There's a moose loose aboot the hoose...

When I worked at Frankel Steel there was a gang of steel-fitters and welders at the place who had been brought over from steel works in Scotland. This was the mid-eighties, and the UK was a little ahead of us in the de-industrialization race to the bottom. These guys were relegated to the dole back home and were happy to come over for a chance to earn a living.

That lasted a few years, but as the Canadian dollar approached parity with the USD, the competitive advantage for a big fab shop like Frankel, which did much of its work for US projects, gradually declined, and eventually they found themselves on the dole again. By and large they were an agreeable lot, and they had that great accent, that I tried to capture with that quote from a guy whose wife saw a mouse in the house.

I’m thinking of that because this has been a banner year for mice in the house, and although it’s not much of a comfort, it ain’t just us. Back in the autumn TSC and Home Hardware were both sold out of mouse-traps. We were catching 2-3 per day for at least two months. Thankfully, we seem to be winning; there’s only been one mouse caught in the last three weeks.

Unfortunately, our ordeal is not over. Now we’ve got chipmunks in the house!

As a life-long camping aficionado, I’ve always enjoyed their company. They are regular companions in campsites across the country. Quite often, within a few hours of settling in, they’ll come right up on your picnic table and ear peanuts out of your hand. It’s always delightful, and the kids used to love it.

For some reason, the prospect of feeding them peanuts out of my hand while I’m sitting on the couch watching TV isn’t nearly so delightful.