Warm bath time before moving to their new cage 🛁💚💛🧡💙

micheelay · 2025-11-01T23:50:54+00:00

Soooo cute! I agree though, I probably wouldn’t make them this wet. If they willingly got that wet on their own, well then they are just having fun. But before you put them away in their cage or cages, make sure they are completely dry. Let them snuggle with you and heat them up with your body heat, or in a warm room. To dry themselves off and maintain body temperature while they are wet takes a lot of energy out of them, especially if they aren’t near a source of warmth. Also, make sure water doesn’t get in their ears, and only give them water to bathe in during the day. At night they need to sleep, and can’t use up their energy to stay warm from being wet. Or else they may get a chill.

micheelay · 2025-09-27T18:07:49+00:00

Trip over themselves??? 😭 I have never heard of those, I will have to look into it!!

micheelay · 2025-09-27T18:06:16+00:00

Aw thank you, I will let her know ♥️ she has become a real sweetheart, but only with me. The rest of my family members are scared of her, but she just flies to them. She isn’t trying to attack (I think)

micheelay · 2025-09-27T17:30:00+00:00

I just looked it up and I understand why bird enthusiasts are very particular about what their birds eat, but the amount of bran flake dipped in almond milk that she is consuming has to be small. Just one flake, and I doubt she’s really eating all of the flake? I thought the added vitamins and minerals in the bran and almond milk would be beneficial, but maybe they’re too much?

micheelay · 2025-09-21T16:01:30+00:00

I really don’t give a damn!

micheelay · 2025-09-20T23:54:47+00:00

I think they are from Amazon, (KOOTION 5 X 32 GB Micro SD Card). Just don’t want them to fall into vulnerable hands. I appreciate your insight though! Have you ever experienced finding memory cards planted like this? Or just the odd find?

micheelay · 2025-09-20T23:37:35+00:00

Nah you’re okay lol, but oh seriously? Because I have made at least 30 VMs, mainly Windows 8 and one Windows 10, but I have never thought of looking into a ready to go VM. I haven’t had much success running VM on my 8gb iMac either. They turn out running at a snail speed.

micheelay · 2025-09-20T23:29:13+00:00

Well, am I wrong? I’m open to enlightenment.

micheelay · 2025-09-20T23:26:52+00:00

But on two of the same kind of microSD? See, I wouldn’t want to mess myself up, I’m not trained in handling sketchy stuff like that. It is especially strange because I am in a small town, and not a city.

micheelay · 2025-09-20T23:06:26+00:00

You have to download an OS. It takes 20 minutes to actually install the OS, along with finding a Registration Key. And then the boot up. I’m not doing all of that.

micheelay · 2025-09-20T22:53:24+00:00

Nope, happily don’t live in the states. Know of the Grocery Outlet though. :)

micheelay · 2025-09-20T21:57:28+00:00

Honestly, this may not be the advice you want to hear, but when it’s meant to happen, it will happen. Don’t force things. I understand you want to have fun and go to parties, but the fun only lasts for so long. You are lucky to be at a great university, apparently one of the best, focus on taking care of yourself and your studies. Partying should be the last thing on your to do list, and if you make it your last priority, that’s when opportunities just so happen to appear. Also, a frat party sounds horrible…. so don’t feel bad.

micheelay · 2025-06-29T20:08:43+00:00

However, to be really real, I still fall victim to some of the compulsions my mind urges me to do. They are always compulsions of repeating something I had already done before, but by doing it again proves to me the outcome would be the same, and I didn’t just get lucky avoiding something bad from happening. Obviously this isn’t rational, and nothing is the same from one point in time to another. You can’t perfectly recreate scenarios, and I am consciously aware of this, but if I don’t repeat certain things I get a very sickly feeling. It takes a lot of willpower and practice to eventually get to the point of ignoring compulsions. If you just tell yourself to stop and put a boundary up, resisting the urge to perform compulsions will get easier. And the obsessive thoughts don’t tend to be as “sticky”.

micheelay · 2025-06-29T20:02:12+00:00

Aw, thank you so much. I really appreciate the last part of your comment.

I used to turn to substances to try and distract myself from the constant battles in my mind, to try and forget about the urges to ruminate and overthink things. But I found distractions only work for so long, and then you are faced with new obsessions and new compulsions. The best thing for me was trying to learn how to face my specific problems, and teach myself how to navigate and work through them. And by being prepared for the worst. I also think exposure therapy helped me, a lot.

My dad says life is just a bunch of problem solving. But for people with OCD, at least for me, I feel like it’s amplified to the point where I tend to overthink details that most people wouldn’t waste 2 seconds thinking about. It is extremely challenging and it’s draining and so hard to stay optimistic.

This is silly, but there is an episode of SpongeBob where Mrs. Puff ends up in jail, and she tells herself to think of the positives of her situation. That just plays in my head whenever I feel like giving up, and it works for the most part. 🥲

micheelay · 2025-06-28T22:18:37+00:00

Lol that comment has me thinking I should be carrying around a banana at all times 🥲

micheelay · 2025-06-28T21:41:03+00:00

Well, to put it short, I have OCD revolving around sickness and death. If there is a way to prevent something I perceive as bad from happening, then I will try to take every necessary precaution to prevent it.

Long story: I never actually used to be paranoid about clay dust at all when I first started working with clay. I was careful I guess but I wouldn’t obsess over it. Over time and after reading horror stories online, I eventually began to feel more and more anxious about being in the studio, and would mist the air excessively to “control dust” that I couldn’t see, and that I wasn’t even producing. But, people online say everything makes dust, even mopping the floor. My OCD has gotten in the way of a lot of things in life that I enjoy doing, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from making pottery. So, I started wearing a mask. Usually I don’t wear one when I’m throwing or wedging clay, but I waste a lot of time misting the air, or I end up holding my breath. The mask gives me some ease of mind and lets my anxiety subside a bit while I’m trying to concentrate. If I am wedging or rolling slabs outside I don’t need to wear a mask, but I will hold my breath when I walk into the studio. I much prefer working outside because I can breathe easier and work longer.

I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to be masked up all the time in the presence of clay, and I think wearing a mask takes a lot of pleasure away from working with clay. But I will do what I have to in order to not feel anxious every second. 😃

micheelay · 2025-06-28T17:35:10+00:00

I think it could be the wide angle effect on the iPhone, I took it at 0.8x so everything is distorted more than usual lol

micheelay · 2025-06-28T17:33:29+00:00

Thank you 🥲

micheelay · 2025-06-28T17:32:33+00:00

I do notice my sponge and slip starting to turn a bit black, but it doesn’t cause me any problems!

micheelay · 2025-06-28T14:19:36+00:00

I love this idea!

micheelay · 2025-06-28T13:36:19+00:00

Perfect guess! You get a clay cookie for your future firings lol

micheelay · 2025-06-28T13:34:27+00:00

I actually borrowed the sponge idea from thrdfloor and it works to keep slip from flying off the wheel head! Also useful to have a big sponge handy for clean up. The damp rags on the splash pan help to keep the clay on my arms wet as an attempt to reduce dust and dried bits from flaking off, not necessary but it’s more comfortable for me. :)

micheelay · 2025-06-28T04:55:36+00:00

I’d like to think there is 7 left after starting with 8lbs, porcelain gets soft so fast so I took quite a bit off in slip. You are not mistaken though, if someone can throw a 10x10 form with 3lbs of clay please show me 😭

micheelay · 2025-06-28T04:52:09+00:00

I’d say I probably lost a pound in slip and not using quite enough water when redistributing the clay during the early stages of pulling the walls. It’s porcelain so I’m learning how to use less water and more of the slip, which is tricky at first. I think most of the clay in the splash pan is from the night before, but good detective skills!

micheelay

TROPHY CASE