Toby's Log page 116

Mouse capture

in

Mrs. Mouse is dead. She somehow managed to fall into a bucket of water I had sitting around and drown. Awful way to go, in my opinion. I was glad to get the body out of my house; it wasn’t something I liked looking at. I poured her with the water onto my lawn, and she is presumably eaten at this point.

Before she died, I began to become aware that there was more than one mouse. I wasn’t sure of how many, but at least two. I’d see a shadow zip by while I heard chewing elsewhere. I didn’t let them chew long; I’d pound the wall where they were chewing until they stopped. I don’t want my house chewed up.

Last night, I ventured out to Walmart because I really wanted to get rid of my mouse problem once and for all. I examined all of their traps. They had a variety of kill traps and a couple of live traps. I of course wanted live. They had some fancy looking ones for an unknown price, but I settled on some cheap plastic one’s, a box with a door that only opens one way. I wasn’t sure if the mouse would be fooled into going through the door to get the food.

I set two traps up with cheese crackers in them, and put little crumbs near the entrance. That night, the mouse came out, right near me. He kept creeping up and then running back. He snuck the crumbs only from the trap, then snuck around elsewhere. The next day, I worked all day, then celebrated my brothers birthday. I didn’t get home till 2200 or so. I came home to find a little mouse in one of the traps.

I had luckily just brought a tank home from my parents house. I cleaned it, put some paper and a can in it, then let the mouse into it. Mr. Mouse doesn’t seem to want to remain in the tank, and has jumped up and walked around upside down on the mesh lid numerous times. He keeps looking at me from time to time. I have the cracker, some cake, and broccoli in there for him, and he’s eaten much of the cracker already. I fear that he’ll eventually just hop onto the lid and chew through to escape. I dunno if I’ll keep him, even if I’ll be able to. I may just release him off in a forest. He appears to be a white footed mouse, as he has the white undercarraige and makes a buzzing noise from time to time, so he should be quite at home there. He’ll certainly be happier than living in a cage, and I’ll be happier without having to worry about him.

Yars are on hiatus

in

John had stated concern after the Khameleon show about having enough time for the band with school coming up. This came to bear when he told Dwight he was quitting the band. Luckily, he then decided to only take a break. So the Yars are not playing for now, perhaps all the way through the school year. The November 30th show is still on with both John and Jesse, but Yars Presents at the ECC is cancelled for now.

Mrs mouse is still in the house

in

Despite what I had thought, Mrs mouse is still here. She just had been hiding much better than before. I saw her sneak passed my room a couple days after writing my ‘missing’ entry. I’ve heard and seen her several times since then. Once, when my brother was visiting (the first time in months), we saw her in my back room. She must have been hiding in there amongst all the junk. I’ve also seen her several times in the kitchen. I found that she had been eating from a bag of flour I had in a closed cupboard that I never use. The cupboard shelves have spaces around them, allowing easy traversal up and down the entire set (for a mouse anyway). I removed the flour and several other items I felt she might like to eat. Today she is being extremely outgoing, making noise and rummaging through food while I’m in the same room. Whenever I come up to her, she sits for a second, as if trying to hide by lack of movement, then scurries away. She appears to have attempted to eat some baking soda. Then she moved on to some candy. I’m trying to remove all food sources, hoping she’ll get the hint that I don’t want her there. Perhaps her long periods of not being seen are actually due to her visiting other houses or food sources. I’m hoping for this, as it’ll make it more likely for her to give up at my place. My table is covered in food right now, as she can’t reach that. I’ve also got several more closed cupboards filled with food. She’d have to chew her way through them to get that food, which I’m hoping she won’t do. I also have some cans and jars easily accessable. She could chew throught those, though I haven’t seen it yet. I’ll remove them if need be. I had some sugar drink mixes on a top shelf, one I once thought impenitrable by her, though I removed other things just in case, but she seemed to be trying to chew through the wall there, so I removed that as well. I don’t care for damage to my house. I have some croutons and some sugar drink mixes on a box on my fridge, which she seems to have not been able to achieve yet. Theres chips and other snacks on a shelf that would seem fairly accessable, as it is low to the ground and a simple slide out drawer, but it has walls against all four sides when the door is closed. Scraps of fruit and other stuff that I sometimes leave out to be put in the compost she doesn’t go for, though they’re right in the open, so she is certainly targetting only certain foods.

Mrs. mouse is a very nice looking mouse, very clean like a pet mouse. She’s gray with a white belly. She has big, curious looking eyes. She still looks quite healthy.

Jesse’s leaving

in

I saw the Yars play at Club Khameleon last Friday. The show also included Kill the Hippies, Aviatik, and Drop to Zero, all bands with a sizable local following. Dwights dad and dad’s girlfriend came in early on in the Yars set, and his mom came in halfway through the last song (she had had to park far away and walk). Dwight had to retune his new guitar several times during the show. This new guitar was a slightly more expensive one that the new guitar he had just bought; he returned it as it couldn’t keep its tuning. It’s another of the pointy sort. Dwight made out with some chick while Drop to Zero was playing.

I had worn my kilt in from my recent trip to Scotland. It garnered a bit of attention, but most from Jackie Stuart, a girl I didn’t know but had seen before at previous Aviatik shows. She was quite excited that I had gone to Scotland, as she was part Scottish as well. I talked with her for a bit after the show about my trip (rare, me talking to someone other than Dwight or John). Dwight is going to make a sitcom written by a member of Aviatik based on his moving in with two lesbian couples. I’ll have to see how that gos. The guy seems funny, so hopefully he will be in his writing as well. I drove Dwight’s mom down to her car and we went to Taco Silver’s. We were going to then go to Rockwood’s, but it was late, so I didn’t join them.

Though Jesse was just getting the songs down, he is going to be leaving the Yars. Jesse needs to get good grades in school, so he is quitting all of his bands to ensure success. He will play at the ECC this week and the November 30th show if needed, but none other. Those ECC shows will be hard to continue. They worry a string of drummers will now come and go. They do have another drummer lined up, however. This drummer will play for the Yars, and his other band will practice at John’s house. His other band is pop style punk. They would probably end up playing at Yars shows. Hopefully something’ll work out for them.

John has expressed concern that going to school, working, and playing for the Yars will be a challenge in scheduling and having enough time.

Dwight and John plan to play an acoustic set at the ECC soon, and have invited me to play with them. I will, mainly because I really want to see John play his upright bass. That’ll be awesome. I’ll just do some simple, light stuff with brushes and a partial kit.

Heavy little waves

in

Went out again, just Paul and myself. The end of the sailing season is approaching, so we’ll have to get our last sails in soon. We went out later in the day, as Paul had to work in the morning and be indentured into a union. The waves didn’t look big at all, but they rocked the boat around a lot, so much so that we decided to not really sail. We put up only the jib. It was quite windy though, so we cruised along at quite a good clip, especially for not having the main up. We then anchored down, tied our life-vests to ropes, and went for a good swim. The boat was rocked about a lot without us on it, and the jib halyard freed itself and swung about, eventually wrapping around the mainstay. As I am a very poor swimmer, I got some practice in at how to properly propel oneself through water, with the help of Paul. I’m slowly getting better at it. After a good long bit of swimming about, we went back aboard. Paul wanted to organize the stuff in the cabin, and had bought a plastic bin to help. Trying to do it while being rocked about on the lake was difficult though, so we motored back in to the river and did it while docked. The organization helped the cabin look much more clean and spacious. Then we docked at the docking dock and pulled her out. I evidently lost a little dealy for connecting the boom sheet tackle to the boom, but I don’t even remember it being there. I seem to be causing trouble at these pulling out points recently. We then went to Chipotle. I was going to see the Yars play at the ECC, but it was too late to make it all the way to Kent, and they had a show Friday anyway.

I’m back (from Scotland that is)

in

Ah, back home. I had an enjoyable trip for sure.

The plane trip was quite long. The first leg was in a smaller plane, then the second in a big one. As my first experiences in big planes, they were nice. There were some nice views on both, which I tried to capture with my camera. The windows were dirty though and made for not too clear photos. There was a nice sunset and sunrise and interesting cloud formations, as well as the stuff on the ground. It was amazing how quick Kelley’s Island came into view after leaving Cleveland. Lots of waiting at lines and terminals in airports. I had to empty my bag (my carryon contained all my luggage, the only way to travel if possible) at one airport at the security check, but not at any other.

We took an introduction to Scotland tour to show us the main stuff. It went from mid Sunday to early Friday morning. We were bussed about to various attractions, and our lodging and many meals were included with the tour.

I will continue my story later…

I’m going to Scotland

in

Hey hey. My first trip off the continent. I’ve been to Canada before, but otherwise just the USA. Later today I shall leave, and will arrive tomorrow. I plan to take lots of pictures, and perhaps I shall put some on my site. I will also consider writing some log entries from Scotland if anything interesting happens. Hopefully it’ll be fun. I’ll get to learn a bit about my Scotish heratige, see some castles and other pleasing scenery, check out the state of old Britland, and relax a bit.

End of an era

in

I’m no longer the drummer for the Yars, even the temporary drummer. Last Wednesday, I went to the ECC ready to play. Dwight and Rockwood told me that Jessie was going to play the show. So I already played my last show and didn’t realize it at the time. At least it was a fairly cool last show, with the power going out at the very end of our last song. I helped the Yars, which no longer includes myself, move their equipment in. I for the first time ever, was an audience member of the show. It’s a bit different that way; I am able to pay much more attention to what John and Dwight look and sound like. It was strange. They seemed a bit uncomfortable, probably because of the new drummer.

Jessie seems to be a fine replacement for me, and will probably do the Yars good. He only practiced with them twice, but was able to play along well. He played very strongly and kept the beat well. He’s also quite good at throwing in fills. He didn’t know the structures of the songs well yet, including when they ended, but he caught on to changes fairly quickly. Once learns the songs a little better, I’m confident he will tune the parts so they sound very good with the music, and will drive the songs much better than I did.

Watching, I was somewhat glad to be done. The songs seem so fast listening to them, and I couldn’t imagine playing that fast, even though I had for so long. Hopefully with my increased free time, I’ll be able to get some other stuff done now that really needs doing.

I like many of Dwight’s songs a good bit, some which we never played since we got John and became the Yars, so I shall still be coming to shows. I also want to see how Jessie is doing, and see how the songs change with him as lead drummer. I’ll also work on their web page stuff a bit, though for now I don’t know what to do with that. I hope fans enjoyed my part in the Yars, and hope they continue to enjoy the Yars now that I’m a fan as well.

Swimming with Vince

in

Me, Paul, and my cousin Vinnie went sailing last Wednesday. We planned to go early but got off to a late start due to car troubles. Paul and Uncle Al were trying to wire Paul’s car to be able to operate the lights on the trailer of the boat so it could be legal on the road. Somehow, they blew some fuses or something, rendering the car unable to shift into drive (an automatic). The truck we normally use had very worn brake pads that didn’t stop very well. They had finally reached a dangerous point, so they needed to be replaced. They bought cheap pads and slapped them on quickly so they wouldn’t have to take the extra time of changing or turning the rotors.

We finally got out, after a quick pancake breakfast. Paul had removed and cleaned the halyards. I put the main halyard in backwards, but didn’t realize it until we got out on the lake. The waves were small but still rocked the boat a good bit at times, making it difficult to do any work. We attempted to use another line to pull the halyard through so we could pull it back up after switching ends. We got the line through and switched the ends, but in attempts to pull the halyard back through, the safety bin we were using to attempt to connect the two lines came undone and both lines came falling down. We had to head back in to the river and dock for a bit while we took down the mast and switched the line. Doing this on the calm water was actually fairly easy, though dropping pins or wrenches would have had much worse consequences. We made sure we had it right, then headed back out.

We put up the sails, and with a rather strong wind, were able to get going fairly quickly. Vince, though, was quite interested in swimming. Paul attached a line to his life vest and the boat and hopped off. It was a long line, so he was able to go back a good ways before being dragged along. The ropes held fast and he was able to pull himself back, so he came back aboard to get Vince. He tied another line between him and Vince and they both went in. I was left sailing by myself there while the swam around. The stronger winds made it a little more difficult to control the boat, especially when aproaching a run. Near a run, the sails would swing violently about, trying to decide which side to go to. I tried to keep it slow at first, but I realized the ropes could handle the force fine, so I sped up. They came aboard again. We were up to Lakewood Park when we decided to turn back toward home. They jumped off for one final swim, then came back aboard, shivering. They dried off with towels and sunned for a while. Then Paul took over control of the boat.

By now, the wind had died down a good bit, as had the waves. We weren’t headed back very fast at all. I was reluctant to go in the water, but they convinced me I should. I tied my vest to the rope, though in a place I’d later find was not especially good. I lowered into the water and fell back till the rope pulled me along. The way I tied it, to the front of the vest, I was unable to turn around; if I did, the rope tried to pull my head under the water, and it’d probably have been hard to get flipped back around properly. I had a floating coushin which helped keep my head above water, but also required me to hold on with at least one arm. If I let go, it would begin to go “backwards” fairly quickly. So I had mostly one arm to pull on the rope or swim with, and I couldn’t turn very well. It was not difficult, but still took a concious effort to stay on the cushion. Paul and Vince pointed out a stick/small log that was drifting by in the water. I swam towards it, thinking I had no chance, but I was able to grab the very end of it. I dragged it along, now with both hand occupied. After a while of this, I decided I wanted to get back aboard the boat. I slowly pulled my way up with one arm, holding the two items with my other. It was difficult to do, so once I got a bit closer to the boat, I took some of the rope now behind me and rapped it around the stick. I was worried it would break free, but it managed to hold. I pulled myself along more easily now, though the rope was getting quite tangled about my legs. I’d stop and try to get it untangled, then move forward some more, then stop again. At the side of the boat, as Paul had found earlier, it was tough to pull out of the water. Paul helped me up as I had him by pulling on the shoulders of the life vest. I was fairly cold. I pulled the stick up, which was actually fairly tangled in the rope, and tied it off to the side of the boat. I then took off my vest and shirt and dried off in the sun with a nice towel. I had taken my aqua shoes in as well, so I took off my wet socks and shoes to let them dry.

Once I was a bit warmer, I went back with Paul to help sail. With the weaker wind, we could only easily sail on reaches. Runs were rather slow. We reached back and forth a bit, though that provided slow progress in the direction we wanted to go. We then gave up on the sails and motored on in.

A nice run. I like sailing with a decent wind, and would have liked to have done more with it than I did. Our first swim off the boat was also a good experience. We’ll probably do that fairly often now. I’ll have to tie to my vest better next time though.

Car is mine now

in

By title anyway, the Corrolla is now mine (I still have to pay my brother for it though). My dad got the power of attorney notarization to allow me to transfer it from his name to mine. I did for only $7 (cash only, so I part of that was some sticky change left over from my brothers stay in the car). I also needed plates and an e-check though. I sillilly got temp plate first, figuring I wouldn’t have enough time to get an e-check and come back to the license bureau (I had gotten the title transferred first in the first place because I was even worried I wouldn’t have enough time to get the e-check then get to the license bureau, plus I wasn’t sure if I could get the e-check before transferring the title), but I surprisingly was able to make it all the way to the e-check place and back to get real plates with time to spare. I technically only needed the temp plate for about two hours, then, but I left it on for now to get a little more use out of the $10 spent on it. So this is the first car I’ve had actually in my name, and the second title I own, (in addition to my house). One less dependancy to have to worry about. I’ll have to transfer the insurance to my own account soon enough.

My brother got a new car, a little civic in amazingly good condition, only 44k miles, for only $2600, so I won’t have to worry about him trying to get the corrolla back. He’s getting the Volvo (a car he’d purchased maybe two months ago that since has gotten in a wreck and then had electrical problems) fixed professionally to operable condition, so he’ll have two cars as well. I guess my dad may actually be considering using it for a little while, as his truck is having problems.

My other car is still in need of brake line repairs, but it will have to wait for more important matters to be taken care of, such as the car I’m driving and my house (I really would like to have hot water before winter comes along).