skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I had no idea how hard it is to get a sled or snow saucer these days. And the amount of money they want for the cheap crap they put out is appalling to say the least. The closest I could come to a good saucer is a 6 pack of thin metal ones (the write up says it's flexible for increased performance.....which translates as thin crap that will bruise your butt and dent on the first time out.) for about $136.00...no joke. And the sleds they have are also just various forms of molded plastic. One type of snow sled is referred to as foam pressed. Every review I read said the damn things peeled apart the first time they were used. They cost $9.99 each. Since when is ten bucks a disposable amount of money?
And like everything else that has to do with 'seasons' I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I never look for new boots until I've worn my old ones and find out they begin to leak after about a half hour of use. I never considered that I might need a new winter coat (or two!) until I saw the state of the coats I've been wearing for the past 5 yrs or so. By the time I've noticed this it's rather late to be buying new because most of the good coats are long gone and all that's left are the 'picked overs'. Hats and gloves are still not on the endangered list and can be found almost anywhere. Of course I don't need any hats or gloves.
Snow shovels are out there but not the type that I would prefer. These merchants aren't stupid. With all the snow we've been getting they must have raced to put the most expensive (ergonomic no less!) snow shovels out on display. There appears to be no such thing as an ordinary, light weight, durable shovel....certainly not to be had in my world. In the shovel world plastic abounds as well....which is why I need another one. Plastic!
What I really need is a snow blower and this winter has shown me that fact over and over again. Trying to clear the driveway; walk way (for the mailman..who is a doll and never complains!); sidewalks; deck and stairs; yard space for the dogs....it's like a second ( unpaid and unappreciated ) job! Mother Nature just keeps slapping us in the face. What the hell have we done to piss her off like this...one has to wonder. Yet snow blowers are not to be found either...or at least the moderate priced ones aren't. And all this time I've been thinking that perhaps an electric snow shovel would be just right for me. But at this point I'm ready to buy myself one of the big boy blowers and join all the men folk pretending it's hard work out there clearing the sidewalk. I know damn well they love playing with their snow blowers and I want in on that club. Try shoveling it all by hand buddy...that's real work!
So for now I'll have to end this rant...take my broken plastic snow shovel and my wet gloves....wearing my ratty looking coat and my leaky boots...wrap a scarf around my head because I don't have any hats...and once again try to move that snow from one spot to another...knowing full well that another storm is just around the corner and like everyone else, my snow banks are too big to see around safely and I'm running out of places to put this snow. But first I'll have a cup of tea and some Ibuprofen, please.
Apparently I have not been paying enough attention to mouse. I have just discovered she has a rather dramatic hair loss and I don't know what is causing it. I've looked on line and it seems that mites might be the cause but it could also be a food allergy; reaction to something in her bedding material or any number of other causes...some too icky to think about.
I also noticed that she's extremely fat now and that's not healthy either. Now before you start thinking I'm neglecting her let me explain that most of the time when I see her it's day time and she's sleeping. she looks quite normal when she's sleeping and I can't tell how fat she is so I thought everything was fine.
I'm sure the mouse food I bought is the cause of her apparent mouse obesity. I pick out all the red and yellow things just on general principal but the rest of it (in my opinion) is just processed crap anyway. I need to get her on a more natural diet quick. And the similarities of the obesity of my mouse on pre-packaged 'mouse food' and the typical American on a junk food diet has not escaped me either! So I've cleaned the living hell out of her home...you know, steam cleaned the carpets and everything! And I've placed the supply of bedding material outside for awhile to kill off any mites that might be lurking in it (apparently that is quite common and I didn't know it...gross!). I've also put some different food choices in her dish this time around and cut way back on the processed junk food for mice. I'll be making a trip to the health food store soon anyway so I'll scout around for new things for her to try while I'm there. And other than that I wait and see what happens...keeping my fingers crossed all the while.
If she doesn't get better it's my understanding that I can try a rodent spray that kills mites but there is always the danger that the stuff could kill her too. (sort of defeats the purpose of it doesn't it?) And if that doesn't work I will be forced to consider taking her to the vet...which won't be very productive because he doesn't treat mice (or at least I don't think so) and she's a wild mouse so she can't be picked up (the poor thing would have a heart attack!) and examined or medicated. So lets just hope the bedding and food changes will be enough.
Here's a before and after picture of poor mouse. The good looking picture was taken in 2009. The other one was just taken. Poor baby!
Carol's surprise birthday party- 1/2010Fun with the dogs..and puppy teethEasterOff The Cuff at Jimmy's -4/2010KC's birthday- 4/2010NY Trip - Museum of Modern Art - 4/ 2010Tess's surprise birthday party- 5/ 2010Butterfly Place -5/21/10Bash Bish Falls- 5/2010Memorial Day parade with Kaylee- 5/2010Tyler's graduation party- 6/2010Attempted to use inflatable kayak Many trips to the lake Tyler's going away party -7/ 2010Dad's death- 7/13/2010Mom's 80th birthday party- 8/2010The Granby OakBridge of Flowers with Mom & Marie -8/2010Chicken BBQ at the German Club- 8/ 2010bought a real kayakKaylee lost her front teeth - 9/2010Nicki's unnecessary surgery- 9/2010Kaylee's 7th birthday party- 9/2010The Big E - 9/2010 Zip Lining!Taunya's surprise party - 10/2010Stacey's birthday partyArt Gallery 131 - 10/2010Tyler's welcome home party - 10/2010Renaissance Faire - 10/2010Halloween at the German Club - 10/2010Halloween at Jimmy'sTrans-Siberian Orchestra- 11/17/10Funny Bone - Tom Dustin -11/19/10Sick with the flu -11/2010Flu turned into bronchitis - 12/2010Bronchitis turned into exhaustion...- 12/2010Made cookies for donation to the troops -12/2010
Collected dog biscuits/chew toys for donation to K9 troops -12/2010Christmas New Years Eve seafood night- 12/2010*********************************************Well apparently I've done way more things this past year than I remembered. I'll have to make sure I do even more this year. :)
Question: Is there a purpose to New Years Day that I am not aware of? I know if you were drinking on the eve of this first day of the new year you usually spend the day recovering, sometimes while pretending that you feel fine to anyone that happens to be around. But what if you DIDN'T drink the night before? What the hell is a person not in recovery supposed to do on New Years Day?? I spent my day thinking about cleaning the house but not actually cleaning the house. Eventually this intense thought process graduated to talking on the phone for hours. It was afternoon before I even got in the shower! A great deal of time was then spent trying to coax my hair into NOT curling like a morons perm for a change. During which time I occasionally took breaks to watch the Three Stooges on tv because it was better than screaming and swearing at my hair. Another session of phone talking took place followed by a half-assed attempt to apply some makeup while once again scanning the bathroom and trying to decide where the cleaning should start. Failing to make a decision again I committed myself to working out on the Total Gym for a grand total of a half hour....while watching the Three Stooges again. This was followed by much muttering under my breath while trying to get a sweater over my head and not disturb my still untamed hair too much. I failed miserably and resorted to once again swearing at my hair. Back to the bathroom I go...I must need more water on my hair, yes...that must be it. No? That didn't do any good. Perhaps I need more gel...yup, it must need more gel. No...that doesn't help either. I know! I need some of that 'serum' that smooths the hair...that MUST be what I need. I'll put some of that on....and then more gel and maybe more water....etc..etc..etc..This bizarre ritual ended today with me burning my finger pretty good on the stupid curling iron. I call the curling iron stupid because it can't possibly be ME that is stupid. It's the stupid hair...and the stupid curling iron!Around 3:00pm ish I stopped caring what my freaking hair looked like and remembered there was an item I saw on line at Khol's that I wanted. I'll go see if I can find that at the store.Now I know what people do on New Years Day...or at least what a hell of a lot of women do...they shop! And they tote their wimpy husbands/boyfriends along with them to watch them do it and/or hold their pocketbooks. Every time I made eye contact with any of these men they either had the mindless blank stare indicating total mind control was in process or a frustrated desperate look indicating the mind control had not 'taken' and they were looking for an escape route. I stopped making eye contact with them and kept my eyes on the merchandise like the good little shopper I am. I hated every minute of my shopping experience....no surprise there, I don't have the shopping gene that so many women seem to have. Too many people...excruciatingly long lines to stand in....and no merchandise that could even tempt me to buy it. Children whining and crying while being dragged by the hand, from counter to counter by mothers that were tuning them out entirely. Young girls roaming in packs through the store having constant phone conversations with the boyfriends that were smart enough not to have come to the store. Even the sly/slick looking woman whom I suspected of shoplifting was there...carefully squeezing herself through the crowded areas with hands that just didn't seem to be acting natural. She never made eye contact. I felt compelled to watch her hands anyway...they did odd things...but I can't say I saw them do anything illegal. And then there's the crop duster...yes, you heard me. The rotten woman that blows through the area on half speed spewing her rotten air the whole way. I decided I was all done shopping at that point. The parking lot was no better. It was packed with cars and stupid drivers that continually cruise up and down the rows like sharks looking for a victim, trying to find a spot closer to the store, so they won't have to walk the few extra yards from the more distant parking spots. These are usually the fat ugly people that would most benefit from walking the extra distance if they parked farther away from the door anyway. It won't make them prettier but it might make them thinner. I don't like these people. They are too intent on their mission and don't watch where I'm walking. It was a relief to get home safely and I learned a valuable lesson. I will never go shopping on New Years Day again. Next time I will shop on line; talk on the phone; watch The Three Stooges; work out at my leisure; clean the bathroom and let my hair curl as screwy as it wants!
I had no idea how hard it is to get a sled or snow saucer these days. And the amount of money they want for the cheap crap they put out is appalling to say the least. The closest I could come to a good saucer is a 6 pack of thin metal ones (the write up says it's flexible for increased performance.....which translates as thin crap that will bruise your butt and dent on the first time out.) for about $136.00...no joke. And the sleds they have are also just various forms of molded plastic. One type of snow sled is referred to as foam pressed. Every review I read said the damn things peeled apart the first time they were used. They cost $9.99 each. Since when is ten bucks a disposable amount of money?
