Domestic Geek

REMINDER: When I get home this evening I need to add Foxtrot and Joy of Tech widgets to my desktop.

Yesterday our mail and web servers went down and Marcus was still getting them back online when I went to bed. I was checking the email backlog before I left for work when I heard a horrible ruckus out on our back patio. I thought maybe some cats were doing it out there or something, so I turned on the porch light and peered out the blinds to see a gaze of raccoons (yes, that's what a group of the damned things is called). The light didn't scare them off and pounding on the door by me didn't scare them off. There was one that was sitting on our porch rail pulling at our siding. Apparently, they were after the bugs that were hiding in our siding. My pounding and yelling rousted Marcus out of bed and he was also witness to this little band of hooligans. They finally strolled away and I was explaining to Marcus that I was awoken twice the night before by these creatures fighting outside our open bedroom window. It was then that we heard big thumps on our roof as these raccoons had decided to climb the huge tree next to our house and drop onto the roof. They were running around up there and making a huge racket. It felt like one of those horror movies where the humans are trapped inside a structure and the evil animals are outside, trying to get in (ala Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds). I was afraid to go out the front door for fear that one would jump off on my head. It was only after the rain started coming down heavily and the running noise ceased that I had the courage to venture out.

This is the first time since we've lived here that they've been this far down the block. I know a family of these things live under the abandoned trailer two spaces West of us now. Marcus wants to kill them. He obsessed about it all day. He's talking about rat poison. I said no. I don't want him to run the risk of accidentally poisoning Skippy (or some beneficial raccoon predator).

It gets better. When I got home and sat down to watch television, no dish signal. The other receiver had a signal. Now it appears that their roof frolicking either pulled a dish cable loose or they chewed through one. Either way, I called Marcus at work to inform him of this most recent development and he is not a happy guy. The suckiest part is there is no one to compain to. The crappy park owners won't do anything about it. They already know we have a cat problem that they refuse to deal with. I wouldn't be concerned if they were just a nuisance like the skunks around here. Raccoons can be vicious, though. They also carry rabies. I don't want one tangling with Skippy. The city of Aurora won't do anything about it. Adams county won't do anything about it.

Yet one more reason to move.

UPDATE: Well, Marcus got the dish fixed. Not sure if it was related to the raccoon romping, but he said the cable ends are pretty old and brittle. He'll have to replace them all when he gets some time and parts. He's such a handy guy!

He also showed me this really funny story he found today about some poor guy's struggle with a raccoon problem. At least our problem is not as bad as his was (yet).

I've been hearing about this the last few days, so I'm posting it to remind myself to do it.

From the 9News website:

In a bad freakin' mood today. Between the heat and stupid people, I'm at the end of my rope.

First, I've been bored as hell at work for over two weeks. The art director is going a vacation on Thursday and suddenly we're swamped with work. It's all last minute, I need it yesterday type of stuff. Grrrrr. Hey, if you didn't have the foresight to get this to a printer a couple of weeks before you needed them...tough. I'll get done when I get done. Calling every half hour is only going to delay you getting your stupid proof. Morons. Also, it's hard as hell to print photoshop effects on a t-shirt. Don't use them unless you know how to separate them yourself or expect to get charged art time up the ass. These kind of headaches are not worth what I'm getting paid. I took a low wage for the experience. I've had enough of that experience. I'll take a little bit of absue if it is my own personal client, y'know? I'm also tired of trying to figure out what these people want second or third hand. Trying to pry information out of the sales people is like pulling your own teeth. Let me talk to somebody face-to-face about what they want.

Oh, and it got up over 100°F today. People get stupid when it gets hot. Plus they drive even more crazy. I made the mistake of trying to see where the shop of one of our clients was and it ended up being smack in downtown. Have you ever driven in downtown Dever at 4:30 in the afternoon when the temps are over 100? Not one of my smartest moves. See, the heat got to me, too.

When I was going to get lunch I heard on the radio that three major credit card companies are doubling their minimum monthly payments. Great. The brilliant idea behind this is some government regulation that wants to decrease the amount of time people pay back their debts and how much they spend on interest or some other such crap. I hate to tell these losers in the government, but it's not like people charge once and then pay it off. It's a constant thing. Some people like me will probably always be in debt (although I'm more determined than ever to get rid of the credit card balances). They pull this shit just as the bankruptcy laws are tightening, too. Some people are majorly screwed. You think this could've been phased in gradually until they were up to the magic "4%". Anyway, between that, my newly acquired car payment and my impending student loan payments, I definitely need more cash coming in.

Then I get a phone call about a half hour ago from the pizza place. The message says that she "thinks" there will be oven cleaning people there at 4 in the morning. At least I was warned this time, but I can't make any dough when they're not sure when they'll be there. I can't make dough at all when they're there. They totally disasseble the oven and have stuff spread out all over the whole store. Nice, huh? Not like this stuff can't get planned ahead of time so that I have advance warning. Maybe schedule it on a day when I'm not usually there (like Monday) when I can get two days' done on the previous Sunday. Morons. Oh, well. Since I seriously doubt anybody else will make any, I guess dough doesn't get done tomorrow.

I guess I'll make Marcus a nice dinner since I can sleep in. I'll have to go to the store, though, as I have absolutely NO FOOD WHATSOEVER here. I hate going grocery shopping with a passion. *sigh*

Warning: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Spoilers ahead!

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« All Done!

I'm so stupid. The email I posted from Amazon the other day actually says it will probably come U.S. Mail. I vaguely remember reading that, but since I had a UPS tracking number, that is what made me think it was coming UPS. Oh, well. I got it. I read it. I cried. I can't wait for the last one.