Moving and more Spiders.

OK. So it's been forever since I've posted anything on here. But it's been a hectic, stressful and busy few months for me.

Most recently we've moved. This was brought on by a financial issue which I'll discuss later in more detail.. maybe. But we're giving up the house we "owned" and are now renting. We went from a 2 bedroom 1 bath house from the 1940s to a 3 bedroom 2 bath house built in 1997 and are paying about $30 less per month for rent versus our mortgage payment. And we're not stuck in a 40 year mortgage with 10.69% interest. (Another topic for later discussion, maybe, if anybody is really interested).

So as part of the move, we've been packing, unpacking and rearranging things. These activities are bound to result in spider sightings.

Thursday I actually saw my first live black widow spider. She was actually kind of pretty. Creepy, but pretty. The body of the spider was the blackest black I'd ever seen. And kind of shiny.

I'd been dumping some old water out of a cooler that got covered in ants. Apparently while tipping the cooler I disturbed an ant nest and in no time flat the cooler was covered with them. I tried washing them off with a water hose but they kept coming. So I went back in the house for some Terro (ant killer). I put some underneath a brick and as I was replacing the brick I noticed the shiny black spider legs. I grabbed a stick to try to move it so I could get a closer look. At first I thought it was dead. But it wasn't. And when it moved I noticed the BRIGHT red hourglass on the bottom of it's belly. It was such a contrast to the black that there was no mistaking it for a black widow. I'd never seen one before so I was actually kind of giddy to see it. Until reality set in and I realized I could not leave this thing out here where Sasha and Ralphie roam around. Sasha loves to investigate bugs and if this bit her on the nose... well yeah. I can't have that.

So I ran back in the garage and grabbed the first thing I could find.. a toilet plunger. I smushed it into the ground, dug it out and smushed it again. Problem is, I don't know if I got it. Never found the body. ::shiver::

Then today, this morning, I found this spider.

I have no idea what it is, but I'm hoping to find out soon. I sent an email to a local science teacher who photographs and identifies spiders. So hopefully I'll get an answer back!

The feeling of blah.

That is how you describe me. Blah. That's how I look. Its definitely how I feel and the reaction most people have to me in general. I just wish I knew WHY I always feel so Blah.
I think a big part of it is watching the world around me. People who work their asses off never catch a break and end up in the proverbial hole. People are lazy and refuse to work sit around collecting handouts and free money. Where is my share? Hell I would love to go back to school but can't afford it and don't qualify for a grant. Jake and I have a friend whose career is going to school. She has two kids and goes to school full time. Taxpayers provide her with an apartment and pay her tuition. On top of that she has extra money left out of her grant each semester to buy some new clothes to strut around campus in. I haven't bought new clothes in over a year, and even then it was a $5 polo shirt to wear to work. Splurged about a month ago and bought a new pair of sneakers to replace the ones with holes in them and the pair that kills my feet.
Then there's the folks who don't do a thing. No job, no school and STILL get shit handed to them. 3 kids by different men apparently qualifies you for free food, free health insurance and free rent if you want it.
A few years ago, Jake and I decided to try a fresh start. We moved to Sebring. Jake's hometown, in Florida. Cheap land, cheap housing and lower sales tax (including a tax exemption on groceries) sounded nice. Within a few days we each had jobs and had rented a duplex. It was small, but cozy and efficient. We loved it! After about three weeks shit fell apart and Jake's job was no more. Staring down the nose of a car payment and rent we went to see about getting on food stamps temporarily. They said no. Even though we were paying for the car (or at least trying to) they said it was an asset and its value made us too "rich" to qualify for help. I guess we were supposed to eat the car.
Anyway... yeah I get a little pissy when I see people getting along nice and easy on their goverment aid while I sit here trying to figure out how to pay my electric bill and still have enough money to eat.

i LOVE April Fool's Day!

My favorite part of April Fool's Day, other than making up fake employees and sending out a newsletter encouraging everyone to go introduce themselves, is surfing the net looking for the hoaxes. I'm putting links here in hopes they stay active for a while.

http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_home_us Book a Flight to Mars for only $99 on Expedia

http://www.hotels.co.uk/press/moon-rooms.html Hotels.com was reported to be taking reservations for rooms on the moon, although I couldn't find the actual reservation page.

http://twitpic.com/2ohaj I'm preserving this as a screenshot since it won't last after today. Youtube was playing videos upside down... and ALL the wrinting, logos, etc were upside down as well.

http://www.youtube.com/t/new_viewing_experience They offered handy instructions on how to better enjoy the new layout and a choice of viewing using the old layout as well.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/index.html CADIE, Google's new sentient web search... even has it's own website... and apparently loves pandas.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html She also takes over answering your emails for you. How handy!

CRAP. Gotta get ready for work. Hopefully there will still be some left when I get home. Traditionally they only stay up until noon. :( Not fair.

The Not-So-itsy-bitsy spider

Image by nismax95 via Flickr...was hanging on my house.
This is the second spider I have found hanging around outside my house. They build webs that stretch from the trees to the ground... BIG webs.
Oddly enough, this guy seems to be short a leg. I have no idea what kind of spider it is or if it's dangerous. All I know is I was quite creeped out by it when I almost walked into it's web. Then, oddly enough, had to run back inside to get the camera and take it's picture! *shrug* Here are some other spider pics I've taken around the house.

Day at the Park

Image by nismax95 via FlickrI learned something today. Took Sasha to the 2nd Annual Smoky Mountain Pet Fair sponsored by the Blount County Humane Society. I got all excited when a lady approached me to point me in the direction of the East Tennessee German Shepherd Club tent. "Oooh coool! I get to meet more Shepherd people, see the dogs they've rescued, etc, etc." She even offered to give Sasha some free "GSD Friendly" treats, made without corn since the breed has a tendency to be intolerant of corn.
So after a little more wandering Sasha and I make it to the tent. There are crates at both ends with big, beautiful shepherds in them and I proceed to introduce myself to the nearest one.
Now, let me pause (paws) here for a moment and explain a bit about Sasha. She's a Momma's Girl. Big time. Has been since the day we brought her home. I've worked very hard to socialize her since she spent the first 3 months of her life in a pen full of her siblings with very little human interaction. I've taken her to dog parks, pet stores, parks, walking trails... basically anywhere a dog is allowed. She's ridden in the car for countless miles, running errands with me and on trips to the parks. She is a very well behaved girl around other people and dogs... remains quite shy. Some dogs are just that way, and her "questionable" breeding only compounds the problem. This is considered a "fault" for a German Shepherd and I am aware of that. This is why, even though she is AKC registered, I have never pursued showinImage by nismax95 via Flickrg or competing her in any way. She just couldn't handle it at this time. While time can only tell whether that will change, my constant working with her is making progress. And I'm proud of that.
Now... with that being said. The breed standard also does not state that a German Shepherd Dog be mean or agressive around strangers. That's stuff people train into them. And it's wrong. Any good rescue organization would recognize these traits in a dog and work diligently to correct them before bringing said dog into a potential stressful and dangerous situation. I don't keep Sasha away from strangers because while she may show fear, she has NEVER shown agression. The first sign of something like that and there would be alot of one-on-one trainging done before she went out in public again.
So anyway... here's the story I've spent all this time leading up to. I walk around the side of the table after speaking to the lady who tracked me down for a few moments and letting Sasha try her homemade treats (which she ate, but I think only to not be rude.) There in a wire crate (the other dog was in a plastic crate and very calm) is another big, beautiful Shepherd. He was looking at us as we walked slowly towards him. Suddenly with us still over 5 feet away, he lunges at the side of the crate barking wildly. Sasha practically ran THROUGH my leg. I'm standing there shocked!
Obviously this guy has some dog aggression issues. Then why was be brought to the Pet Fair where people are walking around with dogs of all sizes, ferrets and even snakes!? Why was he sitting out in the open like that? Did they honestly NOT KNOW he had these issues? They labeled themselves as a German Shepherd Rescue. They had photocopies of the breed standard on the table. All kinds of AKC pamphlets next to the dog talking about the traits of the breed, why proper training is so important, etc. And this dried-up excuse for a "rescue worker" had the nerve to scold ME for bringing my dog there. Yeah, I actually got told "you don't bring a dog up to another dog like that." Uhh.. funny. Sasha had met and sniffed practically every other dog in the park already that day and NONE of them ever so much as showed a tooth. But this dog wouldn't allow us within 5 feet of his crate? And if we were so wrong for being there, why the hell wasn't she paying attention and stopping us before we got there?Image by nismax95 via Flickr
About an hour later, once I noticed they had taken him out for a walk (dodging everybody else in the process so he wouldn't lunge while on the leash). We made out way back over to the tent to look at the photos of the rescue dogs. I was still curious about the club. We were discussing the foster program and the same lady I first met was telling me about the white shepherd she had with her. He was a foster, but then she decided to keep him. While we are talking, the cranky lady and the unsociable Shepherd come back. The white shepherd is in front of the lady I'm speaking to, laying calmly under the table. The other dog comes in and immediately lunges (old lady barely hanging on, luckily the guy next to her grabbed the leash too) at the white shepherd. And the white sheps owner actually apologized to HER!?
I decided at that point that Sasha and I didn't need a GSD club. This group, while claiming to know alot about the actual breed, knows nothing about the behavior of the dogs themselves. When someone feels they have to apologize to the owner of such an unruly and obviously untrained dog... there's no hope for getting good training tips and advice from such a group. Sad, just sad. There's probably several people who witnessed the same dog aggression out of that dog that I did today. And while I recoginize it for what it truly is (lack of training and an owner/handler which is unrespected by the dog and shows no authority) others will look at that dog and blame it on the German Shepherd breed. :(