However, it is precisely because I hate them so much that I visit Petland on almost every visit to the mall.  Readers of my Blogspot know that I used to rescue and raise hamsters, and I know more about those little critters than any normal person. :)  I have learned a lot about rabbits through my friend Beth, who rescues and raises rabbits.  I know a lot about gerbils and cavies by proxy.  Petland has their small animals in small cages that are about waist-high, and open at the top, so that visitors to the store can reach in and pick up the animals.  As an unofficial expert on these animals, I can unequivocally say that this is not safe and, given Petland’s poor breeding practices, could possibly even prove deadly.  An untrained hand reaching into a hamster or gerbil cage WILL be bitten, and for all their tininess, those bites hurt!  The same applies to the rabbits and guinea pigs, only worse - because they are slightly larger, their teeth are longer and their jaws are stronger, meaning bites that are deeper and more painful.  For children with bones that are still developing, that will likely mean a broken finger.  Also, Petland does not breed their small animals for temperament.

Anyway, when I go into Petland, I go to the small animal cages.  I pick up the hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, and cavies, as many as I can, just to give them a little bit of socialization.  Of course, I can never pick up all the animals.  There are just too many animals in those tiny cages.  On average I see at least 25 hamsters in a little one-by-one foot cage, which anyone who has ever owned a hamster can tell you that is just not enough!!!!  Hamsters are solitary, territorial animals, and when you put too many of them into too small of a space, they will fight to the death to defend their territory.  I can only wonder how many hamsters are dead when they walk into the store in the morning.

When I am standing by those cages, I will tell everyone who is standing around about how to pick up the animals, how to properly take care of the animals, etc.  Yesterday I talked to a half-dozen people who were interested in the animals.  I also told them that Petland is not a good place to buy the animals, but if they would go across the street they could get a better deal at Petco!

I then moved over to the dog cages.  I absolutely hate these cages at Petco.  It is truly animal abuse.  They are perpetuating the problems of all the puppy-mill, pure-bred, non-neutered animals in our country.  At Petland, they will take the dogs out of their cages so you can hold them before you buy them.  I am not a dog expert, but I know a bit about dogs, maybe more than most, and I always try to take one dog out of his cage just to give him the stimulation that he needs.

Yesterday I took the little Schnauzer below out of his cage.  Poor little guy was soooo tiny - he was undoubtedly taken from his mother too soon.  He didn’t stop shaking the entire time he was out of his cage.  He was so scared you could just feel it when you touched him.  It just broke my heart.  I’m praying that he’ll find a good home, even though I know his chances aren’t really good at a store in the mall.

There was a gal nearby talking to an associate about a Retriever puppy, and she came over to pet this little Schnauzer.  I told her that if she wanted a good Retriever puppy, she should just go over to our local animal shelter - I know through my previous volunteering there, that they almost always have Retrievers, and at the shelter the dogs are only about $100.  I also told her to check on Petfinder.com.  Another gal came over and asked me about Yorkshires.  I told her that yes, that’s a very popular breed also, and there are usually Yorkies at the shelter.  Right in front of this associate that was trying to sell puppies to these women for $1000.

No one actually asked me to leave the store.  But when I gave the Schnauzer back to the associate and left, I think all of them breathed a sigh of relief.

I hope I can do that again!

I know it looks like I’m strangling the puppy - actually I am just trying to help him lift his head up.  He did NOT want to look in the camera. Click on the thumbnails to view full size photos.

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So I’ve been thinking about how I am going to organize this blog.  Obviously I haven’t really clarified my theme yet.  I am thinking I will divide this up a bit more… I will probably maintain this main site as a general blog, but I am thinking I will create two or three subdomains.

‘Course nothing’s set in stone yet.  We’ll see how it goes.  O.

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I started at the food court.  This is a three story mall, with three “wings”, each wing containing one anchor department store and several smaller stores.  In the center of the mall (where the three wings meet) and on the very bottom level is the food court.  I looked around the food court and thought, today the mall is still quite full of people, yet not nearly as many shoppers came out today due to the poor weather.

These two photos were both taken from the top floor.  I remember reading an article yesterday saying that the shooter in Omaha stood on a top floor and picked off the shoppers below him.

Today all those chairs are empty, because so many people stayed home due to the poor weather.  But in decent weather, in the height of the holiday season, the mall is packed.  It’s almost too easy.

I’m not afraid of dying.  But it’s scary to think that it is so easy for a hurt, angry person to cause so much damage.

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At this point I was thinking: a)Good gracious, this is insanely slick!  Drive slowly… and b)I need to get into the right lane.  Soon.  This is not good lane changing weather.  How am I going to change lanes?

Yea… there was definitely no hope of safely changing lanes.  So I am thinking, maybe I should just drive past my exit and get off whenever I get a chance to safely get off… and then turn around and come back to my exit.  In the right lane.

Saved!  I never did figure out why the left lane was closed, but I’m sure not complaining.  I got into the right lane and got off at my exit.  Sweet!

So I came to this stoplight, where I needed to turn left.  I waited… and waited… and waited… I lost count after five light cycles.  At this point, I decided something was wrong with the light and I was going to have to do SOMETHING - either it was changing lanes and going straight or running the light and turning left.  My windows were somewhat fogged and I didn’t feel comfortable changing lanes.  That left running the light - a tricky proposition given the slick slick road.  Thankfully I made it!

This is the second time in my life that I have run a red light.  The first was at 3 am by the McDonald’s in Lee’s Summit.  Needless to say, this “run” felt much more dramatic.

Yay!!!  Lunchtime!!!  My growling stomach thanked me.  It took much longer to get to this restaurant than I anticipated, and needless to say I was glad to arrive.  Under normal weather conditions it is only a five minute drive.  Today it was more like twenty minutes.   Hot food, filled with carbs… yes, life is good.

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