I hate...... That bloody mouse!

In case you're wondering what my latest rant is about - it's not aimed at the Disney mouse. No - it's aimed at the common house mouse. Especially the little b'stard that build its nest on the top of my car battery.

No, you're not seeing things - there was a mouse nest on top of the battery of my car. I opened the bonnet, and the language was foul. I called the mouse all the names under the sun, then carefully removed its nest.

Thankfully, there was no damage to the wiring of the car (I used it for the trip to Northampton today - more on that later), but I was less than impressed. You would have thought with TWO cats in the house (one with a hair trigger appetite, and a Swiss army claw attachment!), that the garage was the LAST place you would find a mouse living in.

The best bit was, the mere fact that Mum & I suspected that there was a mouse in the garage before we went on holiday, and bought a Mouse bait box - the idea being that the little vermin goes in, munches the bait, and goes to the great mousehole in the sky.

We get back, and the bait has been duly munched, but the little b'stard still built a bloody nest. If I get my hands on it, it's one very dead mouse. Pity we've tried to poison it, otherwise I'd give it to Ponto, and say

"All yours. Have fun".

Now onto happier news. Mum & I went to see the shoemaker today, and the shoes that he's made for Mum are brilliant! For the first time in over three years, she's walking straight, and not rolling like a drunk.
Ok - the shoes aren't anything like Jimmy Choo's (if anything - they're more expensive - like about £500 + !), but as far as I'm concerned, if these shoes stop Mum suffering any more damage to her joints because of the way she's walking, then they're worth every penny - and I don't think that Dad would disagree with me. My only regret is the fact that he didn't live to see Mum walking normally in the shoes, but somehow, I think he knew Mum was in good hands.

Tomorrow should be fun for me - I've got to go to the optician in Leamington, to let the optometrist know how I've gotten on with the new contact lenses. After more years than I'll admit to (like about 13 years!), wearing contact lenses, I've finally opted to change from gas permeable (rigid) lenses, to the more gentle soft lenses.

When I started wearing contacts, I was advised against the soft lenses, as the wear time was very restricted (about 6 hours at most), and I was going to be wearing my lenses for about 12 hours or more. Now, the technology has improved to such an extent, that I found the soft lenses far more comfortable for me!

They've got some kind of coating (silica I think) that makes the lens more comfortable for the eye, and also makes that most dreaded of occurrences - a dry eye - less likely. They've also got a higher oxygen permeablity rating - something like 82%, as opposed to the 15 - 20% for normal soft lenses. As a result, the lenses are slightly more expensive, but as far as I'm concerned, the comfort factor more than makes up for any cost implications.

And no - I'm not even going to consider laser eye surgery. Not because it's too expensive, or anything like that. It's the mere case that I happen to be a coward, and as far as I'm concerned, I've only got one pair of eyes, and if something goes wrong.... The consequences are too horrific for me to contemplate.

Ah well, time to log off, and bog off - my mobile's ringing, and I haven't got very good reception in the study, where my computer is!

Back tomorrow...

Karen.
Do spiders scream when they see a big fat hairy human in the bath?