Mice Tales, Part I

Shame on me for not posting. I've just been busy as a bee during this Government Hostage Crisis. I figure while I'm a hostage that's allowed to roam freely, I should get a thing or two done. More on that tomorrow.

Anyway, I was watching what is now my favorite all news channel last weekend, Aljazeera America. I like them because it is straight unbiased world news. I can watch and make up my own mind about what's on, without all the opinions.

They ran a story about an epidemic going on in Malaysia right now. Malaysia is overrun with rats.

*ladylee's face twists in horror*

And you could see they were overrun with rats. They filmed a couple running across the street.

Yikes!

It's so bad that the government is offering people 0.60 cents per captured rat. And there are professional rat trappers at work, too.

Well anyway, some professional rat trappers were being interviewed and they were talking about what was going on and how it got so bad. It seems that the street vendors don't dispose of their trash correctly and the rats get in it. And the rat urine gets in the sewer and water system. Many people have become sickened by this "rat urine disease", and close to 30 people have died as a result.

*crickets*

Goodness gracious alive. Could you imagine something like that happening here in the USA?

And they were saying, the ratio of rat to people is 7 to 1.

Wow.

I was thinking about this. Seems like they could put out some type of rat birth control for the pests. Or some D-con rat poison. Simple enough.

But not so simple. Somehow, rat waste is getting in the sewer system and the drinking water. So uh, poison and birth control... that could really mess up the townspeople.

So for now, they just trap the rats. The trappers that night caught three rats in a trap that night at a small open mall. (This in a country where there are estimated to be 200 million rats. I thought they would catch a good 100 rats at least. Sigh)

I don't have mice or rats now, but I have had them in the past. Twenty years ago, while in grad school, I lived in the Grant Park neighborhood of ATL, which is about 1/2 mile from my current P-town neighborhood. I was watching TV one evening and in my peripheral vision, I saw what I thought were 2 waterbugs run across the floor. I thought nothing of it. I didn't have my can of spray handy, and I thought I would just catch them later.

Then they ran back across the room.

And they were looking at me.

And they had big eyes and long tails.

They were gray mice!  Running fast. They ran right into the tall heater/radiator on the wall.

Oh how I hollered and jumped up and down on the couch.

I immediately called my boyfriend at the time and he came over.

And he watched as I packed a duffle bag of clothes. There was no way I was staying in my little duplex. Nope.

He suggested we go to the grocery store and buy rat poison. Then we would go back to my place and put it down. I was leery of this, but I complied. We bought a lot of poison, so much so that the cashier mumbled "Ya'll buying all the poison. Where ever you live, you need to move. I wouldn't stay there if I were you."

Whatever. We mixed the poison with cheese and put it down in my duplex.

So I stayed with my boyfriend for three days.  And when we came back, all the cheese was gone out of the rat poison. That meant that the poison had been eaten too.

I called my landlord, and they found the holes where the mice were coming in (one in the radiator, and one along a pipe under the sink. Those were plugged up.

But, when they were plugged up, a mouse was trapped in the house.

A pregnant mouse.

O_O

How did I know this?  By this time, I'd gotten a kitten from my brother, who was 9 years old at the time. He'd found it under the shed behind his house, and was feeding it. I brought the kitten home (my old cat Jeremy).

That's right. I had a cat! That meant no mice. Right?

So one day, I got a call from my boyfriend, who was at my place while I was at school.

"I'm just calling to let you know there's been a massacre!"

"What?" I said.

"Jeremy was in the kitchen trying to get behind the fridge. So I moved it. And all these baby mice ran out. I grabbed the broom and beat them down. Blood's everywhere! I'm gonna clean up everything before you get home, but I'm just letting you know there's been a massacre!"

I was stunned. I couldn't speak.

"And you need a new broom, girl," he added.

Ugh.

I was sleeping extra light many evenings following this mess. The cover hitting my foot the wrong way made me cringe. It was horrible.

I'd bought some humane mouse traps and placed peanut butter in them. I was still catching mice in the house. I wasn't humane about it. I placed the traps in a plastic storage bags and wrapped it with rubber bands and threw it in the trash outside.

"You're suppose to release them outside, LadyLee," my friend Carter had whined.

"The hell you say, girl," I replied. "Let them suffocate out in the trash!"

Jeremy had even caught a baby mouse. But he was just a kitten. He played with it, bouncing it back and forth between his paws. Sigh.

Finally they were gone.

My goodness. It took me a good six months to get over all of that. Anything moving in my peripheral vision whether it's a dropped bottle cap or anything, caused me to jump and yelp. Oh it was such a horrendous time.

And that was just me dealing with a few mice. Malaysia is infested.

An infestation of an entire nation is a whole nother story. I don't know how they are going to deal with it.

All I know, this Oldgirl won't be visiting Malaysia anytime soon.

I have another story about mice...

I'll post that one next week.

Grandma and Me

So last Friday, Grandma and I made plans to go get our flu shots.

I myself had gone to my doctor in late September, and they were out of flu vaccinations. I was a bit perturbed because I had the flu late last year and it was nothing nice. I want NO parts of that. So when Grandma said she needed a flu shot, I hollered "Hey, I'll take you. We can get shots together!"

I told her I would come over immediately after Friday morning bible study. And when I arrived at her house around noon, she was up and ready to go.

And when I say she was ready? Honey, she was ready.

Look at my Grandma!

"Look at ya, girl!" I hollered. "Got your wig on, your long earrings on. Got your good pocketbook, too. I thought we were going to get shots, not run the streets all day! Where's your red lipstick at, girl!?"

She giggled.

"If I would've known you were gonna be all gussied up, I would've put my wig and long earrings on, too!"

That really made her laugh. She knows I am the ultimate tomboy.

[Sidenote: Look at the bushes behind her in the above picture. Back in 1976, when I was 6 years old, I was playing near those bushes. I was stung by a gigantic bumblebee. Some random dude was walking down the street and I hollered and ran and jumped right in his arms. This old woman chewed some snuff and spread it on the back of my hand, where the bee had stung me. I was aghast. Til' this day, some 37 years later, I am still horrified. I walk gingerly up the stairs... as far away from the side where the bushes are. Sigh]

Now whenever I visit her, she always asks me if I saw the flowers in the yard.

I always tell her yes.  I park next to them, so I see them. In the past couple of weeks, some pink flowers have bloomed near the mailbox. I know she'd been tending to them, and at the same time, taking time to sweep the street out in front of the house. So since she was wearing pink that day, I asked if she would take a picture next to the flowers.

And she was glad to. She LOVES planting and tending flowers. She has explained to me several times when to plant bulbs and how to grow flowers and how to tend flower beds, but I just sit there with a deer-in-the-headlights look. It just does NOT compute. At all.

I will just go to her house and enjoy her beautiful flowers.

It was a beautiful day, and even though the drug store clinic was a couple of miles away, we made the best of it.  I let all the windows down and opened the sunroof so the wind could blow through our hair.

"Hold on to your wig, Grandma," I said.  "I don't want your good wig to blow off."

She giggled.

We both got our shots. She wanted a pneumonia shot, but the nurse said she only needed once after the age of 65, and she's 83. She had the shot a couple years ago, so she is good. I only got the flu shot. I have to talk to my doctor about the pneumonia shot. I don't know if I'm allergic, or if it interacts with my other medications.

We walked around the store for awhile. The only things we bought were bottled water. Then I took her home, and I stayed an additional hour with her. It's always a good time to make a little leeway on my crochet projects. She was particularly chatty and that was good. I'm just glad she's able to get around good.

I really enjoyed that time, even though we were running an errand.

"I didn't know if you were really coming over," she mumbled.

I don't really know what made her think that. I keep my word with her. And then I realized that she's like me (or I am like her): we don't like bothering folk. And we both know how people are getting busier and busier by the day.

"Oh, I was coming over," I said. "I always like hanging out with you.  And I don't mind helping. I'm always available."

She giggled.

We both giggled.

And we enjoyed each others time.

And a good time it was.

Friday Freestyles

Good Friday Morning!

And it is Day 4 of the Shutdown!

Still feels odd not going to work this morning. But it feels good to see the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot...

Again.

and Again.

*reloads shot gun and aims at foot*

And again and again.

I have a whole new respect for President Obama. He's not letting up on NOTHING. Good. Don't negotiate. Don't fund the piecemeal approach. Stand firm on these suckers.

Republicans still haven't gotten over losing the election. That's what that's all about.

*ladylee spikes the tea party's tea with a STRONG laxative*

People do strange things when they are constipated. Sometimes one gets so constipated that they become DELUSIONAL.

That's all I have to say about that.

And there was a shoot out up on Capitol Hill. I hate that lady got shot and killed. They said she had mental issues. I was wondering if this was someone was mad about the shutdown. It's bad either way. And it turns out the Capitol Police aren't getting paid. I don't know if I'm mature enough to be out there chasing down folks and shooting folks... and I'm not getting paid. Much to think about.

I am doing okay. I haven't talked to anyone much about all of this, because I don't need anything negative pouring into my mind and spirit. Those I have discussions with have been more than helpful, over and beyond, really. I had the best text message convo with my best friend in my head, reader Lisa B. (Good talking to you, Ma!). So I am happy about that. We do have good church service over text message. Yes indeed!

I am SOOOO excited this morning because I get to go to church! I love morning bible study, but I can't go because I have to work. I might have to do a little *church jog in the corner* when I get there.

Afterwards, Grandma and I are going to go get flu shots. I had the flu last year. And baby? That's not the business. I didn't eat for 3 days. AND I worked during that time. If you don't get your leave requests in time, you gotta work. I didn't mind, only because everybody was on vacation for the Christmas holidays. There wasn't much work. I know I was passed out in my cubicle.  I didn't eat for 3 days. I knew enough to drink copious amounts of water and put my juicer to work.  There's a juice bar a block from my job. I know that lady was tired of me coming in and ordering the same ol' apple blackberry peach banana spinach concoction. And me asking each time "Can you add a couple more handfuls of spinach please? Thank you."

LOL. So I'm scooping up Grandma and taking her to the drugstore for her flu shot. My treat. And I'm getting my shot too.

Grandma is doing well. She is quick to get up and open the door for me. She has on her jeans and sweatshirt and sneakers. She giggles hard when I say "Look at you, girl! Got ya blue jeans on looking all good, like you fixing to get out of here and run the streets! Go head on, girl!"

When I visited last Monday, my little second cousin Champ was there. He was out of school because he wan't feeling well. So he was spending the day with his Granddaddy (my Uncle Tweet) and his Great-Grandmother.

He is seven years old now, and I haven't seen him since he was 3 or 4 so he doesn't really remember me. I love my blog, because I can go back and pull old pictures. Here's a picture of him and his Granddaddy from a loooong time ago...

He was such a sweet baby. I remember cuddling and playing with him.  But I have only seen him a couple of times since then, so he doesn't remember me.

"I'm yo cousin, Baby!" I hollered.  "Your cousin Lisa! Your mama is my little cousin! She's cousin Kim!"

This was a lot for him to digest, seeing that I am so much older than my cousins.

And he was a bit O_O when I called his Granddaddy "Tweet".

I don't even put the Uncle on the front. "I call your Granddaddy by his nickname "Tweet" or "Tweekie". I don't call him Uncle Dellan Junior like everybody else. That is crazy to me."

I explained that everybody (my uncles, aunt, and mama) was really young when I was little (age 17-23). So I call people what they called people. I even call my grandmother "Mama". Just because everybody else did, and I was never corrected.

And I upset lil' Champ in another way. We had convos about his favorite foods. I told him that I would try some of them, but I won't buy them. I will just go in the store and open a bag and take some... then put the bag or box back up on the shelf. Or I'd just scoop a little of something out of a jar with my fanger, just enough to taste, and put the jar back on the shelf."

Poor Champ was a bit horrified. "You can't do that, Cousin Lisa! The stores have security. They will get you!"

"No they won't," I replied. "'Cause I know how to run. I run real fast, homeboy. Real fast."

Our exchanges had Grandma in stitches. She was laughing so hard that she was crying.

No telling what he went home and told his Mama. Cousin Kim is going to give me the *side-eye* the next time she sees me. LOL.

Song of the Week. I don't listen to much rap, but I am loving Kendrick Lamar right now. Yes I know I am late. But I don't listen to urban radio. I only caught up on him because he was on Saturday night live. I posted those performances last week.

I am more up on instrumentals. I don't care for the rap lyrics that much, as much that is said ain't about nothing positive. But I like his Swimming Pools song.



I like that picture. It says a lot. You can see the contemplation... and the bottle.

And so do the lyrics at the end of the song on the CD... which you don't get in the radio or video version.

All I have in this life is my new appetite for failure
And I got hunger pain that grow insane
Tell me, do that sound familiar?
If it do, then you're like me:
Making excuse that your relief
Is in the bottom of a bottle
And the greenest indo leaf...

Yes, we do much to self-medicate. Combine that with peer pressure and excuses and you have a recipe for problems.

Oh my.

I haven't planned my weekend. The things I do on the weekend, well, I've done in the last three days. But I have a lot that I want to do. I spent a little time in the garage cleaning out my deep freezer yesterday. It went out. I thought something had died in my garage. (And I wasn't going to go looking for whatever it was, honey).  But it was my freezer. I don't use it much, but there was some gumbo in there. And that spoiled and you know how that seafood starts to smell...

I would normally just go buy another one freezder, but I have to pause now. I paid $140 for that medium chest freezer some 8 years ago. But like I said, I have to pause now. I have put it on a list instead.

l don't like this "new" thing of deciding between a "Want" and a "need".  My needs list has become a priority with this shut down, and my "wants" list takes a back seat.

Not a good thing. Or is it a good thing?

Hmm...

We will think on that one.

In the meantime... Have a good weekend.

Not by default, but by design... and on purpose. 

So...

Lo and behold...

They shut the government down.

Sigh. And I am out of a job at the moment, since I am a gub'ment employee.

And I was thinking today, "I've never been out of a job."

I went to work on Tuesday and signed my furlough papers. One of the youngsters in our group was in our boss' office tripping out because she wanted to know how to get up on some food stamps. We all fussed about that. I was to work for 4 hours, but after 3 hours and 15 minutes I hollered "Bump this! I'm bouncing!"

I couldn't concentrate. I left and went home.

I am still breathing. I feel alright. I am a bit annoyed, because I don't want to touch my savings. (This is a very high class problem, you see).

Oscar-Tyrone is a bit annoyed, as you can see.

I have been sitting in his favorite chair. I am disturbing his daytime routines.

He has a general doctor's appointment on Saturday. I'm canceling that. He would smile if he knew that. Yes he would.

I didn't want to write about it immediately. My feelings were a bit too raw. My faith has to go past my feelings. And getting the faith to pass those horrible feelings takes a moment. I had a couple of good cleansing conversations with my sister Kentucky, my brother Milk and Cookies, and my best friend LadyTee. So that was helpful.

Actually, I had some funny blog posts to put up about other stuff, but I didn't put them up. I thought I would think about all this and do a post, if only to record and remember this event.

 I sat down and came up with a mini plan. That wasn't too hard to do.  Took me all of about 10 minutes. I had to change some things around in my bank account, and I was done. No big deal.

But you know what really bothers me? I'm all good. I have savings, and I'll just cut myself a check out of savings every two weeks. So I'm good. But what really bothers me is that uh... a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. So loss of pay can be devastating. And trust, they have been running the story of different families on the news. It is heartbreaking.

All of this is because of a dysfunctional government. Highly dysfunctional. And when the leadership is bad, the people groan. That's what my bible says. That is sad.  I'm not all that surprised with the deepening dysfunction of the everyday people in our country. Look at the leadership. We are only as good as our leadership. And our leadership is dysfunctional. That is all.

So my prayers go out to those who have lost a check who have no savings and are waiting to see what happens.

My overall goal is spend my money and time wisely, and keep occupied. I in no way want to lay around the house. I am the consummate loner, but not when I am not working daily. So I prefer to be around people. I love morning bible study at church and I definitely got up this morning and made it to the 10 am service. I am SO glad that I did because it was a good service, with one of my favorite lady ministers preaching. And I had one of the ushers laughing...

"Come on in here and sit on the front row, sister!" the usher said with a smile.
"NO!" I said, a frown lighting my face.

Sit in front? The horror. No way. I sit in the back or the middle. I don't want to sit in the preacher's face. Not I.

That's just me.

I did some grocery shopping. I even came across Baton Bob in Buckhead.

He walks past my workplace from time to time. And we all run to the window to see what he's wearing that day. (One day he had on a fabulous wedding dress. We ooohed and ahhhed over that dress).

Baton Bob is our downtown ATL version of Forrest Gump. You know how Forrest got so depressed after Jenny left that he started running? Well Baton Bob was so depressed one day that he just grabbed his baton and whistle, put on an outfit and marched the streets of ATL bringing joy to himself and everybody around him.

He refused to sit at home and be depressed. I don't blame him.

I tell you, it's something else when one stands up and makes a decision to be happy.

Spread joy. Make your ownself and everybody else happy. Indeed.

Tomorrow is a new day. I may clean and stain my porch. That's a huge undertaking. I was in damsel in distress mode the last time I was outside staining the porch. I think this time I can take my time with it.

I also plan to go hang out with Grandma. I hung out with her on Monday. Seeing me twice in in a week will be O_O for her. But I am ready for some good conversation and good crocheting indeed.

I think this shutdown will be over soon.  They are messing with these veterans' benefits and money, and that's a no-no. And I am not sure what's up with the NIH and CDC, but man... listen: we are in trouble if some sudden disease outbreak pops off. And they're keeping the cancer patients out of the NIH. WOW. Crazy.

All of this over a pissing contest in Congress. (You know this isn't about The health care act or the budget.)

The masses are going to get louder and louder... and angrier.

Plus they shut down all the national parks. It's only a matter of time before folks start raising hell over that. You know darn well it don't make no kind of sense closing Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. And folks were being turned away from the King Center and the Statue of Liberty. Humph.

Anyway. I'm gonna be alright. By design and on purpose.

And hopefully all of this will be over soon.

The sooner, the better. 

Monday Morning!

It's Monday!

It's the last day of the month! 75% of the year is over. You have 25% of the year left to get it in. All those New Years resolutions you have... you can still accomplish it all!

You know me. I don't make resolutions. I don't need a resolution. I need a revelation.

Yes indeed.

I haven't watched much news in a week. And it's a good thing. The junk level in my mind is pretty low right now. However, I watched the news this morning, and lo and behold, they are STILL hollering about this government shutdown. I am a government employee, so it would affect me.

I for one think this whole thing is a pissing contest between the Republicans and Democrats. And as usual, the Republicans will lose. Personally I think Congress should be swept clean and replaced with people who actually know how to govern. That's all I will say about that. Humph.

Anyway, I had a decent weekend. I am LOVING the weather int he ATL. Not only is it cool (still warm enough for shorts), but the humidity is low. You can't beat that, after the monsoon rains all summer. GLORY!!

I have my regular bimonthly doctor's appointment this morning. I need her to check EVERYTHING and give me a big prescription just in case the government shuts down. Then I'm going over to Grandma's house for lunch. I don't think she likes this much, as she doesn't understand why I only stay half an hour. But I must go to work. And if we are furloughed, I will be sure to hang out with her tomorrow.

Quotes of the week.  We had a guest minister this week, and the sermon was interesting. It was centered around wants and needs.

"A need-centered person is someone so engrossed in their personal issues that they are not aware of what is going on all around them."

"A need-centered person always needs someone to affirm them all the time."

And "need-centered" here is synonymous with "self-centered".  So think of it in that context. And we all know some self-centered people. And we have all been a bit self-centered at times in our lives.

This sermon was mostly dealing with the "Me, Myself and I" mentality and learning to trust God for your needs and not be all manipulative in your prayer life and or in dealings with others. If you are truly depending on God for your needs, then the worry and fear should be out of your life.

I know for myself, I have issues and what-not that I am constantly thinking about. But for this year I have noticed, and I notice in my personal journals, that a common entry has been my problems, but balancing that with keeping alert about what's going on around me, because there is soooo much going on around me. Those answers I need seem to always be available if I get my mind off of myself and pay attention to what's going on. So that first quote confirmed that and resonated strongly with me.

Now that second quote. Humph. I know folks who need constant validation. It's very much draining. And I am on these folks' bad side after awhile. It's hard for me to keep affirming and validating people, especially when I see my words are not helping them. It becomes an exercise in stroking. I can't stand that.

Good quotes. Gave me something to think about.

Song of the Week.  I like this song. Reminds me a little of some ol' Marvin Gaye.



That's it for our Monday... Off to the doctor I go.

You have a good week! By design and On purpose.