Whiskers passed away this morning. He had been sick for the past month with respiratory problems; he was wheezing like the other rat I adopted him with (Wheezer) did. This week I could tell it was close for him. There were moments where he was almost heaving for air (not the best description- he just couldn't breathe well and would take long, deep breaths). As a result of this, I let him out of the cage a lot more. He was still able to get around, but only wanted to lay down on my lap. If I put him on the ground, he'd walk around until he saw me again. Then he's signal to me he wanted my attention by standing on my feet, or standing up and reaching for my leg. We spent the last few days watching hours of Farscape while on the couch. He seemed to enjoy this a lot. He mostly just slept on me (got somewhat annoyed when I had to move). He'd brux (teeth chattering) and boggle (his eyes would pop out) every once in a while, so I know he was happy. I'm going to miss him. He was one of the two rats I originally adopted from the humane society earlier this year (his brother, Wheezer, only was with me two months before dying from his respiratory problems). Besides Wheezer, he's the only rat I've had who will actually stay place to cuddle with me. Everyone else is just too energetic and wants to keep moving. He was a great tv companion. I just hope this past week of Farscape has been as enjoyable and peaceful for him as it was for me. It was very relaxing just laying on the couch with a rat sleeping on me as I watched tv. Thanks for all the memories.

I didn't want to a yotz and pass up a farhbot deal last week at Best Buy: $70 (plus tax) for the complete series of Farscape on DVD. The third incarnation of DVD sets was just released. The last edition (The Starburst Edition) became hard to find shortly after production due to the company going under. I'm extremely happy it's being released again (and is once again, affordable- compared to what the Starburst Edition DVDs went for on eBay after they stopped being produced).

I'm generally satisified with this set. The artwork is very simple and stylized. It's not as cool as the Starburst Edition stuff (which was extremely shiny, and had a design that came together if you had all of the sets in a season). It's not ugly, though. The only thing I would have liked was a little pamphlet/guide with an episode list (and description). At least each DVD has the episodes printed on it.

I was very happy to find out they actually planned it out quite well, too. Today I was watching a disc for season two. This disc only had two episodes on it (instead of the expected four). I couldn't figure out why, until I saw the next three episodes made a trilogy. Awesome. Now when I watch that three-part storyline, I won't have to change discs.

I was also extremely happy to find that the Best Buy version I bought included the Peacekeeper Wars. The standard version doesn't- it's a Best Buy exclusive. I already had the mini-series on DVD, but it's just nice knowing I have it again in a complete set.

Yesterday, I spent a lot time on the couch watching Farscape, with Whiskers on my lap (or shoulder). He slept through most of it. It was very peaceful. I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can, since I don't think he has much time left in his life. I think he enjoyed it, though.

"What happens when you repress something?" "It goes away?"


That's what I'm hoping. This will be a random update to completely not think about what I'm actually thinking about right now, as that would involve emotions and stuff. Also, I'm not going to write the next line of the above quote. Nope. Things go away when you repress them. Yeap. Totally. With that... random musings of my mind as I try not to think of unpleasant stuff:

I invented a new word today: Ratscals. I don't think any of the li'l ones were actually doing anything rascally at the moment, but as I was talking cute to them, it slipped out. The last things I've had to to try and stop them from eating and/or running away with included a pear and a coupon.

Earlier this week, I set a new record on my bike for total distance riding in a single day: 50 miles. This was actually two seperate rides (20 and 30 miles), with a three-hour break for lunch and to avoid the heat. This was also completely done for one single geocache. The caches were actually very easy to find, and would have been required no more than going about 150 feet from the road if you were driving. The stages of the multi-cache were just very very spread out.

A few weeks ago, I was in Denver visiting my brother. I got to do some uni-caching there (caching while on my unicycle). That worked out pretty well. I couldn't take my bike up due to lack of room, but my unicycle fit in the truck just fine. It sure beat walking around from my brother's place to City Park.

A few weeks prior to that, I hiked up to Organ Needle (the highest point in the mountains by my city, and the county). It was a long hike, particularly since I was with my dad. He managed to make it almost to the top, but didn't try going up the final crux. That last bit was a bit nerve-racking, as it was my first time doing more serious "mountain climbing" as opposed to just scrambling, although I didn't use any rope or equipment to get up. It was just a bit more vertical and exposed than what I usually do on my hikes.

I can't think of anything else too exciting that's happened in the past few weeks, at least this temporarily distracted my thoughts. I guess I'll just have to play some Civ. Bwahaha.


P.S.: "It comes back all crazy and pissed off."

Whiskers and Bruxy are now sharing a cage. This morning, I sadly realized my "quarantine" wasn't really effective (being only one room apart- if there was an airborne contagion, it would have been spread when the door opened, or when I was walking around between the two rooms). With that, I decided just to go ahead and introduce them. There was some squeaking when it looked like Whiskers bit Bruxy (not a dangerous bite- it was probably more of a "hard grooming" than anything). There was no blood, just a bit of squeaking. I didn't stop them, since they have to work out the pecking order themselves. I would only intervene if I saw blood.

They've been in the cage together a few hours. Tonight, I let them run around the apartment together. Whiskers seems quite a bit happier. He's even running around more. He would sometimes run around with me, but usually he just calmly explored, with a slight "jog" now once in a while. With Bruxy, however, they would chase each other around and play-fight (or still trying to work out the dominance thing). I even heard Whiskers brux a few times.

I do realize that Bruxy is more energetic than Whiskers. I still somewhat think I should have gotten another of Bruxy's littermates from the store, so he'd have someone his own age/size to play with (in addition to Whiskers). At least they are getting along, so I'm not too worried. Having three rats out at a time would be a bit crazy, though- just letting two run around at once keeps me busy watching over them.

As I was IM-ing a friend, I started hearing a lot of movement around from the living room. I ran out to see what my rat-girls were into. I looked underneath the table to find Oreo with a wrapped granola bar. She had climbed up onto the table (with help from a bike, the chairs, and other clutter around it) and got into the opened box of granola bars. She carried that thing down. When she saw me, she started running with that. The granola bar is probably as long as she is (excluding her tail). It was hilarious. I almost stopped to get my camera. I chased her down a bit. I grabbed the granola bar, and got the wrapper plus one of them (this was a Nature Valley granola bar that includes two bars in a package). She had the other one, which she continued to run with. I finally grabbed it from her, then broke off a piece to give to her. It was a ridiculously cute moment. I almost want to recreate it for the photo-op.

Whiskers has been living alone since his brother(?), Wheezer, died a few months back. I did initially adopt Oreo and Choco (two girls) in hopes of having one big happy rat family. Sadly, I learned that the vets around here weren't real experienced in fixing rats. Then the girls put on their cute faces, and I kept them (glad I did- they're lots of fun!).

Yesterday, I went to PetCo (yes, I went to a pet store to buy a rat- don't like it). I had gone the day before to see if there rats were even healthy. I found one who seemed curious enough to come up to me. When I went yesterday, all of the rats in the cage were doing that somewhat. He still seemed to be the one. There was also a "champagne" colored(cham-pagan) rat I wanted. I resisted.

So far, he seems like he'll warm up to me pretty easily. He doesn't like my hands being in the cage (although he will take food from me and lick my fingers when I have baby food on them), but he has come up to sniff my face when I sit down by the cage. He also seems to be happy most of the time when I'm there (I've heard him brux [basically, like a fast teeth grind when rats are happy] a few times). Yesterday, he was probably terrified to be in the cage alone (he's being quarantined until I feel he's okay to introduce to Whiskers). Between that and the heat, it wasn't a good day for him. I almost wanted to go back to the store to get him a friend, but I think he'll be fine until I can put him with Whiskers. My only worry is their age differences. Whiskers is definitely full-grown (perhaps a bit over grown). This new guy is... it looks like he's still going to see some growth. Maybe. He's smaller and seems to have more energy. It could just be his personality, but I think he's younger than Whiskers. That could make it difficult for them to introduce. Even if the introduction goes well, it might end up being an "odd couple" situation.

I haven't decided on a name yet. Yesterday, after hearing him brux for the first time (just minutes after getting out of the transport cage and into his temp cage when I brought him home), I had thought about Bruxy. I'll have to wait to see what his personality's like.

For the record: He will bring my total up to four rats: two girls, two boys.

I usually leave my soap sitting on the side of my bathtub, on the outside of the curtain. Not a good place if you have girl rats who can either jump up and get into the tub, or jump up enough to knock the soap down. Last week, I had heard a crash. Yeap. Soap on the floor with Oreo right there. She did it again later on. Today, I was trying to find Whiskers (my boy rat) when he was let loose. I looked under my bed. He was eating something blue-ish. I figured it was some paper, but managed to get him out of under the bed. I saw some paper, but not blue. Finally, I found him again. There was a small bar of soap right by him. One of the girls had picked up the soap and hid it under my bed. They're pack rats. Oy. I wonder what else of mine they've tried to hide from me.

Today I took Wheezer to the vet to look at a growth I had noticed on his neck earlier this week. I had gotten a call while at work from the vet with a few options (if she should remove it, watch it to see if it grows, check to see if there's fluid in it, etc.). She later called for what I thought would be an update. It turned out he had passed away before she could even look at the growth. A technician was with him, feeding him a peanut. Shortly after grabbing it, he just fell over. I'm not sure what killed him, but I think his respiratory problems lead to internal bleeding and his lungs stopped working. He is now resting in my parents' yard with a beautiful view.

I didn't get to know him long- he was only with me two months. In that time, however, we grew close. He was a cuddly rat. He loved spending time on my lap. If I opened the cage, he would eagerly make his way to the edge. If I didn't have my hands out, he'd look down. I know he was contemplating jumping down to the ground just to be close to me; I could just see him trying to judge the distance in his head. I always got the hint and put my hands out for him to crawl on. He loved crawling on me so much that he would even crawl on my head if I gave him the opportunity. He'd then crawl down and rest on my shoulder. He knew how to make me feel like a pirate. Sadly, I didn't have my camera around for these moments (in fact, I have no photos of us together).

Wheezer is survived by QT McWhiskers, who continues to bite and nibble on his owner's hand. His owner is hoping Whiskers won't get lonely without a buddy to hang around with all day.

Rest in Peace, Wheezer- you will be missed.

Oy, these rats. I wonder why I ever got them. I'm probably going to start walking around my apartment feeling guilty. Tonight, I opened the cage. Wheezer insantly was at the edge of his pan, wanting to come out. He felt right at home on my lap. I put some baby food on my fingers and he licked it up. I put some baby food on my other fingers to feed QT McWhiskers (who was still in the cage). After that, Wheezer loved just sitting on my lap. Whiskers went off to do his own thing in the cage (since I no longer had food to offer). Time passed. I realized I had to do some things around the house. Wheezer goes into the cage. Oh, no. He's not content with that. He wants back out with me. He was practically trying to jump off the cage onto my lap. I put my hands out to stop him, but he used it as an invitation to climb into my hands and back into my lap. D'oh! Fine. He won that round.

I did eventually get him into his cage, and somehow got him in enough so I could shut the doors (without him trying to jump off or be squished by the closing doors). He's one determined guy. I'm going to buy a bonding pouch (basically, a pouch he can sit/hide in that has a strap) tonight- either online or at one of the pet stores if they have one so I can walk around the apartment with one/both rats in it. *sigh* What have I gotten myself into?

I've been trying to get some of my games (many Civilization games, and Simcity 4) installed on Ubuntu so I don't have to use Windows so much. It's not going over so great. I had used trials of Cedega and CrossOver without any real luck. For whatever reason, I decided to pay for a 6-month subscription to Cedega. Civ 4 is "certified," after all. Eh, no luck. Their support mostly just consists of accessing their forums where I can post or search for problems in hopes that someone else has figure out a way around it. I'm starting to wish I hadn't paid for the membership- and might see about canceling. I was able to get Civ 3, however. I just don't really like Civ 3 much. It's a Civ game, though. I was able to get Simcity 4 installed using PlayOnLinux. The only problem with that is that I can't seem to switch windows.

Wheezer seems to be warming up to me. I have to be careful, though. If I have my legs anywhere near the cage, he'll use them as a ramp to get down if the door is open. He loves running around me, though. His brother, QT McWhiskers (or just Whiskers, as I call him) is still a big fraidy-rat. He's utterly afraid of me, except when I have food. Otherwise, he wants nothing to do with me. Wheezer is still sick. I'm thinking he was just left untreated for so long that he might not ever recover fully. He's not on antibiotics any more (the medication ran out). I'll have to call the vet to see if she can do anything to help. He's at least active right now. Wheezer also seems like he's the more adventurous of the two, now that he's familiar with me. He seemed that way at the shelter, but when I got him, he seemed to hide out more and Whiskers explored more. Now it's switched. Today, Wheezer had a bit of a fall. He was up on the second level, looking down. The next thing I know, I see him fall and he's hanging on by one hand. Eek. Luckily, I was right there to catch him before he got hurt. I was scared, though. Once I put him on my lap, he wanted to run around a bit. Maybe he planned the whole thing just so he could get some out-of-cage time. He's tricky.

I haven't really done any work on my language. The most I've done is gotten out my book of notes to review what I did in December, since it's been a while since I even looked at my work on it. Hopefully that'll change. I'm mostly just not sure if I like what I have now. It seems like I can never find the "perfect" way to create a language; that's probably why Tolkien, and others, end up creating multiple languages.

Last week, I got a brand new cage for my rats: The Critter Nation (single unit). I absolutely love it (especially compared to the temp cage I got them): I can reach all the way in the cage, it's super big so I can put stuff in, and they can run around in. It's great.


I've also experimented with feeding them other food besides their lab blocks: peas, carrots, yoggies (little yogurt drops), and even baby food. Right now, they're still scared of me- but will take food from me gladly. They just run off to their little spots right after. I bought some baby food to help with that problem. One book I have suggested feeding them baby food, applesauce, yogurt, etc. so they would have to lick it off a spoon. They can't just run off with it, like they can a pea or carrot. I tried it tonight- and it worked. They definitely had to stay close. Eventually, I'll make them get on my hand to get to the baby food so they feel comfortable with me holding them.
( Lots more pics: cage + carrots )

As it turns out, Wheezer (the gray guy) has pneumonia. The vet isn't sure if he'll be able to recover (since he might have had it for some time now), but he is on antibiotics. I'm giving QT McWhiskers (the white one) some as well, mostly as a precaution (he doesn't seem to be showing symptoms). I haven't had a chance to get to know Wheezer too much. He hides a lot in his cage (which, even though it's small, is annoying to reach in). QT McWhiskers seems very curious about me. He'll investigate when I come home from work, and as I walk around the apartment between my computer and the kitchen. Wheezer has had moments like this, but he mostly stays inside his little hut- very probably because he feels sick.

I feel somewhat like a bad rat parent because I'm not taking them out of their cage much yet- and am not spending as much time as I feel I should. One thing in particular I'm feeling about having rats is probably similar to what Agent Leyla Harrison felt like. She was essentially the ultimate X-Files fangirl in the FBI. She kept track of all of the cases that Mulder and Scully wrote up, developing quite a knowledge-base for their work. Despite knowing the mysterious circumstances involved in why hot dog buns and hot dogs come in different-sized packages (or that Scully was always wrong), she could not put her knowledge to use. In her first (and only) case assigned to the X-Files, she kept suggesting various things that had happened to Mulder and Scully in the past without bringing relevance to the issue. Even though she had this knowledge, it did her no good because she didn't have the instincts (or possibly training) to understand what was going on at the time. That's how I feel. I have a lot of rat knowledge in my head (from books and forums). Now that I have some rats, it's like I have to ask myself, "Now what?"

I'm hoping some of my "rat anxiety" will go away next week when their new cage arrives. That should make things better- since they'll have more room, I can clean the cage easier, reach in easier, etc. I'll also be able to put more toys and stuff in their cage to give them more to do. Plus, this weekend, I'll let them run loose in the bathroom a while (where it'll be really easy to clean).

I decided to adopt the 2 rats from the shelter. I've wanted rats for a while, so this gives me a good chance to provide home for some rats who need it. I might still end up getting a cat- I just have to see how much work these rats will take and how much attention time I'd be able to provide (not to mention I think one of the rats might already be sick, so I'll see how much the vet bill is- if it's not too bad, a cat might be coming home with me soon).



( More photos )

They weren't really given names, although one volunteer called the white one "Splinter" and the gray one "Templeton." I'll watch them over the next few days to figure something out. I'm tempted to name the gray one "Wheezer" (for unfortunate reasons that he wheezes).

Edit: I think I'm going to name the other rat (the white one) "QT McWhiskers."