At first it was hard to know if her quieter requests meant that she was simply more polite than her steamrolling sisters, or if she just wasn't as into owning a pet as they were. So I decided that a good compromise would be to let her think about it for two weeks, watch K take care of her pet, and see if she was up for the responsibility and effort it would take. And honestly, I kind of thought that ended it. She held K's guinea pig all the time and never had to clean it's cage - a win-win in my mind. But one night while I was tucking her in, she asked me what date it was and proceeded to pull out a piece of paper she had in her bed with the dates of each day for the two weeks since K's birthday with X's over all the days that had happened so far. And that's when I knew that it wouldn't be too long before some other critter was going to join our household.
To avoid a long story that could make an entire blog post on its own, I'll just say that it was decided she'd also get a guinea pig. I agreed to take her 'shopping' on the 16th, although I was very against the idea of buying one at a pet store other than the one where we got Jake. The last thing I needed was to bring home a sick or mite-infested guinea pig and get them both sick. I called the preferred pet store sure that I would have another week or two before we got one since they rarely have them in stock, and was shocked to hear that they had four in the store, two boys and two girls. And that was that, we were on our way to get another one.
The two boys they had looked exactly the same, except one had a little cow lick on the top of his head. A said he had a funny hairdo and picked the other guy. We think his name might be Buddy, but I've heard Nutter Butter being tossed around, too, so I'll let you know.
the new little guy
they're so adorable, aren't they?
They adjusted to each other quite nicely and they really do seem to enjoy each other's company. They chitter and squeak quietly to each other in the evenings, which is pretty fun to listen to, and the new guy likes the follow Jake around like a typical little brother would. So, that brings our total number of pets to four, and hopefully we're done for a while now!
And on a completely different subject... I learned two other completely unrelated things today.
#1. After we walked out of the pet store, I heard the familiar clicking of a car trying to turn over with a dead battery. I walked to the other side of the parking lot and asked the guy if he needed some help. I hate jumping batteries (it's the sparks that freak me out), but I do know how and no one else was helping this poor guy. I'm not even sure he knew it was a dead battery since he kept trying to crank the engine over and over again. I went and got my car and got the jumper cables out and he said, "My battery's in the trunk". Uh, what? I told him to pop the hood anyway and sure enough there was no battery that I could see. It seemed like just a regular Volvo station wagon to me, but apparently it was a super-secret spy car, or something. Sure enough, he opened the trunk and pulled up the lining and there it was, completely encased in plastic and metal... with absolutely no terminals. Hrmm... Now what? Just then a UPS guy pulled up behind us so I walked over and asked him if he knew what in the world was going on here. He told me he's "not a car guy". Great. I glanced across the parking lot and saw a gorgeous black Camaro SS parked in front of the pet store. Surely whoever owned that thing could help me, right?
I walked into the pet store and asked the manager (loudly) if that was his SS outside and if he could tell me how to help this guy (he's not the nicest guy, but I was hoping the other staff guy there would overhear me and help me out). He tells me he can't help me. "I own a hybrid", he says. He tells me he can't jump the guy's car. "I can jump his car", I say, "I just need to know how." "I can't help you", he says again. Grrr.... Suddenly one of his customers comes out from behind a row of pet supplies. He's got a baseball cap and a muscle tank, surely he can help! Turns out he's the SS owner and he offers to walk over with me to take a look. His Camaro has a battery in the trunk, too, but it's usually something you see on sports cars, not station wagons, he says. He immediately points out a tiny black plastic box in one corner of the area under the hood. It has a plus sign on it. We can't find the negative terminal, but that's not the important one. I thank him greatly, and he heads back over to the pet store. Thanks Camaro-guy! And I'm sure a bunch of you already know that, but I didn't, and you weren't there! (But now I do :)
After all that work, the guy suddenly pulls a AAA card out of his wallet and calls them. I'd asked him several times if he had AAA, but he said he didn't. Oy! Oh well, I tried.
#2. Shortly after we got home with the guinea pig, I checked Craigslist, as I've been doing for a few days now. I emptied and deflated the pool a few days ago, so I figured it's time to try something new in the backyard. This time I've got my eye on a trampoline. Unfortunately, most of the trampolines are 12, 14, or even 16 feet wide, which is way too big for our little backyard. I already had to add some wooden boards to the edge of our patio so that the 12' pool didn't hang over the side of it. I was thinking that an 8' trampoline would be a better size. And wouldn't you know it, the first line on Craigslist today is an 8' trampoline! Unfortunately, it's in Santa Cruz. But since when has driving over a winding mountain road with a trampoline strapped to your roof sounded like something I wouldn't do? Um, don't answer that.
The guy is willing to meet me today, after he gets off work. His kids have outgrown the trampoline, but it's in good shape and he just wants to get rid of it. I get his address and head over the hill. He lives in a pretty awesome neighborhood where the kids are all skateboarding in the street and the adults are riding tandem bicycles. The trampoline's in the driveway and while it's definitely used and a little bit rusty in areas, it's more than sturdy enough to last a few more years, so I pull the van around.
I think that maybe I was thinking I could fit the trampoline inside at a diagonal angle and just leave the trunk open. After all, I did fit an 8' couch in there once. But wait, that was with no seats in the van at all (except the front two) but I have the girls with me today, and that was also long-ways, not sideways. What in the world was I thinking?!? Ok, don't panic. We decided to put the trampoline upside down on top of the roof rack and started to tie it down. But the guy is wrapping the rope around and around and soon runs out of it. The neighbor offers us some more rope and we continue tying. By the time we're done, that thing is secure and can't budge an inch in any direction. We're ready to go. We're kind of hungry and I rationalize that maybe driving over Hwy 17 in the dark would be better because than the other cars can't see the trampoline and won't be as afraid of me, and maybe the cops won't see either because even though I know the load is secure, I'm a cop-magnet and if there's any law I'm breaking in any way, I know I'm going to get nailed.
We head to dinner and that gets me thinking. I wonder what the laws are for carrying cargo on your car. Maybe it'd be better if I know ahead of time so I can at least make my case with the officer that I'm sure to encounter tonight. I quickly find the vehicle codes and start reading.
- Vehicle code #35100: total width no more than 102" (Check)
- #35100 (c): a city or county can prohibit a width of no more than 96" (still Check)
- #35101: pneumatic tires make it ok to go to 108" (Ok)
- #35102: loosely piled agricultural products cannot exceed 120" (wait, what in the world? but Ok)
- #35103: an RV can exceed the width with something like an awning, handle, camera, etc (still Ok)
- #35104: special allowances for work vehicles (Ok)
and on and on. Well, hey - no problem! and then...
- #35111: "No passenger vehicle shall be operated on any highway with any load extending beyond the line of the fenders on its left side or more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on its right side" (Crap! Not Ok!)
Seriously? That pretty much means that anything that's not a motortruck (pickup), truck tractor, or bus cannot carry anything that is wider than the vehicle. I didn't know that! Darn it! (Useless info: by the DOT a "house car" which includes trucks that have a camper permanently attached to the back, or any other vehicle equipped for human habitation is considered a passenger vehicle.)
Well, now I'm sure to get pulled over for driving this thing home. So, that means there's only one thing to do. Call Mom and Dad. Thanks Mom and Dad! They actually got in their pickup truck and drove 45 minutes over the hill for no other reason than the fact that their daughter is a total dork and is sitting with a trampoline tied to the roof of her minivan in a restaurant parking lot. By the time they get there, I've got the thing unstrapped and the kids are amusing themselves jumping on it in the parking lot. My dad quickly ties the trampoline to his truck and we're off for the drive home. And I learned something else today. Although luckily I learned it by surfing the internet and not by getting a ticket handed to me. And we own a trampoline! Yay!
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