CLEAN EATING CLUB

Today I found picture number six at work. I knew on Friday where I would be working today and what kind of job it would be but and I thought I knew what to expect, boy oh boy was I wrong. I suppose a little background is required to put things in context.

I work for a company who's main line of business is for want of a better word, sanitation. We don't do rubbish disposal, far from it. Most of the men at work remove asbestos, PCB's and other hazardous materials no one wants to deal with, this includes cleaning up after you have blown your head off, hung yourself, or your cats have eaten you, you get the idea.

This is not normally something I do, our company takes on small building projects and that's what they need me for as a trained carpenter, better pay less brains fewer cats and the only blood I usually see is my own. Well they are a little short handed on the clean up side of the business for a variety of reasons, some obvious some not, but today I was handed a job normally reserved for the clean up crew. This didn't bother me very much a job is a job and I am not fussy.

My task today was to remove the floor in a house that had some mold problems, I have dealt with this kind of thing before so I packed my gas mask and a new gas filter away in the van, grabbed my colleague for the day, a young man of 22 with a fondness for tequila and a cheerful sense of humour.

Now it's only fair to warn you that if you have a faint heart a weak stomach or are only interested in sugar, spice and all things nice now is the time to stop reading (assuming people read these) and go on about your business happy in the knowledge that if you leave a comment I will drop by and admire your art and that I appreciated your time here, if not then read on.

We arrived at the house, well it could have been a house, it could have been part junkyard, part forest or it could have been a house in any horror film you have seen. I navigated the museum of gardening tools, they had an extensive collection, though I couldn't see any signs of gardening activity, despite the 15 rakes, not counting the ones holding up the veranda roof.

After successfully locating the door of this ... habitat, habitation, uh ... house. we went inside, I knew I was inside because it wasn't as windy other than that the inside looked much like the outside, dark, cold and every single available space was packed full of "things" they had everything and in some cases 6 or 7 of everything. I thought well this is just the hall the rest of the house must be empty..... I looked for a light switch. Half an hour later I found one.

Now we photographers are used to all kinds of light, good light, bad light, beautiful light, glowing light etc. This was the first time in my life I have seen light that oozed. The light fittings were either so aged or so nictoine stained a feeble orange light oozed across the walls and illuminated ..... barely.

I looked around and could barely take in what I was seeing. In Sweden the standard of living is high and I rarely see poor living conditions, I have seen them in other countries and even lived in some of them, I was thoroughly shocked by the absolute squalor these people lived in, in a normal middle class neighborhood in Kalmar. I think I could probably write all night and still not manage to encompass that house. There is a TV show in Sweden called "angry carpenter" he helps people who have building problems with their homes, he would have left about 5 minutes into the job.

I put on my cheerful smiley face my colleagues are used to seeing and we started packing things in boxes. I learned a lot about the couple that lived there while packing away their things. The "man of the house" and I use inverted commas because he doesn't deserve the title, was a hobby photographer and some of his photographs were quite nice, I packed away around 20 cameras of various shapes sizes and ages .. some from probably around 1914 even. We packed away his collection of weapons including a loaded German Luger from world war II, he had lying around and a suitcase of spice girls paraphernalia ... this was more disturbing than the loaded pistol.

When it came to more feminine items I began to feel somewhat sad. Photographs of their children, an entire wardrobe of home decoration magazines. I know this will sound like wild speculation on my part but I have asked around and learned a little more that confirms my speculations, I imagined a woman living in this home doing her best to raise her children surrounded by squalor, dreaming of a beautiful clean home ( the kitchen was the only part of the house that was clean ) her husband, doing nothing but fill their home with his expensive toys and ignoring the needs of his family. I felt desperately sad for the woman and her children and more disgusted and angry at the man as the day passed.

I spoke to a neighbor who came for a curious look see as they usually do when I do

Alternative Titles:
1.) Cat and Mouse Games
2.) Cute as a Button
3.) OK, So I Really Love ALL Rodents, OK, So What?
4.) Always Keep Your Bathroom Clean, Cuz You Never Know When You Might Have a Visitor
5.) Always Keep Your Bathroom Clean, Cuz You Never Know When You Might Want To Have a "Photo Op" behind the Toilet.

Yes, I have ONE Mouse in my apartment -- AND I let him/her IN!! Not really by Choice --- kind of ---- sort of --- maybe by accident.
A few days ago there was such a racket going on behind the wall in my Living Room, and I convinced myself that it just couldn't POSSIBLY be mice -- too loud, too constant -- in the middle of the day. I was sure it just had to be a trapped bird! (-:
So I took a piece of floor molding off and dug just a tiny little hole right by the floor to let out that poor bird -- yeah, right! Out drops this tiny Baby Mouse about the size of a Quarter and off he/she goes.
He/she has been into the bird food bin (obviously) and gotten stuck there twice when I forgot to secure the lid, darts out of it's new little home behind a curtain, behind a storage bin at all times of the day, startling me, but OF COURSE not scaring me --- (after all it IS a Rodent, and you know how I feel about my Rodents, little Red Squirrels in particular) and pretty much has become a source of entertainment for me and Mr. Ree the last couple of days. (Jerica and Delilah don't seem to even notice)
I know many folks will think I'm Nuts -- I am you know --- for not "disposing" of this creature. But what to do, what to do?? I can't put it "back" through the hole, I won't put in outside in Winter, I won't put in a shoebox and keep it confined as a "Pet", and God forbid I would never do anything to cause it's demise.
Since it is ONLY a Baby (doubled in size tho already) --- ONLY ONE, with no mate around that I know of, doesn't seem interested in the kitchen area (Yet) ---- guess I'll just let it be for a while longer.
That is except to try to get a few pics when I can. But the bird food bin shots didn't work out too well a couple of days ago (too dark) -- so when he/she scampered into the bathroom I grabbed my camera and went in pursuit. Those didn't turn out so well either --- mainly because when I saw them enlarged, I wasn't very happy with what my bathroom floor looked like SO close up! I deleted them all except the very last photo. (At least from that one, you can see it's not from lack of having cleaning supplies handy!) At around midnight 2 nights ago I find I am scrubbing my Bathroom --- "just in case" my little friend decides to take our little game of "Cat and Mouse" there again. And YEA! He/she accommodated me -- trying to hide behind the very colorful stand I have to hold odds and ends in the Bathroom corner. So I got a Bright colorful picture that looks relatively clean -- and normal except that it IS of a Mouse in my House -- told you I was nuts!
I looked on line to try to find one single GOOD thing about mice and gotta say -- didn't find anything. My thought is --- well, they do tend to make one keep their homes a little cleaner! (-:
You must admit this little squirt is really, really CUTE though --- you agree ---- don't you? Don't You?


Ahh, yes, I forgot to mention --- I paid over $700 last Winter because while up at my "old" home a family of mice had built a nest in the Clutch casing in my Subaru about the size of a basketball! I DO know how destructive they can be!!