Friday's Fair Fast 5

Fast Five: Fair edition!

1. Jarrod and I are not going to the fair this year. Anymore, if we don't care to see one of the main stage bands, we don't go. 
2. Plus, it's gotten more difficult for me to go to the fair. Being in the heat can really bother my breathing, so if it's ridiculously hot, it makes it hard. And there is the dust and dirt, and the second-hand smoke that sometimes you just can't get away from. I almost always have a really rough next couple days if we do go.
3. Every year during fair season, I wonder to myself how pig scrambles are still a thing. I get it, it can be funny. But it's hard to ignore the shrieks and squeals of terror from the piglets. It is so obvious the animals are stressed out to the max with all these kids running around. I'm not a member of PETA or anything, but the event strikes me as kind of cruel.
4. This year the fair has a moving 9/11 memorial thing as an exhibit. Four years ago, when we went to the Vietnam Moving Wall, a memorial replica that travels around the country, it was very somber, as I think all memorials are meant to be. The Moving Wall was set up at the fairgrounds, but it was the only thing out there at the time. It seems weird to me that you would visit this 9/11 memorial—at the fair. The exhibit is going to be set up by the north gate where you'll be surrounded by constant noise from the shuttle buses, all the loud events at the motocross arena, and crowd noise. I know this exhibit travels to fairs all the time, and it sounds interesting but, in my humble opinion, does not seem best suited for a fair setting (something I'd argue is the creators fault, not necessarily our fair board for bringing it here.) 
5. In a way, I guess enjoying walking through that exhibit could just come down to how easily you can tune out background noise. I can't, and it gets really, really annoying sometimes. I can't stand what I've termed "conflicting sounds," like when the radio and the TV are on at the same time and the sounds overlap. My brain tries to hear and process both. I am completely unable to tune one out. Some people, I've found, have no problem with this, and can focus on one set of sounds or not even notice the other one. It's for this reason, also, I've noticed that some people are less annoyed by ticking sounds or beeps or repetitive noises. There have been many times in my life where I point out an annoying noise, and someone is like "Huh? I didn't even notice that." while I'm going nuts like "OMG make it stop! How do you not hear that?!" It's fascinating, really, the huge difference between people.
   
   So I ask you: can you block out background sounds? or are you like me? For this reason I've also begun to get very annoyed while shopping at Kohl's, because they have a different type of music playing in many areas (pop music in juniors, rock music in men's, lighter music in women's, etc.) If I'm standing in a spot where the two bleed together (which is common), it drives me bonkers and I have to move soon otherwise I get anxious and upset.

#dogsofinstagram

Storytime!

So, Josie has her own Instagram account, if you didn't know that. She has over 600 followers from all over the world, most of them being cairn terriers like her. I know, it's mega dorky and probably lists me in the crazy-dog-mom column, but it's actually quite fun. It's hard to explain, but after a while, you kind of start to feel a connection with these other dog owners. Some dogs have actually started sending each other postcards in the mail. Back in May, I actually met a woman from California who is a sweet lady and owner of 4 cairn terriers (who follow Josie, and we follow them too.) It all came about because in one of her photos, she mentioned they were prepping for a trip to Purina Farms for a big event. I messaged her saying I lived nearby, and she wanted to meet up! It was great! 

Today, one of Josie's Scottish cairn pals had a photo saying they were raising money for cystic fibrosis.

Record scratch... what!? Really? I had to reload the picture twice to make sure my eyes weren't making things up.

They had a link in the profile for their little charity type thing. I sent them a private message and got a reply from the dog's mom, who has CF. She was pretty excited I had reached out.

But wow. Like, what are the odds? How amazing, that I would 'meet' someone from Scotland with CF via my dog's Instagram account? Crazy.