I finally broke down and ordered a nice, non-disposable dust mask. It’s a spiffy 3M 6000-series and has big filters that can be replaced. It’s much more comfortable than the disposable masks I’ve been using, and it seems to fit much better, too.

It arrived yesterday and was waiting in the mailbox when I arrived home. Being too excited to set it aside, once I settled in the kitchen, I popped open the bag and tried it on. I gave a good inhale and then a good exhale. It sealed well and provided a good volume of air.

While I was doing this, in what could only be a second or two, my  cats decided someone or something unknown to them had materialized in the kitchen and was about to wage carnage on them.  In the time it took to exhale, the two cats fled in roughly the same direction at very low speed. They would have been significantly faster had not their claws acted like skates on the the linoleum. This provided the scrabbling Barney-Rubble effect that’s so amusing when a cat does it in real life.

Fifteen minutes later, without the mask, I had coaxed the cats out from under a couple bits of furniture featuring low openings at the floor. I promised never to wear the mask again around them and we then got things back on track for kitty dinner.

So, the mask is now in the studio, permanently, to the cats’ relief. We’ll all be able to breathe a bit easier.