Bob

lovely

NC Penguin

Holiday gear/stuff for you to wear/own/display.

i.e. how Americans like to buy things to wear or use for specific holiday.

e.g. Easter themed china, clothing, decorations, yard stuff.

The worst has to be Halloween when all things in orange and black abound. Spooky foods (literally, if you ask me), Hallowen yard decorations, costumes for your moggie (heaven for

I refuse to buy any of this stuff because it's only used once a year. I don't want any more crap than necessary to stuff my home (my spouse will agree wholeheartedly about this one).

At the moment, my coworkers are wearing sweaters, pins, etc. with a Christmas theme. I only have so much closet space and I don't want to fill it with garments I will only where for a few days a year!




NC Penguin

Bob

Yup, I know what you mean, it drives me crazy....and some of the decorations are insane...hardly cheap shite to shove away in the attic for most of the year...

NC Penguin

Well, at least you have an attic. Don't have an attic or a basement. Basements are not common in this part of NC...





NC Penguin

Bob

Well I don't....live in an apartment...but lot of people have basements...attic's are scary and normally filled with insulation...

NC Penguin

I'm told that basements are a Northern thing. I think the soil (clay in NC) in the South is not best suited for basements.




NC Penguin

Bob

Not here either, they all seem flooded in winter

NC Penguin

Ah, indoor swimming pools.




NC Penguin

Franklin

"It's not your watch" ...

The delivery guys were great, very polite and very helpful ... so it's not delivery.

It's not the guy who helpfully shows you the different TV models.

It's not the lady and guy at the cash till/check out who is sweet and helpful.

It's not even the guy who checks your bags when you walk out the store.

It's your delivery schedule ... two plus weeks.

Telly and stand arrived yesterday and it shagged me out putting it together. If I had two or three day delivery I would have put it together BEFORE I did the Christmas shopping. Peeved.

Uhhhhh to Christmas shopping experience. It is an experience, but one I prefer to forget. What is it with shopping here? So pressurized and so rushed. I positively hate it.

Bob

Can't say it's been to bad actually, the malls weren't that busy, well not like I'm use to them gettin back in blighty.

Sarah

If you clip the claws of the cat to make them less sharp is that hurtful to the cat? Also my mother-in-law washes her cat in the bath - the first time I saw this I was astonished as I'd always believed that cats don't need to bathe as they wash themselves right? They lick themselves clean! and i thought washing them removes natural oils and stuff, but she actually gets special cat shampoo from walmart to do it - I think thats stupid and wrong, am I right or is it okay to wash your cat?
Also don't people in LA get cosmetic surgery on their dogs? I'm sure I saw something about it on The Word once years ago, y'know that late night thing with Tezza Christian.

sibsie

That doesn't hurt them at all. It's just like clipping your toenails, as long as you make sure you don't cut the sensitive middle bit which is like our quick.

De-clawing involves removing a bone. You can read all about it here. And no, cats don't need baths. I have a friend in FL who gets his cats shaved at a the doggie parlour.

They do some weird shit over here! In fact I've just got a rescue horse who has a huge part of his tongue missing thanks to a complete wanker using a tongue chain to train him. He was also hobbled so badly that he has perm damage to his legs and will never be able to be ridden again.

Sarah

Thats F**king sick about the cat de-clawing people that do that should be strung up by the balls.
I knew I was right about the cat bath thing! ~feels smug~ Thanks Sibs.

Starbourne

I also seem to remember seeing a programme on TV about plastic surgery for pets, which if done for purely cosmetic reasons is absolutely unforgivable!

However, there are breeds that actually need plastic surgery, although I tend to think of this as corrective surgery. For instance many of the Chinese Shar-Pei have chronic skin problems, due in part to their deep wrinkles. These wrinkles can hang over their eyes, and the hair and eyelashes then rub up against their corneas, which then requires plastic surgery to correct.

Sadly, much of this type of surgery is essential, but only because we have created breeds with medical problems. Remember when the Shar-Pei suddenly became very popular? It seemed that it was a case of the more wrinkles the better, even though this could cause so much suffering to the animal! But then again, at least this can be corrected, whereas other breeds suffer from medical conditions that cannot, i.e. the King Charles Cavalier Spaniel is prone to heart disease and epilepsy, purely due to people inbreeding in order to obtain the specimen most likely to win competitions.

sibsie

Talking of inbreeding... my vet here was telling me that quarterhorses are now inbred to create a quieter horse. She dealt with one that acted like it was brain damaged. The owners were thrilled it was so quiet and bragged that the horse was its own grandfather!