A vist to the LA zoo - Birds

Janet is too friendly.

Is there such as thing as a too friendly dog? It is a resounding yes for me. My dog Janet is too friendly. She would want to meet and greet any person or dog we encounter while we are on our walk. And it is often annoying for many reasons. I maybe in a hurry but yet she is on the hunt for a person or dog to meet and greet instead of focusing on her pee and poo. What if we encounter a Cayote in those late night pee session? She will pull towards the Cayote who would rather eat her than sniff her. If there is a burglar that enters my house while I am gone, she would be useless as a guard dog cause she is too friendly. She will end up licking the burglar to death with affection. And if I have a guest at home, she would go wild with excitement cause she wants to meet the guest as well. Sigh, her friendliness is overkill. But I guess I would rather have a too friendly dog than a mean dog.

What to use instead of Half breed?

In the show The New Normal, the kid character Shania was suspended from school because she sang the song "Half breed" by Cher as a school project.  I did not even know that the word half breed is considered offensive.   So my question now is what word to describe a person of having two racial heritage?  Mix race?  Bi racial?  In the Philippines we call anybody of mix race as Meztizo.  There are other words that come to mind.  Mullato for instance is one for half white half black people.  In Hawaii they call them Happa for half asian half caucasian.  In Vietnam they call the half Vietnamese half white as Bui Doi.  We can come up with any politically correct word to describe a person of two races but as long as it is used in a derogatory way, that word can become offensive.  So I say Boo Hoo to those people who are so sensitive about little things like the word Half Breed.  I am sure that word started out as something innocent.  Any new word they come up with will eventually become offensive if ignorant people start using them in an offensive way.  Just remember "negro" that became "colored" that became "black" that is now "African American".

overkill - password

Computer access at any establishment for employee is almost always password protected. I understand the need for this. But sometimes the requirements for an acceptable password is overkill. My work for example requires that password has to be at least 7 letters with Upper and lower case combination plus numbers in it. And you can not repeat the last 5 passwords you have done. The password has to be changed every 6 months. So in essence they want us to create and remember a new complicated password twice a year. I say this is overkill. This is not a million dollar account or the CIA that needs protecting, it is just work. Nobody with computer outside of the hospital will be able to use my password should it be stolen. This password works only for work computers. The threat of unauthorize access is disproportionate to the password requirement.

Overkill - smoke 15 feet away from any door

It is almost a year now since Chicago adapted a no smoking policy for all public places. I say it is a good thing. Smoking is bad for your health. But what I think is overkill in the ordinance of Chicago is the fact that smoking should be at least 15 feet away from any door of a public place. So even the clubs or bars with outdoor decks or patio, smoking is not allowed since it is not 15 feet away from the door. That is just overkill. I can understand why outdoor restaurant, open stadium or public parks are non-smoking. But I don't understand why bars can't have a smoking outdoor deck.

Overkill - fake cobwebs

This has got to be one of the worst idea for Halloween decoration that took off cause I see a significant amount of homes doing it. And I am referring to the fake cobwebs that the home owners put on their shrubs, stairs, porch or fence. And the colored ones are even worse. To begin with, these cobwebs does not look natural and putting them in front of a clean, non hunted looking house is so fake. Why can't they just stick to a lighted carved pumpkins or some orange halloween lights? Or even a fake tombstone in the yard is load better looking. I say it is overkill on the Halloween decoration! Here are some examples I took from my camera phone while biking or driving by.

Overkill - religious zealot

It can be any religion but I have known several Christians who would not let their children read "Harry Potter" or dress up for Halloween. For them, Harry Potter is bad cause it is about witchcraft. Perhaps they should read the book cause if they did, they would know that Harry Potter is really about the triumph of love, friendship and courage over evil and wickedness. And what is this about Halloween being a celebration of Devil worship? Halloween may have the occult history attached to it but for the most of us, it is just about dressing up and getting candy. It is just an excuse to indulge on your fantasy as being somebody else or something else that you are not normally. It is all harmless fun for the most part.

So it is really OVERKILL for some of these religious zealot to think this way. Come on, live a little and be normal. Don't be a weirdo.

Overkill - opening the door

I know it is nice and friendly to hold the door open for somebody behind you as you enter a door or to open the door to let someone pass by. Specially to the elderly, sick, pregnant or anybody who will obviously have trouble opening the door themselves. But some people take it to the extreme. Even if the person is many steps behind, they would still wait there and hold the door. Even if the person is a very able bodied individual clearly capable of opening the door for themselves, they would still go out of their way to hold open or open the door. I say OVERKILL with the politeness.

Overkill - summer outfit/winter outfit

In Chicago's boystown, I see a lot of what I call summer outfit overkill. You got the tank or cutoff shirt (usually A&F) , khaki or camo cargo shorts, aviator shades and flip flops. Even if it is 65 degrees, windy and overcast, expect to see this sometime in the spring. The Gays will take every opportunity to flaunt their muscle with as little cover as possible. Even those devoid of muscle.

Now if you go to the nursing homes, you got yourself the winter outfit overkill. That includes your long sleeves knit sweater, winter coat, a hat, cords and boots even if it is 65 and sunny. The elderly are always cold.

overkill - waiting for the elderly to cross

I see it all the time. This is what I call overkill phenomenon. Something that is righteous is done to the point of being outrageous. My first example would be waiting for the elderly to cross the street. We should respect our elderly and yield to them crossing the street. Some people just over do it to the point of overkill. I was following this car trying to make a right turn on a street. There was this old lady in a walker still 10 feet to the crossway walking slowly. This car in front of me waited a good 3 minutes till she has crossed before he made the right turn. He could have finished the turn before the old lady made her first step to the street but he had to wait. OVERKILL people!