Although I had planned to let The Husband deal with dead mouse #2, imagining its little gray ghost, hovering in the corner not 6 feet from where I work (saying to itself "What happened?") was enough to force me to dispose of the carcass, myself. All morning, I had been congratulating myself on having eliminated a PAIR of mice - a couple - thinking I might have prevented the breeding of dozens of babies that could have tried to inhabit my happy place. But when I actually picked up the trap, I discovered that what was in it was not a mouse but a shrew.
Of course, this completely destroyed my "mouse population prevention" theory, for as far as I know, mice do not "do it" with shrews.
Once I discovered that I'd offed a shrew, I felt kind of bad about it. It was furry and fat, and a lovely shade of gray, and would probably have been kinda cute with its eyes open. But I reckon that a shrew is as nasty and as bothersome as a mouse, so it was a good riddance.
I re-set the trap and put it back in the corner. It's still unsprung this morning, and I haven't heard any more thumping in the wall. Hopefully, there are not a dozen orphaned baby mice decomposing under the siding. I was hopeful that I'd eliminated the back porch mouse problem.
So yesterday morning The Husband says, "Didn't you buy TWO mousetraps? We need one in our bathroom."
<sigh>
* * * * * * * * *
I had some errands to run yesterday. My sister called mid-morning and invited us to eat blackeyed peas and cornbread with her on New Year's Day. I said I'd make slaw and MAYBE a dessert, but I had to go to the store for ingredients.
I also needed to go to the beauty shop for a haircut. Two weeks ago, right before we left for our Asheville trip, I dropped by that shop for a trim. As the hairdresser worked on me, we chatted and laughed, and I didn't pay much attention to the final result. It turned out to be the worst haircut I've ever had. The sides stuck out like Pippi Longstocking. Yesterday, I went back to the same shop, and the same hairdresser re-cut my hair. She did a good job this time. I left the shop feeling all up-beat.
When I got in the car and turned the key, nothing happened.
This has happened several times in the past year or so. One minute the car cranks just fine; the next minute...nothing. I've had the battery tested; it's fine. When it won't crank, the "red post" on the battery is absolutely thick with greenish powder. The last time this happened two months ago, the person who gave me a boost suggested that I should pour a Coke over the battery post, now and then, to remove the corrosion build-up. Only a couple of days ago, I thought about that advice as I was driving, but of course I didn't remember to do it when I got home.
So yesterday, it was the same problem. It was cold and spitting snow. I went back into the beauty shop and asked if I could beg, borrow, or buy a Coke. The hairdresser had about a cup of flat Diet Coke in a 2-liter bottle, and she gave it to me. I poured it over the battery post, and it removed the corrosion, but the car still wouldn't crank. I called an auto parts store up the street from the beauty shop, and they sent a lady with a battery booster pack (didn't even charge me - gotta love life in a small town). The car cranked right up. The person said my battery was showing a good charge, and that the problem must be with the cable. I will have this seen about next week.
Meanwhile, I still had to go to the grocery store, which is right around the corner from the beauty shop. I was afraid the car would not crank again if I turned it off, so I just left it running while I was in the store. I did not worry about it being stolen, for this car is a stick-shift. Probably only one out of a hundred people know how to drive one, and this person would be too old and wise to risk going to jail. ;)
On my way home, I dropped off a new bottle of Diet Coke at the beauty shop. :)
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