1 February 05

Ten Things I Did Today

1. Paid the rent.

2. Edited a map of California showing incidence of Toxoplasma gondii in sea otters. This is transmitted to sea otters from cat feces.

3. Updated the media file for the Ventura oil spill.

4. Updated the web site for the Ventura oil spill.

5. Got an oil change (first one) for the car. The connection between this and items 3 and 4 did not go unnoticed.

6. Waited at home for delivery of a new washing machine, the pump on our old one having finally given up.

7. Went out to see if the almond blossoms were ready to paint yet (not quite).

8. Helped the landlord put the washing machine together at 4:45 pm. Had I known this is when the washing machine would get here, I’d have gone to work all afternoon. We chuckled about ineffective box cutters.

9. Wrote three letters in support of a Tibetan prisoner in Szechuan at an Amnesty International Meeting.

10. Wondered how it can possibly be that the United States can still countenance the death penalty. It’s assumed to be normal, like having university students parade around in military gear on Wednesday afternoons. (It’s not normal.)

Posted by at 07:37 PM in Miscellaneous | Link |
  1. ”... transmitted to sea otters from cat feces”

    Well, I have cats, but I guess I’m too much of a city slicker to understand this vector of transmission.

    Are you saying I should stop cleaning the litterbox in the ocean?



    — Jarrett    1. February 2005, 21:49    Link
  2. No, but you should probably not put cat poo into the toilet… if that’s something you do.

    (The organism gets taken up by bivalves which are then eaten by otters.)

    — Pica    2. February 2005, 04:56    Link
  3. By the way, I’ve wanted to forward this link to you both for a long time… thought it might help with your online research:

    NHBS Environmental Bookstore:
    www dot nhbs dot com

    It is one of the most comprehensive nature resource pages I’ve ever found. Do you know of it?

    — butuki    2. February 2005, 13:30    Link
  4. OH my gosh I am hurting sea otters by tossing cat poop in the toilet? How come the organism doesn’t get filtered out when they do all that other filtering they do with sewage?

    Or am I missing a bigger picture.
    Guess I’ll start using a plastic bag and tossing it in the garbage? Or is that just as worrisome?


    — Susurra    2. February 2005, 14:03    Link
  5. Eleanor would be so proud! (Roosevelt, not Aquitaine.)

    — Doc Rock    2. February 2005, 17:28    Link
  6. Susurra, I believe the plastic bag in the garbage is the correct method now, unless you have land on which to compost it. Though I didn’t realize it was because of otters. In fact, it never occurred to me to put cat poop in the toilet. Gross …

    — Jarrett    2. February 2005, 17:33    Link
  7. I’m not sure why cat poop in the toilet is more gross than people poop, but this might not be a conversation for this gentle blog. :)
    Looking forward to seeing those almond blossom sketches/painting when you do them!

    — susurra    3. February 2005, 09:28    Link
  8. 3. Updated the media file for the Ventura oil spill.

    4. Updated the web site for the Ventura oil spill.

    Which media file, and which website? I have been looking for sites that might contain updated information about that event….

    — ezila    16. February 2005, 11:18    Link

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