Rick's b.log - entry 2020/09/03

Escapee

Taking her home, with a pouch of food, I rustled up the ladder and checked around the insides. The walls seemed intact - there was nowhere obvious that she could have squeezed through.

That left one clear option. A part of the roof where the corrugated iron had corroded. I didn't think much of this, as it would require her going up into the rafters and then taking a leap of faith to jump to the piece of iron and squeeze through powered purely by momentum - there's little purchase, and a two and a half metre fall if it doesn't work. In short, you'd have to be insane to try it.

Reality, meet kitten.

It also would have put her on the roof. She could climb down trees on either side of the building, but she's got to get over to them first. One is a big scary tree. The better trees are at the edge of another roof adjacent (and she'd need to jump up to see that).
Or, of course, just take a running jump? I wouldn't put that past her.

Lacking short pieces of corrugated iron, and not wanting to put up anything that could prove to be dangerous in wind, I found a pack of water bottles that had gone out of date. So I propped up a ladder, lugged the bottles up, and crossed a roof structure that I wasn't entirely convinced would support my weight, just to thwart kitten.

Half-ass roof patch to contain a kitten!

I just hope that's where she got out, because if not, I'm lost for where.

It's important. As there's no more lockdown here in France, I presume there will be a hunting season starting soon. She's mostly white. Might as well be a big neon sign saying "SHOOT HERE!". After all, that's how our very first cat died back circa 2004. About half seven on a Sunday morning, on our property, about twenty metres from the house, shooting a collared cat (so clearly not a stray). Want to count how many laws were broken there? But dead cat was grabbed (no body means no evidence) and whatever vehicle they came in left in a hell of a hurry. All that remained was absence of cat and screech marks on the driveway.
But, then, if you speak French, you'll quickly discover that hunters tend to be a law unto themselves with a particularly strong lobby, with a depressing history of collateral damage. They don't just shoot cats, they have also "accidently" shot people too. Sometimes basic negligence at shooting at animals without taking into account that there were bushes behind obscuring where people may be (and in one sad case, a woman in her own back garden), and sometimes really stretching the concept of what can be considered accidental (such as the hiker who was shot with a clear line of sight to the hunter, how did he not see?).
Personally, I believe that any hunter that kills a human should be treated as murder. Not manslaughter, murder. Maybe, then, they might give a crap about what they're actually pointing loaded weapons at.

But, anyway, cat does not come out on Sundays. Period. It's been an absolute rule for a decade and a half. I stay close to the house on Sundays, and if there's a hunt around, I will just stay inside.

Full Moon

The Full Moon.

Windscreen - what's the secret?

Misted up windscreen.

What causes this? What can I do about it? Because I don't fancy driving with a windscreen like that pictured above.

And this is just the start. A little later in the year, I have to cope with it misting up on the inside. At least, I know that one is "blow heat but keep the door window partly open". Not so easy in the rain, not so great in the cold.

Oh, and last winter, it did this with ice. Joy!

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David Pilling, 6th September 2020, 02:29

condensation occurs on the coldest thing, warmer air hitting something colder. Fix is to warm up the cold thing. Some cars have heated front windscreens.

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