Bullshit Alert

Paul's birthday went well. The outside part with the bubbles escaped any rain and the temperature was comfortable enough. Paul's 2 nephews who are 5 and 4 tore around playing and having a great time so Ms. Not Suitable for Children cousin gets a big V from me.

The meal itself was not great. My poached egg yolk was s.e.t. which is unacceptable really (obviously I didn't complain) and the black pudding weirdly tasteless. BUT there was this olive bread that was covered in oil and utterly delicious which we asked for more of and I had like 3 slices so tbh I was happy. I had a roast for main and the potatoes dry, which is sacrilege so I just picked at it. Whatever, not a big deal and like I said, the bread made me happy.

There was a big cake confusion though. The event person didn't get back to me until Friday PM to confirm some details of the meal and did I want writing on the cake. They were supposed to contact later with a price but did not and Sat night I emailed to express my upset and annoyance about this. Meanwhile on Sunday after the meal we went back out (urgh I wanted to stay in the lovely, comfy room but the kids could do with a run around so I was nice and didn't say anything. Being an adult sucks, man) for coffees and then a cake turns up! I wasn't sure if they had done it last minute because of my email but then as we were leaving and I was thanking the manager he brought up the cake needing to be paid for. So Paul had to pay cash for his own cake as it was baked out of the premises by a member of staff (I knew re the cash when I was arranging it) which was Not The Best. Paul didn't mind and really it finished the evening well having it (even if weirdly the green things on the silver platter looked like cress? I dunno it really did)

I really enjoyed having friends of ours there too. I think all family events need our pals in future tbh.




However, when I put the pictures up, the rude cousin from my prev entry? She wrote on the big family pic 'missing ze sparkle' then deleted it a minute later, obviously engaging her common fucking sense. No, we were missing nothing thank you. I even commented on the way home to Paul how nice it had been without her there.

We don't really have much to do with Paul's family. They all live out of London and we see them a few times a year. Bigger birthday or some kind of Christmas thing is done yearly, but they're not a family who see each other often/ At least, we don't.

Anyway, for his 40th we are going to a fancy place in Hitchin on the 18th because it is near his aunt and cousin. Plus his mum and dad know the journey, it's not far from his other aunt and uncle.

We're renting a private room and they are doing a posh buffet thing they offer and paying for it ourselves. He's only decided what he wanted last week, and I'm the one who found the place because apparently it would drag on forever otherwise.

He, annoyingly, after emailing earlier this week, sent a group chat over facebook to chec everyone had gotten the email and mentioning the place, date etc. The cousin hadn't but replied how they had the kids that week (they live with their mum but see dad at weekends, I believe) it wasn't very child friendly, we didn't give them much notice and they were on a budget.

Like, you can just decline and if you really want say unfortunately it is out of our budget. You don't need to mildly berate someone for their own birthday plans, yanno...

We replied saying it was a shame they couldn't come but we understood they had the kids and how we were covering the bill, which we appreciated she might not be aware of if she had not seen the email.

Paul was all "moan moan I didn't know it was a group message". OH MY GOD NOT ONLY HAVE YOU BEEN IN THEM BEFORE, I KNOW YOU'VE CREATED ONE ON PURPOSE PREVIOUSLY AND IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND FACEBOOK DON'T USE IT *eye roll*

I have toothache and earache, so my mood is in the trash today :))))))))))

The amount of classist people in TLL really does my goat in. You can tell from their comments in different posts, the type who are oh so liberal but what they mean is it's okay to be liberal like me, and if I deem you to be unintelligent, a bit fluffy, into silly interests, etc. then I will think badly of you and feel superior. FUCK THOSE PEOPLE.

In fact, this very thing made me so MAD last night on facebook. There was that article about the young mum who didn't know who David Cameron is (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/who-david-cameron-mum-mocked-5721674) and as people are wont to do someone shared it in a "we are all fucked" way and someone else we both know replied with "good grief".

Well no, I wholeheartedly agree with this girl. We aren't taught politics as she says and if your life hasn't got cause to watch the news those people in Westminster are so far removed from anything in your life that it rolls off your back because you don't realise. There is nothing wrong with not having an interest but equally we need to actually teach people how it all works first! That to me is a big reason why the conservatives have the edge, it isn't that people are rotten it's that they don't know. And even if you aren't explicitly taught politics you do get shown vote Blue, they help people like us who have worked hard. (urgh such bs ofc!)

Anyway it moved to the annoying person saying they weren't taught politics (they aren't but grew up with Tory parents) and the other saying they weren't (I've no idea what her family is) but educated herself but some people don't have an interest. I agree some people don't but it remains that if you aren't taught it doesn't cultivate interest if your own company and environment doesn't teach it and you're stuck with people who are unaware.

You don't need to just be in a classroom to be taught but I do think anyone who is sneering at this girl is up their own bum. Because I mentioned in my reply that one of them went to Uni she was an academic (little a not Academic as in researcher/professor) so not in the same position as what I was describing and certainly those who are past Ba/Bsc have learnt already how to take an interest and build on it she decided to reply she wasn't taught politics at college either...

It is completely possible to go to Uni and see nothing with politics at all in any shape or form, but (and certainly as these are people in their 40's) it's rarer to not be exposed to it at all, just by the very people who surround you. She then argued she wasn't an academic, this is someone who threw a hissy fit when she is studying ft in some very advanced maths stuff for pleasure, having gone to Uni and previously been a teacher too (all of which I pointed out everyone definitely should be able to do but being in that position has a privilege to it). And then called me an inverted snob. But I'd already unfriended her by that point tbh.

So yes, fuck all those "liberals".

Someone told me to 'Chill' as a reply to something that I hadn't said to them in the first place. It was hard not to type and reply 'fuck off' to them. Chill, fucking really... >_>

I had a mass wax on Saturday. Eyebrows, armpits, full legs and Hollywood all done for the eye wateringly sum of £77 (the eyebrow wax was free so technically it'd be £90). Which in fairness isn't loads when you consider what I had done but is a bit EEP to pay in one go. After not even 5 hours of sleep too it wasn't my most fun time ever either. But needs must when you don't like hair. My legs take forever to grow back I've recently seen so I'm good for about 6 weeks there. Eyebrows and Hollywood I don't like to let more than 2.5 weeks pass, as I've mentioned before.

In the afternoon my friend Lorn came down with Spoon the rat. Spoon stayed with me almost 3 months last year because she needed an operation and somewhere stable to be and Lorn was having difficulties at the time. She became a member of the family and tomorrow she is being pts :( It was very lovely to see her but hard too.
One of my favourite pictures from Sat


Urgh I wasn't sure whether to raise it and decided not to but someone cited Germaine Greer as a woman they admired. Nope nope, she's a trans misogynist no cookies for her.

I was thinking again how despite keeping rats, loving them to have 30 odd (36 to be precise) and having spent over £10,000 (yes, ten thousand) at the vets last year they are not a pet I ever recommend to people. I always steer them away from rats because I'm so fanatical about them that to my mind a lot of people who have them do not give them proper levels of care.

For one cage sizes touted by the shitass Pets at Home are incorrect. Really rats need the size that is recommended for ferrets. They need coming out once a day (due to my numbers mine come out every other day as I take in turns which of the 4 cages and then at weekends try to get them all out) and compensate by giving them MASSIVE cages that take over my house.

Cages need lots of things to be interesting. Either pretty hammocks and cubes which my cages tend to have 3-5 at any given time, plus ones to change when I wash the cages out WEEKLY, or you need to make them with old tshirts or bras and affix with clips (which clip, some like pear shaped ones are a choking danger).

Wheels some like some don't but they can't be too small or you damage the spine. You need a 12" silent spinner which is £30 a pop.

Their diet should not be nuggets which are too rich in protein and not good for them overall. Instead I make my own mix which a lot of ingredients all carefully researched and given in the right percentage. A good diet though is a mix of Great and Small Fruit and Veg for Rabbits, with 15% of the volume of your food to be plain, dried pasta and around 10% of sugar free/low sugar cereal (so basics/value brands are good because in saving money they are below the 0.7% you should aim for - normal cereal, wheatabix and bran flakes mixed is good). PLUS daily veg and fruit. 2-3 types of veg (not in super large quantities, for example my lot get 3 peppers between them, 3 bananas and 1/3 of a bag of kale) and fruit 2-3 times a week. And because they aren't getting shitty nuggets, which contain vitamins, their water needs to have vitamins or they can and do get sick. So every other water change gets Calcivet Liquid and Daily Essentials

Does get mammary lumps a lot. This is made worse with too much protein. You then get to whip that out for £!50-£200 plus spay to prevent more £80. Boys can also get various things and the delight in old age is dealing with penis plus and orange, yucky buck grease on their backs if not neutered. Also introducing new boys to existing boys is harder with girls. Though does can be gits to kits that are too young.

Finding rats is hard. There are so many on preloved but if you go down a breeder route - many, many of them are backyard breeders so you need to do your research - never buuy a breeder naked and avoid double rex unless you're rat savvy. Nakeds get hurt easily and DR if bred incorrectly can have really poor health. British blues (like in Ratatouille) used to have clotting issues which has mostly beed bred out but could still be an issue. Petshop ones are bred in awful conditions, often mis-sexed (not sure how tbh).

Many rats will develop respiratory infections being that they are born with mycoplasma. Many vets will under dose the baytril they give you which means it will come up again and again. They can't be near breezes or by radiators and basically have really, really shitty immune system - granted good breeders with established lines less so.

You need to keep an eye for lice (little brown things) or mites (invisible to the eye is your rat scratching more, treat with one drop per 500gr - depending on the strength - of Ivermectin . Mites they have on them (when stressed or run down they can take over and when you see scratching) but lice can come from the appropriate, dust removed bedding they can have (wrong bedding and bam respiratory infection) such as Finacard. Which you will have to sweep up several times a day as it gets kicked out of the cage. See also poo. Don't leave too close to the wall because of aforementioned poo...

All rats suffer kidney failure so at 18 months you'll need to add ipakitine to them once a day. The kidney function causes HLD (hind leg deterioration) where the back legs drag so you need to ensure that they can safely move around their cage.

So that's why I tell people: get a cat instead of get 3 rats (3 is better than 2 because when 1 dies it's very hard on the remaining rat. 1 rat is cruel).

I make the best lasagne, aside from an Italian Nona. It's not suitable for vegetarians and costs £20 which makes 3-4 portions but O M G. The fresh ricotta, pasta sheets, rose veal and pancetta which goes over the mozzarella so it crisps up and makes it look beautiful all come from Natoora. As does the passata. The milk is organic whole milk. It's amazing frankly.

I'm off work tomorrow as it's TG Valentines 1 (with 2 on the Saturday) although will still do a few hours of work (and get paid for it ofc) because I am also off on Monday and it will make Tuesday hellish if I don't.

I was going to use my new but vintage violet wand on the boat tomorrow but I haven't practiced enough to feel confident using it on others so I won't.

Paul isn't working the 2nd one because the manager of that (but not our boss) wants the same set up of different people in different rooms which is A boring and B lonely, if you remember the last time I talked about it and the delightful ensuing lj drama of screenshotting wan which ruined my fucking night as my phone went mental after being told about it. My boss is fine with him spending chunks of time with me (she said so) but we know the manager won't be (and boss isn't aware of this) so it's easier for him to not work.

This post on fanficrants has me quite uncomfortable.

"Why write the AU about it? I like rule 63, but if the gist of your story was "So-and-so was a woman all along, just hid it, and a few people found out and were cool with it" then why bother writing it? It didn't really impact the story overall beyond the anxiety of keeping a secret- and that got old very, very quickly. We had a good scene where the baddie found out... and nothing resulted from it. There were threats about breeding... and nothing came of it.
There wasn't even that big of a perspective change. I read this fic off and on for 3 years. Needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed that, at the ending, NOTHING REALLY CHANGED.
Guh."

It seems quite transphobic and sexist, implying that there SHOULD be a big difference if someone was a woman all along. I've no idea if the story is well written, but lets assume so to stick with it 3 years, but it's NICE that no there wasn't a personality shift and that everyone was fine with it.