as long as there is running water and the windows close, they'll be fine.

Well, and I figure if someone breaks in, they probably break a window or door, and you have to like, board that up or something. Drama and problems.

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{{{{ASKYE}}}} I've never done this, but I saw it on CSI, so it must be true. Sounds like if spawn-dude is there, mix him a drink and squirt visine into it. According to CSI, it gives ya the shits something fierce. It might keep him occupied. What? I'm not bad! I'm just drawn that way.

It seems to be really fashionable to hate LA or to say it’s a terrible place to live, so it’s really nice to hear someone not from here say it could be home, even if it isn’t your first choice.

My family was raised to think LA was "Lousy Angeles". I've found it quite the opposite. It has it's quirks, but so what. I do love the weather. And the easy to find international food flavors. And the Getty!

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I might investigate a kennel. - 10 days is the plan - disaster / delay getting home add 5 days - then think about 10 days in a kennel - to be the over generous friend - and give everyone time to come up with a plan. You might want to let yourself be 'talked into' this plan if things come up

But honestly, it is not likely to happen that the house gets that hurt

Breathe

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Zoo update: we now have 1 mightily freaked-out Guest Cat (who, oddly enough, refuses to hide and is sitting on the comfy chair but keeps yowling and hissing; I left her cat carrier open so that if she needs to retreat into it she can); 2 pissed-off resident cats, who have retreated to either the office or the basement in high dudgeon; 1 basically well-behaved Guest Dog, currently in her crate gnawing on a rawhide chewy; 2 curious but pugnacious resident dogs (who got in a spat while my foot was between them); and 1 VERY confused lizard, who is sitting in a dish of water in a fishtank, with a reptilian expression I can only interpret as OMGWTFFISHTANK?!?

Let the games begin.

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Tep, that's a crappy situation all around. I have nothing further to add but my sympathies.

According to CSI, it gives ya the shits something fierce. It might keep him occupied. What? I'm not bad!

I love omnis. That is all.

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I've never done this, but I saw it on CSI, so it must be true. Sounds like if spawn-dude is there, mix him a drink and squirt visine into it. According to CSI, it gives ya the shits something fierce. It might keep him occupied.

Um, this also sounds like a plot that winds up with a bunch of people in jail for murder.

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Oh. Dear. Those poor animals.

And poor Tep! Wasn't it just a short while ago that you didn't have ANY pets? And now you're practically Dr Doolittle. Wow.

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Home to me is NYC or thereabouts. Part of the reason I chose not to go to grad school in NYC is that it would feel like "going home," and once I was "home," it would seem like I ought to stay there, and I wasn't ready to settle in one place yet.

Erin, on your comments on SatC, I didn't think the Mexico thing was reflecting anything more than that plenty of Americans do get sick from the water there, and Charlotte's the sort to be ultra-super-careful while still trying not to offend, hence the whispering. The "white guy with a baby" thing was pretty much playing into the stereotypes of those neighborhoods -- if you want to find an already-gentrified building in a half-gentrified neighborhood, following a white guy with a baby is probably a decent bet. The baby was as important as the race, if not more. (Baby Bjorns are a pretty good indication of gentrification.) I completely agree with you on Louise, though. That was the best they could do for a black character?

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Wasn't it just a short while ago that you didn't have ANY pets? And now you're practically Dr Doolittle.

Right?!? I love our freak dogs, and Slinky the cat, and of course Toke the cat, who is the feline version of me.

But 2 of each animal (a main animal and a spare?) are enough. Lord.

The iguana *is* nifty looking -- bright green -- and looks like it got lost in the time stream and came out millions of years ahead of where it should have.

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Iguana's are interesting looking - and rather undemanding pets as long as they stay warm enough

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