Doug vs. the interweb

August 31st, 2010 11:56 PM

I've got a new salamander, and in my efforts to find him things he'd actually want to eat, I have made a disaster. He's a northern slimy salamander (the name fits perfectly, I was still washing my hands hours after catching him), which apparently has ants as its primary diet, and after realizing how readily ants will swarm anything sweet, I devised a plan: leave a paper towel with a dab of syrup on it outside, and collect a swarm of ants later. This part of the plan worked ferociously well, and I stuffed the swarming napkin into a jar and brought it in.

After dumping a sizable portion of them into the tank, I realized that my makeshift screen top was probably going to pose a problem -- the ants can climb, and the screening is fairly large. A few moments later, the first couple tiny ants started appearing seemingly miraculously on the top of the cover.

So now I put a bunch of saran wrap over the tank, but that's only a temporary solution. I guess I'll just be keeping him outside until the rest of the ants are gone!

Anyway-- the latest news on the electric bill issue: PECO has been able to set up back-dated billing on whoever's been living at my old apartment, and so will be crediting it back to my account. I still owe a lot, as this place racks up a way more expensive energy bill, but at least it's a fair amount that I owe.

I was just starting to enjoy the feeling of relief for once, when my car stalled out while driving home. The amazing thing was that I was still able to coast around a bend, around two tight corners, over to behind my apartment, and a tight turn into my usual parking spot. The spot was slightly inclined though, and I ran out of momentum just short of optimal placement, but well enough in to call it a success. I had no way of knowing whether it would start up again, so I took full advantage of what momentum I had!

Of course, it didn't start. It caught for a moment and then sputtered out, and then refused to catch at all. My dad's first question: you out of gas? The idea was both embarrassing and exciting; if that's all it was, then woo hoo! But it would also mean acquiring gas somehow. I had been low, but I knew the gas light hadn't come on yet while it was running, and the gauge read about 1/8 with the key in. But, who knows! Maybe the gauge was having issues, might as well eliminate the simplest possibility first.

I biked to Wawa, which really isn't that far, but it further emphasized how remarkably out of shape I am. The tiniest of hills utterly defeats me. It also highlighted how much it sucks to ride on roads that don't have shoulders. I bought a gas can and managed to fill it without making a mess, and lugged the dang thing back home in a backpack. I emptied it into my car, and.. started up! Then died again! This time it lasted about three seconds. So at least that idea was out.

I ended up getting AAA to tow it the entire distance back home to my dad's shop, on my dad's insistence. The computer has to be replaced. It had been acting up quite a bit lately, and the error codes were inscrutable, so perhaps all the mysterious ailments stem from its brain cancer; hopefully a full transplant will bring it back to life. Best of all, it's still under warranty! So, my already overflowing negative ledgers are not burdened with yet another massive bill, at least yet.

Also, I am catching hell of snapping turtles lately. I love the little dinosaurs! But still, it doesn't make sense to keep any but the one still tiny one I've already got.