Does not play well with others

Magnum would be the happiest if he was the only cat around and had a human at his beck and call for brushing and pettings on demand.

When things are strange and not in his control, he gets a loud meanancing meow with a growl. He gets low and ready to pounce and can attack without too much more provoking.

I got lazy and let the cats stay on the non-existant neighbors porch as night settled in.

As I'm cleaning up my ice cream bowl, I hear Magnum's meanacing growl. I rush outside to see what the cause of the commotion is. To my horror, I see a black and white looking cat cornered on the ledge. Then the cat did a swan dive (six or seven feet) to the ground and ran under a truck.

I didn't get a good look at the cat, but I was praying it wasn't Adira that just got ran off. To my relief, I see a glimpse of her on the neighbors porch. Magnum was there by now, and he was threatening to her now too.

Coaxing with treats got Magnum back inside. Adira followed a few minutes later. She was reluctant to go inside (not that I blame her if Meany-Magnum is waiting to take a swipe). I think she was more upset that a fellow friend was chased off by the mean orange big guy.

I still wonder how the cat got on the ledge. But I suppose if I had claws, climbing stucco wouldn't be that difficult. And now I know that it wasn't Adira that scratched up the screen on the living room window. I went down to that cat, and while friendly, didn't have a tag on him/her. So i'm not in a big hurry to replace the screen when it's obvious that the cat can scratch up the new screen again.

Now I'm even happier that these fellows have tags on them. Just in case Magnum bullys Adira to the ground level...

Illegal rantings

Being so close to the Mexican border, Tucson is one of the hot spots for illegal immigration smuggling. It seems to be mostly a transfer point to get them up to Phoenix - from Phoenix, anywhere in the country.

My Dad and I agree on one thing about the protests - where the heck was the INS to scoop up and deport those that are in the country illegally? My family origins show my Mom's side of the family came through Ellis Island LEGALLY and my Dad's parents also LEGALLY.

I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for immigrants. But it was because of legal immigration. Because of the millions here illegally, there's a strong black market for our social security numbers, licenses, etc. Not to mention companies don't have to pay taxes for these people because they're not here legally.

The tide of immigrants were allowed in because American needed them to work. So they were given rubber stamps and eventual citizenship. The millions here without the rubber stamp shows that we still need these people to work.

I agree with the concept that if you immigrate to this country, you're accepting its basic structures. That means language, culture, and laws. The fact that most documents in Arizona are in English and Spanish shows that we're lax and allowing immigrants to keep using their native language. They should learn basic English so they can understand how to survive in America.

If I suddenly decide to up and move to France, Belgium, or some other European country (besides England), I'd have to take courses in their native language. I should not expect someone to always be nearby to interpert everything for me. The same "common sense" should apply also to those coming into this country.

You don't have to abandon your native tongue. I used to get lessons in Polish from someone who immigrated to America. Spoke both languages well, and enjoyed teaching Polish to Polish-Americans that lost touch with their language (though I only remember a few cuss words of it today).

The black market in identity thefts for illegals HAS to end. If you register illegals and give them legit papers, that should take care of most of that problem. The only exception would be immigrants with criminal histories because we would never (and should never) recognize criminals.

The other thing is that those here have to accept America as their home. I heard a story on NPR's weekend show (before the illegal immigration issues were on the top burner). Check it out here, and see if you have any issues with it.

I don't know where in Poland or Italy my families came from. So I don't have any connection to those countries. I still would like to visit Poland someday (after I win the lottery), and try and visit different regions. But it'd be mostly a romantic notion, and I KNOW that. Perhaps in another generation or two, Hispanics can also see and understand that and let go of where they came from and think only America.

birthday "hangover"

I put that term in quotes because I had zero drinks of alcohol on my birthday.

But we were all relaxed and happy after our trip to the spa. I still had a 2.5 hour drive back home. To make sure nothing bad happened, I picked up a "Mighty Mocha" from the QT when I had to feed the car again.

QT has the best coffee bar around. Too bad they're not open in Tucson.

The Mighty Mocha did the trick, and getting home wasn't a problem. By 8:00 I was very tired. So finally called boyfriend to say "I can't wait up for you to call me anymore, so I'm calling you now." We talked for about 45 minutes (average call time). Calmed down, and went to bed.

Fell asleep about 30 seconds after getting comfy. Cats visited a couple times.

But I could have stayed in bed all day sleeping if I could have. Driving takes a lot out of me.