What’s a thing you wish schools actually taught?
But unfortunately, common sense cannot be taught. People who do not have it struggle with things you think should be basic knowledge. If you have been blessed with common sense, give thanks, because not only cannot it not be taught, it can’t be bought.
What’s something you used to worry about but don’t anymore?
Turned out not to be a problem, despite the repetitive warnings. Go figure.

Share a photo of your pet and tell us one thing that makes them uniquely them.
I don’t currently have a living pet, so I consider the outside animals to be pets. I have a long history with the birds and squirrels and have a current batch of teenage boy squirrels who appear to be orphaned. I try not to let them be reliant on me, but they really seem to be clueless. Because boys. What makes them uniquely them? I’d have to show you…
What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?
This is one of my pet peeves. I have many, but this is pretty high on the list. In the past, before the days of self checkout, stores used to bag your groceries. Some still do, and if you go to the regular checkout, they will put your stuff in a bag. But what they do is combine everything in one bag without the proper sorting and it makes my right eye twitch. 
Believe it or not, people who bag groceries used to be trained on how to bag groceries. I know, I know, it’s a shocker. There is actually a way to do this without putting bread in the same bag as potatoes and mothballs. Or eggs in the same bag as anything else. They also should know that all of the refrigerated items should be together in the same bag(s), and the non-refrigerated items should be placed in their own bags, further separated by cleaning products and porosity of the packaging.
To me, this is a basic skill. I don’t understand why people don’t know this. We don’t put food items in the same bag as ant traps. We don’t put cold food items in the same bag as non-refrigerated items, because the end goal here is to keep everything cold on the way home from the store, thus reducing melting and spoilage.
I often have to change the bagging entirely when I get to the car if someone else bags. It is a rare occasion I find someone who knows how to bag groceries. And yes, I still get someone else to bag my groceries because my job title is not grocery bagger and I am paying for my items. So they will bag them. That’s part of the transaction. And I use the paper bags they give me at the store because I’m paying for those bags in the cost of the items on the shelf. Thank you very much. 
On the off occasion that someone actually knows how to bag groceries, I thank them and tell them I appreciate their knowledge. And then I tell them no one else knows how to do it, because it’s true.
Who is the fictional character you relate to the most?
The struggle is real. Happy Friday.! 🍪🍪
What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
From the song Hips Don’t Lie, released in 2005. If you don’t know this song, you have been warned. Once you hear the song, you will never forget the lyrics. You will always be susceptible to the “Shakira, Shakira!” at any time. And if you know this song, it’s a banger. But the side effect is being stuck with the “Shakira, Shakira!” ear worm for 20+ years.
Hips Don’t Lie
Ladies up in here tonight
No fightin’
We got the refugees up in here (no fightin’)
No fightin’
Shakira, ShakiraI never really knew that she could dance like this (hey)
She make a man wanna speak Spanish
¿Cómo se llama? (¡Sí!), ¿bonita? (¡Sí!)
Mi casa (Shakira, Shakira), su casa
Oh, baby, when you talk like that (uh-huh, yeah)
You make a woman go mad (oh)
So be wise (sí), and keep on (sí)
Reading the signs of my body (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, no fightin’)I’m on tonight
You know my hips don’t lie (no fightin’, no fightin’)
And I’m starting to feel it’s right
All the attraction, the tension
Don’t you see, baby? This is perfectionHey, girl, I can see your body moving
And it’s driving me crazy (uh-huh)
And I didn’t have the slightest idea
Until I saw you dancin’ (yeah)
And when you walk up on the dance floor, nobody cannot ignore
The way you move your body, girl (just smooth)
And everything’s so unexpected, the way you right and left it
So you can keep on shakin’ it (let’s go)I never really knew that she could dance like this (yeah)
She make a man wanna speak Spanish
¿Cómo se llama? (¡Sí!), ¿bonita? (¡Sí!)
Mi casa (Shakira, Shakira), su casa
Oh, baby, when you talk like that (uh-huh, oh)
You make a woman go mad (oh)
So be wise (sí), and keep on (sí)
Reading the signs of my body (no fightin’, no fightin’)I’m on tonight
You know my hips don’t lie (no fightin’, no fightin’)
And I’m starting to feel you, boy
Come on, let’s go, real slow
Don’t you see, baby, así es perfecto?
They know I’m on tonight (yeah)
My hips don’t lie and I’m starting to feel it’s right
All the attraction, the tension
Don’t you see, baby? This is perfection (Shakira, Shakira)Oh, boy, I can see your body moving, half-animal, half-man
I don’t, don’t really know what I’m doing
But you seem to have a plan (yeah)
My will and self-restraint have come to fail now, fail now
See, I’m doing what I can, but I can’t, so, you know
That’s a bit too hard to explain (uno, dos, tres, cuatro)Baila en la calle de noche (uh, yeah)
Baila en la calle de día (let’s go)
Baila en la calle de noche (uh, yeah)
Baila en la calle de día (let’s go)I never really knew that she could dance like this (hey)
She make a man wanna speak Spanish (yeah)
¿Cómo se llama? (¡Sí!), ¿bonita? (¡Sí!)
Mi casa (Shakira, Shakira), su casa
Oh, baby, when you talk like that (uh-huh, oh)
You know you got me hypnotized (oh)
So be wise (sí), and keep on (sí)
Reading the signs of my body (yeah)Señorita, feel the conga
Let me see you move like you come from Colombia
Yeah, oh, yeah, ladies, ¡sí! (yeah, yeah, hey, yeah)
Mira, en Barranquilla se baila así, say it (yeah)
En Barranquilla se baila así (yeah)
Ayy (prr), yeahShe’s so sexy, every man’s fantasy
A refugee like me back with the Fugees from a third world country (uh-huh)
I go back like when ‘Pac carried crates for Humpty Humpty
We leave a whole club dizzy
Why the CIA wanna watch us?
It’s the Colombians and Haitians
I ain’t guilty, it’s a musical transaction
Bo-bop-so-bop, no more do we snatch ropes
Refugees run the seas, ’cause we own our own boats, boats (no fightin’)I’m on tonight, my hips don’t lie
And I’m starting to feel you, boy
Come on, let’s go, real slow
Baby, like this is perfecto (no fightin’)
Oh, you know I’m on tonight
My hips don’t lie and I’m starting to feel it’s right
The attraction, the tension
Baby, like this is perfectionNo fightin’
No fightin’Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Jerry Duplessis / Latavia Parker / Luis Diaz / Omar Alfanno / Shakira Mebarak / Wyclef Jean
Hips Don’t Lie lyrics © Lanfranco Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
Both.
Unrelated to the prompt, but since I posted the easy button, does anyone still have theirs? I still have mine and it works. If you know anything about me, you know I only push the button when things are incredibly difficult and I need to spice it up with an extra dose of sarcasm. This button never fails to make me laugh. This was an excellent marketing idea. Long live the easy button!
What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve actually kept?
This question is inherently flawed. It’s already taking a dig, assuming that promises made to one’s self are not kept. Why do we need the word actually in this query? Isn’t it sufficient to ask the question without implying promises are not kept?
I’ll change it. “What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve kept?”
There. All better now.
A promise I have made to myself that I have kept? It’s between me and myself, WordPress. And that’s a promise I intend to keep.
What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel?
Anybody got any standing stones? Asking for a friend.
If you had to be an animal for a week, which one would you be and why?
Why? Because they live really well. They’re almost impossible to evict and they’re very cute. Also, they have a great defense mechanism. Just last week I saw the red fox running from my yard to the neighbor’s yard at a full clip. Why? A skunk was chasing him.
Also last week, someone set off fireworks all night long on a random Tuesday, and when they started up the next night at about 8:30 PM, I went outside in my bathrobe and pajamas to see if I could find where they were coming from. I walked to the middle of the street thinking to myself that it probably wasn’t a great idea, because the skunks come out around that time, but they only ever appear in the backyard. As I stood in the middle of the road hearing fireworks, but not seeing any, I noticed two skunks on my front porch. I was stuck in the middle of the street with my phone as a flashlight for a half an hour on a Tuesday night.
Last night I learned there was a baby skunk. Apparently the baby lives under my shed, which means there is at least also a mother under my shed. I believe the mother is Salt. The father is Pepa (although they could go the other way, I’m not sure which skunk is the male and which skunk is the female), and the baby is Spinderella. If you don’t understand this reference, they are named after the female rap group Salt ‘N Pepa, and their female DJ Spinderella.
The baby came out last night. It’s 6:30 PM, learning how to hunt for bugs. I had to chase it back to the backyard because it’s far too early for a baby skunk to be out, even though it’s normal for babies. No, it doesn’t have rabies. It does have a luxurious home, though. The babies won’t be grown until September and I won’t kick them out until then, if at all possible. But their presence means that the birds and the squirrels no longer get food.
Join me soon for another episode of Wild Kingdom!
