Knowing your pets

 

(1)  Hi Bunnies!


Cartoon bunnies are always seen munching away carrots happily. 


True to give them lots of carrots?  NO!

According to the House Rabbit Society of Singapore, rabbits should be given limited quantities of carrots only once or twice a week.  The sweetness in carrots causes dental problem, weight gain and potentially fatal stomach problems.

So what to include in their diet?  Going back to their ‘wild’ days, they would graze heavily on a range of vegetarians to keep their fast-growing canines down.  Unlike carrot that is starchy, most leafy vegetables are not and contain much water content.  Another good choice to be given unlimited quantities is quality hay.


Can rabbits be picked up by their ears?  NO!

The society advises that rabbit be lifted up by cradling its rump securely to give full support to its weight. A rabbit’s ears are very delicate and should never be squeezed or grabbed.  If you do hold the base of the ears to steady it, then you must already be cradling it securely with your other hand.  It has a very delicate skeleton, and can quite easily fracture its spine if it kicks out in the air while you are holding it incorrectly.


In general, rabbits dislike to be picked up, so learning to render support allows it to be more relaxed before you have them in your arms.

(2) Is too hard for me! - Bones for dogs?

A contented dog is always pictured with a bone locked in its jaws.  However, most of us, including dog lovers do not know that bones can hurt and even cause death.

Small bones such as chicken and duck bones easily splinter when crunched on, and the splinters can pierce the dog’s digestive tract, causing serious injury or death.  Raw bones do not splinter so easily, but raw meat tends to harbour bacteria and other microbes leading to illness in pets.  Those large beef bones are too big and hard to be swallowed, and can damage their teeth.

If you must give something bone-like, a few bone-shaped rawhide treats should suffice because too much can clump in the stomach and cause indigestion.

Some chocolate treats?

In sufficient amounts, the theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to dogs because they are unable to metabolise the chemical effectively. When fed on chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours, and they may experience epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding and eventually death.

Dogs catching sticks?

This can be a dangerous act.  Why?

There have been documented cases in some countries tossing a stick to their pet dog, only to have the stick pierced the dog right down the throat, or through the mouth or body.  In less serious cases, the dog catches the stick, but splinters from the stick pierce its gums and lips.  If it is a hard object, the dog’s teeth can be broken.

Advice is to stick with soft pet toys and soft balls but ensure that they are not small enough to slip entirely into the dog’s mouth and choke it.

(3)  Meow~~I am HUNGRY

  

For cats lovers, please note..

MILK

Surprisingly, many cats are lactose-intolerant to milk especially cow’s milk, like us.  Those that are less lactose-tolerant can be fed with milk occasionally without ill-effect.  Hence, milk should not form part of its diet.


Kittens are like babies, need much calcium and other nutrients in their formative years and milk from mothers’ is the best.  The biological process takes care of that by providing the enzymes to digest this milk. However, the level of enzymes drops gradually as they grow up.  A young adult may have digestive upset after consuming  milk.  Likewise, cats may get diarrhoea after taking milk which may lead to dehydration.

Look out for milk substitute from pet store if your cat loves milk but is lactose-tolerant.

CHOCOLATE

In sufficient amounts, the theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to cats because they are unable to metabolise the chemical effectively. When fed on chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours, and they may experience epileptic seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding and eventually death.

FISH

Some fish are good for cats to a certain extent.  It is found that too much fish content can even destroy B vitamins such as thiamine in cats, which may result in seizures and loss of appetite. By nature, cats can hunt, scavenge and consume a wide range of foods, deriving nutrients from many sources.  Hence, relying solely on one food is not a ‘complete’ feline food.  Most cat lovers are not aware of this and overfed their pets with only fish or fish supplements, causing dietary imbalance and throwing a cat’s system off-kilter.  Also watch the bones in fish as vets have seen cases of cats in pain from fish bones stuck in the throat or digestive tract.

Advice is to either keep to a good-quality commercial cat food and feed according to instructions, or discuss with your veterinarian on how to prepare their meals correctly.

Please do not disturb.  I need a nap. Cats love their beauty sleep a lot.

  

Job ! Job !! Job !!! (with jokes)

  

Very often we write and fine tune resume many times before sending out the application. However, do we seriously think hard how to handle an interview when the opportunity comes?

Wonder how some people can easily clinch a job during an interview when most applicants failed to impress. 

The trick lies in how prospective employees stand in their power and enlighten employers on their VALUE.

Listed below are some tips and strategies for effective interviewing from preparation through delivery.  Successful interviewing is essentially a quick process in closing up an offer.  Knowing as much as possible about the company can make your interview more interactive and could be just what you need to get ahead in a competitive job market.



HOT TIPS TO APPLY DURING INTERVIEW !

1.  Take the opportunity to learn the business conditions, rather than handling questions passively.  The purpose of this exercise is to differentiate individuals who can be a contributor.  Thus, dare to throw in ideas how the job can be done in a better way, if possible.

2.  Relate past working experience to new job and be able to share some useful information.  Most people are competent enough to complete assigned tasks and find the job mundane and not fulfilling.  If this is the attitude adopted, there is not much to share in the next job.

3.  Show, rather than tell, what you can do.  This shows you understand how the new job should be carried out and thus you are ready for it.  This is the same example of a staff who is capable of covering his senior’s duties well and thus ready for a promotion.

4.  Dare to propose non-standard ideas as you work through the hiring pipeline. Forward looking companies are constantly seeking out better corporate performance and this can only be accomplished with high quality and resourceful people at disposal.

5.  Be truthful. An interviewer usually wants to see your true self and judge how best you can work with them. If possible, the company may make provisions in your career plan to groom you to take on bigger role if you have a big dream to realise.

6.  Express you need.  No employee will value a candidate who does not value himself or herself.  This is to ensure you really fit into the job nicely and ready to give your best shot.

Also,

7.  View from the employer’s perspective what is needed.  Hence, it is not “I need the job” but ”Here is why you might need someone like me“.

Fine example

An elderly lady attended an interview for a customer service position and ended with the job, having competed fiercely with many young candidates.  She spoke about her past experience in handling clients, her profound interest in meeting requests and ability to explain procedures patiently.

Lastly, social networking can help you to land up on the right job. The people you associate with are your best conduits to jobs that become available as they know you well before you step into the interview room.

No excuse for not getting your NEXT job!

More comments

Good academic achievement is likely to put you on a better footing.  The rest is up to an individual to prove his or her ability to perform.  Having the right attitude and aptitude are basic pre-requisities for success.  The sky is the limit for anyone to move up the corporate ladder.

Hence, getting the highest possible salary right should not be the priority if you are just starting out to hunt for a meaningful job. Most people are too pre-occupied with short term benefits and do not plan for long-term success. A dead end job or one which offers at best a rise of a level or two in the organization for the long term may not sound interesting for an ambitious person. The training and the contacts are far more important to really get a head-start in your career. A more organised approach can make a couple of raises and a promotion happening to advance your career in the next few years. You can then foresee what is in store for the next 10 years to come, and then map out a path to reach a higher goal.

No matter what stage of life you are in, you can organize yourself for success. Having a few years of related experience enables you to set your long term goals and then map out your own path for achieving them. Similarly, if you own a business or thinking about starting one, the same strategies should work too.

Career planning is a long-term commitment till you fully retired. Planning a good start in life is important for faster success. Having an objective in mind is critical to avoid losing track of time and direction out there.

FUNNY Applicants (jokes)

Bad examples

 

An applicant was filling out a job application. When he came to the question, “Have you ever

been arrested?”

 

He answered, “No.”

The next question, intended for people who had answered in the affirmative to the last one, was “Why?”

The applicant answered it anyway: “Never got caught.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Employer to applicant: “In this job we need someone who is responsible.”

Applicant: “I’m the one you want. On my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible and I admitted each time.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


“Young man, do you think you can handle a variety of work?”

“I ought to be able to. I’ve had ten different jobs in four months.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



An applicant was being interviewed for admission to a prominent medical school. “Tell me,” inquired the interviewer, “where do you expect to be ten years from now?”

“Well, let’s see,” replied the student. “It’s Wednesday afternoon. I guess I’ll be on the golf course by now.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Several weeks after a young man had been hired, he was called into the personnel manager’s office.

“What is the meaning of this?” the manager asked. “When you applied for the job, you told us you had 5 years’ experience. Now we discover this is the first job you’ve ever had.”

“Well,” the young man said, “in your ad you said you wanted somebody with imagination.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++


A Manager of a retail clothing store is reviewing a potential employee’s application and notices that the man has never worked in retail before. He says to the man,

“For a man with no experience, you are certainly asking for a high wage.”

“Well Sir,” the applicant replies, “the work is so much harder when you don’t know what you’re doing!”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The classified ad said, “Wanted: a very experienced lumberjack”.

A man answered the ad and was asked to describe his experience.

“I’ve worked at the Sahara Forest.”

“You mean the Sahara Desert” said the interviewer.

The man laughed and answered “Oh sure, that’s what they call it now!”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

New Job techniques for INTERVIEWERS…..

Take the prospective employee and put him in a room with only a table and two chairs. Leave him alone for two hours, without any instruction. At the end of that time, go back and see what he is doing.

*  If he has taken the table apart, put him in Engineering.

*  If he is counting the butts in the ashtray, assign him to Finance.

*  If he is waving his arms and talking out loud, send him to Consulting.

*  If he is talking to the chairs, Personnel is a good spot for him.

*  If he is sleeping, he is Management material.

*  If he is writing up the experience, send him to the Technical Documentation team.

*  If he doesn’t even look up when you enter the room, assign him to Security.

*  If he tries to tell you it’s not as bad as it looks, put him into Marketing.

*  If he is wearing green sunglasses and need a haircut, Software is his niche.

*  If he mentions what a good price we got for the table and chairs, send him to Purchasing.

*  If he mentions that hardwood furniture does not come from rainforests, Public Relations will suit him well.

Source:  http://www.workjoke.com/applicants-jokes.html

Focus on PROBLEM vs SOLUTION

Do not complicate matters. Simplicity is beautiful as enumerated from the two incidents below….

 

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens would not work at zero gravity given the fact that ink does not flow down to the writing surface.

To solve this 'difficult' problem, it took them a decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in virtually any surface (including crystal) and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

The Russians came up with a simple solution. 
They used a Pencil!!!


One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was an empty soap box case, which happened in one of Japan’s biggest cosmetics companies. One day a consumer complained of a purchase of an empty soap box.

The Authorities decided to take the matter seriously and isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For an unknown reason, a soap box went through the assembly line emptied.

The engineers were designated to look into the 'serious' problem immediately. They worked tirelessly to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were no empty boxes. The solution seemed good but huge amount was expended.

In another smallish company, when a rank-and-file employee was posed with the same problem, he did not use sophisticated method but came out with a simple solution instead.

When a strong industrial electric fan pointing at the assembly line was installed, all the soap boxes have to passed through it and any empty one would be blown out of the line.

Moral of the story:

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) i.e. always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem. So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems.

“If you look at what you DO NOT have in life, you don’t have ANYTHING”

“If you look at what you HAVE in life, you have EVERYTHING”

KEEP LIFE SIMPLE AND YOU CAN BE THE HAPPIEST PERSON AROUND!