BUGS!!!

One of the very few reasons not to like florida... BUGS!! (yes they deserve the caps) We have big bugs, little bugs, flying bugs, not flying bugs... and more bugs... Honestly tho.. most places have a shit load of bugs.. we just dont have a winter where we can pretend they dont exist and forget the ants at the picnic, the mosquitos at the ball game, the flys in the kitchen and all that stuff that goes along with warm weather. So ive been trying to grow tomatos for some time now.. with little luck. Here in florida the tomato plants seem to get every disease you can imagine... and every parasite you can think of. So i decided to try the topsy turvy (upside down tomato plant grower-thing a ma bob). Overall its worked pretty damn well. My tomatos have been less than stellar because if it doesnt bark at me to tell me to feed it i kinda forget it exists once in a while... The upside (or upside-down-side) of the inverted growing style is that the vast majority of the insects that attack the tomatos come from the soil.. so since the plants arent really in the soil.. it works great.. also cuts down on soil born fungus and virus's since youre using potting soil. However.. today i went to water my tomatos.. and ACK! BUGS!!... freaking 4-5 inch long (kinda pretty) green stripy catpillers were going to town on my vines... bastards.. went inside to ask the internet what on earth these monsters were... and bingo... Tomato Hornworm

all i can say is please get the bloody hell off my tomato plants... and dont come back!

new car and other things

So i bought a new car a week ago today. Ive never had a new car before and its kinda cool. Its also terrifying. I find myself wanting to be 'that guy' who parks his car at the way back of the lot so nothing scratches the new car. I dont want anyone to eat in said car. I dont want tree branches to touch the paint job. Im even cringing when i put my dogs in the car (ack how in the hell did i turn into this person that i made fun of for so long). Its kinda humbling. I too am that twit that we all secretly laugh at for being so fussy over a CAR, a vehical for getting us from one place to the other, for moving crap hither and yon. For taking you and all your buddies hither and yon and hopefully back again. Or moving you, your surfboard, your beach umbrella, a cooler and about 3 cubic feet of sand yon and hither and all over the place. And yet, i dont want your dirty shoes or my furry (beloved) dirtballs or your stinky fast food anywhere near my new baby. Im hoping this feeling wears off soon or I may have to go mud bogging just to force myself to get over it. And i dont want mud and such all over my shiny new hamster mobile. (look up the kia soul commercial on you tube).

I do have to say the car rocks. Its black and red inside, black on the outside (i know i know, black in florida is about as stupid as wearing a bikini in alaska in january.) It was the only one they had and i got a pretty good deal if i do say so myself. I wanted a slightly less spiffy model. but of course the only one on the lot when my beetle decided to go into death throes was the all tricked out, every option, super spiffy version. So basically i sat there and kept saying 'no, this isnt what i want' until they lowered the price to where it was the same price as the lower end version. So it ended up being what i wanted. I will say i was very impressed with the local Kia dealer. No heavy pressure, no strong arm techniques, no arguing with me. I said what i wanted and they did it. Took a lot of the stress out of buying a car. It wasnt anywhere near as bad as I was expecting based on previous experiences and friends and familys tales of car buying disasters. There was one minor blip on the radar screen. 3 days after I drove off the lot with said spiffy-mobile the check engine light came on. I of course assumed the worst, that i had bought a lemon that would be no end of trouble, that the dealer would tell me to stick it in my ear, that the end of the world had in fact arrived (im not dramatic... i swear). So Jeff in all his totally awesomeness took me to work yesterday and then drove the car to the dealer and had it checked out. The dealer of course got him right in... hooked it up to the machine... and (drumroll please.... )i hadnt tightened the gas cap enough. Thats right. It was MY FAULT. oops.

anyway car is all better and i feel a little sillier but overall life is good. So im off to go spend my day off tooling around town in my hamster mobile.. Wish me luck, and no more warning lights :)

i should post something. It should be terribly interesting and witty and ... you get the idea. However I really don't have that much to report. Jeff and I are about to take the dogs down to Cocoa village for some espresso and rambling about. We are pet sitting a small and adorable kitty cat for a client of mine and even Jeff (notoriously anti-cat) seems to like her. He said something like "this would be a great cat for some friends of ours to have, so we could go visit her and play with her." I thought it was cute especially since he said it with her upside down on his lap purring her little heart out with him rubbing her belly. The birds are working on some new phrases but they aren't clear enough to translate yet. Its a lot like having a two year old... they speak but sometimes you have to know what it is that they are trying to say to understand it. It does make me more aware of how i pronounce things because they are mostly mimicking me. My favorite lately was when one bird (Juju) said 'how are you?' and then the second bird (Pulo) replied 'I'm good, how are you?'. They are often better than TV. Jeff and I are still... still... still... working on the house. Its a lot like those games you played as a kid where it was a bunch of tiles in a square and you had to move one tile so you could move the next tile so you could eventually make the picture. Thats what my house is like at the moment. A work in progress..
time to head out.. more later

running

trying this running thing again/more/still etc. Mapped out a 3.1 mile route from my house and back. made it in 45 minutes... not gonna break any speed records but i did it. Kate (the poodle) thought it was a good time even if i did have to walk here and there. i even did a few pushups and dips when i got back home.. now im TIRED.

The 5 day weekend was nice. Jes and Elliot were in town and we managed to hit the beach, the zoo, cocoa village and several other spots. The weather was typical for florida for this time of year. The family is rolling on without Ruger as difficult as it is. It was the right decision at the right time, but I still wish it could have been different. In family additions, a client came in today with a Veiled Chameleon that she found walking down a major road in town. She's a cat person, so she brought it to the only reptile person she knows (me). So shes gonna put up some signs and see if anyone claims him. Otherwise he may be moving in at least temporarily. I spent the evening converting a rabbit cage to a chameleon cage (think soft screen and zip ties). He and his 12 crickets (ick) are now happily hanging out on the porch in their freshly misted pothos plant (probably toxic). He's huge, about the length of my arm from fingertip to elbow if you include almost all of his tail, one of the biggest ones ive ever seen. He needs a name, and no its not gonna be Karma.

Sleep Well Old Friend

Hello all, it is with a sad heart that I have to report that we had Ruger put to sleep yesterday evening. As many of you know, he was one of the greatest German Shepherd's ever. Kind and sweet and friendly unlike so many of his breed. He was that once in a lifetime dog for me and i wish everyone could expreience the kind of bond that I shared with him. He had been sick for some time. I relaized last night that it had been 4 years since he had been diagnosed with kidney cysts that should have killed him in 6 months. I got a lot more time than I was expecting, but it was still hard to see him go. He will be missed.

better

i feel a little better. im trying to make a few changes to see if it will help my overall mood/stress level. I went back to the gym today as the first step. I always feel better when im getting regular exercise and lately i really like running, treadmill or outdoors. 35 min total, 2.5 miles. Im pleased even tho its damn slow by most peoples standards. Im going to make a major push to start going to the gym before work. If i would just get up when jeff gets up instead of laying in bed and pretending to sleep for 40 more minutes.. i would really have enough time to go to the gym, shower there and make it to work on time. im gonna also try for a more regular bed time, and less of this staying up to midnight just to read a book ive already read before. Maybe less computer time right before bed ( 'they' say that it can make it harder to fall asleep.) We'll see. hopefully it will help and ill be sleeping more soon and therefor much happier. wish me luck