Maternal Instinct

Last night, one of the neighbors lit their balcony up like a Christmas tree. Their reason to celebrate Christmas in April is to un-invite a raccoon who had recently moved into the space between the roof and their balcony.

I do not know bright lights can deter raccoons But I did hear of the destructive consequence to the homesteaded nooks and alcoves if the eviction notice to their bright-eyed occupants was not served with due cares. When mama raccoons get separated from their babies, their motherly instinct keeps them near the site where their kittens are. Until moms reunited with their babies, like all other wildlife,  mommy raccoons can be fearless.  It's a force to be reckoned with as far as protecting the young is concerned. With sharp and agile claws, raccoons can cause great damages to the structures where their nesting places were.

However, if the squatters are not disturbed, they will move away on their own  in a few months when the kits are ready to enjoy the expanse of the great outdoors. In this case, I would say it is okay to close the barn door after the "horses" have left. Be Kind! - Ayee

PS The bright shining lights did the job.  No more furry squatters under our neighbor's roof anymore.      - Ayee

If it is not broken, don’t fix it.

After a national cable network in the north took over the production of a Miami-based business news program on PBS, it gave its newly acquired prize a complete make-over. Among many other things the new owner did to this well-known television program, it retained only one of the many reporters who made this award winning show possible. Now while watching the program as I used to do each evening over the last 25 plus years, I often thought of the reporters and their South Florida-based colleagues who did not make the cut to the new set. It appears only one of its reporting staff under the old regime had survived the changeover. This made me question the reason why the new owner of a favorite news show would want to decimate a winning team that brought the show thousands and thousands, if not millions, of viewers, and many well-deserved professional accolades. - Ayee

Corporate Governance

It appears European countries are way ahead of the curve on this subject.

Last week,after the European Union (EU) enacted a law limiting the bonus to top executives to one year of their salary, Switzerland, not a EU member, added another damper on compensation to the managers of the companies listed on Swiss stock exchanges. According to BBC’s website, the newly passed referendum will give shareholders of these companies a say on the pay to their executives. The new laws in Switzerland also eliminate outrageous severance pay to departing managers.

Besides being of a country known for its highly productive citizens, and pristine environment, Switzerland, a politically neutral country, also becomes the front runner to rein in excessive compensation to business CEO’s. - Ayee .

As Cool as A Cucumber

Yesterday, I found a new use of a popular salad vegetable.

Looking for something organic to rid of some irritants in the eyes, I decided to give cold cucumber slices a try.

In the past, I saw pictures of beautiful models in the magazines. And many of them were shown with cucumber slices over their eyes. It may be an old story to others. But to me, I did not know until yesterday of the reason why the rinds of this green melon were so popular among these beautiful people.

Now I learned that having slices of cold cucumber over our eyes 15 minutes twice a day can also help prevent sagging bags under our eyes. Apparently, drinking too much water before bedtime, smoking, too much salt in the diet and lack of sleep can cause excess fat and water to accumulate under the skin below the eyes.*

Now you know who is about to corner the cucumber markets. - Ayee

* “Bags under the Eyes,” Prescription for Nutritional Healing, by James F. Balch, MD & Phyllis A. Balch, CNC. 2nd Edith, Avery Publishing Group, Garden City Park, New York.

The bell is ringing!

In the last couple of days, many harsh words were being exchanged in the public against our feline friends. Some people said our docile household cats were killers of billions and billions of birds and rodents each year. These same people also labeled cats an invasive species

Yes, cats do prey on other small animals. But it is totally unfair to the cats if we hold them responsible for endangering the entire bird population. Like many other animals in the wild, it is their instinct to hunt. In the countryside, the feral cats have no choice but to kill to survive and to protect themselves and their off springs. But once Fifi and Felix cohabit with us under the same roof, the onus is on us, their human friends, to stop these nonchalant creatures mangling up a chatty bird, or bringing a live mouse onto the kitchen floor that sent everyone shrieking up on the kitchen table.

Fortunately, for all the bird lovers around the world, there is a tried and true measure the cat owners can do to prevent the “killing” from happening. All they have to remember is to fastening a little bell onto their kitties’ collar. Once the bell is on, the “massacre” stops. PURR and simple! - Ayee

PS:

Of course, all cat owners also remember to have their cats altered.

Climate Change

This year the televised PGA tour season had a “rough” start.

Only three weeks into a new season, two tournaments out of three were delayed due to the inclement weather. The blustering trade wind had shortened the first tournament, The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, in Hawaii, to only three rounds. And a week after, the thick fog in southern California debunked the entire third round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday. So far for the PGA golfers, the weather had not been very kind to them.

As the times go by, it looks to me that Mother Nature had intervened. And I totally agreed with the insightful comments from one of the CBS reporters on the course. While waiting for the play to resume on Saturday, he suggested the tour commissioner worries less on belly-putters but more on issues such as weather condition. In recent years, the weather patterns did become more unpredictable and volatile. I would think these unforseen delays due to bad weather are costly propositions to both the sponsors and the players. - Ayee

Timely Reminder

One of my dear family members manages her medications well. She does not skip a dosage or take her med at the wrong time.

And this is what she did to help her take the pills her doctor had ordered. She enlisted the help of a humble alarm clock.

Like everyone else, she set her alarm clock each day so she will not over sleep in the morning. Now she also sets her clock to remind herself when it’s the time for her to take her next scheduled dosage. And so far, it seems to be working for her! - Ayee