funny lookin' critters

A decade from now, when I look back on my time in Utrecht, what image will spring to my mind? Maybe the canals. Maybe the view from my office window. Maybe my pink geraniums. I hope so. But I'm pretty sure the first thing I'll think of is...mice. Sadly, this is a phenomemon I've become very familiar with recently.

Back in January, the media was full of stories about how the unusually cold winter was causing mice to seek warmth en masse in old houses in Holland's historic city centres. Yours truly is fortunate enough to reside in an old house in one of Holland's historic centres. I got the problem under control pretty quickly (Thanks for the glue traps, Dad!), but it was not fun.

Now mice have struck my office. Apparently, in a bid to cut costs, my employers switched contracts from one exterminator to another. There was a time gap between contracts - that time gap included the long Easter weekend during which the building was empty of people but full of chocolate.

Last week I suddenly heard a scream. A mouse had climbed on the foot of one of my colleagues. Later that day, I went to a meeting and returned to find mouse droppings on my desk. The next day, I returned from another meeting and found their originator scurrying next to my keyboard.

My office started getting familiar with the mice who visited us. I heard a colleague yell, "Oh look, it's the fat one again." There are apparently two babies as well.

Well, probably, there were two babies. We've now had several visits from the new exterminator.

It would be interesting to have a consultancy come in and study how much productivity was lost due to the mice. Every time one of them appeared, all work-related activity ground to a halt. Everyone began frantically looking around to make sure their possessions were clear. I'm willing to bet the cost of lost work exceeds the amount saved on the new exterminator. Oh well.

I think I need to apply myself to getting some more truly memorable experiences in Utrecht. Ten years from now, when I look back on this time, I really really don't want to think of those mice.