Bananas - Interesting.

This was the subject line of an email I got from my mom this morning, which like most things my mom says and does, cracked me up. The email was a forward all about how bananas are great, which I already knew, but still: Ha! Bananas - Interesting.

Other news:

- Baby Thor is a bit sick. She caught a cold on the way home from Reno (i.e. she has 'ich'), I have not had to deal with a sick fish yet so I freaked out but when I talked to the fish store they said to put in 1 tbsp of salt per 10 gallons of water, and to jack the heater up to 86 degrees and it should go away in 5-7 days. The good news is she has a healthy appetite, and Sweetie and Pipsqueak are very healthy and happy looking.

- This Sunday and Monday, en route to my super awesome VAC training camp, to which I have been looking forward since like AUGUST, I will be stopping by the city to chill with friends, get my old dentist to make me a crown, and go SHOPPING! On a budget of approx. $10 of course, but that will definitely get me some cool paper at Flax and maybe some new shoelaces at Sports Basement and hopefully also a new nail polish to bring to camp. Woohoo party time for Court!

- The sun finally came out here! Temps are in the 40's for the first time since December, and I'm loving it. I still haven't ventured outside for any workouts, the roads are wet from all the snow melting and it's a rest week so I am O.K. with doing 1 hour rides and 30 minute runs indoors, and catching up on my Animal Planet. Polar bears - interesting.

- Tomorrow I am going to the car wash to make my bike sparkly.

And that's about it.

Meet Thor

I got a new fish today!


See isn't she great! A bamboo shark.

Actually this is not the fish I came home with, I just like watching it move around its tank. What really happened is I traded in Stupidhead ("Wow this is one big healthy fish!" said the fish store guy) for a baby Black Moor that's about 1/4 the size of her traded-in predecessor. So far everyone is happy, including Stupidhead who now has a nice big tank to swim in with approx. 15 littler fish to bully.

Meet Thor:
Isn't she cute! And out of 41 attempts, here is my best shot of all 3 fish:

I totally love the fish store. I love watching the fish swim, and seeing these huge fantastic setups with like 100 gallons of water and 10-inch long goldfish! And sharks! And the baby clownfish! And I made Greg drive all the way home from Reno so Thor and I could cuddle. Now I am just sitting by the fish tank, watching their little fins and their little mouths and their little waddling bodies. Watching fish swim is supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I am glad my little hobby is good for my health.

Update on the Fish Felon

Stupidhead is in solitary confinement, in my Brita pitcher. She is not in the fridge, although I was tempted. I set her up right next to the good-fish tank, with my spare aquarium heater and thermometer.

Phew.

Trouble in Paradise

Stupidhead is in big trouble. If I were mean, I would flush her, but I am not so I am going to try to talk a local pet store into trading me two nice little fish for my ginormous, "healthy" monster. She is in big trouble.

Sweetie is MISSING A FIN and I KNOW it is Stupidhead's fault. Unfortunately for Sweetie, weather reports indicate that I might not make it to the store in Truckee until next week, so in the meantime I am going to be rearranging the plants and telling Greg to stop laughing at me.

Relatedly, we thought we lost the cat this morning. I looked for him for a good 15 minutes, he wasn't in any of his usual places (and by the way I continue to be baffled at how easy it is to lose things in the world's smallest apartment). Then I opened the linen closet door:Look how cute!

I Want One

And p.s. "shetland pony" is my favourite google image search ever

Outside!

I was well on my way to riding indoors for the first 2 months of 2008. BO-RING. But today I got inspired by former Metrominter and current Kenda Tire-er, Amy McGuire, and went down to Carson City to ride with her. My first outdoor ride of the year! I had forgotten how great it feels to actually move when I pedal.

It was a lovely ride, and really fun to have an interesting and entertaining riding partner. When Greg and I ride together, I am usually staring at his butt (from various distances), and come to think of it I haven't ridden with anyone else since early October! It was also fun to have someone to listen to my stories...

Amy got quite an earful about Charlie and his bed and how I talk to him and how he stares at me like I am silly:

She also heard all about the fishies and how Stupidhead is a total punk who always chases poor Sweetie and Pipsqueak and thusly I am going to fill their tank with plants so the fatso gets stuck and the sweet angelic little two can eat and play in peace.

See? Look at those evil waddling eyes!

Look at little Pipsqueak! And at Pipsqueak and Sweetie running for their lives!


But don't worry, the fishies and kitty and Amy and Greg all love me and think I am totally cool and great. As do you, I am sure!

Cutie Pie

Here he is! We think he's half-ish persian? He came with the name 'Charlie' and it's basically sticking.

I also got a new fish today, because the stupidhead black fish keeps picking on little Sweetie so I figured a third goldfish might even out the dynamic. New little orange fishy is christened Pipsqueak. She's about 1/8th the size of Stupidhead so wish her luck! And yes I do indeed keep changing their names. They don't seem to mind.

The Move Pt. 1

So, the long anticipated move-out-of-Oakland happened today!

Sort of.

Even though Oakland is a mere 207-ish miles from Incline Village, and even though we left at like 1 pm this afternoon, we had to get a hotel room (Motel 6 room actually) in Auburn, CA thanks to ominous "Snow Over Summit, Bring Chains" signs. It's pouring with rain here so obviously it's snowing at higher elevations and NO WAY are we braving that in a fully laden U-Haul and previously blogged about snow-machine Civic.

I am worried about the fish though. When we ate at In-n-Out earlier I made Greg help me keep them warm - they were each in their own mason jar, and so we each took a fish jar and held it between our legs to keep it warm. Now they are both in the same jar and I am changing out the water because the big beastly black one keeps pooping everywhere, I have no idea where she is getting food from but she is a pooping machine. I do have a favourite and it is not her.

Also, take a wild guess as to what my weather appropriate footwear is... Yup. Flipflops.

Pets

There was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about pet overpopulation and a guy who says that it's a myth.

I'll admit that I didn't read the article, and I probably won't read the guy's book.

HOWEVER, somewhat relatedly, I was just perusing the pet section of the Reno/Tahoe craigslist and found what appears to be some wacky menagerie in Dayton, wherever that is (Smithers is it on that river that goes through Minneapolis, I forget what it's called?)

a bronze turkey: WE have a lonely female bronze turkey whose mate died. She would love a new man in her life but we have been unable to locate one. They will have a wonderful home and will not be eaten. =) We are willing to buy him if reasonable, please contact kellybrvt@aol.com.


an unwanted nile monitor lizard:
Young Nile Monitor lizard and 90 gal tank and stand + 20 gal tank and supplies. Sacrifice for $150.00. We just dont have the time for it anymore. This is a large lizard and may get up to 7ft long. Eats fish, mice, crickets etc.

the kid's unwanted chinchilla:
Smoky Black colored Chinchilla male. "Cinder" Comes with cage and supplies for $60.00. He is very playful and tame but our son got a kitten and never plays with him anymore. He needs someone to spend lots of time playing with him. =)

the kid's ponies that need stuff: WE just aquired two Shetland ponies for our son that we would like to train to drive a small cart. We are looking for one secondhand for a reasonable price since the new ones seem to be anywhere from $800-$2000.

a sugar glider seemingly to replace the chinchilla? both are small and gray and soft and NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PETS: We would like a sugar glider or a pair of sugar gliders. Very experienced with exotics and their care. WE have a juvenile nile monitor and 90 gal tank and supplies to trade or we are willing to purchase them. Please contact.


God.

And what's with the pervasive "WE"?

Although, I must say that I REALLY would have gone over the edge if they had also posted something about a "sweet 3ft burmese python baby that's a great pet but we can't keep her because of our kid!" Thankfully, they did not, at least not yet.

You see a lot of ignorant pet owners on craigslist, it's kind of alarming...

Fish are Cute and They Deserve To Live With Me!

I said this to my sister last week.

"What on earth did they do to deserve that?!" she said. Little brat.


Moving on... they are alive and well! Thus, they get names.

I was going to name them Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshee.

But little Siouxsie has an attitude problem and likes to ram into the Banshee whenever food is involved.

She's a beast. A black buggle-eyed beast.

On top of that I am not sure if she's a she or a he so I figured a non-gender-specific name might be better.

SOOOOO, it's Beastie and the Banshee!



I know, I know, this is the same photo I used before, I tried to get a different mediocre photo last night but this one still looks the best to me so there you go.

They're Here!!

Everyone's happy so far, including myself of course. I was definitely the proud parent this afternoon, taking way too many mediocre photos. But I thought I was having fun. Thank you to the anonymous commenter who suggested I go to the Lucky Goldfish - what a great store! And thanks to Panda for steering me away from the pricey fish... Good idea.

Names for these two will be made official next week, pending their survival under my care.

Wish them luck!

Snugglefishies

I am feeling sorry for myself. Which is annoying because, when I feel sorry for myself, I tend to go buy stuff.

The gory details:

Today I got up way early and drove out to Esparto for an 18 mile TT. Unfortunately the race energy, aero equipment, and prize motivation weren't quite enough to chase away my accumulated tiredness. I gave it my all, but I had to sort of "adjust" my performance goal on the fly.

Oh well.

Also my trainer is the noisiest piece of crapola ever. Sorry to whoever was within hearing range (which I am guessing was about 300 yards), I'd totally forgotten how annoying its squeaking is. The last time I used it was at Cat's Hill!

Anyway, after my TT, I did my run workout along the same road as the course. I figured that driving all the way back to Oakland to run would feel pointless and retarded. This was a rare "good call" on my part... it was nice to do a flat run, it was definitely nice to chat with and wave to some cyclist friends before and during the run, and finishing my workouts for the week at 11:30 a.m. was awesome.

(this is turning into a play by play of my day... but I am leaving some stuff out so please let me know if you'd like further details such as everything I have eaten today and how many loads of laundry I currently have going)

After my run, my car and bike and fancy equipment and about-to-be-relegated-to-the-dumpster trainer and I all headed back to cooler Oakland temps.

I talked on the phone to Greg most of the time. He is in Boulder until Wednesday, he raced this morning and had to pull out during the run because of what seems fairly certainly to be a nerve injury, although he won't be able to confirm this until he gets home and can see a specialist. He sounded upbeat, and grateful to be on the right track towards diagnosing and dealing with a problem he's had for almost a year. For me though, this news just added to my own frustration with myself. I guess I was hoping he'd have good news about his race to counteract my mediocre news, which would then propel me into good-mood-land, which would hopefully last 3 more lonely days until he gets home.

In the long run I know his not-good news will turn into something good, because when the injury is treated and healed he will be back to his strong and speedy self, but today I wanted the short run smiles and congratulations.

Oh, additionally, all this phone yammering meant I missed the In-n-Out exit. I really wanted a milkshake.

SO, taking all of the above blahness into consideration, and combining with it the fact that my mom is on vacation and out of cell phone reach and thus unable to sixth-sense her way into figuring out I am about to do something about which she does NOT approve and thus she'd be unable to CALL me in the midst of said something to deter me from making what she views as a ginormous unfair mistake, anyway considering these things, when I got to Albany I ducked off the freeway, went to the aquarium store, and came home with $160.14 worth of glorious mood-improving STUFF.

It's all set up.

I washed the gravel in the bathtub, I rinsed it 10+ times but two hours later the water is still kinda cloudy.

I have to go back to buy the fish tomorrow or the next day, once the water temperature and the filtration system and the plants are all stabilized.

They had these cool little black and red sharks, and these eel-looking spotted fish, and only one blue betta which cost $20 and which I am really hoping someone buys before I go back so that I am not tempted to get him, he is really pretty.

I am also really hoping this does not turn out as badly as another occasion when my mom was unavailable and I gleefully went out and bought something... That time, though, it was a car.

No-legged Friend on the Mountain

Today, I am pedaling up hill for forever singing along to something on my ipod.

I see a wiggling stick in the road.

"OOO," I think, "a GARTER SNAKE needs to be RESCUED from certain squishing-by-a-car!!"

Then I get a little closer.

Mr. Garter Snake has teeth, which he shows me. Mr. Garter Snake has spots not stripes. Mr. Garter Snake has a wide head. Mr. Garter Snake is kind of fat. And, oh my, Mr. Garter Snake has a bizarre sort of tail.

Mr. Garter Snake is no garter snake, he is a rattler.

I ask him to pretty please not go anywhere while I get my phone out for documentation purposes. He obliges, sticks his tongue out, then wiggles off. And I spend the next three hours thinking every crack, every stick, every thin shadow in the road is a snake...



How exciting! My first ever wild rattlesnake sighting!