Chris & Joy’s Critterweb

Click the picture for full image.

For our donation last month, we thought it would be nice to send a check to On the Wing Again, a bird rehabilitation group back in Texas that took in two baby birds (there’s a picture of one of them in a previous post)we found at different times while we lived there, in appreciation of the work they do. Sadly, it appears that the organization is no longer operating, so we decided to look for a similar group locally. We found Wild for Life, who I’d also like to mention have a very informative web site with some great practical information on what to do if you find an animal that you think needs help. We sent them a donation and have also added their site to our links page.

I’ve hand raised several birds as well as cats, dogs, and pet rats, and it is very messy, round the clock work. It’s always amazed me how helpless birds and many mammals are at birth, and what a great job their parents do raising them just by instinct. A sparrow or rat, for instance, comes out looking like something that wasn’t quite ‘done’ yet - naked, blind, with skin so translucent you can see the organs inside, absolutely helpless. Getting the temperature wrong by just a degree or two either way or not feeding the exact right amount at the right time can doom the little one you are hand raising and yet an animal or bird parent with a brain about the size of a gumdrop can do it (usually in multiples!) perfectly.

Knowing the amount of work that goes into caring for orphaned wildlife, and also the importance of making sure that the babies grow up knowing how to survive in the wild, we have the greatest respect for anyone who takes on such a responsibility. As I write this, I am thinking that in addition to the donation we just made to Wild for Life, I am going to write a letter to the folks who used to run On the Wing again (even though they are no longer operating) to thank them personally. When we found those birds we knew we wouldn’t have the time to give them the care they needed and having that resource available was a wonderful thing. I am sort of feeling a bit ashamed, because at the time I was thinking “we did a good thing, we saved a life” but actually it was someone else who saved a life. We were just kind of in the right place at the right time to help that process along a bit.

I’ve been meaning to post several things over the past few weeks but time to actually do it has been somewhat scarce. I should have made a list… anyway I am going to try and post a few of the things I meant to put up today, at least the ones I can still remember!

Things are going pretty well here. We had a paranormal group come investigate our house and they did find some interesting things, which I will save for an entry of it’s own. My new job is going well but I am on the road A LOT which is a big factor in of the lack of recent updates. The animals are all more or less doing well, even Cricket (the junk food diet seems to agree with her) though we are still struggling with Simon’s nightly wake-up calls. I’ve taken up pyrography (no, that’s neither related to looking up bad sites on the ‘net or burning down people’s houses, look it up ) and we’ve managed to keep the tomato babies from Joy’s mom alive, though they still are undersized.

We’ve also made a grown-up decision; (we think) we have decided to stay in this house another year. Maybe. Even if it is haunted. And falling down around us. Other people take vacations every year — we move. Similar expense, much less pleasant experience.  Or to put it differently, every time we start getting on a firmer financial footing, we kick it out from under us.  We really want our own house someday and each time we go through the expense of moving that just puts it further out of reach.  Maybe we just need to suck it up and deal, for at least another year, anyway?

Well, anyway, let’s see what I can do about that catching up, eh?

Kitty Wigs

If only the giggling that accompanied this link could be conveyed as well… our cats should be very, very afraid right now.

Actually, while we are on the subject of “just what does Joy spend her days at work doing?” here is another link:

Stuff on My Cat

By the way, if you are actually paying attention, you will realize that we are sitting here posting this on a Saturday night, which does not speak well of our social life… or rather the lack thereof.

I finally had a chance to put up the pictures from the project we worked on Memorial Day weekend, and thought it would be a good idea also to create a new album to put them in, this way we can add pictures of some of the other cool things we’ve found.

We actually finished a furniture project - that in itself is amazing. In the past we’ve been good at starting them but actually seeing it through to completion… not so much.

Now that the album is up, I’ll have to get a picture of desk-zilla uploaded. But that’s another story!

So I have just finished my second month at the new job and all is going pretty good. It’s a lot less stress than my last job and I am actually enjoying the driving. I have to confess that initially I was horrified by the fact that instead of finding a job where I could drive less, I was now doing one where I mostly drive all day. I am still not crazy about that fact but I decided that someone would still be driving my route even if it was not me, so the best thing I could do was try and minimize my impact.

The vehicle I was supposed to be driving was trashed beyond repair by my predecessor, so I got a brand new one… a brand new Chevy Uplander, that is. It’s sort of a minivan with a long nose, or a suburban with a self esteem issue, slinking on its belly. The dealership guys apparently dubbed that model “the platypus” and that fits it well. I was mortified by the big sticker still on the window that proclaimed “16 MPG city/23 MPG Hwy but its not like I have a choice, and I have to carry a lot of equipment. But as I began to get to know my platypus, I noticed it has a cool little feature; a gauge that measures average MPG, and I am proud to say that over the past 1850 miles so far, mine averages 25.1. I drive mostly highway, but not speeding or leadfooting when the light turns green apparently makes a big difference; I know at least one of the other field installer’s Uplander averages 17 also with mostly highway, so I think how you drive must play a big part. So yes, I drive a long, grey, carbon-spewing platapus, but at least it’s spewing about a third less carbon with me at the wheel.

The other big thing I was having a problem with is the huge amount of waste involved. An average day creates a mountain of cardboard, plastic and styrofoam. I break down or re-use everything I can, but the styrofoam was very distressing, especially when I cleaned the van out at the end of the week today and had a stack of it that came up to my chest. I did some research online and found out that there are recycling centers around the country (unfortunately not near us) but also the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers will take the stuff if you mail it to them. Even a large box is pretty light, so it would be fairly inexpensive, I thought…

I was prepared to just send the stuff myself and pay for it out of my pocket, but I figured ‘can’t hurt to ask’ so I emailed my manager, explained what I wanted to do, and asked if I could expense it. He said I could just send it on the company FedEx account as long as I sent it via ground! Very cool, now almost none of the huge mound of junk actually ends up in the trash. I filled two huge printer boxes; one weighed five pounds and the other seven, and I had the added fun of carrying them into the FedEx depot one on top of the other and freaking out the lady at the counter. She hurried to help carry one of the boxes and then looked very confused for a moment.

So, anyway, I may not have the greenest job, but I am doing what I can to make it just a little bit greener.

We are still struggling with Simon’s 2 AM wake-ups; he’s been to the vet for a full exam and blood panel and the vet felt it was possibly a combination of boredom and discomfort from his hips… we also discovered that he has a bad knee as well. We’ve got him on glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM to see if that makes him more comfortable and have been trying to enrich his life a bit. Thus the Catio was built this weekend:

OK, built probably implies a little more effort than was actually involved; it’s just pieces of 2 x 4″ fencing held in place by staples and zip ties (so as not to do any structural damage to the rental property) enclosing the porch that is off the side of the house. When we are home, we can leave the door open and the cats can safely get fresh air, sunshine, and a view of the outside world.

We’re working on a screen curtain for the door to lessen the amount of bugs that will get in when the door is open, and being able to have that door open will also help with air flow when it starts to get real hot this year. Simon, as you can see below, thinks the catio is a great idea… but he still woke us up last night.