Triple Shot
There were these beached whales, and people were helping to save them. The problem is, the whales get upset (you would too if you were beached) and they’re stomachs get upset. The fix for these upset stomachs is really cool.
The rehabilitation process was not only trying for the volunteers, but also for the whales. “When the whales are under this kind of stress, it upsets their digestive system and their stomachs produce excess acid,” Lingenfelser noted. “Our veterinarians identified these massive tummy aches early on and recommended a simple solution - TUMS ® a pure, natural source of calcium.”
In order to help restore the whale’s health and relieve their upset stomachs, each whale required four TUMS three times per day. While TUMS is a very inexpensive source of calcium, the non-profit, all volunteer Marine Mammal Conservancy found it difficult to afford all the medicines, equipment and supplies that were needed to care for the large number of animals that had been stranded.“When we heard about the need, we were happy to help,” Wardle said. “They told us the whales were especially fond of the naturally flavored, Ultra Peppermint TUMS, so we immediately sent the 10 cases the MMC anticipated it would need until the whales were ready for release.”
The only question that comes to mind in reaction to this wonderful story of humans helping animals would be: how on earth do they know the peppermint flavored Tums are favored by the whales? They must really understand whale body language or something.
And now for something completely different.
I was at church today and I was pondering what I heard. I was thinking about how we are encouraged to “spread the good word” and talk about our religion to other people. I have a friend who is atheist. This has never bothered me. It still doesn’t bother me. However, I am told, basically, that I should be actively promoting my religion to someone like this. Isn’t such a divine ideal of spreading “the good news” inevitably tainted in my hands due to my inperfections as a human? Simply put, don’t I soil the purity of that goal? The answer is, invariably, yes! However, the church would have me believe that this is just an excuse to not spread news. I sincerely believe, however, that I would make this person uncomfortable, I would be a threatening individual, and that everyone around would be made nervous by a confrontation of religion. So, I choose to not say anything to this person. It’s amazing that you can feel guilty and justified at the same time; it won’t be the first time or the last time.
I read an old something today, and I was struck by a passage about death and loss:
Not her death in particular but losing someone you love. I hate that feeling. You think you know that person, that you’ve done all you can to show them you care, and then just like that, they’re gone.
You know, it’s true. I lost my grandma when I was young and I agree - I didn’t get to show her how much I loved her and how much I cared. Makes you hope that person looks down still from wherever they are now and sees our love and still feels that warmth.
Whenever I do something, I keep in mind [this may strike you as odd] that someday all the people I know will know about it when they die. For example, if I spill some cereal on the floor, I don’t brush it under the fridge because I can see my mother when she’s gone looking back on that incident and being disappointed at me making more work for her. It’s rather hard concept to describe. I guess i’m a believer in people becoming omniscient about their loved ones when they die. Interesting thought, isn’t it, that they will see all of your hidden moments, actions, and thoughts? Which is the reason I have trouble lying; people will find out someday. And guess what, they might already know.