catwoman

hubby je and i had set up a motion-activated sprinkler on our backyard. our goal is to scare alley cats away from our property. those cats make our backyard a convenient restroom, and my car's roof a convenient sofa/bed/rest area. there was one time when a cat made it into our house when we left the backdoor slightly open. that cat got into our bedroom, scratched the venetian blinds there, and even peed on our bed when he realized he was trapped and was so scared to death. that incident sealed our unspoken "un-loving" attitude towards cats. from that point forward, we see them as pests.

i never liked cats. they scare me. they look so menacing. and cunning. and for me, they are not even a quarter as lovable as dogs are. and i am talking about groomed cats here. imagine what an alley cat is to me.

so this sprinkler thing, we leave it on 24/7. this is to teach the cats to stay away, not just scare them one time. the problem is, the motion-detector does not differentiate between cats and other living things. it just tries to sense body temperature. so even if it's just a bird, it will sprinkle water over a span of several cubic feet area. a tree, no matter how violently its branches sway in front of the sprinkler, will not trigger the sprinkler on.

our problem is, or MY problem is, i park in the backyard. so everytime i come home, i trigger the sprinkler on! it has an 8-second delay before it triggers again, so that's my only window to get to the house. it has been my daily routine coming home from work... park the car, gather my stuff and get my house keys ready, get off the car and move within the motion-detector's coverage to trigger it. once it triggers, i duck by the side of the car to take cover, wait for the sprinkler to finish, then sprint off to our backdoor. fumble with keys, and get in within <8 seconds. and everytime i'm safe inside the house, i can't help but smile in amusement about how silly i look.

in the morning, going to work, it's almost the same... just reverse the order and apply some slight modifications. same concept: trigger it first, then once it's done, sprint off before it triggers again. i won't be surprised if our neighbors will start calling us the "odd couple".

it can be a hassle at times, but i still need to park at the back. this is to teach the cats that they are not safe on top of my car. i really hope it's paying off, because if there's anybody getting full training with the sprinkler stuff, it's me and je. =P