Marie Javins's Blog, page 32

Random Caps, Random Quotation Marks

“I hates This sign” but it does make me laugh. 

Proofreaders matter! 

Snow Day 2020

Snow! Plenty of it.

We still have to work and go to school, I guess.

No such thing as a snow day when you're supposed to stay home anyway. 

Emergency Shelter

I don't have the necessary items to make a feral cat shelter, but I started to worry about the cats and the opossums and the skunks. (The raccoons live in the nun's garage where it's warm.) So I used my heat gun to soften the plastic on an old bin, and a box cutter to cut a circle. I made the circle into an awning with the heat gun and some packing tape, taped an old piece of shower curtain over the opening, and threw in an old towel and an old thermal shirt.

I don't know that the animals will be impressed.

Tomorrow, I'll see if I can get a foam cooler for the inside, and maybe some hay, but I'm not sure where to get straw. 

Sitting Pretty

Here was my morning adventure! You ever wonder what happens to Aeron chairs when offices get rid of them? 

Me neither, but then I read an article and now I have a fancy chair I bought in North Brunswick. I had to get a rental Jeep and drive to an industrial area, but now I have a decent chair for my pandemic home office in JC.

Lafayette Afternoon

Autumn light on my block in Jersey City. 

Someone did some weird stuff to the house in the foreground. I looked at that house when it was available on a short sale in 2013, but I'm glad I waited for my house instead. Someone had destroyed all the old detail inside this one. 

Thai Carry-Out

The 14th Street post office used to be kind of like this, but with bulletproof glass. 

Pandemic Thanksgiving

I've spent more than my fair share of holidays in hotel rooms around the world, with the one I recall most clearly being 2001, when an attendant handed me a tray of chicken and rice on a sleeper train from Aswan to Cairo.

I'm in post-flight quarantine right now, (eighth day, so feeling pretty comfortable with my risk-level), but Michael Kraiger is going to give me a to-go plate of vittles.

All I have to do is put on a mask and go up to his house to fetch it later today.

We're all comfortable with different levels of risk, and I've found social distantanced, masked interactions work for me. I was comfortable with outdoor dining back in August, but the stats have changed and so has my risk aversion. 

 It's 63 degrees out, so I think I'll go get a Citibike and ride to Liberty State Park. If we're talking about being thankful, I'm just relieved to have a day off work. 

Free Housing (for cats)

Penny (one of the young game wardens of the Lafayette Wildlife Preserve) wants to build a feral cat house to keep the feral kitties warm this winter. But I'm worried we'll end up with a pod of kittens, so first we're going to try to catch and snip some more ferals.

I'm putting out cat food for a few weeks to get the cats used to coming around, then Tracy is going to come over with her expertise and traps, and we'll take whoever we can catch to the humane society for some reeducation.

Some cats have obvious ear clips, so you can tell they've already been reeducated, but it's not always so easy to tell.

(Yes, we'll start this project in the morning and release the traps at dusk. I am not trying to snip raccoons, skunks, or opossums!)

Prehistoric Era

Here's another scan my mother posted.

The Sinclair Dinosaurs were visiting Landmark. They were left over from the World's Fair. That's me and my sister dino-riding. 

You Game?

The yard cam has SO MANY ANIMAL PHOTOS on its memory card, I'm struggling to get through it all. But I shall persevere! 

 Here are some examples of hydration. 

Important to stay hydrated in the dry winter air. Even if you're a opossum.