Stonepounder
Stonepounder's JournalWhat a night for us.
Background:
1. We have lived in the same place for 11 years. We are at the end of a cul-de-sac, know all of our neighbors by sight, and while we aren't bosom buddies we are cordial, wave to each other, and basically know who belongs and who doesn't and sort of watch out for each other. In 11 years I think we have locked the front door about twice.
We have a bit of a large family. Five adult children, all married, something like 13 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. And a couple of girlfriends/boyfriends of the older grandchildren. And we ALL got together tonight to celebrate a belated Christmas.
For reasons I won't go into one of our grandchildren lives with us. He is almost 19, has a very nice girlfriend, and some .... interesting .... friends.
And so to the main event:
The get-together was as wild, noisy, and fun as you can imagine. But we have young dogs a home and don't like leaving them alone for extended periods of time.
We left home about 3:30 pm this afternoon and got home just about 8:00 pm. Me being the geek that I am, I checked my email. Imagine my surprise to discover that in my absence I had spent well over $5000 at Amazon and another $2000 at Best Buy buying 3 Apple Smart Phones at $1200 ea, several computer games, and a couple thousand more on electronic grit cards. And our grandson's room was locked (he never locks his door). And our cell phone was missing, and a few other oddities. We knew it hadn't been our grandson since he was at the get-together. We were the first ones to leave.
The interesting thing is that went we got our grandson's door unlocked hid window was wide open and the screen was missing. The time stamps on the notifications of my wild shopping spree ended abruptly just about the time we got home. After a little freaking out, I started looking more closely at all the items I had ordered. Apparently one of our grandson's 'friends' had come over while we were gone, gotten into my Amazon account via our cell phone and going wild. However, while he was smart enough to get in through our cell phone, he was so damn dumb that he used his own email account to have Amazon send the electronic gift cards and our address as the location to send the new Apple phones.
We got hold of another one of our kids, who kindly came over and brought his phone. We called the cops since we knew exactly who had gone on the spending spree on my dime. They had to laugh when I handed them printed copies of each Amazon order with the perp's name, email, phone number, and our delivery address. Also Amazon had taken one look at what was going on and figured that something wasn't right and had frozen my account and canceled all the orders they could and refunded the gift cards to my account. I was able to get to Best Buy and cancel the order myself. I told the cops (who were very, very nice, pleasant, and helpful) that I absolutely wanted to prosecute. Even though this jerk isn't going to cost me a penny, it is still fraud (big time) and since he took our phone it counts as burglary as well. I talked to them a couple of hours later and they had already tracked our perp down and talked to him. They didn't give me much more information that than, since they have to report it to their boss who has to get with the DA and the DA decides whether to prosecute, but I did make it clear to the cops that I wanted to press charges. So, we will see what happens.
Not the sort of night I was expecting. I'll keep y'all posted.
Ocasio-Cortez recites Bible to condemn GOP colleague comparing Trump to Jesus
The House of Representatives’ vote to impeach President Trump is bringing out the wost in Congressional Republicans. As they struggle to defend a wholly indefensible president they’re forced more and more to rely on faux outrage, smears, and gross exaggerations.
Already today, one Republican representative has compared the impeachment vote to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Another, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), compared the impeachment of our inarguably corrupt president to the trial of Jesus Christ at the hands of Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. Apparently, Loudermilk sees some kind of similarities between the credibly accused rapist currently inhabiting the Oval Office and the man who Christians believe was God incarnate and who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. What exactly those implied similarities are, Loudermilk failed to explain.
“When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president in this process,” Loudermilk said, without a trace of irony or shame.
<snip>
Rising Democratic star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saw Loudermilk’s disgraceful performance in the House and hit him with a simple, yet perfect response. She urged him to read Romans 1:25 in the Bible. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen,” the passage reads.
Full article:
https://washingtonpress.com/2019/12/18/ocasio-cortez-recites-bible-to-condemn-gop-colleague-comparing-trump-to-jesus/
Boy With Autism Asks Santa Emotional Question, Gets Heartwarming Answer
Sometimes Santa is the only person to confide in. For 6-year-old Landon, he was looking for reassurance, because some people think he is naughty because he has autism.
Landon was visiting Santa with his mom, Naomi, at the RiverTown Crossings mall in Michigan and made sure to give Santa his list. But then, he ran back up to Santa and asked him a question that was on his mind – “Will my autism put me on the naughty list?” Landon wanted Santa to know he had autism and he was concerned that people thought he was naughty because of his condition.
Santa asked if it bothered him.
“Sometimes,” Landon responded. But Santa told Landon it shouldn’t bother him and it’s ok to be who you are. He told him, “You know I love you and the reindeer love you and it’s OK. You’re a good boy. You’re a good boy, you know?”
Full article with pic:
https://www.reshareworthy.com/boy-with-autism-asks-santa-question/?utm_source=Reshareworthy+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7a715300b9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_09_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e07917f92-7a715300b9-196848253
Epic Trump trolling by @VicenteFoxQue !! I love it so hard!!
https://twitter.com/mysterysolvent/status/1205640246018396163Trump says giving birth in 9th month is wrong!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1203435271611650048Trump says giving birth in 9th month is wrong!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1203435271611650048Michigan is now 'no-kill' state for shelter animals
A couple of months old, but first time I have seen it. Great news from Michigan - and this from a dyed in the wool Buckeye.
https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Michigan-is-a-No-Kill-state-for-shelter-animals--559845821.html
Michigan is now 'no-kill' state for shelter animals
Posted: Mon 1:56 PM, Sep 09, 2019
LANSING, MI (WILX) -- Michigan is now officially a "no-kill state" for shelter animals.
To be considered a "no-kill" state, 90 percent of animals are either returned to owners, transferred to other shelters and rescue organizations, or adopted.
“This is an amazing first for our state,” said Deborah Schutt, MPFA founder and chairperson. “When the shelters in a state combine to meet the 90% target, that state is considered No-Kill for shelter animals. Only Delaware, which has three shelters, compared to 174 in Michigan, also reached the No Kill benchmark last year.”
In 2018, Michigan reached that percentage.
“While it’s exciting to see Michigan as a state achieve No-Kill status by reaching the 90% goal, we still have a few communities struggling to save lives, especially with cats,” Schutt said. “We will continue to work with shelters and rescue organizations to implement best practices, decrease overall length of stay in the shelter and improve the quality of life for homeless pets while they are in a shelter.”
The Michigan Pet Fund Alliance (MPFA) began tracking these statistics in 2009 from annual reports submitted by shelters to the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development According to the MPFA, approximately 120,000 dogs and cats were being euthanized in Michigan shelters every year.
The MPFA said that number is now just over 13,000.
Injured Tortoise Who Lost Shell In Fire Receives Worlds First 3D-Printed Shell
Injured Tortoise Who Lost Shell In Fire Receives Worlds First 3D-Printed ShellThe unique story of one tortoise affected by fire is inspiring new ways of caring for injured and rehabilitating animals.
All tortoises share the unique anatomical feature of a shell. The shell has two parts, the carapace, and the plastron, and is relied upon for protection from predators, hunters, and the environment. This tortoise was found close to death by veterinarian surgeon Dr. Rodrigo Rabello, nicked name Thor after a bush fire completely destroyed its protective covering.
She has lived through a terrible fire, and consequently, she had suffered pneumonia, hunger for 45 days, near-death and most obviously, lost 85% of her protective shell. The tortoise was therefore named Freddy, after the fire-damaged character Freddy Krueger, of Nightmare on Elm Street fame. Since a damaged shell cannot be regrown, Freddy faced a life of long term disability without her hard outer shell. Yet, the ‘Animal Avengers’, a self-named group of volunteers and specialists from Brazil, consisting of Dr. Rabello and three other vets, a dental surgeon, and a 3D designer, were determined to change that.
[snip]
Although Freddy required a short operation to attach the shell, today, she has regained full mobility under her new hull. She appears like any other tortoise and is leading a happy life in her home with one of the Animal Avengers, veterinarian Dr. Rodrigo Rabello. A YouTube video reveals the assembling of the shell, which is the first-ever fully prosthetic tortoiseshell, despite being a low-cost solution to improving animal function, having a material cost of $136.
Well worth a look at the link below for more details and some amazing pics of Freddy before and after:
https://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/injured-tortoise-who-lost-shell-in-fire-receives-worlds-first-3d-printed-shell/
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