Potato Rats

I just bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes for $1.99!! That's like 20 cents a pound! About 10 cents for each large potato! And that's ALL I bought - seriously - I saw the ad & went in & only bought the potatoes. I even paid cash (never happens anymore b/c I usually never have cash). We've been having trouble (self-imposed) living according to our budget lately & too many times we've been dipping into our down payment money. So, guess what's for dinner??

Speaking of potatoes, did I ever tell you about the dead rat in our last house in San Diego?

We lived in this bright, gorgeous, tiny (like less 850 square feet tiny) cottage. And over the course of a few days last year, I noticed a "dead" smell getting worse & worse in the kitchen. The smell was centered on a certain set of drawers & a floor vent was nearby. I just KNEW the smell was a dead rat because at an old office I used to work at, we once had a dead rat in the WALL - so I felt familiar with the smell.

I was able to focus on where the smell was by opening the drawers, sniffing, & then closing them. The smell was obviously coming from BEHIND the bottom drawer. So, I of course knew the rat was somehow in the cabinetry behind the bottom drawer. OR it was in the floor vent (there was a suspicious looking possible dead rat/ possible dust bunny that we could spot down there with a flashlight).

So once I located the smell & determined that it was, in fact, a dead rat, I walked next door to my landlord's house (he was pretty handy) & said, "I know this sounds crazy, but there is a dead rat in our house, & I'm not sure I've even seen it, I've seen no rat droppings, but I've smelled the dead rat, & could you please come get inside the cabinetry & get it out for me?"

He said, "Sure - I once had a dead mouse over here, so it's possible." (Note: I'm no zoologist, but an unwanted rodent in my home will always be called a "rat" & never a "mouse.") The landlord then followed me back home with some tools to take the drawer out of the cabinetry to get at the dead rat behind it.

While he was doing that I was lingering around - identifying the smell & doing other important things. Once the drawer was out the landlord said, "Nope - no dead mouse in here." So then I started to walk over to the vent & point at the suspicious furball down there. When all of a sudden! I looked at the bag of potatoes in the hanging basket between the drawers & the floor vent, picked it up, and......found that the smell was rotten potatoes!!!

I didn't think potatoes GOT rotten! I thought they just got old & shriveled & green & grew eyes, but I didn't they'd really rot! But, that's what the smell was! I was so embarrassed, but the landlord just laughed good-naturedly. I took the bag outside & put it in the garbage can.

And that bag of potatoes? It was only the last of a 5 pound bag. And now I have a 10 pound bag - so we better hurry up & eat them!