tobermory's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rat Redux So I seem to recall journaling about a rat problem in my alley some time ago. Well, it�s baaaaack. A few weeks ago I saw a rat scurry under my car then go under the fence and into my neighbor�s garage. I�ve been waiting for a chance to see my neighbor to let him know that he�s harboring critters, but in the winter I don�t see him as much as I do in the summer when I�m out in the yard more often. As I was coming inside last night I saw him and gave him the bad news � he seemed somewhat nonchalant. He mentioned that he�s seen a few mice � perhaps he was thinking that I was mistaken in what sort of rodent I saw. Steve had come out by this time to see if I needed any help with the groceries and he wound up hanging out by the fence talking to our neighbor about the Bears game while I went inside to start warming up some stew for dinner. Apparently while they were out there having sports talk a rat scurried into the garage. HAH! That will teach him to doubt my rat spotting abilities! Apparently he�s lived a somewhat sheltered life and hasn�t actually seen a rat before last night so I think he might have been disillusioned about how bad the problem in our alley can get. I�m hoping this means he�ll call the Chicago Rat Czar and get something done about this because I don�t want them to start multiplying when it gets warmer and surprising me when I lift the lid on our garbage can. I think the big problem is that his garage really an old carriage house kind of structure and it�s kind of a disaster area � a haven for pests. Maybe this is the motivation he needs to clean it out and organize it. I wonder how he�s going to break it to his wife. I bet she goes apeshit � I know she�s always worrying about their wiener-dog tangling with a rat and getting bitten or contracting some sort of parasite. I think they should borrow the neighbor�s Jack Russell terrier, Jackie (how original), who has supposedly killed about three rats and a couple of squirrels in the past year with nary a scratch on her. Whatever they do, I hope they do it soon. TNT has started to show reruns of House, the medical drama, so Steve and I have jumped on the bandwagon. I like it but I just can�t stop thinking about Hugh Laurie as the idiot Prince Regent from the BBC comedy Black Adder and I have a hard time taking him seriously since he�s carried over some of the same mannerisms from one character to the next. Plus (and yes, I know it�s tv so some exaggerations will exist) I can�t help but think that he�s a little unprofessional despite his outstanding diagnostic skills. Also, they show some awfully graphic surgery and treatment scenes - I have to spend a good portion of the show with my hands over my eyes. In the episode we watched last night some poor sap was getting injections in his spine and even though I covered my eyes I could still hear the grunts and groans. Ick. I�m going to measure myself tonight and use it as a start point to see if the diet and exercise program is working. I know I probably should have taken these measurements back on January first, but oh well�. I�m going to take then in the following places: calf, upper thigh, upper arm (for these three I�ll have to use moles as a guidelines so when I measure again I can make sure I take the measurements at the same places), and waist. If I�m not too horrified by the measurements, I might even post them. Resolution Diary: 3:11 p.m. - 2006-01-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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