Tag Archives: Things That Make you Go Huh

Tales From the RV Park: Kernut vs. Critters

Posted on by January 30, 2017

 

If you’re just joining the saga of Kernut vs Zombie Rat, click here.

*sigh*

I hate glue traps. (I may be living in rural areas, but I am not a cowgirl. I am a Glamper, raised in the highly sheltered confines of the suburban ecosystem.)

In the saga of Kernut vs. Zombie Rat, the bait, rat, and snap trap had all disappeared, but were replaced with a plethora of poos. (Poos left by the rat, not by me… Just thought I should clarify that.)

In light of subsequent events, this saga will henceforth be called Kernut vs. Critters.

I hate glue traps. Have a I mentioned that before? Maybe once or twice?

Shortly after posting Kernut vs. Critters, part 1, I discovered a massive nest built on top of my RV gas tank. It had branches (complete with leaves), sticks, rags, a large drinking straw, a spoon, and a ball of shredded fibers the size of a cantaloupe. In addition, it was littered with a gazillion acorns and acorn shells.

I can only assume the drinking straw and spoon were used for the finer dining experiences.

Suspiciously missing from the massive nest were three pairs But, wait! There’s more…

Tales From the RV Park: Zombie Rat 8, Kernut 0

Posted on by January 26, 2017

The zombie rat is winning.

Life in an RV includes unwanted critters, more so than with a regular home. It’s a fact of RV life… you’re often in or near beautiful, undeveloped areas, the kind of undeveloped areas where most wild critters live. I’m about ten minutes or less from civilization, but still in a fairly undeveloped area. It’s lovely and peaceful and full of everything from deer to mice, and a few mosquitoes.

I began hearing things “go bump in the night” a few weeks ago: a bump on the underside of the RV, a bump in the front. I wondered what critter had enough body mass to make a thud that reverberated through the chassis. And then Pye started sitting in the well of the driver’s seat, where your feet go, staring at the wall that separates the peddles from the engine.

She began sitting there all. night. long. So, I began searching for evidence of what she heard.

I found rodent foot prints all over the engine, some evidence of chewed insulation and wire covering. (Rat 1, Kernut 0)

I got out the mothballs, covered the area with them. I was unable to get the round mothballs to stay put in the vertical engine, and the rat seemed undeterred by the mothballs in its path. (Rat 2, Kernut 0)

I graduated to a metal snap trap, and set it with cheese… But, wait! There’s more…

The Buckeye State

Posted on by November 10, 2016

Hi, remember me? I used to blog here. I’ve been busy in the Sunshine State (Florida) park hosting and working a short temp job. The temp job is over for now, so I’m back here to dazzle you all with my wit and stunning photography. Or not. Other than the lovely sunsets, I haven’t done any sightseeing in the Florida panhandle, so…

I thought I should at least catch up on some older sightseeing pictures. Hence, today’s post is brought to you by Ohio, the Buckeye State. I was there earlier this year while on my way to Pennsylvania. Interestingly, Ohio got it’s nickname from the buckeye trees – but it all started with ‘the feverish presidential campaign of 1840’…

Ohio, the “Buckeye State”, received its nickname because of the many buckeye trees that once covered its hills and plains.
But that’s only partly the reason. We have to go back to the feverish presidential campaign of 1840 for the rest of it.
William Henry Harrison, a Virginia-born Ohioan and military hero, was a candidate for the White House, but his opponents commented that he was better suited to sit in a log cabin and drink hard cider.
Some of Harrison’s leading supporters, who were experts in promotional know-how, decided to turn into a positive reference what was supposed to be a negative one.
They dubbed him “the log cabin candidate,” and chose as his campaign emblem a log cabin made of buckeye timbers, with a long string of buckeyes decorating its walls. Furthermore, in parades, his backers walked with buckeye canes and rolled whisky barrels.
The campaign gimmicks were successful. “Old Tippecanoe,” as Harrison was often called, beat President Martin Van Buren in the latter’s bid for re-election, and thereafter the buckeye was closely associated with the state of Ohio. (from http://www.50states.com/bio/nickname4.htm)

There wasn’t much to see or do in the region of Ohio where I was for about ten days. What little I did experience hasn’t made me long to go back. However, I did see a few interesting things.

A covered bridge near Fletcher, Ohio….

Covered Bridge near Fletcher, Ohio

Covered Bridge near Fletcher, Ohio

 

A collection of chocolate molds….  But, wait! There’s more…

Mutter Museum: I saw dead people and it was gross.

Posted on by September 5, 2016

All things considered, I’m still glad I went.

Ok, so for those of you who know me, this will be a surprise. For those of you who don’t know me, let me tell you a little about myself…

When it comes to medical stuff, it takes a lot to gross me out. Ok, needles and gaping wounds do gross me out. Although, I really wanted to see my surgery photos – and that was cool. When I did wildlife rescue, I learned to suture wounds and give injections. That creeped me out because I do not like sticking anything with a needle. 

Giant skeleton at Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, PA.

Giant skeleton at Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Umm, do we have the same forehead? That’s disturbing.

I am not freaked out or offended by death or open casket funerals. So it should be no surprise it has been my long-time desire to see the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. For those of you that don’t know, the Mutter Museum is dedicated to medical oddities. Bodies, parts, dissected errant growths, freaky medical tools, and a lot of embalmed things in jars.

Of all the odd things I saw, But, wait! There’s more…

Dream Catcher and Metal Men

Posted on by April 4, 2016
Or should that be Metal Dream Man Catcher?

Because I would really like to have a metal Dream Man Catcher. What woman wouldn’t, right? If you hung it over your bed at night, you would wake up in the morning to find your dream man inside. You could let him out, have your way with him, and then put him back to save him for later.

Or have him go make breakfast.

Somebody get to work on that right away.

Back to reality: the Giant Dream Catcher, and Metal Men Climbing a Feed Mill Silo.

Yes, believe it or not, those two things are more real than my Metal Dream Man Catcher. Such a pity.

In Marble Falls, Texas, (north Hill Country) on the side of the highway that runs through the center of town is a Giant Dream Catcher. No, I don’t know the significance. It didn’t have a sign explaining its purpose for me to take a photo of for you all. You folks know I rarely read those wordy signs.

Giant Dream Catcher in Marble Falls, Texas.

Giant Dream Catcher in Marble Falls, Texas.

 

In nearby Johnson City, there are metal men climbing But, wait! There’s more…

Tales From the New Office: It’s A Zoo and I’m in Quarantine

Posted on by August 21, 2014

It’s too soon for any wild tales from the new RV park, but not from the new job…

I arrive at the new job this morning, where I’m doing marketing, editing, and office administration for an oilfield services company at which I’ve worked only a couple weeks, and see this notice posted on the door:

Rabies notice on door of office this morning.

It might as well say, “Rabies inside your new office.”

It says: ATTENTION: Do not let Rozko (“Roscoe”) out of office. He must be quarantined for 10 DAYS! If he shows signs or dies, I have rabies. Open door carefully in case he is loose! (signed by the boss)

It might as well say, “Rabies inside your new office, but don’t worry about it – you can keep working.”

I thought to myself, “The guys are joking with me, this can’t be serious.” Then I noticed the office dog, a sweet black lab (“Sadie”) is also outside of the office with me. She’s rarely outside alone.

Who or what is Rozko (“Roscoe”)?

But, wait! There’s more…

RV stuff I fixed all by myself.

Posted on by March 7, 2014

Before I get to the self-stroking RV stuff I fixed, I want to talk about something sort of important, for once…

My Yahoo! editor has fallen off the face of the earth which means I’ve been able to write more on this blog. Lucky you! (No contact in about a month now, and I’ve submitted a great story idea and an article in that time, along with a few reminder emails.Whatever.) So in between writing the next episode of Tales From the RV Park, I checked my blog stats on Google Feedburner and noticed I lost about 20% of my subscribers within the four days after this post: Online Dating: Oh my. Well, this explains a lot. The post may or may not explain a lot about online dating, but I can’t figure out why I lost so many subscribers. I thought the post about the hunter-gather principle would’ve been the one to turn folks off. Or, far more likely, this post, this post, or this post. Was it something I said?

I don’t try to offend anyone on this blog, but I realize it happens. Heck, I do it in my face-to-face life, too… I suffer from “Foot In Mouth” disease all the time. It’s probably that missing filter thing I mentioned in my About page.

Since I brought up the online dating, some of you may be wondering about what’s going on with the Online Dating Chronicles. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nada. Ziltch. Zero. Concerned I might say something “sans filter” – like I do on this blog – I have been extra cautious when writing back to the few men who’ve sent me a normal email. The conversations always seem to go quite well… and then nothing. They just stop replying, or send one random sentence in reply to our regular email exchange – a sentence that contains no question in which to reply. And, no asking to meet or to talk on the phone.

I do live about an hour and a half (or more) from the ones writing. Maybe that has something to do with it – in the end they just don’t want to bother with the distance. I don’t know, that’s just a guess. Maybe I’m offending the crap out of them, too. 

So,I’m done with the online dating thing. The endless emailing that goes nowhere has taken its toll on my level of interest.

Which means I will continue offending and/or boring the crap out of the few of you dear readers I have left…

Self-Stroking Post RV Stuff I Fixed All By Myself

There is a dichotomy to the RV lifestyle: A lot of stuff needs fixing or regular maintenance, which sucks. But when you fix it all by yourself, it’s an awesome moment of pure pleasure. SPOILER ALERT: If you can tell someone about it and they make all the appropriate facial expressions and comments, the moment of awesome lasts even longer.

Maybe it’s just me, but I get a real thrill out of fixing some, often random, item on my RV. Is that feeling why men love fixing stuff?

*light bulb goes on above my head*

Ohhhh, I totally get it, guys. It makes me want to get frisky, too.

I will now tell you about Stuff I Fixed All By Myself because you are a captive audience that’s really nice to me.

Well, it’s this or you could go back to the work you’re avoiding. Ok, we’ll compromise – I’ll keep it short, kind of. To help with keeping it kind of short, just know the links below are all to previous posts so long-time readers can skip those. Everyone new has to read them. Why? Um, you might learn something. Yeah, that’s it.

Now that we’ve got that settled, I shall commence with the list of Stuff I Fixed All By Myself:

But, wait! There’s more…

The Day the Hose Froze: A Blond Moment

Posted on by December 19, 2013

(Thanks to Cathleen G. for the inspiration for the title!)

The temperature hovered between 27 and 28 degrees for most of the day, so said the AcuRite thermometer attached to the tree outside, transmitting the digital reading to the receiver inside my warm RV.

I originally planned to stay inside, warm and dry. However, after spending a day in front the computer I opted to run some errands and meet with friends. At 4:00 p.m. it was still a chilly 29-30 degrees, according to the thermometer in my car. That was the high for the day.

Drizzling rain froze on the windshield as I drove.

December in Texas.

December in Texas, as drawn by a Texan. Obviously.

Four hours later I’m back home, warming up. I puttered around the house for a bit, and then turned on the faucet… *pthhh pthhhh* The water trickled and sputtered from the faucet for a couple seconds before stopping altogether.

??

I tried it again a few minutes later… *pthhh pthhh pthh* Then nothing.

Could it be my wrapped pipes froze??

Oh, I know how to fix this! I turned on the hot water heater. My logic behind this: If the hose and outside pipes are frozen, I should still be able to get water from the hot water heater, which is inside and independent of the frozen hose outside. I later learned this logic is a tad “blond”.

Still no water. But, wait! There’s more…

Because my bipolar cat told me to.

Posted on by November 22, 2013

I think my cat is bipolar.

Pye is unpredictable, as you all know: she pees in the box, she pees on the chair; she snuggles, she runs away from home; she licks me, she bites me. I know the peeing is purely behavioral: she gets mad if I start the RV, or leave her locked in when she doesn’t want to be.  But I can’t figure out what triggers the rest of the sudden changes in behavior. At the moment, she’s on a cuddley streak, after being on a 3-day “I’m wild and don’t know you unless I’m hungry” streak.

The latter started shortly after I gave her flea medicine on the back of her neck.

She appears to have an allergic reaction to the flea drops at the treatment site; she scratches at the spot for a day or two. But after this latest application, I’ve began to suspect the allergic reaction goes deeper than just a bit of itching. This was the first time I noticed a change in her mental behavior for several days after the flea medicine was administered.

This sure would explain a lot about her unpredictable behavior. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much about this kind of side effect on the internet. Have any of you ever experienced a change in behavior with your dog or cat after administering flea drops?

"Meow?" "Yes, Kitty, in a minute."

Pye: “Meow?” Me: “Yes, baby, in a minute.”

I talk to the animals. I know you do, too.

A conversation about talking to your cat started But, wait! There’s more…

I have the memory of a goldfish…

Posted on by June 23, 2013

I have the memory of a goldfish… Once around the bowl and I think, “Oooh, that rock is new!”

Yup.

This can be both good and bad.

Goldfish with big eyes, and bad memory.

Goldfish with big eyes, and bad memory.

(Current mood: Reflective, wistful.)

The Bad?, or Things I Don’t Remember…

I probably can’t tell you what I had for breakfast today without a great deal of thought. And even then I may not remember.

I often can’t remember the people I meet. I often can’t remember someone’s name SECONDS after I’ve met them. If I do manage to see them regularly at some place I frequent, but then I see them at some place I’ve never seen them before, I won’t recognize them because they’re out of context. I feel terribly embarrassed each and every time.

I don’t remember many, many things from my youth. I remember But, wait! There’s more…