Splinter's in the Ceiling

My rat is back.

Of course, just as the weather starts getting cold, the city of Boston starts digging up the street outside my apartment. Aside from waking me up at 7am with jackhammering, the sewer work brings the rats out of their nice warm, wet sewer. Since it's cold, the rats look for a nice new place to live, and for some reason my ceiling is the new rat condo.

I got home late after the finale of Project Runway (I'm okay with the outcome, and Uli's stuff will someday be mine) and read through Cosmo to wind down. I put down my magazine, turned off the light, and was nearly asleep by 12:30. Then, I heard a small scratching sound. Figuring the mouse was back, I put in my earplugs and settled down for a nap. I cuddled under the blanket, and then the rat began scrambling. Even with my ear plugs, I could locate the rat's location in the ceiling, hear his tail slapping against the drop ceiling tiles. He was over my loveseat, then somewhere uncomfortably close to my head. I pulled the blankets over my head to protect myself in case the tiles let go and a rat fell on me.

I cowered under the blankets for fifteen minutes, while the rat did aerobics over my head. Checking my clock and realizing it was one in the morning, I decided to scare the rat by turning on my light. I covered my eyes with a blanket, and the light worked. The rat noise stopped, and I took a Tylenol PM and passed out.

It's going to be a long, hard winter, I think. Anybody got a place I can rent without paying any deposits?