The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[Friendly Frog]

I'm not having a good day.

My bike's wheel is definitely punctured. My mom's bike is an unexpected death trap in which you turn your pedals backwards and the bike locks up instantly. Good thing I found that out before taking it into traffic.

The start button on the washing machine broke.

The bitumen roof repair didn't set.

A mouse stole and ate the maize cob from the animal feed supply. Which is minor but on top of everything else felt like the final insult.

Boo for unclean gutters! (Maybe try showing him an estimate of the cost for repairing water damage and rot; clogged and backed up gutters lead to Bad and Expensive Things...)

This very much. Get those gutters sorted, before they gut you.

On electric cars, around here, people keep trying to propose a by-the-mile tax for them, since they use roads and aren't paying the gas taxes. )In some versions of the proposal, the gas tax is eliminated and replaced with by-the-mile taxes for everyone. I don't think it's actually gone through, though... and I'm not sure how enforcement would work.

We have a tax for all motorised vehicles that literally translates to 'putting-it-in-traffic-tax'. And a lot of taxes on fossil fuels. There has been talk for years of adding a by-the-mile tax but the costs of the system itself so far as still too high. You need so many cameras to verify the road usage and we have many, many miles of roads.

That said, I'm not holding my breath that it will never happen. Traffic cams have exploded the last few years so it wouldn't surprise me if at some point the infrastructure is there if they want the by-the-mile tax. Which they will.

Yes, we have one of the highest taxation rates in the EU, why do you ask?

Not that we have good roads, mind.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Sorry kids but there comes a time when you can't save them all.

Unless you're driving a minimum of 2 miles to release them they just come back. And I know a rat can produce 10,000 descendants in a year, I can't imagine mice are that different.

Blurred for anyone who doesn't want to read about mouse traps.

If you're interested,

Spoiler

I have something called a rat zapper which is (as the name implies) meant for rats, and it electrocutes them. With 2 minutes of current because apparently their hearts can restart with less than that. I've caught numerous ones in the garage with that. Supposedly it also works for mice, but to date I haven't caught any.

Another method is the water bucket. The young ones go to get a drink and fall in and the expected thing happens. I am not enough of an engineer to make one, but you can get a spinning "log" to suspend over a bucket of water. Put a snack (peanut butter) on the log, the rodent climbs on to get the snack and then spins into the water.

And snap traps are tried and true. All of which prevent any manual smashing on your part.

 

[E.F.B.]

Hugs for bad days, and boo for mouse traps not working. We had mice back a number of years ago and found peanut butter to be the best bait.


I *might* have had a breakthrough with the FB/Etsy Insta connection? I'd made a few tweaks and let them sit for a bit, then yesterday, noticed that the shopping tab on my Insta had a notification dot. Tapped it, but the last notif was the one from two weeks ago claiming I'd been approved for Insta shopping and could tag stuff now. I was grumbling "yeah right" to myself, but wondered why I had a notif dot when there wasn't anything more recent than that, so I tried tapping the notif itself just for the heck of it. Doing this previously didn't help anything because it wasn't connected to the right stuff yet, so I couldn't connect to a catalog. But this time, it showed me my full catalog that I made on FB as being available! I followed the instructions to choose it, and then it gave me a screen claiming that "Your shop is being created: This can take a minute. We'll let you know if there are more steps to complete before you are ready to start selling."

Dare I hope I've actually done it? It's definitely taking more than "a minute" as it's been at least 14 hours since then and I still don't have a shop button, but then when you apply to get set up in the first place it says something similar, but the internet says approval can actually take up to two weeks. I figure I'll give this at least that long to get set up, and if nothing ever happens, then I'll start poking around again. I'm just afraid to touch any settings or anything right now lest I mess something up.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Hugs for bad days, and boo for mouse traps not working. We had mice back a number of years ago and found peanut butter to be the best bait.

When I put peanut butter out they are highly suspicious and don't touch it. When I use a little sprinkle of chicken grain (which is what they're after) they go right after it. Smart little effers, I almost feel bad.

Dare I hope I've actually done it?

Dare! Dare!

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for pests!

(Will withhold any hoorays for digital accomplishments until confirmed; I'm a firm believer in jinxing via premature joy/bragging...)

Saturday, and the drier day we were promised looks rather wet to me. Stupid, changing weather forecasts... so that pretty much kills weed whacking unless the afternoon is really dry, which I doubt. (Won't change the mud/ground saturation issue, anyway...)

Sibling works an extra graveyard shift tonight. Still wish they'd get her off that shift, as it's a major stress thing for everyone when she can't sleep enough, though I do like her making her own money and maybe gaining a sense of self-worth again, if a fragile and minimal sense of self-worth...

Meanwhile, I'm gearing up for Operation Phone Switch. Might try charging the sucker up, at least. First on the agenda is the weekly room tidying, though, which is totally procrastination on jumping through phone hoops, but it needs doing.

--

And later the same morning, finally got the room tidying(ish) done, and plugged the phone in to charge. It says to charge "at least five hours before using", but it came with about a 60% charge, so I'm not sure if that applies to a refurbished phone...

Probably too early to scrounge lunch. Maybe I'll do site work, relatives pending... (Sounds like another meltdown in progress, so I may be needed to run to a store or something... mergh...)

 

[MaeZe]

One of the buggers bit the dust. Definitely better than nothing but it wasn't near where I saw the live one. I wonder if that one went back into the attic via the wall or something.

I have used peanut butter before. It worked, then it didn't. Dried blueberries worked then they didn't. So now cheese worked for one trap.

I'm going to leave the two traps set with cheese and put another one down where the mouse was caught incase there are more than one. They chewed up something leaving debris but I don't know yet what thing they trashed. Hopefully it wasn't something valuable.

In the past they got into my camping supplies and feasted for a while on the fire starter that I think was fat-based. They made a mess.


That Instagram selling program sounds quite complicated. I don't think connecting it to my eBay site will happen anytime soon. What I need to do is get more stuff listed.

I've had a mental block towards doing much of anything productive lately. I'm determined to get something done today besides setting mousetraps.

 

[Unimportant]

When I put peanut butter out they are highly suspicious and don't touch it.

Ours preferred cashew butter I guess we have high-class, gourmet mice.

If you mix honey and peanut butter, sometimes that's more appealing.

What we found worked best, in the end, was to get a cat. And for the garage, after rats chewed through all the wiring or tubing or whatever on my partner's Ducati (hello $1500 in repairs), rat bait with poison (warfarin). Nasty stuff, but the Ducati is where we drew the line.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for dead mice! (I'm a cat person; my sympathies rarely lie with the rodents...)

As for poison, we have a pest control company that uses a poison that takes multiple doses to be lethal; it's the best one can do to avoid outright killing off native predators as well as rats, but there just is no other way to control rats short of staking a terrier at each corner of the house. (Good as they usually are with mice, cats are iffy at rat control; some are good at it, others just don't. IIRC, Darwin even mentioned rat hunting in cats as a thing that some did and some didn't, showing how traits could be inherited.) And I hear ya on the engine damage... none of the repellers work, or if they do they don't work for long. I have had decent luck - knock on plywood - with that anti-rodent wire tape stuff so far, but that doesn't keep 'em out, just keeps 'em from nibbling...

Later the same Saturday, and lunch existed. (Leftover tomato soup and grilled cheese and ham sandwich.) Rain let up at last, for the most part, but it's still far too wet to do any yard stuff or finish off the gutter stuff, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow last I saw. About to do some site work, then I'll check the phone charge. I figure once it hits 100% it's as charged as it's gonna get. (I also have to remember to order new charging cables, as of course it doesn't take the same microUSB end as my other chargeables, and I want at least one spare charging cable to carry with me in case of recharge emergency.)

 

[Brigid Barry]

Ours preferred cashew butter I guess we have high-class, gourmet mice.

If you mix honey and peanut butter, sometimes that's more appealing.

What we found worked best, in the end, was to get a cat. And for the garage, after rats chewed through all the wiring or tubing or whatever on my partner's Ducati (hello $1500 in repairs), rat bait with poison (warfarin). Nasty stuff, but the Ducati is where we drew the line.

I won't do toxic poisons because of secondary and tertiary poisoning so I'm asking for the problems. I've had livestock for several years and we didn't get rats until last year - they're turning into a huge problem up here. I am adopting two barn cats to live in the garage and/or the hay shed. We have rodents everywhere and hopefully the cats will help.

ETA: my dog (and I use that term loosely, I maintain that she's a bunch of field mice in a dog costume) LOVES hunting rats and she's a stone cold killer. Unfortunately she has to find them first.

My zapper has caught two giant adults.

 

[CMBright]

Some cats are better hunters than others. For best hunting results, keep food and water available. If a cat is hungry, it gets impatient and is more likely to fail a hunt.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Funny how everybody has their own tested mice bait. We tend to get them with dried raisins.

I don't enjoy killing mice but they have to stay outside the house and outside my seedling pots. They can frolick in the full garden otherwise, we have a poison-free garden with lots of food opportunities but I draw the line at the house. Just not hygenic.

We have two cats but so far only one has turned out to be a mouser. Unfortunately the mice don't agree with his digestive system. Yeay, the sound of barfing cats at 3AM... And he has this crazy habit/fixation of bringing his catches INSIDE THE HOUSE for play and dismembering. Unfortunately -again- sometimes he of course looses his live catch...

 

[Brigid Barry]

And he has this crazy habit/fixation of bringing his catches INSIDE THE HOUSE for play and dismembering. Unfortunately -again- sometimes he of course looses his live catch...

Some people say he's bringing you a gift. Others would say that, in cat, he's saying "here, [insert preferred derogatory noun here], you're clearly incapable of catching you own food so let's practice on this so you don't starve and leave me without a lap to sit on."

 

[CMBright]

Bringing live prey back to the den is how mama cats teach kittens prey recognition and let them practice killing bites.

 

[MaeZe]

I'm not a poison person either. The rats can die in a wall and stink for a month. And we have both hawks and eagles here so definitely I worry about poisoning the downstream raptors.

I have a tin cat mouse trap that I used to empty when a mouse was in it. But I got lazy about checking it until I quit checking altogether. It's in the attic, I suspect it's got a few desiccated mice in it. But there's no smell so I don't think the mice are going in it anymore.

I don't want to get it down and clean it out so I may buy another one to use inside the house. It's easier than setting traps.


Lunar eclipse tomorrow night if anyone has clear skies. It's iffy here but if it clears up I'll take a look. They're not as exciting as a solar eclipse but I love anything that makes the sky overhead look more 3-D. Bodies passing in front of other bodies does that.

Did any of you see the transit of Venus a few years ago? I chased a hole in the clouds, literally, and managed to find a wonderful viewing spot a number of miles from here. It was incredible! Nothing like the transit of Mercury which happens all the time. Mercury looks like a pinpoint if you can even find it. Venus was big, like seeing a baseball or maybe a basketball cross in front of the Sun.


Correction, the eclipse is tomorrow, not tonight. I got confused thinking it started after midnight on the east coast which would have been the 15th and ~9pm here tonight. I should have checked.

 

[Brightdreamer]

I had a cat try to get me to play fetch with a dead mouse once, chucking it against my leg until I looked down and saw what it was... Fetch was his favorite game.

It was summer, and I was in shorts at the time.

I did not play fetch with the dead mouse.

And it's Saturday evening, and about to attempt the phone switch. Making sure I have everything I need for that first, and hoping I can do it this late on a weekend. (If they're East Coast hours I'm probably screwed until tomorrow or Monday. And Monday's a blood test for Dad again, plus shopping with Mom, hopefully sans alternator problems this time... mergh.) May have to wait until the bathroom fan isn't running, because it's loud and I may need to talk to someone on the phone (IIRC, I did last time).

Nothing is ever easy...

 

[CMBright]

I had a cat try to get me to play fetch with a dead mouse once, chucking it against my leg until I looked down and saw what it was... Fetch was his favorite game.

It was summer, and I was in shorts at the time.

I did not play fetch with the dead mouse.

And it's Saturday evening, and about to attempt the phone switch. Making sure I have everything I need for that first, and hoping I can do it this late on a weekend. (If they're East Coast hours I'm probably screwed until tomorrow or Monday. And Monday's a blood test for Dad again, plus shopping with Mom, hopefully sans alternator problems this time... mergh.) May have to wait until the bathroom fan isn't running, because it's loud and I may need to talk to someone on the phone (IIRC, I did last time).

Nothing is ever easy...

I would also refuse to play fetch with a deceased rodent. A pipe cleaner, on the other hand? I had a darling little Empress who loved to play fetch with pipe cleaners. I'd throw a coiled up one and that cat would keep bringing it back until she decided she'd had enough.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Orion's favorite fetch toy was the purple Kitty Kong, a knobbly purple conical thing that bounced and was the perfect fetching size.

I still miss those kitties...

And it's later, and still haven't started the danged phone thing. Turns out the branch that was holding one of Mom's humm feeders was coming down, so we had to get that transferred. (Didn't fall all the way; current theory is that it had a greenstick break during the winter, and a brief wind gust was enough to shift it until it was no longer a viable humm feeder holder.)

Then the sibling had to make a production out of getting her dinner.

Then Mom decided to start cutting the down branch now, rather than waiting a bit, so I had to make sure nothing bad happened with that; person operating chainsaw, even a small electric pole chainsaw, means another person should be nearby.

Then... then...

Gah... maybe I should just wait until tomorrow, though I have a bad feeling Mom's going to decide we need to buy Some Manner Of Thing That Could Probably Wait But Inexplicably Must Be Bought Right Now, and that's a huge hole in the middle of that day...

--

It's alive! It's alive!!!

The new Samsung is officially alive!

*insert crash of thunder and ominous organ music*

*or just a few frogs in the backyard ponds and the whir of the big computer fan*

Still transferring apps and setting things up, and I have to check the security update as soon as possible, and I need to get a little micro card to shunt junk like MP3s onto, but it is officially alive!

--

And, after ensuring all Samsung patches and updates, in the final test for the phone and the night, the Bluetooth works great.

Also got the plastic screen protector on, but I'm not sure I like it.

And I ordered the backup charger (and a new screen protector, that includes a protector for the camera lenses - which I have to try out tomorrow when it's daylight.)

Phew...

Guess I'll spitball for a bit, then shut down for the night.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Some people say he's bringing you a gift. Others would say that, in cat, he's saying "here, [insert preferred derogatory noun here], you're clearly incapable of catching you own food so let's practice on this so you don't starve and leave me without a lap to sit on."

I know of cats that do that. Hahah, not this cat, though. He doesn't bring us anything because he knows it'll be taken away (and exchanged for food) but he only wants that to happen when he's ready for that.

No, he takes his catches to the bottom of the stairs and plays and dismembers it there. Sadly, it's a very dark spot and you don't always see the remains when you walk down. ... Yeah.

He can be damn sneaky about it too. One minute he's sleeping in the garden, the next minute you can hear pouncing noise coming from the hallway (and then you have to drop everything to grab that mouse if it is still alive before mom notices. He's always surprised when you turn up and he then tries to backpaddle with his mouth for of mouse to evade capture. But then sometimes he drops it to get a better grip and the mouse says "too slow!" and zoinks off...

... I suppose in a way I am very grateful he doesn't bring me gifts.

Lunar eclipse tomorrow night if anyone has clear skies. It's iffy here but if it clears up I'll take a look. They're not as exciting as a solar eclipse but I love anything that makes the sky overhead look more 3-D. Bodies passing in front of other bodies does that.

True to form, after a whole month of clear night skies, that will be the one moment that's going to be clouded for sure. Never fails. Gonna have a look though, but I don't rate my chances much. Ah well, if those clouds finally bring rain, I ain't complaining.

 

[owlion]

I know of cats that do that. Hahah, not this cat, though. He doesn't bring us anything because he knows it'll be taken away (and exchanged for food) but he only wants that to happen when he's ready for that.

I have the issue where my cat will bring live animals into the house because I think she views them as toys like her little plushie frog which she likes to carry around. She brought in a young bird at one point and when it moved, she picked it up and put it back where it was before.. Thankfully none of them have died except for one frog (she had a summer of bringing in frogs) that went behind the freezer and no one knew it was there until we moved it to clean a good month or so later. I'm hoping now she's a bit older (5 this year) she'll stop doing it.

True to form, after a whole month of clear night skies, that will be the one moment that's going to be clouded for sure. Never fails. Gonna have a look though, but I don't rate my chances much. Ah well, if those clouds finally bring rain, I ain't complaining.

Yeah, I was looking forward to try to see it, but it's been cloudy and rainy since the middle of the day, with thunder storms forecast, so I think it'll be yet another event I miss!

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for clouds!

Monday morning, damp, and not a ton on the agenda save making myself exercise and maybe more phone stuff. Hopefully I can finally start watching The Wilds; I'd hoped to have it cleared before Stranger Things started, but at this rate I'll be cutting it close.

Already fetched the recycle bin and yesterday's mail. So that's done.

--

And afternoon rolls around. Cleared two eps of the second season of The Wilds, and got foot pedaling in with one of them. Also started cleaning up another story in sub-ready/manuscript format.

Dinner's either going to be chicken strips and fries or leftover scrounging, so I don't have to deal with that for a while.

And it's too wet and drizzly to do any weed whacking or work shed stuff.

So I may take a nap or something...

Or I might clear another ep of The Wilds. So far, it's keeping up the pacing and feel of the first season, and not rehashing too much.

 

[zanzjan]

We were thoroughly overcast, not even a dim glow to even tell where the moon was. Oh well. )-:

Also, hey everyone. Sorry for not being around much.

 

[MaeZe]

So sad, my dog just had a bad seizure. She's old and has a serious neuro problem that has been getting worse for over a year. I know she isn't long for this world. But a full-blown seizure is a bad sign. I'm not ready for her to die yet.


There's nothing anyone can do, sometimes you just want to tell someone.

 

[Unimportant]

So sad, my dog just had a bad seizure. She's old and has a serious neuro problem that has been getting worse for over a year. I know she isn't long for this world. But a full-blown seizure is a bad sign. I'm not ready for her to die yet.


There's nothing anyone can do, sometimes you just want to tell someone.

So, so there with you.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Sorry to read of the seizure... fingers crossed the dog is having a better day.

And it's Monday morning, too frellin' early and rainy, and leaving in a bit for Dad's blood check. As soon as I get him home we're going back out to do shopping. (Also need to buy a new phone cord extension; Dad somehow broke the end of the one we were using for his phone, and it's cheaper to buy a new cord than to buy the tools to fix the end of the existing one, which is just wrong.)

Gonna be a Monday type of Monday, I fear...

--

Later the same Monday, and at least it stopped raining for a bit. Still doesn't feel remotely like April out there.

Dad's number was low, so he goes back in two weeks.

Got home, got him in the door, then had to turn right back around to shop with Mom.

And after that I had to go out yet again to dump a mouse from a live trap.

So, yeah, one of those days, but the alternator's still solid so I'll call it better than last Monday.

I keep hoping it'll dry out a bit out there so I can take the new phone camera for a spin outdoors, test the macro and such... Also really need to weed whack, despite ground saturation.

First, though, creeping up on lunch time.

 

[Brigid Barry]

I'm not ready for her to die yet.


There's nothing anyone can do, sometimes you just want to tell someone.

I have never, in my entire life, been "ready". I feel this in my soul, we had a rough December, losing two pets within two weeks of one another, one of them on the four year anniversary of losing another dog. There's no "ready".

Hit me up any time.


In my own world, the wonderful people of the VA Community Care department got my neuro appointment pushed through, so I am all set and should be getting my letter any day now. Hopefully they get the disc with my imaging on it in the mail, but that's a tiny bump in the road to have to go pick it up.