Success Manifesto

1.5 days later and the story continues...

Sheena and I (read: Sheena. Yes, I do feel guilty about this), cleaned out the seeds and rat droppings from the cupboard this morning. Hearing no crumpling sounds during the day, we thought the story of the "Mouse in the House" had ended. In our minds, the mouse would find that its few months supply of super-food was gone, and move on to other apartments.

However, just moments ago, our hopes of a rodent-free apartment were dashed. Sheena and I witnessed the mouse boldly walking on our stove in plain sight, something it had never done before. When we sat at our computers, just witnessing the mouse's sheer audacity, some new questions/thoughts raced through my mind:

1. Is the mouse trying to send us a signal by coming out in the light when we could see it? As if to say, "I won't give up that easily. You may have taken away my super-food, but if I can smell wheat grass seeds through two layers of plastic bags; I can easily find your rice, your granola, and your fruit, which are a few cupboards over!"
   
2. Is it bad that we took away its main food source after it had become dependent on it? Does the same philosophy apply where you can't feed a wild animal for too long or it will forget how to hunt on its own?
   
3. How did the mouse get from the cupboard under the stove to the top of the stove? With his new mobility, should we begin wrapping up other food around the kitchen? Around the house! In our bags! When is safe to safe and can we afford to underestimate the mouse a second time?
   
4. What if in the time between when we found its hiding spot and when Sheena cleaned up, it took the wheat-grass seeds (one-by-one) to a new location, which we can not access? And what if it uses this new location as a base to look for new food sources in our kitchen?
   
5. Can a mouse eat through an inch of wood, given enough time?
   
6. How many city- and country-folk face the same problem? If I came up with a quick & easy, humane idea that would erase anybody's mouse menace forever, could I write an ebook or special report on the topic? Could I follow on the success of Who Moved My Cheese? and become an international best-seller?
   
7. As I ask Sheena for feedback on my blog entry for a third time, is she laughing with me or at me?

Despite this late breaking news, I think we're just going to keep the kitchen very clean and hope for the best. Hopefully, an update #3 will not be necessary.

That's the news and I'm Michael Simmons.