Good morning and welcome, at long last, to the weekend!!!  I think I’ve found a few fun surprises to get your weekend off to a fun start!

I’d like to introduce you to Herman and Lundy.  The two are a living example of overlooking superficial differences and bonding with ‘other’.  You see, Herman is a pigeon and Lundy is a Chihuahua puppy, yet they are best buds! Herman the pigeon was rescued from a car dealership in Hilton, New York one year ago. The hapless bird, which turned out to be suffering from some neurological condition, had been found sitting on the pavement for three days before his rescuers realized he was unable to fly.After wildlife specialists declared Herman untreatable, they prepared to euthanize him—that’s when Sue Rogers stepped in to save him.  Over the course of the last year, Rogers has cared for Herman, keeping him in a crib when not on daily outings to stimulate his little legs.And then there was Lundy, whose owners, realizing that he was disabled, could not move his legs and therefore could not walk, decided they could not keep him.  Now, Sue Rogers is the founder of The Mia Foundation, a Rochester-based nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating animals with physical defects and deformities.  Just so happened that Lundy’s family sent him to the The Mia Foundation, and it was there that Herman and Lundy met.

Rogers had only briefly placed the two critters together in a bed before they started snuggling. They have since become virtually inseparable.  After Ms. Rogers shared some pics of Herman and Lundy on the internet, suddenly donations began pouring in!  Says Sue Rogers …

“I never imagined the pictures of Lundy and Herman would touch so many people! Almost 5 million people in a little over 24 hours!! Their little story is being shared all over the world! And thank you also for the donations coming in. We really do need them as we have a few surgeries coming up soon! It brings me to tears to think that our little Herman (the pigeon) is known worldwide now! I’ve been called crazy for keeping Herman alive and trying to make his life a happy one. And Lundy… well, who wouldn’t love that sweet little nugget?”

Herman and Lundy even broke into the bigtime already, with a write-up in People Magazine!   Don’t they just melt your heart!  But wait … there’s more!  When I went to The Mia Foundation’s Facebook page tonight, seeking more pictures, I found this …

Yep, Lundy’s got herself a mobility machine!  An organization called Walkin’ Wheels donated this cart.  Sue says it will take him a little while to grow into it, but once he does … look out world!

Now here’s a new one!  I’ve long said that we (myself included) are entirely too reliant on technology.  Don’t get me wrong … I think technology is great, but … we shouldn’t let it replace our ability to do things for ourselves, to survive without it, if necessary.  Kari Paul learned that lesson the hard way.

Ms. Paul rented a car from car-sharing service, Gig Car Share, which uses an app to book a vehicle, unlock it, and drive away.  But, when she stopped briefly along side a mountain road in a very rural area of California, she had no cell service and … guess what?  Bingo!  She couldn’t start the car, for of course the app wouldn’t work without the WiFi!  Apparently, the car — like ET — needs to “phone home” every few hours to be re-set.

Now, apparently as a backup in case of this very scenario, the car comes equipped with something called a “gig card”, but as luck would have it, that didn’t work at first, either.  Night was approaching, and it was at this point that the company suggested to Ms. Paul that she just sleep in her car!  Eventually, she managed to get the gig card to work, but then Gig Car Share informed her that she had used all her “allotted restarts”, and she would have to keep the car on until she reached her destination.

Ms. Paul tweeted (later, after she finally arrived home) …

Six hours, two tow trucks, and 20 calls to customer service later apparently it was a software issue and the car needed to be rebooted before we could use it @internetofshit

If this is what they mean by ‘smart cars’, then no thanks … I’ll keep my stupid car!

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No … it’s Dracula!  Meet the Dracula Parrot, a unique parrot endemic to the rainforest in New Guinea, famous for its resemblance to Count Dracula. Its official name is Pesquet’s parrot, but is also known as the Vulturine parrot because of its distinctive vulture-like head. It feeds exclusively on figs (not blood), and it’s head is bare to avoid feathers matting from the sticky fruit. It’s a large parrot with a total length of approximately 18 inches. 

Those of us who share our home with furry family members (no, I’m not talking about Uncle Harry … I mean the four-legged sort) know who’s really the boss of the house, and it surely ain’t us!  This short clip shows exactly who rules the roost in one household!

Well, folks, it’s a beautiful day here, the sun is actually showing it’s face for a change, so it’s time for you to get out there and enjoy your weekend!  Keep safe and have a wonderful weekend!