CAN I BE OF ASSISTANCE?
Saturday, December 24
That's Not Reindeer On The Roof
I have possums.
You live in Hornsby. Everyone has possums.
In my walls.
Yay! Wallpossums!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:35 PM
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1
Really real live possums? The only time I've ever seen them is when they were splatted.
Posted by: phin at Sunday, December 25 2005 01:04 AM (DGPlf)
2
Yeah. Possums, mind you, not opossums. The buggers are everywhere.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, December 25 2005 05:22 AM (7X4Bl)
3
Ringtails I don't mind. They're small and cute and don't make much noise or mess.
Brushies are a different matter.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, December 25 2005 05:23 AM (7X4Bl)
4
At least they improve the "R-rating" of your insulation. A possum is at least a localized R-15, if not more!
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sunday, December 25 2005 07:26 AM (mAAjO)
5
We used to have squirrels in the walls and raccoons on the roof in my parents' house--which was still better than the bats in the attic at my grandfather's!
Posted by: Susie at Tuesday, December 27 2005 12:00 PM (a0oF7)
6
Um. Yuck.
Have something to pop them with should they break out of the walls?
Posted by: Jennifer at Wednesday, December 28 2005 11:58 PM (Dq7lR)
7
Wack-A-Mole!
Possum. Whatever.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thursday, December 29 2005 12:57 AM (HoSBk)
8
I have a frying pan. That should work.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thursday, December 29 2005 01:07 AM (LUBRF)
9
I think Jen meant something to use *before* they're dead. ;)
Lemons to lemonade time: you need to host the Carnival of Recipes, Varmint Edition!
Posted by: Ted at Thursday, December 29 2005 11:14 AM (blNMI)
10
Ted, I think Pixy is fixin' to use the pan as the possumwhacker.
"Possumwhacker." Sounds like something out of the Old West.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thursday, December 29 2005 12:16 PM (mAAjO)
11
Just curious, what's the difference between possum and opossum, aside from the extra "o" on the second?
; )
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!
Happy New Year!!
Posted by: Chrissy at Thursday, December 29 2005 10:24 PM (zJsUT)
12
Opossums are cute and cuddly and live in America, apparently in barrels.
Possums are evil venomous alien parasites, and live in my roof.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, December 30 2005 06:22 AM (7X4Bl)
13
Have you tried singing "Come With Me Now to the Wildwood"? That ought to draw the possums out.
Posted by: Michael Brazier at Wednesday, January 04 2006 05:15 AM (hc1pe)
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Monday, December 12
Into Hot Water
I have hot water!
Let's see:
The electricity was disconnected.
The gas was turned off.
The hot water system (which is one of those crappy "instantaneous" ones) requires both gas and electricity. The gas supply was turned off at the hot water system as well, and the electrical outlet was a good 18" away from the end of the power lead. Nice design work there, guys. I'm too stupid to unwind the power cord from the top of the heater. Or maybe it was just more obvious to my brother, who's a couple of inches taller than me.
Anyway, fixed now. I have hot water again. All I need now is to get my washing machine repaired, and then sleep for a year.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
12:26 AM
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Saturday, December 10
The Fun Never Stops
So there I am, heading into the bathroom to wipe off the sweat that comes when you have spent the day shifting eighty boxes of books from the top floor down into the garage in 30 degree heat. And I reach for the wash cloth, and I get a handful of AAH GIANT SPIDER GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME!!!!!!
I think the spider had much the same reaction, and it bounced off the wall and ran under the sink. I hosed it down with bug spray and captured it in a cotton-bud box. Long legs, medium-sized body, spiky hairs: a huntsman, which is pretty harmless, and probably the most common large spider around here.
They can get pretty big; fortunately, mine wasn't quite the size of this one:
more...
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
05:28 AM
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1
Yaagh!
Even with all the snow I just had to shovel, I still think it's worth not having to deal with over-sized critters like that monstrosity. The cold keeps cold-blooded things from being able to *get* that big. All we have to worry about is the occasional, smallish rattlesnake...
Posted by: Mitch H. at Saturday, December 10 2005 11:29 AM (iTVQj)
2
AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Get it off the toilet paper! That's just not even funny!!!
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sunday, December 11 2005 02:06 AM (KnWO3)
Posted by: Eric at Sunday, December 11 2005 11:48 AM (r5XsL)
4
And this is why we may not ever visit your fine country on holiday. My wife has a great fear of spiders. I'm called in to kill tiny little critters that she calls "huge" while she runs to the other end of the house. It's pretty much the only reason she keeps me around.
Posted by: Rossz at Monday, December 12 2005 01:16 AM (n5Jbg)
Posted by: Ted at Monday, December 12 2005 08:43 PM (+OVgL)
6
Good God, man! Is there
any kind of nasty creature that doesn't find its most viscious and/or venomous and/or aggressive and/or huge and/or deadly variant in Australia?
Posted by: Mr. Green at Tuesday, December 20 2005 03:48 PM (ynjpR)
7
i wonder how that would taste deep fried.
Posted by: mesablue at Sunday, August 05 2007 05:24 PM (KCOdQ)
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At Least Somebody Knows What They Are Doing
So eventually I got the keys, went 'round to the new place, looked around. It's even smaller than I remembered. I looked at it briefly and went for the other unit instead, and then I waited... And waited... And waited... For
five weeks.
And since I have to move by the end of the year and Christmas is only two weeks away, I had to go for the unit I didn't want. They're in the same complex, but of 16 units, 10 have nice balconies, 12 have attached garages, four have gardens with gates so you can get in without going through the house, and two have nice views overlooking the... Well, it's a swamp, but it's a nice swamp.
My unit has none of those. It's the runt of the litter, but it costs as much as the others. Which I guess is why it was available.
What it also doesn't have is electricity. Something the real-estate agent also didn't mention.
The only redeeming factor was Energy Australia. I called them after five on a Friday afternoon, and they will have the power on tomorrow. Thanks guys.
Update: +10 points for organising the connection on a Saturday. -20 points for not actually recording the reconnection request in the system. -20 points for insisting that the power was already connected when I called to complain on Saturday morning. -10 points for closing at 12 PM sharp on Saturday, two minutes before I located the main switch box with the tag on my unit's switch saying that power had been disconnected.
+10 points for organising a free emergency reconnection on Saturday afternoon. +10 points for doing it in less than an hour.
So, -20 points for the week. Must try harder.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
03:26 AM
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"10 have nice balconies, 12 have attached garages, four have gardens with gates so you can get in without going through the house, and two have nice views overlooking the... Well, it's a swamp, but it's a nice swamp. My unit has none of those. It's the runt of the litter."
Bah! It's the BEST of the bunch! Let's go over it option by option:
Balcony: usually, balconies are accompanied by floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, such as what The Pond has. These huge doors would have caused your unit to have excessively hot in the summer and amazingly cold in the winter.
Garage: Another room to keep clean, hampered by the presence of car. Alternatively, a storage room; either way, a pain in the pinfeathers.
Garden with External Door: The garden is a time-sucker that would have just pointed out that you're a plant murderer. The external door is just a way for the zombies to get in.
View of Swamp: One word for ya:
malaria. Nuff said.
See? You're LUCKY to get this one! More easily defended against zombies, too... lack of electricity means that they won't be attracted by lights in the window!
Look out for the fast ones.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sunday, December 11 2005 02:04 AM (KnWO3)
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Thursday, December 08
Packing Or Unpacking?
I'm moving house again. Not by choice; I won't go into the
vermin bastard scum-sucking pig-dog details. Anyway, it's the usual last-minute scramble, and I was called away yesterday to tend to a sick Linux box, taking five hours out of my schedule, which was not really very helpful. Hence the comparison below.
Five weeks after it was supposed to be available, New New Pixy Central still isn't available, and I've had to move into a different and less suitable place. Bah and humbug. The only plus with the New New New place is that it has air conditioning in the main bedroom. Considering what just happened to the weather here - the cold spell broke and temperatures jumped 10 degrees overnight - air con is actually a big consideration.*
At least this time I will have internet access available at all times, thanks to my shiny new(ish) notebook and its shiny new wireless internet adaptor. And I seem to be doing better than last time, when the scramble was not so much last-minute as last-minute-plus-two-days. That wasn't fun.
Anyway, my empty boxes are calling to be filled with books. I shall return.
* I checked, and the maximum temperature in Sydney jumped from 26C on Tuesday to 39C yesterday. I thought it was kind of warm...
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
11:03 PM
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Gah, moving sucks anwyay. But forced moving? Gah squared!
Posted by: TallDave at Friday, December 09 2005 10:41 AM (jCxVJ)
2
Regarding the temperature over there, I'd feel sorry for you, but it's currently 24 degrees Fahrenheit here at My Pond (that's -240 degrees celcigrade, for you Aussies). The ice is thick enough for me to skate upon, and it's snowing to boot (we're expecting 204 centavos of accumulation for you metric-like people).
I'd like to be in Australia, I think. A little far south for me to fly.
Might I suggest duct tape and a forced showing of
Eiken for your real estate agent?
Posted by: Wonderduck at Friday, December 09 2005 07:37 PM (KnWO3)
3
Eiken? Cruel, man. Cruel.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, December 09 2005 07:39 PM (QriEg)
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Tuesday, December 06
Sad News
Pixie the cat, who I mentioned in an earlier post, passed away this afternoon. She will be missed.
Pixie in younger and happier days.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
01:13 AM
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1
hooboy. i am sure sorry to hear that. i know that people who talk about their animals and take pictures of them, give their 4 legged friends the right sort of life. i'm certain she'll miss you, too.
sorry for your loss..
Posted by: nita at Tuesday, December 06 2005 07:03 AM (gm7Og)
2
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww damn, Pixie... as a longtime serf to the housecat species, I mourn with you.
Now Pixie is in a place where catnip fields are everywhere, laser-pointers never run their batteries out, and tins of salmon can be opened by paws. Requiat in pace.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Tuesday, December 06 2005 10:08 PM (HoSBk)
3
My cat -- Harold, pic in my sidebar -- died in June. He was twelve and in good health... he just crawled under the bed and died... that cratered me for a couple of weeks... and yellowdog missed him too, so I had to get yellowdog her own puppy to play with.
Posted by: Madfish Willie at Wednesday, December 07 2005 10:46 PM (0/gfb)
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Sunday, December 04
Notes From Life
1. I never want to deal with another real estate agent as long as I live. They suck.
2. I am almost walking normally again.
Ow. Fuck. Ow. Another move, another scissors-related foot injury. OW.
3. My brother's cat, Pixie (pure coincidence), is not well. Please send happy cat thoughts her way.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
09:26 AM
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Happy cat thoughts on the way!
And put the sizzors down on the table, not the carpet! Either that or remember never to walk around a cluttered room in socked/bare feet...
Posted by: Tuning Spork at Sunday, December 04 2005 09:32 PM (O857Y)
2
Go Pixie the Cat! Rah rah rah! You're okay, you'll be healthy... please! Sick kitties make me sad! GooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOO PIXIE!!!
And Pixie the humanoid, why are you dropping scissors on your feet?
Posted by: Wonderduck at Monday, December 05 2005 02:37 AM (HoSBk)
3
Too bad about 1. But that could be because you don't know me :)
So what happened?
Posted by: Sean Pelette at Tuesday, December 06 2005 06:42 PM (51/BT)
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