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From: dbw@sdcsvax.UUCP (David B. Wollner)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre
Subject: Build a better mousetrap
Message-ID: <2035@sdcsvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 28-Aug-86 03:14:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.2035
Posted: Thu Aug 28 03:14:42 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 29-Aug-86 08:27:19 EDT
References: <658@sdcc12.UUCP> <3309@ism780c.UUCP> <1054@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> <1118@bucsd.bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Reply-To: dbw@sdcsvax.UUCP (David B. Wollner)
Organization: EECS Dept, U.C. San Diego
Lines: 34
Keywords: cheeese...

The mouse story brings to mind an anecdote from my days at
a nameless corporation.  We were situated out on the edge
of nowhere with construction all around us.  Naturally the
small rodents were anxious to get away from the bulldozers
and started scurrying around the plant.  This led to much
hilarity on our part, but unfortunately some of our fellow
workers were not amused.

There were a number of hardware, and software hackers at the
plant, and so the best trap we could come up with was a
big brown cardboard box which we would chase the little suckers
into, and then deposit them outside.  This worked well for
a few of them, but then came the smart mouse.

The smart mouse knew better than to run into those big empty
brown spaces.  If he kept behind the desks and file cabinets,
he could keep about four highly paid computer professionals
busy for an hour.  We chased him back and forth behind two
desks for a long time, until he parked himself behind the
filing cabinet.  In order to chase him out from behind there,
I tilted the filing cabinet forward, and another person stuck
the mouse scarer behind the filing cabinet.  A third person
reported that he had run behind the desk.

I lowered the filing cabinet, and we all looked for his next
hiding spot.  We couldn't find him!  Naturally we assumed that
he was back behind the filing cabinet, so I tilted it forward
and someone looked back there.  Flat mouse!  Oops!

This incident prompted a small cartoon of me chasing a few
mice down the corridor attempting to stomp them with a filing
cabinet.

	- dbw