Fatty the...Squirrel?

Over Thanksgiving weekend I finally got a picture of our huge, cat-sized squirrel "Fatty". It's a little blurry, but you can still see the gut this rodent has on it! A day after this picture was taken I looked out the window and saw two of them! So now we have "Fatty One" and "Fatty Two". (F1 & F2) But the original Fatty is still larger. I knocked on the window to scare them off, and he tried to climb the tree to get away and kind of just slid down. He's too big to climb.

More on the long Turkey Day weekend next post. I just needed to get this pic up!

Roadkill

I just read this article on increasing auto accidents in the US caused by animals. The photo is actually the road I live on. And I have hit a deer on it. It’s crazy how much wildlife we have in just our neighborhood, let alone our area. The deer come out in mass at dusk, so driving home from work you can usually count 30-40 deer in the main field in our neighborhood at once. They’re so content that at night you see them all bedding down all over the place laying with their legs curled under them with no fear or cares. One is a big 4-6 point Buck. Lately we’ve also seen a lot of possums and raccoons and squirrels the size of cats. We’ve also been told by our neighbor that we have coyotes moving through our woods. Great. I’m thinking chubby April would look mighty tasty to a hungry Coyote. (I haven’t seen one yet though.)

Band Aid 20

I just heard Band Aid 20. (notice the video/audio link in corner to listen)
I think it's crap. I understand they re-did it with the current trendy singers to try to boost new sales, and that it's all for a very good cause - but it's crap. It sounds so bad. Tiny and weak. And I'm not buying any kind of passion coming from any of the voices. The clever bit before when they sing "...the bitter sting of tears". Ugh makes ya cring cuz before it was Sting. And you kinda grinned cuz you're in on the joke. fok - and I'm not saying Bananarama knew squat about Ethiopia before Band Aid, but at least they had a few older singers that seemed to be a little more aware of current events. Joss Stone has a beautiful voice and all but is a dimwit. And I'm not bashing the bands, I like most of who is appearing, but it just came out all wrong.

Ok. The real reason I prob hate it is that not only did the original make me shiver and feel melancholy, but it is a memory of my teen years. I have such a strong association to that song of a certain time. I don't see this version being strong enough to evoke that in any current 14 yr olds twenty years from now.

blue bathroom blues

I didn’t get as much done as I wanted – of course. I always thinking I’ll be able to do so much more than I realistically can. I blame this entirely on the stupid one-room-in-two-days home make-over shows. They never show how much time you have to spend dealing with the crap work ethic of the previous owner. They never taped off anything! The entire outer edge of the bathtub/shower has two diff colors of paint from two diff occasions of “painting”. And who installs a shower and doesn’t caulk it – ever? So I had to do that as well.

And I cannot find the breaker for the bathroom lights. Our house is so badly wired that when the outside deck breaker throws, so do the outlets in the bathroom. It took us a week to figure that one out. We had to re-set the buttons on the outlet out on the deck to use a hairdryer in the bathroom.
Tonight I’m just hoping to get the ceiling and walls painted. Hoping.

Apart from that I just got some very bad, alarming news today from a friend. I never know what to say and I think I'm good at always saying the wrong thing.

Lowe(r) your customer service expectations

I’ve lived back here for a little over a year and actually had to sit in traffic this morning. I forgot what that’s like.

I haven’t forgotten how much I hate Lowe’s though. Went at lunch to buy paint. (I’m trying to get the bathroom painted, rewired, re-lit and a new medicine cabinet up before D gets back) Stood at the counter for 10 minutes waiting, then one lone salesperson arrives to wait on the guy standing next to me. Who has an antique can of paint he need to get the color matched on. He’s also Chatty Cathy. By the time it’s my turn, the line of carts and people behind me is 6 deep. So I hand the clerk my paint chips and quantities. (1 gal, 2 qrts) He walks off to get the paint, having ordered I start zoning. I glanced up just in time to catch him from giving me THE most expensive paint they have. “Excuse me – could I get the cheap paint?” He replied in a very exasperated tone, “Then I’ll have to wait to use THAT paint machine (now in use by the girl that finally came back from break) because this one won’t use the cheap paint.” (?) “Lady, it’s only $17.99 a gallon.” Me – “As opposed too…” Exasperated, salesclerk, “$13.99”. Very nicely I said it all adds up and I wanted cheap paint. And could I have my paint chips back because I’ve now run out of time. And then he got really testy because I wanted my chips back. So after work I’m going to Sherwin Williams were they wait on you hand and foot, are super nice and give me a discount anyways! Only reason I didn’t go there first is, well, I was going to throw it on the evil Lowe’s credit card.

Tonight’s DIY list: clean • tape • spackle • prime woodwork • paint ceiling • paint walls

Blustery

Is the weather today. Sunny, bright blue sky, but friggin cold and windy. Today is a chore day, laundry, dishes (starting to wish we HAD bought a dishwasher), bills - the usual. Plus D is getting stuff ready to do to DC for several days. So jealous. I would love to be going with him. I miss the museums I think most of all. And the people watching. But we both might be going the following weekend anyway, so I'll have to be patient.

In the meantime I have a party to go to today at 3pm for my friends 2 year old. He turns 2 and I think 30 some people will be crammed into the house to celebrate it. I'm getting him a book, just not sure which one yet. (And it's 11:30am.) Then the 2 year old's mommy and I are planning on seeing the Bridget Jones sequel tommorrow. I have a bad feeling about the plot, but who cares?! Colin Firth on a big screen - yummy! Ok - so Hugh Grant is all that, but the pics I've seen of him lately look like he's hitting the self-tanner a bit too liberally.

I'm hungry so I'm getting out of here - made a HUGE pot of gumbo last night and I hear it bubblingly calling me to eat lots of it.

His Dark...movies?

I caught a reference during other reading that the Philp Pullman books had the movie rights purchased and were in pre-production. They are. Scheduled for a 2006 release. Here's a site that talks about it. I hope they don't screw it up, but if they do it right it will be amazing. The screenwriter also did "Brazil" (favorite movie) and "Empire of the Sun" so there is faith he'll get it right.

(Btw - I could be ages behind in this news, sorry)

Critter Control

Wow, it’s been almost two weeks since I last posted. Sorry! Work and home have both been busy. The problem is I go in early and stay late at work, then have no desire to look at the computer when I get home. And last weekend was too lovely to be inside. Spent it either working on the yard, finding any excuse to drive the riding mower around – or sitting in incredibly great seats at the Steelers vs. Eagles game. Incredible seats to watch an incredible ass-whoopin of the Eagles by the Steelers. D was quite dejected. He recovered from the loss and hang-over by Tuesday night though.

So on to the title – critter control. We need some at work! Not only has it bee really busy, but it’s been REALLY STINKY. Some poor little, or maybe big by the smell – animal seemingly has decided to use a cubicle as a sarcophagus. It has reeked for over a week and we can not find where it’s coming from. It’s got to be in the cubicle wall. We tried burning candles and incense, but then it just smelled like strawberry-patchouli covered mouse carcass.

We used to see one every so often, but since the first frost, they’ve all found a way inside. Tuesday afternoon we saw one running around. Then later that evening I stayed late, one ran into my cubicle, stopped, sat-up, looked at me, then ran out. They are so damn cute! Tiny little things with huge ears. I think they are either Deer Mice or White-footed mice. I hate that we have to trap them. But if they keep dying and stinking the place up, not to mention all the droppings – it gets to be a health issue. Well, even later that night I heard one get caught in a trap. The traps are sticky pads they run on and get caught. Then they squeal – it’s horrible. Last night there were THREE caught in traps, and still alive. I hate it. But they must be everywhere if we’re catching that many.

…and it’s done!

I went and voted bright and early this morning. Got there at 7 am. Our precinct is 16, and our polling location is the club house of the Par Three golf course at Oglebay, the local resort. So instead of a dingy church basement or high school gym, we get to vote in an oak paneled room with huge picture windows looking out over the hills and valleys. Beautiful blue autumn sky, white puffy clouds, bit of gold and orange left on the trees. All that and I still didn’t feel good about voting this year. The options were shit. And not just for President. On a local level we have two jackasses (new fav curse word) running for our state supreme court that have done nothing but trash each other. I mean horrible campaigns. I have no idea what either stands for, and I don’t buy into voting my party ticket. Not everyone is qualified just because they’re D or R. Basically it boiled down to remembering one sounded like a ‘60’s radical evangelical preacher during a voter rally. Scary – so I voted for the other guy. Throwing darts is as decision oriented.

It has everything to do with how much money you have to get your name out, and absolutely nothing to do with being qualified. I’m glad it’s over. I have actually made myself worry - given myself serious anxiety - about whether or not I make the right decision. My dad is a true blood Republican, and we don’t agree on a lot of issues, but at least its engaging to discuss things with him. I hate people that are so vapid in their ideas that they practically spit while going on about their beliefs. I think I’m too tender hearted. I’m tired of all the negativity. Oh – and I’m very proud of my dad. He’s working all day today as a poll worker. 75 years old and he got up at 4:30 to start. He’ll be there until 6 or 7 tonight, and by the end of the day his bionic knee will be killing him.

Tonight D (who is not a registered voter – there I said it – I told you I would "out" you) and I are going to a friends house to watch the results with a group of friends. But as the Daily Show is now calling it – I believe we’re looking at a “Prelude to a Recount”.