How I Do My Job...A Day In The Life

This blog is dedicated to my Rhino family: Momma, D, Trace and Saralicious...oh yeah and Turd Ferguson too...

Some inquiring minds want to know....some don't...so here you go....

First I get the truck keys and a radio. Then I go to the kitchen to get treats and bananas. (Sometimes the rhinos need an extra banana for my breakfast so I get that too...) Then I go to the Station and shift the boys (Forrest and Kayin) down. Then I put the tools in the back of the truck and pull the truck onto the habitat. Then I clean. I like to sweep the pad. I hate the poop hole...it hurts my back. I like to rake. I do NOT like to clean the water trough. I put the hay and grain out and then I lock up and shift the boys back to their breakfast. Then we pull the truck around to Chai's side and shift him in the barn (hopefully it isn't a barn day because I HATE cleaning the barn!). Then we pull the truck in there and drive around to all of the poop piles which are incredibly annoying. Then we clean them up along with the hay and I rake WAY TOO MUCH just to annoy everyone and because I am anal. If Tracy tries to clean the water trough I get annoyed because it takes FOREVER. But I love when she rakes anally with me! If Kristin drives the truck away before I'm done raking I yell at her. If Derek throws the poop on his pitchfork over his shouder instead of in the truck, it makes me want throw him in the mud hole. If Sara hoses something, I might scream. And god forbid we see any damn spiders!!!!! Ok, onward. Feed the whiny rhino and then we're out of here. To compost with the poop!!!! Moving right along to Rhino Rally. Pull in the electric gate that squeaks way too loud and needs oil. DON'T FORGET TO WASH THE STUPID TIRES!!!! Then get out and give someone hay through the cables and load the truck OR pick a stall and start opening the gates...your choice. Shift the rhino (Tim or Jethro) in. Get the tools. Drive the truck on hab. Maybe help 412 herd the three impala in. Clean. Feed. Drive out. Pull around. Shift the OTHER rhino back out. Clean the messy stalls. Make sure all of the gates are locked. Drive around and clean the tires. Go to compost and dump the truck. Go to Wild Whites (Tambo, Kisiri, Malaika, Mlelani and Sidd or Dakini or Dakarai or whatever the HELL her name is!!). Maybe bleed them first, maybe not. Depends on what day it is and who's there. Watch me, I will get blood EVERYTIME though! GET THE WHEELBARROW or momma might get mad ;-), call 499 and tell them those rhinos are going out on the North Veldt and then shift them out! Then we drive to Black Rhinos. Shift the girls into their respective barns. Get the tools on the truck. Drive the truck on hab (without scratching the side of the damn truck on the fence like I did!) and clean. Sara will hose the pad or Tracy or Sara will scrub the water hole. Tracy will ALWAYS fill the mud hole...she rocks that. After we clean the hay we clean the poop, then some more poop, then some more hay, then the barn(s). Then we put the rhinos where they go and then we leave. Guess where we go? THE DUMP AGAIN! After that it damn well better be close to lunch time because we are ALL STARVING BY NOW. If it isn't lunch time, we might go do a hay run. After lunch its all up in the air. Do what needs to be done. (Tours, browse cutting, fix broken stuff, mow or weed eat, fill mud holes, weigh or bleed rhinos, seps, RELATE SESSIONS, enrichment, etc.) Sometimes all that needs to be done is a little team bonding over some homemade TOO SWEET but delicious Gatorade in the Station Office. This is very important.

Some important things to know about how I do my job though...if I complain about something like being hot or having to clean a barn, it doesn't mean I am having a bad day or that I like my job any less. It just means, I need to say it out loud so you know and then I am done and happy to go and do said thing I am not bouncing off of the walls about. I don't need to be reminded that it could be worse. I am well aware of the fact that I have one of the most amazing jobs in the world thank you very much. Also, if there is not music on in the background of WHATEVER I am doing, preferably MY music, but any music will usually do just fine, then I WILL be crabby and it WILL NOT be "a good day" Oh yes, and 3:00PM will come at the same time no matter what. Thank you. That is all.

P.S. We are a family and we stab each other in the front NOT THE BACK! :-)

My Family Is Expanding Again! :)

I got a phone call from my brother Jeff this afternoon. He told me he bought a ring for his girlfriend Yvonne. When I was home for Parker's birthday last weekend, he told me he had been thinking about popping the question for awhile. A week later he has made the big purchase. I asked him when and how he was going to ask her. He said he had to talk to her step mom and get the ring sized first, so it would probably be a couple of weeks. About 6 hours later, I got another phone call from my brother saying, "I'm engaged!" Apparently that thing was burning a hole in his pocket and he had to get rid of it quick! He took her out to dinner and asked her to marry him and she said yes! :-) So now my other brother will be hitched within a year or so and I will have another new sister!!!! I am so happy for them. They both deserve so much to be happy and they make each other just that! In fact, I don't think I have ever seen my brother so content about his life. She loves him, she supports him, she grounds him. He adores her. Its perfect. Congratulations Jeffrey and Yvonne. I can't wait to share your big day with you!!!!!!!!

Journey Rocks My Life! :)

Using your favorite band, answer the questions using ONLY song lyrics from this band. You can only use a song once.


JOURNEY! :-)

Here goes...

WHO ARE YOU?
"She loves to laugh, she loves to sing, she does everything, she loves to move, she loves to grove, she loves the lovin' things." (Any Way You Want It)


HOW DO YOU FEEL?
"Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin', I don't know where I'll be tomorrow..." (Wheel In The Sky)


HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?
"I'm standing here with my arms a mile wide, hoping and praying for you. Listen to me and enlighten me, I hope that you need me too, 'cause, Ooh, ooh anytime that you want me...Ooh, ooh anytime that you need me..." (Anytime)


WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU?
"When the summer's gone. She'll be there standing by the light. Once she's been to where she's gone to, she should know wrong from right." (Feeling That Way)


WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
"We're all raised on radio, radio, I love my radio. Radio, Radio,
Radio, Radio." (Raised On Radio)


HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LOVE?
"I'd do anything to hold you. I'd go anywhere to touch you. I'd do anything you want me to, if you'll just stay with me awhile.
I'd sing any song your heart desires. I would sing out loud of love's sweet fires. Ooh, I'd do all this and so much more, if you'll just stay with me awhile. Reach out your hand, oh, to me. Oh, I'm fallin'...Won't you just stay with me awhile." (Stay Awhile)


HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR LAST EX?
"One love feeds the fire, one heart burns desire, I wonder, who's cryin' now. Two hearts born to run, who'll be the lonely one? I wonder, who's cryin' now." (Who's Cryin' Now)


DESCRIBE A PERFECT DATE?
"Those crazy nights, I do remember in my youth I do recall, those were the best times...singing by the railroad track...we danced by moonlight." (Stone In Love)


DESCRIBE YOUR BEST VACATION?
"Doin' time...where it takes you, you know it's time that can break you, we get caught in the moment ...just sleepwalkin' most of our lives. In your mind (when you need it), with a song (to help you believe it), you can reinvent your world anytime you like" (To Be Alive Again)


WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO FOR FUN?
"Lovin', touchin', squeezin' each other!" (Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin')


HOW DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?
"Be good to yourself, when nobody else will." (Be Good To Yourself)


WHAT ARE THE BEST LYRICS FROM THIS BAND THAT DESCRIBE YOUR WORLD?
"Callin' out her name I'm dreamin', reflections of a face I'm seein', it's her voice that keeps on haunting me." (Send Her My Love)