Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Waging those tiny battles.

The vehicle hunt has more or less ground to a halt.  Friday’s snow storm didn’t help.  Well, Friday’s snow storm put the whole program on hold.  There’s not a lot of point looking at vehicles on a lot if they’re buried in a foot of snow. 

Actually,  it was more than a foot,  but you get the *drift*. 

That was bad,  I know.

One of the tiny pleasures of having a shed, (note complete change of topic for no apparent reason) is also having tiny visitors.  I might not even mind the tiny visitors if it wasn’t for their tiny droppings.   And yes,  I know about the dreaded Hantavirus.   I go straight to the respirator when it comes time to clean up. 

But man!  There is mouse cr*p freakin’ everywhere!  Could they not just cr*p in one spot? 

So I started waging a tiny battle last week some time.  We have the technology.  By that I mean,  we had some traps lying around.

But here’s the thing, if you’ve ever noticed how the bait has been mysteriously cleaned off the bail of a mouse trap,  then I have a little snippet of info for ya.   Thread.   Better yet wool.  And I don’t mean knitting them little poison filled sweaters either.  No see,  you have to wrap the thread around the bail,  put on your bait (peanut butter is irresistible to meeces)  and then they get their tiny teeth caught on the tiny thread and *wham-o*  

Do you need a photo tutorial?

 

Note thread:

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The other “trick”,  if you want to call it that is,  mice like to stick close to walls,  so try to put your traps as close to a wall as possible.  If it’s out in the middle of a counter or cabinet,  they might not even want to venture that far out in the open.

 

This is usually the result.  

Note mouse:

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Quick and painless.  Really.   I won’t get into the specifics of parts of a mouse brain,  so just go with me on this one.  He/she (didn’t check, really) is number four in as many days.

 

On other battlefronts, Travelling Companion tells me that our “air shipment” needs to be cleared of customs,  so we’re off to the airport on Friday to sort that out.  I truly have no idea where we need to go,  but she says she’s been given some detailed directions from the moving company.  OK then. 

No word on the other stuff.  Presumably it’s in a shipping container somewhere out in the Atlantic.   We’re not in a hurry for it.  The bulk of it will end up sitting in the garage until we get the transition sorted out.  Daughter number two and her hubby have found some digs in Oakville close to where they both work, so that end of things is coming together.  For the entire time that I was a Caretaker, I tried to make sure I was no more than 15 minutes from any work location.  It makes a HUGE difference when it comes to fuel outlay,  as well as the overall stress (if you want to call it that) of getting to work.  They can both walk if they choose.

 

First thing yesterday morning I registered the letter that I sent off to the LCBO.  It has to do with importing wine.  You can hardly tell there’s wine on the list,  but we do have a whopping 13 bottles that got sucked up in the moving vortex,  so the proper authorities had to be notified.  Feel free to roll your eyes.

 

The other little snippet was a letter this morning from the Austrian postal service forwarding our mail.  I went and paid for a “Nachsendungsauftrag”,  at the local post office before we left,  and for a mere €12,  they’ll forward our mail until some time in March.

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So the parking garage did in fact cancel our account as of the 31st,  but I gather that they hadn’t received their cards back at that point,  so I suspect we’ll get another letter.

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You can brush up on your German. 

Our Relocation Lady said she’d drop them off on the Thursday evening, which would have been the 31st.   We’ll see.  There’s a €15 deposit that they’re supposed to return to us.   There’ll be another envelope next week I assume. 

Um,  that’s about it for today’s (this week’s?)  missive. 

I’m still going through the filing cabinet and putting our new shredder to work.  Once in a while though,  I do find something that should have been pitched a while back.  Not sure why I keep some things. 

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1996?  Really? 

I’m pretty sure our four drawer filing cabinet will be half empty by the time I’m done.  It’s easier to be ruthless when you haven’t looked at something for a number of years.  That’s the theory anyway.

 

So thanks for moving your eyes back and forth.  I’ll check in in a few days.  Promise.

 

Later.

 

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6 comments:

  1. Neat trick for catching them "meeses".
    Good luck with the car hunt, I just know the perfect vehicle is out there just waiting for you to come along.

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  2. Mine are on dry bread. Works good so far. But the thing with the thread will be tried out next time.
    And - I keep the traps tied to something heavy. Keeps the mice from wandering off under some spot where I cannot reach them. Happened once and - ewww, what a smell.
    Luckily we have no snow here. But we watch the cars going by as well. Common human curiosity, I guess.
    Moving them back and forth :))

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  3. This is the second blog where I have read about the string....on the traps....must be a deal..... Good luck on finding that perfect car... A good 528 with the fuel saving 4 cyl would be high on my list, if you can stand I drive.....

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  4. You catch those rascals the old-fashioned way. I want those boxes that they go in and never come back out. I don't want to see a dead mouse.

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  5. I like the glue traps. They work better than anything else I've used. Had too many empty snap traps sprung with no mouse and no bait.

    Thread, now that's an new idea. Hopefully I never have to put that into use.

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  6. What is that last picture?... a plumb bob?... or should I ask, a plumb-bob, Bob? It's quite a graceful instrument, whatever it is....

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Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.