Chaz has a message for Jeep.

R.I.P. baby bunny

Trusting rabbits are not long for this world.

This was a rabbit that was not afraid of anything or anyone. I could watch it eating clover or grooming its ears just five feet away from where I was standing.
I was weeding near the mailbox today and found the tiny rabbit in the grass at the curb. By its location, I'd guess it was hit by a car. I kinda knew this rabbit would not survive long but I thought it would have been death by cat instead of car.

R.I.P. baby bunny

Trusting rabbits are not long for this world.
I was weeding near the mailbox today and found the tiny rabbit in the grass at the curb. By its location, I'd guess it was hit by a car. I did not think this rabbit would make it but I thought it would have been death by cat instead of car.

hmmm... I think I have a new business idea.

I am stuck at home with the electrician here today and we're out of coffee!
I wish I could just order hot coffee to be delivered to my door today. If children can have ice cream trucks going through the neighborhood, why can't there be coffee and espresso carts outside for adults? It would be great to have hot coffee to go just cruising slo mo around the hood. Or maybe lattecicles on hot summer days when I still have to remain conscious. Oh yeah, the neighborhood Java Wagon. I can see it now, especially in a suburb like this with lots of home businesses and stay-at-home parents.

*sigh*

Summer has arrived.

It is already oppressively hot this morning. Weather forecast has it being this way all week, into next week. The air outside feels heavy - that is the best way to describe it. I also managed, despite slathering on sunscreen, to get sunburned this weekend walking around the Art-B-Que in Decatur, which adds even more to that summery feeling. Time to go underground and become a creature of the night again. Not that I mind - I like creatures of the night! I am fine as long as I have AC during the day. I think the best days for outdoor activities are behind us until the return of autumn.

taking in the last of spring

Sunday, we had been planning to make it to Monster Bash this year but decided not to go after MonsterMustDie had an accident at work that has left him too lame for much standing around or walking for the next few weeks. Instead we had an impromtu gathering of friends on the back porch for grilled food and refreshments. Everyone decided to bring a little something even though we didn't ask anyone to, so we had lots of good eats and drinks. There are still some leftover chocolate mint cupcakes from Urban Cannibals in EAV and fresh grilled asparagus in the fridge, as well as my home made guacamole and tzatziki sauce (which I put on my spicey sausage/dogs). We're planning on cooking and eating leftovers tonight. We have a bad habit of letting leftovers and extra veggies go to waste in this house and I'm planning on avoiding that this week, saving money by using what we already have.

I know the money we save tonight and tomorrow will no doubt be spent on the Restaurant Crawl this week anyway, but I do what I can.

Another thing someone brought to the house on Sunday was an enormous, very fragrant, magnolia blossom that has been in a coffee cup of water since then and still smells great, though by this morning its petals are starting to brown. Lots of sweet things blooming outside between the magnolias in neighbors yards and several roses and gardenias here at Rancho de WereMonster. Top that with the fact that I made lavender lemonade on Sunday that I still have a bit left of and it's amazing no one here is complaining to me about their allergies in this very floral environment. Makes me feel all girly. :)

a Sunday

We did not go to MonsterBash at the Starlight Drive-In today and invited a few friends over instead to hang out on the porch with food and drinks and conversation.
Had a mishap feeding and giving Doris Kat her medication tonight when MonsterMustDie went ahead and gave her meds and did not tell me. I did not know until after I had already dosed her myself and was heading downstairs to feed her and noticed how much food
was in her bowl already. So she got twice her dosage of steroids today.

So far tonight, Doris seems to be okay, though now she is quite awake and very affectionate at a time she is usually down for the night.
MonsterMustDie has called it a night and is in bed. I am finished cleaning up the kitchen and have also captured an freed large beetles
and one huge spider tonight. Doors are locked. Lights are out.

Update:
Doris is just fine and showed no signs of being double-dosed other than not coughing once on Monday. Just as active and hungry as ever. We decided not to dose her at all on Monday.

many of my friends and family are unofficially unemployed

The economy is still so hard on so many, it’s important to distinguish between entrepreneurial zeal and self-employed desperation.

- Robert B. Reich

in need of occupation

Still looking for work. This week has been fruitless.

I've gotten a few replies to my resume, but all have either been 1. We're not looking for graphics people, but look at all these commission sales positions! or 2. You are over-qualified for the position we have. Nope. Can't hire you because we know you will not stay if we do.

I'm going kind nuts for lack of activity. Even the garden does not really need me this week - it's doing just fine and needs more time to grow and ripen/bloom. Plants are happy. Bees are happy. I am bored.

wikipedia

The internet can be a wonderful disinformation engine.

... from Neil Gaiman's journal...


I just hit a strange ethical dilemma.

I followed a link on, um, something in American Gods, to its Wikipedia entry. And read an entry about something that I'd made up (because it fitted, because it worked, and because I didn't think anyone would mind) that cited a reference book that talked about the thing I made up. The reference book was written some years after American Gods was published, and the person who wrote the reference book has obviously cribbed a little information from American Gods.

The last time, some years ago, I'd checked the Wikipedia entry, it was accurate, and noted that the thing in question had started in American Gods. Now all reference to me and to American Gods has gone. It now has, after all, a reference book link. And something that I made up has become, to all intents and purposes, a fact.

I pondered fixing it. I'd need to do a blog entry clarifying exactly what I made up and what I didn't in this thing, to allow someone to do a fix, so they could link to that. (I can't just fix the Wikipedia entry. It doesn't work like that: someone would just revert the change, dismiss it as "original research" or point out that there IS now a reference book reference. I'd need to cite chapter and verse over here on the blog, or in a book, to give the Wikipedia entry something to link to.)

But really, there's probably a very useful lesson in there somewhere about what facts are. And I quite like the idea that something that I made up has wandered out of a book and into the real world. It seems very appropriate for that particular book, as well.

So my ethical question is...

...should I tell? Would you?

Firefly revisited

I've started re-watching the entire Firefly series again. This time me and one of my former condo neighbors are having a group Firefly night every Monday, starting around 8pm to watch two episodes a week. It is always more fun with a group, especially with my friend "Fun Lisa" to chirp in the occasional joke from the side. We're watching it projected outside on a midtown back deck so chilly night need a blanket to keep warm. Fortunately, there was a small white puff of a dog and two enormous cats to serve as lap warmers. For the pilot episode last night, I brought some giant strawberries for everyone from the Buford Highway Farmer's Market.
Now I have to decide what to bring to next week. Next week we'll be watching "Train Job" and "Bushwhacked." More berries?

fixed

The man arrived at 4pm today. The septic tank pump is now performing as it should.
MonsterMustDie got home, after in an average day in a grumpy mood. After dinner from Mediteranean Bakery, he was much better.

After two glasses of cheap Zin and two episodes of Firefly, I am cheerful.

Tomorrow, I really really need some quality time with friends.

Now it's ridiculous.

Gotta be home at 3:30 to meet the septic tank fixer-upper man again. This will be the third time Atlas has been out to fix this problem. They appear to lack the skills to make things work.

Septic tank alarm was on again this morning.

Actually, the toilets were not flushing properly in the house today. Drains were sluggish. So I checked the septic tank alarm system to see if it was operating. It was - the red alarm light was on but the horn was off. I turned on the alarm horn and it stayed on until I turned it off again. Apparently, the horn had been turned off since the last time Atlas had their men working at the house.

I believe they said the alarm was on and functioning when they left last time and I did not bother to check that the horn - the very thing that lets us know something is wrong - was switched on.

today

Once again, the alarm for the septic tank started this morning. The man from Atlas Free Flow came late this afternoon to see what was wrong. He listed a few things - switch having fallen into the tank, pump coming unplugged, float not working. All of this probably because they were in too much of a hurry last time. I really hope its fixed now and done the right way.

In good news, Monstermustdie finished his intended project in the back yard. We now have a lot more area cleared out for planting and entertaining. There is a new little fire pit up on the hill at the back of the yard and he intends now to make little benches for it from the scrap wood he collected. This should all be in place for the Taurus Potluck next week. We will also have the grill ready for anyone who wants to use it and we still have the outdoor fireplace we purchased at a yard sale in the neighborhood, so there will be opportunities for several tiny fires in the back yard. If we can have a few well-timed rain showers before the party to cut down on pollen and dust, it should be quite nice.