Month: July 2016

A Little Humor for Your Day – “How To Give A Cat A Pill Plus Bonus Instructions!”

How To Give A Cat A Pill

(with bonus instructions on how to give a dog a pill)

How to Give a Cat a Pill

  1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
  2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
  3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
  4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
  5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from yard.
  6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
  7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
  8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
  9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink one beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
  10. Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with rubber band.
  11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
  12. Call fire department to retrieve the friggin’ cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
  13. Tie the dang thing’s front paws to rear paws with twine and bind tightly to leg of dining room table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
  14. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.
  15. Arrange for Humane Society to collect mutant cat and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

How to Give a Dog a Pill

  1. Wrap it in bacon.

 

For more great Pagan humor, visit Turok’s Cabana

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Blue Danube Analemma

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2016 July 29

Blue Danube Analemma
Image Credit & Copyright: György Soponyai

 

Explanation: The Sun’s annual waltz through planet Earth’s sky forms a graceful curve known as an analemma. The analemma’s figure 8 shape is tipped vertically at far right in this well-composed fisheye view from Budapest, Hungary. Captured at a chosen spot on the western bank of the Danube river, the Sun’s position was recorded at 11:44 Central European Time on individual exposures over days spanning 2015 July 23 to 2016 July 4. Of course, on the northern summer solstice the Sun is at the top of the curve, but at the midpoints for the autumn and spring equinoxes. With snow on the ground, the photographer’s shadow and equipment bag also appear in the base picture used for the composite panorama, taken on 2016 January 7. On that date, just after the winter solstice, the Sun was leaving the bottom of the beautiful curve over the blue Danube.

Earth Sky News for July 29th: Go someplace dark and watch meteors!

Go someplace dark and watch meteors!

By

Tonight – July 29, 2016 – and in the coming nights, treat yourself to one of nature’s spectacles. Every year, people look forward to the August Perseid meteor shower. And it’s wonderful, with regular rates of about 60 meteors per hour and with a possibility of a Perseid outburst in 2016. But there’s another meteor shower going on around now, too. It’s the Delta Aquarid shower, whose radiant point is shown on the chart above.

The Delta Aquarids don’t have as definite a peak as the Perseids. This shower is now producing a steady supply of meteors, which you can see in dark skies this weekend and in the coming weeks.

The Delta Aquarid shower reaches its nominal peak every year in late July. They’ll still be flying when the Perseids peak in August.

The moon is waning towards the new phase right now. And the Perseids are now rising to a peak. That makes late July and the first few weeks of August, in the hours before dawn, a good time to watch meteors.

The Perseid shower is expected to produce the greatest number of meteors on the night of August 11-12, 2016. It’s on that night that you might see the Perseid outburst, with perhaps 200 meteors per hour at the peak.

But you don’t need to see that many to enjoy watching meteors. And the Perseids are known to rise to a peak gradually, so they’ll be increasing in numbers every night over the coming weeks. Plus the Delta Aquarids will be raining down steadily, night after night.

So … when exactly should you watch, over the coming weeks? Remember three things.

First, meteor showers tend to be best after midnight, with predawn often an optimum time to watch.

Second, in 2016, new moon comes on August 2 and a first quarter moon on August 10. A first quarter moon sets around midnight (1 a.m. Daylight Time). After first quarter, the moon will continue to wax larger and set later. It’ll begin washing the predawn sky with its light by around mid-August, but – on the peak mornings of the Perseid shower – you’ll still be able to watch in the optimum hours before dawn.

Third, there’s a Perseid outburst predicted for this year. It’s predicted for the night of August 11-12 (evening of August 11, morning of August 12) and expected to last half a day. The times of the predictions vary from astronomer to astronomer. So on the night of August 11-12, you might want to watch all night … moon or no moon. Just hope the outburst comes for you when the moon is down!

Yes, you can watch from the South Hemisphere, too! The Delta Aquarids, especially, are a good shower for you. The Delta Aquarids fall more abundantly in the Southern Hemisphere, featuring perhaps 15 Delta Aquarid meteors per hour in an inky dark sky. All around the world, the radiant of the shower climbs highest up for the night around 2 to 3 a.m. local time (3 to 4 a.m. local Daylight Time), but the radiant soars way higher in the Southern Hemisphere than at comparable latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Bottom line: You won’t see as many meteors in late July and early August as you will at the Perseid meteor shower’s peak dates on the mornings of August 11, 12 and 13. Even so, you might see a decent sprinkling of meteors during the final weekend of July 2016!

 

BRUCE MCCLURE

Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky’s popular Tonight pages since 2004. He’s a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.

Article published on EarthSky

Mercury in Virgo – July 30 till October 7

 

 

 

 

 

Mercury in Virgo

Minds and words are sharp as Mercury transits critical Virgo

By Tarot.com Staff

Virgo, Mercury, Astrology

Put on your thinking cap and make sure it’s adjusted perfectly — communication planet Mercury moves into critical Virgo on July 30, 2016 — and because he’ll turn retrograde in this discerning sign, Mercury won’t leave Virgo until October 7! Mercury Virgo signals a time when our minds are sharp, our speech becomes precise, and we’re able to communicate with others more efficiently.

Until Mercury turns retrograde on August 30, we’ll be thinking in much more practical terms. Whereas Mercury in Leo was more playful and chatty, Mercury in Virgo has no time for idle chit-chat. This transit is about analyzing ideas until they’re perfected and speaking seriously about most matters.

Virgo is Mercury’s home sign (along with Gemini), so the communication planet feels comfortable here and is ready and willing to think clearly, get organized and manage complex projects. It’s not necessarily the most imaginative or fun transit Mercury makes, but it’s definitely productive!

Top dos and don’ts for making the most of Mercury in Virgo:

Do solve problems — Break out the Sudoku! Analytical Virgo is great at taking an existing problem and working it over and over until … POOF! The problem is solved!

Don’t be narrow-minded — Mercury in Virgo enhances focus and critical thinking, but be careful you don’t become overly critical and way too picky about everything during this transit.

Do perform an act of service — Virgo is the sign of service, and with communication planet Mercury transiting this sign it’s the perfect time to speak out or write a letter on behalf of a person or organization you’re passionate about.

Don’t bite someone’s head off — Mercury is crisp and efficient in Virgo, with no time for unnecessary pleasantries. Remember to be polite, even if you are in a hurry to get to the point.

Do learn something new — Mercury in Virgo is a made for learning! Take a class, enhance your knowledge or practice skill-building now, while your mind can best absorb new knowledge.

Don’t neglect your imagination — Mercury is so practical in Virgo that it’s likely your creativity and imagination could become blocked. Do what you can now to give yourself an extra boost in creativity through books or movies or anything that gets you out of your head for a while.

 

Part of the Daily Insight Group

©Tarot.com 2016. All rights reserved.

Uranus Retrograde – July 29 to December 29

 

 

 

 

 

Uranus Retrograde

Revolution starts from within as radical Uranus turns back

By Tarot.com Staff

Uranus, Retrograde Planets, Astrology

“Freedom” is the word to the wise as rebel planet Uranus moves retrograde from July 29 to December 29, 2016. Now is the time to look at life from a fresh perspective, toss out the old ways of doing things and feel free to create a whole new world.

Well, don’t be intimidated — just remember to take baby steps over the next few months and years. We’re just at the beginning of a profound period of change, and it will only happen person-by-person, one small change at a time.

Basically, Uranus Retrograde just wants us to get real. It’s time to face our fears and change the things that aren’t working so we can become who we really want to be. This is true on both a personal and global scale.

So if you’re in a bad relationship, stuck in a job you don’t like, living in a place that doesn’t feel right or spending time with the wrong people, Uranus will alert you to this in coming months. The realization may dawn on you slowly, and it may involve an uncomfortable period of anxiety — but when you do have those epiphanies, pay attention. Make the needed changes!

Break up, make up, change jobs, move or do whatever you need to do to shake it up and move on to something better. In other words, get real about what you want, be brave and embrace your freedom to go after it.

 

Part of the Daily Insight Group

©Tarot.com 2016. All rights reserved.

Your Charm for Friday, July 29th is Libra the Balance

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is diplomatic, urbane, romantic, charming, easygoing, sociable, idealistic and peaceable. This person is someone you know socially.

General Description:
Seventh sign of the Zodiac, Sept 23rd to Oct 24th. Venus is the ruling planet; correct metal, Copper. Those born under Libra’s influence were supposed to be affable, courteous even tempered, painstaking, and with marked perceptive qualities. The Libra stones are the Opal, Chrysolite and Sardonyx. To the ancients the Opal was the Stone of Mystery its flashing and glowing rainbow hues suggested occult powers, and it was regarded as sacred in the East. In India it was believed to strengthen the mind and clear the brain; in Greece to give the wearer the power of prophecy and foresight, and during the 14th century used for strengthening the eyesight