A Better Mouse Trap and a Ride on the Karma Train

I am supposed to be doing the dishes, or cleaning the cat boxes. But I need to get a little something out before I feel like I can move on.

My wife and I generally get along pretty darn well. We like to do a lot of the same things and we are tolerant of each other when there are differences.... for the most part. Right now, though, we have what some might call an irreconcilable difference. And now, I feel like I have given up something of myself, something I may never get back, but hopefully will build character?

Let me explain. This is my wife:

This is a look I get on a regular basis, when she is doing her best to be tolerant of me and my crazy ideas and ways of doing things.

I have generally gotten used to this look, and for the most part it doesn't faze me too much. Although, when I do get "The Look," I usually take a second to make sure it's just the look of begrudging tolerance instead of seething anger. If I discover it is the latter, I only have about 2 seconds to retrace my steps and find where I went wrong before the eruption.

I bring all this up because I got "The Look" on Friday night. Let me set up the story a little bit.

It was about 2 months ago (I think) when I was coming home from work one night and something skittered across the patio in the dark. It was fast, it was small, and there was no doubt in my mind it was a rodent. This alone wouldn't be too bad except it went straight under the deck. Over the next two months we would see it from time to time, but never anything in the light where I could get a good look at it, until Friday.

Friday afternoon I saw it. It was grey. It was fat. It was running across the patio in broad daylight in complete defiance of any laws of nature and the food chain. It was not afraid. And it was a monster! This is no ordinary rat. This is a Leviathan. I can't think of any other way to describe it. So I finally decided the time ha come to take action. The beast has to go.

This is when I get the look (if you have forgotten what exactly the look is, refer to the picture of the wife above then return to this spot). I want the rat to die. The wife has decided there will be no needless suffering of animals in our backyard. This has caused a little contention over the last day and half. But in end, as I stated before, I have given a little of my soul on this one, all in the name of "Karma." This is a idea that really is somewhat foreign to me. Its not something I have ever really put much stock in. But the wife feels strongly about, and apparently, she feels I should to.

The result of this difference:

The trap is set, next to a spot where a board came off the deck over a year ago. Its baited with peanut butter. I wanted to lace the peanut butter with De-Con, but again, I have given a bit of myself up here in the name of Karma.

So now I will sit and watch. And wait. And I will be victorious. And the foul beast will be extracted from the yard (apparently she plans to release it deep in the forrest behind the house).

I'm on the Karma train now, and I hope to heck it brings me to a decent place, cause right now its a bit of a bumpy ride. And if the beast returns, I will be ready, and waiting.