Entries from April 2006 ↓

Have you seen this? Although I think it’d be cute if my fish ate from my hands, I don’t like them that much.

I’ve slowly taught my Oscars to jump all the way out of the water for food. I started them at 1 inch, and every week or two moved higher and higher. – Carla, FL

My fish jump out of the water, too… so they can die.

By this time next week I will be hanging out in my new apartment! That is so exciting. I’m going today to meet my building manager and check the place out again… I’m making a mental list of things to buy. I’ve already planned which shower curtain to buy for my bathroom. I know which floor lamp to buy for my living room to match one of my table lamps. Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I started wondering how I can re-cover my sofa. I think I need a sewing machine. And more money.

But for now I’m working on cleaning the current apartment and putting things in boxes and paper bags. I dismantled most of my bathroom and started cleaning it. I wonder if I can find some sort of cleaning wipes to use instead of paper towels and cleaning spray to clean the walls (because I also have to clean the walls in my bedroom and I’m going to do some in the kitchen and that would be a lot of paper towels). I have to visit the grocery store tonight. Also I have to return my modem to Time Warner at some point this week… which means that after I leave work on Friday, I will be internet-less for the whole week (I am taking the week off in order to get intimately acquainted with my new dwelling)! That will be sad, but I’m sure I will hop a bus to Karyn’s house late in the week to use her internet. And her cats.

Also, have I mentioned that I’m going to become a Minnesotan next week? I’m going to get my Minnesota driver’s license after having lived in this state for nearly 5 years. I will no longer be a South Dakotan, except in my heart.

I promise I will show you new pictures soon, too. Maybe today I can take some pictures of my new neighborhood… I am so so so excited!

Since lunch plans with Karyn fell through, I wandered over to the Dinkydome to “Little Taj Mahal” and I have stuffed myself with vegetable biryani, basmati rice, mango lassi and some strange red breaded-yam thing. Awesome. I wish I could take a nap now.

Found another ant this morning, this time in the kitchen… They were really bad during the winter of 2004–2005, but I set out some super-mega-ant-killing traps and they went away… until now!

But I am moving in 10 days so hopefully their colony lies low until after I leave.

I really hope I don’t have to deal with ants in my new apartment, but I will be armed with more super-mega-ant-killing traps if I need to be!

In other news, I’m still wondering how I’m going to move my fish. I debated letting the water evaporate all month so I might be able to just carry them in the aquarium. About a week ago the water was getting low and the filter still needed to run and it was very noisy at night and it was interrupting my sleep. So that didn’t work. My cousin, Jamie (an animal lover, groomer and girl with good ideas) suggested getting one of those small styrofoam coolers (since I have many many catfish, a poo-eater, and one little tetra), putting some of the water from the aquarium in it, then putting the fish in there and of course I could do that. But then I’m wondering how it would work to get them back into the aquarium once it’s set-up at the new apartment. Give them a waterfall dump into the aquarium? I dunno. I don’t wish death on the fish, but it would be so much easier to just start a new aquarium with new fish. Maybe I could get ones that weren’t suicidal. Also I’ve noticed that the poo-eater likes to watch me and that creeps me out. I’ve got a peeping Mick.

After consulting curator Don Luce about my weird bug, it is determined that it was a pseudoscorpion and the next time I see one (hopefully there is no next time) I should let it be because it is a “beneficial predator” and will eat things that I really really really don’t want to coexist with.