Worst-Laid Plans of Mice and . . . .

As I see that fabulous full moon dip behind the mountain out one window and the clear sky out the other and think about this being a ZAGS day (undefeated WSU vs. ZAGS tonight), I would normally consider this a perfect morning.

This morning before the Maui trip, however, has been fraught with problems to solve.

First, I've got to figure out how to get a flicker out of the shop loft where the cats stay. The pretty bird showed up late yesterday afternoon inside the shop, which usually has about an 8-inch opening under the door for the cats to go in and out. Bill thinks it may have just walked in, like the cats do.

Maybe the flicker was there before, but yesterday it was flitting all over the place making a lot of noise, so I noticed. I opened the shop door all the way in hopes the poor bird would find its way out of that place where four cats who love a good bird reside every night.

No luck in the afternoon and no luck in the evening. So, I warned Willie that he may be listening to wood pecking during the night. He contributed no reports of such noise this morning, so maybe the bird slept somewhere up there in the opening between the roof and the ceiling.

While trying to show the bird the way out last night, I also noticed that flickers don't look down. They're constantly staring upward, especially in lofts, I guess, figuring there must be an opening to freedom up there somewhere. Well, this bird has got to look down to see that wide-open door. Maybe if I leave the door open all day, the bird will get so tired its head will droop and its eye will finally see that big opening to freedom.

Or, when I go to the shop this morning, there could also be a pile of feathers.

I did find carnage in the garage cabinet this morning while searching for a package of toilet paper. After ten days of no mouse sightings anywhere near the house, I noticed a sprung trap and a dead body near the back wall. Bill removed the corpse and reloaded the trap.

With our dozen or so traps strategically located, we're ready for any of those critters who think they want to come in an mess up our lives.

And, speaking of messing up my life, my laptop did that for me last night. After booting up, I noticed the battery icon at the bottom of the screen. Then I saw nothing. The screen went black. I knew the power cord I'd purchased a month ago was limping along because of my accidentally stepping on it about a week later and having to duct tape the connector that plugs into the laptop back together.

Nonetheless, the computer had been working like a dream until last night. That's the same computer I WAS planning to take to Maui. It's my digital photo computer which I use for my blog.

Seems we've reached the point in travel plans where first and foremost on the "must have's" at any resort is "wireless or high speed Internet."

What has happened to us when we could care less about the sleeping accommodations? Iz it because some of us don't sleep? Iz it because we need some tool in the middle of the night when we're wide awake so we can tell the whole world we can't sleep?

I, actually, don't fit in that category, but I know a lot of people who do, cuz I read about them on Facebook when they say they can't sleep. Often, I'm reading these comments at 5 a.m. and noting that they posted their "can't sleep" alert two hours earlier.

Though I'm an insomniac at times, I haven't gotten in to telling folks worldwide that I can't sleep. Probably because the message would be x-rated.

Anyway, I've got a sick laptop. It boots up just fine, but it's a whole lot harder to search for that mouse on the screen than it's been to find the little critters who've invaded my cupboards. So, I've got to do something about it and quickly.

The technician, upon the last fix, told me that my internal power connector was going bad, but it would probably last until I was ready for a new computer. He didn't tell me that time might be just a month away.

I'll march down to the store this morning with laptop in hand and see what can be done. If it requires a new computer, the bright side is that it's December, and I can claim it on my income tax report as an expense. That's the only bright side of putting out that much money at the same time I'm putting out that much money to go spend time in Paradise.

Guess it's all Murphy's Law: what can go wrong, will go wrong when it damn well feels like it.

I'll report tomorrow on flickers, visible mice and invisible mice. Let's hope there's a happy ending to most of the stories.

GO ZAGS!!!