Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another?

~ Thomas Jefferson ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Amazing Facts You Never Knew About Your Dog



11
Dogs Are Right- or Left-Pawed

Dogs, just like many other mammals, have a dominant paw.

12
Dogs Understand up to 250 Words and Gestures

Research has shown that dogs are as smart as a two-year-old child and can perform simple mathematical calculations. Dogs are quick to learn the names of new items and understand gestures better than words.

13
Whiskers Help Dogs See in the Dark

Dogs' whiskers are packed with nerves and send sensory messages to their brains. The whiskers are multifunctional sensory tools that help them move around and orient themselves in tight places, especially when visibility is low.

14
Dogs Are Not Completely Colorblind

Dogs cannot see the same colors that we do, but they are not colorblind. Research has shown that dogs can see more than just shades of gray. Their eyes are well-adapted to the dark as they were nocturnal hunters in the wild.

15
Dogs Don't Like Hugs

Animal psychologists say dogs can be stressed and unhappy when they are hugged because they cannot run away. Dogs will convey their stress by licking their lips, looking away, or folding their ears.

16
Dogs Can Smell Your Feelings

Dogs watch us all day, studying our every move and gesture. And at some point in history, they learned to decode our body language: They observe and have learned to use their sense of smell to distinguish signs of happiness and sadness.

17
Storms Can Hurt Dogs

The sound frequencies produced during storms can actually hurt dogs' ears. Also, the static electricity that accumulates in their fur due to change of pressure can be painful to them. So when dogs are freaking out during storms, they may actually be in pain.

18
Dogs Feel Envy

Dogs get agitated when they see another dog getting a treat for a trick that they are performing treat-free. However, they do not seem to care if they are getting a treat for a trick and the other dog is getting it without having to perform a trick.

19
Smaller Dogs Live Longer

A study has found that large dogs die younger. A correlation has also been found between age span and aggressiveness. The more docile the dogs, the longer they tend to live.

20
Dogs can help their owners live longer

According to a recent Swedish medical study dog owners were associated with lower levels of cardiovascular disease and death.
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Good morning everyboomie.


Butterflybabe I'm with you. If dogs can fall in love with their owner, and can feel envy, then I think they can most definitely feel guilt too.


Welcome to the new week, and new month everyone. It snuck up on me.


December will be my last month to post the diner. I'm hanging up my keyboard.


An awful lot of water has passed under the bridge since I started this way back in 2005, and I have nothing but fond memories.


I hope it's the same for each of you.


I retired from working over 3 years ago, and now I feel it's time to let someone else take over the diner.


Thanks to everyone for your unwavering support for these 15 years.


Have a happy day everyone.


joe

Dogs are the best!

Joe, even though I knew it was coming, it doesn't make it any easier seeing you post it. I can't imagine no diner by you. Maybe you could consider starting the week for us and we can all post on the same thread for a week. I do understand and appreciate how hard it is to open the diner daily. It's a lot of work!

SpaceQ, they sure are!

Gerry, I have lot going on. The dogs are my stress relief. Have a happy day!

All boarders have gone home....quiet house again.

Have a happy day all!

watching court shows.

Joe, take care and God's speed to you... I will miss your wit and humor

Ana, have a good day ... any boarders today?

Family, have fun watching your shows!

L4L

Have a wonderful day Joe Ana Family SpaceQuestFan Gerry Connie L4L and anyone else who pops in to say hi

family, enjoy!

soot, the last boarder and the two geckos went home this afternoon. All is quiet now! Glad you traveled safely!

Ana

Good Morning Joe, SpaceQ, Ana, family, soot and everyone. Joe I cant believe your Diner has been here for 15 years and you are turning it over to someone else. I will miss your humor! But it will have to still be called Joe's Diner no matter what! SpaceQ enjoy your day. Ana its good to have the pups keep your stress level down. Family enjoy. Soot how was your trip weather wise? Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready.


Happy Cyber Monday everyone!

Hello Boomers!

Hope you are all well and having a nice day!

Awww Joe! While I totally understand you handing over the diner to someone else after 15 years, that makes me sad I really appreciate all you have done over those years to keep things running smoothly and will miss your humour and wit. As much as I enjoy the jokes, it's your wee bit at the end that often has me in stitches! You deserve to put your feet up now. Take care Joe!

Space, indeed they are. Have a great day!

Ana, I hope your day will be less stressful today.

family

soot, are you on your travels again? Safe journey!

Gerry, thanks for the coffee this morning. I needed it to wake me up!

Connie, prayers and much love for you today.

Dull and overcast here today but not as cold as it has been. I will be making a card for our Grandson's 21st birthday which is tomorrow. Can't believe all of our grandkids are now all grown up. Where has the time gone? After that, I will make a start on Christmas cards for the family.

Have a great day, all!

Mary

"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
-- George Washington

"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Facts about cats
1 Unlike dogs, cats do not have a sweet tooth. Scientists believe this is due to a mutation in a key taste receptor.[5]
2 When a cat chases its prey, it keeps its head level. Dogs and humans bob their heads up and down.[11]
3 The technical term for a cat’s hairball is a “bezoar.”[7]
4 A group of cats is called a “clowder.”[8]
5 A cat can’t climb head first down a tree because every claw on a cat’s paw points the same way. To get down from a tree, a cat must back down.[11]
6 Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10.[11]
8 There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with approximately 40 recognized breeds.[13]
17 Cats are North America’s most popular pets: there are 73 million cats compared to 63 million dogs. Over 30% of households in North America own a cat.[8]
19 A cat’s hearing is better than a dog’s. And a cat can hear high-frequency sounds up to two octaves higher than a human.[1]
20 A cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph (49 km) over a short distance.[1]
21 A cat rubs against people not only to be affectionate but also to mark out its territory with scent glands around its face. The tail area and paws also carry the cat’s scent.[1]
22 Researchers are unsure exactly how a cat purrs. Most veterinarians believe that a cat purrs by vibrating vocal folds deep in the throat. To do this, a muscle in the larynx opens and closes the air passage about 25 times per second.[11]
28 The biggest wildcat today is the Siberian Tiger. It can be more than 12 feet (3.6 m) long (about the size of a small car) and weigh up to 700 pounds (317 kg).[1]
29 A cat’s brain is biologically more similar to a human brain than it is to a dog’s. Both humans and cats have identical regions in their brains that are responsible for emotions.[11]
38 A cat can jump up to five times its own height in a single bound.[1]
43 A cat’s eyesight is both better and worse than humans. It is better because cats can see in much dimmer light and they have a wider peripheral view. It’s worse because they don’t see color as well as humans do. Scientists believe grass appears red to cats.[5]
47 On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. That means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life.[11]
54 Cats don't actually meow at each other, just at humans. Cats typically will spit, purr, and hiss at other cats.[8]
57 All cats have claws, and all except the cheetah sheath them when at rest.[7]
58 Two members of the cat family are distinct from all others: the clouded leopard and the cheetah. The clouded leopard does not roar like other big cats, nor does it groom or rest like small cats. The cheetah is unique because it is a running cat; all others are leaping cats. They are leaping cats because they slowly stalk their prey and then leap on it.[1]
73 The normal body temperature of a cat is between 100.5 ° and 102.5 °F. A cat is sick if its temperature goes below 100 ° or above 103 °F.[5]
74 A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human has 206. A cat has no collarbone, so it can fit through any opening the size of its head.[5]
75 Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (humans have only 6). A cat can independently rotate its ears 180 degrees.[11]
76 A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.[5]
77 If they have ample water, cats can tolerate temperatures up to 133 °F.[8]
80 A cat’s heart beats nearly twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats a minute.[11]
81 In just seven years, a single pair of cats and their offspring could produce a staggering total of 420,000 kittens.[11]
83 Cats spend nearly 1/3 of their waking hours cleaning themselves.[5]

from another list:
25. Female cats are typically right-pawed while male cats are typically left-pawed.
29. A cat's cerebral cortex (the part of the brain in charge of cognitive information processing) has 300 million neurons, compared with a dog's 160 million.
30. Cats have a longer-term memory than dogs, especially when they learn by actually doing rather than simply seeing.
31. Basically, cats have a lower social IQ than dogs but can solve more difficult cognitive problems when they feel like it.
39. Abraham Lincoln kept four cats in the White House.
40. When asked if her husband had any hobbies, Mary Todd Lincoln is said to have replied "cats."
68. Only 11.5% of people consider themselves "cat people."
69. Cat people are also 11% more likely to be introverted.
70. Still, cat people are more open to new experiences than typical "dog people."
71. Cat owners who are male tend to be luckier in love, as they are perceived as more sensitive.
72. Cat owners are 17% more likely to have a graduate degree.
78. Eighty-eight percent of cats in the U.S. are spayed or neutered.

addtitional facts:
most calico cats are female, most orange tabby cats are male
85 %of all white cats with two blue eyes are deaf in both ears, 40% with one blue eye and one eye of a different color are deaf in one ear, usually the one on the same side as the blue eye

Magnificent Monday ya'll

It's brisk and breezy out there today. The sun is bright and the sky is blue though.

Joe, I remember when you started the Diner. I'm hoping you'll still be posting even if you aren't opening the diner every day.

I'm not sure what I'm doing today. I should be cleaning and walking, but the breeze may keep me in and we all know that cleaning is futile and thankless proposition

Ya'll have a good one, whatever you end up doing

good morning everyone. thought i would stop by since i was stopping in at the casual games . not much going on here since can't do much any more. sure hope 2020 will be a a better year for us. our ac went out on in may and took us a month to get it fixed , i ended up in the er having problems breathing because of it being to hot. then in july i fell in the kitchen and couldn't get up so had to call 911 to get help since son and hubby couldn't help me get up. then a week before halloween our furnace quit on us , we got lucky that it didn't catch our house on fire according to the heating and ac guy . so now we are waiting to hear from some bunch if they are going to help us get a new heater, we are using 3 space heaters to help keep things warm and the pipes from freezing. i also ended up in the hospital on nov 11th thinking i had pneumonia started and lower back pains but ended up my blood pressure was sky high ( stroke level ) big time. those nitro pills under the tongue are nasty. was only in for 4 days came home and caught hubby's cold [blip] he had . we are still fighting that [blip]. on the good news got 2 great grandbabies to be born next year , 1 in may and 1 in june and also son and his girlfriend are getting married in june. he said he would never get married again. hope every one has a good day today

My10, sounds like it was an eventful year. Hopefully, the events next year will be pleasant ones

My10 - so sorry to hear about everything you're going thru; hate when life is like that :thumbsdown; glad you have awesome things to look forward to

That was interesting reading about cats, Guybrush.

Joe, I sure appreciate all you have done for the diner for the past 15 years. Now you can take a well-deserved rest from it. I sure hope you won't be a stranger around here, though.

My10, I hope next year is better for you.