Why is it so easy to write down a list of what you should do, but so hard to actually get it done?
Which isn't really why I'm a little annoyed. I'm a little annoyed because I'm taking 17 hours of classes, need to write 4 ten-page papers and need a part-time job like it's going out of style.
And people keep telling me different things. My professors say that I shouldn't get a job right now because I need to focus on schoolwork. But I can't stay in school if I don't pay for it, which I know, which is what my family is telling me.
And here I am submitting applications and not getting hired and watching my savings dwindle.
And to this whiny blah-fest all I can think to say is,
"Welcome to real life. Please take a number and we'll get your complaint filed in 90 years,"
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Finally happened to me
It finally happened to me!
Really it did, I had an animal encounter! (I feel so accomplished now.)
I was heading back from a meeting with my professor, and there at the crosswalk was a black kitten, staring at the passersby with a very friendly expression. I got off my bike and started talking to the cat, he was rubbing his face all up and down the concrete, but didn't want to actually be touched. So I was following him along, trying to get him to come to me, and wishing that I had some kind of food with me- because he was really skinny.
As I was doing this, a guy came up and the kitty got spooked- somewhere along the way I started calling him Mal. Even though he was now in hiding, I couldn't forget it so I grabbed a piece of lunchmeat from my dorm (since FruitBat and her magical truck of cat food were not t the campus) and hoofed it back to where I saw the cat. I didn't see him there anymore, but left the meat anyway. I will confess that I felt pretty depressed that he wasn't there...
Anyway when FB got back I told her about the kitten and after dinner/studying we went back to where he'd been on our walk- Fruit Bat brought along a can of wet food, and we popped that sucker open and settled down to wait.
Let me tell you, seeing a black cat on a dark night, is not easy. But Mal did show up, and we then hoofed it over to the dorm to grab FB's truck and trap... we tried to get him into the big trap- but he was too clever and light to trigger the switch! So we caught him in the trap meant for rabbits and squirrels... lol.
I swear, Mal is adorable, and I feel wonderfully/horribly overprotective. We've got him at the lady who'd taken care of Mamma-kitty earlier. He let us pet him! He's really horrible at being feral... He let us hold him and fuss over him, and even when he wasn't happy that we held him he didn't claw or bite at us, he just squirmed.
Of course... none of us can keep him... but... I love him anyway.
My first animal rescue!
Really it did, I had an animal encounter! (I feel so accomplished now.)
I was heading back from a meeting with my professor, and there at the crosswalk was a black kitten, staring at the passersby with a very friendly expression. I got off my bike and started talking to the cat, he was rubbing his face all up and down the concrete, but didn't want to actually be touched. So I was following him along, trying to get him to come to me, and wishing that I had some kind of food with me- because he was really skinny.
As I was doing this, a guy came up and the kitty got spooked- somewhere along the way I started calling him Mal. Even though he was now in hiding, I couldn't forget it so I grabbed a piece of lunchmeat from my dorm (since FruitBat and her magical truck of cat food were not t the campus) and hoofed it back to where I saw the cat. I didn't see him there anymore, but left the meat anyway. I will confess that I felt pretty depressed that he wasn't there...
Anyway when FB got back I told her about the kitten and after dinner/studying we went back to where he'd been on our walk- Fruit Bat brought along a can of wet food, and we popped that sucker open and settled down to wait.
Let me tell you, seeing a black cat on a dark night, is not easy. But Mal did show up, and we then hoofed it over to the dorm to grab FB's truck and trap... we tried to get him into the big trap- but he was too clever and light to trigger the switch! So we caught him in the trap meant for rabbits and squirrels... lol.
I swear, Mal is adorable, and I feel wonderfully/horribly overprotective. We've got him at the lady who'd taken care of Mamma-kitty earlier. He let us pet him! He's really horrible at being feral... He let us hold him and fuss over him, and even when he wasn't happy that we held him he didn't claw or bite at us, he just squirmed.
Of course... none of us can keep him... but... I love him anyway.
My first animal rescue!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Mini-rant: it's FUN SIZE!
This is going to be quick, because I'm supposed to be studying for a test tomorrow.
This is... a rant on dual standards, particularly racism. I'm white, and as a white person I am very aware that there are things I can't say or do because they are racist.
But last night I went down to the laundry room with Fruit Bat, and there was Hispanic girl there loudly telling the entire room (about six of us) that she just can't get along with white people.
Wow.
That's just... wow. Four people in the room were white.
Doesn't she think that we might find that a little offensive? That she's stereotyping us like that? Of course, we can't say anything though, because heaven forbid that we ever get past our ancestors mistakes in dealing with people of other races. Everyone knows that white people are racist, it's impossible for any other "minority" race to be considered racist.
It just really bugs me- why should it matter? We're never going to get past this nasty racism thing if we can't all just ignore skin color- and I'm preaching to myself here too.
That girl could have said- "I don't get along with my roommate" (the basis for her claim.)
And then I wouldn't have been annoyed and looked over to see what ethnic background she was from. And all that jazz. And annoyance.
Also- I found out from Fruit Bat that apparently all Catholics believe that it is against God to spay and neuter their animals- which is news to her, since she's a Catholic. Yay uneducated stereotypes.
(No, it is not against God to spay/neuter animals, and catholics don't believe that it is.)
But anyway, back to studying.
This is... a rant on dual standards, particularly racism. I'm white, and as a white person I am very aware that there are things I can't say or do because they are racist.
But last night I went down to the laundry room with Fruit Bat, and there was Hispanic girl there loudly telling the entire room (about six of us) that she just can't get along with white people.
Wow.
That's just... wow. Four people in the room were white.
Doesn't she think that we might find that a little offensive? That she's stereotyping us like that? Of course, we can't say anything though, because heaven forbid that we ever get past our ancestors mistakes in dealing with people of other races. Everyone knows that white people are racist, it's impossible for any other "minority" race to be considered racist.
It just really bugs me- why should it matter? We're never going to get past this nasty racism thing if we can't all just ignore skin color- and I'm preaching to myself here too.
That girl could have said- "I don't get along with my roommate" (the basis for her claim.)
And then I wouldn't have been annoyed and looked over to see what ethnic background she was from. And all that jazz. And annoyance.
Also- I found out from Fruit Bat that apparently all Catholics believe that it is against God to spay and neuter their animals- which is news to her, since she's a Catholic. Yay uneducated stereotypes.
(No, it is not against God to spay/neuter animals, and catholics don't believe that it is.)
But anyway, back to studying.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sooo embarasssing!
Gah! I totally did not mean to spend my Sunday doing this.
Okay, so I've got an account on DeviantART, (as longtime readers will know) and today I was looking around at some stuff on there and came across some Pok'e'mon stuff.
*Wince*
As a kid, I was pretty into the show. I'll tell anyone who'll listen stories about how I woke up at 5 on Saturdays to watch "cartoons" that didn't start until 8. "Cartoons" really being code for two main shows, and any number of smaller ones. The two I cared most about?
Recess and Pokemon. And Pokemon was the one I liked more.
But it's a silly show, it's a KIDS show, it's been going on for 14 years and the main character is still 10 years old. So even though I saw these pictures and had a moment of nostalgia, there was no way that I was going to actually WATCH THE SHOW.
Yeah... right.
So this is what's really embarrassing- not that I went back and watched the first episode anyway (because I still watch a lot of cartoons), not even that when the theme song started playing some part of my brain (damaged no doubt from watching infomercials for three hours waiting for my shows to start) remembered to get excited and a goofy grin stretched across my face, but that I watched the show.
And I enjoyed it.
ADGGHADOSIBGAWSE!
Just two or three years ago I watched the first episode again and it seemed inane and stupid and I couldn't stop mocking it and had to turn it off before I finished because I couldn't handle it!
Today I sat and watched it and laughed at all the ridiculous parts and couldn't believe I was watching it, couldn't turn it off, couldn't stop smiling!
And I'm going to watch the second episode!
If this keeps up, Fruit Bat may have to hold an intervention.
Okay, so I've got an account on DeviantART, (as longtime readers will know) and today I was looking around at some stuff on there and came across some Pok'e'mon stuff.
*Wince*
As a kid, I was pretty into the show. I'll tell anyone who'll listen stories about how I woke up at 5 on Saturdays to watch "cartoons" that didn't start until 8. "Cartoons" really being code for two main shows, and any number of smaller ones. The two I cared most about?
Recess and Pokemon. And Pokemon was the one I liked more.
But it's a silly show, it's a KIDS show, it's been going on for 14 years and the main character is still 10 years old. So even though I saw these pictures and had a moment of nostalgia, there was no way that I was going to actually WATCH THE SHOW.
Yeah... right.
So this is what's really embarrassing- not that I went back and watched the first episode anyway (because I still watch a lot of cartoons), not even that when the theme song started playing some part of my brain (damaged no doubt from watching infomercials for three hours waiting for my shows to start) remembered to get excited and a goofy grin stretched across my face, but that I watched the show.
And I enjoyed it.
ADGGHADOSIBGAWSE!
Just two or three years ago I watched the first episode again and it seemed inane and stupid and I couldn't stop mocking it and had to turn it off before I finished because I couldn't handle it!
Today I sat and watched it and laughed at all the ridiculous parts and couldn't believe I was watching it, couldn't turn it off, couldn't stop smiling!
And I'm going to watch the second episode!
If this keeps up, Fruit Bat may have to hold an intervention.
Monday, September 6, 2010
I'm Baaaaack!
greetings earthlings!
My computer is back from the grave, and it doesn't complain as much now either!
Anyone who's worked in the same room as my gray matter will testify that the fan runs a lot, and very VERY loudly. But since we got the new hardrive, I haven't heard a peep out of my mechanical brain.
I'm also back from a weekend back home, there have been some difficulties in re-obtaining employment at my previous location, so I don't have my job back quite yet. This just meant that for the three day weekend I got to go home, ostensibly to get my computer fixed and meet Hodgins, the newest addition to the family.
My dad was in the parking lot at a GoodWill when he came across a kitten. A starved, oil-spattered, 4-5 week old kitten. So he took it back home with him, he's been taken to the vet, checked out, and is now being spoiled to within an inch of his little loud-purring life.
My computer is back from the grave, and it doesn't complain as much now either!
Anyone who's worked in the same room as my gray matter will testify that the fan runs a lot, and very VERY loudly. But since we got the new hardrive, I haven't heard a peep out of my mechanical brain.
I'm also back from a weekend back home, there have been some difficulties in re-obtaining employment at my previous location, so I don't have my job back quite yet. This just meant that for the three day weekend I got to go home, ostensibly to get my computer fixed and meet Hodgins, the newest addition to the family.
My dad was in the parking lot at a GoodWill when he came across a kitten. A starved, oil-spattered, 4-5 week old kitten. So he took it back home with him, he's been taken to the vet, checked out, and is now being spoiled to within an inch of his little loud-purring life.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Cents and Skunks
Today was our first full day back at the dorm. I rolled out from my house at around 8:35 yesterday fro the 3.5 hour drive to San Angelo- thankfully my parents got me a nice audiobook to listen to on the way- it makes the trip more bearable.
Yesterday was spent making the dorm look lived in once more, this year, Fruit Bat and I didn't have any help- her family didn't come this time, though they wanted to.
We managed, though our arms are embarrassingly sore today.
Anyway, this post was supposed to be about today... we stopped by our respective former (current, in Fruit Bat's case,) places of employment. I asked for my job back and received positive overtones in return- so they do seem to want me back. At least my manager does... hope she still feels that way when she sees my availability... XP
Also while we were out and about, we saw a garage sale, and it was suggested that we stop. We went shopping yesterday, and found ourselves in need of a bowl to mix things in. The garage sale was really a godsend, we found just what we needed for only 50 cents! The man running the show was really very nice, and we were really glad that we found what we needed so cheap.
And, I know you can't tell... but its been a while since I started this post, and now I can't remember exactly where I was going with it- except to say that we've seen Momma-kitty and Abel, as well as... a little skunk. Like a baby skunk that's been eating the cat food... That's not good. Fruit Bat's already considering ways to trap it without getting sprayed...
Yesterday was spent making the dorm look lived in once more, this year, Fruit Bat and I didn't have any help- her family didn't come this time, though they wanted to.
We managed, though our arms are embarrassingly sore today.
Anyway, this post was supposed to be about today... we stopped by our respective former (current, in Fruit Bat's case,) places of employment. I asked for my job back and received positive overtones in return- so they do seem to want me back. At least my manager does... hope she still feels that way when she sees my availability... XP
Also while we were out and about, we saw a garage sale, and it was suggested that we stop. We went shopping yesterday, and found ourselves in need of a bowl to mix things in. The garage sale was really a godsend, we found just what we needed for only 50 cents! The man running the show was really very nice, and we were really glad that we found what we needed so cheap.
And, I know you can't tell... but its been a while since I started this post, and now I can't remember exactly where I was going with it- except to say that we've seen Momma-kitty and Abel, as well as... a little skunk. Like a baby skunk that's been eating the cat food... That's not good. Fruit Bat's already considering ways to trap it without getting sprayed...
Monday, June 14, 2010
Back!
Actually, I got back yesterday, but didn't feel up to doing much of anything. A day in the car can do that to you.
Anyway- the breakdown of the trip!!
We left on Friday, but only drove about six hours to where my Aunt and Uncle live, the seven (there are eight in my immediate family, but my older brother didn't come with us,) of us divided into separate households, Mom and Dad staying with my Aunt and Uncle, while EvilGlare and my little brother stayed with "the ticklemonster" cousin and his family, and Squirt, my littlest sister and I stayed at another cousin's. She has a great dane named Samson, and he is adorable. And huge. Reallly Reallllly huge. He was so excited to be around people!
We got up early the next day and drove for about twelve hours- all the driving on these trips is done by my dad, he says he can't relax when mom drives. That might be weird for other families, but its been that way as long as I can remember, so it's pretty normal to me. A little tough on dad though.
(As a side note, it was totally crazy- once we got out of texas, everything was GREEN. And there was water EVERYWHERE. I mean, it's one thing to know that your state is almost constantly in a state of drought, but it's another to see it. And the swamps of Louisiana? I'd never even seen a swamp/bayou thing before. Holy cow that was a lot of water- just sitting there! and trees growing up out of it!!)
We stopped that night at Panama City beach, the next morning, Mom, Squirt and I were up with the sun to gather seashells before the other tourists got to them. Yeah. We're greedy. XD
Didn't really matter though, since we didn't find any big shells, we did get a lot of pretty little ones though. The weather was really nice up until the others woke up- then a storm blew in. It was pretty incredible to see the lightning strike the water- mom says that she and her dad used to watch that all the time. It was cool, but we kids (probably mom and dad too) were pretty worried that we wouldn't be able to play in the ocean, and it was such a pretty beach. The closest ocean beach to where we live is probably Galveston, and that beach, while nice enough if you can't get out to a real beach, is pretty depressing. Brown water meeting brown sand, and everything smelling a lot like fish. The Panama beach was gorgeous, white sand that wasn't coarse, and water that was a dark green near shore, and blue on the horizon.
The storm blew past in about 40 minutes, and we were the first ones in the water. There was a pretty strong current- fortunately, it dragged ACROSS the beach, not OUT to sea. No Riptides please. We had to keep wading ashore to get back to our stuff on the beach!
After a while, and burying my little brother, most of the family just laid out, tanning, or resting in the case of my mom and I, who only really freckle and burn- burning being the more likely.
Since I know I burn, and was too excited to just lay around, Squirt and I tried our hands at making a sandcastle- with Mom and Dad giving pointers. We still failed pretty miserably. I like to blame that on the beach- it was a pretty steep one, so all the good wet sand got hit by the waves every few minutes, so we hand to build it up on the level dry sand. We wet it down with seawater, but.... yeah. ANYWAY!!!! I tried to make a moat too- but the seawater sank down into the sand.... lol..... should have thought about that a little better!
After this, we all piled back into the van, and headed out once more. We stopped to say hi to an old friend of mom's, who she hadn't seen since before any of us kids were born.
We arrived in Orlando and checked into our hotel...
The next day we spent at Universal Studios, the first of our long tour of theme parks. We went on the incredible Hulk first, I was really happy with the way the lines were set up, so that it told you the story as you went along. The only thing worse than being in a long line, is being BORED in a long line. The ride itself was good, though I kept trying to black out on the first... loop? incline? I couldn't tell because my vision kept going out and all I could really see was a dark impression of the track in front of me. Fortunately I never lost vision completely, though it still would probably have been a good idea to avoid going on it again. We also rode Spider-Man, a 3-D virtual reality type ride, which was REALLY good. I mean, no upsidedowns or anything, but really impressive as far as action-storytelling goes. I can't remember much else of what we did, I know we did Poseidon's Fury, which was fun... I think this post has gone on long enough though, and I haven't even gotten to Disney yet. Maybe I'll write more later... today or tomorrow.
Anyway- the breakdown of the trip!!
We left on Friday, but only drove about six hours to where my Aunt and Uncle live, the seven (there are eight in my immediate family, but my older brother didn't come with us,) of us divided into separate households, Mom and Dad staying with my Aunt and Uncle, while EvilGlare and my little brother stayed with "the ticklemonster" cousin and his family, and Squirt, my littlest sister and I stayed at another cousin's. She has a great dane named Samson, and he is adorable. And huge. Reallly Reallllly huge. He was so excited to be around people!
We got up early the next day and drove for about twelve hours- all the driving on these trips is done by my dad, he says he can't relax when mom drives. That might be weird for other families, but its been that way as long as I can remember, so it's pretty normal to me. A little tough on dad though.
(As a side note, it was totally crazy- once we got out of texas, everything was GREEN. And there was water EVERYWHERE. I mean, it's one thing to know that your state is almost constantly in a state of drought, but it's another to see it. And the swamps of Louisiana? I'd never even seen a swamp/bayou thing before. Holy cow that was a lot of water- just sitting there! and trees growing up out of it!!)
We stopped that night at Panama City beach, the next morning, Mom, Squirt and I were up with the sun to gather seashells before the other tourists got to them. Yeah. We're greedy. XD
Didn't really matter though, since we didn't find any big shells, we did get a lot of pretty little ones though. The weather was really nice up until the others woke up- then a storm blew in. It was pretty incredible to see the lightning strike the water- mom says that she and her dad used to watch that all the time. It was cool, but we kids (probably mom and dad too) were pretty worried that we wouldn't be able to play in the ocean, and it was such a pretty beach. The closest ocean beach to where we live is probably Galveston, and that beach, while nice enough if you can't get out to a real beach, is pretty depressing. Brown water meeting brown sand, and everything smelling a lot like fish. The Panama beach was gorgeous, white sand that wasn't coarse, and water that was a dark green near shore, and blue on the horizon.
The storm blew past in about 40 minutes, and we were the first ones in the water. There was a pretty strong current- fortunately, it dragged ACROSS the beach, not OUT to sea. No Riptides please. We had to keep wading ashore to get back to our stuff on the beach!
After a while, and burying my little brother, most of the family just laid out, tanning, or resting in the case of my mom and I, who only really freckle and burn- burning being the more likely.
Since I know I burn, and was too excited to just lay around, Squirt and I tried our hands at making a sandcastle- with Mom and Dad giving pointers. We still failed pretty miserably. I like to blame that on the beach- it was a pretty steep one, so all the good wet sand got hit by the waves every few minutes, so we hand to build it up on the level dry sand. We wet it down with seawater, but.... yeah. ANYWAY!!!! I tried to make a moat too- but the seawater sank down into the sand.... lol..... should have thought about that a little better!
After this, we all piled back into the van, and headed out once more. We stopped to say hi to an old friend of mom's, who she hadn't seen since before any of us kids were born.
We arrived in Orlando and checked into our hotel...
The next day we spent at Universal Studios, the first of our long tour of theme parks. We went on the incredible Hulk first, I was really happy with the way the lines were set up, so that it told you the story as you went along. The only thing worse than being in a long line, is being BORED in a long line. The ride itself was good, though I kept trying to black out on the first... loop? incline? I couldn't tell because my vision kept going out and all I could really see was a dark impression of the track in front of me. Fortunately I never lost vision completely, though it still would probably have been a good idea to avoid going on it again. We also rode Spider-Man, a 3-D virtual reality type ride, which was REALLY good. I mean, no upsidedowns or anything, but really impressive as far as action-storytelling goes. I can't remember much else of what we did, I know we did Poseidon's Fury, which was fun... I think this post has gone on long enough though, and I haven't even gotten to Disney yet. Maybe I'll write more later... today or tomorrow.
Friday, June 4, 2010
You can't handle the truth!
Sorry, had to say that since I'm watching that movie later today- A Few Good Men. Whooo.....
But here is the truth, whether you can handle it or not.
I'm leaving for DisneyWorld today. Yep. The "happiest place on earth" will soon be visited by yours truly. I can't wait, I'm so excited, hence this post as I frantically kill time that just won't stay dead.
I've never been to Disney before, though as a kid I always wanted to go and in high school I nearly died of envy when my sisters EvilGlare and Squirt got to go as part of a band trip. Much as I hated band, it actually made me wish I'd stayed in it!
But this year, rather than the traditional family trip to Colorado, we're driving to Florida. That part causes mixed emotions- (not the driving, I'm well used to long days in the car) but the fact that we aren't going to Colorado. We usually go just about every year. I mean, I LOVE Colorado, its one of the few places that I feel I can totally relax and recharge because its all so natural and beautiful, and I don't have my computer with me. I'm a bit of geek- I tend to use my computer and play videogames more than anything else, so a week without it is refreshing.
But still, we're going to DISNEY. I've wanted to go for FOREVER. I've halfway talked myself into riding all of the rides, no matter if they scare me or not- but I just remembered (how could I have forgotten?) that there are TEACUPS at Disney. No way am I getting on one of those things. That would be a sure way to ruin my vacation.
Well, I should probably wrap up this post, as I'm starting to just ramble- the sad news? I only killed about twelve minutes. *Sigh*
But here is the truth, whether you can handle it or not.
I'm leaving for DisneyWorld today. Yep. The "happiest place on earth" will soon be visited by yours truly. I can't wait, I'm so excited, hence this post as I frantically kill time that just won't stay dead.
I've never been to Disney before, though as a kid I always wanted to go and in high school I nearly died of envy when my sisters EvilGlare and Squirt got to go as part of a band trip. Much as I hated band, it actually made me wish I'd stayed in it!
But this year, rather than the traditional family trip to Colorado, we're driving to Florida. That part causes mixed emotions- (not the driving, I'm well used to long days in the car) but the fact that we aren't going to Colorado. We usually go just about every year. I mean, I LOVE Colorado, its one of the few places that I feel I can totally relax and recharge because its all so natural and beautiful, and I don't have my computer with me. I'm a bit of geek- I tend to use my computer and play videogames more than anything else, so a week without it is refreshing.
But still, we're going to DISNEY. I've wanted to go for FOREVER. I've halfway talked myself into riding all of the rides, no matter if they scare me or not- but I just remembered (how could I have forgotten?) that there are TEACUPS at Disney. No way am I getting on one of those things. That would be a sure way to ruin my vacation.
Well, I should probably wrap up this post, as I'm starting to just ramble- the sad news? I only killed about twelve minutes. *Sigh*
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Welcome Summer
... now tone it down please...
Well, it's May 5th (happy Cinco de Mayo) and it's hot down here. Not bad hot (yet) but Fruit Bat and I are already pining for those glorious 75 degree days.
Also, I managed to get sunburned already. (Sigh)
Had a bit of an adventure today- last night I got off work at around the same time as FB so she wound up following me back to the dorm. During the course of this trip, she noticed that one of my tailllights was out, and there was about an inch of water swishing around inside of the light. O.o
We couldn't really do anything about it last night, but today we went ahead and pulled out the light. Wow, easy to say, but we had no clue what we were doing, so it took a long time. Fruit Bat was an immeasurable help.
We got the light undone and turned it upside down and sideways, trying to get the water out and also so we could see where it had gotten in, but we weren't able to tell anything. We had to completely pull off the colored plastic casing and dump it (there was a LOT of water!), of the four lights, one was broken, and one didn't really work, so we had to figure out how to remove the bulbs (a challenge in itself) since they didn't screw into place, but were snap-ins. We then ran down to wal-mart to get new bulbs and replace them.
Now I just hope it doesn't rain for a while. Until we can figure out where the leak is- though if the sunshine is any indication, I wouldn't count on rain for a month.
Stupid sunburned shoulders....
Well, it's May 5th (happy Cinco de Mayo) and it's hot down here. Not bad hot (yet) but Fruit Bat and I are already pining for those glorious 75 degree days.
Also, I managed to get sunburned already. (Sigh)
Had a bit of an adventure today- last night I got off work at around the same time as FB so she wound up following me back to the dorm. During the course of this trip, she noticed that one of my tailllights was out, and there was about an inch of water swishing around inside of the light. O.o
We couldn't really do anything about it last night, but today we went ahead and pulled out the light. Wow, easy to say, but we had no clue what we were doing, so it took a long time. Fruit Bat was an immeasurable help.
We got the light undone and turned it upside down and sideways, trying to get the water out and also so we could see where it had gotten in, but we weren't able to tell anything. We had to completely pull off the colored plastic casing and dump it (there was a LOT of water!), of the four lights, one was broken, and one didn't really work, so we had to figure out how to remove the bulbs (a challenge in itself) since they didn't screw into place, but were snap-ins. We then ran down to wal-mart to get new bulbs and replace them.
Now I just hope it doesn't rain for a while. Until we can figure out where the leak is- though if the sunshine is any indication, I wouldn't count on rain for a month.
Stupid sunburned shoulders....
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Surprised
I admit, I was surprised. I'm a big girl, and I can admit when I'm wrong. In my painting class we have moved on from photo-representational work to impasto/expressionistic/ arbitrary color using palette knives instead of brushes. I've never worked with palette knives before, and certainly never gone impasto (thick paint that stands up off the surface its applied to in ridges.) Van Gogh did a lot of this, even in photos you can see the lines of the paint, and if you were to actually touch it you could feel the texture. Arbitrary color is just fancy-speak for picking the colors yourself regardless of how an object appears in real life. Anyway, I fully expected to hate this project because I like working with brushes and doing tight details, getting things to look real. Also, I'm a fairly cheap individual, and impasto uses a lot of paint. So I was surprised today because I like the work I'm doing. It might not be my favorite thing ever but I like not completely blending the colors and drawing designs in the wet paint. It's... fun. I didn't want to stop.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
kittens
Hello all! So Mama-kitty had her kittens a couple of days ago... Monday I think it was, and I got to see them last night.
Though it wasn't exactly for a happy reason.
The day started off pretty good, had a nice time in my classes, and had dinner and a movie with my cousins and their puppy, who was quite happy to run up to me and give me kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.
I got back to the dorm at about 10:30 or so, and was surfing the web and such for another hour after that. Fruit Bat was reading in bed, and I was thinking about taking a shower and going to bed. then Fruit Bat got a call from the lady who is looking after Mama-kitty. Apparently, since she's had her kittens, she'd been really mean, and wouldn't even let the lady open the door of the cage to feed her- she had to poke the food through the bars and Mama still swiped at her when she did.
There are four kittens, two are the creamy-orange color that Solstice is, one is a tortie and one looked gray to me, though FB says that its actually a tortie as well due to the color splotches on the paws. Anyway, this lady was calling because Mama-Kitty had pushed the gray kitten away, and she wasn't sure it was moving anymore. It was hard to tell, especially since Mama got agitated whenever she saw her.
FB and I were instantly worried, and rolled out, stopping by the store to pick up nutrient-rich kitten food to help Mama produce milk,some milk-supplement in case bottle-feeding the kitten was necessary and a cat-cube, since at the moment Mama's keeping her kittens in the litter box. It's our hope that she will move them to the cat-cube, FB thinks it would be less stressful for her if she could feel as though her babies were better hidden.
The lady watching the cats lives about twenty minutes away from campus, I think it was about 12:10 when we got there (and I can just hear mom and dad complaining about it being a school night.) She let us in and took us to the garage where the cats were.
Mama-kitty and kittens are in a large wire dog cage (not a crate, this one isn't for transportation so much as a place for your dog to sleep where they can't get into trouble) that has two litter-boxes in it. One is an actual litter-box, where Mama has sequestered the kittens, the other had been filled with shredded paper in hopes that she would nest there, but she pulled out all the paper and stuck with the other box.
The minute that Mama saw FB she started purring. I have never heard Mama-kitty purr before, but she purrs LOUD. It filled the whole garage. Fruit Bat put the cube in the cage, Mama watching her, never letting up on the purr. I was really impressed that she trusted FB so much that close to her babies without even a protest- but what came next simply blew me away. FB carefully reached in and picked up the gray kitten that had been pushed away, a motion that took her very near Mama-kitty and the other kittens, and Mama-kitty just watched her do it. Unbelievable.
Little gray was alive, and warm, FB couldn't see anything wrong with it, and handed it to me while she and the lady went to go mix up some milk supplement.
I've never seen a kitten that young in real life before. She has the extra dewclaw that some of Mama's kittens get occasionally, and from her dad, the infamous Capricorn, she's inherited some light facial markings that outline her eyes. The eyes themselves were, of course, closed. I may not know exactly when, but I do know that kittens and puppies are born with their eyes closed and don't open them for a while. I want to say a couple of weeks, but don't quote me on that.
I found it interesting that even though her eyes were closed, she was more comfortable sticking her head into the sleeve of my jacket where it was darker. She sucked on the skin of my hand, trying to nurse. I really can't get over how cute she was.
The whole time that FB and the lady were fixing the supplement, I held the little kitten, and watched Mama-kitty (still purring) watching me. She sat up and let the other three nurse that way.
FB and the lady came back, and the lady gave us pointers on how to nurse the kitten, since neither FB nor I (definitely not I!) have ever done it before. The kitten wasn't interested in the supplement, and FB and the lady left again to warm it up.
Having warmed it (and having a discussion as to whether or not it was too warm) we tried again. I think I felt her swallow some, but she really just wasn't that interested.
Finally FB decided that we would just try putting her back with Mama. She reached in (again!) and put the kitten in with the others. For a while the kitten just lay with its head on Mama's hind leg, but after a bit it moved to nurse, though it had to shove the two creamy's out of the way, since they were hogging the food supply.
It was so hard to convince ourselves to leave. We sat watching them for a long time, Mama getting sleepier and sleepier the longer that we sat there. I've never seen her so relaxed or happy.
We did have to leave though, again, it was a school night. Didn't get to bed until about 1:40 I think. Oh well, I consider it to have been worth it. Especially since the two classes I had today don't really require mental backflips.
I keep wanting to name the kittens, and I have to keep reminding myself a.) We don't know the genders yet. and b.) They are only a few days old and don't even have personalities yet!
We still don't know why Mama pushed away the gray, but it's heartening that she took it right back.
Though it wasn't exactly for a happy reason.
The day started off pretty good, had a nice time in my classes, and had dinner and a movie with my cousins and their puppy, who was quite happy to run up to me and give me kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.
I got back to the dorm at about 10:30 or so, and was surfing the web and such for another hour after that. Fruit Bat was reading in bed, and I was thinking about taking a shower and going to bed. then Fruit Bat got a call from the lady who is looking after Mama-kitty. Apparently, since she's had her kittens, she'd been really mean, and wouldn't even let the lady open the door of the cage to feed her- she had to poke the food through the bars and Mama still swiped at her when she did.
There are four kittens, two are the creamy-orange color that Solstice is, one is a tortie and one looked gray to me, though FB says that its actually a tortie as well due to the color splotches on the paws. Anyway, this lady was calling because Mama-Kitty had pushed the gray kitten away, and she wasn't sure it was moving anymore. It was hard to tell, especially since Mama got agitated whenever she saw her.
FB and I were instantly worried, and rolled out, stopping by the store to pick up nutrient-rich kitten food to help Mama produce milk,some milk-supplement in case bottle-feeding the kitten was necessary and a cat-cube, since at the moment Mama's keeping her kittens in the litter box. It's our hope that she will move them to the cat-cube, FB thinks it would be less stressful for her if she could feel as though her babies were better hidden.
The lady watching the cats lives about twenty minutes away from campus, I think it was about 12:10 when we got there (and I can just hear mom and dad complaining about it being a school night.) She let us in and took us to the garage where the cats were.
Mama-kitty and kittens are in a large wire dog cage (not a crate, this one isn't for transportation so much as a place for your dog to sleep where they can't get into trouble) that has two litter-boxes in it. One is an actual litter-box, where Mama has sequestered the kittens, the other had been filled with shredded paper in hopes that she would nest there, but she pulled out all the paper and stuck with the other box.
The minute that Mama saw FB she started purring. I have never heard Mama-kitty purr before, but she purrs LOUD. It filled the whole garage. Fruit Bat put the cube in the cage, Mama watching her, never letting up on the purr. I was really impressed that she trusted FB so much that close to her babies without even a protest- but what came next simply blew me away. FB carefully reached in and picked up the gray kitten that had been pushed away, a motion that took her very near Mama-kitty and the other kittens, and Mama-kitty just watched her do it. Unbelievable.
Little gray was alive, and warm, FB couldn't see anything wrong with it, and handed it to me while she and the lady went to go mix up some milk supplement.
I've never seen a kitten that young in real life before. She has the extra dewclaw that some of Mama's kittens get occasionally, and from her dad, the infamous Capricorn, she's inherited some light facial markings that outline her eyes. The eyes themselves were, of course, closed. I may not know exactly when, but I do know that kittens and puppies are born with their eyes closed and don't open them for a while. I want to say a couple of weeks, but don't quote me on that.
I found it interesting that even though her eyes were closed, she was more comfortable sticking her head into the sleeve of my jacket where it was darker. She sucked on the skin of my hand, trying to nurse. I really can't get over how cute she was.
The whole time that FB and the lady were fixing the supplement, I held the little kitten, and watched Mama-kitty (still purring) watching me. She sat up and let the other three nurse that way.
FB and the lady came back, and the lady gave us pointers on how to nurse the kitten, since neither FB nor I (definitely not I!) have ever done it before. The kitten wasn't interested in the supplement, and FB and the lady left again to warm it up.
Having warmed it (and having a discussion as to whether or not it was too warm) we tried again. I think I felt her swallow some, but she really just wasn't that interested.
Finally FB decided that we would just try putting her back with Mama. She reached in (again!) and put the kitten in with the others. For a while the kitten just lay with its head on Mama's hind leg, but after a bit it moved to nurse, though it had to shove the two creamy's out of the way, since they were hogging the food supply.
It was so hard to convince ourselves to leave. We sat watching them for a long time, Mama getting sleepier and sleepier the longer that we sat there. I've never seen her so relaxed or happy.
We did have to leave though, again, it was a school night. Didn't get to bed until about 1:40 I think. Oh well, I consider it to have been worth it. Especially since the two classes I had today don't really require mental backflips.
I keep wanting to name the kittens, and I have to keep reminding myself a.) We don't know the genders yet. and b.) They are only a few days old and don't even have personalities yet!
We still don't know why Mama pushed away the gray, but it's heartening that she took it right back.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
the second day the first post
In other words, I meant to write this yesterday.
Ah, yesterday. A MONDAY. A day of getting up early for class that you haven't been to in a week. A trial on any occasion.
Although, the Monday-ness was greatly increased for me. To start with, I woke up before my alarm went off because of a cramp. By the time I got to breakfast the cramp was so bad that I had to force myself to eat 3/4 of a muffin just so I could take some medicine. It hurt. It hurt so bad that I was getting nauseous. (That would be reason number 2 for my small breakfast).
I made it to my first class of the day, uncomfortably warm, with a stomach that was beginning to tie itself into nasty knots. By the time that the teacher came in, I was aware that I was not going to be able to sit through the class and had to ask to go to the health clinic.
I'm in college, so I'm aware that I didn't have to ask, but I happen to think its rude to just walk out of class- especially since I enjoy that class...
It took me longer than it should have to get to the clinic, there's construction blocking off the most direct route. I'd taken off my hoodie even though it was cold enough to see my breath at times- I was way too warm. I'd also caught a glimpse of my face.
If you know me, especially if you're my family, you probably know that my face is a pretty good indicator of how sick I feel. I'm not talking about expression, I'm talking about hue- I'm naturally pale, but my face tends to get nasty white when my stomach is doing its nausea bit.
I made it to the clinic without getting sick, showed my campus ID and sat down in their lobby- where I was sick in their trashcan. I figure that's what it was there for, since they have a lot of them in there.
They moved me to a back room until the Doctor could see me to tell me what I already knew- bad cramps were causing my nausea and the medicine that I'd taken earlier wasn't working at all. They gave me something else and had me lie down with a heating pad.
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up feeling much better, almost fine. I was also about 10 minutes late for my next class. Wheee.....
I'm fine today, and I was fine the rest of yesterday. It was just something different, so I figured that I'd talk about it.
Ah, yesterday. A MONDAY. A day of getting up early for class that you haven't been to in a week. A trial on any occasion.
Although, the Monday-ness was greatly increased for me. To start with, I woke up before my alarm went off because of a cramp. By the time I got to breakfast the cramp was so bad that I had to force myself to eat 3/4 of a muffin just so I could take some medicine. It hurt. It hurt so bad that I was getting nauseous. (That would be reason number 2 for my small breakfast).
I made it to my first class of the day, uncomfortably warm, with a stomach that was beginning to tie itself into nasty knots. By the time that the teacher came in, I was aware that I was not going to be able to sit through the class and had to ask to go to the health clinic.
I'm in college, so I'm aware that I didn't have to ask, but I happen to think its rude to just walk out of class- especially since I enjoy that class...
It took me longer than it should have to get to the clinic, there's construction blocking off the most direct route. I'd taken off my hoodie even though it was cold enough to see my breath at times- I was way too warm. I'd also caught a glimpse of my face.
If you know me, especially if you're my family, you probably know that my face is a pretty good indicator of how sick I feel. I'm not talking about expression, I'm talking about hue- I'm naturally pale, but my face tends to get nasty white when my stomach is doing its nausea bit.
I made it to the clinic without getting sick, showed my campus ID and sat down in their lobby- where I was sick in their trashcan. I figure that's what it was there for, since they have a lot of them in there.
They moved me to a back room until the Doctor could see me to tell me what I already knew- bad cramps were causing my nausea and the medicine that I'd taken earlier wasn't working at all. They gave me something else and had me lie down with a heating pad.
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up feeling much better, almost fine. I was also about 10 minutes late for my next class. Wheee.....
I'm fine today, and I was fine the rest of yesterday. It was just something different, so I figured that I'd talk about it.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Time that passes too tediously quick
If that title made sense to you, you may want to read it again.
This is a post about time, of which I have about twenty-four minutes to rant about until I leave for work.
So, I get to go home this weekend, but I leave Sunday morning. Today, and tomorrow, seem to be taking forever. Tomorrow twice as long as today, since it's not even here yet.
And yet- the time passed way too quickly this morning. I had two tests today- one of which I'm particularly upset about.
One of my English classes (I'm in two) had a test today. I spent much of last night studying. With the result being that when I took the test this morning, I'm fairly confident on my score on the multiple choice/ quotation identification section. The thing that has me twitchy was the essay. With thirty minutes left on the clock, I grabbed the essay prompt, selected one, and pulled quotes out of the books- yes, it would have gone much faster without the quotes, unfortunately they were required. Having pulled my quotes, I started to write.
I don't know if whoever is reading this has ever had to read my handwriting, so I'll just say it. My handwriting is pretty messy, especially if I'm in a hurry (this usually means taking notes or trying to capture a fleeting idea). But even my regular not-rushed writing can usually only be read by me without unreasonable difficulty. Anything I give to friends or family to read is usually rewritten with my taking express care to keep it legible.
This meant, since having an illegible essay would be worse than useless, I had to write a bit slower. I had finished my opening statement and was midway into the second paragraph when the teacher said we had five minutes. Nice writing flew out the window.
Even with the nice writing dying a silent death, I only managed to finish the paragraph I was working on and start the first half of the other. When the professor told us to finish our sentences, I abandoned all pretense of explaining my quotes and simply threw them out there.
So I had to turn in a paper that cuts off in the middle of the third/fourth paragraph, one which has no closing statement whatsoever.
I've never not finished an essay before.
I feel SO twitchy about it.
This is a post about time, of which I have about twenty-four minutes to rant about until I leave for work.
So, I get to go home this weekend, but I leave Sunday morning. Today, and tomorrow, seem to be taking forever. Tomorrow twice as long as today, since it's not even here yet.
And yet- the time passed way too quickly this morning. I had two tests today- one of which I'm particularly upset about.
One of my English classes (I'm in two) had a test today. I spent much of last night studying. With the result being that when I took the test this morning, I'm fairly confident on my score on the multiple choice/ quotation identification section. The thing that has me twitchy was the essay. With thirty minutes left on the clock, I grabbed the essay prompt, selected one, and pulled quotes out of the books- yes, it would have gone much faster without the quotes, unfortunately they were required. Having pulled my quotes, I started to write.
I don't know if whoever is reading this has ever had to read my handwriting, so I'll just say it. My handwriting is pretty messy, especially if I'm in a hurry (this usually means taking notes or trying to capture a fleeting idea). But even my regular not-rushed writing can usually only be read by me without unreasonable difficulty. Anything I give to friends or family to read is usually rewritten with my taking express care to keep it legible.
This meant, since having an illegible essay would be worse than useless, I had to write a bit slower. I had finished my opening statement and was midway into the second paragraph when the teacher said we had five minutes. Nice writing flew out the window.
Even with the nice writing dying a silent death, I only managed to finish the paragraph I was working on and start the first half of the other. When the professor told us to finish our sentences, I abandoned all pretense of explaining my quotes and simply threw them out there.
So I had to turn in a paper that cuts off in the middle of the third/fourth paragraph, one which has no closing statement whatsoever.
I've never not finished an essay before.
I feel SO twitchy about it.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Captured!
It finally happened! It really ought to be Fruit Bat posting this, since she's the one who puts so much effort into the local cats, but she's got homework and I've got time.
Mama kitty, the feral cat we've known for about two years now has been caught!
I'm not sure I ever really thought it would happen- this is the cat who snuck into the trap, ate the bait, and got back out without tripping it. This is the cat who would run whenever she saw us when we first met her.
This is also the cat that Fruit Bat has been working tirelessly to build trust with.
And boy did it pay off.
FB's been feeding the cats all year, and recently she's been sitting outside with them while she fed them, and made good progress. Zant, Mama kitty's son, not only lets her pet him now, but wants her to pet him. Fine distinction, that, but one that anybody who's ever owned a cat will recognize. Recently, Mama's been acting more friendly toward FB- allowing herself to be petted and such. FB decided to pull out the old trick from Operation Cat-in-bag of last year, with which we caught Mama's three kittens Solstice, Saul and Midnight. She decided to train Mama/Zant to eat in the pet carrier.
Yesterday she set it out, only putting the food in it close to the door, since I do believe it was only the second consecutive day that she was working with it. Mama-kitty put her head in to eat- her body blocking Zant, who pouted.
Due to this interaction however, the can of food got pushed to the back of the carrier, and Mama stepped all the way in. FB slowly closed the door, so slowly that Mama didn't notice until it was latched, and freaked out.
Ordinarily, when we catch a cat, we take it to a local vet to get them neutered/spayed. And Mama will be getting spayed- but right now she's about a week away from having kittens. FB has a coworker who will be looking after Mama while we wait for the birth- cursed dorm and its no pet rules!
Its exciting to finally see that she's been caught, but its also bizarre. From day one, August 2008, we've seen Mama-kitty around campus. Now she's not here... At least she'll be returning here once she's spayed though. Zant misses his mom.
The father of this batch of kittens is a cat we've named Capricorn, after the villain from Corneilia Funkle's INKHEART book. This is because Capricorn is really NOT a pretty cat, or even a nice one. He was smacking Mama around when he was "flirting" with her. Jerk. FB's REAL interested in getting him neutered. Especially since she went to all the trouble of getting the males in this area neutered in hopes of preventing any more kittens.
So far the cat-colony over here consists of:
Mama-kitty: female (captured, pending spay). Mother of Midna, Zant, Solstice, Saul, Midnight, and four other kittens.
Abel: male, neutered. Father of Midna, Zant. Possible father of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Zant: male, neutered. Brother of Midna. At least half-brother of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Trowa: new male. Unneutered. Shy. No known relation to other cats.
Mama kitty, the feral cat we've known for about two years now has been caught!
I'm not sure I ever really thought it would happen- this is the cat who snuck into the trap, ate the bait, and got back out without tripping it. This is the cat who would run whenever she saw us when we first met her.
This is also the cat that Fruit Bat has been working tirelessly to build trust with.
And boy did it pay off.
FB's been feeding the cats all year, and recently she's been sitting outside with them while she fed them, and made good progress. Zant, Mama kitty's son, not only lets her pet him now, but wants her to pet him. Fine distinction, that, but one that anybody who's ever owned a cat will recognize. Recently, Mama's been acting more friendly toward FB- allowing herself to be petted and such. FB decided to pull out the old trick from Operation Cat-in-bag of last year, with which we caught Mama's three kittens Solstice, Saul and Midnight. She decided to train Mama/Zant to eat in the pet carrier.
Yesterday she set it out, only putting the food in it close to the door, since I do believe it was only the second consecutive day that she was working with it. Mama-kitty put her head in to eat- her body blocking Zant, who pouted.
Due to this interaction however, the can of food got pushed to the back of the carrier, and Mama stepped all the way in. FB slowly closed the door, so slowly that Mama didn't notice until it was latched, and freaked out.
Ordinarily, when we catch a cat, we take it to a local vet to get them neutered/spayed. And Mama will be getting spayed- but right now she's about a week away from having kittens. FB has a coworker who will be looking after Mama while we wait for the birth- cursed dorm and its no pet rules!
Its exciting to finally see that she's been caught, but its also bizarre. From day one, August 2008, we've seen Mama-kitty around campus. Now she's not here... At least she'll be returning here once she's spayed though. Zant misses his mom.
The father of this batch of kittens is a cat we've named Capricorn, after the villain from Corneilia Funkle's INKHEART book. This is because Capricorn is really NOT a pretty cat, or even a nice one. He was smacking Mama around when he was "flirting" with her. Jerk. FB's REAL interested in getting him neutered. Especially since she went to all the trouble of getting the males in this area neutered in hopes of preventing any more kittens.
So far the cat-colony over here consists of:
Mama-kitty: female (captured, pending spay). Mother of Midna, Zant, Solstice, Saul, Midnight, and four other kittens.
Abel: male, neutered. Father of Midna, Zant. Possible father of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Zant: male, neutered. Brother of Midna. At least half-brother of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Trowa: new male. Unneutered. Shy. No known relation to other cats.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Valentine's Day
Yes, it is once again V-day, or as I learned to call it in high school- S.A.D. (Single's awareness day.)
Fruit bat got me some valentine's day chocolate, so I got her some at the last minute last night... >.<;
Getting up this morning, I had one real goal. Pancakes. Every year on valentines day we have pancakes in my family- pancakes cut in the shape of hearts. I got to the cafeteria just in time, and grabbed a couple of plain pancakes. It took some doing with a fork- but I managed to cut them into the shapes of hearts before actually working on eating them.
Since I'd gotten up for breakfast I had a lot of time to kill before I had to leave for church- so I went online to my home church's page and got started on one of my pastor's sermons. It felt like a slice of home to hear a familiar voice.
Church itself was pretty good- the pastor told us the story of Saint Valentine- which I had never heard.
Apparently, Valentine was a priest in the Roman empire, particularly noted for encouraging young people to get married and serve Christ together in a partnership. At this period of time though, Rome was getting ready for a war, and hadn't been having much luck in recruiting new soldiers- older men didn't want to leave their wives, and younger men wanted to get married. So the emperor made a decree that there were to be no new marriages. Valentine opposed this, and continued to marry people in secret- eventually he was discovered and imprisoned. The emperor went to meet with him, and was so impressed by Valentine that he offered to pardon the man and absolve him of his crimes, if he would only renounce his Christian faith and become a pagan minister of the Roman deities. Valentine refused, and was executed some few days after.
Before the execution however, his guard had discerned that Valentine was a wise man, and had been bringing his daughter, Julia, to learn from him. The day of his execution, Valentine gave a letter to Julia, thanking her for having been such a good student, and signed, "Your Valentine."
I thought it was interesting anyway.
Fruit bat got me some valentine's day chocolate, so I got her some at the last minute last night... >.<;
Getting up this morning, I had one real goal. Pancakes. Every year on valentines day we have pancakes in my family- pancakes cut in the shape of hearts. I got to the cafeteria just in time, and grabbed a couple of plain pancakes. It took some doing with a fork- but I managed to cut them into the shapes of hearts before actually working on eating them.
Since I'd gotten up for breakfast I had a lot of time to kill before I had to leave for church- so I went online to my home church's page and got started on one of my pastor's sermons. It felt like a slice of home to hear a familiar voice.
Church itself was pretty good- the pastor told us the story of Saint Valentine- which I had never heard.
Apparently, Valentine was a priest in the Roman empire, particularly noted for encouraging young people to get married and serve Christ together in a partnership. At this period of time though, Rome was getting ready for a war, and hadn't been having much luck in recruiting new soldiers- older men didn't want to leave their wives, and younger men wanted to get married. So the emperor made a decree that there were to be no new marriages. Valentine opposed this, and continued to marry people in secret- eventually he was discovered and imprisoned. The emperor went to meet with him, and was so impressed by Valentine that he offered to pardon the man and absolve him of his crimes, if he would only renounce his Christian faith and become a pagan minister of the Roman deities. Valentine refused, and was executed some few days after.
Before the execution however, his guard had discerned that Valentine was a wise man, and had been bringing his daughter, Julia, to learn from him. The day of his execution, Valentine gave a letter to Julia, thanking her for having been such a good student, and signed, "Your Valentine."
I thought it was interesting anyway.
Monday, February 8, 2010
It wasn't a cat
Really, it wasn't. I'm sort of just throwing this out here, since I haven't posted in forever, so expect this to be fairly rambling in nature. (As if any of my other posts AREN'T rambling.)
I'm sure you know this, but Fruit Bat catches cats on campus (alliteration for the win!) and gets them spayed/neutered before re-releasing them. Well, last night, she set out her trap once again, and we managed to convince ourselves to leave it out all night.
She often worries that someone will find and steal the trap- as she's had it happen before. I haven't had it happen before, and can't imagine what someone would want with it, so I don't worry so much. The result of leaving overnight though, was that we needed to check on it this morning and put it away.
In the trap, was not a cat, as rarely happens. It was not even empty, as OFTEN happens. It was full, of the only marsupial native to North America.
Yeah. We caught a possum.
There are two which hang around this area that we've seen for sure, a big one and a little one. (Thus we automatically assume that the large one is the mother and the smaller one the infant.) Fortunately for us, we'd caught the smaller of the two. The tricky part was letting it out- opossums have a heck of a lot of teeth, and are carriers of rabies.
Needless to say, neither of us wanted to get bit. Unfortunately, once Fruit Bat got the trap door open, the kooky critter didn't want to leave. Oh, it was definitely scared and upset- it kept growling and hissing at Fruit Bat, but leaving the cage seemed like a bad idea.
So, we made it a non-option. We weren't going to be late for class. It WAS going to get out. We found a stick and wedged it so that the trap door wouldn't close, then Fruit Bat upended the cage. It took some shaking- the darn thing had wound it's tail through the bars to avoid being forced out, but she finally got it out of the cage. Shortly after, it disappeared into the bushes.
Such fun times- at 7:30 in the morning.
On other notes of this already out of tune post, Fruit Bat's fallen prey to the same inclination I got around this time last year, and has purchased some dirt and a pot- though it's a hanging pot, as the fate of my pot last year was to be tipped over off of the paltry windowsill (none of the seeds I planted so much as sprouted after that.) It's a decent sized pot, and its distance from the window lets me hope that any sprouts we acquire will be unable to plaster themselves against the glass- and therefore die at the first hint of cold weather. Yes, that's what happened to my sprouts last year.
We have quite a few things planted in this pot though, and I can only imagine the battle that will ensue in this soil. First off, FB's reason for getting the pot is that she's had a horseradish-bulb for a while now and was starting to worry that it was going to die if she didn't plant it. Secondly, there's my ill-fated balsam of yesteryear. I'm trying not to hope, but I so want to see flowers that I helped grow.
My family is a little strange- both of my grandmothers had wonderful green thumbs, but my mother is lucky to manage to keep her plants alive. I'm afraid that this will be the case with me as well... I must do research on hardy plants!
The third thing in the pot (besides the dirt) is Lavender, which Fruit Bat grows from time to time. We only planted it last night, so it'll be about a week before I can expect anything to happen.
*frets*
I'm sure you know this, but Fruit Bat catches cats on campus (alliteration for the win!) and gets them spayed/neutered before re-releasing them. Well, last night, she set out her trap once again, and we managed to convince ourselves to leave it out all night.
She often worries that someone will find and steal the trap- as she's had it happen before. I haven't had it happen before, and can't imagine what someone would want with it, so I don't worry so much. The result of leaving overnight though, was that we needed to check on it this morning and put it away.
In the trap, was not a cat, as rarely happens. It was not even empty, as OFTEN happens. It was full, of the only marsupial native to North America.
Yeah. We caught a possum.
There are two which hang around this area that we've seen for sure, a big one and a little one. (Thus we automatically assume that the large one is the mother and the smaller one the infant.) Fortunately for us, we'd caught the smaller of the two. The tricky part was letting it out- opossums have a heck of a lot of teeth, and are carriers of rabies.
Needless to say, neither of us wanted to get bit. Unfortunately, once Fruit Bat got the trap door open, the kooky critter didn't want to leave. Oh, it was definitely scared and upset- it kept growling and hissing at Fruit Bat, but leaving the cage seemed like a bad idea.
So, we made it a non-option. We weren't going to be late for class. It WAS going to get out. We found a stick and wedged it so that the trap door wouldn't close, then Fruit Bat upended the cage. It took some shaking- the darn thing had wound it's tail through the bars to avoid being forced out, but she finally got it out of the cage. Shortly after, it disappeared into the bushes.
Such fun times- at 7:30 in the morning.
On other notes of this already out of tune post, Fruit Bat's fallen prey to the same inclination I got around this time last year, and has purchased some dirt and a pot- though it's a hanging pot, as the fate of my pot last year was to be tipped over off of the paltry windowsill (none of the seeds I planted so much as sprouted after that.) It's a decent sized pot, and its distance from the window lets me hope that any sprouts we acquire will be unable to plaster themselves against the glass- and therefore die at the first hint of cold weather. Yes, that's what happened to my sprouts last year.
We have quite a few things planted in this pot though, and I can only imagine the battle that will ensue in this soil. First off, FB's reason for getting the pot is that she's had a horseradish-bulb for a while now and was starting to worry that it was going to die if she didn't plant it. Secondly, there's my ill-fated balsam of yesteryear. I'm trying not to hope, but I so want to see flowers that I helped grow.
My family is a little strange- both of my grandmothers had wonderful green thumbs, but my mother is lucky to manage to keep her plants alive. I'm afraid that this will be the case with me as well... I must do research on hardy plants!
The third thing in the pot (besides the dirt) is Lavender, which Fruit Bat grows from time to time. We only planted it last night, so it'll be about a week before I can expect anything to happen.
*frets*
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Cold Shower
Yes, the two words that dictate an awful experience in the hygiene department. I’ve been annoyed all day by the simple fact that the water has been cold. Thus, I have not been able to take a shower, until just now. While I was typing up the first two sentences I had the shower running just to see if the water would warm up. I wasn’t very hopeful since earlier today I ran the water for 45mins to see if it would EVER warm up for me. It never did but randomly, just now, the water was hot. It’s still hot too. I don’t understand it. I complained once and they sent a plumber to our dorm. I really hadn’t expected them to follow through with my complaint since last time it took about a week before anyone came.Vul avoided the plumber and left me to talk to him. I’m like my mom in the respect that if I’m paying an absurd amount for something and it’s not in tip-top shape I’ll make them fix it. I’m a tad nicer though and not nearly as scary. That only occurs if it involves family, friend, or animal safety.
Anyways, the plumber explained that when there isn’t water running thorugh the pipes that the water gets cold. Duh, something we all know but here’s the stupid part. Whatever genious built the plumbing made it so that the water comes into each dorm from separate pipes and are all heated in certain places throughout the building. So, when a lot of people are gone, say on Christmas break, and there’s not a lot of water flowing through all the pipes, the water is cold.
I still don’t quite understand it but regardless, since there aren’t enough people taking showers, flushing the toilet, or washing their hands or faces, etc. the water to my dorm and any other poor unfortunate person who had to stay here is cold. At random times though the water will be warm/scalding hot which makes me wonder if the plumber was wrong and if there isn’t some hidden switch somewhere that merely needs to be flipped. Oh well, I shall take note of the time and see if the water it hot again tomorrow night at the same time. I’m going with the theory that it’s on a timer now. I’ll soon discover if I’m correct and I really hope I am.
Earlier during my third attempt at running the water for half an hour:
Talking aloud to myself: “Nope, the sink is cold. Now let’s go see what the shower says...cuz’ the shower can talk...”
I think I need some people time. LOL
Friday, January 1, 2010
The Rogue
I’m very disappointed in Momma kitty. I woke up late, dressed, and moseyed down the hall and stairwell, out to my truck to feed her and Zant like I do every morning. After giving them food I was permitted to pet Zant. He didn’t mind either! Momma even let me pet her and leaned into my hand until she realized that I was touching her. She leapt away from me and gave me her best offended look. It was amusing though. She liked being petted.The disappointment came later when I pulled into the parking lot after my trip to the store to get some Kleenex. A rogue male cat was hanging out with her, and Zant was acting very skittish. I hopped out of my truck glanced at Momma who was crying for more cat food and then back at the male cat. “I don’t approve.” I told her pulling some food from the back of my truck. I expected the male to run off, and wanted him too, but he didn’t. Instead, he watched me give her and Zant food. I wouldn’t mind if he hung around IF Momma kitty was spayed but she’s not.
Unfortunately, I have not seen Momma kitty since he showed up today. Zant is acting cautious and freaked out now that he’s on his own. I’m not pleased and I have no idea when I’ll see Momma kitty but I know that when I do she’ll be pregnant, again. I plan on using this to my advantage though. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve and I will trap her and get her fixed 0ne way or another.
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