I'd been negotiating to purchase a hedgehog from a young lady in Seminary, Mississippi for a couple of weeks. As my work schedule had gotten skewed this week I had yesterday, Saturday off and we agreed to meet. It had been quite some time since I'd been on a road trip of any length but was up to the task even though meeting at 4:00 PM wasn't the greatest time for me. As I've mentioned I work 10 PM to 7 AM so 4 PM is to me as 2 AM to normal human beings.
Once on the road I got a text saying she'd be way late so her parents would meet me for the sale. Yes, I did pull over and stop to read the text! After about 90 minutes of windshield time I arrived at the agreed upon site and bought Rupert. No story behind the name, they just thought he looked like a "Rupert". He came complete with a 17" x 29" x 18" high very nice cage, hide box, play wheel, food & water bowls, a sack of feed & sack of bedding. The bedding is of some shredded paper material dyed gaudy colors which I dislike so I'll use it and gradually switch to another substrate.
I had already decided to pick up my sister's 55 gallon aquarium and stand on the way back from Seminary. That almost turned into a bad idea. Only a true redneck can stuff a hedgehog & cage, 55 gallon aquarium and stand into a Honda CR-V! Ordeal #2 came unloading the cargo. What's that game where you stack all these blocks then take turn removing them until the whole thing collapses? Loading and unloading the car was not dissimilar to that!
I'm not a large man at 5' 9" and around 140 pounds but quite determined at times. Years ago my Dad, older brother and I were up at deer camp in Kilmichael, Ms. moving some junk and ridding the place of rubbish. At one point my brother said, "Look at him. Not an ounce of fat and strong as a damn ox!"
While not heavy a 48" long glass tank and stand to set it atop are quite bulky and unwieldy but God was by my side.
At any rate the tank needs a good washing and the stand needs repainting before coming inside for setup. Ever one to use things for other than intended purposes I set the tank over some grass that's growing in the cracks of my parking slab. The glass will intensify the Sun's rays to bake the grass into oblivion so I needn't spray any herbicide there. I'm still unsure what nights I'll be working or not this week but I'll move the tank every 24 hours or so as I get it cleaned up and the stand repainted. It is of wrought iron so after sanding I'll simply go with basic flat black.
I also picked up a 10 gallon tank while at my step mom's. No idea what I'll use it for presently but sure I'll come up with something quite clever.
No comments:
Post a Comment