Alcohol

Master

Slave

Beer

Independent

Corona

We've had 3 real characters in the family...

1st was a 1/2 Siamese cat we got because, as the runt of the litter, no one else would take her. She was nothing if not a tease. We'd take her with us to my folks house, where she just tormented their neighbor's Spaniel -- she'd strut along the top of the fence where he couldn't reach her, and just as he'd near collapse from all the barking & carrying on, she'd dart across his yard to renew his interest & get him going again. We'd carry her inside when we caught her doing it -- don't know how the Spaniels survived, not having a heart attack he'd get so worked up. And if/when my sister brought over the cat's older brother, her favorite game was to get him chasing her, all the way up to the skinniest branches of the highest tree, where every, single, time, he'd fall. Once he recovered of course she'd start all over again. We lost her when we were on vacation -- she got hit by a car while at my wife's parents who were cat sitting.

The 2nd was a puppy my wife's uncle rescued from being trapped under a house -- again we felt sorry for it because no one else wanted it. Turned out to be 1/2 wolf *we think* -- she had retractable claws like a cat. SUPER friendly, she only had one bad habit that we were aware of -- she absolutely Loved beer. If we were at my folks, their poor neighbor couldn't carry any beer into the house from his car -- the Only reason she'd ever leave the yard, she'd dart over, take his wrist gently into her mouth, and wouldn't let go until he gave her an opened beer. He was a good sport about it -- thankfully. But I never could open a beer without pouring a little out for her. [Very] Sadly we had to take her to the Humane Society after our 1st son was born. She was EXTREMELY protective of him, and would bring whomever was there into the room if he so much as stirred in his crib. This Did Not sit well with his 2 grandmas, having a dog take them by the wrist to the baby's crib. [sigh]

3rd character was a small, Terrier mutt, picked up by a co-worker who found him chasing cars, & was afraid of the outcome. He accepted us as part of *His* family, as long as we remembered our place. If I fixed pancakes for breakfast, he demanded his own plate of pancakes. A bit picky about his food, my wife would mix wet & dry -- he'd pick out each dry piece, set them on the floor in a perfectly straight line, and then go back & eat them after he finished the rest. We never knew his true age, but the vet estimated he was nearing 20 when he told us the best thing would be to put him to sleep. He was especially close to me, and for a while when I was having seizures, he'd been able to predict them. It took a few years, but when we were back in Florida [where we'd gotten him] we spread his ashes in the woods.

I cannot believe it's been so long since you were a regular poster. Your last posts was requesting some help for Turtix Rescue Adventures, then prior to that over 3 years ago (No I don't have a remarkable memory, I can access the information by clicking on your name which takes me to the admin panel that keeps a record of each community members posts over the years).

Did you ever get your question answered or figured out the problem you were having with Turtix Rescue Adventures? i.e. you wrote ''Does anybody know the secret to completing level 3-B? It's the one where you have to get 30 stars in 60 seconds.''

I'm so sorry to hear about Buckley. I can empathize with losing a dear pet that meant so much.

I miss my dog Meg, who was put down around 30 years ago by my ex wife after she had bitten both of my eldest children (now in their late 30's and early 40's). She had been advised to do this because of the savageness of the bites. Both kids were still youngsters and would sometimes tease Meg. She was a Lurcher (a cross between a greyhound and sheep dog) and had originally been the ratter on a local farm. We had been told via a friend that the farmer was replacing her and if he couldn't find someone to take her he would be having her destroyed. We used to take her for long walks over the moors walking around 100 yards apart and constantly calling her to each of us. This would give her lots of exercise. When we separated, every weekend I visited to see the kids she would jump up and put her front legs over my shoulder (she was a tall dog) and I could swear she was smiling. I wasn't able to take her with me because I lived in student accommodation for several years and we were not allowed pets. so, one day I turned up and no Meg arrived to give me her customary greeting. My ex then told me what had occurred and the advice she had been given. I have some cine film of her running over the moors, which always brings back memory's of her companionship.

More recently (around the time we moved to my bungalow four years ago), one of our guinea pigs (called Toffee on account of his caramel coloured fur) had been going through a lot of issues. We'd been back and forth between the vets and were finally told his kidneys were failing and that the kindest thing we could do was to put him to sleep (still brings tears to my eyes). We had spent several months feeding him with a syringe because he wasn't eating properly, but had not realized how badly he was suffering until the vet told us. Taking him to the vet, knowing we would not see him alive again was heartbreaking. Of all the guinea pigs we've had he had been the friendliest and the last we had. We decided after that ordeal that the life span of a guinea pig was too short (as we always found their passing very upsetting) so opted to have dwarf rabbits from that point (4 years ago). As they are much longer living and very gregarious we ended up with two because the first one, which had been a reject from a friends family needed a companion. We contacted the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) as we knew they kept animals of all descriptions and wanted to find good homes for their charges. We were interviewed to see if we were suitable. The woman who came to interview us was quite surprised when she saw how we kept our dwarf rabbit. Usually they expect a rabbit in a cage, but we have devoted the garage and the room next to the garage to the rabbits; and often leave the door into the main living room open as well (though usually only when someone is using the room, otherwise we'd find TV, video and lamp cables chewed.

Whiterabbit....Hey dude! How bout a blast from the past? Remember me??? I came here to tell you and a few other old time friends about something and ended up here reading about....well....all the stuff in the above posts. Wow! Quite an interesting story. I especially liked the parts about meeting Michelle. Our story, me and hubby, is quite boring in comparison. But than ours is pretty boring compared to most.
Anyway, I came because I was very involved in GGOD way back in 2004 when we got our dog, Buckley, and I just felt the need to share with old friends that we had to let him go on Dec 5th at the age of 14 1/2. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. If you remember we were never blessed with children so he was our "only child" :) We doted over him all those years. He was an amazing dog; smart, gorgeous, obedient (mostly), friendly, silly (boy did he make us laugh), loving, sweet....I could go on and on. I miss him terribly! And I know Bob does too. We do have another little guy now, Harley a yorkie. He'll be 8 in Feb. We got him 2 years ago from a woman that was just giving him away. I thought a 2nd dog was the last thing we needed but now I'm so glad we have him. He's a sweety. So, that's it. Just wanted to let y'all know.
RIP my precious pup!

Yes, there are lots of memories that we have shared that we see totally differently. The following tries to illustrate the point from my perspective, though my wife remembers most of what i have detailed below totally differently:

I met my wife on a 10 day residential marine biology field course while studying for a post graduate degree. I used to attend the field course every year for about 6 years (I worked at the university as a research assistant). Though I initially met her while working in one of the labs earlier that year helping out the lecturer during a practical session for first year undergraduates. It was an entomology practical and I remember my future wife because she had refused to dissect a cockroach (I later learned she was a strict Vegan), I'd never come across a student on the course until that moment who had been so vocal on the subject. I didn't think any more of her for several months until I was put in charge of a group of students that she was part of while studying exposure on a cliff based ecosystem, I remembered her immediately, but at that point I was more concerned with the safety of the group as we were looking at the different zones from the top to the bottom of a cliff face, with the tide coming in; plus my main job was to help the students identify various species of flora and fauna that inhabited the cliff face using key books to key down the particular species, then to record the density of those species using transect lines (measured out at regular intervals and various pieces of equipment. Each lecturer or demonstrator (as I was called) were put in charge of a group of around 10 students for the day. Each day was spent on a particular area of study with a different group; for example Salt Marsh eco system, Sandy beach ecosystem, rock pools ecosystem, comparing various species of marine organisms that inhabited the littoral zones etc.

It wasn't until the evening of the same day we'd been calculating the exposure scale of the cliff side rocky beach that we latched onto each other, after I with my friends were chatting at the local pub and she with her friends were doing the same. We happened to be sitting on a particularly long banquet table (what we call in the UK the snug room). As the table was large enough to accommodate both parties, I ended up sitting next to my future wife and within minutes we had struck up a conversation, then for the rest of that evening we both ignored our friends (the main things I remember chatting about were of an environmental nature, vegetarianism, hunt sabotage the Green party, Greenpeace etc and more significantly, that she had just broken up with her fiance as he had punched her in the face a few weeks previously while they were on vacation together. I'd just broken up with my girl friend and really fancied her, but was a little careful not to push myself onto her as from her conversation, she was still very upset at what had occurred a few weeks previously.

The field trip always took place at the end of the summer vacation just before the start of the new academic year, mainly to take advantage of spring tides that would allow us to examine areas of the littoral zone that are only infrequently uncovered by tides). For the next three nights (from my memory) after the days field trips and early evening lab sessions and lectures had finished and after we'd had our late evening meal, we'd meet up and I'd help her to consolidate her notes from the days work (using the forts excellent library). We'd then go out for a walk; we were based at an old Victorian fort that was over a mile away from the nearest community and amongst beautiful countryside and coastal beaches. One beach in particular is noted as a world famous geological site due to a massive anticline fold that is seen on the cliff face. The fort is on the only coastal National Park in the UK and is situated at the end of a promontory to the West of the Milford Haven Estuary in Pembrokshire Wales UK.

Later in the evening we would go out to the local pub, take a midnight walk, or go to a nearby community that used to hold 2 or 3 dance evenings for us every year as we were a 60 + strong group of students plus around 10 staff members and would spent a lot of money at the events, or if the weather was bad, I'd take her to the staff room, that was usually deserted later in the evening and watch some TV, make a hot drink or use the libray as it was open 24/7 ((the librarian was only available for an hour after the evening meal each day, where you could buy research papers etc). For those three days before the field trip concluded we stayed up all night, so didn't have any sleep for three days.

Basically Michelle remembers those three days almost totally differently from me, though there are some reference points where we have the same memory for example on the evening we went to the dance, we were the last out and missed the mini vans that took all the students back to the fort and ended up walking back around 8 miles to the fort and didn't get back until middle of the night (around 3am). There were a couple of events such as a local car stopping ahead of us, then realizing we weren't locals that then sped off, plus it was a chilly September evening and we had both been actively dancing for most of the night, so had left the event rather sweaty. I had a thin waterproof with me, but Michelle had nothing but the dress she was wearing, so I offered her the waterproof to keep her a little warmer, but she refused, so I refused to wear it as well. We'd also discussed meeting up during freshers week at the start of the new academic year which was about two weeks later. When two weeks passed I met her in the Freshers hall, where she was hosting the Green party clubs hoardings and she invited me back to her room later that evening. That was the start of at this point 29 years of being together virtually ever hour of the day (apart from work and study), we took the same postgraduate teaching diplomas after she had finished her undergraduate degree. I completed my post graduate degree at the same time as she completed her degree three years after we met. She did a four year course that included a one year industrial placement in her third year, where she worked for six months at Cambridge universities Plant Breeding Institute (and oddly was the same placement I'd done when I did my undergraduate industrial year (it was unusual because we were offered a choice of around 60 different placements, so I thought it odd that she had chosen the same placement and had been accepted following an interview. She spent the next six months at the Freshwater Biological Associations (FBA) field labs in the English Lake District (I'd applied for that placement as well when I was an undergraduate, but had failed at the interview). I spent that year with her so that I could used Cambridge Universities libraries for my research. the FBA's library was also particularly useful for me as well, so Michelle's two placement s helped me significantly. She also typed out my thesis as I was a two fingered typist whereas she had done typing at school and was a fast typist. Again much of what I've written about the above Michelle remembers totally differently.

p.s. my opiate meds kicked in while writing this. I do tend to waffle a lot when that happens. :)

Tricks like those do work. Also the more senses involved, the stronger the memory, so figuring out ways to tie visual, audible, & physical sensations together works. Imagining your example of beans on a golf course, I automatically imagine the sounds, & it's not a stretch to imagine the feel of the club in your hands as you whacked the beans, so it probably did work extremely well.

Old fashioned repetition works of course, but in a more round-a-bout way. Every time you remember something, it's kind of like you make a new recording. That's why people can become convinced of something through suggestive memory coaching -- their new recordings overpower the original -- or why 2 people might remember the same event differently... if the overall impression at the time was negative, then the negative aspects can be both reinforced and amplified every time that event is remembered, or the reverse if the impression at the time was positive. There are probably events that you and your wife, or any couple really, remember Very differently, because your different perspectives alter the memory every time you remember it. Interesting stuff.

I was really into memory and concentration studies when I was a teenager back in the seventies. I even spent £40 on a memory course that was advertised via one of the better national papers (The Daily Telegraph); my grandmother gave me most of the cost. It contained loads of techniques for helping you to remember. The first exercise was to create memory hooks, then form chains of memory hooks. Initially you created a small set of hooks, for example the first one I created comprised of ten hooks, numbered from 1 to 10. Each number was then associated with a visual object, for example 1 was represented by a stick, 2 by a swan on water, three by (a male object of desire) 4 by a yacht with only one sail, 5 by a fat bellied man, six was a golf club, 7 was a cliff etc etc. I created that simple memory hook system over 45 years ago and still remember the basic form. What you then did was use the hooks to remember for example a shopping list. Say number one was a loaf of bread and six was a bag of haricot beans You could associate the stick, which represented 1 by hitting the bread and smashing it to pieces. The sixth item on the list was say a tin of beans, so, the number six being represented by a gold club imagine it being used to hit beans into a hole on a golf course, every time you hit a bean, instead of landing in the hole it would break up and splatter everything around you. The funnier and more visual you could make it the better the association would be remembered. The exercises may seem a little pointless, but I was amazed after creating my first associated list, which was a shopping list for my mothers shopping. I could still remember everything on the list months later, even though I'd always considered myself having a poor memory. I could remember the list in any order. You then expand on your first list, creating lists of up to 100 or more memory hooks. Once you are well versed in the first system you start a new process called chaining; which basically means tying each hook system together. The system does work, but you do have to persevere and continue with the system, otherwise, like anything consigned to memory and unused, it can be forgotten with time.

The main trick was to keep things as visual as possible and as funny as possible. The more improbable the association, the easier it was to remember. At the time I was getting into the course, it was reported that a particular student of this system had used it to memorize every word in the English Oxford dictionary and could recite any word from any page and give you its meaning.

I see the technique your reported on uses some of the ideas expounded in that memory and concentration course.

sansforgetica[.]rmit/

chrome[.]google[.]com/webstore/detail/sans-forgetica-study-mode/jojbobbpjflbaekncckdbanjoakgpbbc?hl=en

The idea is that the font has cutouts, missing pieces that make your brain work slightly harder to figure out what the letters and words are. That in turn boosts memory retention of what you've read. Based on psychology etc., the designers say that it's best used as you would a highlighter, bringing extra attention to the most important points in whatever you're studying or reading, and have created a Chrome extension that does just that, serves as a highlighter of sorts.

Cold virus

Freeloader (opposite a horse aka "beast of burden")

Horses (who live in stables)

Lingering (can't let go off something)

Dwelling (Navajo people call homes "hogans")

Stable

Wobbly

Hogan (Hulk Hogan, WWE Wrestler)

Hulk

Steady

Beast (Beauty and the Beast)

Beauty

Natural

Unbalanced

Organics

Balanced

Synthetics