Monday, April 23, 2012

Blah

I am tired.  With this being my second day off from work in a row (never happens!), I decided I needed to work on some chin stuff.  So, I went downstairs, cut, sanded, glued, and rubberbanded maybe 5 hidey houses.  Cut and sanded another 3 more. 

Got an email mid-day about one of our adoptive homes wanting to bring back two of the three rats they'd adopted.  Apparently when they tried to introduce the rats to the cats (which I will not comment on), two of the rats went ballistic and started biting the owners and all.  So, we have Cody and Jack back at the rescue.  Sweet boys, no bites for me as I set up their cage and gave them food and all. 

Washed a TON of stuff that was in my "wash" pile from the basement.  Starting to be able to see the bottom - there's a large tub there, the drying racks we use for dying wood, like 4 cat carriers, a 10g tank with random crap in it... I could go on.  But I'm getting there! 

Didn't work on mending the cages today, by the time I got the hidey houses done, it was already way too late, but maybe tomorrow.  They seem to be coming along great, we'll just have to see how well the cold weld holds once shelves are actually put in the cage.  That will be the real test.

Almost out of wood, so I'll have to pick up some tomorrow after work, so I can continue to build the hidey houses for the expo and work on toys and stuff as well.  My pile of scrap wood is growing, just gotta take some time to actually cut it down and sand it and make toys and all. 

Packaged up an order for a porthole hidey house back from the 8th (whoops!).  Dunno how I forgot about that one.  Also have a custom order for  hay holder and an order for a value pack, but for the value pack, I'm waiting to hear back which toy the people want.

As for the chins... I had people interested in Moch & Mycha and Willow, Lexi, and Jordyn.... but I haven't heard from either home for about a week now, so I sent them out the week emails saying "if I don't hear from you by such and such" date.  I hope I do hear back, cause both of them seemed like good homes.  I realize not everyone is online 24/7, but I feel like if you're discussing adopting a pet, it would be wise of you to check every so often to see if you have a message about it.  Ah well.  Hopefully I'll hear from one of them.

In the meantime, all the pets are doing fine.  This week we have red romaine and baby carrots, which the g-pigs and the rabbit are devouring.  My dad keeps saying the lettuce is going to go to waste, but if he saw how they eat it, it'll be gone in another day or so.  And it's less than $2 anyway, even if a tiny piece did go bad... course, he would say "well if it was your $2....."  Lol.  But he offers to get it when he goes to get groceries.  And it never goes to waste cause the g-pigs and rabbit are all pigs. 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Patience - not a virtue I have

So, with the rescues we have, since our phone number is on the ads, we often get texts about the pets.  That's fine.  While I can't say that texts have led to a ton of adoptions, they can't hurt.  But sometimes, texts, coupled with my short tolerance for stupid people who don't read, turns out bad. 

Our ads say, "You can email us at amgajda@sbcglobal.net or call 219-789-0026 for more information or if you have any questions."  The key there is "for more information."   I do not feel like I should have to regurgitate the ad for you. 

So today... here's how the texting goes:

THEM:  I am interested in your rabbits
ME: Ok.  We only have the one right now, the tri-color female, Cadbury
THEM: Will you send me a picture
ME: *sends picture*
THEM: How much?
ME: Her adoption fee is $20.  She comes with 5 pounds of food, a toss toy, and a booklet rabbit care packet.  If you're interested in her, you will need to read our rabbit care packet and fill out an adoption form.  I can email those to you.
THEM:  Ok.
ME:  So if you let me know your email address I can get those to you.
THEM:  Is she a 4h rabbit?
ME: I have no idea.  She was dropped off at the rescue and the people didn't know much about her background
HER:  Ok, I'll tell it to you tomorrow.

Now, what does that sound like?  Oh yeah, me repeating like 90% of the ad.   In fact, the only thing in the texts that was NOT in the ad was the question about the 4H part.  I have no problem when people text wanting more information.  My gripe is when people see an ad, don't even read the darn thing, and text wanting me to repeat the entire thing.  I have a life, two jobs, and the rescue to run -- I feel like, if these people can't even read the ad for the basic information before they text me wanting to know things NOT COVERED by the ad... well, they're clearly not genuises.

/end rant.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

...and almost forgot

So, now that I have a few days off from grad school where I can think about things other than class, I finally got around to ordering some urns for when our chins pass away.  Not to be morbid or anything, but some of the favorites are getting up there in years, or are within a few years of hitting double digits, and I'd rather just be prepared ahead of time.  So ashestoashes.com has a ton of nice little urns for pets, and we'd already ordered a little plaque from there for when Cinder passed away... so I ordered like 6 urns and a plaque for JuneBug.

Thought about ordering one of the little stands/bases for the urns, but the prices are a bit more than I'd like to spend.  I figure, I have the little plaque that says the name and all - I can take a piece of a 4x4, cut it to the size I want, sand it down, spray paint it black, stick the plaque to the front of it, and sit the urn on top.  And voila! instant base.... without spending $35-50 per base.  So that'll surely be on my to-do list for some time to come, but eventually it'll get done. 

And right now, JuneBug's ashes are still in the white plastic container thing the crematory gave me, once the urns get in, I can actually put hers in one of them.  :)

Busy busy busy!

I don't know where the time's gone!  It seems like it was just the beginning of April and here it is almost the end!  Well, lots has happened.

First, we got in three rescue chinchillas - Willow (beige), Jordyn (std), and Lexi (std).  They are such sweeties.  Jordyn and Lexi are Willow's babies so it's like the whole family is together.  They've been out for playtime several times and really have enjoyed it.  Will definitely have to bring the camera down there for the next time.

Found out from Frito's new home that he broke his leg.  Wonder how that happened, but regardless, poor thing, so we're hoping that he has a quick recovery!

I suppose maybe the most interesting thing that's happened so far this month is we decided to add to our own pet family - 3 guinea pigs!  These are really my mom's g-pigs, but we all know who will be feeding them and all.  They're adorable, though they're still all scared of us.  But they sure know me when I have the leafy greens!  Going to make them a C&C cage when I get some spare time.

Also got in two male chins - Kicomo and Kocomo - at the rescue.  Very sweet chins, already had some of our adoptive homes saying they wanted to "trade in" their chins for these two, haha.  Nice boys, very sweet.  LOVE their flying saucer.

So, we adopted out Foofy (grey male lionhead rabbit), always a good thing.  He was adopted out to one of our previous adoptive homes -- they already have one of our rescue chinchillas, Chi-Chi (previously known as Wildwoman lol).  So I know they'll be a good home and spoil Foofy to death.

So, that brings us about up to speed.  Had a lot of interest in the chins and rescues lately... talking to someone about the female trio, talking to someone else about Moch and Mycha, had a few people call about Cadbury, and as with everything, just waiting to hear back from all of these people!  None of the chins are ready to go right now (Cadbury and the gerbils are the only animals currently ready to go), but I still like for the future-adoptive homes to keep in touch until they actually take their pets home.

Since Foofy was adopted, I was able to clear off part of my work-station table.  Moved Cadbury to Foofy's spot, and the g-pigs to Cadbury's table.  That gives me a little room to work on orders and stuff.

Been trying to organize like nuts over the last day or so.  There are way too many paper-ream boxes down there that weren't labeled, so I went and labeled them all, so no more opening up boxes to see what's in them.

Some of the cages we recently got in with chins have a lot of broken bars, so I've been working on that as well.  One is a Critter Nation and the other is one of those purple/black cages that we sell.  Well, I bought some... I'm not sure what it's called, but it's like liquid steel and hardener that you mix together and it's supposed to be "the best cold weld available" or something of the sort.  So, it's gray, not the color of the cages at all, but if I can fix the bars, at least the purple/black cage can be sold as used, the other one can go with the girls if their new home needs a cage, otherwise it can stay here.  Though, with that one, even if I get all the bars fixed, I may have to attempt to put up shelves and have chins in that cage for a period of time before I let that cage go anywhere, cause I would hate to adopt out chins with a cage and have the whole cage fall apart on the new home.  So we'll have to see how that goes.

Theodore's not doing so hot.  The URI isn't clearing up, and he's sleeping like 24/7.  The vet thinks it may just be his time to go (he is like 3 years old, after all) so we'll see how he does in the next few days.

On a happier note, our other sanctuary rescue, Aries (white dwarf hamster) appears to be doing good.  Had to clean a little gunk out of one of his ears today, but other than that, he's taking his meds good, and still active and definitely chowing down on his treats.  Also gnawing the life out of the gloves I pick him up with, but at least it's the gloves and not my hand!

Been trying to do a better job keeping up with orders lately.  Seems the second I get a batch sent out, I get more.  And I'm not complaining, by any means, but I'm also trying to build things to take with me to the Lake County Pet Expo next month so I can't be selling every last item I make.  I'm going to have to start putting things aside specifically for the expo so that I have stuff made when the time comes.

Been trying to go through the pile of stuff that needs to be washed.  We have a gazillion water bottles and spare this and spare that, and it's like if only I knew what we had... so today I brought up a ton of stuff to wash.  So far got some water bottles, food bowls, the two rabbit litter pans, and some misc. stuff washed, and there's still several of those plastic dust houses, random tupperware-type containers, and who-knows-what-else in that pile.  Several carriers, that's for sure.  Eventually it'll all get washed and the pile will go down to a reasonable size.

Oh, and today, Ghost's new family came over.  They wanted to pick up the supplies so they could get his cage ready and everything all set for him ahead of time.  They're going to come pick him up when they finish remodeling the room that he's going to be in.  So they came over today, and they were over several times before to volunteer and stuff, so today I needed help moving cages and giving one of our chins some medication, so they helped with that, so that was awesome.  Really helped me get those few things done a lot faster than I would have been able to otherwise.  


Friday, April 6, 2012

...and the bad news (and some more good news)

So... we got in a rat, Theodore... he has a sinus infection.  So he is being treated with antibiotics, but I can't say he's happy about it.  And when his previous family said he bites...yeah, he bites.  Owch.

On top of that, on the forum (CnH) there was someone asking if there were any rescues near Indianapolis and so I PMed her and said we're a few hours away.  Well, apparently some people on the forum (who should be happy that I won't name them in this blog) had already told this lady -- hey, don't give your chins to that rescue, she takes rescues and breeds them.  Really?  This is a new one to me.

So of course, it's not true.  But that doesn't mean it didn't get me riled up.  The lady (with the chins needing to come to a rescue) actually had called me cause she said she looked at my website and thought it was odd that I had all these great guestbook signatures and great testimonials and all, yet this other person was saying I was like scum.  So she called to make up her own decision.  After talking to her, she decided that we do not, in fact, breed rescues (thank you for someone not believing everything they hear) and she said we would set a time to bring them over.

I did private message the person who was going around spreading these lies.  I simply asked where she had heard that and said that I wanted to set it straight that we do not breed rescues and such.  Of course, she never messaged me back.  No, that would be too civil of her.  And as a "buddy," I know she has been on the forum since that day and has seen my post and all.

Well, today, (I suppose this is good news), the people with the rescue chins came over and dropped them off here (without telling that other person until after the chins were here).  The people dropping off the chins were very nice.  I felt bad cause the kids were crying and the mom started tearing up... it's sad when people have to leave their pets.  And you could tell they really cared for them.  They did post on the forum after they dropped the chins off here (I'm not sure how readable this is going to be):


 ...and I thought that was nice of her.  So I got the chins settled in in one of our empty FN's and I put together their CN after they left.  I have to say, I like the way the old-fashioned FN's go together, with the screws.  I wasn't loving the way the new FNs/CN just sort of slide together in various places.  Like for example, the top piece of the cage has two prongs on each corner that slide down into the corners... yeah, not so much.  I had two metal cable ties that I used on the front two corners, and I will need to go buy a few more so I can cable tie the back two corners down as well.  I don't trust creative chins trying to get the top off of their cage.  Other than that, the cage went together pretty easily... considering it was just me, and I guess I'm getting used to putting everything together myself.

Got the cage together, and started checking for the broken bars that I was warned about.  Found a decent number of them, clipped them all with neon clothespins so I can find them later. I bought this liquid steel thing that's supposed to be almost like welding except... not.  So I think this will be a good place to try it on.  We'll see how it goes, I supposed I can't mess it up any more than it already is.  Didn't have a chance to look through the stuff the people left with the chins yet, as they'll still be in the FN at least for a few more days until I have a chance to work with the CN, but it definitely looks like they had the girls spoiled while they were in their care.

So... realized at about 10 pm that I did not have my stuff ready to go for Storm's pickup tomorrow, so I had to rush and cut the wood and put together a hidey house (I know, I know, waaaay too last minute for a hidey house, it's gotta dry) and cut the wood and put together shelves and a cage.  I didn't know if they wanted the cage set up or not, cause I forgot to ask, so I set it up... I figure if they don't want it set up, it'll only take a few mins to take apart, so no biggie.  And she wanted a hammock and water bottle and several other things, so I got that all ready.  She's coming tomorrow right around when I get home from work, and I think *fingers crossed* everything is ready now..

Oh!  And we added some new permanent-resident members to our family - three guinea pigs.  A brown and caramel abyssian male named Hershey, and two females (not yet named).  They will eventually have a C&C cage, well, maybe a C&metal-pan cage (just not feeling the chloroplast) and I'll surely have to build a stand for that... but that time will come closer to back to school time when those Cube things are on sale.  Right now, they're in the biggest rabbit cages we have, which are pretty large, they'd be like almost 2x5 cubes, so decent sizes.  But their future cage (as seen in my head, haha) will be nice.  I'll have to ask Bass how deep they can make pans, cause I think I could use more than just the usual 2".

Then, we had someone call today about the Luna and Darth (gerbils).  Sounded good until they asked how far we were from Cincinnati (OH).  About 4ish hours?  So they called back and said sure they'd make the trip and then start talking about how it'd be 2 hours to get here... and I was like wait, no, there's no way they could get here in two hours.  So, somehow they thought I said Muncie, even though I clearly said we're in the northwest corner of the state (and Muncie is, in no stretch of the imagination, in the northwest corner of the state).  So they thought that when I said 4 hours, I meant roundtrip.  Really?  Interesting, cause when someone asks me how long it takes me to get to my mailbox, I don't say, 5 minutes... oh, well roundtrip.  But anyway, I don't see them driving 4+ hours for gerbils, so I don't anticipate hearing from them again.

But... been playing phone tag with someone else.  Someone in Valpo is selling a cage that seems rather large... who knows how well this lady's measuring skills are, but she says 5' long, 3' deep, and 5' high.  Sounds like a Marshall Mansion to me.  Can't say I'm in love with them, but for the right price... and she said she would lower the price cause we're a rescue (she originally called me and left a message).  So I called her back, got her voicemail and I asked what the price was, the condition of the cage, where she was, and all that.  Found out, she called back while I was at work and left a message which said - she's in Valpo, cage only had two chins in it, no rust, pretty much new, and they would reduce it to $50 for us.  Sounds good!  So I called back, got the voicemail (I said we were playing tag, eh?) and told her that it sounded good to me, but I just wondered if the cage folded up, because even though we have my blazer, it probably couldn't fit something like that inside.  And I asked if she could wait until Monday cause Monday I'll be at the law office, and Hobart is in the direction of Valpo, so it's not like I'd just be driving all the way out there for the heck of it.  So hopefully she'll call back tomorrow.

And I think that's it!  It's been a busy few days.    Ok, one more thing.  Had someone call about Delilah right the day when she was adopted, so I called the guy back and told him about Moch and Mycha, who we just got in, but have the same Delilah-type personality, and so he said he wanted to fill out an application for them.  So, as luck would have it, we've been having problems with our AT&T triple play thing, so we had no internet last night, so I wasn't able to email him the forms until today.  While I was at work today, he called to say that he hadn't gotten the forms - good sign!  He definitely seems interested!  So I emailed him the forms today when I got home... hopefully he will get them and this will turn out good.  :)

Since I got in Willow, Jordyn, and Lexi (the three from the whole CnH mess) today, and I had someone on my list looking for a young pair, I emailed them asking if they might have any interest in this trio.  So we will see. 

Quick update from the last few days

So the last few days, I felt like I was swamped with chin orders.  Not that I don't love ya all, but man, people sure know how to all email me the same day wanting tons of stuff.... and then email me the next day asking if it was shipped out yet.  Uh... not quite.  But today, I did ship out quite a few packages. 

Waiting to hear back on several shipping quotes.  I hate giving out shipping quotes, in a way, because I'd almost rather have the person tell me how much they are willing to pay for shipping.  For example, I had someone want to know shipping for two 12" shelves, a circular perch, and a cottage hidey house.  I believe I quoted them like $13 for shipping, as the box is like 8 lbs or so.  Well, it's only been a day or so, so not long... but a lot of people will simply never email back if the shipping isn't to their liking.  I'd rather have someone be like, ok well I only want this if it's going to cost me $5 to ship, cause then I don't have to go through the hassle of getting everything together, getting a box, weighing it, and so on and so forth. 

Like the other day, I had someone email wanting to know why our cages aren't on the webstore.  The short answer is because the webstore makes me set a flat rate shipping price for everything.  So if I charge $10 shipping and you're in California.... I may lose like $10 when shipping is actually $20.  Not to mention, the cages are heavy.  So it turns out, she's interested in the large cage with shelves, and she's... across the country.  So, to weigh this, I need to actually cut the shelves, baggie up the hardware (since that add significantly to the weight), throw that in the cage box and put it all on the scale.  And well, it might just weigh enough that I might have to hop on the scale with and without the box to see the weight.  And in the end... she may decide she doesn't want it cause shipping's too much.  Which is fine, but a lot of times, if people were to tell me they will only pay if shipping is under "x", well, by now I have an idea how much certain things cost to ship, so I could tell them from the start, hey, just not gonna happen.

Ok, but onto good things.  First, things first, Buttons went home!  Buttons was our long haired black female lionhead rabbit.  She went to the sweetest lady who's dad had built her rabbit condos.  She was saying she liked our male too (separately, of course, she had two rabbits once, and two rabbit condos), so I have my fingers crossed that she may come back for him.

Picture of Buttons and her new "mom," Karen:



2nd good thing - Gigi went home!  Her previous home gave her cage with her for her new home, and per the new home's instructions, we revamped her cage (a 1-story FN) so that it had more shelves and more chew-things for Gigi.  Just today I emailed Gigi's new mom the email/phone of the previous home, and vice versa.  With Gigi, the adoption was dependent on the fact that the new home had to keep in touch somewhat with the previous home.  That's becoming more common (at least here) than it once was (that people want that).  Maybe people just didn't think to ask for it before.  But anyway, here's a pic of Gigi with her new family members Zach and Jennifer:






And a picture of Gigi's revised cage with some shelving, one of our hidey houses, some hanging chew toys, and one of our hammocks:



And last good thing, Daisy and Delilah went to a great home!  Daisy and Delilah were some of the chins brought in by a girl with some medical problems.  Their cagemates, Kona and Pompeii, already found a home and now it was these girls' turn.  I'm sure they will be cared for very well.  Here they are with their new family members, (from left to right), Jeremy, Robert, and Layla (Daisy on left, Delilah on right).