It's Happening!

Our first Christmas we made "gingerbread" houses (and they sit atop our fridge today).

Towards the end of last year, one of D's former coworkers asks if he's interested in hearing about a possible position working on his team for an upcoming project. D says sure, why not, he likes working with this guy, he's very capable, trustworthy, and nice, and it doesn't hurt to hear him out. I sit in on the call talking about the possible opportunity and what it's like working and living in the area. It sounds promising. We both want to learn more. Next meeting is with someone even higher up the ladder giving more information, answering questions, and seeing if D is interested in setting up an interview. Yes it sounds interesting, might as well try and see what happens. We've been out here five years and plan to reevaluate our career plans anyway. Maybe this is what we need?

We enjoyed lemonade from this tree for a few years when my parents visited baby bro's apartment.

A pelican flew into me at the tide pools that day.

Sea grass at Cabrillo Beach tide pools.

Lion's mane nudibranch at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.

The first interview is one-on-one with the same person D already spoke with. It goes well and he says they'll set up the second interview with a larger group. While waiting, an HR rep gets in touch asking how D is feeling, seeing if he has any questions about the process, and very general things like that. D learns he has to create a written sample to submit before the second interview. Of course while all this is going on D is still fully employed and overly busy with his own projects at work. On top of that he's a reviewer for a bunch of submissions. The same week he has to do the writing prompt is the week he has to read all the submissions, type up comments, and rate them by the color-coding system deciding which submissions advance to the next round for consideration. After working on these submissions he completes his writing sample and waits a few more days for the big interview.

Butterfly at Solstice Canyon

Frogs at Solstice Canyon

Tumbleweed at Cheeseboro Canyon for Valentine's Day.

Of course we're not idle during all this waiting. For two months now we've been intermittently discussing our future. We talk about what moving might mean in terms of how we get everything and everyone from here to there, as well as everything we'd leave behind. How will moving the lizards and plants go? How do we apartment hunt during a pandemic when our apartment/home office/lab isn't in any shape for a pet sitter, plus we're not vaccinated? How will the climate differ and what does that mean for us and for our lizard babies. We didn't get to visit Joshua Tree NP since the pandemic prevented us making those plans last year. We love Magic Mountain, Fright Fest, Halloween Horror Nights, we didn't get to see Knott's Berry Farm at Halloween. We also still want to see what Disneyland Trick-or-Treating is like. I'll miss my boat friends and getting to sail. We wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving at Sequoia NP again and missed out due to the virus. We'd be leaving driving distance of San Diego, Death Valley, and Las Vegas. We won't have Hollywood and its endless entertainment options around the corner. There's no In-N-Out. We'd have to find a new vet and a new pet sitter. We might need a huge supply of light therapy lamps to prevent SAD.

Drinking giraffe at LA Zoo.

Hummingbird nest at LA Zoo.

Jaguar at LA Zoo.

On the other hand we won't have scorching summers. We won't have two springs where we can't open windows because the bougainvillea bushes outside are trying to kill me. We might see snow. There are new beaches with tide pools to explore not too far away. There might be a tall ship to volunteer with. We'll experience seasons and precipitation. Yes there are still wildfires, also earthquakes, and added volcanoes, but we can check the hazard maps and try to live in a safe zone. Housing is less expensive; we might be able to own a home and have a little patch of yard to call our own. There are so many opportunities for hiking. We'll be closer to Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, the redwoods, Crater Lake, Canada. There is that museum we'd love to see again. Lots of great food to explore. The public transportation seems pretty good. Traffic in general should be better. We could really use a fresh start.

Death Valley

D got to meet the real BB-8 at work.

Bug Fair at the Natural History Museum for my birthday.

We love the LA area and all it offers, and D has amazing coworkers and gets to work on really neat projects at a place whose name carries a little awe with it. This other company generally has a pretty negative reputation despite its massive success and popularity. D's former coworker sings its praises, though, and we trust him to be honest to us. His work-life balance improved since moving. The company and particularly this group of people are a good bunch to work with. He loves kayaking in his free time. D could really use a better work-life balance. All those interesting projects and all the extra unrelated tasks take up so much mental bandwidth that by the end of the day/week there's no energy left to paint his minis. We start talking numbers and come up with an idea of what the offer needs to be in order for it to be worth the trouble of leaving his current job and moving our lives a thousand miles north.

Magic Mountain with my family.

Super excited about Space Shuttle Endeavor!

San Diego Zoo with my little brother's family and our cousins.

Disneyland with our Besties!

The morning of his big interview I ask him, "Are you wearing that shirt for the interview?" and we get him sorted out with a nice gray button down to replace his black t-shirt. I head to bed after pulling an all-nighter, and let him sit down to six hours of interviews. I wake up and get in the shower between two afternoon interviews and overhear a little of the HR conversation as I start my day. He's unsure how it all went, thinks the morning was weaker than the afternoon. We'll hear back sometime early next week hopefully.

That time we named all the CalTech turtles.

Our first fence lizard!

Checking out La Brea on a hot day.

Through all the meetings and discussions D realizes that while he was interviewing for one position, they were possibly considering him for an even higher one (or a lower one if he performed poorly enough, but not bad enough to lose the offer completely). If he gets the higher position he won't have to be concerned with trying to get a promotion, which sounds like a complicated process at this place. We're both anxious as the days pass. Not hearing before the week ends is probably a good thing. On Monday they tell us they've made a decision and want to discuss it with him over a meeting, but Tuesday is the day-long meeting about the reviewed submissions, so we have to wait for Wednesday.

Northern mockingbird who serenaded us at all hours for our first few years, sitting in a bottlebrush bush behind the evil bougainvillea.

Popping packaging bubbles.

We hatched some monarchs.

They offered him the highest position!!!! I sat on the floor in the hallway as the HR rep talks D through the offer, there's a little negotiating in our favor, but not much because we're both so surprised and pleased with him getting the position offer he wanted. I'm furiously tapping out the numbers as he explains how the compensation works and send it to D so we can compare with the official offer numbers later. I'm in tears of disbelief because while we hoped, we didn't truly expect this, and since it was the best possible scenario we'd already agreed we aren't turning it down. When he gets off the call we hug it out, both giddy and in shock. We message my parents to confirm that we're moving to Seattle! They're happy and excited for us. Mom is excited to explore a new corner of the country.

Manty the First

Fighting drones for GISHWHES.

Rocky joined our family!

It's so hard to wait, but we can't announce to everyone without the official offer in writing. And D still needs to let his work know that he'll be leaving them. It's such a mix of feelings as we're excited by getting to live somewhere new, but also still in disbelief, and sad to be leaving so much that we love behind, but happy for the chance at a fresh start, but sad to be leaving good people and interesting projects behind, and stressed about moving, but eager to see where the next few years will take us! Such a huge decision will change our life and there's always that little voice that warns what if you're making a mistake? The good thing is, even if this move ends up being the wrong decision for us, after 4 or so years we can move on to our next mistake! And honestly having this upcoming experience on his resume should only help D if he does need to job hunt. Ideally this new job will be exactly what we need and will serve us until retirement.

My favorite haunted zone of Fright Fest.

Altar of Eeeevil

Back for Halloween Horror Nights 2016.

We end up waiting another six days for the formal offer to come through due to technical issues on their end. But now we officially have the offer, we've informed D's work about it, we've talked and agree that despite all the scary parts, this move is the right decision. We were going to be discussing and hunting for other options by the end of this year anyway, so this is just the perfect gift at the perfect time and we're super lucky for it!

Legoland aquarium

Sailing on Exy Johnson in a San Diego gun battle against the California.

Little One joined our family!

Our first sail training day!

Last night my mind was buzzing with the details. How do we make sure the lizards are ok to move? Can we bring the plants with us? If so, does it have to be in our car (they won't all fit) or can movers bring them? Today I got on the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) website. I read a lot but can't find my specific answers. Do the lizards need health certificates? Which plants can come with us, and do they need certificates? I found two phone numbers and left two voice messages on answering machines. They both called back. The lizards need health certificates. I call my vet and they say that's only if we're flying, since we'll be driving we don't need certificates. Cats or dogs might be different, but not reptiles since they don't get rabies shots. The plants need to be inspected and given a phytosanitary certificate, but I need to contact my local Dept of Ag to see how they do it. I call and get sent to another who gives my  name and number to the local inspector. He calls back and says that any outdoor plants need to be inspected, not indoor ones. I should set up the inspection the week before we leave and he'll need a list of the plants to be inspected. Hopefully it takes less than an hour to inspect my patio plants, and hopefully a moving company will be willing to take them in their truck so we don't have to squeeze my giant jade plant into the back seat. It won't fit on the floor behind our seats this time!

Enjoying our second sail.

Angel's Gate

2nd sail training day!

The next few moves include officially accepting the offer, contacting possible moving companies to find out if any of them will transport certified plants and getting estimates, order more big tubs to pack, and start packing unused kitchen supplies in the boxes still stacked in the living room corner since we unpacked them five and a half years ago. We have until June/July to be in Seattle so we're going to move steadily to make our work manageable. D needs to finish letting everyone at work know that he's leaving and begin transitioning out, handing over tasks and equipment, finishing what he can, and saying good-bye to a lot of great people. He'll be working from home at his new job until we get moved. Hopefully we can get vaccinated before we move so we'll have some protection as we come into contact with much more of the outside world than we've seen in over a year.

Work party!

Holiday in the Park at Magic Mountain

End of 2016 in Arcadia, CA

Racerunner Lizards Are Bad Pets

This summer had some big changes to our lizard family including the addition of a new species! On a cricket run to our new pet store at the end of August we saw Bahamut walking around his tank looking so pretty and small. I'd been considering adding a small new addition to our family for weeks at that point, so the timing felt serendipitous.

We asked about the required care for "racer runner" lizards as they'd labeled him and they went in back to find an answer. A guy came out and told us they need the same care as anoles. We bought our crickets and headed to pick up our pizza. I told D I was 60% serious about bringing him home.

I started Googling and found a collection of scientific data on racerunners. They didn't seem much like anoles. I grew concerned about the care he was receiving and might receive from a future owner. I told D I was 85% sure I wanted to adopt him.

As we ate I continued my research, found nothing that didn't quote that article, no forums about raising racerunners, no Facebook groups about keeping them. I converted Celcius to Farenheit. I was 98% sure.

I started setting up a tank. I used my temperature gun to prove that I could create a hot (>100°F) basking area while still providing cooler places to hide and dig. An area of mid-high humidity, and a dry zone because the article didn't specifically mention humidity levels. I told D I was 100% sure and we left for the pet store with a carrying case coated in a thin layer of leaves and substrate.

They opened the tank and lifted the log he was sleeping under and we saw Tiamat sleeping with him. Uh oh. "Do you want to buy that one, too?" D looked at me as if to say the choice is mine. No, I only have one tank prepared and I think the article mentioned territorial behaviors.

"The blue one" didn't put up too much of a struggle as the clerk transferred him to our carrier and attached a sticky note with the price to the lid. The cashier called him to ask what species she was selling us and gave Bahamut the same confused look we saw on every other worker's face in relation to this unusual pet store livestock. The paperwork said we had two weeks to return him if he died. I sure hoped he was healthy and that I'd prepared the proper conditions in his tank.

He was remarkably calm the entire ride home. He settled into a spot in the dirt and stayed alert but seemingly relaxed about everything moving around him. I tried to keep him in the sun as much as possible as we bumped along the roads. He checked out the corners once or twice, but mostly laid down and watched.

The transition to his tank was much easier than I hoped as he let me gently pick him up and carry him in. His two weeks passed and he remained very friendly, calm, and even started gaining some needed muscle and fat. It seemed that I'd built him a proper tank.

I, on the other hand, was not at ease. I'd left his sister/friend/mate? behind to wallow in the care of the pet store, or worse to possibly die in the care of a misinformed customer looking for a small, cheap lizard for their kid. I'd struggled with my decision ever since discovering her existence. The problem is that I know taking care of four or even five lizards is easy when everyone is healthy, but when someone gets sick, even managing four becomes a lot to handle. Was it safe/fair to the other lizards for me to bring her into our house and again split the individual attention I get to spend on each? Was it wise for me to take on the extra burden? Did I have the proper supplies needed to set up an additional tank? Could I stand the potential guilt of believing I could have given her a better home than someone else?

Three weeks in and Bahamut was still nameless. I asked my sister if she had any suggestions. She asked for a guideline and got to work shooting suggestions my way. The fourth name she sent was Tiamat immediately followed by Bahamut. I looked up the lore surrounding the names and my decision was finally clear. I had perfect duo names for a perfect duo.

As I gathered supplies for a second tank we were surprised to see a brand new Sunray lamp sitting-in-wait, forgotten on top of our lizard shelves. This tank already has a heat rock and a quite hot heat pad in place buried under a bit of substrate and tiles. I added loads of wet coconut coir to give her something softer to bury herself in and moved the cork tunnel from hanging to sitting on the ground. I stuck an aquarium thermometer on the cool side of the tank to see what the ambient temperature is with all heat sources on and it settled around 82-84°F, perfect. The next morning before work we headed back to the pet store. On our other cricket runs to the pet store in the past three weeks we'd noticed the tank was still labeled and set up for her despite never seeing her active. It was possible that she wasn't in there anymore. Maybe they'd sold her since Saturday? As we walked in I told D if she was still there waiting for us it was meant to be.

I was so anxious walking to the back of the store where the reptiles and fish are kept. I forced myself to keep my hopes dampened when I saw the tank was unchanged with a fresh calcium cricket walking the perimeter. It was still possible she was gone. We waited for a family with children to get their bag filled with fish before the clerk asked us if we needed help. "Do you still have the other racerunner for sale?" Yes. Whew, what a sigh of relief. He went in back to put on gloves and opened the tank. I offered to pick her up since I now had a little experience handling them and I was afraid this nervous young man might squeeze her fragile body too tightly. She wasn't cooperative, but after a few tries she was in the same carrying case we'd brought Bahamut home in.

I told both the clerk and the cashier that I didn't feel racerunners should be sold as pets as they make terrible pets. They sleep for all but a few hours each day. They go dormant for six months of the year. They need far more space than most herp keepers are willing or even able to give to such small lizards. They need very high temperatures when they are awake. They are very small, fragile, and highly energetic making handling very tricky.

I hope the pet store understood what I said because all my tanks are full; I can't take in anymore racerunners they might get. Hopefully since nobody at the store seemed to even know what a "racer runner" is this pair are just a fluke and Cal Zoo won't supply any more.

It's weird not having any clue where these babies are from, roughly how old they might be, exactly which racerunner species they are (I think six-lined, but I'm not positive), were they wild caught or captive bred, how long were they in captivity before arriving at the store, how long were they forced to live together?

Tiamat was very cold from being in the store so her first explorations of her new home were slow. She finally discovered the perfect basking spots and, after literally bouncing off her walls for hours, found her place to sleep below the heat rock.

I reintroduced the two on her second day to see if they missed each other and actually enjoyed being near one another. The article was proven correct as Tiamat extracted herself from the open play tent and down the hall giving us our first chase together.

The next day I let her explore the tent all day alone, stretch her legs, and feel direct sunlight warm her skin. That night I learned that racerunners sleep like they are dead. No really, dead, super dead, or dying, definitely not ok, but actually completely ok just super sleepy and dgaf if they get eaten in their sleep apparently. We thought we'd set a record for shortest-lived lizard (excluding our hospice friends): half a week. We were quite surprised to see her bouncing off her walls again the next morning and now know that when you pick up a sleeping racerunner there is a chance it will run like lightning from you until it passes back out and can't easily be reawoken even by rolling their stiff little body from hand to hand. You might get a lazy tongue flick, or a half-opened eye, but that's it.

Did I mention that racerunners make terrible pets?

She has since given me two more near heart attacks as she needed to explore the shoulder-height shelf her tank is on before trying and once succeeding (last night) to dive off of it. Dad wonders how I'm so good at catching lizards mid-air: too much practice. And the time she didn't dive off the shelf I tried electrocuting myself by spilling 14oz of water onto the floor in the center of all the power cords. Thankfully I have most of them off the floor, and my recliner caught the water that might have headed toward my computer's power strip.

So yeah, racerunner lizards are loads of fun, keep me on my toes, and RACERUNNERS SHOULD NOT BE PETS!

Tiamat didn't wake up today after her diving adventure last night. That's nothing to worry about, but it is almost time for them to start brumation or hibernation or whatever it's technically called for a lizard to sleep away half of the year so it doesn't get eaten before procreating. So I'll need to keep a close eye on them and their habits and make sure they poop out everything they eat before sleeping for months because otherwise the food will rot in their gut and kill them.

RACERUNNER LIZARDS SHOULD STAY IN THE WILD!

Every other day they get to play in the 6.5x 6.5ft mosquito net tent where they have room to safely play and the chance to bask in direct sunlight. They still spend most of their time trying to escape and explore further. They are used to living on 800m squared, not 4. I let them chase their crickets and track them down if they hide. Racerunners are unique from fence lizards, anoles, and alligator lizards because they will continue to hunt their food even after they've lost track of it. They can also sniff out their water source. I love them with all my heart and I want the same things for them as I want for all my babies, human and not: to be healthy, happy, and safe. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to get to know another unique lizard species, but I really hope pet stores and suppliers understand that racerunner lizards are not good pets. I'm giving them the very best life I can, but I know this is a species, like savannah monitors, whose natural environment and lifestyle we can't simulate well enough to justify raising them as pets.

One more time for those in the back: RACERUNNER LIZARDS ≠ PETS!

My Wonderful Day: A Rocky Tale

This morning the lights turned on way too early again, but I always ignore them long enough for my rock to warm up. After warming myself I check on Mom and Dad and they are still sleeping, barely moving around at all. I call out a good morning just in case they're pretending; they aren't. I talk with Whee while I wait SUPER patiently. If they saw me they would be proud. I only call out good morning to them a dozen times today, and they only shift acknowledgement a few times. I get worried, though because the sun coming in from the window cracks is quickly disappearing and if I don't get my morning bath sometimes Mom forgets and I don't get to sunbathe at all!! That makes my tummy feel all weird and pooping the next day gets very hard.

My awesome new bed.

By the way Mom bought me a new pair of socks when she didn't take me to Disneyland... again. She says I wouldn't like it, but if she has so much fun I'm pretty sure I'm missing out. Besides, a place with such soft socks has to be magical, right? I got to poop on one today and I tell you, that is how to relieve yourself with style! Mom finally gets up and waves at me as she grabs a shirt and goes to relieve herself. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! I do a quick run to my digging spot, kick some dirt around, then dash back and begin my morning greeting to Mom as she brings me my climbing rack.

I duck for Mom because I can hardly wait for her to let me into my dirt home.

Silly Mom, I don't need that; I'm doing parkour today! I bounce over to annoying Draig'r's home (she always eats all the food), climb along her front door, jump for a quick rest on the tower of slippery black, then shoot across my bridges to my dirt home. Oops, I blocked Mom's way and have to duck my head so she can open the door the rest of the way. Ah, the refreshing cool air, dirt, and leaves always relax me. After a few minutes she turns on the extra mini-sun that my pet Mantys don't get to use and my skin feels happy. She even brings in my new big log and I get comfy behind its first big lump. I have a great view from here.

The best seat on the log!

I watch Mom take out my new pet Daisy. He's super fast! He keeps trying to climb onto her face but she keeps tricking him with her hand. It's ok Daisy, she does that to me, too. While she's playing with him I try jumping up to my ceiling and miss. I have a skinny stick I might be able to climb, but it doesn't get me quite up to the right height, either. It sure is fun to try! While she's got Daisy out, I run over to his half of my dirt home and make sure he's taking good care of it. I can't wait to get the whole place to myself! Having a pet is nice, too, I guess. Those Mantys are really fun to watch. Sometimes they watch me without blinking once; other times they'll wobble side to side and it's really funny.

Daisy is much smaller than Luigi Manty.

See how well I can climb that skinny stick?

Mom puts Daisy back home and it's my turn to snuggle. I know I'm not the only one she has to take care of, but I'm definitely the most important! I won't ever let her forget it. Mom gets me a nice big drink and we go sit on the potty together even though I already went. Her shoulder is always so warm; I close my eyes and relax while she laughs at something on her hand screen. I move a little to remind her to get up before she has to do the leg wiggle dance again. It looks like it doesn't feel good so I don't know why she does it so often. We hang out on her bed and I climb down her back waiting for her to stretch out her legs. She finally gets the hint and we relax together while Dad sleeps nearby. He sure sleeps a lot when his alarm doesn't make him leave.

I usually warm up on her butt (teehee), but today her leg seemed warmer.

Once we're both warm again, I hope I do as good a job warming her up as she does for me, we explore her bed. No bugs in the covers today, no bugs seen from the edges, but to be sure I prepare to jump to the floor when Mom literally gives me a hand. For some reason she really doesn't like it when I jump onto the floor on my own. She's always telling me, "don't jump" and, "Rocky, careful." She says it with that tone that means I might be sent to my home if I don't listen, and not the fun dirt one, so I usually try to listen, usually. The thing is, I've made it to the floor a couple times this week and Dad has some neat stuff hidden under his desk that I really have to see. You never know where a wild cricket might be hiding!

Sometimes Mom's hands help me instead of saying, "stop."

I was making a big shadow.

I make it under his desk and look around when suddenly a super bright amazing tiny sun turns on from Mom's hand screen. I can't stop myself from moving to it to check it out. It makes me cast such neat shadows. Mom actually lets me explore a little more, no crickets but I did find my bed with pumpkins on it, before she gives me her hand to warm up on and we relax on her bed again. Dad wakes up and reaches his hand out to me. I think about how warm he always is, but I see my food bin, feel my empty tummy, and run up the bridge Mom brought me to wait in my dirt home until food time. I get to play in here a while before I get bored and run up Mom's desk. She says the magical f-word and I run to the edge and watch as she picks out a super big juicy dubia for me. Just as she's bringing it to me she turns around and puts it back in the bin!? That's wasn't too big, Mom, I could have eaten it no problem! She gets me a slightly smaller one and puts it in the shaking bag that makes the most tummy-satisfying sound as she coats my food in batter. It crawls quickly onto her hand and tries to run away but I'm much too fast for it! YUM!

These bridges are the best.

Mom reaches into the food bin again and picks out some tasty small dubias, probably for Mini-Draig'r who she's trying to get me to call Ember. You can't trick me, I know a draig'r when I see it. I let her do her thing and find my perfect spot to squeeze through the window covers to look outside. It takes some time but I finally spot my neighbor and walk along the window to say hello. Mom and Dad let me look outside a lot; they know it's one of my favorite things. Mom tries telling me it's tent time, but I manage to evade her and she gives me a few more minutes to look outside before she returns. I don't fight this time and just snuggle into her warm hand. Do all Moms have such warms hands?

Mom says this picture is funny because the first picture she has of me is me looking into the window through these slats.

My new tent is awesome.  I can climb all over it with no trouble at all.

We walk to my new, huge tent and I jump onto Draig'r's tent roof while Mom lets the light in and opens my door so I can get screen time. Sadly, though, she brings me into the tent instead of letting me climb on the screen. Oh well, I can still look outside and climb on my climbing rack and bridges. I climb onto my tree and begin exploring as she zips me in and says good-bye. She's always going somewhere, but when she leaves the door open for me to look outside it's not so bad. I sunbathe, bounce on my rack a bit, watch big Luigi Manty for a while, and play on my bridges while she's away. She comes back after the sun goes away but before it is totally dark to say hello and give me a drink before leaving again. I jump onto the tent wall, get cozy, and doze as she and Dad come back again and leave again. They return again after dark and I listen and keep dozing as they do whatever it is Moms and Dads do in kitchens as they talk and move things around. I know Mom will come to get me when it is time for her and Dad to sleep and we'll sleep on her bed under the covers a bit before she'll kiss me goodnight, I'll be too sleepy to kiss her back, she'll tuck me onto my new sock hopefully, and take me to my home. Can a day get better than this?

I love it when Mom lets me snuggle before we both have to sleep all night.

Sometimes Mom tries to put me to bed before I'm ready so I let her know that I need more snuggles.

Sometimes I have to remind her three times that I still need more snuggles.