Adventures on the CTA: Free Coffee!

Yesterday when I got on the bus, I was the only one on it. The bus driver said that she was at the stop early and we had to wait a few minutes. Since we were outside of the 7-11, and since it was nothing degrees F outside, she went in for some coffee. And she gave me a coupon for a free coffee!!

That totally made my day.

Today I brought some of Brew 28 to the Superbowl party. Everyone really liked the beer. The first five minutes of the game was really good too.

Spiders on the Train!

Normal people, when they go shopping, end up buying shoes or gadgets or cars. Today I bought a tarantula. She's a Pinktoe (Avicularia avicularia) from the look of her, but then she is only six to eight months old. She could turn out to be a he, or she could also turn out to be a Peruvian Pinktoe (Avicularia urticans). Time will tell.

In any event, she's beautiful. Here's a picture:

The photo really does not do justice to the colors. Her abdomen is a reddish purple, her carapace is has a blue metallic tint. And of course, she has pink toes.

One of the attractions of this species is that they are very docile. None of the other four spiders in my collection are handleable, so it's nice to have one that I can bring out. I've also been wanting to learn a few techniques for picking up a tarantula that would work on even more aggressive species, but you need to practice on one that's more compliant. I hope she doesn't mind.

The guy working at the petstore was not too happy when I wanted to look at her. He got the kind of look... well, okay, he got the kind of look most people, including many of my dear friends and family reading this, would get if someone asked them to hold a "giant" spider. (Come on, she's only the size of two quarters end to end. Let me go to my room and get you a real giant spider....) The lady behind the counter who carried herself as a proprietor would had to get it out for him.

Of course, I took her on the train home. This time is was the metra. No constipated people yelling "Yummy yummy!" today. I had to put her in my coat sleeve, a trick I learned from Mrs. Snake the last time I had an adventure in animal transport. Note: she was in a "to-go"-like container. I don't think I would keep a loose spider in my sleeve. Not that I would mind the spider, it's just that it would get out.

She does seem docile when I held her; but she did one surprising thing. Most tarantulas, when they get to the end of your hand, turn around and try the other direction, or else they feel over the edge until they find your other hand waiting for them. This one jumped! Very luckily, I caught her. Definitely will want to keep her over the wood floor or a blanket next time I take her out.

If there is a next time.... One problem is that I have actually managed to develop an allergy to certain kinds of spiders...! I hope she is not one of them.

Adventures on the CTA: Snakes on the Train!

I got a new pet yesterday!

Her name is "Mrs. Snake", a seven year old albino corn snake. She is about four feet long, and likes to be worn around people's necks.

I got her from a friend Sylvia who lives in town. I had brought a pillowcase in which to transport her, but Mrs. Snake had climbed into my my shirt when it was time to leave, so I just put on my jacket and headed back to the El.

Walking over to the train, Mrs. Snake started to wonder what was up, so she climbed into my coat sleeve and poked her head out to investigate. It was chilly out, so she didn't to much more than that. I made her go back in when I got on the El, since I wasn't sure what the CTA people would have to say about this. (I did see a guy wearing a ferret in his jacket before, though....)

On the car were a bunch of girls all talking simultaneously on their cell phones, a few people heading back from a late night at work, and some vaguely european-looking guy staring across the car yelling "yummy! yummy!" like he was constipated. (No, I don't know what yelling constipated people sound like. But if you were to tell me that he was constipated, and that that was why he was yelling "yummy! yummy!" on the train, I would admit that this is how I would expect such a person to sound.) The girls on their cell phones would glance his way periodically to make sure that he was content to stay in his own seat while yelling "yummy yummy".

I started to wonder what would happen if Mrs. Snake chose that particular moment to become curious of her surroundings. I decided it would be best not to find out, and made sure she stayed in my coat sleeve for the rest of the ride home. But imagining the scene was a lot of fun.

For her cage, I repaired the cage that G'Kar used to have (G'Kar was my old corn snake, who escaped during my move to Chicago, and is probably now in the sewers, and will grow to be 100 feet long and start eating tourists in Lincoln Park) with the help of some Gorilla Glue ("The strongest glue on the planet!"), and put in some coconut shavings as substrate. She seemed to like the coconut substrate, and burrowed into in almost immediately. I was glad to see that; I want her to like her new home.

Adventures on the CTA #1 -- We're All Friends Here

I love riding the CTA. It's a lot cheaper than owning a car, and you get to see all kinds of strange things. Today, when I got on the Red Line and sat down, and a woman next to me said "You know, I've must have seen you on the train at least 4 times. I figure I should introduce myself. My name is V---." The funny thing is, just a few days ago I had been thinking about how someone said of New York City that you will walk by all kinds of people who you have never seen before, and would never see again. I guess Chicago is not New York.