EEEEEK!

[muckefuck]

I mean, Egad! There's a mouse on my desk. At least, I hope it's a mouse. I don't want to see the insect that makes that much freakin' noise. After all, I'm not easily spooked by critters, but the rustling was SO LOUD I felt that at any moment the printouts would part and I'd be face-to-face with the hairy beast.

I hate to admit that there's enough loose paper piled around my workspace to provide cover for a rodent, whatever its size. That said, my money is on not the desktop but the No Man's Land, the ruelle between the sides of the desk and the wall. It's one of those old-fashioned monsters that comes with a backing; that is, if I were to kick forward, my steel-tipped boot would hit not the partition but a panel on the back of the desk. Anything that falls behind that is effectively lost to human ken, and I'm afraid a number of paperslides (beginning in my predecessor's day) have begun the slow work of filling it in.

I can't even remember what I was going to post about any more except that it had something to do with how productive I've been today--a sad reminder that the only true motivators in my life are lust and anxiety and there's very little about my daily work that can inspire much of either. But I'm filled with nervous excitement and that's got me striving to see how much I can deal with before I go. Something tells me that my priorities have just shifted a bit...

Comments

Yum...a tasty snack!

[monshu.livejournal.com]

Before too long the rodent will seem like nothing. Think instead about scorpion kebobs, grilled centipedes, and all manner of other lovely snacks at a Beijing market.

Re: Yum...a tasty snack!

[lhn.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, just a reminder of the CDC and others' recommendation of prophylactic Pepto-Bismol-- two tablets, 4x a day. (Definitely go with the tablets rather than the liquid or the chewables, unless you're really a big fan of Artificial Pink Flavor.) I can email you the research abstracts if you want to see them, but suffice it to say that studies show it as 50-90% effective in preventing the sorts of complaints that can mess up a noticeable fraction of a trip.

I hope you both have a great trip. (And take lots of pictures!) prilicla and I can't wait to hear about it when you come back.

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

When they did some minor interior redesigning of my work area a few years ago, we discovered when they moved my desk that a mouse had apparently been living in a previously unreachable cranny of it on the floor for years.

Luckily I had plausible deniability; it might have been living there during my predecessor's time ...

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

Get an office cat. Problem solved!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Don't think I haven't suggested it. It went over about as well that we refer to the beast as the "Cat o' Logging".