Month: March 2014

Marshmallow

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Baby Rat

I’m making good progress with my little baby rat who I’ve decided to name Marshmallow. He still doesn’t enjoy being picked up too much, but he struggles less and he’s much more comfortable with me touching him. After letting him adjust to his new surrounding for two weeks, I just forced myself on him by putting him on the bed, taking away all his toys (wheel, igloo, towel he likes to hide in), and sitting there while he ran around and got used to my presence. Now he hops all over me and isn’t scared like before. Plus, unless he’s lounging in his spacepod, which he adores, he’ll come running to the front of the cage when I come in the room.


Marshmallow in his spacepod

Marshmallow in his PVC pipe

I’ve started checking Craigslist for a potential buddy since he’ll have to go through the proper quarantine for two weeks before I put them in the same room together. All the best available rats seem to be in Wisconsin for some reason. This one guy was getting rid of three cute grey and white Dumbos but he’s an hour away from here. I guess I’ll just keep looking. Hopefully I find something good soon.

Shedd Aquarium Visit

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Jellyfish

Our most recent trip to the Shedd Aquarium on March 1st was nothing short of disappointing.

Despite having checked to make sure no events were taking place in the nearby area, Solidarity Drive was closed for parking, I’m guessing in preparation for that evening’s Blackhawks game. Not only that, but we weren’t allowed to park in the Adler Planetarium lot even though the Shedd’s site says you can. This required us to park in the Soldier Field parking garage which cost $22 and was a much lengthier walk in 20-degree temperatures.

Because we arrived early, we had to stand outside in the cold to wait for them to open their doors even though there’s plenty of space to wait inside. Since it was a Bank of America weekend, our general admission was free, but it still cost $42 for the three of us to visit the Oceanarium and Jellies exhibit. I kept questioning the guy who rang us up why three $8.95 tickets cost so much and he blamed taxes. I just wasn’t buying it, though, so before we left I spoke to a woman at the information desk who explained it to me. They don’t charge taxes at all. However, in addition to raising the ticket prices for the Oceanarium from $6.95 to $8.95 since our last visit, the tickets to see the Jellyfish went up from $3 to $5 despite not having added anything new. In fact, the exhibit is looking neglected and some tanks were even empty.

On top of that, I had read they expanded the Oceanarium since our last visit but I was hard pressed to notice any difference whatsoever. And our timing must have been poor because even though it was cool to see the beluga whales interacting with staff, the dolphins were nowhere to be found.

Needless to say, for a “free” weekend it sure was expensive! Plus it got so crowded that by noon we were more than ready to leave.

As much as I love checking out all the cool animals the Shedd has to offer, I felt like the visit was a rip-off and don’t plan on visiting again anytime soon. It sucks, too, because I had been looking forward to it for many months.

Shedd Aquarium photos @ Perfect Pixels

Laser Light Show @ Cernan Space Center

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Last year sometime I was made aware of the Cernan Space Center at nearby Triton College in River Grove, IL when a former colleague posted on Facebook about taking her kids there. I’ve been keeping an eye on their show schedule and was pretty excited to learn that for the month of March they were doing a laser show called Ray of Light on Friday & Saturday evenings that included the following songs:

Ray of Light — Madonna
Perfect (perfecto mix) — Smashing Pumpkins
Wild Wild West — Will Smith
Praise You — Fat Boy Slim
Bodyrock — Moby
Confusion (Reconstruction mix) — New Order
Born Slippy — Under World

Last night we decided to check it out. First off, the space center itself is very tiny. Most of it is made up of the theater/planetarium which is set up like a smaller version of the Omniplex theater in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. There’s a gift shop on the premise that has space-themed items like astronaut ice cream and moon rocks. Our show was at 9 pm and started a bit late since the 7:30 pm show ran over.

When we first took our seats we were the only two people there. The guy running the laser show asked if we wanted to see the main show first or the mini laser show featuring some Beatles songs. I said I didn’t care, whatever he wanted, so he said he’d start the main show.

The show started off with the first song listed above and was accompanied by abstract patterns drawn by multicolored lasers which reminded me a little of the old visualizations Windows screensaver. Certain parts got really trippy which was fun, and kinda made me yearn for those days in college if you get my drift (and if you don’t, nevermind). All the songs had different patterns and some even had storylines told with animated drawings which I didn’t care for as much. My favorite visualizations were during Perfect by Smashing Pumpkins and my least favorite were during Wild Wild West by Will Smith (never was a fan of that song anyway).

A few people came in after the show started which was a bit distracting, not least of which because they chose to sit two rows in front of us when the entire theater was empty except for where we were sitting. Not only that but they smelled kind of bad (I wish I was kidding) but at least the smell dissipated after they had settled into their seats.

Once the main show was over the lights came up and the guy running it said that concluded the show. I walked over to his booth and asked about the Beatles mini laser show which was listed on the website and he, obliviously forgetting it was me he had spoken to before, said “when I first started the show there were only two people in here and they said they didn’t want to see it”, to which I replied, “No, I said I didn’t care what order you played it in” so he started that show a minute later, to which one of the other people there said, “Good, I was waiting for that”. Silly guy! I’m not mad, but shouldn’t he have played it anyway once more people came into the theater even if he thought I had said I didn’t want to see it? Tickets are $10 a person so everyone should get their money’s worth. It was only three more songs anyway (which, admittedly were rather boring) and overall the show was only an hour long.

In any case, it was a fun night out doing something different. Although based on the song choice and laser technology, we both speculated that they haven’t changed that show since it was originally created back in 1999!

I’d like to go back to the space center at some point to check out the monthly skywatch as well as see a holiday-themed laser show for Halloween and Christmas.

Standing By Your Convictions

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I came out today on Facebook.

As a rat owner.

And I should have done it sooner but I was scared of being judged. I was worried if someone made a nasty comment I would feel embarrassed. Then I realized that was stupid because someone being nasty toward me was a reflection on them, not me. And depending on how nasty it got, I’d just unfriend them anyway.

When I relayed my intentions during a phone call with my mother last night she asked me, “you’d disown a family member over that?” I told her it would likely be a different outcome if it was a family member, but for a so-called friend, sure. See, the way I look at it is if I’m talking about something I hold dear, like a pet, and you’re going to crap all over my excitement with a negative unsolicited opinion that serves no purpose other than to be hurtful, well, that doesn’t really make you a good friend, now does it? And I don’t need you in my life. Some people think just because they have the right to free speech they should exercise that right regardless of how it makes other people feel. I don’t agree. You don’t have to like the same things as other people do but you can, and should, be respectful when you’re around people who have views & likes contrary to your own.

Case in point regarding keeping one’s mouth shut but also standing by your convictions – I very rarely say things about smokers. I personally don’t care for them, not as people, but as a class of people. I think it’s a disgusting, unhealthy habit that infringes on other people’s rights to breathe clean air. For the most part I keep my opinions to myself, particularly because I have friends and family who smoke. However, new neighbors recently moved in and much to my disappointment, they are smokers. So I posted on my Facebook – “After a year of the place next door being empty there are new neighbors moving in today and wouldn’t you know it, they are smokers? Son of a bitch! How is it that only 20% of the population smokes but 100% of my neighbors do? &*#^*!@!(!!!! — feeling frustrated.” It’s annoying living next to smokers, you know? You can’t open your windows and enjoy fresh air because they are outside frequently to get their fix.

Anyway, in response to my status update, my SIL (Joe’s brother’s wife) posted about how it’s not fair that smokers’ rights are being taken away for what amounts to a bad habit. I could have ignored her rant, and in the past I likely would have because thanks to the way I was brought up, I avoid confrontation whenever possible. But all that has amounted to in my life is being treated like a doormat by other people, so I decided to respond back. I wasn’t mean or nasty but I explained why I feel the way I do and so forth. The sad part was that she responded about how she’s known 22 smokers who quit and died of cancer soon after quitting but since it wasn’t lung cancer it wasn’t caused by smoking (I’m paraphrasing, of course). She then went on to say we should focus on things that are proven to be harmful. OH. MY. GOD. I cannot believe there are still people out there who think smoking only causes lung cancer when it causes a host of cancers! If you’re going to smoke, fine, but at least be educated about what it can do to you! I sent my SIL a link to the CDC and she didn’t reply after that. I just hope to god that she and her husband aren’t smoking around their grandson because that is not cool.

Another example lately where I stood up for myself was again on Facebook (noticing a trend here?). I posted about Nougat passing away and an ex-boyfriend made a comment about him making good taco meat or something. I deleted his comment and sent him a private message that said – “I deleted your comment because it was rude, insensitive, and not the least bit amusing. I hope you think twice before acting like that again”. I was shaking because I was mad, but also because I was afraid of the reaction I’d get for standing up for myself. How sad is that? Shortly after my message he replied, “I’m sorry. Won’t happen again”.

So what’s the conclusion here? The world did not end when I stood up for myself and my convictions. I’m learning that communicating your feelings to someone doesn’t automatically result in that person becoming defensive and turning things around. That’s a revelation for me because in my immediate family you cannot express your feelings and ever just get an apology in return. The other person always turns it around and makes it about them. It’s exhausting and it’s refreshing to know it doesn’t have to be that way with everyone.

Worst Week Ever

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Remember VH1’s Best Week ever series? Well, I present to you, Nicole & Joe’s Worst Week Ever. More like worst two weeks ever. Here’s a timeline for you:

Sunday, February 23rd – we purchase a baby rat from Petco

Monday, February 24th – Nougat dies out of the blue

Saturday, March 1st – we go to the Shedd Aquarium but it wasn’t as fun as expected

Sunday, March 2nd – Joe gets into a car accident while driving E home in the morning

Sunday, March 2nd – Hershey starts breathing heavily

Monday, March 3rd – Hershey dies

Tuesday, March 4th – the sink starts leaking

Thursday, March 6th – we find out E has to have an MRI

Can it please stop now?

So the bad news is the driver who caused the accident wasn’t insured so we are responsible for the $1000 deductible to have Joe’s SUV fixed. Even though they were going relatively slowly on the expressway (coming out of a tollbooth), the airbags deployed and the whole front end of the SUV was damaged because the guy who lost control flew into Joe’s lane and he couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting him. Luckily they didn’t total out the car (and damn, based on what it’s going to fix the SUV, I think it came really close) or we’d really be screwed. We don’t want, nor need, to add car payments to our monthly bills right now. We’re the type of people who drive our cars until there’s no drive left in them. We just paid off the SUV in January 2013 so we were looking forward to at least five, if not ten years of life out of the vehicle. I still have my 2000 Jetta for goodness sakes! So that’s a relief.

As far as E is concerned, we aren’t sure what’s going on but the doctor might just be acting overly cautious. We hope to hear more by this weekend but we don’t think it as serious as having an MRI implies.

As for the pet situation, I am very angry with myself. I feel guilty as hell for Hershey’s death. I took Nougat and Hershey with me to the vet who examined the new baby rat. He felt that Nougat’s passing was a coincidence, but said that Hershey likely caught a respiratory infection from the new rat that was a new strain he hadn’t been exposed to and it just took him down fast (no vet was open on Sunday so I had planned to take him in on Monday but he passed away overnight). Basically I inadvertently killed Hershey due to my own ignorance. And here I was trying to help him by getting him a buddy!


RIP Hershey
Hershey on the Windowsill

Apparently I should have quarantined the new rat better by keeping him in an entirely different room on the opposite side of the house for at least two weeks before putting him anywhere near Hershey. It didn’t occur to me how easily these infections could get into the air supply. I wonder if perhaps Winston would have lived longer had I not brought Hershey home almost eight months ago. Ugh. Poor Hershey didn’t even get to see his first birthday. He was the first rat I raised from a baby. He was so scared/shy when I first got him and so friendly before he passed. He’d sit in the corner of the room when out of his cage, but if I turned around to make eye contact with him he’d come running over and hop on my lap. I’m going to miss him. :(

Oh, and don’t get me started on how expensive it is to take a pocket pet to the vet. My bill was $175!!! The breakdown was: $19 to cremate Nougat, $19 to cremate Hershey, $58 for the baby rat to be examined, and $79 for medicine for the baby rat. I cannot believe it. I knew it was going to be a pretty penny but I was thinking closer to $100, not almost $200!!! Ugh. This has been a very expensive two weeks, let me tell you.

This past work week was tough, too, since we only have one car. Joe dropped me off at 6:15 am and I’d work until he came and got me at 4:15, only taking a half hour break during the day. Sure, we could use that extra money, but I noticed by 2 pm I felt exhausted. It really isn’t healthy to work so many hours in one day regardless of what you do (and my job is easy).

As for the sink, it will be an easy fix. It was just another thing in the long line of misfortunes this week. I’m only hoping we’re done with the bad luck and will get a run of good luck next. We could use it with Joe’s impending layoff looming on the horizon.

P.S. I’ll write a separate post soon about our Shedd Aquarium visit.