Mouse Wars ... part deux

Several years ago I went through "The Great Laundry Room Wars." I think it was 2002. Mice had staged a well planned attack on my laundry room. Given time and tactics I repelled their aggressive maneuvers and rodent tranquility ruled in my home once again. I thought it was over. And then ...

I thought I would be pro-active on my snake-in-the-house issue. It only seems smart. At the recommendation of a friend I bought some "sticky strips" and placed them in the location where my little slithery friend showed-up. It only made sense that if one snake was there and another snake showed up, perhaps he would go there too. The strips looked like this after I placed them ...


We then left for our daughters house to celebrate Debbie's birthday. (Happy birthday, honey!) When we came home I went downstairs to check my traps. No snakes. That's the good news. The bad news? I found ...


He was just a baby mouse. Poor thing. Because the operative word is ... "was."

At least I now know what the snake was after. Tomorrow I set regular (cheaper!) mouse traps around. No more mice = no more snakes. Failing that ... I'm off to purchase a nice snake killing dog. Breed suggestions are appreciated.

Head Med's Rock

Another month. Another attempt at a "Head Med." It's getting a bit old but compared to most I don't really have anything to complain about. Since our trip last October ... OCTOBER ... to L.A. I've been rocking back and forth with weird head symptoms. Nobody is quite certain that there's a connection but I had a head cold when we took the flight west. On the third day of the trip as I was driving through the lovely L.A. traffic my head went all wonky. The lanes started .... moving. No, it wasn't an earthquake. It was a headquake. I signed the keys to the rental over to Debbie (sad) for the rest of the week. The operative theory is that the cold went to my ears and did fluidy kinds of things and that they are still going on. But nobody is sure.

And then there's the fun of coughing and losing my voice. What good is a pastor that can't talk? I think the back row at church is actually placing bets on my sermons. You know ... will he be able to talk by the time he's done? So far, yes. But there's no guarantees.

So today I went back to my new doctor. She listened to my story (again) looked at me like I was a quack and gave me a prescription ... nose spray.

My nose is fine, thank you. Well, as fine as it's ever been. I felt like screaming, "IT'S MY EARS, DARN IT!" But, as you may remember, I lost my last doctor due to a verbal flaw on my part. I don't want to lose this one too. So I guess I'll spray this stuff up my nose and see if my throat and ears get better.

In the meantime, if you see me coming in my car, pray it isn't a moment of dis-equilibrium. I'm clueless as to what the active ingredient is but I've got to tell you, the codeine in the cough syrup ROCKS.