They Say Rats Ain't Got No Friends

Julian. 39. Rat (2) parent. Professional animal feeder/poop cleaner. Southern California. Talk to me in English, Finnish or Swedish. They/them. No, I'm not "too old" for that. 

[jjunkpile]

I have a working cat on my routine and he's been there for about two months now. Initially he was very hissy and would swat but now he just calmly observes me when I work around him. I have no expectations and I'm not counting on being able to change his pathway (being adopted out as a working cat is still a positive outcome) but I'm glad I've had all this time to work with him because he's starting to notice that hands are safe. I've been working a lot with him on that. Today he let me grab stuff from the far corner of his kennel without any reaction, he just watched me pick up the old food boats and toys that needed to be washed. He also is comfortable with eating churu straight our of the tube when I hold it and I'm able to reach my hand over his bed to pull up the curtailment. I think I'm gonna try putting the churu on my glove one of these days and see if that works. Risky, but he already takes it out of the tube when I hold it and he watches my hands calmly as I work without swatting or reacting so it feels like the natural next step. He may never be a house cat and that's okay but if I'm given all this time with him, you know I'm gonna him 100% effort in doing what I can to make him feel a little more comfortable around people.

[jjunkpile]

I met internet sensation Baby Corn today!! He was exactly the size I thought he would be. He was much softer than I expected. He was very chill and curious and social. His people were lovely also! I was confused about the booking and showed up to the 11 am meet and greet but it turns out I was booked for the 1 pm one, but since I was already there and actually had a reservation, they let me do the 11 am one 😄 that was nice cause I thought I had booked the first meet and greet of the day. That was a very cool experience, very positive and intimate!

[jjunkpile]

Shout out to me for running in Mary Janes and jumping over a curb without twisting my ankle.

[jjunkpile]

I've engaged with some hockey content on Instagram and now I'm part of someone else's Sidney Crosby obsession because all their Sidney Crosby posts pop up for me all the time 😒 I would like to go on record and say I am not obsessed with Sidney Crosby. The person whose account keeps popping up sure is though.

[soberscientistlife]

Again-if you don't own yourself absolutely, you own nothing.

[jjunkpile]

I just found out that a stripey sweater I once bought from a thrift store for cheap (well, actually for a thrift item it was kinda pricey) ran a whole hundo when it was new.

[jjunkpile]

I saw a reel about a cat café that had all kinds of fancy breeds. Let me tell you, surprisingly, I have met many of these breeds working at the shelter. I've met Scottish folds, American curls, Bengals, an F2 Savannah, an F5 Savannah, Persians (had a whole hoarding case of them and they were so goopy and barely had noses), a Burmese, a Cornish rex, manxes, Maine coons.... it's crazy how people's expensive pets end up at the shelter. The craziest thing to me is still the F2 Savannah and I ended up being a known handler for him. My favorite cats are still, and will always be black cats with triangular faces and smoke tabbies. But I love them all. Also when it comes to markings, lynx points and seal points are super common. See them all the time. I got a lynx point on my routine right now and a flame point.

[jjunkpile]

My neighbors two houses down made it pretty obvious when team Mexico was playing in the world cup, and seeing all the buzz around town when Mexico was playing made me a bit jealous. I want that kinda buzz for hockey 😭 or just people to celebrate/freak out with during games. I need a hockey buddy. My hockey buddies live in Finland (big surprise 😂) and I think the only league we all share is the PWHL. And IIHF, of course.

my therapist canceled my session tomorrow cause she will be at the Spain game 🥲 I said I got you girl, go Spain. I get it. I had hockey on during one of our sessions during this year's world championship and she totally understood 😂 luckily I'm not in a dark place right now so it's cool haha.

[jjunkpile]

usually when I bring the rats to bed with me, Bon will sleep at the very end of the bed, away from me and Lenny will be somewhere between my knees. Tonight both of them decided to sleep on my feet while tickling my toes 😂 but while also grooming my callouses.

[mangled-by-disuse]

genuinely curious pls respond

people always say that internet spaces are americanised because the users are majority americans.

and i do always wonder how much of that is "there are actually a majority of usamericans" and how much is "usamerican cultural markers are a default for many online spaces, and non usamericans are often indistinguishable from usamericans unless you're actively looking".

so here's an incredibly unscientific poll reblog for reach or whatever

where do you live?

in the usa

anywhere that is not the usa

Voting ended onJul 12

no nuance. if you live in a usa territory/colony like puerto rico or guam or american samoa, go with your heart.

[mangled-by-disuse]

additional poll, what the hell:

is english your first/native language?

yes, english is the main language i grew up speaking

yes, but i also grew up speaking another language(s)/i'm bilingual

no, i learned english as a second or additional language

Voting ended onJul 12

[mostlynaturepartiallyman]

Brahehus castle ruins, outside Gränna, Sweden.

[jjunkpile]

important: nhl starts back up in September, ahl in October and pwhl in November. And my teams are all going to suck. And I may or may not have to pick some new ones.

[jjunkpile]

I love how differently people experience the weather here; I'm at the bus stop in a t-shirt at 5.25 am and the dude next to me is wearing a puffer jacket.

[jjunkpile]

phew. Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup so that's good.

[jjunkpile]

yay, I might actually get a chance to learn population management and pathway planning! I studied that in my course a little bit and it struck a cord with me. It's the big picture that I as a caregiver don't always get to see. Shelter science is really interesting. I'm glad I get to study a little more starting next month.

[jjunkpile]

I see the decided to update the performance of Jellicle Cats to be a bit more modern for the Tony Awards because these dancers are vogueing like there's no tomorrow.

One reason I like to watch the performances is because there could be an interesting new musical I haven't heard of and there sure was this year! I really want to see Two Strangers. The premise sounds fun.

Also yay Book of Mormon original cast reunion 😭

[jjunkpile]

so much slathering before bed: slather night oil on face, slather hair oil in scalp, slather leave in conditioner in hair and scalp, slather lotion on feet and hands and bonus round - slather prescription cream on hands because the dyshidrotic eczema is back. SLATHER.

You know, having two cuddly boy rats right now is kinda the best thing. The timing is perfect. Work is absolute hell and I need to regulate my nervous system. These boys are really helping. It's just very gentle and therapeutic to have an hour of cuddle time in the bed with them before we part ways for the night and go to sleep. Me and Lenny almost fell asleep cuddled together while Bon was sleeping under the blanket. I wish they could stay all night but that probably wouldn't be good. Also, eventually they'd have to poop and I don't really have a good spot for their litter box in here. At least I feel nice and relaxed going to bed.