this is not a journal title

I keep forgetting to change Kappa's papers as often as I should. I've also been trying to put her to sleep earlier b/c I suspect part of her behavior is hormonal. It was already past her bedtime last night when I decided to change papers before covering her. Then I found mouse poop in the papers and freaked out and washed the bottom of the cage for the next hour.

Woke up this morning to a nightmare involving trying to escape the zombie apocalypse with Kappa, except she'd caught it, and Bowser was burning I-84 so we had to go the long way to the emergency vet.

While changing Kappa's food this morning I found mouse poop in it.

T$ showed me how to use the Havahart trap I ran out to buy at the hardware store. I spent all day cleaning her cage. My bum hip hurts from so much standing.

At something like 5pm T$'s friend B came over and parked me in and T$ and B went off to a frisbee tournament in Boston for the weekend.

Around 6pm the Havahart got a mouse. I took photos of him. I'm naming him Mouse 0 for reasons that will become clear in a moment. He was very cute and very tiny and very scared.

Since I was parked in, I loaded the trap onto my bicycle and rode over to the river so I could let it go on the other side so it'd be less likely to make it back. The mouse was no longer in the trap when I stopped to check it. I'm guessing that on a bump one of the doors flipped up enough for him to escape while the catcher-thingit was also jostled so it didn't jam the door shut.

Mice: 1. Humans: 0. That was Mouse 0 b/c it didn't count. That was a practice mouse.

On the way back I got two mosquito bites and a bug in my left eye. Thankfully it was a big enough one that it bounced off rather than getting stuck in it. Ow. Ick.

Back home now. Hip still hurts. Haven't had dinner yet. Mouse 1 is in the trap. Or possibly the same mouse. I can't walk the mile to the other side of the river right now b/c of the hip. I don't want to bounce another mouse out of the trap on the bike over. I'm still parked in. I hope the stupid mouse lives until morning when I might be able to get my car out or be able to walk. It won't die overnight will it? Gawd, I'm going to hear it rattling that trap all night long, aren't I?

Anyone got a cat I can borrow for a few days?

Tonight, Saturday March 29, there is a movement called "Earth Hour." From 8 to 9pm tonight (in your local time zone), turn your lights out to help raise awareness of energy conservation. To me this's a win-win situation - by 8pm it's dark out. If everyone really does turn their lights out, it'll make the night skies that much darker (though yes, I know streetlights won't be out) and that much better for observing! T$ points out that it isn't going to be all that effective since we can still leave on computers and TVs - which are probably a bigger power drain for most modern families. But it's better than nothing.

I just found a petition to create a national Do Not Junk Mail list. Who knows whether it'll work, but it doesn't hurt to sign. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!