Day 2720

The rat has vanished. When I went to set the rodent free this morning, it wasn't in the trap. How could this be? The trap was still closed and locked. There were no signs that the rat had tried to chew its way through the heavy wire mesh. The trap looked exactly like it did last night, except there was no rat inside and all the cheese was gone. I was dumbfounded. I still have no idea how the rat escaped, but if it was smart enough to get out of a closed and sealed Havahart trap, it will probably never go near one again. This is very irritating. Now, how am I going to catch this rat?

This morning was way too quiet. This was the first time since Dot passed away that Dash and I were alone in the house, resuming our solitary weekday routine. The house seemed empty and so did I. For the past two years, everything I've done has been centered around Dot. I kept thinking "what do I do now." There was no bucket list and few pent up desires. I tried to take Dash on an extra long walk, but he seemed lost as well. Dot's oncologist had warned me that something like this might happen. "When you invest as much of your time as you have," she told me, "you aren't going to get over this quickly."

Life will never return to normal, because it was never really normal in the first place. I'll adapt though and find new priorities. I always do. I don't think there's any rush. A little floundering around never hurt anybody. I can certainly stay busy cleaning the house for a while. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I'd like to make sure that Dash feels comfortable. He's a nervous dog who always depended on Dot. It's going to take him a while to regain his confidence. Probably the best thing I could do for Dash is to regain my own confidence as well.

I had one of my periodic meeting with my financial adviser today. For the first time in a long time I wasn't mad at him. We seem to be on the same page again, but I'll be the first to admit that this is always easier to do in a rising market. I've already lived through too many market crashes and feel that I might not have time to recover from another one. We mostly talked about how to preserve what I've got in the event that Armageddon is on the horizon. I don't have a lot of faith in the future, but I still want to beat the odds.

I wish this rain would stop. We've been having thunderstorms almost every day. Dash hates the thunder and lightning and I hate all the mud in the yard. Ordinarily, the landscapers would have replaced all the backyard grass by now, but there are a lot of bills this month, so I'm not in a big hurry to incur any more expenses. I paid my annual homeowners insurance, so that's out of the way, but ever time I start up the car, I see that irritating "Service Required" warning on the dash. How much is that going to cost?

It's a shame that my main writing client has gone dormant. Writing is always a good way to stay busy. Now, the most important thing on my calendar is catching a large rat.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day