First order of business is to skip jet lag. I am not going to play that silly little game of being all tired and screwed up and off to the Rat shop. Right now, my biggest stress is peeling back seven months of mini messes that I leave behind each time I on tour break. Endless bits of homeless items strewn about. Clean up time! The worst part is that at some point I picked up a room mate. More of a squatter I guess. The little guy moves in and roams freely for I don't know how long. A couple of breaks ago, with the help of a cage trap and some cheese and my friend Andy, we were able to persuade him to relocate. But not before he ate the only living plant, the corners of a half a dozen album covers and build a few nests. Oh, little ratty rats, testing my patience but ya know, all they want is a warm place to sleep, a bit of food and to exercise their curiosity. At least it was not herd of cows a grizzly bear because they make a lot more poo.

Wayno's Catering (Yes, it is owned by the Wayno who is the band's Personal chef!) going to handle the food for the Rat Sound holiday party, how cool is that? Clean house, clean house. Looks like thirty or so people are coming this year and I have two days. I can't believe the little butt head ate my records.

Off to Costco to stock up on essentials and some party stuff. I love Costco. I love it exactly as much as I hate Wal-Mart. No comparison between the two. Walmart is predatory slave labor compared to the employee partnership of respect that Costco forms. The result? Well, Costco has the lower employee turnover, much better medical plans and pays workers nearly double. Oh, and they provide better products are more fun to shop at, have great prices and treat customers really well. Do some reading up on Costco vs. Walmart http://www.laborresearch.org/print.php?id=391 if your curious. Honest ethical business, great people, great gear, great prices vs pure growth, greed and world domination. The best part of seeing something cumbersomely large is watching it fall!

So the festivities include, massive amounts of awesome food and drink including a pot of Gluhwien, the hillbilly fire pit, Guitar Hero, the Hookah spot (with the Hookah from Keli!) and different tunes in all the rooms.

And Thank you Daniella and Danalle Rat for putting this all together! You are awesome!!!

Well alright, guess what? It's clean up time again!!

The somewhat hazy but very happy,

Dave Rat