3 Positive Things Part 7

[David Baxter PhD]

2. Evicted a gecko.

Poor gecko. Do you know how many bugs and creepy crawlies geckos eat a day? And now he's homeless. :tearyeyed:

 

[gooblax]

Poor gecko. Do you know how many bugs and creepy crawlies geckos eat a day? And now he's homeless. :tearyeyed:

Yeah it's unfortunate, but he decided to borrow my sweater without asking and that was the last straw. Put him on the balcony to hang out with the potplant palm tree.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Oh. Well I agree that was a bit presumptuous of Mr. G. Definitely crossed a few boundaries there.

Then again, it must be a tough life for a cross-dressing gecko these days.

 

[Daniel E.]

Tough and lonely. It is well known that reptiles have a high need for affiliation

 

[David Baxter PhD]

A lot of them end up joining biker gangs like Hell’s Geckos for that very reason.

 

[Daniel E.]

That actually seems like a happy ending since the leather clothing will keep him warm

 

[gooblax]

1. Booked a GP appointment for dealing with my annual ear block issue. I'd been considering it for awhile but finally bit the bullet cause it was bugging me all morning and self-treatment hasn't been working.
2. Chose a different doctor from normal because my usual one said how he hated treating the ear block problem last time he did it for me, and I don't need that sort of negativity when I already know its a gross problem. I'm also planning on trying again with a "women's health" issue after my ridiculous last attempt - not sure if I'll go through with that but will see.
3. Ear is feeling a bit better at the moment.

 

[gooblax]

Bonus: Didn't start getting particularly nervous until I got to the doctor's office and started waiting... Which is where I am now. Also having to hope that my bike doesn't get stolen out of where I locked it up.
And I hopefully will get to pick up something from the post office at the same time - stopped by my apartment to grab the postie card that they left, so might be able to do that afterwards.

 

[gooblax]

Well, well, well. It turned out to be quite the gooblax misadventure!

• Arrived on time. Doctor was running 20mins late.
• Told doctor about my ear. She started going towards my left ear so I made a point of saying "it's my right ear"... So she looked in my left one (I figured, looking there first, makes sense rather than transferring anything from the bad ear to the good) then was like "it's not very blocked". "Yeah that one's not too bad... it's my other ear." :facepalm:She agreed that the right right ear was blocked.
• She got the water gun and started putting on the nozzle. Had trouble getting it organised because she's not normally in this office, she's normally in a different one down the hall. Fluffs around, almost drops a container off the trolley, trying to get the nozzle sorted out on the gun... But the gun trigger is stiff. So every time she pulls the trigger with one hand, she needs both hands to pry it back open to be able to do a new jet of water.
• She can't get it going steady, so that's how we proceed. Squirt. Re-arm. Squirt. Re-arm. Squirt. Re-arm. Apparently I should've kept trying on my own for a couple more days because eventually she gave up with it - it's better but still a bit in there. Gave me an if-I-need-it prescription if it feels infected over the next few days.
• The whole process took so long that I chickened out of the "women's health" topic.
• But ok, now that's done, on to the post office! I went back and collected my bike which thankfully was still there, and walked it down the street to the post office. Unfortunately there wasn't anywhere good to lock the bike up by the post office either unless I wanted to cross the road which I did not. So I locked it to a pole on the main road, and went in and got my parcel.
• Now I knew what this parcel was meant to be. My parents bought it for my b'day after asking me what I wanted - a new frypan (since mum had already ruled out lego). While I know that parcels are always in a box, I figured it would be easy enough to open the box, fit the frypan in my backpack, and put the packaging in the public bin that's right by the post office. My faith in my plan wavered a little when I saw that it was a pretty big box. But no worries, right? The frypan's not going to be that big once I take it out of the box. So it's ok. No need to tell the lady that I've bit off more than I can chew and will come back for the parcel. It's allllll under control.
• I was a bit concerned about leaving my bike on the main road with all the pedestrians going past who could steal it, so I immediately went back to my bike and figured I'd do the transfer there. I opened up the box tape using my keys... and was met with the sight of like a hundred packing peanuts. mg: Light airy little things that would blow away in the wind going past, if I were to say, disturb them by removing any items from the box in an unorganised manner.
• I CAREFULLY put my hand into the packing peanuts to feel around for the item. But it wasn't just one item. There were some coasters, which ok that's absolutely fine they can fit in my bag easy. So I transferred them. There was a small piece of paper which was also easily transferred. But here comes the problem - there's a big circular wooden tray designed to protect your bench from the hot frypan, UNDERNEATH all the light packing peanuts. So I cannot remove it without causing a mess. And underneath that is the frypan, which is in a box that seemed to be the exact length and width of the outer box!
• Clearly, with all this packing material, I am way over my head. But not thinking clearly, I decided to unlock my bike and bring it closer. Perhaps my bike would have a solution that I'm missing?!
• So now I have to hold onto my bike while I decide what to do with the box. AHA! I brought a plastic bag with me, in case something weird arose and I had to carry the frypan in the bag. I started transferring packing peanuts from the box, into the plastic bag. Only at this point did I become hyper aware of the bizarreness of my situation, given that I'm ON THE CORNER OF TWO MAIN ROADS transferring PACKING PEANUTS from a box that's OBVIOUSLY too big for me to carry on this bike! :lol:.
• But I had a plan. At this point I'm thinking, there's a bin just over there. I can take 2 loads of peanuts in the bag and dump them in the bin, then at least I won't be an environmental hazard, let alone a traffic hazard, if I were to be hit with an unfortunate gust of wind whilst dropping the box. But halfway through I realise the futility of this idea. The packing peanuts seem endless. Even if I were to get a sufficient amount out, I'd probably spill them everywhere trying to get them into the public bin, and this bin is right by the road so I'd probably blind a passing car and cause an accident.
• So I gave up on my plan and went for Option C. I put the bagged peanuts into my backpack, and wished that I could go back in time and not open this box. I put the wooden tray on top of the remaining peanuts, the closed the box as well as possible and proceeded to balance it on my hip while walking my bike. I got about 20ft before realising I had a pretty bad grip on the box and I needed to stop soon. Another 10ft and I stopped, reorganised, and balanced the box on the handlebars. That got me probably 60ft before the footpath seemed to get very, very high (HOW?!) such that the box was now at about chin level and I was struggling to keep my arm on top of it while wheeling the bike. Again, along the main road :lol:
• Ok, this was ridiculous. Surely there's a way to get the box onto my bike seat. I managed to accomplish that feat, despite not having been able to figure out how to do that the last two configurations. SUCCESS! The perfect configuration. Box on bike seat, right arm over box to keep the peanuts in and the box on, and left hand holding the handlebars for steering. Wasn't uncomfortable, I just needed to go relatively slowly to avoid jostling the box off.
• And that would've been that. It would've just been a slow careful wheel home. But, additionally, there was a magpie! :facepalm: It tried to swoop at me from behind when I wasn't looking, as a warning non-contact swoop from the tree. Then it went up onto the powerline. Of course, now I have another challenge! Watch the bird eyes-first, wheel the bike and box blindly ... I got a few feet before it decided I wasn't paying it enough attention and it went in for a 2nd swoop. I saw it coming and glared directly at it, hoping beyond hope that the "they won't swoop you if you're staring right at it" tale was 100% true, and wishing that I had my helmet on, given that I had no hands to defend myself without dropping the box and bike :lol: Finally a stroke of luck! It was indeed true, and it probably saw its reflection in my sunglasses and aborted the swoop. So I was able to, with ADDITIONAL care to look at the bird, wheel out of range and finally all the way home.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That's an amazing and hilarious story, although I do realize that it probably can only appear that way to you in hindsight.

If it were a picture, it should be captioned, "Only an engineer..."

 

[gooblax]

It was at the packing peanuts reveal where I flipped a switch from stressful to realising just how amusing this was becoming and considered just throwing them into the air :lol: Didn't change the situation but there was always the option of re-locking my bike and making 2 trips home, however I'd have been grumbling about the inefficiency of it for weeks

Haha I'd love to see the picture version. For the artist - I was wearing my work polo shirt over the top of my cycling lycra shirt, for public decency. I always wear a normal pair of shorts over my cycling shorts... except for the day before when I accidentally left my normal shorts at my desk and decided it was better to leave them there and feel somewhat undressed than to go back in the office in that very state of undress to collect them (drawing attention again to that state of undress when explaining to my colleagues that I had returned because I forgot my pants!), or get re-changed to collect them and re-re-changed back.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I'm really looking forward to reading your book, @gooblax.

"Adventures and Misadventures in the Lives of Gooblax and the Gecko"

 

[Daniel E.]

1. Got tires that keep working after a flat for the price of budget tires.

2. Zyprexa still working well for my husband.

3. For less than $4, got a great burrito at Del Taco by customizing it.

 

[Daniel E.]

BONUS: Got a reminder that I live in a very small town. Mail courier found my husband on Facebook since she needed him to call the local post office about an upcoming delivery.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Ha ha!

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Ha ha!

Reminds me if when i first moved to tiny Oxford Mills Ontario in the mid-1980s. I needed to get some service fir my car so I took out my wallet for ID and a credit card and they chuckled at me. Said we don’t need that. We know where to find you. After years living in urban areas, that stunned me. Later I noticed that many stores had signs and sometimes photos of people who didn’t pay their bills on the wall behind the cash register. Nobody wants to be in one of those walls of shame lol.

 

[Daniel E.]

BONUS: You don't live in Oxford Mills anymore

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Zackly. With a Z. LOL

 

[gooblax]

1. Weather cleared up so I was able to ride today after all.
2. If it stays clear enough tomorrow I will be able to execute plan Pre-B'Day Guitar Shopping.
3. Will be doing something interesting at work once I sort out the computer problem.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Are you looking for acoustic or electric, @gooblax?