Tuesday, April 9th, 2013
Recently, the House Rabbit Society started a campaign urging Sprouts Farmers Markets chain to stop carrying rabbit meat in their butcher case. I’m not really an animal zealot or even, truly, one of “those rabbit people”. I tend to be more conservative (compared to many I’ve met in the rabbit community) in my views when it comes to house rabbit “rearing”, if you will. So this is not a case of hippie dippie animal soft focus kumbaya.
I’m not a member of PETA. In fact, I generally think PETA sucks (it’s a pitbull thing, but that’s another post). I’m not a vegan or even a vegetarian. I eat meat — all of ‘em, mostly, except rabbit because… well, I just can’t. I appreciate that some people in America do (and I know some of my friends do) and that it’s a trendy foodie protein, but I just… can’t. I wouldn’t judge if you chose to — I’d just appreciate it if you didn’t invite me to that particular dinner party. I also don’t own cows or pigs or raise chickens. If I did, I might not want to see those under plastic in my grocer’s meat case, either. But, I understand that majority of Americans enjoy pork or beef or chicken, so I’d just have to get over it, even if I did have an Elsie or a Wilbur of my own.
To quote a woman who is pro-rabbit meat:
Is it true that Spouts have knuckled under to pressure from the House Rabbit Society about selling healthy nutritious rabbit meat in your stores? I can assure you there are many people that are turning to rabbit meat in their diets as it is healthier then Chicken with higher protein and less fat. If you don’t get it from China it is some of the best meat that many urban farmers and foodie are starting to eat. Just because one group declares that rabbits are pets doesn’t make it so for many people who consume meat.
To turn it around, just because this woman eats rabbit meat doesn’t mean the majority of Americans do. Sure, there are farmer-types with rabbits raised for meat (which freaks me out when I squeeze Lulu’s little chunky thighs and think how that could be someone’s dinner) and rabbit is a trendy farm-to-table foodie protein. But rabbits are the 3rd most popular furry pet after dogs and cats. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable that rabbit-owning customers requested Sprouts Farmer’s Market NOT carry rabbit meat in their stores. It’s reasonable to want a store where rabbit owners can shop without having to see Freckles next to the burgers and pork chops. If eating dogs and cats were socially acceptable, these same people would probably freak out if stores put their beloved Fido’s family alongside the bacon.
So eat your rabbit. Go to town. Go to your butcher or some grocery chain or some trendy new hipster restaurant, but there’s no reason one store chain can’t opt to not sell rabbit in their meat case based on the requests of their customers.
Quit your bitchin’ and eat some chicken.
(I realize it’s a fine line — people DO own chickens and pigs and all that. But they aren’t the 3rd most popular pet after dogs and cats. I’m just sayin’.)
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013
I realize hoarding is not something to joke about, that it’s a real condition, etc. etc. That said, I think the woman currently living in our new apartment is a bona fide, crazypants, orange-peels-from-1987, jars-full-of-moldy-pork chops hoarder — at least based on her patio of overgrown houseplants and garden tchotchkes.
When I was touring our new property (which I’ve lived in before, if you recall), I passed by a second-floor unit that had a balcony so overloaded with succulents, hanging fuchsias, lawn jockeys, geraniums, garden gnomes and basically every weathered, foil-covered, potted plant you see when you enter a grocery store. Every one on the planet, stuffed into her 78 sq foot balcony. I couldn’t even see the front door. I thought to myself, “Damn, someone’s got issues.”
Cut to a week later when I bring Mike up there to look at floorplans and guess what? The next one coming up in our budget with the floorplan we want is that one… naturally. On my way out, it occurred to me that if this woman’s patio looks like that, I can’t fathom what must be going on inside. So I called the property manager to ask if the carpet was scheduled to be replaced because if her patio looks that insane, I’m picturing like, free-range chickens and a furry swingers club inside.
Maybe I’ve just been watching too much World’s Worst Tenants. (Oh my god, I love that show unabashedly.)
Anyway, the manager says, “Yes, that’s uh, how shall I put this? That’s the only cray patio we have on the property.” The fact that she said “cray” made me laugh, because she clearly relaxed enough with me to drop some of her “leasing office facade”), but she confirmed that yes, even though we’re renting a “Classic” unit and not a “Renovated” unit, we’d get new carpet. And new sink fixtures because I casually mentioned that was the one thing I didn’t like about living there before were their wonky kitchen faucets.
The balcony lady gnawed at me, though. Something wasn’t sitting right. Sure enough, the tenant asked for an extension on her notice. Initially, she was supposed to move out on March 13th, but extended it to the 31st. If she’s got as much shit inside as she does on the patio, it doesn’t surprise me that she needs more time. I just hope that 5 days is enough time for the crew to flip our unit, especially if it does turn out to be a very special episode of Hoarders inside. I guess all I can do is have faith they’ll make the apartment good as new or will fix whatever isn’t. I’ve always loved living there before and their maintenance staff is awesome, so I’m trying to not sweat it.
So anyway, I called this past week to schedule the on/off of our utilities — gas & electric, mail, etc. But when I tried to schedule my cable transfer, I was told the current tenant hadn’t scheduled her shut-off yet, so they couldn’t schedule mine. Fine, fine. So I called back at the end of the week, thinking “Ok, she’s moving out in a week, surely she’ll have done it by now.” But nay, she had not. So I called the complex, asking if they could give her a courtesy call and they redirected me to their direct contact at the cable company.
The cable rep called the tenant, left a voicemail and sent an email asking her to please contact their office so they can schedule her shut off in order to accommodate the incoming tenant. Instead, the tenant emailed back and snidely (according to the rep) said, “I will be moving out on March 31 and I will call and schedule transfer of my service to my new address.” That doesn’t really tell us anything, like when does she plan to schedule her transfer? No one is asking her to turn it off today, just call to schedule it to be turned off.
The cable representative suggested, “If her patio is as cluttered as you say it is, maybe she’s just attached to her home and has problems letting go of things. So she wants to wait until the last minute.”
Because I am she of little faith, I think she’s just being a spiteful dick, waiting until the last minute because she knows someone wants to move in. Or perhaps she wanted to stay longer and they told her no, that her place had been re-rented, so now she’s blocking my cable appointment, stripping the copper pipes and taking a dump in the tub.
Now I definitely have been watching too much World’s Worst Tenants.
Monday, March 18th, 2013
Look, animal activists: I understand how enraging it is to witness and/or hear about cruelty to animals and I appreciate your enthusiasm and desire to spread the word against such atrocities. I really, really do. I AM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.
But honestly, when you post horrible photos on Facebook of maniac fur skinners, injured and suffering lab animals and dog fight victims, YOU ARE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR. I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan (which I realize some may view as hypocritical, but I’m not judging your choice to eat tofurkey). Yet, I am a huge animal lover and proponent of animal rights (for the record, I think PETA is full of shit, but that’s another post).
However, I recognize these as manipulative tactics; the images you post evoke guttural, emotional responses aimed at encouraging activism in others. To that end, I also recognize that you want us to share those images, but I won’t do that to my friends because MY FRIENDS AREN’T ASSHOLES who need to be told that skinning defenseless raccoon dogs alive for Marc Jacobs “faux fur” is bad. I don’t let those kinds of people on my friends list.
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Friday, March 15th, 2013
It’s Friday — let’s listen to some music. I discovered IVY in 2000-2001 when I was going through a decidedly earnest semi-raver downtempo/chillout phase and used to pull songs I liked off movie soundtracks and Ibiza party compilation CDs.
I got hooked on Dominique Durand’s whispery, French-tinted voice and Adam Schlesinger’s pop sensibilities (same Adam as in Fountains Of Wayne, whom I love), so the band kind of stuck with me. I’ve got every album and I saw them live when they played the Casbah in 2005 with Astaire (now called blondfire, who I also dig).
If you’re not already familiar with IVY, I thought you might like them, too. 
Enjoy in order or on shuffle.
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Monday, March 11th, 2013
Mikey and I bought a mold testing kit yesterday and set it in our bedroom/bathroom area. So far, there are tiny signs of mold growth in the petri dish, but despite their “as early as 48 hours” results, I half expected to wake up to tribbles with all the breathing problems we’re having in this apartment. We hate this place. Hate it. Hate it with the burning fire of a million suns.
But, regardless of the mold results… we’re moving! Early next month, we’ll be comfortably ensconced in our new abode. I gave our notice yesterday, though I don’t know for sure if they’re going to let us out of our lease or if we’ll have to fight the lease break fee. They’re pretty nice, but I have a stack of ammo if they push me; I’m not worried about it.
The rent is high in this city — which is tough… at least for the more “luxury” apartments (which means just about anything built in the last 15 years with a W/D and amenities). I could buy a house for the price we’re paying in rent, though it wouldn’t be as nice of a house as the new apartment. I figure if we can swing this rent for a year or so, we can afford to buy a house — like a financial responsibility test drive. Of course, this assuming the market doesn’t blow sky high and median home prices go to half a million dollars again.
You can rent places for less — even houses, but unfortunately, the houses tend to be on the tiny side (smaller than an apartment) or haven’t been updated since 1974. There are a few prospects out there that I’m going to take a peek at, but we’re comfortable with our choice of where to live. Some people may think it’s “uncool”, because our chosen area of town is kind of near some business parks, and it’s not much of a “neighborhood” vibe. But it works for us — it’s close to mike’s work, it’s 5-10 minutes anywhere I want to go and the complex is really quiet since it’s near corporations. (Read: College kids don’t want to live there.)
Same square footage as our current place, but it’s utilized much more wisely… and built within the last decade. It’s a newer place — in fact, I used to live there before we moved to Nevada. This time we got a larger 2 bedroom unit and even though it’s north-facing, we get a lot of light, which we’re super happy about. And a washer & dryer — no more Stranger Pubes in the lint trap!
We get a view of the on-site dog park, which makes me happy and there are a lot of sidewalks in the area for walking. Plus, they expanded their on-site gym with all new equipment and upgraded their pool area to include more bbqs and cabanas with free wifi and flatscreen TV’s. I’ll be working from the pool this summer, by god! (though I’ll have to hide my adult beverages in a sippy cup or something — no booze or glass by the pool. Tres tragic!) Oh! And the best part — there’s no one above us or below us (just our garage), so we don’t have to worry about bothering anyone, really. (What with all the wild partying and Hip Hop Abs I do.)
It has it’s quirks, like any apartment, but after this joint, the new place might as well be Shangri La. After this, I’m putting a moratorium on domicile bitchery — unless we have good cause. I don’t want to nitpick this new place, I just want to be happy… even if the fridge does open on the wrong side.
