The Happy Things Thread

[RVInit]

[AndyinPA]

Whoa! I needed that today!

[Sunrise]

So adorable! The previous page had the baby as the top pic and I always smiled when I saw her. Now I’ll smile when I open this page too, also.

[vic]

Whoa! I needed that today!

Me, too!

[NotaPerson]

Such a precious little bunny!

I wish I could have seen my house bunny Ruby at that age (adopted her when she was several months old).

Here she is getting some affection from the house human.

27785267967_1cd2059245_z.jpg

Rabbits make me happy.

[RVInit]

I love me some rabbits! They always make me smile. Ruby is so cute!!

[AndyinPA]

Rabbits are some of the cutest animals ever!

[kate520]

When we moved into our first new home together there was a colony of bunnies who lived nearby. Most were wild, brown bunnies like that adorable baby, but there were also several escaped/dumped domestic buns, including two lop eared beauties. Our house was part of their daily rounds...until our dogs moved in.

Sayonara, buns.
No bunnies were hurt, they just moved on.

[NotaPerson]

Rabbits are some of the cutest animals ever!

Ruby would agree. And many people don't realize that buns can develop very strong affectionate bonds with humans, just like dogs and cats. More like cats, I suppose. Buns are also quite clever. Ruby surprised me when I first got her by how quickly she learned to associate one thing with another.

► Show Spoiler

Bunnies are super easy to litter-box train too.

[MsDaisy]

We’re in the country and have a lot of wild mint and assorted things growing in the grass all over the place around here, people have had kitchen gardens in various places around this house for over 200 years. We also have lots of really big and very bold wild rabbits who like to munch that stuff and they know exactly how far out the front the dogs can go before they magically stop every single time. So as far as they’re concerned everything the other side of that line is theirs because they know the dogs will not cross that line. Drives the dogs nuts, sometimes they just sit on the porch and watch as the rabbits graze.

The dogs have no reason to complain too much, they do have about a 5 acre patch inside their electric fence where they can run, chase, dig, and do pretty much as they want and a doggie door to come and go as they please. There are lots of exciting things wondering through all the time that give them great sport, like squirrels who like to play chicken. They know where the dogs stop too!

[NotaPerson]

Getting to watch that would definitely keep me happy.

[Whatever4]

We used to have a dog that spent days on a chain out back. The cat would sit on the grass just beyond where the chain ended and taunt the dog. One day my brother lengthened the chain. The cat noticed as the dog sailed over her head instead of being abruptly stopped. Never saw her move so fast from a sitting position.

[Dolly]

The Facebook post doesn't have a very good video, but a sweet thoughtful gesture from this class.
More at the CBS link with a short news story - more video

CBS News
October 24 at 7:20 PM ·
WATCH: Kindergartners in Tennessee learned how to sign "Happy Birthday" to celebrate the 60th birthday of their beloved elementary school custodian, who is hard of hearing. His incredible reaction to the surprise says it all.

https://cbsn.ws/2ytzZ4c

Kindergartners learn to sign "Happy Birthday" for school's hard of hearing custodian
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee- ... lementary/

[AndyinPA]

Sweet!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-new ... smsnnews11

Doctor and marathon runner reunite after rescue

On November 4th, more than 52,000 people from around the world came shoulder-to-shoulder to run the New York City Marathon. Two of those runners came together at mile 16 that day and changed each others' lives forever.

After running over the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan, Elfering felt something wasn't quite right. "I just remember thinking, 'I'm a little warm, but we're coming off the bridge,'" Elfering told CBS News. "I remember seeing the people, like, 'Oh, we're back in and they're going to cheer me on.' Then I don't remember anything."

Elfering fell to the ground — she was having a heart attack. Her friend and running partner, Victoria, who had traveled to New York to run the race with her, panicked.

That's when Dr. Ted Strange fatefully ran by.

He tried to wake up Elfering and quickly realized she hadn't just fainted — it was much more serious. "She didn't have a pulse," he said. "I just said, 'I'm starting CPR, I need a defibrillator.'"

Paramedics and members of the FDNY ran from the sidelines and helped. It took the team four tries with the defibrillator to resuscitate her.

[Dolly]

Nature film crew abandons 'interference rule' to help dying penguins

A BBC documentary crew in Antarctica abandoned their “no interference” rule to save a group of baby penguins.

Though it is unusual for the film crew on famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough’s "Dynasties" series to interfere with nature, the crew’s members decided to intervene on Sunday’s episode after several Emperor penguins and their chicks got trapped inside icy ravine and cut off from their colony.

The crew decided to build a stepped ramp for the stranded penguins to climb to safety after seeing some chicks in the colony die from extreme weather as temperatures reached a low of -76 degrees Fahrenheit, CBS News reported.

“We opted to intervene passively," the show's director, Will Lawson, said in a quote seen by CBS. "Once we'd dug that little ramp, which took very little time, we left it to the birds. We were elated when they decided to use it."

Attenborough, who has drawn criticism in the past for not interfering with nature, also said he would have broken the unwritten rule in a recent video published by Country Living.

"It's very rare for the film crew to intervene," he said in the video. "But they realize that they might be able to save at least some of these birds, simply by digging a few steps in the ice." <SNIP>

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... g-penguins

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

http://time.com/5466677/north-carolina- ... und-alive/

Missing North Carolina 13-Year-Old Found Alive in Oklahoma

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/ ... t-of-time/

Winter Is Only Solidifying My Desire to Drive Rear-Wheel-Drive Cars for the Rest of Time

I'm beginning to worry that many vehicles I once fervently desired to own will never again appear on my shortlist of possible daily drivers.

But a hard-hitting winter manifested itself early on Prince Edward Island, and I’m worried that the fun quotient exhibited by a 2013 Scion FR-S could never be replicated by a front or all-wheel-drive car.

Who’d’ve thunk that winter, a snowy and bitterly cold early winter at that, would be the event that (potentially) precipitates long-term FR-S ownership?

This is not to suggest that I can blast through drifts like a 4Runner, nor do I expect to drive home from work when accumulations, well, accumulate faster than expected. That’s what coworkers with ride height are for. In all other scenarios, however, my right foot is the controller of how much traction I want to possess. And yes, on the right road or in the right parking lot, I often wish to break traction, and I wish to do so all evening. That is one of the benefits of balance.

[Addie]

Associated Press: Quackarazzi: Mandarin duck holds NYC in its spell



NEW YORK (AP) — It took just days for the brightly colored Mandarin duck that appeared suddenly in a Central Park pond to turn both New Yorkers and visitors into a new gaggle: the quackarazzi.

A horde of photographers has been gathering daily in the park off Fifth Avenue for well over a month, hoping to catch a glimpse of the exotic bird with pink, purple, orange and emerald green plumage and markings that admirer Joe Amato compares to "a living box of crayons."

[AndyinPA]

Beautiful creature!

[RVInit]

Apologies to the non-Twitter users. This is cute.

[Volkonski]

Jodie Fleischer
‏
Verified account

@jodienbc4
11h11 hours ago
More
A Marine Corps veteran from Virginia stopped on the side of the road to help a man with a flat tire- then he recognized the stranded driver! #NBC4DC

[MN-Skeptic]

General Colin Powell's follow-up post on his Facebook account -

Yesterday was a reassuring day for me. I was on my way to Walter Reed Military Hospital for an exam. As I drove along Interstate 495 my left front tire blew out. I am a car guy and knew I could change it but it was cold outside and the lug bolts were very tight. I jacked the car up and got several of the bolts removed when a car suddenly pulled up in front of me. As the man got out of his car I could see that he had an artificial leg. He said he recognized me and wanted to help me. We chatted and I learned that he lost his leg in Afghanistan when he worked over there as a civilian employee. He grabbed the lug wrench and finished the job as I put the tools away. Then we both hurriedly headed off to appointments at Walter Reed. I hadn't gotten his name or address but he did ask for a “selfie”. And then he sent me the message below last night.

"Gen. Powell, I hope I never forget today because I’ll never forget reading your books. You were always an inspiration, a leader and statesman. After 33 years in the military you were the giant whose shoulders we stood upon to carry the torch to light the way and now it is tomorrow’s generation that must do the same. Anthony Maggert"

Thanks, Anthony. You touched my soul and reminded me about what this country is all about and why it is so great. Let's stop screaming at each other. Let's just take care of each other. You made my day.

[Volkonski]

When this started it was controversial but now-

Houston Chronicle
‏
Verified account

@HoustonChron
47s47 seconds ago
More
Houston's Drag Queen Storytime is expanding because it's so popular

https://t.co/Hnrwy9boWZ

Houston's Drag Queen Storytime is getting even more fabulo

The popular event is expanding to accommodate bigger crowds at the Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library. The monthly event will now include two storytimes and welcome more people.

The next Drag Queen Storytimes are scheduled for 2 and 2:45 p.m. Saturday at the library. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, and priority will be given to families with children. The room will be capped at 80 people.



Earlier this month, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal issued a final ruling in a case claiming the program violated the freedom of religion of library patrons. Rosenthal granted the city's request to terminate the case.

[tek]

'Everyone Belongs': Avon Coffee Shop Employs Workers of All Abilities

Friends and co-owners Kim Morrison and Noelle Alix were inspired by their own daughters who have special needs.

“We decided that we wanted to make a difference and we wanted to help our community,” Morrison said. “They earn a paycheck. They have jobs. You can see how busy we are. This is a for profit business so we have to keep going. We do push them and they learn new skills.”

Customers say they love it.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/loc ... 81991.html (hopefully that won't autoplay before you click)