Rat B@stards

The "little rodent things that chew" are back in my engine with a vengeance this week.

Yes, that's right, only a week after the first repair shop fix of the delicious-to-rodent wires, my "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" light popped back on yesterday.

Back at the shop this morning, the mechanics tell me the same thing.

"Those guys are back!" the mechanic laughed over the phone.

"Oh god, you're kidding me," I answered.

"Nope, and they did more damage this time. Hopefully we can repair it."

"Okay, this is crazy. I don't understand why they're not leaving my engine alone. Is there any way to keep them out of there?" I asked him.

"Looks like it's time to buy a cat," he laughed again.

Right, I thought. Like my fat-assed-emotional-eater-of-an-indoor cat, Tuesday, would make much difference. She'd probably work with them to find food. I'd find her curled up in the engine block purring, with wires in her mouth.

But that didn't matter.

"I have a cat, except that she remains indoors. And besides that, I don't park my car in a garage. I park on the street because I have no garage."

"Well then I don't know how to keep them out of your engine, I'm sorry," he sympathized.

You stupid damn rats, stay out of my engine. I've had a few suggestions thrown my way on keeping them out of my engine - from putting Decon blocks in my engine to spraying it down with some sort of predator-like urine stuff to frighten them away from my car. Wonderful, nothing like having a car that smells of "Bobcat urine!!!"

Anyway, I have a feeling the rats are finally waging some revenge on me after I took away their once cushy home in our outside basement staircase drain this past summer. I even cemented a drain grate on there myself after shovelling out way too much dirt and rat leavings. They got the hint, and while it took them some time to craft a plan (maybe they were lulling me into a false sense of security), they're acting on it now.

The one suggestion I will try is one suggested by the employee of an Advance Auto Parts store I called. He suggested mixing an ammonia and water solution and spraying that on and around my vehicle, because that will keep all critters away from it. Here's hoping it works.



Moving on from rat invasions, I had a nice weekend. I went hiking on Saturday and am feeling it today.

That's because once the wife and I reached the top of our hike, this was the view.







We ascended quite the hill, working enough random muscles to be paying for it for a few days. But the view was very much worth it. There were plenty of rocks to climb on, mud puddles to slog through and birds to watch.








This photo is a view from the bottom looking up. If it weren't a crappy cell phone, you'd be able to see the two climbers taking the hard way up. I love rock climbing, but I can't imagine doing a path that long and scary. I'm still a beginner and while I have some sense of adventure and challenge when I climb, this rock face is more of an adventure than I want right now.



Oh, and Saturday also ruled because Ohio State beat Michigan. My brother sent me photos of him also storming the field and taking some turf - which is now in a pot in his living room. He's already asked me if I'd like a piece to plant in my front yard so I can say I have a little bit of Ohio Stadium in my yard. I'm very tempted.