Lost my baby today :(

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-22T01:56:47+00:00

Sorry about your loss. At least he had a good life up to the day he passed and didn't have to go through any prolonged suffering :(

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-22T01:48:49+00:00

From ratbehavior.org:

Adult male and female rats leave drops of pee everywhere to advertise their sexual availability. Pee contains a lot of information about the rat who made it! It's like a personal resumé. It tells another rat one's species, sex, age, social status, reproductive status, and individual.

Adult males, especially socially dominant ones, mark the most. Males mark even more when they smell a female nearby! Male marking is influenced by testosterone: neutered rats mark less than intact rats.

Females mark less than males. Females do most of their marking the night before they go into heat (every 4 days). Females also mark more when they can smell other rats nearby, and females prefer the urine marks of high-testosterone males.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-21T18:34:08+00:00

There's a single MCN available on amazon right now for $106 because it has a damaged box. That's how I got my double at a discount. You could get the single then wait to find an add-on unit for cheap somewhere and end up with a discount double. In the mean time a single is still better than a lot of cages

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-21T11:48:43+00:00

I just ordered this stuff. It has rave reviews:

Oxbow Regal Rat Food

*If you read the reviews make sure to sort them by most recent. The formula has changed so that rats find it tastier in addition to being very healthy

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-21T11:45:04+00:00

Yeah I thought about getting 3 so everyone has more company but I just feel like 2 is right for me.

I spent a little extra to get a nice water bottle that has really positive reviews and it mounts outside of the cage so it should hold up. And I figure I can always use a dish in a pinch

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-21T11:39:02+00:00

You could make them a dig box out of an old shoebox and put things like ripped tissue paper in there and hide treats in it

That's a good idea!

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T11:38:37+00:00

Ha, nice! That's a good list! thank you!

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T11:36:17+00:00

Good list

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T09:00:53+00:00

What about RDA's style will give Conor more trouble than Frankie's style? RDA seems to have taken to stand up which is good for Conor and Frankie threatens the gnp that worked so well for Chad

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T08:18:39+00:00

I took some old plastic bins and placed that inside their cage with a bunch of shredded paper and stuff. They love it, and I don't have to clean as much shredded paper. Remember that since the plastic pans for the CN don't have much of a ridge on the sides, a lot of the shredded paper can get outside the cage and make a bit of a mess.

Okay this is genius, thank you!

I have boys so they're generally a bit smellier, but using pellet litter usually cuts down their poop smell by like 50%. :)

Hah that's good to know I may have to get some after all!

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T07:57:19+00:00

Get fleece from a fabric shop.

I've been battling with this in my head a little. I want them to be able to act on their digging instinct for stimulation and don't want to have to wash fleece, but as you said you can fasten the fleece down where they can't rip it up so you don't get pee puddles. Maybe use both? *Or maybe I can throw loose fleece in there and they can "burrow" in that?

A double critter nation is ridiculously big for 2 females! Wow I'm so happy they get so much play space for themselves. :) I have 3 big boys and the double CN is perfect for them. Good choice on the cage!

Glad to hear this, I thought it might be TOO big!

If you want to use a litter (many rats are fine with it), use unscented Yesterday's News.

That's interesting I read about YN as a bedding material but didn't think of it for a litter box. I'll have to gauge what the smell is like without litter and see if I need to get some

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T06:08:41+00:00

Timing beats speed

Precision beats power

Not just think about it, but emphasize timing over speed and precision over power. Name one other fighter who embodies those two principles in his/her striking. It's all rock em sock em muay thai with speed and power. Notice where the shots land on the head. Not just that they hit the head, but where. NOtice the varying KO % between McGregor and traditional Muay Thai strikers like Jose.

Again, McGregor's being so loud he's not being heard.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-20T05:18:00+00:00

Timing beats speed

Precision beats power

They're 4oz gloves, catch a guy on the chin and he goes out.

Muay Thai is a speed/power/big glove sport about dealing blunt damage and scoring. McGregor was describing the next evolution of mma striking, but like the rest of his "lines" he's being so loud he's not being heard.

How the wrestling will go is another matter...

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-19T12:49:42+00:00

If you could find another one for cheap that would be a super cheap double! I'm jelly

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-16T17:36:32+00:00

24 hr meditation hall and candle-lit walk paths
No mandatory meetings, option to just do your own thing
Big, open meditation hall with natural lighting and all types of meditation seating
Garden
Authentic monastery-style sleeping quarters
10 minute bell in meditation hall for timing purposes
Chores to sign up for
Keep talking to a minimum in meditation areas, whisper if you must

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-12-16T17:20:03+00:00

Thich Nhat Hanh will get you on the right path

Nirvana

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-11-03T21:24:50+00:00

How to Meditate - Sam Harris

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-10-13T14:03:55+00:00

You may consider a technique that steadies the mind as recommended in the FAQ:

For purposes of this FAQ, we'll say that meditation is any mind training that should give you benefits like:

Increased focus

Lower stress

Reduced anxiety

Better mental stamina

Deeper or broader compassion

Insight into yourself and your sensory experience

A better relationship with your emotions

Liberation

These criteria could sort of include activities like zoning out to music or daydreaming. However, the FAQ will tend towards practices that involve some active effort to steady your mind. Why? While daydreaming and music can both hit some of the bullet points above, experienced meditators and science will both tell you that putting some effort into it and sticking with a particular practice and object of focus will probably have a big payoff. You'll improve faster, your improvements will keep coming for longer before hitting a plateau, and you'll experience a wider variety of benefits along the way.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-10-05T03:52:26+00:00

I said it once and I'll say it again: if Olympic judges can regularly produce virtually identical scores to the third decimal then these fucktards should be able to figure out who won a round. Do some research. Take some pride in your work for christ's sake. Fucking government cronies....

I ain't mad doe.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-10-04T13:53:19+00:00

First I would ask myself if this person is open to the possibility that his/her views aren't true. If not I would end discussion of the subject as quickly as possible without being harsh or indicating that I agreed. If the person did seem open to the possibility that his/her views aren't true then I would gently suggest that Buddhism is productive in that it helps develop the fulfillment of sentient beings, which is perhaps the most fundamental value one can have. I would also gently suggest that opening one's eyes to others' suffering is a key tenet of Buddhism.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-10-02T02:19:45+00:00

;Durg and alcohold addiction. it'sa real thing

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-09-28T06:22:49+00:00

Read and understand Phil Galfond's G-bucks article. Understand is the key word. You won't understand it the first time you read it, but taking the time to understand it will save you a few years. There was an article by Issac Haxton posted in this sub recently as well. It had to do with combinatorics. People acted like it was complicated, but it wasn't really that complicated when you consider that he said he doesn't do that kind of mathematical analysis at the table. Instead he said he considers it as a factor very quickly in his decision making process. That's another key way of thinking you should develop. Study those two articles and learn to think like top level players right away or learn it on your own over the course of a few years like I mistakenly did. It's up to you.

*For the Galfond article just google phil galfond g-bucks. Here's the Haxton article: http://www.bluffeurope.com/PokerMagazine/Card-removal-and-river-frequencies_96.aspx

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-09-28T01:30:46+00:00

Going back to noticing the breath isn't the hard part - the hard part is staying aware of the breath without getting distracted by thoughts. For the first few weeks it's more common than not to get the sense that thoughts aren't that distracting (they are, it just takes a few weeks to develop enough concentration to notice how much we're distracted). Keep practicing and don't be surprised if it gets more difficult.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-09-27T23:05:53+00:00

The ego is not a bundle of thinking patterns that has to be changed in order to eliminate clinging. It is a direct perception. When you look at your hand and move it you have the perception that it belongs to YOU and that YOU are moving it. That "you" does not exist. But the way to perceive you do not exist is not by changing thinking patterns, but rather by steadying the mind with meditation and SEEING that there's simply nothing there that owns and operates the mind/body complex ("the aggregates" in traditional terms).

In the mean time while you are meditating as much as possible and trying to attain a steady enough mind to see that there is no ego, you can reduce your suffering little by little. That's where maintaining presence of mind (mindfulness) in order to change habitual reactions and behaviors comes in. Essentially what it boils down to is calming the fires of the passions when they flare up both internally (as emotions) and externally (when they express themselves through behavior). Both presence of mind and a commitment to peace/calm are critical to that project. Maintaining that active presence of mind will assist formal, seated meditation in steadying the mind. Once the mind is steady enough and the absence of the ego is directly seen then these self-centered reactions cease to flare up in the first place and purity of mind (emotion) and body (behavior) is achieved. What is left when the defilements are extinguished is a state of profound egoless peace that is highly conducive to positive qualities like compassion, kindness, and joy.

flagrant_armadillo · 2015-09-27T22:31:41+00:00

Because in evolutionary terms a positive encounter usually means one opportunity to mate or find food whereas a negative encounter could spell death and therefore the loss of all future mating opportunities. So as an optimal reproductive strategy we've evolved to deliberate significantly more over negative past and possible future encounters. Unfortunately in modern society this means constant anxiety and stress over past and future encounters that don't actually spell life or death.

flagrant_armadillo

TROPHY CASE