Our pets have always had official, “given,” names, and multiple nicknames. The given names have historically been what’s used most often, but probably just barely.
For the last 20 years or so I’ve done at-home euthanasia, after my cat Jayce died 10 minutes before I was to pick her up at the vet. He had talked me into bringing her in for one last chance to help her. Never again. The only time I didn’t use a mobile vet was when Will died during the night five years ago. There have been two other cats I sat with on the couch. Before that I had three euthanized at the vet and was not with them. I don’t remember if I was given a choice. It was a long time ago.
One of my first cats was Wicca. I was living with my boyfriend but she was my cat. But he called her Devo and it sort of annoyed me that most of our friends called her Devo, too.
They are very nice pets, but they have such a short lifespan.
We called them once, but they couldnt come for hours and hours and the fee was so high. The cat died in my arms instead.
My vet is very good at doing it, and all of us- the vet, the assistant, me, and my wife petted the cat as he was on he way towards the rainbow bridge. And they send a nice card, too.
Another “other” answer on the Cat Pan poll - I taught my cat to use the human toilet. He doesn’t flush though, because they tend to flush too often which wastes water.
Addressing the pet: I never address him by his “real” name. He’s either “Li’l Buddy” or “You Ornery-Ass Little Shit,” depending on my mood at the moment and how recently he’s sat on me and dug his claws into my arm.
That made me count up how many cats I’ve had on my own, and dogs too. There was Baby, Tobermory, Road Warrior, Vladimir, and Atilla. I still have Atilla but he’s approaching 18 yrs old.
For dogs there have been Quickster, Nathan, and Mauser. The latter is snoozing on the recliner just now.
Three of our dogs were euthanized – two with cancer and one with a seizure disorder that no longer responded to medication. All were more than 15 years old. And all went peacefully in my arms. I felt it was my duty to them.
17 cats. 3 dogs.
Current residents, 4 and 1.
It’s an older American-made Taurus.
I always bag my own groceries, even when i have to hip-check the bagger out of the way, that way I bag stuff the way I want to unbag it. No, I really don’t want you to bag my stuff, please move out of my way so that I can do it. I’m pretty fast at it & am typically only a couple of items behind the cashier so I’m not costing anyone time. That also ensures that the delicate/crushable things end up on the top of the bag & not at the bottom under heavier stuff. I put stuff on the conveyor belt in the general order that I want to pack them away, including things heavier things like meats before produce. All cold/perishable/ stuff in one bag, unless there is enough for two bags, in which case it’s the fridge stuff in one bag & the freezer stuff in the other bag (the fridge is in the kitchen, but the separate, full-sized freezer is in the basement).
Personal hygiene/first aid/illness stuff goes upstairs to the bathroom while non-perishable cans/jars/boxes mostly go to basement storage/pantry. It’s not uncommon for the non-perishable bags to just get dropped placed in the basement for later unpacking
I let the people at the register bag all my stuff. and put it in my cart.
Once in a blue moon I will have them take it to my car for me. But that’s rare.
It takes enough energy for me to get the bags home and out of the car.
Which I have to do today - not a fan of shopping but it’s a necessary evil.
I pretty much answered yes to all the bagging questions.
80-90% of the time I self checkout. The other 10-20%, it’s all of the above. At Trader Joe’s for example, the cashier always bags my stuff. At Costco, they toss all your stuff in boxes, normally a dedicated staff, but sometimes the cashier as well. At my local Kroger, it’s about 50% me doing it, 30% the cashier, and 20% a dedicated bagger.
And sometimes at Kroger, it’s an overlap between all three at different points in the purchase!
I’m the one in 17 so far with cataract surgery. Monofocal, different distances.
I had my eyes done five years apart. The first time they didn’t even ask me. They just gave me a new lens with no special benefits. Apparently, if I knew to ask I could have paid the $2k or so to get an enhanced lens. I didn’t know about it until after the surgery.
For my second lens I went with the nearsighted correction. But with just one eye, it wasn’t perfect, so I got glasses for TV viewing and night driving.
My dad smoked since he was 13. It’s what killed him at 59.
I don’t mind scanning and bagging myself at the self-checkout, but I very much mind having to pause 2 or 3 times per order for the clerk to come over and un-glitch the machine.
mmm
My parents have smoked since they were young adults. Dad is now 91, and mom is 84. They’ve quit several times, but always found themselves drawn back to it when life got more stressful. They still smoke, though probably not more than a half-dozen cigarettes each a day; it seems, at this point, to be a part of their daily routine, as much as anything else.
Except for a few years in the 1970s or 1980s, when my mom smoked More cigarettes (the ones with the brown paper wrappers, which looked like paneling), they’ve both always smoked Marlboro.
I mostly use the self-checkout, but when I use the traditional checkout at my regular store the cashier does the bagging, though there is occasionally a bagger. One store that I occasionally use only has self-checkout for ten items or less, and customers bag their own at the regular checkout counters.
My dad smoked a pipe and sometimes cigars, and my mother never smoked.
I miss the smell of pipe tobacco.
Cashiers don’t bag groceries here. Except for the really expensive places, during the run up to Christmas, customers are expected to bag their own groceries.
Neither of my parents, both in their 80s, have ever regularly smoked.
My family says ‘cleek’ as an affectation, but it’s pretty well ingrained in my language center now.
“Clique” is one of those words that I often see written, but rarely hear spoken. As a child, I assumed it should be pronounced “cleek”. I was well into high school before I heard an English teacher pronounce it “click”. It took me a while to realize what word she was using.