House Calls

Dearest Rachel –

So I’m taking the day off from the ‘office,’ as I managed to get everything done that I’d intended to yesterday. At the same time, I’ve got lots of stuff to do here at home, such as laundry and packing for Monday’s flight out. And, as it so happens, I have to hang around here for some folks on the outside to come and contact me here.

To be sure, when it comes to phone contacts, it’s not as if I have to be home to take the call; I could just as easily be at the ‘office’ when it comes. On the other hand, this has to do with the health insurance that Daniel and I are each required to get, so it’s better that I take it here at home, and I include him in on the call. I realize he’s orders of magnitude less interested in the subject than I am (and that’s a pretty low bar he has to slither under to begin with), but as a legal mandate, he has to be informed about what he’s getting into, and he’ll have to agree on his policy specifics personally. So yeah, that was the first thing I’d been planning on dealing with for some time.

Actually, there was some confusion regarding the timing of the call at first; when I’d signed up online to schedule the call, I could have sworn I scheduled it for Tuesday the fourth. However, the evening of the fourth came and went, and while I certainly got a few calls during that time, none of them matched the phone number I was expecting, and I let them go into voicemail (none of whom left any messages, which just goes to show what kind of calls they really were). So I sent an email to the individual who said they would call, and they replied that their earlier email – in confirmation of my online registration – informed me that they would be following up with me on Friday, which was decidedly not the fourth. I don’t know how I got from one date to the other, but at least I’m ready, more or less, for this afternoon’s call.

However, as of yesterday morning, I had to add another item to today’s docket. It would seem that, during the night before last, Daniel woke up from a fairly sound sleep to an unusual noise, which turned out to be a mouse rummaging around the family room. Although it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had an animal problem in this house – I’m sure you remember setting out traps, not just for mice in the house, but raccoons in the attic (both of which you tried to capture humanely and have us drive out to the hinterlands to release into the wild – it’s been quite a while since I’ve been aware of any of them around here, probably thanks to the number of feral cats that wander the various backyards of our neighborhoods (although they haven’t made their presence known as much over the past few weeks as they have throughout the bulk of the summer).

Be that as it may, it would seem as if at least one has gotten past the hungry felines, and found its way into the house, and without expert intervention, it’s not going anywhere. Not only is it warm and safe indoors, but there’s all manner of food down there by the boys’ chairs. I’ve told you about the mess that they can’t seem to keep up with; maybe this will light something of a fire beneath them to pick things up – or at least, to get the foodstuffs off the floor, lest something else get to it before they can eat it. One can only hope.

Meanwhile, the mouse itself needs to be dealt with, despite the fact that I’ve only got Daniel’s word about it. If nothing else, the pest control guy should be able to identify the access point that we need to plug up, to prevent further access as the days grow colder, and the house itself grows that much more inviting. The fact that we could get him to come out barely a day after its being spotted is nice too, as we can have this taken care of before we head out. I really don’t want to think about the damage that could be done in our absence.

But for the moment, all I can do is sit around and wait. Wait for the pest control guy to show up and snoop around the house (and hopefully catch the little interloper), wait for the phone call so we can get next year’s insurance requirements sorted out, and all while waiting for this load or that to finish up in the washer or dryer. It’s life at home, and I suppose you remember it well (if not entirely fondly).

For now, all I can do is to ask that you keep an eye on us, and wish us luck that we can get all this taken care of today. I’m pretty sure we’re going to need it.