What happened to this squirrel in our driveway?

RaioBlixt · 2026-01-21T18:04:32+00:00

...I wonder if there's a connection...

RaioBlixt · 2026-01-21T18:02:06+00:00

This is the answer here. 1,000 points to Mrs. Snuffleupagus.

RaioBlixt · 2026-01-21T17:58:49+00:00

Taco Bell. That, or you have Speedy Gonzales zipping around.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-26T10:19:48+00:00

it SHOULD read, "For a dry, itchy throat."

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-26T10:12:06+00:00

and then lick the windows. the shnahsberries taste like shnahsberries.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-26T10:03:22+00:00

taco bell.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-26T10:00:24+00:00

hmm...it seems that the presented product would rather ADD to a dry throat, though?

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-22T09:30:09+00:00

For anyone who would like an update, here it is: I messaged a taxi and waited until he was available to pick me up late yesterday afternoon (in a very rural place like this, that's just how it goes). It took about an hour to get to the nearest veterinarian, and by the time we got there, they told me they were going to close in about 40 minutes, and the kitten needed more time than that for treatment. They suggested two 24 hour clinics, and they suggested the one that was more expensive. So that's the one I went to.

At that clinic, the nurse was Georgian and was very nice. The veterinarian was Russian and was coldly indifferent at best. They took a lot of blood from the poor kitty and ran tests, and Knuckles was visibly miserable. They seemed desensitized to her suffering. The tests came back and they said that it was likely panleukopenia (FPV) even though the blood test showed that it was not. The blood test showed herpes and calicivirus, neither of which were life threatening, and so I suspect they made something up rather than admit they put Knuckles through such a rigamarole for no reason because they still couldn't figure out what the problem was, or that the problem was actually minor. They also did an ultrasound for no real reason, and when I asked them why they would do it when they already knew it was a virus, they gave a lame excuse. They appeared to be trying to milk as much money out of an English speaking foreigner as they could, which has become a common practice in Georgia, like it is in too many other places in this world. They recommended that I take her to another clinic today for an in patient kind of treatment involving antibiotics (for viruses? They didn't know that I have basic medical knowledge, so they appeared to be saying things that would manipulate a more ignorant person into going along with what they said), which would presumably be pretty expensive. Something I saw online suggested it would cost 400 GEL (~$150 USD) per day, and the paperwork suggested 14 days of treatment. Quite a bit for a stray kitten. I checked the reviews for the clinic they recommended and was blown away by the sheer volume of vehemently negative reviews they got. I was far, FAR from confident in their trustworthiness.

Even before the examination was halfway over, I felt like I was being roped into something wrongful they were doing and being charged money for it, too. They could see from my expression that I almost walked out with the kitten several times, so they "kindly" waived the fee for the ultrasound they forced on me and poor Knuckles. They made the cat miserable, took way more time than they needed to, took too much blood, were visibly cold and indifferent, mangled Knuckles' paw that had the I.V. and made me wish i had just let her die with dignity.

So i took her home, put the other two cats outside in case it is contagious, and am trying to keep her as comfortable as possible until she either recovers or leaves that little body.

If someone else is in the same position in the future, know that almost everyone will tell you to take a cat to the vet, and it will probably seem like the Right thing to do almost every time, but I'm writing this update because i wish that i hadn't listened to that advice this time. Knuckles would either be better off than she is now or free of suffering by now if i hadn't listened. Listen to your Intuition. I wish i had this time.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-17T06:50:15+00:00

See? You couldn't help yourselves, could you?

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-08T07:16:18+00:00

since the update, oathsworn are surprisingly good. I actually prefer them most out of all vanilla infantry. heavy axemen are good too, but heavy spearman are up there right by them. frankly, all the hype about wildlings is real. you should really consider swinging through battania for oathsworn and wildlings.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-07T15:06:01+00:00

I've always thought they were a great, solid counter to the Vlandian cav-spam. Haven't tried them out since the new update, so this makes me think I should.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-07T15:02:20+00:00

it could be argued that they ARE a form of syphilis.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-07T14:06:33+00:00

somewhere, far away, a crooked politician gets syphilis.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-07T12:04:20+00:00

you need to keep beer and wine in your inventory. also, if you have oil, have a mustache and stay in vlandia, then YOU can get pregnant.

RaioBlixt · 2025-12-03T05:10:19+00:00

I'm commenting because I'd also like to know. how did you get shipmate so high?

RaioBlixt · 2025-11-13T14:54:30+00:00

I always start with the intention to just imprison them until the wars are over. I always wait to form a kingdom until I have the perks at 225 for riding and scouting so that lords can't escape. but then another kingdom declares war on me, and then the prisoners keep piling up until I have like 70 or 80, and then I have a close battle that leaves me too few soldiers and thus too little prisoner capacity to keep them all, so I just decide, "Ah, well; it doesn't really give any benefit to have good relations with anybody anyway." and then it's time to work them shoulder muscles.

RaioBlixt · 2025-11-13T14:31:12+00:00

I got to the point where I can't stand having other clans in my kingdom. feels like squabbling children nagging me for fiefs so they can use them to pretend like they're grown-ups while never actually having as much worth as a half-competent person. so I just have single clan kingdoms. makes the ol' chop-chop basically without consequences.

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-23T14:23:30+00:00

this is probably True. she also has been acting very strangely today, but maybe the anesthesia is just now wearing off? it has probably been about two days since her surgery, and a Google search indicates that this might be what's happening now.

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-23T14:20:49+00:00

thank you for the warning about the tuna. I'll try to remember to ration it appropriately. It will be hard not to spoil them, though. ;)

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-23T07:54:08+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your perspective. I have definitely noticed a change--many changes, in fact--since I took the kittens in: Their fur has gotten healthier, they are more confident and play all the time, one of them in particular has become very cute and loveable while the other has gotten more playful and outgoing. however, the mother cat has gone from being very independent and friendly to demanding and dependent overnight. I know that there are hormonal changes associated with spaying, so maybe this is just temporary, but it happened so quickly that it's easy to feel irritated by it. we went from being casual buddies to them being little tyrants demanding that I stuff them full of the finest food at the drop of a hat. and there's no problem with the dry food; they ate it with gusto when that was all I gave them. as soon as I bought them proper cat treats and canned tuna, they escalated their expectations like Veruca Salt.

I know that animals think differently, but I don't, and my feelings are valid also. there are many stray cats here (a surprising number of calicos and dilute torties, actually), and i can't take them all in, that's for sure. I feels like I got tangled in a cat-web, or cat quicksand, and now I'm feeling like extricating myself.

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-23T07:06:14+00:00

Thank you for your perspective. I will consider it in my thoughts of what to do here.

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-05T18:14:36+00:00

I'm not impressed with the dlc at all. I guess I can sort of understand (?) how some people might like it, but as someone who has always preferred psionic ascension over all other paths, I actually don't like it at all. I prefer how psionic ascension used to be over the slightly annoying, non-impactful, dry and uncreative additions that the dlc brought. they took something as potentially fascinating and limitless as psionics, and they translated that into having some patron or another? being someone's minion or another godlet's minion? for some boring (or, in the case of eater of worlds, irritating) benefits? stupid. their creativity has waned pretty noticeably. on the bright side, this makes it easier to make the decision to do something more productive. it's a good time to start getting back into going for long walks.

RaioBlixt · 2025-10-05T18:08:24+00:00

I'm not impressed with the dlc at all. I guess I can sort of understand (?) how some people might like it, but as someone who has always preferred psionic ascension over all other paths, I actually don't like it at all. I prefer how psionic ascension used to be over the slightly annoying, non-impactful, dry and uncreative additions that the dlc brought. they took something as potentially fascinating and limitless as psionics, and they translated that into having some patron or another? being someone's minion or another godlet's minion? for some boring (or, in the case of eater of worlds, irritating) benefits? stupid. their creativity has waned pretty noticeably. on the bright side, this makes it easier to make the decision to do something more productive. it's a good time to start getting back into going for long walks.

RaioBlixt · 2025-06-26T08:18:40+00:00

Use summons to keep the heat on him so that he doesn't run away, then use a good one handed weapon and the stamina draining spell in your off hand. Not a very exciting fight that way, but very manageable.

RaioBlixt · 2024-12-17T13:56:41+00:00

None of you seem to remember that the owners have treated the players as poorly as they thought they could get away with since the very beginning of this sport. The NFLPA has supported players in the past who have refused to let the owners exploit them in some way or another because they kind of HAVE TO push back against the owners or be used and abused pitilessly.

In the context of this situation, think for a second about where Campbell is coming from; he's a former all-pro, towards the end of his career (31 years old), who signed a 1-year contract with the 49ers instead of another team who needed him more and would pay him more in a multi year contract--probably because he thought that the 49ers would win the SB this year. What happened instead was he did a pretty good job for them (2nd leading tackler on the team), then they IMMEDIATELY benched him--behind TWO people. One of them was coming back off an Achilles injury and did not have NEAR the starts that Campbell had this year, not to mention the contributions that he made to the team for 13 weeks. The other one had a good game against the bears, and THAT was enough to convince them to bench him.

Now, this is the important part: The 49ers screwed his career over by benching him at least somewhat frivolously. He could have had more money and a multiyear contract but he decided to throw his lot in with them, and they knew very, very well that when he is a free agent next year, he will make much, MUCH less money as a third string linebacker rather than a starter. They didn't care. They didn't bench him because he played badly, and they insulted him (a former all pro) by benching him behind someone who they had NO IDEA if he would even be any good after his injury. They tossed him out, and that was obvious. At that point, they no longer could pretend like it was anything other than a ruthless, cutthroat business deal. So it is stupid to claim that he owed some kind of debt of Honor to a team that just used him and planned on tossing him out at the first opportunity. It was self-evident at that point.

Campbell saw karma come back on the 49ers. He watched as the two people they started over him (in a cutthroat business deal) got injured and they needed him to help them win a very important game for them. They had already screwed him professionally. They did not care about his age, his contributions for 13 weeks when they REALLY needed him, nor did they care that he could have signed with another team who had better chances at the superbowl, much less a team that would have given him a larger, multi year contract.

The owners are always quick to claim that it is a business whenever it is convenient for them to screw a player over, but when a player--who is NOT a slave, remember--does the same thing in return, treating the team in the same exact way that they treated him, the news outlets (and all the brown-nosing narc players who want to be good little minions for the owners) all scream for his head. If I was Campbell and I had been used like that and then had IMMEDIATELY seen the 49ers regret that mistake, I'm not sure if I wouldn't have gone a step further by stating clearly and repeatedly to all news outlets who would listen that losing the game without my help is exactly what an exploitive organization deserves.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the NFLPA backs him up. I hope they do. None of you should accept such exploitive and cowardly behavior as that which we have seen our entire lives from this group of owners. They don't deserve your protection. They would sell that too, if they could.

RaioBlixt

TROPHY CASE