The Buckets by Greg Cravens for July 24, 2023

I work nights and sleep days

My day bed is a pair of bunkbed mattresses in the very back of the walk in closet at the end of the house

I sleep through most anything and my wife never wakes me for less than an emergency

Smoke would qualify

My naps make the phone ring and the front door get visitors!

Nothing wakes you up faster than smoke. About 35 years ago, I was living in the lower half of a two-family house. One weekend morning, I was woken up by a strong smell of smoke. Let me tell you, I jumped out of bed hyper-vigilant and wide awake, which never happens. I set about feeling walls, and doors before opening them, and checking the whole place before waking up my roommate by banging on his door at the other end of the apartment. After we both checked everything we could think of, including the basement, without success, but still having a strong smell of smoke, he called his tool-and-die-maker father for advice. Following dad’s advice, we looked inside the furnace and, sure enough, there was the silhouette of a field mouse on top of the burners. It had crawled in there to keep warm. When the heat came on, the mouse was instantly incinerated. It never budged.

That escalated.

The first two would be a good reason to nap, but that 3rd one.

This week starts a “Based on real events” series of cartoons. Fun!

No rest for the one responsible for everything…