Pepper Turns 2!

Our cat, Pepper, turns 2 today.  It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from the Silicon Valley Humane Society.  Pepper, who's given name is Tabitha, was brought to the SVHS with her brother Tabloid Lloyd.   They were found roaming the streets alone.  They told us her birthday was probably in August.  After watching her for a while, we were pretty confident that she was the kitten we wanted.  She was gentle and very cute.  She did not hang around with her brother.  Tabloid Lloyd was playing with another cat in a separate cage.  So we felt that it would be alright to separate them.  We brought her home around Thanksgiving 2006 when she was about 3 months old and selected August 8th as her birthday.  Well this year her birthday is the lucky date 8/8/08 which is the same day as the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in Beijing.  

Pepper has grown up and become a part of our family.  I didn't grow up having pets.   Left to my own devices, I don't think I would have ever thought to have pets.  My parents were not pet loving people and I probably was somewhat afraid of dogs and cats as a child.  Because I was not familiar with them,  I did not know how to act around them.  But almost two years ago, I was pursuaded by my family to go to the pet store to just take a look at some kittens.  Before you knew it, I was whisked off to the Humane Society where we spent 5 hours looking for a kitten to adopt.  I must say that when she first came into our home, I was a bit uncomfortable with having an animal roaming around our house.  I'm a bit of a germaphobe and clean freak and wasn't sure how I would feel about a kitten going through my things.    

I remember when Pepper first arrived at our house, she was very tiny.  She was probably about a pound and very small.  We recall that the first couple of hours she was very scared and hid behind our piano.  The counselors at the Humane Society told us we should keep her in a room at the beginning until she got accustomed to our house.  Ever since then, the office is her room.  Since then, we have trained Pepper not to jump on our furniture or beds.  Although once in a while we will catch her trying to sit on the sofa.  But overall, Pepper is very good with respecting our rules.  

Pepper is such a sweet cat.  She is very friendly and loves to hang around people.  Almost everyone who meets her likes her.  She loves attention and will sit with you or play with you as long as you let her.  My husband used to say he only wanted a dog.  I think he wanted to get a pet and thought that a cat was better than nothing and perhaps we could get a dog later on.  But Pepper's charm and the love she shows us every day quickly melted his heart.  He has turned into a total cat lover.  It is quite obvious that Pepper brings a lot of joy to his life.  He is always happy when he sees her and finds Pepper to be an extraordinary cat and it's no secret how much he loves her.    

Well, I'd say for the first 6-9 months, I would go through days when I would wonder if we had taken on too much bringing Pepper into our home.  There was the hair in the corners and crevices of the house, the hair balls she would vomit that needed to be cleaned up, the maintenance of her kitty litter, feeding, grooming and generally just more work to do everyday.  Going on vacations became another headache since we did not trust cat hotels and didn't have anyone to come check on her.  Eventually, we did entrust my brother and some good friends to come over and play with her when we went away. 

 

Despite how I felt, everyone in the family seemed to think that Pepper loved me the most.  She always followed me around.  She sat next to me every chance she got.  Sometimes I would get a little annoyed when she rubbed up on my leg or sat on my slippers when I watched tv. 

What I have learned over the past year is that Pepper is really an extraordinary pet.  No matter what, she is there for us.  She loves us unconditionally.  She is sweet and gentle.  I think I've realized that when you love someone, you shouldn't let the little things get in the way of that.  I think I've mellowed out a lot when it comes to Pepper.  I've noticed that I don't get so upset anymore when I find her sitting on the sofa.  When she sits on my slippers, I let her and just get another clean pair to wear.  When she throws up hair balls, I just clean it up without giving her attitude.  When we are away, I'm always thinking about her and wondering what she's doing.  Pepper has brought a special love into our lives and brings a warmth into our home that wasn't there before.  I find myself talking to her and telling her I love her more and more each day.  We all love her and expect to celebrate many more birthdays with her in the years to come.      

Made in China

With all the recent scares from poisoned pet food, tainted toothpaste, unsafe tires, lead in toys, and contaminated Chinese seafood, is it possible to avoid products that are "made in China?"  Given all the recalls and issues, it's no wonder Americans would be hesitant to use products "made in China".  But the problem is that many of the products we use daily are Chinese exports.

Articles have been written where average consumers have attempted to avoid buying anything "made in China" for one week with little success.  NBC Nightly News just aired a segment today on a family who avoided these products for one whole year.  By the time the year was over, the family was all too ready to embrace products "made in China" again.  The broadcast did highlight the Yiwu Commodity Market, just outside of Shanghai, which is the world's largest supermarket.  This is where many of the world's merchants come to buy stuff to sell to you.  It measures 64 million square feet and houses 40,000 suppliers.  Approximately $320B of goods a year are sold to people around the world often at a bargain due to the cheap labor costs in China.  Americans are certainly addicted to these products that are such a part of their everyday lives.

Items "made in China" make up an incredibly significant percentage of the goods we use.  These include clothes, toys, appliances, heavy equipment, commercial aircraft, laptops (China makes the top 5 brands of laptops) and even food and medicine (garlic, concentrated orange juice, Vitamin B, etc).

So, with the above items in mind, I decided to look at the labels of the most recent items I purchased in the past week.  This is a good sample since I did not plan to write about this when I purchased any of these items.  I have excluded any food products as in many cases they are made locally or are difficult to determine the origin.

1. Sterile pads (I've been using these pads to cover the wound on my ankle) - Made in China

2. Orbit gum - Made in U.S.A.

3. Desk from Costplus World Market - Made in China

4. Crocs (for kids) - Made in Mexico 

5. Furniture touch up pens - Made in China

6. Crayola markers - Made in China 

7. Pencil box - Made in U.S.A. 

8. Power surges - Made in China 

9. Wii Fit (I did just open this last week) - balance board Made in China, game made in U.S.A. or Japan 

10. Kleenex - Made in U.S.A. 

11. Waterproof Adhesive Tape - Made in Thailand 

12. REI kid's fleece jacket - Made in Taiwan 

13. Kid's activity books - Made in Israel 

14. Monitor cable - Made in China 

15. Sharp LCD tv - design Japan, Assembled in Mexico, AC cord/remote control - Made in China 

16. Caselogic DVD binder - Made in China 

17. Memorex CD binder - Made in China

So, you have it, 10 out of the 17 items or 59% were entirely or partially made in China.  I guess if I had purchased more toys and clothes, the number would have been even higher.  In addition, it is important to note that it is often not that clear about the origins of specific ingredients found within the items in nonfood aisles that read "made in the USA".

As long as consumers demand low costs and continue to buy these products, we will continue to have to be aware of the possible safety issues.  It does make me wonder whether the pads are as "sterile" as they should be or if the pens I bought might someday be recalled due to discovery of some unsafe substance that has been added.  I guess I have been forced to be more conscious of the origins of the products I buy.  Today, I do mentally add an additional classification to the items I purchase (by color, cost and now origin).  It will be interesting to see if people are willing to pay more for some of these products if they had more choices.  I will buy something that costs more if it is a better brand or feels/looks more sturdy.  So, if I saw an item that cost more alongside a similar item that was "made in China", I probably would now opt for the more expensive item.  People are willing to pay more for bottled water, organic fruits and vegetables, why not any other consumer durable good?  As a consumer and a parent, I would like to have that choice.  Peace of mind is priceless.