The Daily Peeve / Rant

[Tybee]

I am sorry, Siouz, and really glad that you are going back for therapy--you are wise to do that.

[happystuff]

So sorry, Siouz. Good luck with your own therapy.

[Klunick]

Need to start looking for a new vet. Had it with current one. Last minute appointment rescheduling, holding my cats hostage for up to 8 hours until they "get around" to doing a x-ray or exam, prices have become astronomical, lack of customer service/compassion, etc. And to make matters worse, my cat caught some illness while being held hostage for the day and then vet charged me $600 to cure it because they "forgot" to keep sick animals away from healthy ones. It sucks that this vet is convenient to my house but it's not worth it anymore.

[nswef]

souiz I'm glad you are going back to therapy. It's a decision that I hope helps with your pain from all that's happened!

[Tradd]

I want to slap one of the salesidiots, who is now sales scum. Guy is 30 yo and has only ever done sales for intl transportation. Not anything on the customs side. Tries to tell me how to do my job, in details. It didn’t go over well when I told him I’ve been in the industry as long as he’s been alive. Hopefully he doesn’t do that again.

[catherine]

I love my heat pump but the biggest disadvantage is that I am sure that its installation is what has caused the occasional infestation of rodents in the house. For 5 years we never had one indication of any mice and since the heat pump, we've had 3 including the one we are fighting now.

We called the first rodent Randy (and it's not a field mouse, it's a Norway rat, which isn't big and brawny like a Brooklyn rat, but it's a rat nonetheless). We were able to get him with a snap trip. Then we saw Sandy.. Randy and Sandy would come at night, stealing a banana from my table and dragging it to the entrance to the cabinet under the sink. We couldn't believe it. Well, we finally got them both with an old fashioned snap trap, after unsuccessful attempts by the local exterminator.

Then recently came Randy II, who likes lollipops, which we know because we would find crumpled Tootsie Pop wrappers by the sink, along with a chewed stick, left over from DH's nighttime lollipop habit.

This is all despite multiple traps of different varieties set in our small house so that we had to watch where we walked before bedtime. In addition to the exterminator first time around who did nothing, we have set all kinds of bait in all kinds of traps, including an electronic trap that I splurged on, all which did bugger-all.

Yesterday we saw that Randy II took the bait and met his demise under the sink. We hoped that would have been the end of the story, but this morning, DH looked under the sink to see if the new trap had sprung, and who did he see but Mandy II, alive and well, and just sitting there looking at him as if she had just knocked on the door and was waiting to gain entrance. DH jumped back with an "AAHHHH! Brazen little bugger!!" All of these experiences have given me an appreciation for the intelligence of rats, because this whole thing has become nothing but a battle of wits between man and beast.

So now, I picture Mandy II wondering where Randy II is, "He should have been home by now with the groceries," she was probably saying to herself. "What am I going to feed the children now??"

I don't know what to do. We now have plans to make sure any and all holes and cracks are sealed. Call our heat pump guy to find out if they put mesh seals inside the duct work, and if they don't see if we can. But now, compounding this thoroughly frustrating problem is the fact that I now have this image of Mother Mandy worrying about her babies, which makes me feel sorry for the little buggers.

[iris lilies]

I’m sorry about your rat problem. I listen to the rat episode on NPR about New York City rats, and they are pretty damn smart. They don’t want you to know how smart they are.

[catherine]

I’m sorry about your rat problem. I listen to the rat episode on NPR about New York City rats, and they are pretty damn smart. They don’t want you to know how smart they are.

Thanks, IL.. yes, they are smart. And a side note: I don't think what we have are Norway rats, now that I look at the descriptions again. The one we caught yesterday was pretty small, maybe slightly larger than a mouse, but no way as big as the internet says a Norway rat would be. I'll take some small comfort in that.

[pinkytoe]

Can you borrow a cat?

[early morning]

catherine, some mice are BIG! I know, we have plenty of them. They amuse the cats, who only want to play, and get into all sorts of crap. We have a big old farmhouse, and I don't see any way we'll ever seal it to keep them out. They are industrious, inquisitive little buggers. And maybe not as smart as rats, but smart enough. They don't bother me all that much, we've mouse-proofed most all the cupboards and keep most foodstuffs that they can reach in metal containers. I raised mice as a kid, so I have sort of a soft spot for them, I guess. I really prefer mice to bugs!!