Topped out at 87 followers a couple weeks ago, but now I'm down to 82. Maybe I should go back to my old brand of deodorant.
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Dunno why windshield washer fluid comes in such big jugs. It takes me a couple years to go through a gallon of that junk. So there's a half-empty jug of it sitting on the counter in my master bathroom, and it's been there about 6 months. Having a jug of windshield washer fluid sitting on my bathroom counter for 6 months doesn't make me weird, does it?
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Youngest stepkid is looking to move out as soon as her tax refund shows up. Hallelujah! Should be any day now. Unfortunately, oldest stepkid got rotten grades last term so the powers-that-be declined to renew his financial aid... Which means he doesn't have rent money... Which means he needs to move back in with us for a while until he leaves town next month to start a job he has lined up... Which means if that tax refund doesn't come in SOON I'll have 5 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 big dogs in my 3br place... Which means when you check this blog you'll only see bullet holes on your screen because I've totally lost it!
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So I bought a couple rat traps (not the "humane" live ones, the NASTY ones, hee hee) and set them under the house to try to stop that scratching noise. No bites. Hmmmm.... Then a couple nights ago there was a noise that sounded like it was coming from the laundry room. Further investigation revealed that the noise was coming from under the bathtub in the adjacent bathroom. I stomped on the tub and then heard a scurrying noise UP the inside of the wall! I popped open the access to the upper crawlspace (not a proper attic, just rafters and insulation) and found rodent poo. Dang! When I bought the rat traps the clerk said they'd been selling the heck out of them as the whole area is seeing a lot of infestation. So it looks like MAXRedline was right when he suggested that it could be a rat. I'd never even heard of them being a problem around here, but I should have known better than to doubt MAX. He's pretty much always right about everything. :) So I scattered some yummy, yummy rat poison in the crawlspace. So far nothing else seen or heard yet. Hopefully the critter (rat or otherwise) took the bait somewhere else and isn't presently festering somewhere in my walls. Ugh.
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As of a couple days ago, the weatherman said it was the 7th wettest March on record here, with still a week to go. I think the rats are just looking for higher ground.
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This space reserved for good news if there ever is any...
Inno, if you got Warfarin, the offending beasties will bleed to death internally and their little carcasses will just dry up. I used to work in a feed store and it got so infested with mice that they were crawling around on a ledge over an arch that separated 2 parts of the store. EEW! Anyway, I digress. We found mouse carcasses all over for quite a while but at least solved the problem.
ReplyDeleteThat resally does sound like yu're destined for a houseful! Good luck with it and try to keep your sense of humor.
Your windshield washer stuff lasts THAT long? Dang... I go thru a gallon every six months!
ReplyDeleteWhat Deb said about the rats. OTOH: target practice does a body good!
I'm with Buck -- heck, I can go through a whole gallon on one trip to Arkansas during bug season (which is just about anytime other than December and sometimes January). Driving through those damp farmlands can splatter more bugs on a windshield than you can shake a stick at.
ReplyDeleteRats give me the creeps. We had a family of them in Little Rock once and went the Warfarin route. It can be tricky with dogs around, but at least you have enclosed crawl space. Ewwwww!!! I can just hear the scratchy, scratchy sound!
The river rats down here just munch on Warfarin as an appetizer, though. Big dogs, and urban hawks, help a lot, though!
Hey Inno,
ReplyDelete"Which means if that tax refund doesn't come in SOON I'll have 5 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 big dogs in my 3br place..."
You sleeping the garage? Don't see where you fall in the family census above?
(Just remember, if you delete or block me you will be down to 81 followers, just sayin.)
Deb - I didn't check the ingredients, but it said it was effective against warfarin-resistant rats so I'm guessing it isn't warfarin but something similar.
ReplyDeleteBuck - because it rains so freaking much around here, Mother Nature keeps my windshield clean for me. Most of the time.
Moogie - I wonder if my dogs would mangle a rat or try to play with it.
AMoW - Me & wife + stepson & his wife + stepdaughter = 5. But I act like a toddler when I don't get my way, so it gets kinda confusing. And I wish I had a garage - I only have a carport. I guess I could sit in the carport and pretend there are walls and peace and quiet.
Inno, just so you don't feel bad and change your deodorant, I have changed all my follow settings to "anonymous", so I might not show up as a follower.
ReplyDeleteI hope your mouse problem goes away, oh that it were so easy to get rid of all the rats investing the world.
Keep the dog food away from mice and rats, it actually counteracts the the rat poison. If Billy the exterminator is believable...And washer fluid will last forever in the bathroom. As for losing followers, they must not appreciate good writers!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the numbers, Inno - they don't mean much. 1320 unique hits at my place today, and nobody commenting. A lot of them come in from all over the globe to read a post I did a year ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://maxredline.typepad.com/maxredline/2010/03/middle-school-principal-wearing-a-seethrough-blouse-decides-that-letting-kids-hug-is-too-sexual.html
Man, that one brings them out of the woodwork!
The only reason I buy deodorant in 55-gallon drums from Costco is because I have to hose the system down every day because of the dorks who think I might have some hot porn.
Thanks for the reminder about the washer fluid. I never check the stuff, but it rains so much here that I almost never use any. I'm pretty sure that there's some out in the garage, but it probably isn't the de-icing stuff.
I do pity you. Not so much for the family stuff, but the two dogs. Double trouble! We have one small dog, and that's more than enough.
My Bride insists on feeding him a bit of wet dog food each evening, and then she empties the rest of the can into one of those Tupperware-like containers. We reached an agreement a few weeks ago, when at 5 a.m. I grabbed a container of leftovers and headed to work. Opened it up to find - of course - dog food. We now mark the dog food container with masking tape.
I don't just reach into the fridge and grab, either. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with dog food; I'd swear I caught a hint of coriander root as it was in the microwave.
Yeah, pay no attention to the numbers. I use NoScript, so nobody even knows I was there. Sorry, but there's too may bad (in the sense of hogging the CPU) scripts out there, and I have limited patience.
ReplyDeleteAs for the scratching noises, beware. Mice would be nice, compared to rabid nutrias.
Amusing Bunni - thanks for the heads-up. I wouldn't want to think that I'd offended ya.
ReplyDeleteRandy - my dogs eat indoors and they won't even share their food with my curious grandkids. If a rodent thinks they can have any of that, they'll end up on the menu themselves.
MAX - I haven't done a "comment of the day" in a while, but the coriander line cracked me up. I think your comment has to go on the front page.
Zeta - Dang! That guy got raked pretty good. I am only about a block from Dixon Creek, so now ya got me kinda scared.
Dude no matter how bad it gets. Don't shoot at my monitor. I have no monitor budget!
ReplyDeleteI have a gallon of washer fluid that is older than my car...and that's old. Of course, we don't go anywhere, so road grime is not a problem.
ReplyDeleteI feel ya' on the kids returning.
And returning.
As you know, we are clear of all young adult infestation now...and plan to keep it that way. Used D-con.
As of late my followers have been coming and going. One I noticed leaving has been a great friend. I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers.
ReplyDeleteWith all of this snow, I really miss my son ... Oh what did I just say?
good luck to the kids and hope you get some quiet time somewhere. i thought the 5 of us in a house was nerve-rackin'!
ReplyDeleteit reminds me ...when i graduated high school my parents gave me a set of luggage and a set of new tires. hmmm...think they were trying to tell me somethin?
Cathysue, the night I graduated from high school, I went out and celebrated with some friends, and the girl who is now Mrs. Andy.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got home, Mom had packed all my clothes in suitcases, and had them sitting on the side porch.
I could take a hint...
Are you sure those are rats and not Public service sector Union administrators?
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know, I don't always comment~But I really enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteAs far as rats goes I HATE EM~One time a wolf rat got into a little house I was renting~Which made me realize that the darn big trap I seen on the outside of the house wasn't for catching bears as I originally thought.
To the rescue.
ReplyDelete!