tinnu's been good and bad these past many days. some time ago, A(tinnu's previous keeper) came around for a chat and we talked about tinnu. A was pleasantly surprised when i told him about tinnu's routine. A thinks tinnu's getting much more attention and care at my home than his. that's quite a compliment, i think.

loadsa updates on tinnu front:
- a few weeks ago, on a weekend noon, i lay down reading and tinnu clambered up and settled on my tummy. after an hour or so, he made a funny sound. so far, tinnu hasn't made any sound except the hissing. so i put my book away and watched him for a while. and it happened again. he opened his mouth and gave out a loud hiccup and lurched. and again. and again. after four times, he settled down for a nap. that was good fun, to see a turtle with hiccups! heeehaaa.

tinnu's way of relaxing is when he rests on his lower shell, the plastron, and stretches his hind legs and flexes every single toe, so everything about his hind legs are all spread out and in the air.

- another morning, tinnu clambered up to go perch on my shoulder.. and stopped at the neck, so i lowered my head, chin resting on his shell, and held him there tucked that way. and what should the turtle do? instead of struggling to get away, the mad turtle stretched out his legs and went into a slumber! but i had work to do. so i carried him around that way without using my hands, while i made coffee. and put him down later on, fearing that i might drop him. sometimes i don't like the way tinnu's so trusting of me. he has this bad habit of sitting right behind my feet when i am standing in the kitchen. so when i have to step back, tinnu's almost under my feet each time. earlier he'd hiss like mad when he sensed i am going to move and step on him. so, we never had an accident. these days he just doesn't hiss and i end up getting a mini heart attack everytime i almost step on him. so far, fortunately for both of us, i have only kicked him accidentally a few times... nothing really major. but i live in the fear of stepping on him. so i devised a way. my kitchen floor now has plastic sheets in strategic locations... near the water hole, near the fridge, at the gas-stove and near the fish tank. when tinnu begins racing to get behind my feet, i know he's there.

he did that to dad too. dad was doing the dishes one day, tinnu sneaked up to him and tried climbing on his feet. dad was caught totally unawares when tinnu's claws first scratched at his feet and dad pulled his leg away so hard that he hurt his knee. 

- mum and dad and i always discuss tinnu over the phone. they thought i should put some fishes with tinnu so he doesn't get bored. fish that are too big for tinnu to eat , and not very agressive that they'd bother tinnu. goldfish were the best bet. the nearby aquarium was running short of goldfish, so the guy gave me another fish that looked just like goldfish and of the same size. can't recollect the name. these fish are three times bigger than tinnu's mouth and i was hoping tinnu'd leave them alone. so when i first put the four fish in the tank, there was a lot of excitement. the fish began exploring the tank and tinnu behaved like he'd just received a massive dose of adrenaline. in a mad frenzy, he chased the fish, caught one and ate it whole. did i say the fish were three times bigger than tinnu's mouth! that was disgusting alright. before i could intervene, tinnu had caught another fish by its tail. and swam around the tank a few times. then took the fish to a corner and let go of the tail in an attempt to grab it whole, the fish took off like a rocket!

ever since, the fish have always outsmarted tinnu's chase. but then, if the two had to swim straight like in a swimming contest, tinnu'd win all the medals hands down. he swims much faster than the fish.

- tinnu ruined two of my tees.. around the time i put him out of water, he kinda had just pooped. and when he climbed to my shoulder, he had left behind a trail of yuck stuff. i couldn't imagine washing it off. so off they went into the garbage.

- d, a close friend at work, said his son wanted to 'go see aunty's turtle... would it be ok to drop by at this hour?' it was close to 9pm. 'sure, come over. else lemme know and i can get the turtle to your place for a while'.'umm... errr.. no. we consider a turtle a bad omen. my mum says we aren't supposed to get it inside our house'...'ok, come over then'.

i didn't think of it much then. nor do i think of it much now. next time i talked to mum, i asked her this. and she gave me a piece of her mind. such relief! granny had a pet cat that kinda behaved weird after she passed away, making us all so uncomfy. grompa had cattle. the sibling always brought home abandoned puppies, nursed them to health, and then cried loads when someone'd steal them. he's still big time into animals. mum has her cows regularly visiting for a bite. and dad baby-sits those red-birds' nestlings in our garden, to keep the cats at bay. tinnu surely is in good hands. and far from being a bad omen, tinnu's been a joy! there are times when i resent cleaning up after him, but i do it mechanically because he's a responsibility. and compared to a dog or a cat or any other pet, tinnu's much less demanding. much less stinkier than bunnies and birds... all he needs is some food and a shoulder to climb on... an ocassional anti-bacterial, and he's good.