A new "older" thing

Mrrrr,

Wow, my people went off last week for a few days and look what they came back with:

A nice Volvo 142 E...not bad eh? Here's another picture.

This is all part of the simplification program that seems to be taking place here at home. Reva, the hot little black number I drove out to Long Island in is moving on to new owners...we don't know who yet. Here she is:

Kind of a shift in gears eh?

My person is spending an inordinate amount of time with the little green number whose name is "Via." But this is usually good for me because if she's replacing a light bulb or doing some interior work, I get to hang out outside and watch. It wan't so fun this weekend during the starter job but I'm hoping that job will never need to be done again.

Alex has personally approved Via and she looks pretty good in the passenger seat. I think we may have a great deal of work ahead but it should be quite fun.

Consumption

Friends,

In shocking news today, Alex the cat has suspended her long-standing commitment to vegetarianism. She ate ham. Not just any ham mind you, Black Forest Ham, which is very good stuff. I know this because I relish a thin sturdy piece from time to time myself.

Many of you know that Alex, except for her dry cat food, has consistently refused to eat meat…even fish. She will not eat steak, she will not eat chicken, she will not eat turkey. Me, I love all these things, but my latest rave is Bluefish. Mmmmmmmr. Bluefish is tasty, tasty. But for Alex, a lovely olive bread from Eli’s, a lemony hummus, or organic peanut butter are the things she craves.

Oh, and there’s ice cream…no problem with the enslavement of cows to produce milk when faced with a nice vanilla-fudge ripple.

I believe in the food chain. I respect the things I eat, but mostly I just have an insatiable craving for meat.

Enough said.

But since we’re talking about consumption... I was reading a recent study that discussed my fear – posted here on March 15, 2007 in “The Fourth Paw” – that pursuing the production of crops for biofuels could present significant threats to ecosystems and cool flora and fauna in the U.S. and abroad.

It reminded me of the question the lady on the You Tube debates asked the Democratic candidates. It went something like this: What do you do, or what can individuals do, to save energy? And, more importantly, how do you propose to get people to stop consuming so much and do this…and she switched off the light illuminating the room in which she stood.

Consumption and convenience. These are the real issues. The answer lies not simply in finding ways to produce what we think we need, but to reduce what we use! What can you do to stop using so much power, gas, plastic, foil, oil, toilet paper? Why would you ever, except in the most extreme circumstances, use a pesticide? Why build a new home or buy a new thing if you can economically and efficiently buy a used thing that is just as good? Why own more when you can own less? Why not buy local when you can – even if it costs a bit more?

Oh, and stop buying little bottles of water, for goodness sake! Buy something you can keep a while and put water in it when you need water. Who’s recycling all those bottles, anyway?

I can’t have kittens, but I’ve contributed to the creation of a little human. I want him – his name’s Rotor and I’ll tell you more about him down the road – to grow up in a stable, non-greedy world where animals, plants and the diversity of life are cherished, respected and preserved. (That includes animals that eat animals.)

Finally, all rich kittens should help kittens in need. The same would be good for people, I think. That includes donating money, time, knowledge, and stuff. Let’s do more of that, okay? How come the human government or your social institutions don’t place more pressure on people to donate some portion of what they earn? Just imagine if every person gave away at least 2.5% of what they earned to the causes they cared about the most.

There’s a thought.