We thought Bendejo was dying, but then he got better. Now he’s acting like he’s on his way out again. Something’s wrong with his back leg. It’s like it’s either injured or he has arthritis. Well, he and his brother are getting old for rats. I’m gonna turn them loose to explore, run around and exercise soon. For how long? I guess until they abuse their freedom. I don’t know what it is with these guys. Other rats we could leave out for hours and they wouldn’t usually be too destructive. They’re trained to a degree, but male rats aren’t nearly as smart as females. In the daytime, it doesn’t matter as much as they’re just gonna look for a place to crash all day. Puerco usually sleeps in the closet while Bendejo sleeps under the couch or on the bed.

Although I’m sticking to paid email sites, I’ve given up on surveys again. Too much time just to be told I don’t qualify. They should at least give you something for taking the time to answer the pre-qualifying questions!

Tom and I did a worst-case-scenario budget for the rest of the year, and since we’ve smartened up with money, we should not only be ok but we should also be able to get his Mac back in November. And this is without any extras. No jobs, no birthday/holiday money, no online job payments, no wins, no eBay sales, no nothing. All we have to do is hope no curve balls that we can’t see are thrown at us.