Today was my last day of picking up roadkill.
I was half hoping for some grossly disgusting carcass to generate an interesting final story... but no luck. Today was a busy day and some calls were pretty messy, but nothing really that outstanding in comparison with the rest of my summer. I'm staying on for the next month to help with getting dogs licensed but I can't see that being nearly as exciting to write about.
Sadly there are still so many untold stories. I tried my best to keep this updated but some things just happened so often that I didn't think to write about them at the time.
For example, getting stuck in the Freezer of Death.
So the freezer's pretty big (to fit lots of dead things in, sometimes including deer) and you have to walk into it. Carcasses get stored until there's enough for a load to be cremated. It's kind of like doing laundry... you don't throw a lone pair of socks into the machine to be washed. (And of course by washed I mean incinerated and by socks I mean dead squirrels).
Problem being that the door to the Freezer shuts behind you, not often opening on your first push. It can be rather unnerving to be there...
In a freezer
Full of dead animals
Alone
Unable to get out.
Ah, some things never got old. No matter how many times it happened, there was always the brief flash of panic when the door would shut behind me with a dull thud.
Keeps you on your toes!
Well, that's all for now! We'll see if any stories generate themselves from licensing!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Ghost of Employment Future?
Ah, fall is in the air!
...for those of us who are still around to breath it in anyway...
Anyone living in a university town has likely noticed the students starting to file in and this, sadly, is my first September not being one of them. It's been 18 years since September meant back-to-school and it feels surreal not to be a part of it.
For the last few weeks I have been intently wishing that I was going back to university and today I got my wish and got to go back to university... but it wasn't really what I had in mind. You see, there was a dead cat near one of the university buildings and so off I went.
I pull up next to the cat, get out, and start filling out the card in case someone reports it missing (general stuff like location, colourings, estimated age, any tags, gender, etc).
Cue cute university boy to enter the scene.
He walks across the street, smiles, nods, starts with "Hey there" and continues on making general small talk. Initial thought: oh this oughta be good.
Not wanting to be rude I respond with a polite hello and mentally begin the countdown.
5...
He definitely has not noticed that I am standing beside a very dead cat.
4...
In fact, my right foot is no more than a 2-3 inches from what's left of body.
3...
As it turns out... I'm not even sure how this cat managed to make such a mess (or how he's managed to miss seeing it). The thing's body was sprawled out on the curb while it's intestines trailed out onto the street for about a foot and a half.
2...
...Head was completely smashed in, eyes popped out, brains... you get the picture...
1...
aaaaaand so did he.
After a mid-sentence casual glance to the ground he quickly trailed off as his eyes shot up in alarm as if to say "OMG THERE IS A DEAD CAT RIGHT BY YOUR FOOT!"
Then, in an instant, I watched the realization set in as his eyes darted between the cat (or what was left of it), the Humane Society van, and myself. His expression swiftly shifted as if to say "omg... you're here to PICK UP the cat...".
At that he turned around and walked away.
He never did finish his sentence.
Funny story: He's getting his degree from the same university that I have one of mine from.
...for those of us who are still around to breath it in anyway...
Anyone living in a university town has likely noticed the students starting to file in and this, sadly, is my first September not being one of them. It's been 18 years since September meant back-to-school and it feels surreal not to be a part of it.
For the last few weeks I have been intently wishing that I was going back to university and today I got my wish and got to go back to university... but it wasn't really what I had in mind. You see, there was a dead cat near one of the university buildings and so off I went.
I pull up next to the cat, get out, and start filling out the card in case someone reports it missing (general stuff like location, colourings, estimated age, any tags, gender, etc).
Cue cute university boy to enter the scene.
He walks across the street, smiles, nods, starts with "Hey there" and continues on making general small talk. Initial thought: oh this oughta be good.
Not wanting to be rude I respond with a polite hello and mentally begin the countdown.
5...
He definitely has not noticed that I am standing beside a very dead cat.
4...
In fact, my right foot is no more than a 2-3 inches from what's left of body.
3...
As it turns out... I'm not even sure how this cat managed to make such a mess (or how he's managed to miss seeing it). The thing's body was sprawled out on the curb while it's intestines trailed out onto the street for about a foot and a half.
2...
...Head was completely smashed in, eyes popped out, brains... you get the picture...
1...
aaaaaand so did he.
After a mid-sentence casual glance to the ground he quickly trailed off as his eyes shot up in alarm as if to say "OMG THERE IS A DEAD CAT RIGHT BY YOUR FOOT!"
Then, in an instant, I watched the realization set in as his eyes darted between the cat (or what was left of it), the Humane Society van, and myself. His expression swiftly shifted as if to say "omg... you're here to PICK UP the cat...".
At that he turned around and walked away.
He never did finish his sentence.
Funny story: He's getting his degree from the same university that I have one of mine from.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I Come Prepared
Today I was looking for a dead cat on the corner of a particularly busy intersection.
Intersections essentially make a square, and I am to locate a dead cat. This seems excessively simple -yet the folly of many intersections is that they have not one, but four corners. So crossing the street to check around a busy area I sometimes find myself playing a life-sized game of frogger.
Barely making it safely across the street once, I meet a man who offers to help me "look for the loose dog". However, after informing him that.. unless he really wants to help me find and pick up a dead cat, I can probably take care of it... assuming I can get back across the street safely. He does, however, offer to pick me off the side of the road should I get hit on my way back to my vehicle.
Part way across the street some car zips around the corner just missing me. I hear the guy on the sidewalk gasp while I find myself laughing at the potential irony of the entire situation and so I holler back to inform the guy that I've got a shovel in the back of my van in case he needs it.
Intersections essentially make a square, and I am to locate a dead cat. This seems excessively simple -yet the folly of many intersections is that they have not one, but four corners. So crossing the street to check around a busy area I sometimes find myself playing a life-sized game of frogger.
Barely making it safely across the street once, I meet a man who offers to help me "look for the loose dog". However, after informing him that.. unless he really wants to help me find and pick up a dead cat, I can probably take care of it... assuming I can get back across the street safely. He does, however, offer to pick me off the side of the road should I get hit on my way back to my vehicle.
Part way across the street some car zips around the corner just missing me. I hear the guy on the sidewalk gasp while I find myself laughing at the potential irony of the entire situation and so I holler back to inform the guy that I've got a shovel in the back of my van in case he needs it.
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