Turkey Hot Dog & Caskets

Another week has passed here in Long Beach. Since the NFDA (National Funeral Directors Association) convention was being held in San Francisco this week, school was cancelled so the instructors, who are practicing funeral directors, could attend. It's been a great week of catching up both with school work and settling in to the apartment.

I've been trying to check out as many restaurants as I can lately to get the lay of the land. I've found that people are naturally nicer to a gal who's young and on her own. I've gotten high fives from strangers, lots of smiles and plenty of advice. So far my biggest adventure has been the laundromat and Walmart. You can make your own assumptions as to what type of people watching is available to me at these two establishments. : )

                  The tip jar at an awesome Thai restaurant I found. I thought it was quite fitting : )

So, I'm a firm believer in doctors. If something hurts, go get it checked out. Something wrong with your eyes? Go see an optometrist. Your feet? Go see a podiatrist. Your intestines? That'd be a gastroenterologist. So when you're sad, lonely and trying to adjust to a new place completely on your own, go get yourself an amazing therapist! I've been working closely with a wonderful therapist here in Long Beach who has really helped me through this transition. Because there wasn't going to be school this week to keep me busy, we made a game plan of how I was going to stay positive and healthy. From how I was expecting this week to go and how it ended up, it's hard to not think little strings are being pulled in your favor sometimes with the universe...

One of my favorite people in the whole world came down to Studio City for her son's wedding last weekend, so I drove up on Sunday to visit her. We went to her son's really nice house in the same area for a BBQ. It was so wonderful to have a piece of home down here with me. When we got to her son's house they explained how there was a crazy cat lady who lived next door. This was no exaggeration. I could see over the fence into her yard where there were TONS of kitties of all ages including kittens. I could also see that many were suffering from illnesses and one was even going blind. It was further stated that the crazy cat lady refused any help from the outside world for the cats so rescue organizations had been setting traps in hopes of catching them to treat and then release again. Apparently the shelters in LA county only give cats 2 weeks tops to be adopted before they are euthanized so instead of calling animal control, the neighbors feel that at least these kitties are getting food and shelter, and I'm sure some form of attention versus being put to sleep. As I watched the lady come out onto her back porch with her walker to feed all the cats, it made my heart hurt to think that she is probably very lonely and probably thinking that she's protecting herself and her cats from the outside world that she sees as a threat when in reality she's doing just the opposite. As I drove back to Long Beach that night I couldn't stop thinking about all the kitties. We can only act when we truly can I suppose.

                        The original Brady Bunch house!! I got to drive by and take a snap shot of it


As I parked my car and walked into the creepy alley I live in I instantly noticed halfway down it a little gray kitty looking for food by the dumpsters. Now this is not an alley you want to hang out in at night. Sex, drugs and the homeless are common and the goal is to get inside the house as quickly as possible. As I bent down to talk to her I saw that she was friendly but it was going to take a lot more to get her to come close enough for me to grab her. Although some shady people began to congregate nearby, I decided that even if I couldn't help crazy cat lady and her herd, I was going to help this little one. I quickly ran inside and grabbed a turkey hot dog and ran back out into the alley. With the help of the hot dog and some soothing words, I was able to get close enough to grab her. She immediately made herself into the shape of an X. Fully stretched out from top to bottom with claws out. I know nothing about football, but the scene looked exactly like the guy holding the football running as fast as he can with one arm out to shove anyone coming in the opposite direction off his prize. Needless to say we made it inside. I plopped her on the floor and she's been with me ever since.

                                     Ally enjoying a butt rub from the great vet I found!
The rest of the week has mostly been Ally (named after the alley she's from of course) and I getting to know each other while I work on my loads of homework. This week has been all about merchandising. Caskets, caskets and more caskets. Here are some fun facts: Did you know that the terms softwood and hardwood do not refer to the actual relative hardness of the wood? For there are, indeed, some very soft hardwoods and very hard softwoods. How about caskets gauges? Did you know that caskets are constructed of 16 gauge, 18 gauge and 20 gauge metal and that the relationship to these numbers is inverse with the gauge number and the metal's thickness? If the casket is 20 gauge steel it means that it takes 20 sheets of steel to equal approximately one inch of thickness. Therefore the lower the gauge number, the thicker the steel and the higher the quality metal casket you have. Fascinating, no? Well, either way, it's my life for now.

                                                  Caskets, caskets and more caskets.
Tomorrow starts the new week of school, although shortened for 4th of July. We'll be diving into how to do a proper funeral arrangement with a family. We're learning how important the small details are in terms of accuracy and thoroughness. First the living and then the dead is how this program seems to work. Trust me, the living are way more difficult to deal with.

Be thankful for those around you who keep you grounded and off the ledge, even if it may be a little scraggly kitty you lifted out of an alley in Navy Seal rescue fashion. Support can come in all forms whether it furry, from your mailbox or the person laying next to you in bed at night. It's all relative in the end. I'm off to go do some more homework now. I'm sure I'll have some more interesting stories to share with you all next week. Until then, keep staying alive.