Sad news

Out of the blue, we lost one of our piggers on Monday.
On saturday evening Pinky was a bit quiet and on sunday it was apparent she didn't eat anything. So I phoned the vet and syringed her antibiotics (in case of an URI, which she had a month ago) and mashed pellets, and was told to see if it improved, which it also did for a while that evening. But the morning after she still hadn't eaten anything, so we took her to the vet. She got xrayed and the vet saw what he thought to be gas (a massive amount of it) and gave Pinky some paraffine and fiber paste to make it better and sent us home with instructions to come back in if it got worse. It did... She started having spasms and we brought her right back in. He tubed her and used a needle to try to get the gas out, but could only get fluid out. He asked if he could perform exploratory surgery on her to see if he could find anything. We agreed, because she didn't seem to be able to make it without.
Turns out it wasn't gas. It was all fluid. The gut was completely blocked, and the stomach so stretched you could see through. If they hadn't opened her up, she would have died shortly after any way. Which meant no matter what we did, she wouldn't have made it. Amazingly she woke up after the surgery, but she stopped breathing half an hour later. The only thing we could have done, was to insist on getting to see the vet on Sunday, but then we didn't know what we were dealing with. And at the time I thought "that's a lot of money, we'll keep an eye on her and call them if she gets worse". Which she didn't, on sunday... And in the end we paid more than three times that amount of money anyway, and it is so not an issue of cash. We have an emergency buffer. Sure, we could have gotten a lot of new guinea pigs for that money, but it would never be our Pinkst.
Still I feel we didn't do enough. I blame myself for not recognizing important signs and for not making the link between the anorexia/lack of poop and pee/lethargy. But I'm not a vet! I can recognize URI's and UTI's and abcesses, but it still doesn't make me a vet. But I feel so guilty, like I let her down. And not to mention heartbroken. People who don't have pets will never understand how they become a part of your family. It's physical pain every time I walk by the cage and don't see the white fluffball which was Pinky. Seeing only three piggies run to the food... There is something missing. I can't seem to grasp that she's gone, that I won't snuggle her again, that I wasn't able to save her.
And I know there'll be a day when the other piggies will be gone, and I can't stop thinking of it.
It was, of course, very traumatic on monday. If Pinky had died of old age I guess there wouldn't be so many what-ifs, but it's still so raw and so painful. Part of me wants to yell at myself because the logic says she was just an animal, but she was so much more.

But I will always remember her as our little Pinkst. She had a moehawk and you had to pat her "backwards" because her fur grew like that. She was the only one who (so far) got into the hammock alone, and loved sleeping there. She would never stay still on your lap, there was too much to explore. I will miss her so much.

Bravery has a name!

What Are you Gonna Do To The Monster - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

"ask" isn't a bad word, now is it?

This kid is simply too cute. Good thing she's not afraid of monsters.

On the road again...

Travelling by public transportation is somewhat of a hassle. At least to get to the deep part of the woods where Mrs. Bucket happened to need repairs.

Yesterday we first took the bus from here to the ferry. Then the ferry across the fjord, and there we jumped on a train, jumped off again in the middle of no where and walked 500 meter to the shop where they fixed Mrs. Bucket's boo boo.

Which means... we're rolling again! Weeeeeeee!

Happy Kjersti Day to you!

24 years ago, on this day, the bright sunshine which is myself was born. So happy Kjersti Day to all of you! :D

This day went from oooo to blah to better, so I've had somewhat of a rollercoaster ride today.

The oooo? My present from Love. A "Voodoo" knife stand from viceversa. A total suprise! I always mock him for never surprising me gift-wise (because he usually buys whatever I've been drooling over the most), but this year he certainly had me puzzled! We've seen this in the fancy pants kitchenware store several times, but never bothered because it's expensive and... well, it's expensive. Not that bad considering the 5 decent knives (supposedly, I haven't tried them yet), to be honest, but sure, you do pay extra because it's a wicked design.
Yes. I am aware of the potential mental damage to our future offspring, but that will probably happen anyway considering we already have this outfit ready for whenever (and IF ever) we have any smurfs. What can I say? Floral patterns isn't my thing. I mean, my panties have skulls on them! Arrrrr pirate! (Eh... They're pink, and the skulls are bright pink glittery)

I went from oooo to blah when I had to go to school and be all "not telling anyone that today's my birthday because I don't want to be an attention hogger". I did have a waffle at lunch though. Yum!
And tomorrow it's the bullshit test, so everyone was pretty much on edge about that, making me nervous as well. Very contagious, those nerves.

But I lightened up again when I got a complimentary helium balloon at the restaurant we went to. And we brought oreo dream cake with us home, my absolute favorite. It was expensive as hell, but... well, very guilty pleasure? *sigh*

AND the Bucket is repaired! We got a phone call this evening, it cost us a whopping 1176 kr and we'll pick her up tomorrow. Sheesh... I was expecting so much more than that. They told us the repairs were 1300 alone + VAT and then the cost of the part on top of that, which could very well be 1000 kr also. So 1176 kr is fine by me.
Of course, that's one helluva expensive POP!, but then again, what ISN'T expensive when it goes POP! on a car (or crash! or eeeeeee! or BAM!)

For a while now I've been longing to get this camera, the Panasonic Lumix LX02. I got some money for my birthday which I'll save, and maybe I'll scrape enough together for this by the end of the summer. It seems such a luxury, but at the same time I love photography, and I have no decent camera except the very old, battered Nikon SLR which weighs about the same as a Ford Fiesta and it isn't very handy when you need a trolley to lug it around.
But this Lumix... ooooo. *drool* The shere beauty of it alone is enough to make me want to sell a kidney or two. And it has nifty features such as widescreen (16:9) format and the opportunity to set all the controls manually, just like an SLR. People also say it has some noise, but then again some say it isn't any worse than other compacts.
Sorry... I know it's geeky to babble on about technical specs, but I can't help it. Just wait till I get my hands on it, THEN I'll babble!

Wish me luck tomorrow. Stupid test.

Snail mail?

Still no Bucket back. The part was sent from Oslo by mail wednesday, and usually that means it gets there by the next day, and especially when we're talking of a distance about 30 minutes.

So... Basically, I want to yell at the world "You've got to be fuckin' kiddin' me! I could have WALKED it over in a couple of hours!" Of course, I would have had the wits to take the train or something, but generally speaking, I could have gotten the part there by using only my feetses. Sheesh! I thought snail mail was just metaphorically speaking, I had no idea they actually strapped the envelopes to poor little squealing snails who has to snail it along to its destination.

I.don't.like.stress.

And having to wait till monday and then probably finding out that the part got lost in the mail is absolutely classified as stress. Big stress, because I have to walk home from work tomorrow. We've borrowed a car for getting me there, but so far no luck getting any transportation home. That's 50 minutes on very sore feet. Ow. And they've predicted snow for tomorrow. But the cue word is "predicted". For all I know, it could mean sunny and warm. The forecast I read was actually quite entertaining, it said they were expecting ANY weather. Snow, rain, hail, frogs... yeah.

Oh, and IF we're lucky and have the Bucket back on Monday I'll either spend my birthday on a bus and train and then hopefully Bucket and ferry, or waiting home alone for Love while he's doing that scheme. O joy of joys!
Which means either way I'll feel sorry for myself and totally binge on the sweets we have available (and after the recent Denmark trip, that's a nice amount now), and then swear to never eat anything ever again afterwards. Which will last perhaps an hour until I find more sweets stashed away somewhere else and... No, not really. I only stash them one place, and there are two locket doors between me and those sweets. That's usually enough.

Oh yeah, school is really fun these days also. I have a big test on tuesday, where we've had next to no lectures and two of the three books in that subject is... horseshit! I've had my share of mumbo-jumbo fog-speak books, but these two are riddiculous. Why bother writing so many words when saying so little? OK, so perhaps the title "The philosophy of art, an introduction to aestethics" is a hint. Suure... Iih. But speaking of which... I need to keep reading. Ugh.

Missing the Bucket

Life isn't the same without a car. Or at least our fridge isn't the same. At the moment we have two red peppers, a carton of milk 2/3 empty, one piece of cheese and a couple of eggs. We desperately need to do some grocery shopping... But I'm not keen on schlepping three tons of food home. I want the Bucket back!

But on a somewhat happier note, my birthday is coming up in 4 days. Next monday. Who said that putting birthdays on mondays was acceptable? I mean, no party? No cake? No cookies? But there better be flowers!
And I'm working/studying this weekend, so no early celebration either. And next weekend none of my family has the opportunity to come by. Or they don't feel like it, I dunno. I'm kind of pissed about that, not to mention feeling left out. OK, so maybe my birthday isn't a happier note anyway. I'm actually feeling a bit bummed out about it. Birthdays, bah, who needs them?
We do have some friends coming over next weekend though. Some I haven't seen for a while now, and that should be nice. And I'll still get to bake a cake.

How come I only get spam in my hotmail inbox these days? And how come only one fifth of it goes in my spam folder, and the rest in my ordinary inbox? University of Phoenix, I'm NOT interested! Nor do I need to enlarge my member to impress the ladies. I don't HAVE one, and I absolutely do not want one.
I also do not want to talk. Not to anyone spamming my hotmail, I won't. In fact, I appear to be in a somewhat pissy mood today, so maybe I shouldn't talk with anyone at all? *snarls*

OK. I'll go hide under a blanket now.

No more action for me, please!

I usually consider my life quite docile and uneventful in a very positive way. On a day to day basis there isn't much to throw me off or get my head spinning. It's pretty much study, work, sleep, eat, talk, you know, routine. And I don't mind. Especially considering the alternative. Like sunday with the Bucket. That's too much action. I don't like worries. And I have enough of them already: pretty soon I'll have my bachelor degree done (in May), and before that I need to find a job so that we can actually put food on our family (litterally, the piggies sometimes get hit by veggies on their noggins because they always run to where the food is pouring down). And when a job is sorted out, we would very much like to get an appartment of our own. But where? Depends on where I can get a job and what KIND of job, and do I want a full time job or a part time job so that I can get started on my book project, and does Love perhaps want a different job and am I going to get acidentally knocked up because I can't use hormonal birth control and is the world even going to last until next summer, with the ice caps melting and all?

Oh yeah... That's why I like my docile, conformist life. Because when I start worrying, I really DO worry. I like it safe, with the occasional planned freak out.
The Poshmobile scaring the crap out of us? Not cool.
Having to wait until at least friday to get her fixed because the part has to be ordered, and thus being car-less for the rest of the week? NOT cool.
Building on fire in the town centre, and the main road through town shut down, making me 20 minutes late for school because the bus took ages to get there? Not very cool either. Thank goodness I decided to walk INTO town today, or I wouldn't have gotten there at all. I have to change busses to get to school, and it was that second bus that was 50 minutes delayed. But if the weather is nice and I'm feeling for a little walk, I sometimes tag along with Love into town, and catching that second bus there.

Which brings me to one of my yearly rituals which I enjoy immensely, in my ordinary, sleepy life: The First Spring Ice Cream!
Even though the town was shrouded in smoke this morning, the day developed into a sunny, relatively warm day, and that means one thing: outdoor ice cream.
So what if this year's ice cream had a hint of smoky aroma lingering in the air, it was perfect! Very very lovely, and one of my better FSICs, I must say.
In fact, it cheered me up so much I ran to the florist and got a bouquet of cherry tree branches and 20 short stemmed red roses for Love, hurried home and hauled out my easter bunnies. I even took down the christmas star light curtain from the kitchen!

Then I phoned my Oma (german grandmother)... and action set in again! *deep breath*
I hadn't even asked about the weather when the door bell rang over there. She told me they weren't expecting anyone, so she had no idea who it was (she doesn't walk well, and has to wait for my Opa to open the door).
Shortly after she starts bawling like a baby and it turns out it's her youngest brother (err... he's not very young any more, I'd say about 75) with whom she hasn't spoken in at least 15 years! She says she can't talk right now and hangs up, and I'm left totally bewildered. Not to mention worried that something was wrong.
Well, I found out later, though mum, that Oma's brother had just gotten on the bus today to see them, out of the blue. I always thought he lived miiiiiles away, but actually he lives only a short drive from them. Apparently there's been a sort of family feud way back 50 years ago and what do I know. What I didn't know was that mum has two more uncles, in addition to the one who turned up at Oma's house today, who suddenly realized that life is too short to hold grudges.
So that was quite an eventfull day on my behalf. Discovered two new relatives, saw a fire, had an ice cream... No wonder I'm tired. Now I'll just smell those roses and go to bed.

Oh... just one thing. I'm trying to cut back on the caffeine. Ow man, my head hurts. Coffee = evil. It's not even that yummy. Or, it is, but I don't know why because it really isn't.
But tomorrow? Dull day for me please. And no cooties.

Having a cow.

Thanks to the Poshmobile, I now have an entire herd of moo cows, I could start a frikkin' dairy and make milk shakes.
And of course I will fill you in on the details. See an opportunity to rant, seize it, right?
So... Yesterday we visited Love's brother, who lives two hours away.
All was fine until we headed back home. After a few minutes, on the mail road, Love needed to change gears from fourth to fifth. POP!
POP? Gears aren't supposed to say POP! POP is a very bad sound when driving.
Especially when immediately after the stick goes limp, making it impossible to shift gears.
Very, very nice indeed, considering the traffic and no road shoulder to speak of.
After the initial panic stop, Love managed to get the Bucket rolling in that one gear she got stuck in. Probably third, because fourth or fifth would have been harder to get her rolling without choking the engine.
(I myself managed to get her rolling in second gear once, although that wasn't my intention. Me: "Oh, that stick thing here? I have to change gears? Really?" Simon: "Er... Yes. But since you got her rolling in second gear, I won't hear of you not managing first gear starts." Me: "Bah...")
Anyway, to make things short, a dirty, beardy man came and lugged the Bucket on his lorry and threw her off at the nearest monkey shop.
Where we will pick her up once they've replaced the nuts and bolts that made the gear stick come loose. Because apparently that's what the problem was. Simon explained on old MGs the stick used to come completely loose, and it's a good thing Mrs. Bucket's didn't do that, 'cause then I would surely chuck it out the window. You see, I'm not always the serene embodiment of calm I appear to be. I find throwing things terapeutic when upset. Hissy fit, me? No, never!
But I do hope it won't cost a fortune to fix the Bucket. Although I doubt that. And there goes the hopes of a mini getaway weekend also. Bah...
Cars are stupid!

Celebrate good times... hadet bra!

Whoa, back to the real world again so soon?
The superstar, diva stuff is history now, I've had my 15 minutes of fame (or, more like three shows three nights in a row) and I've returned to the ordinary, relaxed coffee-drinking reality.
But my cleavage still looks a bit tanned, I can't seem to get all the greasy stage make up off. Shaving foam did the trick for the rest of it, but I guess it will wear off eventually.
OK, I'll try to take this step by step and not jump around so much. Nice, coherent thoughts, none of that stream of consciousness-stuff that makes me sound completely deluded and not to mention ready for a nice straightjacket.

It all started when I noticed a poster for the cabaret at school, saying they needed people. I can sing and I can write, so I thought I'd tag along.
Well, I did, and that was the last anyone saw of me until opening day. Very time consuming, it was, precious. The last two weeks was the worst. I would go to school and straight on to rehearsals and be back home just in time to go to bed.
But at the same time I also had a great time with a great bunch of people, all with their own quirkyness. One of the girls would randomly yell "show your titties!" and bounce around, one of the guys would try to out-do himself in personal details when he got nervous and another guy had a thing for fake hot dogs (I won't explain that further, for your own good).
Opening night was interesting. It's been some years now since I was on a stage (five years to be precise, I'm getting older...), and I wasn't sure everything would go that well, but by the duet I had with another girl, I was just completely relaxed and enjoying myself. I used to be a bundle of nerves on stage back in the days, but somehow this was just entertaining.
It's very satisfying getting all that attention, I think. We all crave attention one way or another, and for some of us, getting it on stage is perfect. It's such a kick to see everyone smiling, hear the roaring laughter when you do something and taking a bow afterwards, people cheering.
But yesterday I was completely deflated. I did get up at the crack of dawn to go to school, but when I got home I collapsed on the couch and didn't have one ounce of energy left in me. I've had no spare time or even time to sleep properly for the last two weeks now, so when it was finally all over, I just... deflated like a balloon. So today I will be one big couch potato not moving a muscle. Maybe one or two muscles when flipping the page of the books I'll be reading, but not much more than that thank you.

But I really did have my 15 minutes of fame. I was in the paper! To be fair, it's probably the tiniest local paper in Norway, but I was in it! With a lousy photo to boot. AND I was on TV. Also local tv, and you could see me rubbing up against one of the guys while singing "I want to party, I want to drink, I want to make out". Hey, I'm totally innocent! I was told to do it! Besides, it was innocent rubbing, not big time slutty rubbing. AND there were two other girls doing the same thing, because we were supposed to. Totally innocent of course. That was actually the part they showed on TV, so there's your scandal right there. But I usually don't rub up against anyone, making it a very out of character thing for me.(Although when I tried doing the same up against Love when I got home, I discovered that it was actually a very neat trick *giggle*).
Now I just need to de-hyper myself and adjust to being ordinary Kjersti. But the rubbing up part... I might try that again some time.