Piano and an Ostentatious Canine Dresser

So, JC has been wanting a piano for quite some time. Today, a piano arrived that she is test driving (i.e. renting where all of the rent can be applied in full to a purchase of any piano at the store within a year). I don't know much about pianos, but apparently this one is fairly nice. It looks like it adds positively to the living room.

Here it is.


And, here's the Theodore KGB dressed up in a sweater.


What a famous looking dog!

New Housemate

So, my roommate ended up buying his own place, and he moved out of the 3rd floor loft that he was renting. The house is a lot emptier now, so I gave JC the okay to get a dog. And, she got one from the pound.

I've never been a fan of dogs, but I'd say it's really a neutral thing. I don't actively dislike them. Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple pictures of Teddy (KGB). He is supposed to be named after the rough riding president, Theodore Roosevelt, because he really looks like a miniature bear sometimes. But, I prefer Teddy KGB for obvious reasons.



Clearly, I like him. Not only have I taken two pictures, which I'm putting on this blog, but I have not called Animal Control... not even once. Also, you can't really see it in the pictures, but the dog's got a pretty nasty overbite. I was really tempted to call him OB (after the famous Korean Beer) because of his dental shortcoming.

Dancing Blenny

Here's a short video I took of a Starry Blenny (Salarius ramosus) in JC's aquarium. It is also known as a Snowflake Blenny. It's a cool looking fish that blends in really well with the craggy looking rocks. You might not even notice him in the beginning. The video also shows what he's so good at... munching on algae and keeping it trimmed.

He even dances a bit to the music. Well, not really, it took me a while to get the music to match his initial movements the best I could, haha.

Wild Animals

The other day, JC caught some sort of field mouse in the garage. We kept it around for a few days feeding it apple bits and crackers. We finally let it go today. Hopefully, it doesn't return.


We also have been spotting wild boars around the area lately, and we finally got a decent shot of two of them. Looks like a mother and baby.


So, I looked up whether or not hunting them was legal or not, and it turns out that it is legal provided you've got a hunting license ($41.20) and a wild pig tag ($19.70). Also, it's perfectly legal to hunt them on your own property or on public land... I am not exactly sure what counts as public land. Is a county park considered public land? Because, I've definitely seen them in a nearby park.

I've never been hunting before, but it might be an interesting experience to take one down and then bring it over to a butcher or something to obtain useful meat. You'd probably get a ton of pork and bacon from just one of these guys.

Also, it turns out there's some odd rules (in my opinion) on what sorts of weapons you're allowed to use. From the official guidebook from the California Dept. of Fish and Game...

The following methods can be used for hunting wild pigs:

1) rifles and handguns using centerfire cartridges with soft point or expanding bullets;

2) muzzleloading rifles of at least 0.40 caliber;

3) shotguns capable of holding no more than three shells and firing single slugs; and

4) archery equipment and crossbows.

Spears, knives and other methods not specified in Sections 353 and 354 of the hunting regulations are not allowed for hunting wild pigs in California.

I guess I don't quite get why you're not allowed to spear them or use knives, yet you're allowed to shoot them with a gun or utilize archery. Seems strange to me, but maybe there are good reasons for these rules. Then again, I have no idea why anyone would want to try to take on a wild pig with only a knife if they had other alternatives.

Jerusalem Cricket

I'm not sure how many of you out there have heard of Jerusalem crickets. Sometimes people refer to them as potato bugs. While they aren't rare creatures, it's not often that you see one alive and well. In the past, I've only seen them dead in swimming pools or in some similarly bad state. The main reason is that they are nocturnal and burrow beneath the earth most of the time.

Recently, we've been running at night near my place, and we very often see one or two of them walking around on the sidewalk. I have been talking about catching one for a while and keeping it as a pet. Finally, before the run tonight, I was reminded to bring a collecting jar. I'm happy to announce that I've got myself a new pet.

I'm going to add more dirt to the cage and provide some water. I wrote an entomologist who specializes in this particular insect, and he has already responded. He said that my basic care plans are fine, so that's good. These things live for a year or two, so if all goes well I'll be able to keep him a while.

Here are a couple pictures I took. It's a little under two inches long.

Earnings and a Pleco Cat

Tomorrow, EMC and Apple (AAPL) will be releasing their earnings report. EMC will do so before the market opens, and AAPL will do so after the market closes.

Hopefully, EMC's earnings will be just as strong as those that came out of VMWare (VMW) this afternoon. VMW jumped about 15% following its earnings release, and EMC, which currently owns an 85% interest in VMW, moved higher by 6% after hours. But, we'll see how they do tomorrow. I have a full position in EMC with a cost basis in the high 14's, would love to see a strong move higher to offset some of the recent disappointment brought about by Mattel (MAT).

Anyway, I guess I should get to the plecostomus catfish I got over the weekend. My old pleco died, and I needed to get a new one as my tank is starting to get overgrown with algae. But, the first couple smaller plecos I got got beat up and killed (I have a tank with aggressive African cichlids). So, I went to the pet store to get a large one, but they didn't have any. But, I got lucky.

It turns out the guy handling the fish section had a large pleco catfish that he was getting rid of, as it was getting too big for his community tank. So, he asked if I wanted to take it off his hands for $10. I said I would if it was in healthy condition. Anyway, I went over to his place, and the fish was fine, and the tank was in great condition, so I bought it.

It's a great price. A large plecostomus like the one I got would cost many times more than that. When I say large, I do mean it. It's a large fish.

Here's a picture of it in the bucket I transported it in. To give you perspective on the size, the ring you see is just under 11 inches across in diameter.

Spider Update

It has been almost 3 months since I caught my pet spider, Morgan. Morgan is alive and well, and eats a few crickets each week. Other than that, it pretty much walks around and chills all day.

Here's a close-up picture that I took today.

Arachnid Feeding Time

Just got back from picking up crickets at the pet store. I put one of the crickets into the little traveler terrarium, and Morgan (the spider... ya, I named him after the actor Morgan Freeman) immediately goes on the attack. First, paralyzing the cricket, and then picking it up and now doing whatever it is that he's doing during the eating process.

Here are a couple of pictures of Morgan with the cricket in the fangs.

Along Came A Spider

Last night, I caught another large wolf spider. I found it walking around in my garage. At first, I thought it was bigger than the one I had caught previously, but now that I get a much better look at it, I no longer think that's true. Anyway, I went and got a cheap plastic terrarium for it today on my lunch break. I set it up tonight with some soil and bark and a cap off of a juice container for water.

I'll take pictures of it at some point with some frame of reference so that you can tell its size. Oh ya, I fed it a cricket already, and it pretty much ate it. Pretty cool. I guess I get a second chance at keeping a wolf spider as a pet.

An Awesome Dog

I don't really like dogs, but this just kind of made me laugh: An Awesome Dog.

Spider-Man

*** Edit 2: I measured the spider out in its dried state, and I also preserved it in a jar of alcohol. The spider's body is roughly 1 3/8" in length and 1/2" in width at its widest section. I estimate that fully extended (as in the picture below), it's diameter was around 4". Also, I think the spider was even bigger when it wasn't dessicated, so who knows. Seriously, it scared the crap out of me when I first saw it.

I'm still not over the fact that through my stupidity, I killed it. Ugh. I guess the basic necessities I provided weren't enough.

*** Edit: I'm sad. I got home, only to find that the spider had died. I left it water in a jar cap, and also provided it with shade. I suck.

I caught a big ass spider this morning. Initially, I thought it was a tarantula. But, after reading up as much as I can and looking at a ton of pictures, I am pretty sure that it is a Wolf Spider. I'm planning to keep it as a pet. From what I have read, it makes a good one.

I put it in a deep bucket with a little bit of water and a cardboard cutout (half of a checkbook box cover) to provide it shade. I'm hoping that it cannot escape the bucket before I get a proper terrarium set up for it.

Here are a couple pictures of my new pet spider. The first one is the spider where I found it. The second one is a close-up after I put it in the bucket.