Rude Noises

It started a couple of weeks ago, around the time that my beefsteak tomatoes started to take a hit. There were scratching and crunching noises that seemed to happen around my bedtime reading or TV time. I could hear it when I got up to pee, ONE LAST TIME, and it sounded like something was perhaps ravaging something in the garden, which is outside both the bedroom and bathroom. I could never SEE anything, of course, so chalked it up to critters outside. Then, one particularly heinous sleepless Prednisone Night, I heard the noises at around 5 am and tried to see outside, with the aid of my phone’s flashlight. Nada, nothing, zilch.

Two nights ago, probably zonked from my flu shot, I climbed into bed at about 8:30, only to hear scratching in the ceiling, OVER the TV. Got up, got the hubby, who until this night had thought that I must be Hearing Things. Of course, like a trip to the doctor, the noises stopped and He heard nothing. Fine. I flounced back into bed and started up the TV again. It must have been only about 30 minutes later when our little huntress, Zoe the Himalayan, grand killer of yarn balls, heard something and tried to climb the windows in the corner of the room. It was loud crunching and it was coming from the attic. He came back into the room to tell me something and HEARD THE THING. Finally! He promptly declared that We had to call the exterminator.

Well, the exterminator’s Rodent Expert came today. He checked the perimeters of the house, checked the attic, didn’t find droppings, wasn’t sure if it was a rat, although rats chew WOOD and squirrels chew acorns, so probably a rat, like the last time, several years ago. The snap traps in the attic were all still there, so he placed three fancy bait filled units around the outside of the house. I hate the idea of it but that plus Rod fixing the holes in the screen, where The Thing most likely entered and exited the attic, should take care of the problem. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS.

Yesterday morning’s rude noise was the grinding death knell emanating from the dishwasher that has served us well, since we bought this house. NOT GOOD. Today, after the exterminator left, we went to visit our House Sitter (won’t be sitting the house for who knows how long into the future) at her Day Job. Her family owns A-1 Appliance and Repair, here in Placerville, and while they do not have a fancy showroom, they can get us a new dishwasher and a good price and will stand behind it., which means a lot, in this world of Corporate Everything. Now, we wait and wash the dishes. It could be far worse, because unlike refrigerators, you can still get a dishwasher. What a world. Covid-19.