Mouse Trap
Reader, I have tempted fate, and live to tell the sorry tale…
My previous post on Unintentional Programming was, you’ve probably guessed, a complete work of fiction, one of those attempts to trelieve the pressure of ideas in my head with a garbled outpouring. And yet here is a true story that makes it sound downright plausible. Where to begin…?
Manning publishers very generously give their authors a number of books to give away to people who helped them along the way. I received my complimentary copies just over a week ago, in a genuine US Postal Service sack with a drawstring. My son (aged 9) commandeered the sack when I brought it in, saying that it might be useful.
Fast forward to last Thursday evening. I’m running a bath for the kids, when my daughter shouts that there’s a real-life mouse in our son’s room. We live in a fairly old building, and on days when the rains been really heavy we sometimes get such a visitor, maybe once every couple of years.
We spent about ten minutes trying to catch him in a cardboard box, but he was way too quick for us. I was aware that time was ticking by, so we decided that we’d have to let the cats in, and try to catch the mouse from the cats before they killed him (our cats are pretty useless as mousers, I’m glad to say). They did an impressive job, batting the mouse around like a football, but were just that bit too quick for me to pin them with the cardboard box. Suddenly the mouse disappeared, and I realiseed that he’d taken refuge in my trouser leg, and wouldn’t be shaken out. Luckily I was thinking quickly, so I pulled my trousers off and rolled them up, trapping him inside. My Son was on the ball too, and grabbed his mail sack, and we stuffed the trousers in. I put on a spare pair, and we went outside to the front courtyard with torches to investigate. A few shakes of my discarded britches and the mouse popped out and scurried off to safety.
So folks, the long gruelling hours involved in being an author are worth it. If I hadn’t had that postal sack to hand, things could have turned out quite differently :-)
Dave,
I almost fell out of my chair when I read the mouse story. You see, I picked up a copy of your new Ajax book on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving here in the US, intent on delving into it over the long holiday weekend. When I got home, I was told by my wife that she found signs of a mouse in our pantry. It seems he was especially fond of a ziploc bag of canjun-spice flavored pumpkin seeds we made after Halloween. Well anyway, unlike your mouse, ours was on the loose, so we had to set a trap for him (and he was caught the next morning).
So what’s the deal with AJAX in Action and its ability to attract mice? :-)
Thanks for the book, I’m really enjoying it.
Jack
Comment by Jack Davis — November 28, 2005 @ 8:10 pm
Heh,
I’ll have a word with Manning, see if they can figure out how to attach a free cat in the insert when they reprint, or at least provide a download!
Thanks for dropping by, glad you’re enjoying the book.
Cheers,
Dave
Comment by dave — November 29, 2005 @ 9:37 am