Things that go "Click" in the night...

Last night after becoming tired of reading some of my thesis (it's definitely not a page turner! I doubt any thesis really is), I started to fall into the land of nod when:

CLICK!

It was loud enough to alert me... me, being the stone Deaf chick. I often sleep with one aid in to help wake me up in the morning (I had an early ball hockey game), but still it's ONE aid in. I passed it off as me hearing things, nuzzled back down with my cat close by, closed my eyes...

THUMP!!

Ok. Definitely something there. At first I thought it was my pipes groaning for some gawd knows reason. Checked on my thermostat, things alright. Fine. Whatever. Get some shut eye girlie you need to be wakey wakey tomorrow...

CLICK!

WTF? Now I'm thinking something of the rodent species. My place is clean, but of late my walk up flat has had too many "accidents" of the pest kind. Also this reminded me of a recent tale by Jules and the chipmunk that lives within the walls of her flat. So I peer around my bedroom. Can't find evidence of anything with four legs other than my cat (who is now pissed off at me for rustling around the room so much). I start thinking it might be my d-day nerves, get over it... try to sleep. Then listen to continuous: CLICK! THUMP!! KNOCK!!!

Ugh! I'm reminded of Kermit's song "In quiet of the evening" song now. But soon I noticed that my window is open. Hmmm, maybe it's coming from outside. I take a quick glance into the dark abyss, no one around. Closed the window. Sounds no more! Yay! I fall asleep.

7 hours later...

4 cop cruisers...

1 officer taking my statement.

Apparently someone last night was firing off a shotgun and then left the gun in the field across from my flat. "Click" my ass! The poor Constable who got the luck to interview the deaf witness.

"Click? That's what it sounded like?? Just click??"

"Well, you must understand I was only half aided. Often it was a "thump", but seriously, I'm not your prize witness obviously."

He smirked.

Luckily no one was hurt, nor was there any property damage. The officer assured me that this is most likely an isolated incident (yeah, they always tell you that). I asked him if I hear any more "clicks" at night and see someone, should I contact the police? Apparently I was humouring him majorly with his boyish smile (gotta admit, I like a man in an uniform) and he answered, "Most definitely."

So excitement last night. Some hick shooting off his/her shotgun. Yesiree, I've definitely moved into a cowboy province. Maybe it's their version of the welcome wagon? Yeehaw?

Edit: the story finally hit the news, apparently there was property damage (shots fired through windows) and the suspects were from my apartment complex... great, Hillybilly for neighbours.

Something new that I'm going to try here. Since this IS a Mad Scientist's blog, I'm kinda seeing that I don't talk much about science other than my recent job quests and thesis. But if I start rambling about the latest E. coli stress response paper, I'm sure readership of this blog will cease to exsist. I could talk about being a science geek, but Matt and Roz has that corner well under control. So how about something with pictures? I consider myself an amature photographer and seriously considering taking photography courses as soon as I finish this Ph.D. With the digital age, photography as a hobby has become less expensive. Though I agree that film captures something that pixels cannot. No matter, I'm going to start posting a picture/movie of something sciencey (oooh new word!) every Sunday (hence the tag). It'll be from my real life around the luuuub or elsewhere that strikes me as "science". So here's something for you check on this blog weekly.

This week: Fun with Dry Ice

I remember as a kid thinking that dry ice was the coolest invention of modern science. Now since I'm a scientist, seen marvels of the biological world, worked to unravel genetic mysteries... dry ice is still and always remain very cool. Every now n' then, we have perishables enzymes mailed to our lab in which the package comes with 2 lbs of dry ice that's basically useless to us. Oh what to do??? Throw it in the sink, turn on the water and presto! Cool fog to play with.