Friday, March 30, 2012

Lucky Ducklings



I saw a mother duck and her cute little ducklings the other day in downtown Orlando. It was a precious site and a reminder of the circle of life. These ducklings could have missed their chance in this world due to human intervention. In this case I’m not talking about tearing down habitat or shooting or anything like that. I’m talking about good natured but poorly informed people.

On not one or two but three occasions I’ve seen humans interrupting what appears to them as ducks fighting or hurting each other. They are assigning human characteristics to the ducks. They think they are helping which is sweet but it should be noted that ducks do not join gangs, rob stores and blatantly hurt each other. They are just doing what nature intended by challenging others in their mate selection.

So while it may be ok (depending on your value/belief system) to try and stop humans on a whaling ship from killing whales, please let ducks and other creatures take care of their own mating rituals. They know more than we do about mating it appears and how would you like it if some higher life form energized in from space and interrupted you trying to get your freak on.

Cat “Barry White” Cathy

Friday, March 16, 2012

Discount High


Hi my name is Catastrophe Cathy and I’m a Groupon-aholic. I swear I was just about to start my own addiction group for this. I’d get excited everyday when the new emails arrived from Groupon or Living Social or Amazon Local or Half Off or Restaurant.com or any of a plethora of other deal websites. I actually felt a high from the bargain purchase!

Thankfully, like many of my other short lived ADHD activities, this one appears to be coming to a slow down. I’m not going to stop completely but I’m definitely not buying daily like I was for a while. First off it seems there are only so many beauty, service and fitness things I need and I’ve already gotten my deals on them. Second off the hassle of what you have to go through to get the discount including not use it on certain nights or use it within a short time frame have made it much less appealing. I have enough stress in my life and I don’t need to complicate it with self imposed deadlines so I don’t miss out on a ‘deal’. And thirdly many of the items coming up lately don’t even seem to be much of a deal. They say 90% off the regular price but this ‘regular’ price is something ridiculous that no one in their right mind would pay. Also I’ve noticed that Groupon Goods (separate tab from their services) appear to be just a bunch of leftover junk and their so called bargain prices still appear to be top dollar.

I think the final straw to cure me was an email from Groupon to join some elite Groupon group that gets first dibs on new deals, can purchase some deals even after the deadline has been reached and a few other advantages that I’ve since forgotten. The cost was $30 per year. Granted this isn’t much but I joined Groupon to save money not to spend more!

The funniest thing in this new discount website phase is how dumb I think some business owners can be. There was a fitness dance class I liked. They charge $15 for one hour which I thought was a bit much so I asked the owner/instructor if she had any discounts. She said no since it was January and business was good due to people’s New Year’s resolutions. So I stopped going since I didn’t feel it was worth it even though I did enjoy the class. Fast forward two months and a fitness Groupon appears in my inbox. I am now getting 10 of these dance classes for 67 cents each and that money is split between Groupon, some third party fitness company and the dance studio! I would have gladly paid the dance studio $6-$8 per class and avoided the extra effort and the studio would have been making all the profit. I had a similar experience with a pole fitness studio and auto detailing service but I will spare you the details. Suffice to say that if a person wants to use your business but is asking for a discount it is probably better to give it to them directly than to have them get it through Groupon.

Best wishes to all getting their group on! But remember to see if it really is as good a deal as it sounds.

Cat “You Paid Too Much” Cathy

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Where in the World is Catastrophe Cathy?



You may have noticed I haven’t been blogging as often these days. For a long time I was pretty consistent about my weekly blog. It was my way to get some entertainment type work as part of my life. A while back I decided what was most important to me and came up with health and fitness, friends, adventures, helping the environment and entertainment work.

The entertainment work was important to me since that seemed to be when I felt most alive and enjoyed work the most. Unfortunately my few soirees into the entertainment business only lasted a short time with things like roller derby skater, parade performer and podcaster. Finding entertainment work is not always easy so a simple blog was my way to keep the creative juices going and enjoy the high I get from entertaining while working on my writing skills.

This year I reviewed my priorities and decided entertainment work really isn’t as important as it once was. I guess I’ve finally outgrown my childhood dream of being a superstar. The practicality is that the entertainment business is difficult and most gigs don’t lead anywhere. I’ve lost count on the number of reality show applications I’ve done and all for naught. So I may still blog and do some stuff here and there but I’m no longer making it a priority.

Saving the environment has also dropped off my priority list. This doesn’t mean I’m dumping oil on the streets but I’m just not consciously devoting much time to it. I will still keep my reusable bags and other efforts to minimize my waste but no additional energy will be sent this way.

It’s good to reevaluate your goals and direction every now and then since life changes and priorities change. Adventure is still important to me as are friends and health. So I guess I will focus on these a bit more…for now at least.

Cat “Almost Famous” Cathy