Good deeds, done dirt cheap

Portia

Today was a Boy Scout day, consisting of two good deeds.  Although the Boy Scouts no longer consider me suitable for their organization due to the twin facts that I'm gay and that I don't profess a belief in their god, it didn't stop me from attaining their highest rank or enjoying the years that I spent in scouting.  Nor did it stop me from adopting some of the group's loftier sentiments, like service to others.  Mostly I enjoyed my years in scouting because my troop went camping, once a month, year round.  Although I didn't hunt or fish, I did enjoy the outdoors and many of my fondest memories from my early years involve camping, hiking, and backpacking, with the Scouts, friends, family, or by myself.
 

Portia stepping off the scales

Not long after moving down here from northern Virginia, I found myself at an outdoor party, standing around a big campfire with about 15-20 guys, all gay.  The topic of scouting came up, we took a poll, and fully a third of us were Eagle Scouts.  I am willing to bet that if you put together a group of straight guys of that same age group, who had only their sexual orientation in common, you wouldn't find a third of them to be Eagle Scouts.  The reason, I think, is pretty simple.  In the adolescent years that it takes in attain the rank of Eagle in scouting, most straight boys develop overiding interests in sports and girls.  That leaves a disproportionate number of gay boys who stay in scouting long enough to become Eagle Scouts.  Suck on that, Boy Scouts of America.
 

Minerva is less outgoing but she's coming around

Anyway, the first of my good deeds for the day was taking Berta and her two new cats (Portia -formerly Posey, and Minerva - formerly Min) to my vet for an initial visit.  It was just a basic check up, nail trim, and to get acquainted with the good folks at Old Dominion Animal Hospital.  One of the cats had ear mites so I'm glad we went, but otherwise they were fine and they are getting along well in their new home.

Minerva

After a quick stop at Lowe's, I went to the SPCA in Charlottesville to pick up Aailyah, a sweet female pitbull.  I don't need to repeat the rather long story in detail, but she had been surrendered because the owner had to move in with her mother for a short time and the dog wasn't welcome.  The owner subsequently relocated and wanted the dog back but it didn't meet the SPCA's adoption criteria because the dog had demonstrated a strong prey drive towards small animals, including cats.  They transferred the dog to me and I met the woman an hour later and adopted the dog back to her, racking up my second good deed for the day.
 

Aailyah

She was very happy to be reunited with her owner.

They say no good deed goes unpunished and I still have most of my day's work to do, but I should be able to split it between Friday night and Saturday.