Dont be a b***h

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

@@gmanbat said, "In my life the offensive people that I have the freedom to escape are normally dealt with my best defensive tactic.... my not being there. When I see their name, when I hear their voice, I occupy other space and experience other environs. My life is fraught with trouble enough without subjecting myself to self-torture."

Yep.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

At times in this life we are thrust into the inescapable presence of unpleasant people: the rude clerk at the DMV, the soap-allergic olfactory offender in the grocery line, the sulphuric mother of the sweet woman you are hopelessly in love with.

Everything here is behind glass, it cannot hurt you without your permission, you can defeat any attack by the simple tap of a finger or voice command and go on unscathed with your life.

Other than regular rules moderating by hosts and admins lecturing folks on being nice is an exercise in wheel spinning. The bad people are bad so they won't listen, the good people don't need to hear it.

In my life the offensive people that I have the freedom to escape are normally dealt with my best defensive tactic.... my not being there. When I see their name, when I hear their voice, I occupy other space and experience other environs. My life is fraught with trouble enough without subjecting myself to self-torture.

Forums like this remind me of a guy working quality inspection on a conveyer belt of peanuts. You occasionally see a bad nut, don't eat it, put it aside, move on.

This. I love me some gman.

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

Have missed you @@gmanbat Nice to have you back!

How are you anyway?

[gmanbat 5,889]

Have missed you @@gmanbat Nice to have you back!

How are you anyway?

I have missed you folks, too. I have been sentenced to hard labor by my own blind compulsion to compensate for poor retirement planning. I am in better shape that I have ever been, rippling shoulder muscles, hard abs under the protective layer of loose skin, tired beyond any former definition of the word.

I have also acquired a strange new passion. I have inherited the care of a pair of sugar gliders from my granddaughter who could no longer care for them. They are marsupials from Australia, cuter than a box of kittens, emotional, intelligent, and require the attention of a 2 year old child. Subsequently, I have spent many hours on Facebook pages doing extensive research on their proper care. My wife and I have designated a large room in our house to be their room and they are let out if their cage at least an hour a night to run, glide, and generally be gliders. It is a labor of love.

I hope to show up more in the future.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

I just had my adorable fix for the day.

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

Your right @@gmanbat they are cute little rascals. A whole room eh...You must love them a lot. Glad your still working the sleeve, I had no doubt!

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I have missed you folks, too. I have been sentenced to hard labor by my own blind compulsion to compensate for poor retirement planning. I am in better shape that I have ever been, rippling shoulder muscles, hard abs under the protective layer of loose skin, tired beyond any former definition of the word.

I have also acquired a strange new passion. I have inherited the care of a pair of sugar gliders from my granddaughter who could no longer care for them. They are marsupials from Australia, cuter than a box of kittens, emotional, intelligent, and require the attention of a 2 year old child. Subsequently, I have spent many hours on Facebook pages doing extensive research on their proper care. My wife and I have designated a large room in our house to be their room and they are let out if their cage at least an hour a night to run, glide, and generally be gliders. It is a labor of love.

I hope to show up more in the future.

image.jpg

I can connect you to a friend on FB who has had those bundles of cuteness for forever if you'd like. Let me know! She'd happily answer your questions.

[gmanbat 5,889]

LL, thanks! I wouldn't be surprised if I already know her, though. I am involved with some pretty big groups there. Gliders are quite an addiction...could be the calming pheromones they emit, the dog like bonding they hit you with, their challenging intelligence or just general cuteness.

Sorry, original poster. Catching up with old friends got me carried away.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I sent her a message with you added to it. Look in your FB messages!

[docbree 199]

I have missed you folks, too. I have been sentenced to hard labor by my own blind compulsion to compensate for poor retirement planning. I am in better shape that I have ever been, rippling shoulder muscles, hard abs under the protective layer of loose skin, tired beyond any former definition of the word.

I have also acquired a strange new passion. I have inherited the care of a pair of sugar gliders from my granddaughter who could no longer care for them. They are marsupials from Australia, cuter than a box of kittens, emotional, intelligent, and require the attention of a 2 year old child. Subsequently, I have spent many hours on Facebook pages doing extensive research on their proper care. My wife and I have designated a large room in our house to be their room and they are let out if their cage at least an hour a night to run, glide, and generally be gliders. It is a labor of love.

I hope to show up more in the future.

image.jpg

Sorry to continue the thread highjack, but Gmanbat - I thought you might like a little story. I'm a veterinarian, and last summer I was pulling up vaccinations to go into a room with a puppy. I kept hearing a strange "chirruping" noise, and I thought it must be a strange ringtone.

I kept hearing when I got into the room, and the owner's of the puppy acted like they didn't hear it. I finally asked what the heck that noise was, and the wife pulled a sugar glider out of her large purse - she couldn't bear to leave it home alone

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I had never heard of these creatures until today. They must be incredibly charming.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Doc bree I love that story.

My sisters neighbor had sugar gliders. He turned a whole room of his house over to them but they didn't strike me as too lovely dovey...

[gmanbat 5,889]

Gliders do some serious bonding to folks who have patience with them. They basically adopt you as a glider into their colony. A lot of ladies carry them around in their bras all day since they are nocturnal and sleep all day. They wake up occasionally and poke their heads out for a drink or snack. Makes for a lot of chest staring at work....

Their size masks the fact that they are very intelligent and emotional. I put them on a level with elephants. They are more like little people. To me it is like discovering a communication channel to the animal world. They are eccentric, unpredictable, get bored, extremely sensitive, and project what I interpret as love. They have a highly developed sense of smell, I theorize that they read the chemical changes that occur in us when our emotion changes. They are used with epilepsy sufferers to predict seizures and the pheromones they release actually alleviate the seizure. They have a calming affect on nearly everyone.

Their care takes a great deal of preparation and research. They are much more labor intensive than the monsters that peddle them at mall kiosks and flea markets lead you to believe. They suffer a lot because their cuteness causes impulse buying. A check on Craig's list reveals the aftermath of mill breeder sales: a lot of people trying to dump them and get some of their money back. Bonding takes time and patience, they are very tuned in to emotions, and they don't readily take to stupid people. They bite.

If anyone is thinking about getting sugar gliders please stay away from youtube phony vets, pocket pets, flea market salesmen, ... Go to Facebook, look up Sugar Gliders or Sugar Glider Fanatics... Real glider lovers with real knowledge and experience.

Edited September 1, 2014 by gmanbat

[docbree 199]

@@gmanbat - what a wonderful, informative post!

[moonlitestarbrite 902]

moonlitestarbrite is one of the kindest people here.

linda, quite humbled. thank you for this little gift this morning. trying to pay it forward.