(no subject)

I had a splendid evening out, nominally at "Artsy Fartsy Night" but really, I spent my time complementing other peoples' work, eating pancakes and syrup, and being part of a massage conga. I felt like a bit of a slug, after, but much less tense in the back, thank you halfwitted & Geldof!...

The rest of the day wasn't what I'd call splendid, it was spent in an all-day server release session with my supervisor, which was at least quite productive for both of us.

A set of grant applications for next year can now be submitted in good faith, since we've deployed the spiffy linux front-ends to suppliment the scruffy solaris machines currently used by students. Well, at least they're in beta-testing now (dang they're fast, too; I stress-tested the hell out of one, and it was very comfortable running twenty users with KDE or Gnome, a reasonable number of apps, and it had 5 of 8GB of memory free. Any one of the connections acted just like a local desktop). And we have an install script to boostrap the (rather complex) maintenance system all our servers use. Er, mostly finished in beta.

Boy meets Marsupial

( A marsupial )

My morning's been like something out of Monty Python. Rover the wonder-dog started barking while she was outside. This time it wasn't a cat, it was the oppossum I suspected was living under our house.

I called a pest removal company (AAA Wildlife Control). But their agent, who wasn't just a receptionist, and sure sounded like she knew her wild animals, basically convinced me that we may have scared it away for good already. She reassured me that there aren't any baby oppossums back at the nest (they're marsupial, and it's too early in the season for babies, and besides they'd stay in the mother's pouch for a while), and while they sometimes nest in groups for warmth, it's likely that there aren't any others under the house either.

And, if it turns up again, the company will happily handle removal and install a chicken-wire barrier to keep it out.

I asked whether they release animals out into the countryside. She said by law, they're not allowed to put them into a different habitat, so they release them elsewhere in the same habitat. (What exactly does that mean? The 'possum halfway house in my neighbourhood?) So that solution isn't so much different than if Rover convinced it our house isn't the right place to live. I guess Rover earned her kibble this morning.

Isn't it a weird looking beastie?

Possum? Hah.

Someone sent me this, as per Problems with yard pests.

For the record, I'd like to say I'm happy we don't live in a more rural area. ;)