Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 I always have said that I can relate anything to lung cancer. I live in a really nice apartment complex where I thought for sure I would be taken care of. Brian wakes me at 6:30am. We have a RAT!!!!!!!!! G-d only knows how it got in here. Ring ring ring, we call emergency maintence FOUR times now. They do not have a RAT on their list of emergencies. I said of course you do not, this is not a RAT area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is an answering service and they are refusing to call. So I get to a supervisor and I said "you know, you do not have a list for everythihg. Did you ever cough? Well if you go to thet doctor with a minor cough you never suspect you will walk out with lung cancer, right? It is the same situatin here, a RAT is not on your list of emergencies to be able to contact the office b/c it is NOT the norm of the calls you get." I was arguing and arguing and arguing. I got their name and I was so frustrated. These IDIOTS at the answering service are taking it upon themselves to refuse to pass the message along b/c it is not on their list. Then I realized duh, just call the gatehouse, there is always someone there But anyway, I am all mad and then suddenly Brian says "Uh Andrea, do you realize that you told them that a rat is rare the same way a cough could be lung cancer? How in the world can you manage to always do that?" and I just cracked up. It just came out Everything relates back to cancer. I was advocating early detection and informing someone a cough could be lung cancer without even knowing it And I am off to work, Brian gets to babysit the rat. I offered but he said I would be no use standing on the sofa screaming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Well, Andrea...welcome to life with "Murphy"! LOL - one relaxing weekend followed promptly by a Monday morning crisis....I can hear the Jeff Foxworthy twang now "If you can use a rat as an alarm clock, you just might be a redneck!" Now, you'll be darn luck if someone doesn't call the SPCA on you (ACLU lawyers for rodents, of course) for scaring the bejesus out of a poor little furry friend that NEVER harmed you in any way... IMAGINE how that poor little girl/guy felt with you screaming and jumping on furniture? It was in fear for its life that you might knock a couch over on it or something...the poor little baby, lost and so far from home...in a strange land with giant beings with brooms! Bet its name is Gulliver - sounds like a "Gulliver's Travels" for the gnawing sect... Maybe you better start lining up a legal defense! Was it not a curse "May you live in interesting times"? See...if you were a little more resourceful, you would have thought about telling the answering service there was a potential murder/suicide in your apartment. (Hey, it COULDA happened if that aforementioned couch had fallen on the rat and you had hit your head real hard....) Bet they woulda showed up for that! OR, if it had been some exotic/endangered animal - something like a 12' boa constrictor or gila monster (they ARE dangerous) or a spotted owl.... ...and you're off on your six degrees of separation with lung cancer, you keep sticking with ONE! Try it with Kevin Bacon, like one of our local DJs here...I'm sure Kevin co-starred with someone that was in a rat movie that had dated the Marlboro man who died of lung cancer... Just a challenge for ya... Enjoy the REST of your Monday, if you don't get caught in a stampede of elephants on their way to a knicker sale at Macy's... Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 PS - How did the rat get past the guard?? Maybe the guard needs to be reprimanded and/or replaced! I'm SURE a rat is not the type of "people" that need access...or the rat may have had a "Permit to Peep" with a "License to Lolligag"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Andrea Hmmmm--seems to me lung cancer is a rat. Elaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 Becky, You crack me up I did think of telling them there was a murder or something b/c I asked what constitutes an emergency for maintence and the answering service said "flood, fire, or blood" and I could not comprehend how blood was a maintence issue. To me blood would be a 911 call The mouse rat rodent thing got away, so I will listen to scurrying at night. I am a fraidy cat of animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Andrea, try to remember that ratS carry disease (plural)...you have ONE...rats aren't exactly like cockroaches - with roaches, if you SEE one, there's at least 100... Besides, if the rat had a bow on its head, it was related to Dave Grant's dog and nothing to be afraid of.... Just test it with a cat...if the critter runs from the cat, it's a rat/steroidal mouse/rodent...if it barks and chases the cat, it's a Chihuahua! How much blood constitutes and emergency?? Keep a lancet on hand for the next time you may have an emergency... "OmiGAWD, there's BLOOD...did you hear me?? BLOOD! AAAAAHHhhhhhh!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 I know in reality that the rat/mouse/rodent thing is most likely not going to lunge at me, but I have a fear of them I don't like little critters. As for the blood, I need to first understand how blood can be a maintence emergency or even a maintence issue I think I want to call back and have that explained to me. If it is just regular blood, I have no problem pricking my finger anytime of the day I need service in my apt. Heeheee. Turns out this is the first rodent spotting they have had in this complex. I kept hearing the thing run back and forth when it was trapped in the bathroom. Too bad the darn thing escaped I want to catch it alive and bring it to the lab for cancer drug testing and then watch PETA run after me and then ask PETA people if they would change their mind if it were their mom or dad or husband or wife or sister or brother that the testing was helping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Rubber bands on your pant legs so it can't crawl up the INSIDE - I lived in farm country, farmer trick when haying... (Oh boy, left myself open for more nut jokes from the chat room ladies!) Where'd it go?? How'd it escape from Bath-catraz?? Blood would be a biohazard, therefore be deemed an emergency. ...as for 'your' rat going for lab testing, won't happen. Lab rats are bred for the purpose. Researchers know the parentage of all lab rats and curs/mutts are not invited. Probably why it's not so easy to compare it to people - according to the morning/afternoon shows like Ricki and Montel, LOTS of people don't know who their parents are...far from a controlled environment, huh? (SMUT TV in the daytime...I've been banned from Springer....LOL Prior to the "Jerry Beads" I'd had a want to journey to Chi-town to see Oprah AND Jerry - one extreme to the next...) Maybe your rat could get on a talk show..."What I Saw from the Pot" ... or "I've Got a Secret...Tunnel"...or Roving Rat Cam... Lordy, am I getting wound up here...better get back to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 I just wondered what kind of drugs you two are on and where do I get some?TBone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 Tbone, 60mg of Prozac, xanax as needed (usually a couple of times a week), amidrine for migraines when needed (a few times a month), lovastatin for cholestoral and zyrtec for allergies. You can go to any doctor and ask for these :) However, you won't get the lovastatin unless your lipids are high You know what is funny--I was just told that when I want to have a baby I have to stop ALL of those meds EXCEPT prozac, the one I don't mind stopping. I am not depressed as much as I am ANXIOUS and NEUROTIC. G-D BLESS XANAX, my favorite drug of choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerbil runner Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 I have a sneaking suspicion that Andrea and Snowflake are drugged out on Easter candy. Am I right, ladies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 Nope, this is just me unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Speak for yerself ....A full bottle of wine AND a basket FULL of chocolate to steal from....A-MAA-ZING how that bunny always manages to bring MY favorite candy along with the boy's! LOL (This is my brain on chocolate!) (Did I mention the Oreos I bought to crush up and make an Oreo cheesecake?? I'm SURE I won't need the whole pound of cookies so I've been "borrowing" from there, too!) T-Bone, this is the beginning of the upside from that damn depression I was in... Frame of mind: Dammitall! Time to wake up on the RIGHT side of the RIGHT bed (LOL) and decide "F" this darn cancer, I'm going to LIVE until I die, not begin dying and give up on living because of one stupid word...and when the attitude wears thin, then it will be on to that Xanax...(word of warning, the generic ones stick to yer tongue and taste NASTY....) I'm fighting spiders here....would rather have that rat so I could "borrow" a cat to get rid of it versus always having to have the vacuum on hand with the "suck wand" ready to give them ol' spiders their last ever ride! Last thing that goes through their mind is their butt, I'm told... ...then again, it may NOT be the chocolate, may be the sleep deprivation. I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT last night and well into the morning...won't need to hit the track after work for exercise, that's for sure! (In fact, if I'm not in bed before dinner I'll be lucky...hope we don't have soup where I run a risk of drowning....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Becky, Um....."F" as in "Face" the cancer? Okay....works for me. But as long as we're facing it, lets hit it between the eyes with a large rock. Okay? Wish I could help out with the Spidercide....I'm waging war on this year's crop of black widows....I just don't like those things.... Andrea....We're in California...Land of the Plague (the real deal), Land of Hantavirus, either one of which is brought to us by any number of rodents: ground squirrels, field mice, rats. I'd be calling the apartment complex managers and insisting they do a thorough clean up of attic spaces, etc. No joke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Rats do not live alone.No telling how many are hiding and laughing because they haven't yet been heard or spotted.I hear they like to play chicken by seeing how many can run across your feet in bed at night without getting caught.Then they switch to running their tails across your face.That is when most get caught.Night.Night.TBone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 12, 2004 Author Share Posted April 12, 2004 Uh oh, I had a feeling they travelled in packs! I am VERY squirmish when it comes to animals. I FREAKED out when I saw a little lizard by my parents apt when they moved to CA before they got the house, it was up in the hills where animals were just normal and my dad said it was the only time he ever saw me run.........In college we had a bat living in our laundry room of the house so I simply never did my laundry, I did fluff and fold...................poor Brian, I am going to drive him nuts. My closet is kind of messy and I was thinking they like to hide in shoes. Actually, I think the mouse/rat/rodent is a sign from above. My grandfather Papa Sol died Sat. On Sat I told Brian and my inlaws that I just know my grandfather will die within a year. I told my mom that when I called from my trip and she gave nothign away. Sun I find out Papa Sol died. In college we also had a mouse/rat that we named Gus and hung up a CHristmas stocking for. Well I felt guilty about the name b/c my grandma, Sol's wife was named Gussie. So kind of wierd that Sol died Sat, funeral was Sun, and then on Monday Gus returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBone Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 I worked in the jungles of southern Mexico for a few years and once we woke up to find a 4 foot iquana on a portable cupboard.He would not come down so a friend of mine and I decided to slide the cupboard to the door hoping that he would jump off.He did and went outside peacefully.Problem is when I looked back to slide the cupboard back in place there was a 5 foot boa constrictor on the floor.He had been under the cupboard I guess.I was not comfortable in that house for a long time after that. TBone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 TBone might win the noxious critters contest. Hmm, thanks, Andrea, I was wondering if one could take both Prozac and Xanax. I just started the Prozac and hubby just stopped his Xanax. My mouse story- When I was young and had a new baby, every night the baby would cry. I would get up, go to the kitchen, turn on the light, and every night a mouse would run across the floor. If there was no mouse, I would wait a couple of minutes, very afraid, but wait for the mouse to run across the room, then retrieve the bottle for the baby ... Eventually we caught the mouse in a trap. Then we had the problem of who was going to go pick up the trap and get rid of it. That was a long time ago. Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Margaret, Prozac is an anti-depressant which is daily. Xanax is for anxiety and NOT taken daily, only as needed When my mom was diagnosed, I took 1 a day, rarely two a day. Now I take it here and there, maybe a couple of times a week, maybe not. Problem with Xanax is that it can be addicting, so you gotta be careful and try to stay with baby doses Meanwhile I am now at home looking around, scared. I would not come home from work until my husband did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Oh for goodness sake, Andrea! Is it a mouse or a rat? Hair on its tail or a bald tail? (Rats have bald tails, mice have hair on theirs.) A rat is hard to catch - my previous exterminator told me that. They're smarter than the average mouse and will find ways to get the bait off the trap and just meander around it. Catching a rat isn't an easy task...just grab that sucker by the tail when it rubs it over your face (T-Bone's story, not mine - LOL) and whip it against the wall. Make sure to hide the body so there's no blood or other evidence for the PETA/ACLU/SPCA to find... My mother's house used to get mice when the weather got colder - they came up the pipes through the floor under the sinks (we stuffed the holes with styrofoam, but they would eventually gnaw through)... My brother and I used to play cards at night and one night watched a little furry guy hopping around under the overhang of the cabinets on the floor where I'm sure he didn't think he was seen...brave little sucker ventured across the open doorway and into the pantry and we heard SNAP! (Mom knew they were coming and had the traps set.) WE heard, HE took care of! LOL ...and then there was the time one got stuck in the trap under the kitchen sink by just his front paw (Mom buys the plastic traps that squeeze like a clothes pin - easy to empty)... Well, Mom keeps vases under the sink (never know when someone's going to bring home flowers!) and this little guy has his "hand" in the trap but all of the other three legs are working fine...he's running around under there clanging into all the glass (sounded realy interesting)...BRAVE Mom grabs the trap with the live mouse looking at her with his scared beady eyes...she takes the trap outside, away from the house and lets the mouse go...he hops away, stops and shakes the mushed paw like "GEEZ, THAT hurt!", went a ways more, did it again and was into the tall grass and gone... ...or the time my mother and brother had a mouse "corraled" behind the couch and my brother caught it in a Dixie cup and took it outside. (Hear the neighbor now, knocking on the door to borrow a cup of mouse? LOL) Now, mice I can handle, I buy traps...bugs? Especially spiders? Not for this girl... My horror story on spiders begins this way: Single mom living with 8 y/o boy and dog in an old house that even with a monthly exterminator has more than its share of bugs... Nasty deep red carpet so I have area rugs to detract from the red (owner's favorite color, NOT mine)... So, one morning, I'm in the shower - nekid as most people shower that way... I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around myself and open the door to my dog, playing with SOMETHING on a deep green carpet outside the bathroom door. She won't get out of my way so I look to see what she has, assuming it's a piece of Milk Bone... Oh no, not MY dog, she just CAN'T be normal... She's batting around a HUGE hairy wolf spider...HUGE because its BODY was over an inch long and with legs included, it's bigger than a GOLF BALL - and running high over the floor... When the spider noticed the light from an open door, it heads into the bathroom - with ME! (Quick flash to a horror movie - how DO you kill a spider when you're nekid???) All I can do is scream! So I do...more than once. Wakes up that boy who comes in all groggy eyed (still wearing the towel here, didn't lose that in the "struggle"), asks what's going on, sees the spider and his eyeballs almost fall out of his head! "MOM! Oh, Mom, it's HUGE! What are we going to do?" Gee, thinking brain says send the boy for the Raid (as I said, bugs were common, Raid was a common can under the kitchen sink with the window cleaner, etc.) - after all, I can't take my eye off this spider and allow it to get away and live to see another day... Boy brings the Raid, I coat the spider until it's white...and it keeps chugging along (Raid container - POISON! Keep out of reach of children! List of nasty things it can do on ingestion, one being death...of children...doesn't appear that's what it does to SPIDERS!). So, coat it AGAIN until it's white...STILL moving, only now it's coming right at me! (and I still have on just a towel..war front is the bathroom floor) Oh, and for all you saying "Why not just grab a shoe?" - these wolf spiders JUMP - no thanks, shoe to 8-leg combat is just TOO close! Spray the critter for the THIRD time and it slows down. I scoop it into a dust pan and flush it down the toilet...made sure it went down the little whirlpool and flush two more times, just in case the water revived the sucker enough for it to swim back up! What a way to start a day! ...and of course, on retelling it, I envision myself, nekid but for a towel and doing the horror movie scream...and laugh! It sure is funny NOW! Many more stories of life in that house, just not the time to share right now. Hope you've all enjoyed my tale, now I need to get my tail in high gear and finish getting ready for work - spider free, no adrenaline! LOL Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Karen C Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Andrea - you are really cracking me up. reading about you arguing with the answering service folks, even throwing in the lung cancer association, made me think not that you relate everything to lung cancer, but that you are such a good lawyer who can always find something to back up your argument (coming from a seasoned legal secretary here, hehe). About the drugs - BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMICALS. you betcha. Celexa being my drug of choice that gets me through every day! Take care! Karen C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Becky you crack me up I am not sure if Mickey is a mouse or a rat, I never saw him. Brian did. Twice He came back last night. Wewere about to go to sleep, I saw Brian sort of get alarmed, his arm reached across for me and instinctively I screamed and Mickey ran away So we stuffed a towel under the door way so I would be safe for thenight and will get traps today. I am such a baby, afraid of a little rodent I am literally trapped in my bedroom until I go to work and will just run out, making sure I sing on the way in case he is there--he runs when he hears me Brian read thismorning that mouse reproduce 56 times a year and make 8000 mice a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Here is a living with mice trick. Thump on the bedroom door before you open it. He will hide. Or - maybe you could make friends with it, turn a negative to a positive. You could call a pest control company to do something, if you don't get results from your super. Or borrow a cat. Are you still living with it? Thanks for the Xanax advice, I figured as much. Will put it away for an emergency. Hubby said we should save it in case he has to take another MRI. Actually, Hubby couldn't sleep last night, he is thinking of going back on it. Loved the spider story. I can see it now. Do you think you could get another one from the petshop and recreate the scene for video? Maybe you could sell it for $$$. Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 We are living with Mickey and Minnie still. I am sooo squeamish, that is a problem If you feel you need the xanax, by all means take it! Just not 10 pills a day My body actually tells me if it was a good thing to do. I noticed that when I really need it, xanax does not make me tired. But if I take it and it is not essential, it makes me sleepy. Also usually they start you out on the lowest dose. Sometimes for NO reason lately I get panic/anxiety cancer attacks and start thinking irrationally. For instance I am afraid to go away Memorial Day Weekend and July 4 b/c i dont want to make future plans, what if cancer happens to me or anyone, etc. That is illogical, so I take a Xanax and plan the trips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debaroo Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Speaking as someone who is terrified of rodents (I have been chased by squirrels on THREE seperate occasions)-I don't care if they have a bald tail, hairy tail, or a freakin' perm-I would FREAK OUT!!! Hey, does anyone remember "Letter-man" from the Electric company? He was a cartoon superhero, and there was a villin that would change a letter in a word and cause chaos. Like, and old lady would be walking up a hill and the villan would take a letter "W" and add it to the word "heels" and turn the heels on her shoes into "W"heels !!! then she'd start rolling down the hill, terrified, until letter-man would come along and change the "W"heels back into heels or something, and save the day. Well, Andrea, I would take that R from Rat and turn it into a "C" as in CAT and the CAT will take care of the Rat!!! Go to the local anamal shelter, you will have done a good deed in saving a cat, and be rid of the rat...I know you have allergies, so this might not be possible, but if you can get a Dog, a Maltese-they have hair and not fur and are less allergy causing-and they are a type of terrier, which are ratters, so that might work...or set traps...or move...or, I'm too tired to think more...Good luck with the rodent, and the rat of a building super!!! Hey, maybe the Rat is a relative of the 'rat' and so he feels some type of loyalty to it-or-something.... Its 11pm, do you know where my brain is???? Take care, Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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