70 thoughts on “October 7, 2013: They Were Under the Bed”
This morning on the drive in to work, I noticed the sign out in front of the local liquor store has the four words I'd been hoping for going on three years now (but honestly never thought I'd actually see).
"We Now Have Surly"
It's a good way to start the day.
It's a good way to start the day.
i'll say. how many deep are you so far?
[Wrong Place]
[uhhh...something witty about nibbish's early drinking]
has the four words I'd been hoping for
"Now Open on Sundays!"
Haha, silly Minnesotans.
*high fives*
*misses because of hangover from booze purchased on Sunday*
*misses because of hangover from booze purchased on Sunday from my local grocery store*
MTMAFY
(made that more awesome for you)
ಠ_ಠ
I missed all of those hi-five opportunities because I'm still drunk from the booze I purchased at 5 am Monday from a bodega that I consumed on the street while walking home from a bar that is open 24 hours a day (including Christmas and Easter). /booyeah #alcoholism
Yeah, that's the one thing I'd have a hard time readjusting to if I went back.
Hey, if you can't plan far enough ahead to purchase your alcohol before sunday, you probably deserve to be dry on sunday. #hahahaha!
*does high-five tour with the 'sconnies*
Or you could just go to a bar.
And here I was gonna bring you some this week. Well, that just saved me the hassle!
Well, I mean, don't let their generosity dissuade you from being equally generous...
Remember that discussion about bee stings the other day? Yeah, I frickin stepped on one yesterday (stupid flip-flops. Into the garbage you go.) and got stung right on the arch. Put some vodka on it right away, which seemed to help the initial pain, but my foot ended up throbbing by the time I went to bed. I'm walking ok today, but I know its going to itch like a mother soon.
I'm terrified of bee stings. Like, irrationally. I'm so glad I've never gotten one but I freeze when I see a bee or any other stinging insect. I hate those damn things.
At least it wasn't an Asian wasp sting. (I'm not going to put a picture of one on here for Spooky & I's sanity. But I'm fairly sure the only one to stop them would be a shotgun.)
oh man, have you seen video of those guys absolutely devastating honeybee colonies? like, straight up laid to waste. it's pretty awesome.
I have seen them. It is "awesome" and something I keep in the back of my mind whenever I think about how I'd like to travel to Asia. Do you suppose I could travel in a full Kevlar suit?
I also have never been stung by anything and am also terrified, probably because I don't know what it feels like and I don't know if I'm allergic.
This sums it up for me, I suppose. I don't have many allergies other than the seasonal kind which lays waste to my sinuses a third of the year and to penicillin so I worry that would be one of them. It also has convinced me that my fear is because I'm secretly allergic, so it's a pretty vicious cycle. Don't like them, not one bit.
I'm not allergic but it's been a while so I'm not sure how to explain it... but it's not that bad. Maybe a little like getting a shot?
A little worse than a shot, but not as bad as breaking your little toe, which isn't as bad as breaking your nose.
I've been stung a number of times, it hurts right around the same as a shot, but it lingers longer, then develops into an itch.
Since I'm not allergic, it's a minor inconvenience at worst. There's always that moment of "wait... OWW... what is that??" which is never fun.
"Wait... OWW... what isthat??"
Perfect.
I've never had problems with bees or wasps, even photographing them close-up. That said, my bro in Phoenix has been stung by a scorpion twice in the last few weeks, and that gives me the willies.
Look out, Milkman!
Skim was in the hospital for a day last summer when she was stung by a scorpion on the foot while cooking breakfast. She had a very bad reaction that had us all on edge for quite a while. I ended up smoking out the scorpion from his hiding place and stomping him dead with much more of a personal vendetta in mind than was probably warranted, but in the moment, it's not like I considered that the scorpion felt threatened.
The Milkmaid thinks she was stung a week and a half ago or so. She thought she saw something scamper away after believing she had stepped on a small shard of glass, and ended up with similar symptoms, though on a very small scale.
Also, there are two dead scorpions on our glue trap, and it is hell trying to get the fumigator in here. We have a very clear and organized setup to get them to visit, and they never show up. Annoyingly, they did show up last Tuesday and left a note on the door saying they came but there was no answer. The thing is, I was home and maybe fifteen feet from the door at the time they left the note, so they must have decided they had too many jobs that day or something.
When I was in 29 Palms we found a dead scorpion and put it in front of a friend's door. We laughed at his reaction, but I felt a bit guilty - mine wouldn't have been much different. I hate arachnids. Raising children, or even having pets, in an area where scorpions or venomous spiders are common would be a worrisome. I'm glad Skim was okay.
I'm constantly on the lookout in our garage for Black Widows. Fortunately, they build spider webs that are pretty easy to recognize in that they are pretty large and thick with a lot of webbing.
I've killed 4-5 black widows in the past, and most were in the garage. I'm more worried about brown recluses.
my bro mentioned that his stings felt like paper cuts, but he recognized them for what they were and caught the bad boys
It's way, way better than getting a shot because you don't know it's coming. (Yes, I'm still irrationally terrified of shots and have fainted twice in the last couple of years. My phobia entry in spooky's last Survivor was about my recent experience fainting while listening to a doctor describe a medical procedure FOR SOMEONE ELSE!)
I've been stung, right above the eye. Sour Cream was stung on the foot when she wasn't yet two years old. It sucks, but it's nothing to be too afraid of (well, unless you're allergic). It hurts like hell temporarily, but Stick speaks the truth when he says it's not as bad as breaking one's toe. Been there too...
I've never broken a toe or a nose. I ruptured a bursa sac in my knee in a bike accident, though. For the next several months anything brushing against my knee sent pain through my whole leg. It was pretty terrible. I doubt it would hurt that bad but the idea still terrifies me.
I've been thinking about getting a bike the last couple years, always as summer's ending. It seems like a good way for me to get exercise or something. But then I remember all of the terrible bike accidents I had as a kid... and I think that it's maybe not such a great idea.
Huh, I ruptured the bursa sac in my elbow playing high school football, senior year. I was out for two weeks and came back for the last two games of the season and the playoffs (we lost in the first round), but had to have the elbow heavily padded. If I overuse or strain that elbow I still get some pain and swelling in it.
If you're thinking about it, now is the time to buy with all the clearance sales.
The problem I have is that I'm over the weight limit on most bikes which severely limits my options. I've thought about going to a bike shop but when I look on their websites all the bikes are well, well out of my price range.
I would suggest going by. I just got an email this morning from Penn Cycle, for example, that said they were having their fall clearance this week, but that Trek wouldn't let them advertise the clearance prices on their website. How much of that is true is beyond me, but it's worth inquiring.
I'm a big fan of worksman cycles. Their industrial cycle may be a good option.
I was stung right below my eye on my ninth birthday. A hornet got trapped somehow between my face & glasses as we played basketball. My stepdad picked me up later in the day to go meet my new baby brother in the hospital.
OGZ got stuck twice in 2 days (at 18 months), due to her love of picking up fallen apples. On the plus side, she's mostly gotten over picking up apples and now we know she's not allergic.
Speaking of fallen apples, the apple tree in our backyard has been dropping them like crazy. Last night, I opened the door and turned on the light to let the dog out and saw two raccoons munching away about ten feet from the door. Thankfully, I spotted them, made some noise to chase them away, and then took the dog for a walk so she wouldn't be able to get into any shenanigans without me being dragged in.
I was stung once when I was four, and then somehow came to the conclusion that bee stings were like chicken pox so I wouldn't be stung ever again. Thanks to that misconception I went through most of my childhood with absolutely zero fear of bees (and I wasn't stung again until my early 20's). I still don't have any fear of them, but I've taken a step back from my invulnerability phase.
That is an awesome misconception. Sounds like something my younger brother would have come up with.
I actually am allergic to bee stings. When I was in grade school I had the misfortune of disturbing a hornet nest out in the woods (beating on a hollow log with a big stick, didn't know there was a nest inside) at friend's house. I was stung about a dozen times. After his mom took care of our stings, I got really drowsy and started going into anaphylactic shock. Mom and dad came and got me and we met the doctor at the clinic. They carried me inside and the doc gave me an adrenaline shot. For a long time I wore a medic alert necklace and carried a bee sting kit, but that was many years ago. As an adult I've been stung a few times but never had a reaction like that one, I just take an antihistamine and I'm fine. But for many years I was absolutely terrified of stinging insects. Still don't like them, but I don't freak out over them anymore (much).
I'm not afraid of stinging insects at all, I just get the rage when a wasp gets me, grab the wasp spray if I'm at home and lay waste to anything wasp-like I see. Unfortunately this time we were on a walk, so I had not death spray.
Fortunately, I'm likely heading to the Shaaxi province at the end of the month where, if I'm not mistaken, they've had the most deaths to those giant monsters. Whee!
Advice in China is that people stung more than 10 times need medical help, and emergency treatment for more than 30 stings. The stings can cause renal failure.[11] Stings by Asian giant hornets have killed forty-one people and injured more than 1,600 people in Shaanxi province, China in 2013.[12]
Maybe I can use this to not go.
Oh well you need 10 stings to get medical treatment? Pfff no big deal then!
I'd avoid the trip at all costs if I were you.
I just told my boss. He was un-sympathetic so it sounds like I have no choice.
Did you show him pictures of those monsters?
that would just insure that his boss would not go. cheaps is, well, cheap. Expendable.
Japanese honey bees are neat (from cheap's link):
As the hornet enters, a mob of hundreds of honey bees surrounds it in a ball, completely covering it and preventing it from reacting effectively. The bees violently vibrate their flight muscles in much the same way as they do to heat the hive in cold conditions. This raises the temperature in the ball to the critical temperature of 46 °C (115 °F). In addition, the exertions of the honey bees raise the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ball. At that concentration of CO2, the honey bees can tolerate up to 50 °C (122 °F), but the hornet cannot survive the combination of a temperature of 46 °C (115 °F) and high carbon dioxide level.
Nature is awesome.
I've had occasion to read about honey bees (and colony collapse disorder, unfortunately) in the past year, and I definitely have more respect for all that bees can do. One interesting thing I learned about is the existence of hygienic bees, which were developed by a University of Minnesota professor.
I love bees. We have sedums in our landscaping, and sometimes I'll just stand there looking at the dozens of honeybees that show up to them.
Yellow Jackets? They can die in a fire. I'll swat them on sight - unarmed, if need be.
yeah, the japanese honeybees have adapted. it's the european colonies they imported (higher yields) that get absolutely slaughtered. seriously, like 30 hornets come in and kill tens of thousands.
While in Santa Fe, Taos, etc. we toured several galleries and artists' homes, and took in this interesting exhibit. Whole thing reminded me of walking through a Brian Eno ambient CD.
huh. looks like i forgot about the hockey draft i set up. did anyone actually show up?
I got Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kane, and Martin St. Louis.
I am pretty sure I didn't get around to joining, so someone else will have to take up the bottom spot.
I showed up about 40 minutes after it was scheduled to start... It was over.
I made it in with about 30 seconds to spare - learned my lesson from the no-show for B Squad foosball (spent the past 4 weeks making waiver moves like a madman).
I made it in about half way through, just enough time for CoC to snipe Burns out from under my nose. Shakes fist.
This morning on the drive in to work, I noticed the sign out in front of the local liquor store has the four words I'd been hoping for going on three years now (but honestly never thought I'd actually see).
"We Now Have Surly"
It's a good way to start the day.
It's a good way to start the day.
i'll say. how many deep are you so far?
[Wrong Place]
[uhhh...something witty about nibbish's early drinking]
has the four words I'd been hoping for
"Now Open on Sundays!"
Haha, silly Minnesotans.
*high fives*
*misses because of hangover from booze purchased on Sunday*
*misses because of hangover from booze purchased on Sunday from my local grocery store*
MTMAFY
(made that more awesome for you)
ಠ_ಠ
I missed all of those hi-five opportunities because I'm still drunk from the booze I purchased at 5 am Monday from a bodega that I consumed on the street while walking home from a bar that is open 24 hours a day (including Christmas and Easter). /booyeah #alcoholism
Yeah, that's the one thing I'd have a hard time readjusting to if I went back.
Hey, if you can't plan far enough ahead to purchase your alcohol before sunday, you probably deserve to be dry on sunday. #hahahaha!
*does high-five tour with the 'sconnies*
Or you could just go to a bar.
And here I was gonna bring you some this week. Well, that just saved me the hassle!
Well, I mean, don't let their generosity dissuade you from being equally generous...
Remember that discussion about bee stings the other day? Yeah, I frickin stepped on one yesterday (stupid flip-flops. Into the garbage you go.) and got stung right on the arch. Put some vodka on it right away, which seemed to help the initial pain, but my foot ended up throbbing by the time I went to bed. I'm walking ok today, but I know its going to itch like a mother soon.
I'm terrified of bee stings. Like, irrationally. I'm so glad I've never gotten one but I freeze when I see a bee or any other stinging insect. I hate those damn things.
At least it wasn't an Asian wasp sting. (I'm not going to put a picture of one on here for Spooky & I's sanity. But I'm fairly sure the only one to stop them would be a shotgun.)
oh man, have you seen video of those guys absolutely devastating honeybee colonies? like, straight up laid to waste. it's pretty awesome.
I have seen them. It is "awesome" and something I keep in the back of my mind whenever I think about how I'd like to travel to Asia. Do you suppose I could travel in a full Kevlar suit?
I also have never been stung by anything and am also terrified, probably because I don't know what it feels like and I don't know if I'm allergic.
This sums it up for me, I suppose. I don't have many allergies other than the seasonal kind which lays waste to my sinuses a third of the year and to penicillin so I worry that would be one of them. It also has convinced me that my fear is because I'm secretly allergic, so it's a pretty vicious cycle. Don't like them, not one bit.
I'm not allergic but it's been a while so I'm not sure how to explain it... but it's not that bad. Maybe a little like getting a shot?
A little worse than a shot, but not as bad as breaking your little toe, which isn't as bad as breaking your nose.
I've been stung a number of times, it hurts right around the same as a shot, but it lingers longer, then develops into an itch.
Since I'm not allergic, it's a minor inconvenience at worst. There's always that moment of "wait... OWW... what is that??" which is never fun.
"Wait... OWW... what is that??"
Perfect.
I've never had problems with bees or wasps, even photographing them close-up. That said, my bro in Phoenix has been stung by a scorpion twice in the last few weeks, and that gives me the willies.
Look out, Milkman!
Skim was in the hospital for a day last summer when she was stung by a scorpion on the foot while cooking breakfast. She had a very bad reaction that had us all on edge for quite a while. I ended up smoking out the scorpion from his hiding place and stomping him dead with much more of a personal vendetta in mind than was probably warranted, but in the moment, it's not like I considered that the scorpion felt threatened.
The Milkmaid thinks she was stung a week and a half ago or so. She thought she saw something scamper away after believing she had stepped on a small shard of glass, and ended up with similar symptoms, though on a very small scale.
Also, there are two dead scorpions on our glue trap, and it is hell trying to get the fumigator in here. We have a very clear and organized setup to get them to visit, and they never show up. Annoyingly, they did show up last Tuesday and left a note on the door saying they came but there was no answer. The thing is, I was home and maybe fifteen feet from the door at the time they left the note, so they must have decided they had too many jobs that day or something.
When I was in 29 Palms we found a dead scorpion and put it in front of a friend's door. We laughed at his reaction, but I felt a bit guilty - mine wouldn't have been much different. I hate arachnids. Raising children, or even having pets, in an area where scorpions or venomous spiders are common would be a worrisome. I'm glad Skim was okay.
I'm constantly on the lookout in our garage for Black Widows. Fortunately, they build spider webs that are pretty easy to recognize in that they are pretty large and thick with a lot of webbing.
I've killed 4-5 black widows in the past, and most were in the garage. I'm more worried about brown recluses.
my bro mentioned that his stings felt like paper cuts, but he recognized them for what they were and caught the bad boys
Ditto on both. Those are great photos too.
Here is the Schmidt Pain Index for insect stings.
Schmidt?
It's way, way better than getting a shot because you don't know it's coming. (Yes, I'm still irrationally terrified of shots and have fainted twice in the last couple of years. My phobia entry in spooky's last Survivor was about my recent experience fainting while listening to a doctor describe a medical procedure FOR SOMEONE ELSE!)
I've been stung, right above the eye. Sour Cream was stung on the foot when she wasn't yet two years old. It sucks, but it's nothing to be too afraid of (well, unless you're allergic). It hurts like hell temporarily, but Stick speaks the truth when he says it's not as bad as breaking one's toe. Been there too...
I've never broken a toe or a nose. I ruptured a bursa sac in my knee in a bike accident, though. For the next several months anything brushing against my knee sent pain through my whole leg. It was pretty terrible. I doubt it would hurt that bad but the idea still terrifies me.
I've been thinking about getting a bike the last couple years, always as summer's ending. It seems like a good way for me to get exercise or something. But then I remember all of the terrible bike accidents I had as a kid... and I think that it's maybe not such a great idea.
Huh, I ruptured the bursa sac in my elbow playing high school football, senior year. I was out for two weeks and came back for the last two games of the season and the playoffs (we lost in the first round), but had to have the elbow heavily padded. If I overuse or strain that elbow I still get some pain and swelling in it.
If you're thinking about it, now is the time to buy with all the clearance sales.
The problem I have is that I'm over the weight limit on most bikes which severely limits my options. I've thought about going to a bike shop but when I look on their websites all the bikes are well, well out of my price range.
I would suggest going by. I just got an email this morning from Penn Cycle, for example, that said they were having their fall clearance this week, but that Trek wouldn't let them advertise the clearance prices on their website. How much of that is true is beyond me, but it's worth inquiring.
I'm a big fan of worksman cycles. Their industrial cycle may be a good option.
I was stung right below my eye on my ninth birthday. A hornet got trapped somehow between my face & glasses as we played basketball. My stepdad picked me up later in the day to go meet my new baby brother in the hospital.
OGZ got stuck twice in 2 days (at 18 months), due to her love of picking up fallen apples. On the plus side, she's mostly gotten over picking up apples and now we know she's not allergic.
Speaking of fallen apples, the apple tree in our backyard has been dropping them like crazy. Last night, I opened the door and turned on the light to let the dog out and saw two raccoons munching away about ten feet from the door. Thankfully, I spotted them, made some noise to chase them away, and then took the dog for a walk so she wouldn't be able to get into any shenanigans without me being dragged in.
I was stung once when I was four, and then somehow came to the conclusion that bee stings were like chicken pox so I wouldn't be stung ever again. Thanks to that misconception I went through most of my childhood with absolutely zero fear of bees (and I wasn't stung again until my early 20's). I still don't have any fear of them, but I've taken a step back from my invulnerability phase.
That is an awesome misconception. Sounds like something my younger brother would have come up with.
I actually am allergic to bee stings. When I was in grade school I had the misfortune of disturbing a hornet nest out in the woods (beating on a hollow log with a big stick, didn't know there was a nest inside) at friend's house. I was stung about a dozen times. After his mom took care of our stings, I got really drowsy and started going into anaphylactic shock. Mom and dad came and got me and we met the doctor at the clinic. They carried me inside and the doc gave me an adrenaline shot. For a long time I wore a medic alert necklace and carried a bee sting kit, but that was many years ago. As an adult I've been stung a few times but never had a reaction like that one, I just take an antihistamine and I'm fine. But for many years I was absolutely terrified of stinging insects. Still don't like them, but I don't freak out over them anymore (much).
I'm not afraid of stinging insects at all, I just get the rage when a wasp gets me, grab the wasp spray if I'm at home and lay waste to anything wasp-like I see. Unfortunately this time we were on a walk, so I had not death spray.
Fortunately, I'm likely heading to the Shaaxi province at the end of the month where, if I'm not mistaken, they've had the most deaths to those giant monsters. Whee!
Bring napalm.
From the repository.
The pertinent to me quote:
Maybe I can use this to not go.
Oh well you need 10 stings to get medical treatment? Pfff no big deal then!
I'd avoid the trip at all costs if I were you.
I just told my boss. He was un-sympathetic so it sounds like I have no choice.
Did you show him pictures of those monsters?
that would just insure that his boss would not go. cheaps is, well, cheap. Expendable.
Japanese honey bees are neat (from cheap's link):
Nature is awesome.
I've had occasion to read about honey bees (and colony collapse disorder, unfortunately) in the past year, and I definitely have more respect for all that bees can do. One interesting thing I learned about is the existence of hygienic bees, which were developed by a University of Minnesota professor.
I love bees. We have sedums in our landscaping, and sometimes I'll just stand there looking at the dozens of honeybees that show up to them.
Yellow Jackets? They can die in a fire. I'll swat them on sight - unarmed, if need be.
yeah, the japanese honeybees have adapted. it's the european colonies they imported (higher yields) that get absolutely slaughtered. seriously, like 30 hornets come in and kill tens of thousands.
While in Santa Fe, Taos, etc. we toured several galleries and artists' homes, and took in this interesting exhibit. Whole thing reminded me of walking through a Brian Eno ambient CD.
huh. looks like i forgot about the hockey draft i set up. did anyone actually show up?
I got Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kane, and Martin St. Louis.
I am pretty sure I didn't get around to joining, so someone else will have to take up the bottom spot.
I showed up about 40 minutes after it was scheduled to start... It was over.
I made it in with about 30 seconds to spare - learned my lesson from the no-show for B Squad foosball (spent the past 4 weeks making waiver moves like a madman).
I made it in about half way through, just enough time for CoC to snipe Burns out from under my nose. Shakes fist.
making the rounds on bookface today is a reference to this true fact: For Winning The Nobel Prize, Niels Bohr Got A House With Free Beer