It's the weekend. After an absolutely hellish day at work I just got out of the shower, having washed off all the redbugs and turtle pee.

 

OK. Perhaps that last bit warrants elaboration. 

I got off work an hour late and was walking up to the door when, upon dropping my keys, I bent over to get them and noted something whizz past my head and go "plop"on the porch.

I stood there for a moment slowly processing the fact that something was not right about the the thing that had gone "plop". After a moment, the thing that I did not quite recognize, (but instinctively knew did not belong) sprouted 4 legs and a head and began furtively testing the area.

A turtle had fallen from the sky...and landed on the rubber welcome mat.

What.

The.

Hell?

It was a small mud turtle, not a box turtle or some other type of Testudine that would normally live in a suburban yard, so after determining that he seemed to be uninjured I picked him up and took him to the van, placed the terrified little thing on some paper towels and then drove to a nearby park with a pond. Along the way, the little beast became quite animated precipitating a chase that involved considerable contortions on my part. Eventually. after cunningly luring me under the rear seat, he darted out across the floor of the van with truly astonishing speed, and made a beeline for my bag of Fritos which he deftly entered and buried himself in, no doubt in a spiteful attempt to give me salmonella. Eventually I unfolded myself and got him out of the bag, whereupon he peed like a firehose...as turtles will. 

One thing that has bewildered me since I was a child is how a small turtle can contain so much urine...I swear his bladder must be larger than his shell, which should not be possible, but I guess physics is different for sky turtles. 

Anyway, I took the presumably now dehydrated shellback to the pond, which involved rather more mucking through pine straw and 8 inch deep mud than I had anticipated.

Now, after my shower I have an opportunity to reflect on the implications of these recent events...

Previously, I had thought that these creatures came from eggs, but it is now apparent that turtles are actually invaders from space, which, I suppose makes sense given that they are in the same zoological family as Gamera.

Of course it's tenuously possible that there is another explanation, perhaps one that involves a hawk, but it makes sense to err on the side of caution. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:11 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Fortunately none were or are spelling exams.

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Unlike SOME people, who are.....mechanical.

"And can presumably be put back together if they get...disassembled!"

Well, I've been in the hospital. It seems that I am not just allergic to Pseudoephedrine, I'm deathly allergic to ALL antihistamines, even those that are supposedly safe for people who can't take Pseudoephedrine.

When I entered the hospital both my blood-pressure numbers were three digits and one of them began with the letter two.

  I turned out to have a recurrence of the vile sinus/inner ear infection I had about six months ago, just with much more pain added to the dizziness and blurred vision. A ridiculous battery of tests resulted in the conclusion that I don't actually have hypertension except as a result of the aforementioned allergies. This whole event turned out to be fortuitous since I probably would not have been aware of the insane blood pressure issue had it not been for the symptoms of the infection scaring me to dearth and sending me to the ER.  Of course, given that this unlikely condition has recurred, I'll need to see an E.N.T in the near future.

Er...the other kind. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Hampton Roads is right on the edge of where the snow and rain meet with this storm. Last night it actually warmed up and a torrential rain washed away the 2-3 inches of snow that we'd gotten during the afternoon. Forecasts called for much the same going into today, with high 30's and low 40's.

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...just what making it to this day means to those of us employed in the North American transportation network quite as well as Onsoku Tassha.

It's over.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 04:05 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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For over a week, I have not one, but two of these that have embarked on their respective journeys of discovery. One of them seems to have stopped just short of the threshold, either due to second thoughts, to contemplate how different the journey might have been on the right side, or simply to ensure that there is a record of its passing etched permanently along the path. Though both are born of the same awesome process that gives us spectacular cave formations, I confess I have less appreciation for the miracle of their formation than I might if they were not cutting up my urinary tract.

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...that the hurricane completely missed us.

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Hump day! 

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To atone for the dearth of non-banal programming here is a seasonal Saber by Ice.

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...is where I am on the Official Alphabetical List of Author Success.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:35 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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....so here is something pleasant, at least more so than what is below the fold.

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Old Dominion University starts the week before Labor Day so, since I only have a week to go before school starts, I decided just now to check and see if any of my silly busses were online yet so I could order some of my books and also find out if any classes have homework due the first day of class. 

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...by Makkou 4 to offset the banality beneath the fold.

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Discussions of life's little irritants is below the fold. To keep perusal of this site in the domain of leisure rather than masochism, here is a whopping 35 feet of pulchritude (and an aspie).

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:04 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Well, my trip to Kafkaland seems to finally be resolved.

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Since the content below the fold can be nothing but a horrible, horrible warning, we decided to post some positive words to live by above it.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:17 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Exams begin Thursday and last into next week.  Additionally, it appears that one of my classes was actually in the sociology department and so requires APA style as opposed to Chicago/Turabian. Fortunately, I've been given the option of re-submitting it...

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