Isn't Totally

So today wasn't the best day ever. There were some downers.

The first wasn't a major downer, but it still annoyed me slightly. I'm reading The Crow Road by Iain Banks, and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. I've been enjoying it so far, but have been a bit mystified as to what has been driving the story. Things have been happening, and the narrative has jumped back and forth, but I haven't really known why. This could be because it's taken me quite a while to get this far into the book, stealing a few pages here and there where I can. Or it could be a deliberate ploy by the author. Either way, I'm really starting to enjoy it, and I kind of wished that I could have stayed in bed for an extra hour or so today to finish it off. It was not to be though. I had to go to work.

The next thing that kind of sucked was when I tried to get some bread and a sandwich. I hopped into the car, turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened. Well, something happened, but not quite what I wanted. What I wanted was for the engine to roar to life and spirit me away to the bakery. Instead all I got was a few hesitant coughs that died down to a sick wheeze. It was a shame. So Stu and Dad came around and tried to give me a jump. It didn't work. This forced me to join back up with the RACQ. That's okay though. So the RACQ car came out and fixed the problem. It was the battery. The one that we'd had in there was 4 years old, so that's no biggie.

It was the next incident that upset me the most. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but we've had some chicks hatching from eggs at the centre for the past 2 weeks. There have been a couple of eggs that haven't hatched, but the vast majority have been healthy. Except for one. One chick wasn't quite as well as the others. Something wasn't right with it's legs. It couldn't support it's own weight. The other chicks were starting to clamber over it, and were starting to turn on it. Today was the day where the chick's number came up.

In the manuals that come with the incubator there is a list of things to do if something goes wrong. It says that if an egg doesn't hatch you put it in the freezer, then dispose of it. It says that if you have a chicken that is lame or diseased then it should be removed from the incubators. And killed. The most common method is neck dislocation.

None of the girls wanted to be the one. None of them could bring themselves to do it. I didn't know if I could. I went and had a look at the bird. I picked him up and took him outside. He was only a little chick. Barely a day old. He cheeped and chirped in my hand until I covered him with my other. He must have liked the dark. It must have reminded him of being in the egg. He was quiet again.

I placed the chicken on the table outside and watched him. The noise started again and he looked at me. He tried to move his legs, but didn't get very far. He tried to flap his wings, but they were underdeveloped too. I picked him up and covered him with my hands again. He was quiet.

I took him back inside and read the guidelines again. I spoke to the girls and they were all in agreeance. There was an offer to put him in the freezer, but I thought I could do it. It would be quick. It wouldn't drag out for half an hour. I would dislocate his neck.

I picked him up again, and took him outside again. I held him in my hands. Looked him in the eye and told him that I'd be quick. Then I put one hand around his neck, so that only his little head was poking out. Then I gripped and pulled.

His body spasmed for a while. I wasn't sure if I did it properly. He had stopped breathing. The spasms stopped eventually.

It was not a pleasant experience. I know that I eat meat products everyday, and that animals have to be killed in order for me to enjoy them, but it was still tough.

In other news there was an offer on the centre.

And I saw a punk rocker twice on Wednesday. I saw him in the morning. He was in Coles and wearing a very dirty pair of Dunlop Volleys. I saw him again in the afternoon. This time he was outside Coles. He was wearing a brand new pair of Dunlop Volleys.