AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Oh, yeah, that too.

The general sentiment towards animals and keeping pets where I currently live versus where I used to live.

I used to be able to educate genuinely interested people every day on how to better care for their pets, including fixing some pretty messed up stuff that they thought was correct,

And now I'm lucky to get more than a nod and "oh okay", as they continue to do the same crap that is ultimately killing their animals.


On the same note goodness gracious I hate schools around here.

The amount of fish, fiddler crabs, and frogs that I've seen sent to their deaths at the hands of uneducated children and uninterested parents is ridiculous.


"Oh this is only temporary, they only live a couple months, right?"

"Actually they can live 3-4 years with proper care"

"Oh, well I mean, you know"




That and the amount of cats I've seen declawed, don't even get me started on that.

Seeing declawed cats makes me sad for the cat. It leaves them defenseless if they ever get out of the house, it hurts like a bitch with what I would assume is a relatively high infection risk, and it's not that hard to train most of them to use a scratching post, unless they are cognitively deficient so that they don't even know how to retract their claws (former roommate's cat, ooooops). But that's another issue.

Yea, I got my cat when it was maybe a month and a half old and I didn't even have to teach it to use a scratch post. It does that little padding thing when it decides to lay down, but that's it.

I once attempted to balance it on my head though and it started sliding off and scratched the shit out of my shoulder. My fault I guess.

you'd be surprised how many people just...don't want to get a scratching post or pad because ~it will ruin my aesthetics~ like. you can buy cat trees that are aesthetic now. suck it up. i mean i have a GIANT booty POLE like floor to ceiling in my living room and i barely notice it at all. people who visit don't notice it until one of the cats climbs up on top of it and then it's an entertainment device because everyone wanna watch the kitty climb.

a former friend of mine's parents declawed their cat because he would attack their ankles all the time. but one look at their house and you'd never know a cat lived there. no scratcher, no toys. he was bored out of his mind so he stalked the people. so they declawed him and still didn't get him any toys and golly jee now he BITES people. what a solution!

in general declawed cats are like a bajillion times more likely to have litterbox issues because their feet hurt like a bitch when they try to use them. and the atrophy in older cats is just depression. walking on flat feet cannot be fun. also they're prone to spinal issues because the act of anchoring the claws in something and stretching is how they keep their shoulders tone. with no claws they can't stretch properly, which means weak shoulders.

it seems in general people are leaning away from it, but i still know people who've done it (even though i've explained the process and how detrimental is it so the cat in so many ways,) but i just don't talk to them anymore :)

Yea, some people just don't understand what declawing means. I tried explaining it to this one person I know by saying that it's basically like if someone cut the tips of each of your fingers and toes off and they thought I was exaggerating and ended up getting their cat declawed anyway. A lot of people think it's basically just like clipping off your toenails.

that's why i love having actual skeletons of animals lying around so i can be like no see in order to take the claw off you gotta take off this entire joint. which exactly like cutting off your fingertips.

i almost wish i had a steady supply of dead cats because i would articulate the feet and give them to shelters to demonstrate. all the ones i've gotten so far i've kept the claws in the pelt because they're pretty rare/"valuable" in the vulture circles and i like having the peets on my hides.

(it is possible to keep the feet and leave the claws out it's just so much easier to cut them off at the claw joint and run)

Your hobby fascinates me so much. Like, I never get tired of seeing you casually post about random animal skeletons you've got, and that one picture of the fox skeleton you posted in the pics or gtfo thread was pretty sick looking. haha.

then let me tell you about the incredibly illegal and incredibly fetid fawn carcass i cut up this morning

Thank you for jumping into what I didn't feel like starting on.

The litterbox issue is one that I often forget to bring up and it's a very strong point.




Also had someone surrender off two mature oscars at work today.

No clue who gave them the green light for that but I've already got a guy trying to move them somewhere equipped to handle a fish that big.

I'm mad at pretty much everyone involved in that equation. Don't dump an exotic animal somewhere that can't take care of it when there are other viable options, and don't take in an exotic animal you know you can't take care of just because someone asks.

The road at the corner off the Argonne exit decided to stab my tire to death, like the mean motherfucker that Spokane roads collectively are. Managed to pull into a parking lot, only to remember that even though I have the tire, I still don't have a jack, because my stepdad took it (I don't even remember whose it originally was before it ended up in my car several years ago, but it's gone now.)

So I had to call Les Schwab to put the fucking tire on, like a helpless idiot, while I was on a time crunch to get to the testing center for some of my certification testing (that shit is expensive, and can't be cancelled/refunded day-of.) So after the guy gets there in what for them is probably a totally timely fashion (never had to be rescued before, I don't fucking know), he puts the tire on, but I notice that it initially doesn't look like he has it on straight enough to even tighten it properly. However, I assume he knows what he's doing, and let him do the thing.

Cool, I can drive aga--what the fuck is that noise? My brakes now make a delightful growl every time I use them, and I can't quite tell if the wheel is lightly rumbling in general. I don't think it is, but I can't exactly listen properly at a speed where the rumbling might be a problem.

fhfsfsfhhh I just want a car that someone else doesn't break. Is that so much to ask?

Speaking of car troubles! Went to leave to pick up some product for my store after my shift and my car wouldn't start. Didn't think it was the battery because all the lights and extra stuff came on when I turned the key. Thankfully my new store is right next to an auto shop and there were able to fix me up. Turns out my battery was right at the point where it had enough power to start the electronics, but not enough to start the car. $150 later... Right after I told myself I wasn't going to spend any more cheddar until I start paying everything from the move off.

Brakes tried to assassinate me, it seems. Calipers decided they had had enough of this world and collapsed, casting themselves away from their purpose in life, leaving my rotor to warp and something to grind into the wheel UNTIL IT FUCKING CUT THE ALUMINUM ALL THE WAY AROUND. So basically, half of my brakes failed when I needed to be going highway speeds. OH BOY.

Also, power steering pump is suddenly shuddering grossly, probably sucking in air, and if it fails completely before I can/expect to fix it, then I'll have to also replace several major adjacent parts, and one of my wheel bearings might be getting fucked, although the aforementioned roads are rough enough that regular highway driving is already really loud anyway, so I'm not sure if I"d be able to hear the noise I'd need to recognize for that.

Those are all major and expensive repairs that may be worth more than the car at that point. Which means I might be in a position within a year where it would be better to just save for a down payment on a new car. Well, new to me, at least. Like hell I can afford an actual new car. Although it might be nice for once to get a car that's not already old enough to be screaming "IT'S NOT A PHASE, DAD" before slamming the door.

My brakes fucked up as well last night. I was leaving work and noticed the brake pedal had no pressure in it. Tried going down the road and it took a solid 7 seconds to stop from 30 mph. Pretty sure the head cylinder broke so I'm getting that replaced tomorrow.

At that point, I would call it. But you can find a used car that has been maintained and runs well. I know I got super lucky with my current truck, but it's 15 years old and, aside from the alternator, has been running smoothly for the past year, and it was cheap enough that I could pay cash for it.