Squirrels: Dressed up Rats....just ask my dogs!

I threw the tomato away. And then made the season's first batch of fresh pesto - man o man is that delicious!!!

i mean, really, our dogs lick their ass and we have no problems letting them lick peanut butter off our tongues...

it was worth repeating.

OKay call off the search and rescue - I'm still alive. Its just been one of those days when everything gets undone.

The island version of Crystal-Lite sent me an email. She wanted me to do some work that she asked her "mate" to do but couldn't get done. I was itching to tell her to f@ck off but I bit my tongue and took the high road. Sigh!

WK congrats on the milestone

everyone has become posting monsters - I don't remember last summer being so active; its great actually. Perhaps this ripple of posting may affect the global practice of architecture - nothing gets done. Ahh the horror - we might need a back up team of monkeys somewhere in the jungle to help us whilst we feed our brains/spirit with archinect

I just hope they have project management monkeys

squirrels got eat too lb.

On topic, I found out from my mum the other who saw a squirrel running on a tree hear her hotel window whilst she was in Trinidad. I never knew those things were in the caribbean. I suspect it took a trip from the US, down the central to south America and took a swim from Venezuela to Trinidad - perfectly reasonable in my mind.

I keep a small arsenal of bb and pellet guns by my back door for the purpose of dealing with squirrels. Here in some of the older neighborhoods with old trees, the squirrels have become quite a nuisance.

My best friend is a cop, and we like to sit on my back porch, sip whiskey, smoke cigars, and see who can shoot more squirrels with fewer shots. He's got some pretty amazing training under his belt, so I never win, but he's also a pretty good teacher.

Nothing like rednecks, guns, and booze on a Saturday evening. God I love Texas.

Techno, I've got a couple of friend from Tobago. I've never been, but I hear that's an amazing part of the world.

shooting a squirrel is low.

I actually tried to run over the squirrel with my car, but stopped short, fearful I would crush the tomato.

I dislike rodents.

Sounds fun rfuller, though I would never shoot one, most likely.

I have convinced my husband to get a humane trap for the backyard chipmunk - I admit they are sorta cute, and they aren't as rat-like as the squirrels.

i just fed my back yard squirrel raw sunflower seeds - i need to fatten him up before the winter months.

Oh, damn! my cat just caught a chipmunk - bad kitty. I know its just their nature, but still...its not like my cat isn't feed well.

Well, my lab and my weim are both amazing hunters, and quite frankly I don't want them getting some sort of crazy disease from eating squirrels. Its purely in the best interest of my pets. I can't afford to have them treated for rabies or the plague or any other disease for that matter. Its also good practice for my lab who is a gun dog.

chipmunks are cute! and my damn cat just killed one LB. :(

Tobago is an island dream. One of the most idyllic places in the world. Seeing is believing. MOntserrat ain't so bad either - but I'm biased no matter how you turn.

You got friends about - come/go visit

techno, taking the "high road" is covered on another thread!

You are the ones who can hear airs. Who can be frightened or encouraged. You can hold things and break them and fix them. I have never felt at home here. This is an awful place to be dropped down halfway. Take care Richard, see everything for me. -Helen

hi all... been a busy week or two for me... my boss quit and that has significantly cut into my available archinect time... that, and all of my projects that had been on hold or in limbo came back to life at the same time... anyways...

elbell, that's awesome... fuck the squirrel, save the tomato... glad that you decided to throw it away though... there was actually a thing in esquire a month or so ago about hitting wildlife with your car... basically it said that anything from a deer on down you should just brace and hit it as swerving to miss is more dangerous than just taking it out... it did say to try to avoid a moose... and if you do hit a moose to duck because it will likely flip up into the air, landing on the roof of your car and collapsing it onto your head...

was it rationalist that had the point scale for seeing people riding bikes? how would you rank a guy riding backwards while sitting on the handlebars? over the past week i've seen this guy 3-4 times on my way to/from work sitting backwards on his handlebars, looking forward over his shoulder, while peddaling his beach cruiser type bike... i saw him again this morning and wanted to stop and be like "you know that's not the way that you're supposed to ride a bike, right?"

also, i should be joining the bike riding forces in october... my office is moving from our current, slightly isolated location, to the main municipal building downtown which is only about 8 blocks from my house... :)

hmmm, to be honest I definitely would not have counted him on the first time seeing him because I would've taken him for a crazy. After repeated sightings, I'd reconsider.



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I may soon be rid of Crystal Light. She hasn't come to work in three days. The first two she said she was sick. Today she just said that she wasn't coming in. My boss may be lenient, he may not like to fire people, but he is not stupid. I hear another house call is in the works, and I'd be pretty suprised if she comes back after that.

I DID, in the spirit of getting her help if she needs it, suggest to my boss that depression might be the source of these problems, as we've all seen that she is very emotionally unstable. My boss said "Well, maybe." in a tone that said he had a very different idea of what was causing the problems. So we'll see what happens.

r, at this point I think you and your coworkers and boss need to ask yourselves, how much responsibility are you going to take for this situation? Yes, if she is depressed that is sad and needs to be dealt with but I don't know if this is your problem. She hasn't been there that long, has she? I could see if she had been hired a while ago, and it developed over time....but if she was hired and a little crazy from the get-go, it may just be better if you parted ways.

WonderK, yeah, I thought about that and my conclusion is this: I do think she is depressed and needs help. But I think she should be fired anyway. This is partly because I'd hope that being fired would maybe be the kick in the pants that she needs to show her that this is no way to go through life, but also because there's a lot more than just depression that's making her a bad employee: the inappropriate dress, the disregard for the work that the firm needs to do to stay afloat, the inappropriate phone flirtations, the bad bad bad accounting.... if it were JUST the depression I might feel differently, but as it's only one of many problems, I can honestly say I think she deserves to be fired whether she's depressed or not. I thought about what my responsibility was regarding it, and that's what made me mention it to my boss. I decided that he should definitely be made aware that that's one possibility, but now that he's aware, he can do whatever he likes with that information and I'm out of it.

r, that sounds like a good plan.

~~~~~

All of these "animal death" stories are making me sad. I am an avid animal lover and although I can do without many of them - snakes and spiders, for instance - I have a hard time killing even the scariest-looking bug. If it can be returned to its natural habitat without being harmed I try that first. I suspend this rule for house flies, which just need to go, and cockroaches, which must be annihilated at all costs.

However, I like squirrells, chipmunks, skunks, other small woodland creatures, and especially dogs. I accidentally hit a possum with my car in high school. I cried the whole way home.

beta- ha ha you did a good job grossing out everybody since they don't know that you don't have dogs.

LB- sic your dog/cat/bb gun on that furry tailed rat. I'm waiting for my first tomatoes - its any day soon since they are just turning pink/orange. My cat has been doing a good job chasing the local rodents around, though the squirrels have been digging in the flower beds. In philly I tried growing tomatoes up on my roof deck - damn racoons ate or scratched all of them through some layers of chicken wire.

wK- congrats on the 4k mark.

tumbles, I don't think she's suicidal-level depressed. I know I'm not basing that on a ton of information and I'm not a phsychiatrist or anything, but depression is something that's pretty strongly engrained in my family, and I frankly don't think she has the guts. She strikes me as the sort to take ten advil and act as if that's an overdose, if you know what I mean. Someone with real problems, but who greatly exaggerates those problems for attention, without the plain guts to actually do anything drastic. While we all know she's not healthy, I don't really believe she's a threat to herself, either. I know that's not a kind assessment in any way, but it's the very strong impression I've gotten. So no, I don't think that getting fired would drive her over the edge, I think it would give her one more thing to whine about.

DubK I'm a huge animal lover too, I can't even read about that NFL QB and his dog fighting because when I hear dog torture stories - and I've heard lots of them living in Philly where dog fighting is rampant - I get so physically and emotionally overcome that I carry it for days. Cruelty of any kind makes me ill.

But I dislike rodents. I wouldn't *really* have run over that squirrel, but the safety of the tomato *did* cross my mind before any concern about the safety of the squirrel (or the hassle of washing my car afterwards). And actually I think possums - the most pre-historic looking of the rodents - are kind of cute. They sort of shuffle when they walk, it's adorable.

And, every spider I see in my house I capture and take outside - because spiders eat bugs, and I hate bugs.

tk I hope that wasn't rats getting up onto the Philly roof!

thanks for saying that DubK. I was beginning to think I was the only one that thought this conversation was sad, but didn't want to get all crazy-vegetarian-animal-lady...

I also hit an opossum in HS and was hysterical. I kept picturing it getting run over, over and over again. I made my mom go back, clean it off the street, and give it a burial. She's a scientist (degree's in zoology) so she doesn't get grossed out.

LB, I haven't heard about the dog fights being bad in Philly- thats devastating. I don't believe in Capital punishment, but want to be the one to pull the trigger when I hear stories like Vick. I definitely want to get involved with a pit bull rescue when I move there. Unfortunately, studies have found that a lot of pits in low income areas have been "rescued" from shelters, only to be tortured into becoming fighters. It's tragic...

there was a family of coons that constantly was prowling our rooftop in philly. scared the begebbies out of my wife the first time she saw them peering into our windows, but they made it impossible to grow tomatoes.

oh, TK reminded me...
I think my new apartment has a fire escape. I've never seen it in person, and have to go by a few crappy pics, but I think I can make out the bars beyond the window. I've always wanted a fire escape, but never had one. Maybe I can grow a little herb garden out there... ok, probably not because I am useless at keeping plants alive.

Ignore all the crap in there...judging by the pennant, I'm assuming the previous tenant is a Wharton student (maybe not known for their sense of style ;)

but welcome to my humble (aka cheap) abode.

W2D, the pad looks perfect for a student, and well-located IIRC.

Apropos of nothing, over the last couple weeks I managed to watch all of Long Way Round, the documentary/travelogue of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman driving two motorcycles around the world. It was amazing. Beautiful landscape and culture, funny, heart-warming comradeship of two friends (maybe I should post this on the man thread - it was quite manly, in the good ways), hard work, success...really worth watching.

And, a plug for Unicef, the organization highlighted in Long Way Round. They do amazing things for kids in heartbreaking circumstances.

Did somebody say Ewan McGregor?

i have a man-crush on ewan mcgregor. can't help it. the dude rocks.

though he's been in a few real effing' stinkers.

the guy's freaking Obi Wan Kenobi for crissakes!

he's pretty brilliant in trainspotting..
and if you haven't you should see 'a shallow grave'

by the way tumbles...have i mentioned that people tell me i look just like a young jewish ewan mcgregor?

i get stopped all the time.

ahhhh, my heart just fluttered a bit, WK.

yeah, i think it'll work LB. Having been in SoCal for so long, I am use to big apartments, so this will be a bit of a change. i am really excited about the hardwood, built-ins, molding and rads (I don't think I've ever lived in a place more than 35 years old). It's small, but it's more than enough and they said there is a decent view cause it's on the 5th floor. I know it's grubby and others might not like it, but I think it's cute.

more pics...remember the "stuff" isn't mine.

Um, yeah, DubK...I would have enjoyed the movie anyway, but seeing Ewan in it all dirty and tired....yeah.

We do get a glimpse of his bum, but not the full frontal he's prone to showing in his movies, sadly.

But anyway....yeah.

W2D - shoot at first I thought it was just the bed and desk - but really seems to have a charm about it now seeing all the pictures. How close is it to school?

not much archinect'ing tonight I'm actually going to head to dinner with a friend. Its at my favourite restaurant. Interestingly these guys do perhaps the best medium/rare steak this side of the planet (whatever that may be) and is so good that despite the fact that I don't eat meat anymore - I still allow a sampling of this.

Perhaps I should add whiskey too (since I don't drink either). What say the whiskey queens?

oh yeah...that's EXACTLY what i look like. spliff and evrything

well, I'll need lots of whiskey to keep me warm up there, so bring it on! And sorry to dampen spirits, but if it were a full two months, then you would've had to be here 11 days ago.

oh wow, thank you tumbles! I love that pic...

techno- yeah, I think its quaint (it's just under 400 sf) and less than 6 blocks (3/4 mi) to the PennDesign building. It's only 2 blocks from the campus edge. To be honest, it could be a real shit-hole and I'd be excited cause it's a change.

I think this is the building, but I might be confusing it with another one. I'm on the 5th floor...



Have fun at dinner!

I had a jewfro in my youth...

how about this...later tonight, i'll roll myself a big spliff, get way baked and then make a series of self-portaits...

we'll see who looks like an alien crossbreed between a young jewish ewan mcgregor and a savvy bob dylan circa 1964.

ok - ml if you do look like that; I'll have to conced/admit my very own man-crush

Geez techno,

One the men thread your talking about your extensive beauty regime, and on this one you're exploring your man crushes.

You need to come down to New Zealand and drink some Lion Red, wear a Swandri and play some Rugby mate. And maybe shear a sheep [not share a sheep].

I can't remember the name of the thread to post on when I'm afff my f@king face! Anyhow I had fun - a bottle of rosemount shiraz each & a medium rare steak so I'm good. Fantastic company that I only wish was with me now - but alas, still a goo' night

diabase - I actually played footie in high school (usually outside but sometimes inside centre). Oddly enough I broke/dislocated bones way after the fun of that sport.

But fear not I'm 100% male with an appreciation for women's shoes - but I convince myself that those are pseudo sexual - but you be the judge.

btw dia where've you been hiding? You been sh'pshaggin?

New Zealand was featured to comic intent tonight on the Daily Show. I thought of you, dia.