The Roach

I had a roach in my house. I gave it 24 hours to leave the premises. Then I killed it.

I have three methods of killing roaches. One way is to grab a can of roach spray and give the creature a good dose. If that doesn't work, then I hit them with the can. The third way is to use a glue board.

The trouble with the glue board is that when I pass by I see the roach struggling to free itself. I feel sorry for the little creature. It didn't intend to harm me. It was just looking for a meal when it got stuck to the board.

But after watching the struggles of the last roach to be caught in the glue, I began to wonder if roaches have feelings. Are they tiny robots or are they conscious? I never thought much about it, but I decided to look it up. I went to Google and typed "are roaches conscious" into the search bar.

I found an article online that had sentences like:

"Far from being six-legged automatons, they [insects] can experience feelings akin to pain and suffering, joy and desire..."

and

"...insects have thoughts and feelings..."

and 

"Cockroaches have complex social lives."

So, are insects conscious? There is a growing consensus that insects are, indeed, conscious. They are aware of themselves as distinct from the world they inhabit. 

So I guess that when a cockroach gets stuck to a glue board, it is aware that it is having a bad day. All it can do is struggle until it dies or until it is killed. So it suffers. Its suffering and death is a tiny bit of karma headed my way.

Don't even ask me how I feel about killing a mouse.

Nuria Part 3

My partner Nuria has a job at Macy's. She's not a full-time employee, but rather, she works something that Macy's calls "Flex". I assume that is short for "flexible hours". Most weeks, she works about 20 to 25 hours.

Nuria's biggest complaint about Macy's is not the company itself, but the other employees she works with. Nuria says they don't work hard enough. When Nuria sees a customer wandering the store, she goes to the customer and greets them and asks how she can help them. This action often initiates a sale, and Nuria may end up selling that customer hundreds of dollars of product. 

As a result of this action, Nuria is consistently in the number two or three spot with regard to sales, and I am referring to the total dollar amount of daily sales. She is one of the store's top sales people even with her part-time hours. Nuria works. She doesn't dawdle. She gets out and engages with the customers.

Another asset is the fact that Nuria is bi-lingual. Her native language is Spanish, and Macy's has many Hispanic customers. Her Hispanic customers feel much more comfortable speaking with Nuria, because many of them have a poor command of English. 

Nuria sells Macy's products in the truest sense of the word. She doesn't stand around and wait for a customer to bring a product for her to "ring up." No, she's a sales lady. She sells the product. She's friendly with her customers and puts them at ease while she shows them things that they may like to purchase.

Another thing she does is sign up people for a Macy's credit card. The store considers credit cards to be very important. Signing up five or six people for credit cards is a good day.

So a couple days ago, Nuria was at the point of making a big sale -- hundreds of dollars -- plus signing the customer up for a credit card, when another sales clerk came over and told the customer that if she didn't buy that day, she could come back in four days when a sale was scheduled and save money by purchasing the items on sale. So the customer canceled the entire transaction -- both the purchase and the credit card. Nuria was furious but she held her tongue.

Next, I expect the other sales people will be telling Macy's customers to which competitor they should take their business if they want to pay less. But that is not why Macy's is paying them.

The purpose of a sales clerk is to make the sale by helping the customer decide what he/she needs and wants, and to fulfill the transaction. In this instance, Nuria carried out the first part: she helped the customer decide what she wanted. But then the other clerk intervened and the sale was lost. Will the woman return and buy the product she wanted? Maybe. Maybe not. 

There's an old saying: "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Nuria had a sale, it was worth a certain amount of money. With the interference by the other clerk, Nuria traded her sale for a smaller sale that may or may not take place in the future.

Maybe the Macy's sales people need to be reminded that their job is to sell. Some of them seem not to have gotten the memo.

Nuria Part 2

My last post was about my partner, Nuria. There is a little bit more to know about her, so kindly allow me to expand upon my previous post.

In addition to running my home like a business, Nuria is currently on the Board of Directors of a Costa Rican corporation. She is the Treasurer of the corporation. She is also an interpreter and she facilitates communication between the English-speaking owners of the corporation and the Spanish-speaking lawyers and bureaucrats in Costa Rica. 

I often find her on the phone speaking in Spanish and then I know she is doing her corporate job. I took a nap today and when I awoke and came out to the living room, Nuria was in the den with the door closed, speaking in Spanish. She closed the door because she didn't want to awaken me. She's very thoughtful that way; when I'm in bed, she walks around the inside of the house so quietly that it's like she has cat paws. 

Side note: how does Nuria speak with people in Costa Rica? She has two cell phones: one phone has a USA number and the other phone has a Costa Rican number. She uses the phone that is appropriate for the call she is making. (I have three phone numbers, but that's a longer story.)

While living in Costa Rica, Nuria worked as an Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Manufacturing for a multi-national corporation. When he (the Vice President) had to make a trip to a Central American country to scout and facilitate building a manufacturing plant, Nuria would organize the trip and arrange for necessities such as airline and hotel reservations.

How this talented woman ended up living in my house and sleeping in my bed still amazes me. She has many activities: she recently went on a tour of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. She goes to the local Senior Center four times a week for exercise and other activities. And as I mentioned, she took a job at Macy's just to prevent herself from becoming bored. She should be running Macy's. If she were running Macy's, maybe they wouldn't be on the verge of closing a bunch of their stores. She has a sharp eye and she knows where Macy's is falling short.

To sum up Nuria, I would call her a go-getter, a doer, a dynamo, a hustler, a self-starter, and a workhorse. But maybe I'm a little bit biased.

One more thing: she's a very good cook.

Nuria Part 1

My partner Nuria will be home soon. She worked today.

Nuria doesn't have to work, she just likes working. She has a job with Macy's. She is always among the top three or four sales people at her store and the managers there like her. Even though her job is part-time and she usually works 25 to 30 hours per week, she sells more product and opens more credit cards than most of the Macy's sales clerks. 

One time, she was the administrative assistant to the Vice President of Manufacturing for an American clothing company. She had a lot of responsibility including arranging trips for her boss to various places, including some Central American countries.

She's taken over my house. She cleans it, cooks meals, washes dishes, does the laundry, and in general runs the house like she's managing a business. I just try to stay out of her way.

I take meds twice a day. If I'm still in bed when it's time for my morning meds, she brings them to me with a little cup of water. In the evening, she reminds me or she might just bring them to me, along with water. 

She just pulled up. Gotta go. Talk at you later.

... later ...

Sorry for the long delay after the last sentence, but Nuria was giving me a briefing on her day. She sold something that the computer said they should have five in stock, and they had none — because of shoplifting, which goes on constantly. And their security guard quit. The shoplifting is overwhelming, and everything at Macy's is good quality. The store is set to close in about a year, and the closing is probably due to losses that result from the ever-present shoplifting. Do people not realize that nothing you steal is free? You can pay cash now, or you can pay with your soul later, but you're going to pay.

Finger-Pointing

From the news:

"A woman checked out of a Florida hotel and told staff that she was going on a God-directed shooting spree because of the solar eclipse, then shot two drivers on Interstate 10 before being arrested and charged with attempted murder Monday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol."

I wish I could say that this is the first time I've read about someone killing people because they think God wants them to do it, but it's not. I've also read about people killing people because a dog told them to do it.

Readers: make a mental note: If you think you hear God telling you to go outside and shoot people, it's not God who is speaking to you.

What is it with "God told me to do it" and all the crazy, hurtful stuff people blame on God? Like, "Sorry that I have to hold you under water (or crush you under heavy stones) but this is what God wants me to do." That has to be the lamest excuse for torture and murder that has ever been conceived.

On the other hand, I'm fairly sure that God wants me to enjoy a nightcap at bedtime. If He didn't, then He wouldn't cause me to have insomnia every night. Am I right, or am I right?

Brain What?!

Seen in the news:

Brain worms like RFK Jr.'s are more common than you think, doctor says

Brain worms?

Brain worms?

Is that a thing?

For those who don't read the news, here's the news: RFK Jr. wants to be president of the United States of America. Having "brain worms" must throw a wrench into the gears of a presidential campaign.

For me, just the possibility that a candidate has brain worms is enough to make me think "No thanks, there are other candidates."

On the other hand, if "brain worms" are a real thing, it could explain a lot of what our government does.