"looks grey outside... prolly just the 'marine layer' tho..." @ 7:18 am Aug 28

"up early on a thursday? my body is NOT happy about that..." @ 6:34 am Aug 28

"tweet tweet!" @ 10:02 pm Aug 27

"as fun as AIM on my phone is, not to mention Twitter, I think I must sleep" @ 9:58 pm Aug 27

"@jeffred *we*... WE almost had lunch with her..." @ 9:56 pm Aug 27


soapbox.SUPERSTAR: "OMG - I would have been in a panic too.  Totally sounds…" [on And Then]


Pandora: "I love you guys.  I really do.  <3 WiFi for…" [on So Did I Mention?]


daniel: "it is soo easy! “patti labelle’s turkey chili” 2 T…" [on Guess What's For Dinner]


Joelle: "Now I want to make chili…" [on Guess What's For Dinner]


Fredo: "That’s a great shot of you! :D" [on My New Favorite Photo]

May 07, 2008
A Sound Sleep Will Not Be Had
pretty pets

At least I don’t think so… The filter on the fish tank died at 11 o’clock tonight. No way to replace it at this hour. Hundreds of dollars worth of fish with lives in the balance. I have time to go get a filter tomorrow morning assuming there are fish to save, but I don’t have time to set it up. I will have to be very very late. Then there is the cycling of a filter. If I can’t reuse enough of the components with good bacteria living on them the tank good essentially become a deathtrap as the biological filtration chemistry starts over. The last time we got a new filter I think we did 50 percent water changes (40 gallons) every hour for a full day to keep the water livable… It was awful and so many fish died. The water becomes poisonous and they suffocate. They try to jump out before they die.

And I get to deal with potentially any combination of the above possibilities tomorrow before work. Joy.

imageUPDATE: No one died, the new filter is bought and up and running. I’ll test the water in a bit to see if there is any bad stuff happening.... so far so good!


tagged: pets fish tank filter disasters
May 05, 2008
At Least There’s A Guide…
funny hahalink-tastic!

imageAn Engineer’s Guide to Cats (via).
YouTubery after the jump…

read more >

tagged: links funny you tube cats pets engineers guide
October 27, 2007
Shouldn’t Cats Land On Their Feet?
pretty pets

I was working on the fish tank when I heard something fall. I stopped what I was doing. One of the cats, Chanel, looked startled. I thought in that second that maybe the cats were playing. They do that. But the sound continued and Chanel was in front of me. I went up the stairs. What could they have knocked down? I turned the corner and there was Coco. I thought he was dying. He was at the foot of the stairs. His legs were all akimbo. He was rolling his head oddly and kept pressing his forehead into the bottom step. I was freaking out. I spoke his name calmly and put my hand out. He let me pet him and slowly steadied himself.

He wasn’t dying. He was dizzy. He had fallen down the stairs.

Now that I know he’s alright, nothing broken or anything, it’s kinda funny. What the hell? How did a cat fall down the stairs??? Should I worry? He is getting older…


tagged: cats pets stairs chanel coco dizzy
July 23, 2007
Quick Fish Update
what's up?

imageCelebrate! There were no further casualties. A miracle I tell you! But I still went to the pet store and stocked up on the chemicals. And to be safe poured a half a bottle in the tank. Just in case my bacteria levels were still off. I’d like everyone living in there to stay alive thanks.

image


tagged: update drama fish pets fish tank relieved  relieved
July 23, 2007
We Are Up Too Late
pretty pets

Big drama here kids. Drama with the fish tank. None of it is anyone’s fault.

Richard decided to do a big water change. Great! Except that he also decided that the filter had to be done immediately as well. Now normally we space those two chores out. Not because they both suck, which they do. We space then out for the safety of the fish. A big water change can stir up a lot of dormant pollutants. The filter has bacteria in it to deal with said pollutants. If you clean the filter you weaken the bacteria inside, so doing both on the same day can potentially harm your fish if the tank is dirty. Ours apparently was, and worse than we thought. We are on schedule with the chores, as both get done once per month. However, a fair amount of plants died while we were on vacation. Since we weren’t home picking out the leaves and such the filter was filthy and a bit clogged. This made the tank extra filthy. We hadn’t noticed. You see, the water chemistry had balanced out to the dirty conditions, and sustained life (although we have lost two fish since we’ve been back). We just destroyed that balance and now the water chemistry is out of control. Sort of like a brand new tank that you aren’t supposed to put live fish in. Richard has now done two consecutive 25% water changes. That amounts to roughly 50 gallons emptied and then replaced 5 gallons at a time. Yikes! That’s a workout! But the hope is to dilute the bad bacteria while the good bacteria re-establishes itself.

To make it all worse, there are two chemical products on the market to save you in just such an emergency that will rapidly eliminate the bad stuff in your water. We always have these on hand. Always. Except for right now. We have neither. I really wish we hadn’t put off that trip to the pet store. There really should be a 24 hour pet supply. I am surprised that there isn’t actually.

Anyway, even if this all makes no sense to you, please cross your fingers that the fish are alive when we wake up in the morning


tagged: fish pets emergency aquarium ph water chemistry ammonia spike
April 12, 2007
Some Days It’s Like That
funny haha

image

via NoFo


tagged: funny cats pets poop litter box
April 10, 2007
Commuter Cat
link-tastic!

I could see our cat doing this. Well, not Chanel, he’s to skittish. Coco definitely.
imageMystery cat takes bus via Freakgirl


tagged: links cat pets chanel coco bus cat takes bus
March 23, 2007
No Nudity
pretty pets

So since Richard had decided that his cat was not going to wear one of those lampshade thingies Chanel has been not only in danger of picking his stitches, but he has been running around totally nude. Yes, nude. Like some feral animal. We are not running some gay kitty whorehouse over here! (Side note, there has been a very large ‘bear’ cat prowling around the back yard and even howling at the window.) Tonight I decided it was time for Chanel to get back into his everyday silver glimmer pleather rhinestone collar with the heart shaped sterling rhinestone encrusted ID tag. I mean really. For decency’s sake…


tagged: cats pets chanel bear collar nudity
March 21, 2007
Hissss!
pretty pets

Erm. Yeah. They say one shouldn’t blog about one’s cats. I have broken that rule numerous times. In fact I am about to right now. You see, the cat (yes Chanel again) had to go to the doctor. It was almost another emergency room visit. He had a little bump that would bleed sometimes on his paw. We had it looked at a few months ago. It turned out to be like a vein coming through the skin or something. We were given some medicine to shrink it. Well that didn’t work out and yesterday his paw started bleeding and pretty much wouldn’t stop. Yup, just like you are thinking. Little red paw prints all over the house. Plus we were a bit concerned that he may eventually run out of blood! Kidding… It stopped and started kinda. It wasn’t like a constant fount of blood. image

Anyway, so when one cat goes to the doctor the other goes. Richard packed them up early this morning and off they went. Chanel ended up having surgery! Poor guy! So now he is very grouchy from having been ‘put under’. Plus while he was out they cleaned his teeth. So while the 2 cats remember each other, Chanel is not feeling social. Thus the title. Hiss!

Oh, and he has to wear one of those lamp shade thingies. Humiliating. 


tagged: richard sick cats pets chanel lampshade collar surgery
March 05, 2007
Kitty News
pretty pets

Well, the trip to the ER was exactly what I had thought. Re-hydrate, and clean him out. He had a kitty enema! Ew! Richard didn’t get home till around 4:30 and then stayed up to monitor the cat. Chanel has been eating canned pumpkin. He’s not in pain but hasn’t meowed or visited the box. Richard will be on cat box vigil all day.

At least the 2 cats are getting along. That trick of bringing them both is amazing! The doctor visits used to be worse because when Chanel got home all the new smells on him terrified Coco, who’d attack and hiss. Oi. It was bad!

Anyway. I need to start getting ready for work. I am closing again. Yay me!


tagged: pets chanel constipation sick cat vet
page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >




who? Daniel
what? My life, now with linkable goodness!
where? San Diego
why? I'm fantastic, yet modest, and magically delicious
when? Daily

115 days and 15 hours until my birthday!
wish · chat · hits · flickr · linkdump · tags ·

3855 brilliant observations
7267 witty replies
1 good pingings

tasting great for 1731 days and 8 hours

really random quote

“Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?” - Zoolander


join the notify list!


advanced search


weather in san diego, ca

temperature: 70°F (21°C)
feels like: 72°F (22°C)
humidity: 78%
sky conditions: overcast
conditions: haze
wind: from the NNE at 3 mph
visibility: 6 mi ( 9.7 km)
updated: 08/28/2008 6:51 am

the time is 07:52am
page rendered in 1.2568 seconds
page viewed 160526 times

most recent visitor: 08/28/2008 07:52 am
most visitors ever: 444 on 01/23/2005 06:48 am

total members: 64

who's online?


design & skinning by Julie Zidel

encryption by Deltus

powered by ExpressionEngine

copyright ©2003-2008