We now have two mice. Not nearly as cool as Tricia's sugarglider brood (I'M STEALING TWO FROM YOU WHEN I VISIT, WOMAN, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!), but they're still hilarious. Ella gave them a treadwheel and Rick James runs on it all day long. He'll run for a bit, lose his footing, flatten himself against the side and do a few rotations. I've seen him hit nine loops over the top.

zing zing zing zing zing zing zing
run run run run
zing zing zing zing zing zing zing zing

I'm beginning to think he likes being spun upside down. Either that or he's a complete idiot.

Yesterday Mr. Rick James lost his footing and the wheel flung him into the ceiling. Thud. Got right back on, kept running. Last night I actually had to disable the wheel because all I heard all night was bonk bonk bonk bonk. Rick James being thrown from the wheel repeatedly.

Today I found both of them on the wheel. Mayhem. Sometimes they'd both run simultaneously, each overtaking the other over and over again. Then -- and I swear I'm not making this up -- Rick would run, spinning Peaches over the top. Peaches doesn't miss a beat, runs when she gets to the bottom, flipping Rick over the top. They did this about four times, pausing only to watch me nearly pass out laughing.

Cleaned my room. You know it's gotten bad when it takes three hours, four trips to the sink and more than a few "holy shit, I've been wondering where this went" moments.

For all of you not in my immediate loop, I lasted 2.2 days on the new job. In a nutshell, it involved fundraising for third-world children. Sponsorship, basically, the same as on TV. My job is/was to convince people to give me their credit card information and cough up $24/mo to give a child in some starving country food and water.

After three days of standing in the pouring rain (not under some awning, in the fucking rain) I had only one child sponsored (Maria from Columbia).

Now ...I can take being ignored but I don't much care for being chewed out. One woman got upset when I suggested that we as Americans could not wait for our leaders to solve issues like hunger, debt relief and AIDS and even when they say they'll do something, they eventually reneg⁺. She stormed off, returned to give me a second piece of her mind. I told her to "kiss my ass," walked over to my boss and quit on the spot.

I learned something interesting though. The people you think would stop due to guilt, a conscience, whatever ...don't. And the people you don't expect to stop, do. They may not sign up, but they'll at least hear you out. I'm not sure I even managed a second sentence to anyone wearing a tie.

But ...yeah. Good cause, good concept. Just not something I can do and not kill someone in the process. The only reason I didn't tell her to "fuck off" is because I respect the people I was working with. My anger doesn't need to make their life harder.

Anyway, sleep for me. Tomorrow I launch a new full frontal assault on the IT job market. An acquantance has already tipped me off to a potential opening...
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⁺ If I remember correctly, Bush promised 6 billion for AIDS years ago. No money was actually given, of course, just promises. Now it's the whole G8 and debt relief and here we are, falling for it again.