Dear LPG,

I decided to write this story of coincidence after a particularly harrowing day. 

I love my pet cat and would not be without her.  I have had her about three years and got her because I was told that a house with a cat will never be a house with a mouse and I can’t stand the latter little animals!

She has become my friend and a beloved pet and I have to admit that I have never seen a mouse since she arrived… until yesterday when I opened my back door to find her sitting proudly behind a very special present that she had brought me.  It was a dismembered mouse which I had to clear up, but at least it was on the garden path.  As you can imagine I found clearing it up really challenging.  I am not mad about them when I see them moving around, but that was one of the most shocking sights I have seen, and I think that it might be a while before I can bring myself to stroke the cat again; but enough of all that. 

Later that day I decided to spend a little time with my computer.  I am old, not to mention old-school.  I have tried laptops and tablets but still prefer my desk top computer with its bigger screen.  I turned it on and, within a few minutes I had about 5 programmes running, and it was at this point that the unthinkable happened.  The arrow stopped moving and I couldn’t point or click anything. The mouse had completely stopped working!   

I knew that I just needed to get a new one and plug it in but, I had all sorts of information that I wanted to save on screen and one thing I have learned is that the worst thing you can do is turn it off using the ‘on button’ and without shutting down the programs.  I panicked for a while, but then phoned one of my expert friends who talked me through how to control the computer without a mouse and I thought it might just be something that I could pass on to LPG readers. 

I asked LPG to post all this today because it is the day which is half way between two mouse related celebration days that I feel I will remember for very different reasons. 

In California USA, some people celebrate ‘National Fancy Rat and Mouse Day’ on November 12^th each year.  We have all heard of Cruft’s, where dogs are celebrated. There, they have a similar association promoting the well-bred mouse. I must admit the thought of that one makes me shudder a bit.

In contrast, August 28^th, amongst other festivities, is the day to celebrate ‘Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day’.  This is really about having something to do when your computer is keeping you waiting apparently. 

I have worked out that today marks the halfway point between those two days of significance 

and I think that I, and anyone else who has ever been the victim of such a double mouse incident, should mark today, the day half way between the two above mentioned celebrations as an appreciation day which I am calling, ‘All manner of Mouse day’!

VH, Dulwich

VH offers a little information about National ‘Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day’…

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… ‘National Fancy Rat and Mouse Day’…

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…and the simplest explanations of how to use your computer if the mouse stops working…

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