Yesterday I made a big mistake...a BIG mistake. I washed the ratty linens (you know, the old towels, fleecey sleeping bags, fuzzy hammocks, the little scraps of felt they use to build their nests with...) with a few of my shirts and jeans. PEEEEUUUUUUUU. My clothes came out of the dryer with a less than clothesline fresh scent. I asked my husband to smell my shirt - for confirmation, you know. He innocently sniffed my shoulder and said, "It smells like dryer sheets and....rat bedding." Ugh!
Then, of course, I made ANOTHER mistake and wore the rat poo shirt hiking. I thought that with time the fresh air would take away the smell, but nope. No such luck. I smelled rat poo for miles.

Also, Vivi, Acorn and Mary would like me to officially thank Rats and Cats for introducing me to the idea of feeding the ratties corn on the cob. They loved it.

We have been tagged by Animal Magic (imagine that I know what I'm doing and inserted the link here). Here are the rules: The player of this game starts with "5 wierd things/habits about yourself." In the end you need to choose 5 people to be tagged and list their names. The person who gets tagged must write a blog about their 5 wierd things/habits, as well as state the rules clearly, then tag five more victims. Don't forget to leave your victim a comment that says, "You're tagged," and tell them to read your blog. Since I have five furries, I figured that I would list one wierd thing about each. Here goes!
Molly's eyes are powerful magnets that draw all humans toward her. Once under her spell it is impossible to walk past her without falling to her paws and worshipping her, even if it means that you will be late for work. (Molly will soon be celebrating her 1 year adoption anniversary with us)
Elvis (who just won the BLUE ribbon in his obedience class) has a little problem with substrates. He is fine on a carpeted floor, fine on a hardwood floor, fine on a laminate floor, etc...but...when asked to walk from the carpet to the laminate floor, or from the wood floor to the carpeted floor....he slowly creeps to the doorway, then DASHES back toward the other end of the room...sloooowly creeps to the doorway, then RUNS MANIACALLY to the other end of the room....slooooooooooooooowly creeps to the doorway, tip-toes ever so carefully on to the new surface, then RACES through the new room. What a goof.
Mary DOES NOT STASH FOOD!!!!! That I see. Ace sleeps on her side, in a kidney shape, with her tail curled in front of her. She holds her tail with both hands and rests her chin on her tail's tip. Unfortunately, I have not been able to catch this cuteness on film.

Olive often rests in the position of a sphinx, with her hands clutched in little balls.

I tag Kelsea and Yummy (imagine again that I have inserted their links. Kelsea and Yummy, if you choose to do this, please leave your links in the comments here). All of our other fuzzy friends have been tagged already!

I made my first 9-1-1 call yesterday. Some eejit left a little tan spaniel in a locked car with all the windows rolled up. Then I made my second 9-1-1 call ten minutes later when the police still hadn't shown up. The policeman didn't show up until 25 minutes after the original call went through. Podunk town. Then he stood around and scratched his arse for a while wondering what to do. I was about ready to break a window myself when the woman who owned the dog finally came out of a restaraunt to see what all the commotion was about. I saw the police officer write something down and hand it to her - I hope it was a big damn fine and a ticket. Too bad he didn't just take the dog away from her. Clearly she has mush for brains. I am disgusted with both the woman and the inefficient policeman. He had two types of rods to try to pry open the door/window and he couldn't get either to work. I wanted to ask him what he would have done if the woman had not come out. Why did it take so long? Why not break the window? A life was at stake! I don't get it.
I saw the dog get up and walk around in the parking lot, but I still feel guilty. I feel like I should have made sure he got out sooner. But it's hard to know what to do. I suppose in this instance, since the dog seemed fine, it was better to not break a window...but what if it had worked out the other way? Next time, if it's a worse situation, will I break a window? I damn well hope so.

oops...heat getting to me. wrote a couple of silly sentences...spelled something incorrectly....I'm outta here!

It's hotter than Hades here. Has been for the past couple of days. I started to feel sick at work (unaironditioned woodshop) so came home early. The entire metal shop left yesterday at 11 am and is doing the same today. No sense working when you're lightheaded and lopping off a finger.
I just strung up a big dropcloth across the doorway at the top of the stairs so that I can run the ac in the bedroom and cool down the whole upstairs. Then I'm going to drag the zoo up here to stay cool. I've been afraid to leave the ratties up here in the ac while I'm at work because of paranoia that the ac will bust and the rats will die of heat exhaustion. Better uncomfortable and alive than cool for a bit and then...well...
Off to soak my head in cold water now. Girls have their cubes, dogs are languishing...