Caption Comics Fest has happened and everyone enjoyed it and James Kochalka said he wished he could have been there. A Work Capability Assessment was a trial and a verdict was good. New gerbil babies were born, some died. The Gen 1 gerb Abed died, and I am remembering I can’t feed him. RIP Abed 2022-2025. Goodbye old buddy.

I found Abed night Friday 29th, around 10. Cold but not stone-cold. On Thursday I called him for his favourite foods. When he didn’t come I left them out. A ‘special’, (a large white seed), and a ‘Nibblot’ (healthy & costly treats) are placed with his body on a bed of woodchip in a plastic tub in the freezer. When the rain goes off I’ll dig a hole in the back garden.
Abed, and his late bro Troy, were my first gen gerbils. We’d a unique friendship, the sort that can only happen over time. He was slow and nonchalant and stubborn. He could be mistrustful and delighted in trolling me. But every so often he’d reach out a wee paw of love. Sit still and let himself be stroked. Randomly jump into the pocket of my hoodie and out the other side. He didn’t escape often but when he did he liked to go far to see the sunroom. On Wednesday he managed the difficult feat of climbing over the ledge of his tank onto the bookshelf. When I put him back he did it again.
Yeah I’ve been crying and I will again. He seems to have gone peacefully. 3 and a half is an okay age for a gerbil. He would have lived longer if he hadn’t spent the last nine months alone. But I did what I could. He was loved and he knew it.

I’ve just started on the new series of Press Gang Reader’s Commentaries with the one week in advance view for the folks over on Patreon. Here’s a list of August’s public videos:

200 Seconds Sunny – 6×10 Charlie Kelly: King of the Rats
GerBlog: Arthouse Albinos and Other Bugs
200 Seconds Sunny: 6×11 The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods
Sociological Fiction: New Politics, New Stories
200 Seconds Sunny: 6×12 Dee Gives Birth
GERBLOG: NEW HORIZONS
200 Second Sunny Season 3 – EXPANDED, REMASTERED, COLLECTED
200+ Seconds Sunny Season 4 – EXPANDED, REMASTERED, COLLECTED
Caption Rebirth 2025: The Day After
200 Second Sunny: 7×01 Frank’s Pretty Woman