Here is a good example. Flying. I know that air line flights stick to a certain schedule. To make sure that they keep to this schedule, the plane will slow down and speed up, usually dictated by the prevailing conditions. Tail winds mean they have to slow down. Head winds mean they have to speed up. And, not surprisingly, you can feel the plane do this when you are sitting in the passenger cabin.
Now I know all this. I know it. But it doesn't stop me from being scared to death every time the speed of the plane slows, causing me to grab the arm rests of my seat and preparing for the worst.
Fear itself is not always so bad, but knowing succinctly that it is completely irrational bothers me.
Now, lets move on to the rat issue. As of yet, my attempt to follow the shiny path of Karma has been fruitless. I had high hopes that putting out a non-lethal trap, with the intent to simply relocate him, would somehow magically entice the creature to make his way out of his hole and happily land in my trap. Sadly, this has not been the case. The end result is that I am eventually going to have to take portions of the deck apart in order to be successful.
This might be an example of what I might find under the deck.This particular rat is a tame one (I believe). You can tell by the fact that it is sitting calmly while a someone sticks a camera in its face. I would imagine that this is a very friendly rat. I'm actually a fan of a rat for a pet. I think they are better than hamsters, as hamsters have a propensity to bite people (so who knows who really came up with the idea of hamsters as good pets).
If this were the rat I were going to find under my deck I think I would not be so hesitant to dismantle my deck.
The following is what I believe I will find under my deck (those with irrational fears should proceed with caution, as the next image may be disturbing and utterly terrifying):
Let us all hope that whatever is under my deck does not resemble this pair of over sized vermin. If it does, I will be calling the National Guard. So this week, I plan to rip up a few boards and plant my traps. Will I be successful? Will I fail miserably? Only time will tell. But the hunt continues and I'll keep you posted.
I have a fear of flying too... although I don't think it's irrational... don't know how our "world travelling" parents have both kids that dislike airplanes... I bet they wonder that too!
ReplyDeleteCount me in as another nervous flyer. Whenever I hear the plane downshift or whatever it is it does, I too start to clench. After one episode where my mere clenchiness turned into an outright panic attack, I've now opted to take Vitamin V before flying. It makes things so much better for myself and my traveling companions.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, don't feel bad about being scared of rats. They do have an exceptional bad rap. At least you're not my neighbor. We were chatting outside after he just moved in when along comes a nice plump raccoon. This poor guy screamed like a little girl and went running back to his condo. He moved out shortly there after, probably after he realized that my house was the local watering hole for not only feral cats, but the local raccoons, possums and skunks.