Boy, talking about tourists wanting to pet wild animals!! I spent 3 months teaching and wildlife monitoring in a rather remote area of South Africa last year, and the thing that you COULD NOT make some tourists understand was that most animals see you as part of a vehicle as long as you are in it and won't bother you unless they have a grudge against vehicles that day.
But get out of the vehicle, and all of a sudden you are a threat, or lunch, or some other too-interesting thing.
So some tourists will drive right up to an elephant, rhino or lion, and hop out of the vehicle to get some good pictures. And when you yell at them, they assure you that, should there be trouble, they can run and jump in the (4x4) vehicle and drive it in reverse through sandy bushland faster than the animal can run!!
Some folks just seem to be vying for the Darwin Award every time they leave the house
~marilyn
Canadians will enjoy this!
Haha Darwin Award! The tourists must surely have been the worst part of the job Marilyn.
That's brings to mind people who approach your dog (s) as they ask "does he/she bite?" It's tempting sometimes to say "Yes, he does bite so you better put your hand back in your pocket!"
Yes and why do refer to these animals as wild.
Ha ha Yes dogs bite, and so do I. And usually before you answer them, their very next question is "Is it a boy or a girl?" What on earth does that have to do with it.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAH SO TRUE !!!!
When my daughter was a baby and had lost her initial birth hair I dressed her from head to toe in pink to avoid that very question. I mean pink clothes, socks, blanket, etc. etc. etc. and people would still ask me "is it a boy or a girl??" HELLO ????!!!!!!! Watch out cuz my dog bites too !!! Especially dumba@#$% that are stealing our available oxygen !!!!
Hey aprilhillside:
If you don't know the Darwin Awards, you'd love them. You too, oltmanns.
www.darwinawards.com/
Gives you a whole new level for asking yourself "What on earth was s/he thinking?"
Oh I love them ! Guess what I am going to be reading after dinner tonight !? Thanks so much Cyber !
BTW I am a recent immigrant to KS USA after marrying wonderful man here in April 2006. Up until then, I lived in Oshawa - worked in Toronto for Canada's largest newspaper and NO not the one with the bleepshine girls.
Happy to meet you !
Good to meet you too, April. Are you celebrating Thanksgiving with us today too? Kinda fun having two Thanksgivings 5 weeks apart, isn't it? We usually time it so we can enjoy Thanksgiving here at home and then when we go down to spend the winter in Arizona, we catch the American Thanksgiving with family there too. :D
Hi Don
Yes, celebrating here too. Made a feast yesterday for my husband and myself. Sadly missed coming home to Ontario this year but was home from May-July.
Called home today to discover that the hot water tank in my house has been leaking....into my mom's downstairs apt. I am really ticked off because I called Direct Energy to come and inspect the tank due to age when I was home and the technician said they would NOT replace the tank at this point. I was trying to avoid this very thing....Arggh
My son has the water shut off and I called Direct Energy from here...got a call centre in Florida !! She sent the technician out and he says that the tank definately needs to be replaced because its 13 yrs old and is not up to todays codes ! Hello !!!??? Why didnt the tech know this a couple of months ago when I had him out ?
Todays tech told my son that he is recommending a new tank - its a must due to it being out of code and says the other guy SHOULD have replaced the tank. He says someone will be in touch tomorrow regarding a new tank.
My 94 yr old mother lives in an apt downstairs and the tank leaked soaking her livrm broadloom. My kids have sucked up as much water from the carpet as they can and moved her sofa, have a fan going but thats about all they can do for now. The water is shut off because its the pipe leading INTO the tank that has a hole in it and the water shoots out of the hole, onto the wall and down to the floor where its running around the bsmt...incl. into my moms livrm. So, no water on until they can get there with a replacement tank. The tech says they dont cover any damage.....that is up to my insur. And they will charge $150 to install the tank because they dont cover the pipes leading to the tank etc...just the tank itself. I am sooo ticked.
Anyway, on a lighter note: My husband and I took the train this past Xmas Eve to Flagstaff to spend the holidays with his sister in Payson. We did hard core touring around the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Montezumas Castle. etc. It was a lot to see in a short time but it was truly amazing. We got some great pics to remember it by and hope to go back again when we can spend more time and see it all at a more relaxed pace.
I know you must have wonderful winters in Arizona. Lucky Duck !!
hey AHS:
You need to get some plumbers' tape for times like this with your leak.
When you buy it it looks just like tape, but stretches like silly putty almost, and you can stretch it so it will hold tight to any pipe with a leak like this. And it does hold really well, even with a lot of pressure behind it. Won't hold forever of course, but will hold until you can get a plumber in.
It only costs a couple bucks, but I've literally saved myself thousands of dollars with two leaks I had in my old house.
~marilyn
Yes, thanks for the heads up Marilyn. Unfortunately my son, who gets in late from work, was stuck having to deal with it all. He ended up shutting the water off for the entire house and a technician from Direct Energy came out, shut off the gas to the water heater with recommended "replacement of the tank" ...no kidding !!! They did come today and replace the water heater and after chasing down the Claims Dept. they are sending out a Cleanol crew first thing in the morning to deal with the water that has soaked the broadloom, etc. They will put giant fans down there to dry it up and whatever........ We definately need to get some painters tape in case of any more accidents or issues.
April:
Make sure you get PLUMBERS' tape, not PAINTERS' tape as you said above.