Saturday, October 24th, 2026

I have never been needed with urgency by a guinea pig.

Storm Austen dropped a tree on the RSPCA centre in Canterbury, and the small animals require rehoming "with urgency." My application was submitted within nine minutes, which in jiu-jitsu is a clean guard pull. Pretty cool.

The video home check proceeded well until the clouds over Tahoe parted and direct sunlight crossed the deck. For roughly four seconds my face rendered at the resolution of a 2007 profile photo, and Carol, the volunteer, asked whether I was "still there." I relocated beneath the wakesurf rack and confirmed I was "fully loaded."

Carol then asked about my support network. I said I have many useful assets, specifically Priscilla, three podcast hosts, and a beef cattle consultant in Kauai, all available for feeding rotations. She wrote "friends?" with a question mark, which I think was a typo.

My daughter asked whether the guinea pigs would need onboarding, and I have never been prouder of anyone.

Approval is pending a second home check, which I have scheduled for after sunset, for lighting reasons. The pair will be named Augustus and Engagement. Four days before the rebrand turns five, it was observed that I am building community at hutch scale. Starting small. Shipping fast. 🐹🤙