Yes you read the title right….6 cats. Most people think that 6 cats must mean you have a house that constantly smells like cat shit and urine. Really it doesn’t smell at all because the key is to clean it up right after the cats goes. More on that topic in a bit.

It all started about 5 years ago after our beloved Tommy died from what we think to this day was the West Nile Virus. Earlier in the week he caught a bird and from what the doctor said he got whatever the bird had. We were thinking that the bird maybe got bit by a mosquito which the cat contracted. After he(Tommy) died we waited a bit. We cleaned up the house and made a little catio in the back yard and vowed that our next cat was going to be an inside cat.

Within 3 months we found a new kitten at Pet Smart. She was a tuxedo cat named Emma that we changed to White-Socks. We named her that because of the white feet she has. She was the only cat for about a year. She was a very playful kitten and loved to climb all the curtains at night. But after a while we could tell that she was getting lonely and she needed a friend. White-Socks is a serious cat that will interact with all the cats but is best friends with Monkey our second cat in which I will describe in the next paragraph.

Monkey was born on Valentines Day of 2018. He is a long haired black cat with yellow eyes. I really don’t know why my son named him monkey but he was originally named Randall. He is a very quiet cat who likes to keep to himself. He interacts with the other cats very well especially the little ones. Monkey rarely meows and sleeps anywhere you will let him. Some of his favorite spots to sleep is the living room couch, my bed and on the cat perch. One of his favorite foods is tuna in which all the cats get on there birthdays. We thought we were going to stop at 2 cats but something about having cats makes my family very happy so we continued on to our third cat.

Our third cat’s name is Cyber. He is a long haired grey, brown, white cat. I got to name him so I chose the name Cyber. I chose that name because I’m interested in cyber technology. He is a very skittish cat and seems to be afraid of everything. Cyber loves to play with Bino and Honey but can get a little rough sometimes. We were told that he was vomiting plastic up when he was in the care of the SPCA. We speculate that he lived a very rough life from the beginning and that is why he is the way he is.

Our fourth and fifth cat are the twins Lily and Bino. They are pure white cats that we adopted from the SPCA. Bino has sky blue eyes that are really pretty when he is out in the sun. He is a male and is the bigger one of the twins. They both have different personalities. Bino is the one that is more outgoing and upbeat while Lily the smaller female is more of a grumpy cat that hisses a lot at White-Socks. She has one blue eye and one brown eye. Very strange to see in a cat. She is definitely a very special cat. When you catch her on a good day she can be very loveable and rub against you. That usually occurs when she is hungry in the morning. They don’t like to be held a lot and will meow to tell you.

Our sixth and final cat is a Lynx-Point Siamese named Honey. She is grey with tabby cat stripes and has the bluest Siamese eyes. She has the sweetest face when she looks at you. She is a female and is under a year old. As like all the cats she loves to eat anything and everything ranging from butter on toast to spaghetti to her cat food. She loves to play with all the cats especially Bino her sidekick. They cause trouble together and are constantly playing even during the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping.

There are many health benefits of living with cats to both the body and mind. Take a peak at: https://averagejoespeaks.online/living-with-5-cats-the-benefits/ . This is an article from the past I wrote when I had 5 cats at the time. Cats do calm the mind a lot. I can come home from after having a hard day at work and have them jump on the counter and start rubbing against me. When they do that it brings a since of peace and love to my mind. I think of them as my emotional support animals. I also look forward to coming home to them after a long day at work and hanging out with them.

Sure having 6 cats can be very expensive with the vet bills and food and litter cost but to me the benefits out weigh the costs.

Till Later

Joe

When you walk into a store these days it will probably be very different than it was a year ago. With the onset of the Covid 19 they made all these rules like wearing masks and standing 6 feet apart in lines to not being able to enjoy a nice dinner inside a restaurant because of the fear of spreading the virus. The current rules and regulations for being inside a store has really changed since the 80’s when I remember going into stores and restaurants and watching people smoking inside them. That was a very serious health hazard which contributed to many second hand smoke and cancer cases.

When you are an employee like me who works in the Customer Service field you expect everyone to be as courteous as you when dealing with human to human interaction. That does not always happen and I have to bite my tongue and not say anything. There are so many times that I wish I could have called the customer out for being an “asshole” and send them out via a stiff kick in the ass. That would not have been good for my employment and for the store image. The following paragraphs are a quick outline of how you as a consumer should act when you are in stores or interacting with employees of the store.

I see many people in a day and the majority of them are wearing the mask properly. There are a few that do wear the mask the wrong way. They wear it below there nose and sometimes off of their face altogether. We as service employees do not want to get the virus because of the customers stupidity. Sure it may be hard to breath in, but you as the customer needs to think of other people too. By wearing the mask properly, you are not just helping yourself from contracting the virus but if you have it and your asymptomatic you are helping people that are around you not contract it. It all comes down to the customer being selfish and thinking that they are immune to the virus.

Another behavior that is risky during the pandemic is standing too close to an essential worker while asking a question. What I really hate is while I’m working in the department and a customer will come up to me and be literally a foot away and start asking me about a certain item. I try not to be rude but usually I will take a few steps back and then answer the shoppers question. The rule of thumb these days is to be 6 feet apart while conversing or if you are waiting in line to pay. Like I mentioned above asymptomatic is carrying the virus but not having any symptoms. That distance of 6 feet gives everyone a little safe zone in case you do have the virus and don’t know it. It’s also common courtesy not to be up in someone’s face while asking a question. I also may add if you do need to interrupt a worker while doing there job please say, “Excuse me Sir/Mam”.

While shopping in a store you may accidentally run into an item on the shelf and knock it off. Sometimes this item may shatter into a tons of pieces(glass). If that happens we ask you to go find an employee in the store and tell them you had an accident. We will gladly come over and clean it up so no one will get hurt by slipping or getting cut on the glass. That also is the same if you knock something off the shelf in the produce department. What I hate most is when I see a customer knock something like a head of Romaine lettuce onto the ground and just walk off. In that case please pick it up and give it to an employee so they can rinse it off or cull it if it is damaged.

One of the more important things for good etiquette is being polite and saying excuse me if they need to get an item were I’m working at. I really hate the people who are all up in your business and reach around you to grab the item. Is it that hard to say excuse me or wait till the worker is done to grab the item you need? I don’ think so!! I do it all the time while I’m out shopping for my groceries and it works well. Remember if you need to ask a question and the employee is busy…do not butt in to the conversation and interrupt. What we like is for you to wait your turn. Remember the nicer you are the better service you will get.

Patience is defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. This is a very important concept in life, especially when it is busy either it be on the freeway or in a store line. These days all of us is dealing with the change and some people are having it more difficult than others. We don’t like hearing customers yell “hurry up” or give us attitude when it’s busy. We all are trying our best. Today for example I saw an older man throw up his arms and say, “Can you move it” That for example is what we don’t want to see. It’s not cool and we remember it for the future. Plus it rubs off on other people. If you the customer is feeling that way try taking a deep breath while closing your eyes for a second. That technique was taught to me by a therapist and I rely on it to this day.

There are many other small things that we recommend doing to get better service. Those I mentioned above are the major ones that come up daily with the essential worker that works in a market/grocery store. If someone is being rude or not polite don’t lower yourself to their standards. Be the better person and take the road that brings happiness

Till later

Joe

Welcome to the home of my blog. Let me introduce myself. My name is Joe and I live on the Central California coast town in a town called Santa Cruz. I’ve been here ever since I was born in 1977 and haven’t left since. I’m employed as a Produce Buyer for a local natural foods grocery store chain. This blog will include my opinions on many things that are going on in the news and around the world. I will also be doing lots of reviews on fresh new fruit that is available to the public from my store. Lastly I will be reviewing new electronics that are out and other new products that you could get at a simple convenience store. Since I’m just a middle class average male, there will be no reviews of glamour items that I can’t afford. No Porsches or Chanel glasses! My reviews will be fair and won’t favor any of the products or brands. Like I mentioned above, I’m a middle class average male and these are my feelings and opinions and hope you enjoy them as much as I did reviewing it.

Thanks

Joe