Rats Part Two and NaNo Continues

Continuing the saga of the rat patrol, on Friday, I returned to the scene of the crime, i.e. my dirt basement, aka the crawlspace I can stand up in and that has lights and everything. So while it's cool, damp and dusty and full of amazingly ugly crickets and a bunch of junk, it's not terribly dark or particulary scary. I headed straight for the spots where two of the heating duct lines run up through the floor to ascend to the second floor, pulled away the insulation and found -- gaping holes in the floor around the flexible ductwork. Rat highways. No attempt to close it off. It's not like insulation is going to stop a rat, just lull the homeowner into thinking everything is nice and tidy. And as I poked around one of them, little bits of pink insulation were falling out around the heating duct, which was rather suspicious since the basement insulation is not pink, not even close; it's actually kind of yellow. There is pink insulation elsewhere in the house though. So, I'd definitely found a spot where a rat or other critter had in fact been making itself at home.

Then the hard part of the job begins. Go get the hardware cloth. Cut suitably shaped portions to cover the largest parts of the gaps. Screw to the underside of the subflooring with woodscrews and washers while trying not to damage wiring going through the same hole. Then stuff the remaining gaps with coarse steel wool. Lots of it. Then having finished the first one and put the insulation back in approximately the same places it started, go to the second one and repeat the process, sans wiring, plus the complication of trying to use a screwdriver in a much more cramped space. Finish second one. Put the insulation back. Take everything inside and change clothes immediately (dirt, dust, fiberglass) and throw everything in the washing machine.

Later, after supper, actually manage to write a couple thousand words. Then to bed. Rejoice to not be woken up by rats. So, maybe, I got all the entry points. For now.

Saturday and most of Sunday was a weekend tai chi workshop. No writing on Saturday. Did get a couple thousand words done on Sunday evening. Hoping to attend a write-in with some of the other local NaNo's this week.