zil2

Am I the only one who thinks those oligarchs (on both sides) are getting rich off the war?

Yeah, crazed cat is scary (I have only witnessed this 3rd hand - via recordings). Better to just avoid them. And if you're not used to cats, it would be even scarier. I never minded getting scratched up by a kitty in play, whereas I've seen other people react to a simple scratch as if they're going to die. Those people are the ones kitty would rip to shreds and leave waiting for an ambulance... I have one on my right arm that "split" as I grew - one long portion below the elbow, one on my bicep (that one's hard to see). Got it from that first cat, at around age 7. Yes, Douglas Adams was right: "A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have." Burrito-kitty is very easy to control. Yikes! Doggie good, attack-man bad!

If dude couldn't hit any part of the dog with a .45, what makes you think he's going to hit the dog's eyes with a squirt bottle / gun? (Maybe dude should have stuck with his training and sued the owner.)

Well, I'm financially committed now - kitty supplies ordered. Apparently kitten season is delayed due to our long winter, so it'll probably be the end of the month before they start showing up in significant numbers at shelters and such. Plenty of time to finish my preparations.

I've been trying to keep my mouth closed, cuz folks seem so convinced, but yeah, this. And frankly, I'm only 5' 3" and my arms are still longer than any house cat (except maybe a Maine coon). If you're attacked by a house cat, keep one arm free and grab a fistful of skin, repeat until you've got it by it's back. You win. Sure, you'll be all scratched up, but once you've got it by the scruff on it's neck / back, you win - especially the neck - that triggers the cat to relax so it isn't injured while its mother carries it (though I don't know if they mature out of that, but apparently it's built into their nervous system). Better yet, be a wonderful cat-loving person and fluffy isn't going to attack you anyway. She'll turn up her nose and walk away (unless you happen to be offering a can of tuna). Other tips: when cats start wagging their tails, they intend to attack, so back out. Slow blink at the kitty - this is how kitties say, "I love you". Do it a few times, slowly. Don't mess with feral kitties unless you know what you're doing. Don't move any part of yourself rapidly toward kitty. I mean, this isn't rocket science. Meanwhile, when a lion wants to hug you, you might want to brace yourself: This is how I imagine the Millennium - all the lion hugging you can stand.

Not so different from humans...

No worries, Traveler. I was pointing out that animals often make better friends than fellow humans who are often far less than loving - I never had a pet that wasn't a better person than I am. (And yes, especially our dogs - my husband wanted dogs, so we had two for a while. Best "humans" ever.) Those of us who are sane don't need a scripture to tell us to love animals - they're lovable "out of the box". It's the humans who try our patience and whom we need to be commanded to love - cuz a lot of them aren't terribly lovable (pure love of Christ required in their cases). Let's just pretend that perverted animal abusers don't exist lest I find it even harder to follow the second great commandment.

People bad, wild beasts good: Balaam bad, donkey good:

Why in the world would I want to deal with annoying humans when I can just enjoy a furry little buddy instead?

Ah, interesting. Perhaps you're more of an auditory learner. Not me, I have to read to learn - what I hear tends to go in one ear and out the other (oddly, I did well in school - guess it was all the note-taking; but these days, I have to read).

Speaking of asking questions, I just have to ask this, @romans8: It's Saturday morning (perhaps afternoon) in Switzerland (or so your profile says). The Alps are right there outside your door, and you've got nothing better to do than copy and paste text out of manuals of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? All for the benefit of what, the 10 people who frequent this forum? Every Saturday for 3 years? (Happy belated cake day1, BTW.) Get yourself a puppy or a kitten. Take the wife and kiddos up into the mountains. Go for a hike. Drive too fast (just a little) on the hairpins. Have a picnic. Stroll through the park. There have to be about a billion better things you could enjoy. 1This is what they call your sign-up anniversary on reddit.

FWIW, I'm a fairly slow reader. When I read stories (or anything descriptive of people, places, things, events), I see pictures in my head. In school, I didn't "study" - I learned it the first time through and maybe refreshed my memory of hard-to-recall facts, but not of principles or ideas. I'm assuming you're the same way. IMO, this is a good thing. I read in my head the same way I would read aloud to an audience with all the feeling, intonation, emphasis, etc. Or perhaps it's other people who aren't really reading? I get in a comfy spot, open the book, and forget that the rest of the universe exists - in fact, I move into the story, as if I were living it, not reading it. (Of course, I'm fictionally dysfunctional: I resent anything that pulls me away from reading.) Meanwhile, I have a friend who sees no pictures - not when reading, not even of her own memories (which seem to be fewer due to the lack of pictures). She can recall facts, but no images. When she reads, it's just words and their meaning. Sounds like a perfect nightmare to me...

Another quote came to mind: From Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Chapter 17.

That was my thinking. The more obvious grammar errors were distracting to me, forcing me to stop and "say it right" in my head. I suspect most people wouldn't recognize (most of?) the errors. A tragedy, probably caused because people are no longer taught from the KJV. (I was a tween and teen in low-density Zion, and when we got to Shakespeare in English class, all the other kids were struggling with the language. Meanwhile, I was thinking, "What's the problem?" )

We need a :shaking my head: reaction emoji.

Also, think "my" and "mine": This is my book. These books are mine. This is thy book. These books are thine. There were other absurdities in the text.

Sad is your experience. It's bizarre from my point of view. I remember being the one who cleaned out the litter box - though there wasn't clumping litter when I was little and I'm sure mom changed the whole box when it needed it, until I was big enough. Scooping out the box never bothered me, nor did picking up dog poop with either a bag or in a rake and scoop-on-a-pole. As for training cats to use the litter box: 1. Wait for kitten to finish eating 2. Put kitten in box. Done. I never had to do anything else. You do have to keep the box clean, but that's not hard. The only time my family ever had a problem was when I came back from Moscow with 2 adult cats and mom & dad already had their own 2 cats, and there was some territory marking. We dealt with it by separating the cats until I left my parents house. No problem. Apparently you rent to "sloppy" people. (Polite variant.) I'll bet they talk on their cell phones while seated on the toilet, too.

Another answer, from today's reading: FWIW

From Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, Chapter 5 "Deny Not the Gifts of God" (bold is mine): Once all your needs and desires are satisfied, what else is there than to "spread it around"? Ideally, our work and our glory are, and will be, the same as God's - to continue bringing about the immortality and eternal life of man. You can only play pinball with asteroids for so long before even that gets boring. Only the unending uniqueness of individuals, only the importance of their salvation could be enough to interest an exalted being for eternity. I recommend reading the entirety of Nibley's Approaching Zion. But if you have to pick and choose, search for the bit about "goods of first intent": "There are things of which we never tire, with which we never become bored. Those are the things of eternity." The point of doing more, once you don't have to worry about needs or fears, is to enjoy those things of which we never tire, with which we never become bored. IMO, Nibley does a really good job of making the earnest believer long for the Millennium.

Thank you! Fur rubs from me to kitty. I was 7 or 8 (that would have been in the 1970s) when I got my first cat (as opposed to the feral mama cat, and her kittens, that lived outside our house for as long as I can remember, and before we moved). From that point (7 or 8), I had cats almost constantly up until around 2008. So, I'm more than a little familiar with them.

What planet do you people live on? Meanwhile, I've been pondering getting a cat (have had many in the past, but have no pets right now). This is going to sound bizarre (though not as bizarre as some of the above), but I was in the temple today, and had the distinct impression (during that part of the endowment that talks about animals having joy in their creation) that if I wanted a cat I should go ahead and get one. I've been unsure, what with all the talk of the economy collapsing and the dollar becoming worthless and similar such things - it seemed like it might not be a financially responsible idea. Apparently it's a good idea - if I want one. So, I've started making a list of the things I'll need (to buy and to do) to provide a (safe) home for a kitty. If I go forward, once I have him harness-trained, maybe I'll take him for a walk in @Traveler's neighborhood.

This was my whole life until the end of 2020 (beginning of the end of the trial of my life), and then I started questioning (not as in doubting) everything - why do I do what I do, how should I do it, what did I miss, can I do better, etc. - it's making a big difference. Yes, though in some ways, it seems tragic, but I guess it might be mercy, too.

We each have our own timeline for our progress - perhaps this is your time to study the sabbath (and that wasn't)... If you like, I could scan my 11" x 17" page and post it, or PM it to you, but honestly, I think you'll be much better off doing exactly what I did - studying every verse, in as short a timeframe as possible, and noting what each teaches you.

Erm. If you stop at Exodus 20, that might be true. But there's whopping tons more in scripture about the sabbath than what's in Exodus 20. This too is in scripture.

I think we're just starting to see the multitude of meanings conveyed by "...men's hearts shall fail them...". (D&C 45:26)