Introducing Sven
A blue rat by the name of Sven came come with me from Peoria yesterday. He and I have a lot in common. For starters, we're both nocturnal. We both have allergies and we both like to be scratched behind the ears. Sven seems pretty chill, albeit a bit freaked by his sudden change in surroundings. I've set him up with a rat pad in the corner of my room and he seems to be taking to it fairly well (especially since I removed the platforms and ramps, which were a bit daunting to him). The folks are accepting of him - Mama talks to Sven when she goes into my room and checked on him last night while I was at work. Sven seems to like me well enough, with his natural tendency right now being to hide under my foot or try to crawl into my hoodie. From day one (well, yesterday), he'd let me just reach in and give him a soft pet. We tried out a ball yesterday, but he didn't really seem that into it. He just kind of looked at me like, "what the hell am i doing in a big, yellow ball? seriously." We'll give it another whirl in a few more days. In the meantime, I'm pretty excited about getting to know the little guy a bit better and look forward to working with him. I've read that rats are especially responsive to positive operant conditioning and in addition to being toilet trained, can also be trained to walk with leash and perform tricks. I've already introduced a litter pan to his cage and have began establishing the importance of a positive reinforcement device (dehydrated berries). Of course, I'm going to have to take some pictures and maybe even get him his own petbook page on facebook. So, in short, look forwad to hearing all about my precious little Sven. He's even getting a shout out in the '08 Christmas card.
In other news...it's snowing. A lot. I think we're in the 5-8 inch band. In my future I see...reloading Canyonero 2.0 with sand weights, leaving for work early and driving the whole way in low-4.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Stop the (Garbage) Truck!
I almost didn't get the trash out for pick up today because I forgot that pickup was today and not yesterday (due to Thanksgiving). After hearing the garbage truck rumble down the street I took off, stopping briefly in the garage to step into my shoes, and ran down the street toward the garbage truck as it was finishing up at the neighbor's place.
"Are you coming or going?" I called to the guy on the back of the truck. "Going!" he replied. "I forgot that you were coming today, would you swing around and take my bags?" "Sure!"
So, I ran back to the house and grabbed the three bags and carried them to the end of the driveway, giving two bags to the fellow and tossing another in the back. Mission accomplished.
On the way back to the house, I thought to myself that we have nice garbagemen. Then I also thought that it probably didn't hurt that I ran after them in a tshirt and no bra.
I almost didn't get the trash out for pick up today because I forgot that pickup was today and not yesterday (due to Thanksgiving). After hearing the garbage truck rumble down the street I took off, stopping briefly in the garage to step into my shoes, and ran down the street toward the garbage truck as it was finishing up at the neighbor's place.
"Are you coming or going?" I called to the guy on the back of the truck. "Going!" he replied. "I forgot that you were coming today, would you swing around and take my bags?" "Sure!"
So, I ran back to the house and grabbed the three bags and carried them to the end of the driveway, giving two bags to the fellow and tossing another in the back. Mission accomplished.
On the way back to the house, I thought to myself that we have nice garbagemen. Then I also thought that it probably didn't hurt that I ran after them in a tshirt and no bra.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
To Sleep or Not to Sleep
I'm noticing that the idea of sleep occupies a great deal of my thoughts these days, but to a third-shifter, sleep becomes like what food is to a dieter: something which was once an automatic thing but now contemplated. Frequently.
Friday afternoon I called it a night around 4 pm, waking up around midnight. I went into the kitchen (in all my AE teal shirt and pj pants with grizzly bears on them glory) and got a slice of pie (berry) and milk and made myself a little nest in front of the tv. However, I soon found myself once again comatose, waking up at 7 - just in time to start watching MadTV and then passing out during a show on the travel channel. I can't quite recall what this show was about, but I find that travel channel is my preferred channel for sleep induction. And then I woke up and it was...9 pm. So, I flipped the channel over to The Andromeda Strain mini-series (A&E, I think?) and had a chicken salad sandwich while waiting for SNL. Post-SNL...lots of web surfing. I made an eHarmony account, but mostly for the free personality test, which told me nothing that I (and the people from the Gallup Interview - more about that later) didn't already know.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I had a Miller Lite and watched Hot Fuzz. Now I'm on a Bud Select and watching the Deathproof portion of Grindhouse. BTW - I'm still holding out for a full length feature of Machete. Don't know what I'm talking about - watch Planet Terror; it's the faux-trailer just prior to the start of the film. Planet Terror is snazzier and more action packed, but Deathproof probably has my heart for the soundtrack, muscle cars, and all the gratuitous shots of bare feet.
I haven't decided if I'm going to try to sleep or if I'm going to just stay up for the remainder of the day. 9 pm tonight will have me at 24 hours, and seeing as how I'm working day shift this week...I probably shouldn't have taken those couple of Tylenol PM a half hour ago. One thing is for certain and that's I need a bath. Haven't had one since Thursday evening and I'm getting to be one ripe petunia!
Yes, I did say that I would be a day-dweller this week. It's true that nothing recharges like night-sleep. It'll be good to return to the 'normal' world for a bit...build up for the weekend. I see being up all night and drinking beers in my future. Also volleyball and tomfoolery before it gets too cold. But in the meantime, I guess I'll wait to see if the tylenol pm-beer combo takes effect and go watch Kurt Russel kill some pretty young things with his car.
Night night?
I'm noticing that the idea of sleep occupies a great deal of my thoughts these days, but to a third-shifter, sleep becomes like what food is to a dieter: something which was once an automatic thing but now contemplated. Frequently.
Friday afternoon I called it a night around 4 pm, waking up around midnight. I went into the kitchen (in all my AE teal shirt and pj pants with grizzly bears on them glory) and got a slice of pie (berry) and milk and made myself a little nest in front of the tv. However, I soon found myself once again comatose, waking up at 7 - just in time to start watching MadTV and then passing out during a show on the travel channel. I can't quite recall what this show was about, but I find that travel channel is my preferred channel for sleep induction. And then I woke up and it was...9 pm. So, I flipped the channel over to The Andromeda Strain mini-series (A&E, I think?) and had a chicken salad sandwich while waiting for SNL. Post-SNL...lots of web surfing. I made an eHarmony account, but mostly for the free personality test, which told me nothing that I (and the people from the Gallup Interview - more about that later) didn't already know.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I had a Miller Lite and watched Hot Fuzz. Now I'm on a Bud Select and watching the Deathproof portion of Grindhouse. BTW - I'm still holding out for a full length feature of Machete. Don't know what I'm talking about - watch Planet Terror; it's the faux-trailer just prior to the start of the film. Planet Terror is snazzier and more action packed, but Deathproof probably has my heart for the soundtrack, muscle cars, and all the gratuitous shots of bare feet.
I haven't decided if I'm going to try to sleep or if I'm going to just stay up for the remainder of the day. 9 pm tonight will have me at 24 hours, and seeing as how I'm working day shift this week...I probably shouldn't have taken those couple of Tylenol PM a half hour ago. One thing is for certain and that's I need a bath. Haven't had one since Thursday evening and I'm getting to be one ripe petunia!
Yes, I did say that I would be a day-dweller this week. It's true that nothing recharges like night-sleep. It'll be good to return to the 'normal' world for a bit...build up for the weekend. I see being up all night and drinking beers in my future. Also volleyball and tomfoolery before it gets too cold. But in the meantime, I guess I'll wait to see if the tylenol pm-beer combo takes effect and go watch Kurt Russel kill some pretty young things with his car.
Night night?
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Top 5 Things Found in Closet While Cleaning Today
1. Bullhorn (kept, dusted, and replaced batteries)
2. A bag of socks with no mates (gave to salvation army...maybe there's a one-footed person that can use them)
3. Rubbers (had a hearty laugh as to why I'd need such a thing and hid them in the medicine cabinet behind my bottle of Jim Beam...yes, I keep a bottle of whiskey in the medicine cabinet because it's for medicinal purposes)
4. A copy of CFR 1910.120 (That's the Hazardous Materials Response OSHA standard for those of you not in the know)
5. 3 Boxes of uneaten girlscout cookies...these came into my possession in February, I think I'll just toss 'em
1. Bullhorn (kept, dusted, and replaced batteries)
2. A bag of socks with no mates (gave to salvation army...maybe there's a one-footed person that can use them)
3. Rubbers (had a hearty laugh as to why I'd need such a thing and hid them in the medicine cabinet behind my bottle of Jim Beam...yes, I keep a bottle of whiskey in the medicine cabinet because it's for medicinal purposes)
4. A copy of CFR 1910.120 (That's the Hazardous Materials Response OSHA standard for those of you not in the know)
5. 3 Boxes of uneaten girlscout cookies...these came into my possession in February, I think I'll just toss 'em
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
