up against my shoulder for a moment and then went into her doghouse for the last time. I knew she wasn’t coming out again so I let her go in peace. The two are buried next to each other in a lengthening row of “favored animals” at the ranch. Given another 14 to 16 years down the road I’ll be way too old to go through that again and I doubt anyone in the family will have the ability to do what’s right with them.
Did The Wife or kids ever go out to say “Goodbye” to either of them? Not toward the end. That’s always been my domain and I’ve resented it with a passion, hence my reason for saying NO more! I will not support being a “fair weather friend” to a sentient “possession”.
As far as cats go the last one we allowed to grow up in the house wound up being banished after soiling WAY too many things. Since then we’ve had a number of feral cats we feed regularly outside and bury in the back yard when they’re done. Only one will come up to us to be loved on right now but we’ve not had any mice in the house as long as we’ve kept the cats around. Only one rattler in 40 years, too. Cost us a cat, though.
Sorry about Zeus. Prayers on the way. I’d have left this earlier except I’m sicker’n a dog right now so am spending very little time on the Internet…
Buried My last two on my Grandfathers old hill farm, 120 acres right in the middle of 3000 acres of state forest, at 1800 foot in elevation.
Frankie, the big brother, died a year before Jessie that summer.
I was working up there a week or so later, when out of the corner of my eye, there he stood, proud as hell showing me his new body.
When I turned to look, he disappeared Instantly.
Well I thought, must be imaging things or hallucinating or something……
Happened twice more the next week, then he was gone.
He and Brother Jessie, reside today, In one of the most beautiful
Places, In The whole world.
Yep, I do believe.