Electronics and other stuff that breaks...

FunkyB is not allowed to come over anymore. Every time he does, an appliance dies and we have to make a huge purchase. I am joking about it being his fault but this time it was the TV. NO, NOT THE TV! I should really blame Mau since he keeps talking about wanting a new TV and when finding out it was broken, he nearly jumped with joy. I am not embarrassed to say I am fairly reliant on the TV…fairly being a dramatic understatement. I just got my DDR working again recently by replacing my metal pad (I found a good deal somehow) and the PS2 (stupid thing died finally). I need a monitor of some sort to play the game and the 13 year old one from the computer room won’t cut it. The fridge was the beginning of replacing things and frankly, I am sick of it. I want to buy NEW things, not replace shit I already own. I don’t think I am alone in this way of thinking.

I suppose this can be considered an upgrade of sorts…oh wait, they all are, even the PS2. We had a used one to begin with. The older, clunkier model. Now we have the itty bitty newer model that hopefully will not need to be taken apart a zillion times to reset the arm. The new metal pad I got was much cheaper than the Red Octane one and has metal arrows so they won’t crack at least. It works beautifully and I am getting higher scores on everything. It makes me very happy.

We did have to downgrade slightly in the size of the TV but got a much nicer, flat screen HD one for much cheaper than we bought the original one for. No, we don’t have the subscription or the cables for HD but we have the option down the road and it’s ready for that switchover from analog to digital or whatever it is, unlike the old one. It is pretty and the picture looks a hell of a lot sharper than the old one, which was getting darker by the month.

Now, before you think I am rich, there’s this thing called credit and yes, I soon will be fucked by it. I had also replaced my super old printer with a fresher, fancier one that will print photos. While installing the drivers, I found out my CD burner was fucked. I think I knew this awhile ago when it started locking up my system when I put any CD in it. I found a DVD burner the same price as a regular CD burner so I went with that. 2 words on the last 2…tax writeoffs. Well, with the DVD burner installed, I got Madden 2007 and that was free :P

On a final note, the kid is back in school this week and I am loving it! He’s happy about it too so it’s a win/win.

Pepe Le Peu?

We had a few adventures while camping. The first night we had just finished dinner and I saw a little animal coming into our site. I shine my flashlight on it and say “Hey little fella…oh look it’s a badger.”. Kari said she didn't think we have badgers around here. Mau tossed it a piece of hot dog bun. We all know this is a bad idea as it will attract all his friends. Kali started freaking out, snarling and nearly choking herself on her tie out. The animal ran through the fence and Mau shined his flashlight just in time to see it lifting his tail to spray Kali. Yep, it was a skunk. A cute skunk but a skunk. We all started coughing and gagging from the stench. Kali rubbed her face on the ground for a half hour. I smelled her and realized she was just upset by the odor but didn’t get sprayed. It was terrible though. It reminded me of the tear gas from the Stratford Riots a few years back. You smell a skunk sometimes but it just smells like skunky weed. Concentrated is bad. It smelled like a chemical…I swore up and down it was the propane from the lantern for a good hour. We kept the skunk funk until the next day when it poured then it went away for the most part. Cute little bastard.

We didn’t have many neighbors so that was nice and I had the shower house to myself. Mau went on the mountain bike trails by himself last time we were there but this time we all went. I didn’t know what I was missing…they were a blast! The first day we got a little lost and things got tense as it got darker and darker and we kept going in circles. The kids kept saying “We gotta find freedom!”. Kinda funny. The 2^nd time we stepped it up to a harder trail but had some casualties…me, twice. It’s a super narrow trail and I put my foot down and slipped down a cliff toward the lake. I had to stop myself with my foot on a tree so I wouldn’t go all the way down. Scraped myself up a little and messed up my shoulder but I was alright so the kids laughed. I fell another time but the kids didn’t see me so I fed them a story of my awesome backflips off the cliff and they bought it.

We got rained out the second night. We had just gotten back from the waterfall where I was staying out of the water next to the rocks because of the snakes but thanks to the nature center, I found out the snakes are the Northern Water Snake not the Water Moccasin that random kids down there kept telling me. I figured poisonous snakes would warrant a sign but we don’t even have Water Moccasins in Ohio. They look alike so I see the confusion. We got poured on during dinner. It was very tricky to finish making it then we had the kids eat in their tent and we sat in the car with the dog. Our site turned into a huge mud puddle so we took a drive into town and found the Starbucks and waited it out. Unfortunately, even though we covered the wood and it stayed dry, the pit was wet underneath so Mau’s attempts to start a fire were futile. The camp stove must have gotten too wet because it wasn’t working so breakfast turned into Mau driving to a McDonalds. It all worked out and we busted ass to pack up the last day so we could get in one last bike ride. This 3^rd time was a little trickier due to puddles and muck but we got through covered with mud and only one fall. There are these cool, tight corners you can go way up on the sides of but poor Sky wiped out straight into the mud. I can’t wait to go back up to ride those trails.

Adventures with wildlife...

I rescued a bat! It was a very cool experience. I was chatting with Ryan in his front yard while walking the dog when the kids start yelling “It’s a bat, it’s a bat!”. I go over to find a little brown bat with a damaged wing trying to crawl on the ground. I wasn’t sure what to do so I continued my walk, hoping to find Kari in the park. I found West Coast and he called Kari to come over. I called the ASPCA which was no help then Second Chance Wildlife, which was a lot of help. He told me they can’t take off from the ground so I needed to put him up higher so he could drop then fly. Ok. Secondly, the little guy would not take off until dusk…I knew that but still. I took the dog back to the house then went back to the bat armed with a shoe box, whisk broom and a pair of leather gloves. It was tricky but I gently scooped him into the box while he showed me his cute, little teeth and clicked at me (I know, the echolocation…sounded neat though) then headed back to the park. Kari & West Coast were driving home so they stopped to help. I had to call the wildlife guy back to ask about the injured wing but he said there wasn’t anything I could do except hope that it was just a pulled ligament and would heal in a few days. I felt so bad for him. He was so cute too but of course I forgot my camera. My camera has been messed up lately so the picture most likely would not have turned out.

Why does Naomi Watts’s face always look like she just got her wisdom teeth pulled and is all swelled up like she’s storing nuts for the Winter? She’s definitely one of those people that have a “good photo side” and a bad one. Or that Seinfeld episode where Jerry dated the girl who looked good at some angles and terrible at others? Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

Good feline news...

Freyja has been on the IV fluids for over a week now so we took her in for the follow-up blood work. The vet called today with good news. Her levels have gone down drastically…like in half. She said that is better than she expected her to do. They are still high, meaning it’s definitely renal failure and not an infection. She will still need the fluids administered by us for the rest of her life but right now, only every other day. The dental work is being put off indefinitely until it becomes a problem again because surgery would be iffy with her. We are very happy she’s doing better for now and you can tell she feels better.

We have been getting wet as much as possible lately. We have hit the waterpark about once a week (glad we bought those season passes, definitely worth it) and the lake every so often. Usually I avoid the waterslides because the chlorine messes up my contacts but I found this awesome invention called goggles. I know, why I never thought of them before is beyond me but they allow me to submerge myself and not worry about my contacts…plus I can open my eyes underwater, which is very cool. I even attempted a slide I have been scared of in the past years. I was still scared to death of catching air but I did it and I caught air then went into the splash pool with such force it took a minute to readjust my bikini before getting out.

School starts in 2 weeks so we have decided to go camping while we can go on Mau’s days off. We are going back up to the place with the waterfall on Sunday. I am not sure how we are getting a 4^th bike up there but we will manage it. Sky wants to take a friend and since Keith & Mary Jo can’t go during the week, we have to fit it all in our little car. I need a small getaway.

HellaKitty made an appearance on Sunday with a friend of hers. She asked if she could move in so she can go to vet school down here and I said yes.