Day 968

We got up at 8 today.  Yo texted that Tony had voluntarily agreed to stay in the hospital for 14 days.  After getting dressed I went to the kitchen to find kitten.  He was no where to be found.  I took the place apart twice and couldn't find him.  I also searched the living room in case he'd got in there.  No kitten.

Ellen started to move the living room couch.  I noticed a small hole under the living room doors.  I told her to look in there.  She did and said she didn't see anything.  We kept searching.  I finally decided that he had to be in the hole.  I got down on the floor with a flashlight and saw him.

The next step was how to get him out.  I thought I could do it from the cupboard under the sink.  I emptied everything out of there.  It was full of rat shit and a dead mouse.  I cleaned that up and then started to disassemble the back of the cupboard.  When I finished I discovered that there was no opening from there to where the kitten was.  That left removing the living room doors.

I took off the trim as I prepared to remove the doors.  That's when I realized that removing the doors wasn't necessary.  Removing both trim pieces allowed moving the doors out so I could reach the kitten with a broom handle.  We got him out and put him in his carrier.  Then we started putting things back together. 

When I took the cupboard apart I found a hole in the floor where the mice had been getting in.  I needed more steel wool to plug it up.  Also, we hadn't had breakfast and it was after 11.  So we went to the club to dump garbage and install the new blu-ray player.  Ellen talked with Vandy about the state tournament and I ordered a knife from Dave (I don't need it, but we haven't bought much this year).

After that we left for Woodburn.  We stopped at AC/DC for lunch.  Then we went to ACE where I got some screws for the handguard.  The final stop was Wally World where we got some steel wool, some milk substitute, a lead and collar for kitten, and some bananas.

When we got home we finished putting the trailer back together.  Then I went out to use the new handguard screws.  They were too long.  The rest of the time until dinner was dealing with all of the emails concerning Mom's move and sales for the 4th.

Even though finding the kitten was an hours long pain in the ass, several little improvement jobs got done because of it:

1.  My kitchen chair has had a tear in it for a long time.  I've been meaning to switch it, and finally did because we were tearing the kitchen nook apart looking for the kitten.
2.  One of the spare kitchen chairs had a broken leg.  Apparently I'd tried to glue it, but that didn't work.  I fixed it with deck screws.  Now it's stronger than it was new.
3. There was a lot of extra crap under the sink which made it hard to get things.  That all got cleaned out and a lot of old useless stuff got thrown away.  Now things are neat and easy to access.  The rat shit and dead mouse are gone, too.
4.  The hole under the floor of the cupboard is now covered with steel wool and screen.  Mice won't be able to enter the cupboard any more.  They can still get in under the slide out.  There's no way to stop that.
5.  Ellen cleaned out behind and below the living room couch.  It was filled with rat shit and mold.  She also used the mold cleaner on the carpet.  This should make things smell better in there.
6.  All of the stuff in the nook has been rearranged.  The result is a lot neater and easier to access.

Kitten now has a collar and is on a lead.  Ellen has been holding him and has gotten him to sleep on her lap.  He's sleeping in the carrier right now.  It's been stressful for him, but he will adapt.

Ellen fixed hamburgers for dinner.  That hamburgers twice in one day, but I liked them.

After dinner I took a walk.  The rest of the evening was TV and reading.