Rats and being wrong

First, I had rats. More specifically, my house had rats living in the attic. We've taken care of the "construction errors" that allowed entry into the home, and the rats in the house have all been trapped, thanks to the help of an exterminator. I decided to clean up the nests myself. It wasn't a difficult job, but I do not recommend it to someone who is not familiar with how to use a respirator. You probably won't catch anything from cleaning up rat droppings, but you could catch HPV (Hantvirus Pulminary Syndrome), which has been reported in Southern California recently and can be fatal. The virus is transmitted by breathing dust left from rat droppings, urine, and saliva. Make sure you really know how to use that respirator, and it probably out to be a full-face model with a HEPA filter.

I removed four large and one small nest from my attic. I used a hand vacuum to remove all the droppings, and I disposed of the vacuum when I was finished. (I don't believe I'd be comfortable using that vacuum for anything else.) I sterilized the place the best way possible, with lots and lots of Lysol. That stuff kills just about anything, it's cheap, and if you use enough of it, it will get everywhere. I used three full cans in my attic.

And...my motorcycle is still not running. There was no oil leak from the tachometer cable, and everything else looks good. The oil is coming from a cylinder base seal that I did not install properly. There must have been some oil on the mating surfaces that prevented a seal from forming. I've ordered the parts I will need to replace in order to fix this (new head and cylinder gaskets), and I expect to receive the parts on Tuesday. At least I know exactly how to repair this. Let's hope that I'll be riding to work by the end of the week.