So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[BobHufford]

I remember getting spanked after putting a couple of kittens in Grandma's rain barrel. I didn't mean them harm -- I just wanted to see if they could swim.

 

[GHT]

What do you mean, how much percent of allday-drivers got a pee-bottle (Punica-bottle or hospital-peebottle and so on) in their car?

Porta-potty is a lavatory that is used for camping. It looks just like a lavatory except that the waste receptacle is contained. You either dispose of it in a septic tank on the campsite, or, you take it home and flush it away. This is what it looks like, click here.

 

[dh66]

THIS is a port-a-potty here in the States...aka a rent-a-john. You find them at any large construction site or street carnival. There's nothing quite can compare to answering the call of nature in one when it's 95° (that'd be 35°c) and humid as a sauna out and 40 rodbusters who are over from Georgia and sleeping in a van on the jobsite and been living on refried beans and yogurt and Coors light have been giving it a pounding all week.
One of the worst things I've ever seen inflicted on someone was when a concrete foreman, who was just generally a pretty disagreeable character anyway, had been laying into some laborers about something or other then stepped into one to take care of business. A couple guys who had apparently had enough of him came from behind and toppled it over, with him in it, with the door facing down so he couldn't even get out.


Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

[tonyb]

It was a common thing on farms in the Era to drown unwanted puppies and kittens by putting them in a paper bag and dropping them down a well, and every year the Old Farmers Almanac included a section on how to chloroform unwanted pets. Fortunately by the end of the 1930s there were enlightened people fighting these practices and encouraging the spaying and neutering of pets, and this movement led directly to the establishment of "no-kill" animal shelters.

My dear old mother told me just recently that her father "put down" her childhood dog when it got old and sick and when my then teenage mother was away for a few days.

Did it with the .22. Such was the way it was done back then.

 

[sheeplady]

My dear old mother told me just recently that her father "put down" her childhood dog when it got old and sick and when my then teenage mother was away for a few days.

Did it with the .22. Such was the way it was done back then.

Sadly, that still happens now. No where near as common, but lots of people can't or won't call a vet for euthanasia.

It might be a function of rural areas, but so it is.

 

[tonyb]

I suppose the lethal injection is quick and relatively merciful. But a shot to the head at close range is hardly a long and drawn out way of reaching the same destination.

I wouldn't wish to do it, but there were many aspects of my grandfather's life I am happy to be spared. And shooting an old family dog, heartwrenching as that must have been, is far from the worst of it.

 

[Stearmen]

I was driving home this afternoon, not going particularly slow, 5 to 10mph over the speed limit, yet, it felt like the world was traveling at warp speed around me! Any one else notice that?

 

[Zombie_61]

I was driving home this afternoon, not going particularly slow, 5 to 10mph over the speed limit, yet, it felt like the world was traveling at warp speed around me! Any one else notice that?

A former landlady once told us that she often felt like she was being chased home whenever she drove because everyone else drove faster than she did.

 

[vitanola]

I suppose the lethal injection is quick and relatively merciful. But a shot to the head at close range is hardly a long and drawn out way of reaching the same destination.

I wouldn't wish to do it, but there were many aspects of my grandfather's life I am happy to be spared. And shooting an old family dog, heartwrenching as that must have been, is far from the worst of it.

I suspect that you've been spared that awful task. It is horrible, simply horrible, for a single coup de grace does not necessarily kill the poor animal. It can be drawn out and utterly ghastly. I say this as one who was told to put down a dear pet that had been bitten by what appeared to be a rabid raccoon. The most shattering experience of my life.

 

[GHT]

THIS is a port-a-potty here in the States...

Same in the UK, used widely at festivals and other outdoor events. The company selling the small lavatory seat device got round copyright by hyphenating porta-potty.

I was driving home this afternoon, not going particularly slow, 5 to 10mph over the speed limit, yet, it felt like the world was traveling at warp speed around me! Any one else notice that?

The BBC reported that in the UK last year, well over 2000 drivers were caught travelling in excess of 100mph. The fastest being a professional footballer, whose speed was clocked at 156mph. Our national upper speed limit is 70mph.
On that subject, there has been much publicity recently about our older drivers. Many suggesting that a retest should be compulsory when you reach the age of 70. It went quiet when the Police Federation proved that older drivers were the safest of all. They weren't going slow, they were actually obeying the speed limit. One senior officer even went as far as suggesting that any driver that was banned from driving by the courts should be the ones to retake a test. Suddenly the silence was deafening.

 

[tonyb]

I suspect that you've been spared that awful task. It is horrible, simply horrible, for a single coup de grace does not necessarily kill the poor animal. It can be drawn out and utterly ghastly. I say this as one who was told to put down a dear pet that had been bitten by what appeared to be a rabid raccoon. The most shattering experience of my life.

I have indeed been so spared. At what age did you carry out this task? And who thought it appropriate to make it your assignment?

At 12 or 13 I received a phone call at home from the Old Man who directed me to the laundry room where I found a gunny sack containing two live ducks, whose necks I was to wring. Self-preservation instincts long had me reluctant to defy my hot-headed dad, but in this instance I begged off.

We never ate those ducks. To this day I have no idea where they came from or where they went, or how they got to our laundry room. The likeliest explanation is that a co-worker or friend of my dad gave him the ducks and that my mother intervened and had him get the creatures out of the house.

I suspect the Old Man might have seen it as an opportunity to man me up or something (he was given to that kind of thinking), but I'll never know for certain.

And these weren't pets. But, knowing my dad as I did, if we were rural people and there were a pet whose life was ending soon one way or another, I have little doubt he would have instructed me to do the deed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We had a rabid raccoon out behind the theatre a couple years ago, staggering around the alley and making piteous noises. We sent for the animal control officer, but instead they sent a cop, who shot it -- but it didn't die cleanly, and the noises it made still haunt us.

Given the alternatives, the Farmers Almanac chloroform method seems humane.

 

[vitanola]

I have indeed been so spared. At what age did you carry out this task? And who thought it appropriate to make it your assignment?

At 12 or 13 I received a phone call at home from the Old Man who directed me to the laundry room where I found a gunny sack containing two live ducks, whose necks I was to wring. Self-preservation instincts long had me reluctant to defy my hot-headed dad, but in this instance I begged off.

We never ate those ducks. To this day I have no idea where they came from or where they went, or how they got to our laundry room. The likeliest explanation is that a co-worker or friend of my dad gave him the ducks and that my mother intervened and had him get the creatures out of the house.

I suspect the Old Man might have seen it as an opportunity to man me up or something (he was given to that kind of thinking), but I'll never know for certain.

And these weren't pets. But, knowing my dad as I did, if we were rural people and there were a pet whose life was ending soon one way or another, I have little doubt he would have instructed me to do the deed.

Sixteen. A great-uncle instructed me so to do. When Father found out he was horrified and angry, for he had been put through that wringer, too.

 

[vitanola]

In NYC, in the '70s, dog poop was everywhere as the city was breaking down - crime was up, even "good" neighborhoods weren't safe from muggings and worse - then, starting in the '80s, but really picking up steam in the '90s, NYC followed the "broken window" model of policing (in short, it's the theory that policing "little" crimes like broken windows has a big impact on society as, otherwise, society see all these "little" things as a decline and it encourages criminals to become more aggressive and commit bigger crimes) with the city actively enforcing its "pooper scooper" (pick up after your dog) law.

As a resident, the change was noticeable and immediate. Once people started getting fined for not picking up after their dog, the streets improved dramatically. As a dog owner - and someone who cleans up after his dog 100% of the time - I and other dog owners like me are infuriated when we see other dog owners not picking up (or making a half effort) as it gives us all a bad name. I've noticed it getting worse over the last several years and I'm hoping the city gets aggressive again in its enforcement as it is both the right thing to do and will improve non-dog-owner's view of dog owners.

"Broken Windows" did seem to work remarkably well. So very well, in fact that it even led to similar decreases in crime in jurisdictions which never adopted the policy. There was a massive spike in crime nationwide in the 1970's and early 1980's, and a similarly massive drop in the 1990's. Everywhere. "broken Windows" policy or no. The question is far more complex, it seems.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^

Far more complex. Too many people with too many axes to grind wish to isolate a single factor and proclaim that it somehow substantiates their point of view.

I'm as concerned as most people about the erosion of privacy wrought by modern communications and surveillance technologies. But there is at least this upside: many crimes are far more difficult to get away with than they once were.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Broken Windows" did seem to work remarkably well. So very well, in fact that it even led to similar decreases in crime in jurisdictions which never adopted the policy. There was a massive spike in crime nationwide in the 1970's and early 1980's, and a similarly massive drop in the 1990's. Everywhere. "broken Windows" policy or no. The question is far more complex, it seems.

I have read the arguments on both sides of the "broken window" theory - better policing vs. long-term demographic shifts (and I know it is, as Tony B says, for more complex that those two soundbites) - and believe that both were at work in NYC. That said, having lived in a marginal neighborhood and seen what happened quickly after the decision was made to have the police get out of their cars, walk the beat - be a presence in the neighborhood - and enforce the "small" laws - I know that the immediate drop in petty crime and more people now willing to be on the streets at night (and not locked inside their apartments in fear) was not happenstance and was not caused by demographic shift that took place in a period of months.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Everytime, I see a girl with side(hair)cut.

What's the point??

 

[tonyb]

We all got our anecdotes, and I wouldn't dismiss yours. I accept that people do indeed take cues from their surroundings. Flagrant littering, jaywalking, turnstile jumping, etc. foster a sense of general lawlessness, and it seems to me and many others that cracking down on such crimes goes some ways toward addressing "larger" problems. But it can't be reliably measured.

"Stop and frisk" has its proponents as well. The practice has undoubtedly taken weapons and illicit drugs and certain people off the streets. But I assure you that if I were the one being routinely stopped and frisked, I would quickly develop a real resentment of the police and the justice system in general.

That isn't likely to happen to me, seeing how I'm now an almost elderly white male. Recent events have shown us how rural white males might react when they feel the weight of what they consider an overbearing government.

 

[vitanola]

I have read the arguments on both sides of the "broken window" theory - better policing vs. long-term demographic shifts (and I know it is, as Tony B says, for more complex that those two soundbites) - and believe that both were at work in NYC. That said, having lived in a marginal neighborhood and seen what happened quickly after the decision was made to have the police get out of their cars, walk the beat - be a presence in the neighborhood - and enforce the "small" laws - I know that the immediate drop in petty crime and more people now willing to be on the streets at night (and not locked inside their apartments in fear) was not happenstance and was not caused by demographic shift that took place in a period of months.

Similar changes were noticed in cities which did not adopt "Zero Tolerance" or "Broken Windows" policies, but simply got the officers out of the cars and in on the streets. The studies which initially supported the "Broken Windows" policy have been, with further research, found to be problematic. There are indications, no completed clear studies, but strong indications, that police engagement in the community, with foot patrols, neighborhood officers who stay in one place for years at a time, getting to really know (and be known by) the residents, and close attention to neighborhood well-being by the Police force administration seems to show better results than adversarial "stop and frisk" techniques. Such police work is also ultimately found to be more rewarding by the majority of officers, though it is not to the liking of certain personality types who tend to be problematic.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Sadly, that still happens now. No where near as common, but lots of people can't or won't call a vet for euthanasia.

It might be a function of rural areas, but so it is.

My neighbor put his horse down that way not long ago. The vet wanted $120 to come out and put down via injection. A round from a 30-06 is much more cost effective. The only problem was, he shot the horse just outside the back door them had to use his tractor to drag the horse back into the woods. I was wondering why he didn't just take the horse out in the woods and shoot it there.