Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings

I'm not a person who some may call "tree hugger" but I've been much more environmentally conscious in the past 7 or so years and try to recycle as much as I can.

I have this old laptop that I need to get rid of but I don't want to just throw it away in a landfill. I can't give it away cause it would be embarrassing to give it to someone, it's about 8-9 years old, I think. So I just want to recycle it. I spent over half an hour searching online for a way to recycle this damn thing but nothing! There's only one Goodwill store, which has a partnership with Dell, but it's almost an hour away! I'm not driving 40 miles each way just to dump this laptop - especially since gas went over $3/gallon this weekend!

There was another choice closer by but I have to pay $$ to recycle.

What's an environmentally-conscious guy to do?

Labels: recycling

Gishtat nuk dikan te levizin
Me.
Dashuri e vjeter qenka mpire
A zhdukur?

Diku nen rrangulla duhet te jete
Eren ia ndiej
Por syte s’ia shoh

Pluhuri I rende
I rrugeve te ecura
Zerin ia paska mekur
Si nikotine e vjeter.
Kollitja nuk paska efekt.

Reumatizma
e viteve te shpejta
e paska bere punen e saj.
Ilacet I paskam harruar sot.

Gishtat qenkan zverdhur
Prej dimrave te harreses.

Me paska marre malli
Per dashurine e vjeter…

It seems that lately, either people have gone crazier on taking care of their little furry animals (the ones with 4 legs!) or, for some reasons, I am hearing about it more often, from different sources. I'm truly fascinated by people's love and determination for their little animals.

I'm not going to go into the stupid pet clothes that people think are cute or whatever. What shocks me is the medical expenses these people go through. One of my co-workers brags about how she takes care of her little dog who has gone through chemo therapy before, and now, after the dog food fiasco, is taking all sorts of meds, including steroids, to stay alive. Her little dog is currently costing her over $60 a day (meds and food), on top of vet bills! She admits to have spent at least $50,000 so far for her pet - while she still owes $75,000 in high interest student loans.

And you know how everyone gets their dogs and cats "fixed" (meaning, the snip their thing)? Well, this lady thought that was cruel (which it is) so she had them perform vasectomy on her dog (which is reversible)! It's a more expensive procedure, of course.

I do understand that pets have become children for some people but, honestly, I don't spend $60 a day for my daughter. And if I'm going to spend $50,000, it better brings home a diploma!

Yesterday, one of my students asked for permission to leave early because her dog had surgery earlier that day and she wanted to be with him Dog's surgery = over $800. She was discussing this with a couple of her classmates and I overheard another one saying they did a sex change on her cat! I thought I heard it wrong but it was true! And this was not a simple, Because of some kind of urinary track issues, the vet turned her male cat into a little sweet pussy cat (pun intended). Price? "Only" $4000. The funny thing is that she added "and I don't even like that cat, he's mean."

Many people buy health insurance for their animals now, or even use their own insurance to buy meds intended for humans (which, apparently, are OK to be used for animals as well).

A couple of months ago they were showing on TV these new local animal hospitals. Holy crap! I have never seen a regular hospital (for humans!) more luxurious, well-equipped than that one! And prices were ridiculous as well - but they had quite a few clients.

I know I'm not a cold-hearted asshole (JD, keep your comment to yourself), but seriously, this is just beyond logical. Do I need to remind them that there are many people who die (even in this country) because they can't afford health services?

Now I'm pissed!

Labels: expensive pets, stupid people

I'm assuming just about anyone who writes a blog (Americans) has already written up something about the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech.

It's not my intention to repeat over and over again what pretty much everyone has already said. The reason for my blog entry today is the call by some people to fire VA Tech's President and chief of police. There are quite a few students who defend these two men.

I am not sure how things went in Blacksburg that fateful morning, but, from what I've read on the news, it looks to me like they really dropped the ball. You have two people shot at a dormitory and what do you do? You simply consider it a "domestic dispute" and simply send a campus-wide email? How about blocking off the whole campus trying to find out who did it? Or were they trying to put in practice their CSI skillz and find the killer through stupid analysis 6 months later?

Labels: VA Tech

Some things in this country are just not right...

It looks to me like people down in Georgia really took George Wallace's gubernatorial inauguration words a little too literal - even though he was Governor of Alabama.

I read this article yesterday and could not believe my eyes. Seriously, what are these people thinking? I guess they still have time. After all, it's only the 21st century. And it's only been 43 years since the Civil Rights Act was signed. These Southerns are truly something... .

I had never heard of this before but it seems to be not very uncommon knowledge among the Irish. A co-worker, when she heard where I'm from, she asked if I knew the story of "Black Irish." Both of her grandparents sets are from Ireland. One of them tells her that they're "black Irish", meaning pale skin but dark hair and eyes. According to him "If it wasn't for those Albanians who came here and ... our women, we'd still be pure Irish."

So I went and did some research and ran into this, as told by a true Irish:
http://genealogy.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/6387

No wonder the Irish are known to be heavy drinkers and violent...

Amazing!

Labels: albanian

Here's another rant about the weather here in Michigan. We didn't have a white Christmas, but we sure had a white Easter.

And it's still cold and snowy today, with more cold and snow on our way. :(

Labels: cold, snow