Otaku Died Yesterday

This Picture was taken a few hours before Otaku died. (Bear is the dark one above. Otaku is in the middle on his back. Pip is lower left.)

When I went into the office to check on Otaku yesterday evening, he was stretched out of his back, asleep. Pip and Bear were both curled around him almost protectively. It was very sweet.
I wondered if Otaku was just asleep or if he had died. I called Andrew to see Pip and Bear before I woke them up. Andrew could tell just by looking at him; Otaku was dead. His body was cold and stiff. Pip and Bear were trying to keep him warm, but his body was cold, all but one little spot where they had managed to keep it warm. Our old friend had slipped away in his sleep. Andrew wrapped Otaku in a little towel  and laid him in a shoe box. Then he added a soft peace of the fleecy blanket material that Otaku always loved to chew along with a sponge and a washcloth (Otaku loved to steel sponges and wash clothes chew them. We used to find stashes of them.). I stood by blubbering, all tears and snot. Andrew buried the box in the back yard next to the snow ball bush.

Death

Our old fat ferret is dying. Otaku is eight or nine years old. For a ferret that's like being over a hundred. He's had cancer for a while and he's been sleeping more and more, but he's been happy and willing to make trouble especially when he has a had a bath. He was up and about yesterday and scrambling around the office doing ferret things. Today when I picked him up to cuddle him, all his feet were cold and he would hardly wake up even for a bath. We had to hold is head up for him to keep it out of the water for most of the bath, and he didn't get riled up to dry off. If he makes it though night we're going to take him to the vet tomorrow for a peaceful goodbye. He's had a very good life, but I'm not going to lie I'm still crying.

Goodbye to Toothless

A couple of weeks ago Andrew got in a car accident. All stories match and both insurance companies agree, it was the other guy's fault.

Andrew and I were in Salem because I had an interview and Andrew went with me to be moral support.  While I was in the interview Andrew went to a T-mobile store. He was on his way back when he got in the accident. He was driving past a shopping center in a 35mph zone with two lanes each way. Andrew was in the middle lane.The SUV next to him turned right into the shopping center ,and a mini van took the opportunity to turn left out of the shopping center. The mini van driver should have made sure there wasn't a car in that blind spot behind the SUV, but it really was exceptionally bad timing. The mini van couldn't see Andrew because of the SUV and Andrew couldn't see the mini van. For Andrew, the end result was that a mini van appeared magically on the road from nowhere about ten feet in front him. 

Andrew has incredible reflexes. It serves him well. There was no one in the oncoming lane, and he had the presence of mind to swerve into it while breaking (instead of merely locking up the breaks like I probably would have done.) As a result Andrew and Toothless (Toothless was a 2002 Ford Taurus) didn't T-bone the mini van. Instead, the nose of the mini van hit Toothless in the passenger side headlight and slid down the side of the car denting everything in its path. 

Thanks to Andrew's quick thinking, the people involved were not severely damaged.  Andrew is seeing a chiropractor for his neck and had to miss a day of work, but it could have been much worse. I imagine the mini van driver is in similar shape. The cars are another matter. 

The body damage was too much for Toothless. The Insurance company counted the car a Total Loss and we should be getting some money next week that will be enough to buy something comparable. Poor Toothless. He died heroically. He will likely be reborn as something with a salvage title or maybe he will donate his organs and become part of many cars. Maybe he will be reborn as dishwasher. 

I'm hoping we can claim compensation for the missed day of work and maybe some of the time spent recovering from a neck injury that would have been spent having fun or working on the house. That would be nice. By the way, did you know that it's actually a good thing to brace yourself for impact when you're in a car accident? So says the chiropractor that Andrew saw. Evidently the idea that it's better to be relaxed on impact is a misconception. Being braced protects your joints. Who knew? Not me. 

The FE

Practice Problems With My Favorite Pen

Did I mention that I've been studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (FE)? The FE is a certification exam. If you pass it, you can be registered as an Engineer In Training, an Engineering Intern or Intern Engineer. It all means the same thing, but different states use different titles to keep it interesting.
I guess some people find the term Engineer in Training to be confusing because it sounds like the Engineer is not yet an Engineer. Personally I think engineer in training sounds like a training bra... Anyway an EIT/EI/IE is an engineer, just not a certified Professional Engineer (PE). You have to work as an engineer for several years and take yet another exam to become a PE. A PE is the person who signs off on/ takes responsibility for the quality of work on a project. So if the bridge falls down... the PE is the  one responsible. I'm not likely to be designing any bridges as I'm in environmental engineering not civil, but you get the idea.

Passing the FE is a step along the road to becoming a PE. It's a six hour exam with a 25 minute break in the middle. There are a limited selection of calculators that you are allowed to use. You can bring in cough drops, but they must be unwrapped prior to entering the testing room. You may not bring in scratch paper or a pen. The staff at the testing center give you a grease pencil and a reusable pad of laminated paper stuff with which to do all your scribbling. I took it on Friday Nov. 20th.

My Study Buddy

I got my results yesterday; I passed!  What joy! No more studying for that! Now I can apply to all the jobs that want an EIT/EI/IE whatever they want to call it.

Michelle's Visit

Michelle came to visit us at our house in Newberg. Due to her miscommunication between Andrew and me about timing, her visit lined up with the week before I took the FE. So, I was stressed out for most of it. Michelle made things way easier for me by having Buddy sleep with her a couple nights so that he wouldn't wake me up.

Michelle Looking Cool In Goodwill

Me, Looking Frazzled In Goodwill

Michelle and I did some paintings.

Michelle's Painting

My Painting

Michelle and Andrew made end-grain cutting boards. I was off studying so I only participated through these pictures that Andrew took and by occasionally admiring their progress.

Michelle Using The Table Saw

Michelle Sanding A Cutting Board

Finishing The Cutting Boards With Mineral Oil And Bee's Wax

The Cutting Boards Wrapped Up To Fly Back To California

Buddy Is Sad That Michelle Went Home