It's half past four in the fucking morning and I'm sitting at a screen drinking coffee. I've been up for an hour because I can't sleep. I can't sleep because I've been woken up twice already by bad dreams and twice by vermin scampering about in the stud wall.
Even though the bad smell in the kitchen has gone down a bit, the scratching, clawing and scuttling continues. This is an old house and most walls are lined or stud - so it must be like catacombes behind there. Little mouse keeps waking up and barking hysterically - I now wake up as soon as I hear the slightest noise and lie in bed stressed and angry. I've started hearing them upstairs at the back of the house now. I can't understand it - there is nothing for them to eat - the house is as clean as it's physically possible to be and there is bleach everywhere. I spend my time at home banging on the walls to make them consider pastures new and I have even been leaving lights on downstairs.
Both dogs have fleas again - the third time this year. Reading in the papers that it's the worst year ever for fleas and everyone has them does not make me feel any better - they only have a couple and I get the chemicals out straight away - but they are so fucking expensive and obviously not working. Another weekend of cleaning every inch of the house and hoovering every speck of dust.
I've just had two really scary dreams - first was an odd one about someone I know committing suicide because they ran out of sugar, when I was a little kid there was a big strike or something ( it was the '70s ) and I remember the shops being bare and two women fighting in the supermarket over a bag of sugar - it was quite nasty. The other was just awful and I won't go into detail but it was one of those high definition nightmares that was full of detail you didn't realise you had in your head - involving a terrible multiple car pileup on the Whitechapel road - many of the vehicles being Circus lorry's containing animals.
There is a particular tone of voice about the BBC World service that I associate with having really bad flu ( actually there is an outbreak at work ), working all night on something miserable, or being too stressed out about something to go to bed - not a good feeling. When I first left home - being allowed to stay up all night was exciting. Now it's just miserable.
I'm too scared to check my bank balance - I was paid yesterday, my salary was supposed to have gone up 20% to my new level - if it has, all is well - if it hasn't, then the combination of my mortgage and the home and contents insurance I have to pay on the 8th will render me literally penniless for the whole month.
Watching Blair on the telly earlier made me so angry, it's no wonder I have nightmares. His unbelievable arrogance and total lack of fucking humility was horrifying. He's an X Prime Minister - an elected public servant - his job was done years ago and he should have the grace to piss off - not hover around tutting and sighing and telling us it's all our own fault because we deviated from the golden path of Blairism. He lives in a complete bubble of evangelical, self deluding, self love. I almost wish there was a God so he has something to look forward to 'down there'. I think there are quite a few hundred thousand people who want to have a word with him.
6 comments:
I don't know if it works for rats, but Peppermint discourages mice.
For rats you'll probably have to bite the bullet, keep the dogs out of the way and bait traps with peanut butter. Oh, and Kim and Aggie say you should notify the public health people.
I'm thinking of really, really hot pepper.
I'll forgive you the errant apostrophe since it was the dead of night. I know little about rats, however, I understand that they don't only regard as food that which we regard as food and I was wondering if, since it's an old house, they are also getting into next door and that's why they remain. I hope your day gets better. I, too, had a restless night of over-thinking and worry. I got back to sleep by detailing the spending of an imaginary lottery win.
My lottery win spending spree has been detailed to the most minute degree for some time, I've even worked out what staff I shall need and decided to employ a full time driver rather than go everywhere by taxi. I really should buy a lottery ticket - it would help.
I found the apostrophe - it had gone back to bed. I've decide to go into work today rather than work at home - I might get more done and having people about will cheer me up a bit.
Call the Council rat man, mister!
There are limits, even for a vegetarian.
if you put a flea collar in your hoover, the fleas won't take up home in it - genius !
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