Taking River out for a walk at night is a scary, freaky experience. The bugs come out at night, so before we had River I'd convinced myself that there were very few bugs in New Mexico. Hmmm... I was just looking at the wrong time of day. There are beetles, crickets, scorpions. I saw the most ugly cricket ever the other night - called a Jerusalem Cricket - go look it up on google image search or something. It is icky and huge. I saw something pale and scurry-ful last night. It ran past us along the kerb. It was in the shade, so I didn't get a good look at it, but it looked suspiciously scorpion-like. Ugh even thinking about it freaks me out - I just uncrossed my ankles, because my skin rubbing against itself made me think there was something on me.
Maybe I'll stick to the safety of our bug-sprayed apartment complex on walks in the night time from now on.
30 June 2011
29 June 2011
mad looking bug
This guy was outside the apartment door yesterday.
I saw another guy yesterday that was the ugliest bug i have seen in a long time, simply because it looked like something that had been enlarged through radiation. it had a huge bulbous back and front (each like 1cm in diameter) and it crawled along and was disgusting. river wanted to eat it (obviously). i wish i could have gotten a photo, but i didn't have my camera on me.
I saw another guy yesterday that was the ugliest bug i have seen in a long time, simply because it looked like something that had been enlarged through radiation. it had a huge bulbous back and front (each like 1cm in diameter) and it crawled along and was disgusting. river wanted to eat it (obviously). i wish i could have gotten a photo, but i didn't have my camera on me.
27 June 2011
Ah, the Joys of Owning a Doggie
Dogs will scratch because of anxiety, so when we've seen River scratching over the last few days, we've just assumed she was a little anxious over everything she's been through. We know for a fact that she suffers dog separation anxiety. The cure for that is to leave her on her own in the house for increasing amounts of time each day (we are up to 20 seconds now). Anyway. Scratching.
Today lordkilljoy saw a little black thing crawling across her face and burrowing into her fur. Immediately he went down to the pet shop to get some flea and tick killer. It's kinda cool - an oil that you put against her fur in a few spots and it gets to work killing fleas straight away. It's also meant to keep mosquitoes away. So that'll be good when we go camping.
But now I have the paranoids. Every itch I feel makes me think there are fleas on me... and suddenly I have a lot more itches than I did before we saw one on her.
Today lordkilljoy saw a little black thing crawling across her face and burrowing into her fur. Immediately he went down to the pet shop to get some flea and tick killer. It's kinda cool - an oil that you put against her fur in a few spots and it gets to work killing fleas straight away. It's also meant to keep mosquitoes away. So that'll be good when we go camping.
But now I have the paranoids. Every itch I feel makes me think there are fleas on me... and suddenly I have a lot more itches than I did before we saw one on her.
24 June 2011
Hyper Hydro Doggie
There's a bit of water in the wash at the moment and lordkilljoy had the inspired idea to bring River down there. We put her on the stretchy leash (16') that we got for her and strolled down. She was the tinyest bit cautious at first, but I took my flip flops off and stomped in the water and soon she was stomping and running all over the stream. We ran up and down and up and down until my feet got sore from the stones. I tried to run more, but even the small stones were sore to my now-sensitive soles.
And she got hyper. She ran loops around us again and again. We had to pull in her leash and stand still until she calmed a little. Then we got home and she pelted around the apartment - mad hyper. I took her into the bath to wash off the sand, but once she got out it was dash about the place again. Eventually she settled down, and now she's sitting, somewhat calm again.
It was so good to see her really enjoying herself, though :)
And she got hyper. She ran loops around us again and again. We had to pull in her leash and stand still until she calmed a little. Then we got home and she pelted around the apartment - mad hyper. I took her into the bath to wash off the sand, but once she got out it was dash about the place again. Eventually she settled down, and now she's sitting, somewhat calm again.
It was so good to see her really enjoying herself, though :)
Sad Dog?
River seems to be going through some sort of "where is my home" sadness at the moment. She sleeps most of the day (now this could be partly due to the heat) and is only mildly interested in rubs and treats. She'll do training for a minute or two and then get bored and wander off and lie down on the ground again. She'll play with toys for a few minutes and then same thing - wander away and lie down.
Today we got her a puzzle ball that has treats hidden it. She has to push it around to get the treats to fall out the hole so she can eat them. She enjoyed playing with it a lot. Once she got used to it, her tail was up and wagging and she pushed the ball all over the place getting at the treats. She did that for about 10 minutes, then just left it and went back to sleeping.
I tried playing a game with her and she played along, rather half-heartedly for a few minutes, then lay down again. It's a bit disheartening to see her this way. I'd bring her out for a walk, but it's way too hot - 34 degrees. She does seem to enjoy walking, but sometimes she'll stop for no reason at all, or hang back until we are walking at a snails pace. I kind of put this down to the heat as well. We'll try going for a walk tonight, after dusk and see how much of a difference that makes.
She's eating, drinking and going to the loo fine, so there's nothing wrong with her. But I am looking forward to the day she perks up and realises games and toys are fun. I've read that with adopted dogs it can take a few weeks (or months, depending on how bad their last home was) for them to get used to things.
In good news, she is learning sit and come :) After that it will be stay. She barks when the UPS / Fedex person comes to the door, so the sooner I can get stay ingrained in her behaviour the better.
Today we got her a puzzle ball that has treats hidden it. She has to push it around to get the treats to fall out the hole so she can eat them. She enjoyed playing with it a lot. Once she got used to it, her tail was up and wagging and she pushed the ball all over the place getting at the treats. She did that for about 10 minutes, then just left it and went back to sleeping.
I tried playing a game with her and she played along, rather half-heartedly for a few minutes, then lay down again. It's a bit disheartening to see her this way. I'd bring her out for a walk, but it's way too hot - 34 degrees. She does seem to enjoy walking, but sometimes she'll stop for no reason at all, or hang back until we are walking at a snails pace. I kind of put this down to the heat as well. We'll try going for a walk tonight, after dusk and see how much of a difference that makes.
She's eating, drinking and going to the loo fine, so there's nothing wrong with her. But I am looking forward to the day she perks up and realises games and toys are fun. I've read that with adopted dogs it can take a few weeks (or months, depending on how bad their last home was) for them to get used to things.
In good news, she is learning sit and come :) After that it will be stay. She barks when the UPS / Fedex person comes to the door, so the sooner I can get stay ingrained in her behaviour the better.
20 June 2011
River Tam
This might seem to come out of the blue... but we got a dog :)
Her name is River (a good name :P ), she's small and cute and pretty good in terms of walking and things. She likes to pull on the lead a little, so we have a little bit of training to do with her. She's still young - 1 and a half. We picked her up from the animal shelter today - she'd been left there by her previous owner because they are out all day and hadn't been able to exercise / play with her enough to use up her energy, and she'd started to get a little destructive around the house.
We were given a little starter bag of food, but when we got home we realised it was cat food. So we bought dog food and gave it to River and she wouldn't eat it. We mixed it with a little of the cat food and she munched away happily. Funny doggie.
She was excellent in the car on the way home. We put the seats down, so she had full run of the back of the car, and she settled down and practically fell asleep. She was doing the head nodding thing and all. Awhhh :)
She's napping in the middle of the kitchen floor right now. She has a bed outside, a container for night-time sleeping, a good stretch of carpet, and she chooses to sleep on the hard kitchen floor. Maybe it's the coolest, or something.
It's great though. Now all of us can go out for walks in the evenings :) And she and I can go for walks in the morning and play during the day and things. Yeay.
Her name is River (a good name :P ), she's small and cute and pretty good in terms of walking and things. She likes to pull on the lead a little, so we have a little bit of training to do with her. She's still young - 1 and a half. We picked her up from the animal shelter today - she'd been left there by her previous owner because they are out all day and hadn't been able to exercise / play with her enough to use up her energy, and she'd started to get a little destructive around the house.
We were given a little starter bag of food, but when we got home we realised it was cat food. So we bought dog food and gave it to River and she wouldn't eat it. We mixed it with a little of the cat food and she munched away happily. Funny doggie.
She was excellent in the car on the way home. We put the seats down, so she had full run of the back of the car, and she settled down and practically fell asleep. She was doing the head nodding thing and all. Awhhh :)
She's napping in the middle of the kitchen floor right now. She has a bed outside, a container for night-time sleeping, a good stretch of carpet, and she chooses to sleep on the hard kitchen floor. Maybe it's the coolest, or something.
It's great though. Now all of us can go out for walks in the evenings :) And she and I can go for walks in the morning and play during the day and things. Yeay.
15 June 2011
Camping
We went camping on Monday night to Fenton Lake State park. It was a success - mostly. On Sunday we ran around picking up the last few things we needed, and one of those things was an air mattress. Now, I was totally against the mattress, because all I could think of was that the battery-operated pump that came with it wouldn't work. But we got it anyway.
We headed out Monday morning (or noon) and spent an amazing 2 hours getting there. As soon as we got out of Albuquerque the scenery became canyon-y - all red rock and yellow sand. We followed the Jemez river most of the way, so there were trees and lots of greenery as well. It was beautiful. Then we hit the mountains. The rock formations became way more impressive, the trees (desert willows?) became pines and the river (more of a creek, really) turned into a rocky stream.
The lake itself was small. Man-made from a dam, and pretty green looking. There was no swimming allowed, and I don't know if I would have gone swimming anyway. Our site was a bit away from the lake, which was a good thing - less mosquitoes. So we got our tent set up with much excitement. It was dampened a little by me stubbing my toe on a big of branch (it's still sore - there's a cut). It's a huge tent - 4 man, and we had piles of room. It doesn't seem like the kind of tent you want to bring to somewhere that will have driving wind and rain 'cause most of the inner section is mesh, and the rain sheet only covers half way to the ground.
Then it came to setting up our bed. We pulled out the mattress and got it all set up. Put in the pump and nothing. We fiddled with the batteries, poked and prodded at the pump, and it still wasn't working. So we went to the nearby (like 15 miles away or something) shop and bought new batteries, and still it didn't work. We ended up sleeping on a deflated mattress covered with a picnic blanket, towels and one of the blankets we'd brought to keep warm. And it was comfortable enough.
We cooked dinner on our little gas barbecue (burgers and chips). It was nice, but the mosquitoes spoiled it a little. I had spray on, but they still flitted around and were very annoying. I did get a few bites, but they were from a walk around earlier.
Defeated by their sheer annoyance, we retreated into the tent and played a game of Dominion (a card resource game) by the light of our cool little torch (it was a little hard to read the text at times) and then fell asleep. It was freezing. It was so cold, I could feel each breath in my nose making it a little colder. I slept with a string top, t-shirt and fleece hoodie on. I was still cold, though, and pulled our last blanket over my sleeping bag. That helped a little, but each time I moved around, I had to warm a new patch of sleeping bag.
But we survived the night, and went for a short walk the next day, packed up and came home again. And now we want to go again. We're thinking the 4th of July, because it's a holiday, but I imagine everywhere will be busy. But if we can get somewhere we'll go.
We headed out Monday morning (or noon) and spent an amazing 2 hours getting there. As soon as we got out of Albuquerque the scenery became canyon-y - all red rock and yellow sand. We followed the Jemez river most of the way, so there were trees and lots of greenery as well. It was beautiful. Then we hit the mountains. The rock formations became way more impressive, the trees (desert willows?) became pines and the river (more of a creek, really) turned into a rocky stream.
The lake itself was small. Man-made from a dam, and pretty green looking. There was no swimming allowed, and I don't know if I would have gone swimming anyway. Our site was a bit away from the lake, which was a good thing - less mosquitoes. So we got our tent set up with much excitement. It was dampened a little by me stubbing my toe on a big of branch (it's still sore - there's a cut). It's a huge tent - 4 man, and we had piles of room. It doesn't seem like the kind of tent you want to bring to somewhere that will have driving wind and rain 'cause most of the inner section is mesh, and the rain sheet only covers half way to the ground.
Then it came to setting up our bed. We pulled out the mattress and got it all set up. Put in the pump and nothing. We fiddled with the batteries, poked and prodded at the pump, and it still wasn't working. So we went to the nearby (like 15 miles away or something) shop and bought new batteries, and still it didn't work. We ended up sleeping on a deflated mattress covered with a picnic blanket, towels and one of the blankets we'd brought to keep warm. And it was comfortable enough.
We cooked dinner on our little gas barbecue (burgers and chips). It was nice, but the mosquitoes spoiled it a little. I had spray on, but they still flitted around and were very annoying. I did get a few bites, but they were from a walk around earlier.
Defeated by their sheer annoyance, we retreated into the tent and played a game of Dominion (a card resource game) by the light of our cool little torch (it was a little hard to read the text at times) and then fell asleep. It was freezing. It was so cold, I could feel each breath in my nose making it a little colder. I slept with a string top, t-shirt and fleece hoodie on. I was still cold, though, and pulled our last blanket over my sleeping bag. That helped a little, but each time I moved around, I had to warm a new patch of sleeping bag.
But we survived the night, and went for a short walk the next day, packed up and came home again. And now we want to go again. We're thinking the 4th of July, because it's a holiday, but I imagine everywhere will be busy. But if we can get somewhere we'll go.
04 June 2011
Comic Con Costume
I am about to attempt a mock-up of a portal gun. I'm going as Chell (the protagonist from the portal games ) for comic con and the gun is the main part of the outfit. I've found a site that goes through the making of a portal gun, but I don't have nearly as many tools or expertise as that guy. I'm also trying to keep the cost down and don't want to buy too many tools or materials.
So far, I've spent $4 on card and masking tape for my mock-up.
I figure if I draw up some guides in illustrator and cut out shapes and stick them together, it should give me a good idea of the size I need, then I can go and get some pipes, or use cans or find some hardy material from which to make the proper gun. I'm a bit excited about this, but we'll see how it turns out.
So far, I've spent $4 on card and masking tape for my mock-up.
I figure if I draw up some guides in illustrator and cut out shapes and stick them together, it should give me a good idea of the size I need, then I can go and get some pipes, or use cans or find some hardy material from which to make the proper gun. I'm a bit excited about this, but we'll see how it turns out.
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