Lots of money and lots of mouse entertainment

Allstate went ahead and totaled the red car, so it is no more. In its place is a large puddle of money and few real regrets. I didn't live with that car enough to really get attached to it. It was fast and handled well, but it was just a Passat. And an automatic.

The proceeds of the claim were more than I'd have ever gotten selling the car after it was fixed, so I am reasonably happy. The TDI can now get its new (and expensive) engine, the dents in Suzanne's Chevrolet can get fixed, I can pay off some bills and have a bit of a cushion to deal with.

I also got my reimbursement from the conference in Orlando in January, so from living on fumes, by this time next week I'll have somewhere around twelve thousand dollars in my account, about half of which is spoken for.

But half isn't.

Mr. Mouse went too far last night. I could hear him inside a bag of Cheetos we had left next to the bed, and at 3am, I reached over, grabbed the bag and rolled the thing shut with his mouseness inside, no doubt getting covered in Agent Orange or whatever the hell that stuff in there is. I carried the bag downstairs intending to release him outside, but he managed to squeeze out the top of the bag right as I was carrying it past a couch full of cats who were curious why I was awake. Piper was on him in a second, though I don't think Piper ate him. There was much slapping-around-of-mouse and sniffing and twitching of tails. I didn't see Mr. Mouse again, so maybe he escaped somehow. If he shows up in the Cheetos again, he'll get the same treatment.

Suzanne is taking over the house quite easily. She moved some books of mine into the upstairs over the kitchen, and unboxed some of her stuff to put on mantles and other locations. I think she now believes me about not leaving catboxlike objects unattended. She had some shoes in a small cooler for the move, and she took the shoes out and put them in the closet. By the time she came back, someone had taken the opportunity to take a whiz in the cooler.

I could have told her that would happen.

Matter of fact, I had.

See, I don't make this stuff up.