Awww, The Poor Dears ... Really?

Seriously, would you jump off a bridge and expect to ... float up?

There is so much sympathy for all those poor congressional staffers of Louis Gomert these last two days, now that he has tested positive for Coved 19. Their tale is that he insists they work at the office, in person, without masks: definitely unsafe conditions. Even more so since he stopped by himself to let them know he was positive - still with no mask because, don'cha know, it might have been what caused the virus!

Seriously? First, they chose to work for him, continued to work in those conditions, and assisted in spewing his brand of crazy around the country. These are the people you choose to have sympathy for?

Gotta wonder what else they believe can happen, eh?

By the way, somebody tape that bridge jump for us, will ya? I'm going to watch, and I promise not to laugh. Sure I do!

Shingrix Accomplished

Almost sounds like something you say with a Harry Potter wand, doesn't it? If I actually had such a wand, it would have been accomplished months ago.

For those not familiar, Shingrix is the name of a vaccine - the new version - to prevent shingles. The old version worked somewhat, and having watched my father suffer for months with shingles before any vaccine existed, I was in search of something better than "somewhat." I'd had the first one over a decade ago, in those long ago days when I had insurance briefly. Later I heard my brother had shingles despite having the same shot.

Uh oh. How safe was I?

When the new vaccine became available, I went in search of it. It was, surprisingly, a challenge, up until Walmart started providing it. Last February I got my first of two shots, along with the information that I'd need a second, between two and six months afterwards.

No problem, right?

Even at $175 per shot, it was well worth it. That isn't what turned out to be the issue. However....

Everybody remember April? May? June? Most of July, even? I asked Walmart for my booster, 4 different times. They weren't doing shots any more. Since they were my only known source, I kept trying. I go there for flu shots, renewed my tetanus shot there, even got my 2nd kind of pneumonia shot which I hadn't even realized I needed, there. But no, no shots for some undetermined period of time. They weren't equipped for it.

For some reason, they can't give them and still remain socially distant. Go figure! Face masks and gloves didn't do it. It got annoying, continuing to hear the same excuses. No doubt I became nearly as annoying myself. My clock was ticking. Would I need to start over? Would the delay make them ineffective?

Last week the letter arrived, from Walmart HQ, reminding me that I was running out of time for getting my booster. (Like I'd forgotten!) So I called the store, asking whether they were now giving the shots again.

Nope. Still not equipped. What did they need? Face shields. (Funny, I don't recall one on the pharmacist who gave me the shot today, but I'm getting ahead of myself.) I asked why the company sent out the reminder when I couldn't act on it? Well, maybe other stores had already gotten their supplies and I could try them.

Yeah, Sure. Just what I always wanted to have to do. I went back to battling bed bugs and let it ride a bit longer. When I saw I was running out of some other things I needed from there, I gave them a call to see if they were doing the shots yet!?!

They were!

So I did! Now the only things left to do are update my medical records and see if my arm aches as much for the next four days as it did after the first shot. But hey, no biggie. Not like I'm left handed or anything.

Oh wait....

Brainstorm! Uh, Kinda

It just sort of crept into my awareness while I was staring out the window, thinking about not very much at all. Once the thought congealed, it arrived as a question: should I call them "cactopi" or "cactopusses"?

I was referring to the plant babies I've been rooting, potting, and watering for about three weeks now. Currently five sit in the window in water, waiting for the 5th to decide to root or not. It's just easier to pot them all at once before putting them outside with the rest, moving them further into the sun while they adjust back to full sun, and watering them daily.

Somehow my brain had skipped right over the growing process and decided to be clever by mashing two words together, "cactus" and "octopus", while at the same time puzzling over which way to pluralize it. I now realized it had been doing that for several minutes before I noticed. But now that I had, fully, I also realized it was completely pointless.

These plants aren't cactus. They're agaves. The mash up just doesn't work! Dang!

Don't you hate when that happens? It was kinda clever, after all. Right?

Hmmm, I wonder if there is a cactus called "octopus"?

Bye Bye Babies

It was a confusing few minutes. After Richard's doctor appointment (he's officially in great shape, thanks for asking) we hit the grocery store. It was while unloading the groceries that the texts started coming in on his phone.

He'd advertised on Craig's List and several other locations about the agave babies. Several people had let us know they'd come by and gathered a few off the stalk, and indeed, last look yesterday showed a bit of a bare spot growing. Most had been assured there were hundreds left. Now the first text was an offer to take the whole stalk from a "plant rescuer" if they still needed a home.

Cool! I told Rich to text back to give it a few days so a couple of folks who were interested could swing by.

As soon as that was sent, another came through from somebody who'd just stopped by and the stalk was already gone!

Say what? Rich stepped out and verified that it was indeed gone, sawed off at about the four foot mark. We hadn't even noticed when we returned to the house. So Rich had to contact several people who'd expressed interest and let them down, then erase the advertisements.

I went out and took down the sign I'd made up about recommendations for planting, attached to the house by blue painters tape arrows pointing at the stalk. Before heading back in I gave an exploratory pull to the remaining stalk, just to see how easily we could remove it. It'll definitely take a saw at ground level, taking care not to cut through its offshoot. My fears of it toppling in case one of those hinted-at monsoon storms came through were completely overblown, despite its taking on a decided tilt in the last few days.

Now I just have to deal with my final concern, removing the babies which, nicely rooted and potted, are sitting outside the front door on a pair of small patio tables and relocate them to the back patio before somebody comes by and decided we actually meant those were the ones we meant for them to pick up. They can be gradually reintroduced to the sun from there, and easily watered. Then, in a month or so, it'll truly be bye bye babies, except for the few growing in my yard by then.

Funny, I'm both heartened by their finding as many homes as they did, and saddened at the same time.

WARNING !!!!!

The four most dangerous things in our country right now are Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, and Donald Trump.

First, the most obvious: his total incompetence and unwillingness to deal with important issues like covid 19 or Russian bounties on US troops and interference in our elections. But we know all that stuff. It's old news.

Second, there's the way he's working to eliminate Medicare. It's not bad enough that he's trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in the middle of a pandemic. He's trying to top it off by threatening to veto any stimulus legislation coming through Congress that doesn't contain poison pills like not collecting taxes from paychecks to cover Social Security and Medicare. With no funding, the disabled and seniors will have neither program to help ensure their survival. Not only will the poor not survive, the medical establishment itself will also be unable to stay in business.

Third, the camouflage Brownshirts he's sending into Portland to "protect" federal buildings from the "violence" of ... graffiti? They gas, beat, and shoot rubber bullets (not non lethal, just less lethal!) into peaceful crowds, and kidnap people off the streets. They wear no identifying badges or insignia, refuse to give out information of who and why they are there, or tell where they are taking these people. Their very presence is illegal, as no mayor or governor has requested federal "assistance" within their sovereign boundaries. Next he's threatening Chicago, or any of a whole list of other city locations in states with Democratic governors and women mayors!

So, you're holding your breath and counting on the November elections to fix the problems? Let me introduce you to danger #4.

Louis Dejoy, Trump's appointment to lead the US Postal Service, is actually there to wreak havoc to the system. Complaints are coming in about employee hours being cut. One report is of employees being forbidden to come in before 8:00 AM, and required to leave their routes at 4:00 PM whether they have finished picking up or delivering their mail. Undelivered mail returns to the Post Office, piles up, and puts the service even further behind the next day. On and on. Packages are piling up, often a couple weeks late. (Sound familiar? Yeah, me too.) Imagine the snarls by November! Ironically, rural areas with their long driving distances, and their preponderance of conservative voters, are likely the ones to be the most affected. And that's just his first step, Constitution be damned.

Knowing this, we can prepare. In addition to making sure we've not been deleted "accidentally" (yeah, right) from the voter rolls, we can get our absentee ballots early at the registrar's office, should we live in states where they are not automatically sent out. Any lines there will be much shorter, thus safer, than at the polls on Nov. 3. Whenever our ballot arrives, make sure we've done our research early and have our decisions made so we can immediately fill it out and return it. Returns can usually be made to the registrar or, in some states, to the polling site. Check it out for where you are. These things allow engineered shenanigans to do the least harm possible.

And when you meet or call and talk to people, pass on this information and ask them if they have their voting plan for this election.

Finally, to prevent repeats of this havoc, for this election, even if just for this election, VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO! Just this one time. Corruption doesn't start and stop at the top. It's filtered down and pushed up both, or the Republicans would have put a stop to it long ago.  It used to be a party with honor, one worthy of and able to show respect. That's gone, sliding away while you were busy living your lives, keeping under the radar until Trump and a bunch of other dimwits made it blatant. Whatever your preferred policies, this fall a vote for the Republican Party is an endorsement of incompetence, malice, cruelty, corruption, racism, no checks and balances on any malfeasance, no stopper to treason, no upholding of the Constitution or the rule of law.

That's not the country I want to live in. Do you? We desperately need a balance, a loud voice telling them that this stops here!

Or it never will.

Odd Balls

Three quickies today. Out of the ordinary stuff. Odd balls:

When the covid hoarding started, the most noted shortage was toilet paper. It's back on the shelves now, and my pessimism is leading me to pick up a pack with nearly shopping trip. I've never run short, but back when it started looking like a close call, I turned to the internet. Prices were terrible, shipping times worse. High demand anyway meant that by the time I put my order in, the last of the supply had already been sold. Finally, I scored. My experiences pushed me to order two bundles.

 When the order finally arrived, it was a surprise. Surely the sender goofed up? Checking the order, I determined I hadn't quite read the description completely. Sure, there were twelve rolls, but they were the kind that had no center cardboard spool, with the resulting size something I could wrap my fingers around or even put in my pocket. Oh well, it would pack easily for bathroom stops where paranoia for conditions was overruled by necessity.

We're using it now, and the biggest surprise is that it's the thickest, most luxurious TP any of us have ever used. Two sheets - two! - are plenty for all but the most - uh, well, nevermind about that.

*   *   *   *   *

We got another surprise last night. Rich discovered it. A baby lizard was in the hallway, eventually scurrying away into a dark room. (Probably an anole?) We find these a welcome sight. They eat bugs. For a couple years after we moved in, there was the resident we saw when we opened the cupboard doors over the stove. It'd look at us for perhaps 5 seconds before running up the stove exhaust pipe until next time. Another time, I was watering plants by the front of the house. Water was splashing on the sidewalk, when suddenly a full size lizard scooted out from under the siding, lapped up a few mouthfuls, noticed me moving, and escaped back under the siding.

They broke out hearts the first fall we returned to the house after being up north. In order to get rid of pests which had free access to the house due to a pet door in the workroom which was falling apart, we set out sticky traps. We couldn't afford to replace it until a couple years later - the whole door, that is. Too many other repairs needed more attention.

When we returned, we expected we might have a mouse, as that's what my parents used to have in theirs. Instead, there were the tiny skeletons of 5 baby lizards. That's when we stopped with the sticky traps and switched to No Pest Strips. We figure any lizard which can get in can also find its way out when it diacovers all the bugs are already dead. No meals here, folks.

Once this one scurried away, I recalled that half an hour earlier I'd squished a cricket in the bathroom. It had been missing one of its jumping legs. We've not heard any yet this summer, and wonder if our lizard and/or its parents have been keeping them in check. I also hoped this baby had gotten a nice hefty meal out of that missing back leg. Maybe I should set out a teeny bit of water for it?

*   *  *   *   *

Interesting new insults are entering the language lately. They seem to all be aimed at our strangely orange-tinted president* and his followers. Cheetolini. Mango Mussolini. Commander In Thief. Covidiots. And all those deluded folks who think wearing a mask interferes with their FREEDUMB!
What Trumpanzees!

I'm sure more will pop up.

Happy tax day!

A Little More Sucess, A Little Less

The last post was about my first octopus agave taking a week to sprout a root, sitting in a small cup of water. Saturday's babies seem a bit more impatient. Five of the bunch sprung their first root in two days, noted when I topped their water up this morning. I've already received requests for 9 of them, plus two more people plan to stop by and pluck their own.

By the time that Rootone I ordered actually shows up at the door, it'll be completely redundant. Glad it was cheap.

The paint and diatomaceous earth arrived today, so Rich will be getting busy pretty soon on our last ditch bedbug remedies. Steve and I can get our rooms back. Too many nights of 3-4 hours sleep gets old fast. In the meantime, I've gotten totally discouraged about our ability to rid my recliner of the pests. Spraying, heating up in the car in the sun, sitting in a closed room with No Pest Strips, and steaming the chair have all simply reduced the pest population, all of which seem to find me particularly delicious. So today I went out and bought a replacement.

It's another La-Z-Boy, nearly identical fabric, and short enough from the back of the knee to the back of the chair that my back is supported when I sit in it. All of those things matter to me. Even better, this one is a wall hugger, rather than a rocker - recliner, and has feet instead of a pair of flat bars on the bottom. This means that it won't slide all over the rug, leaving indelible tracks / grooves in the pile. With those little square rubber carpet protectors under the feet, it will be even be more stable and carpet friendly.

I hope.

Meanwhile  as soon as the new one is delivered, the old one goes to the curb. If nobody is foolish enough to pick up a chair sitting out by the garbage can from somebody they have no clue about and no obvious reason for its disposal, I'll have a chat with our garbage company about a price to haul it away. So far the only things curbside which haven't been removed by volunteers were a pair of broken wicker chairs. Mattresses and box springs don't seem to have an issue finding a new home, nor old rolled up rugs and whatever else I've forgotten about over the last 8 years.

Caveat emptor.

Just A Little Success

I've been talking about my octopus agave sprouting a flowering stalk, the prelude to making new babies. Not seeds, baby plants growing on the stalk. The time has finally come.

Leaving the driveway last week, the only time I head outside these days in our incessant 3-digit temperatures, I glanced over and saw that the stalk, now, as well as the leaves, had turned a yellow-tan. It was dead. Now this is not bad news. It means that something like a thousand-plus green babies are ready to start being removed. rooted, and planted in what the pet industry refers to optimistically as their "forever homes."

I ventured out the next morning, sometime before it hit 100, and picked a likely plant among the largest within reach. It was wide enough as its leaf tips spread out in a rosette to support itself across the top of a three ounce Solo cup.

I had the remains of a box of them from perhaps 20 years ago in the bathroom. I found them too small to fit in a cup dispenser, but never threw them out. Since moving to Arizona, I've set a short stack of them on a bathroom shelf above the sink. Each morning and evening, I set out my pills in one, then bring it into the living room where I can take them while watching TV, with something cooler and usually tastier than bathroom tap water. These return to the stack later for further use.

The cup with the baby agave in it, after adding water up past the bottom of the plant by half an inch, went in the living room window, on the ledge. A daily check to maintain proper water level, along with a peek to see if anything was happening yet, was all that was required. That location, while facing north, gets a bit of sun both morning and night right now, but with the house kept at 81 degrees, doesn't dry out super fast like it would outside. I'd tried a different set of agave babies, fallen from their parent, in soil outside in a pot, but nothing ever happened. I blame the harsh environment fro drying them out faster than I appeared with water. (Granted, that was every two or three days. Likely my bad.)

After a week in the window ledge, my first octopus agave suddenly sprouted an inch long root. Yee-Haaaaa! Since it was early morning, and Rich was awake, I emptied out the rest of the box of Solo cups, counted them, and we two set out to pluck the same number of babies from the largest ones we could reach on the stalk. It takes a gentle hand to reach in behind the baby of choice, with leaves from all the adjacent ones crowding into every bit of space, making sure you've surrounded all of the baby you want, and then giving a twist to free it from the tiny stalk connecting it to its parent.

I also figured it took a "spotter" in case my imperfect balance left me on the ground with no good way up. While my balance is better, and the legs are much stronger than they have been for years, I still do my best to avoid situations which land me on the ground, particularly outside on a surface of pointy rocks and even pointier plants. I could have just asked Rich to go out and do it himself, but I wanted some of the fun myself. After all, I've been looking forward to this for months.

Now, 13 cups line the window, along with a leftover container which holds 8 (?) more babies. The blinds have been pulled up a few inches, our compromise between enough light for the babies and privacy for us at night.

Then it was time to reach out to anybody I knew who had their own yard and might be interested in either rooted babies, or bypassing any human contact whatsoever and heading directly to the stalk to pluck and root their own. I gave growing instructions, and encouraged everyone to reach out further to anybody they know who might wish their own plants.  As soon as the new batch of babies has rooted, we'll place ads in online message boards for free stuff, letting the neighborhood know. Growers, even, should they wish a free source of healthy plants.

I've gotten two replies to my email. One asked for 3, one simply said "Wow" and asked how life was. Of course I replied.

"Uh, mostly boring.

Lots of mail ordering rather than shopping.

Avoiding the club and not doing anything with all my supplies at home.

Avoiding the pool.

Discovering that there is actually a limit to how  many episodes of various veterinary TV shows you can watch in a given month, despite how many are having TV marathons.

Getting better at Wheel and Jeopardy.

Busy studying how many dirty dishes can stack up before my disgust kicks in and I wash them, since the guys don't care that the counters are full and no clean spoons are left.

Realizing that the 300 or so books sitting on my Kindle unread are actually there because they are still  lousy books despite being free, and I'm always going to pick the newest book to read instead of the ones still sitting there since 2015.

Waiting for the latest thing I ordered to show up so I can see if finally, this one last thing, will actually kill the bed bug infestation really truly dead and not just discouraged for a day or two before the next wave. (But I'm really hopeful this time....)

Itching.

Watching the water and electric bills skyrocket from AC and laundry use.

Catching up on 45 years of sleep deprivation.

Yelling at the TV as the numbers of covidiots being covidiots goes up and up and keeps us stuck at home for ever and ever and ever and ever....

Glad we three all actually like each other.

Over-answering simple questions via email.

So how's by you?"

Life Will Find A Way

Remember that quote from Jurassic Park? There is a peculiar arrogance prevalent these days - for centuries, really - that insists that we humans have some control over nature. Proof that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

"It's just a flu." "It's harmless to my age group." "It's my risk to take." "It's political." "I can't feel it so I'm not contagious." Oh, and never forget the idea that technology will solve all problems and the earth is in no way overpopulated with humans.

Let's start with that last one. Overcrowding in any kind of population invariably leads to illness. Or predation. Nature will balance things out. More rodents means more well fed predators, means fewer rodents, means fewer predators, means more rodents, etc. Crowd mice in a cage and they start eating each other. Crowd farm animals together and it's easier for contagion to spread. Use antibiotics to "prevent" contagion and the bacteria will evolve resistance. Super-bugs emerge.

It doesn't all happen on our timetable. It may be slow or speedy. But it will happen.

Our planet is overcrowded by humans. We pollute our way across the planet, thinking me, me, me, and ours, ours, ours. We are owed something, somehow. We have the technology to end pollution, to restrain population, but too many of us don't / won't do it. We are too entitled, too impatient. Sometimes too religiously justified. Somebody else can do what is needed so we don't have to.

Somebody else does. do it Or something else does. Weather / climate changes provide famines, floods, and other disasters to kill us off. Still too much crowding? The miniature world of microbes takes advantage, changing, spreading, jumping species. And we cooperate by refusing to be inconvenienced.

Life will find a way. Part of that way is restoring balance. Death, therefore, will also find a way. The more self-entitled we are, the more arrogant we are, the more ignorant we insist on being, the more surely it will.

Accepting that, does this mean I'm any less pissed of at those hoards of fellow (American!)  humans who refuse to wear masks, insist on partying in great clusters, and wind up keeping me in my house? Of course not!

We've  (USA) passed 3 million cases of covid 19, setting records with new daily cases every day. This country is worst in the world, Arizona is 8th worst in total cases to date in U.S. states, but #1 adjusted for population size vs, the world, and this county is worst in our state. Our hospitals are reaching their breaking point because some out there insist on "owning the libs" by ignoring everything "liberal" New York learned a couple months ago in how to prevent the virus from spreading. Even those of us who stay home, wear masks when we must be out, and follow all those other guidelines, are affected because the Covidiots rule.

So yes, I'm pissed as hell. We, in this household, can maintain this new (ab)normal. Unless.... Stuff happens. Rich is proof of that, fighting an infection without a known origin and difficult to treat, but requiring surgery and follow-up medical appointments. If it had happened a couple weeks from now, would there have been hospital space available for him? He takes the risk of returning to the hospital today because that's where his surgeon's office is, and it's recheck day. Will he return as healthy as when he left?

I can understand nature's rhythms and consequences, and still be human enough to want to fight when they are aimed at me. I have a much harder time understanding those who don't or won't get it. Life - and death - will find a way. If only they'd take out the Covidiots first!

Sigh....

Miracle? You Decide!

This is another saga in the Great Bed Bug Battles. We have had progress. Steaming is doing a lot but not all, and the steam doesn't reach all the way through thick cushions. But the bites have dropped in frequency, along with gratuitous itching. Well, on Steve it's not gratuitous, with all those big bright red spots. But we don't react the same way, so why are we itching too?

At any rate, anything less than perfect is just not enough. Back to Google for more info.

Came across a NYT article, a  2019 update on one from a few years ago with more recent information on what really works. Two new pieces of information stood out. First, we need to paint raw wood and seal/block off favorite places where eggs and nymphs reside. Since both platform beds have lots of raw wood, primer is on the shopping list. Once we remove the no pest strips from there and Rich gets the steamer to work, his bed will be painted, and he can finally return to his own room. Then, mine. This way there is still a relatively pest free bed for everyone.

Second, and the one leading to the title choice for this post, is that sprinkling diatomaceous earth around where they likely crawl will puncture their bodies with all its sharp edges, relative to them, and they will bleed out. It's pretty harmless to us, but bugs think it's to die for. It won't be immediate, but if we can wait a few days, anything that's still getting to us won't grow enough to lay eggs, or if adult, die before laying them, and any nymphs still hatching out won't make it as far as us.

So, I ordered 5 pounds of the stuff. On eBay, of course. That crazy pandemic thing is keeping me from hunting for it through the stores.  Now that the holiday weekend is over and mail services have resumed, I checked in on the tracking of the package.

It said it had been delivered! On July 1st! Puzzled, I went out and searched around the choice to see where it could have possible been left that we missed it. Nowhere. Back to the computer to double check the order. All the tracking info was limited to the New York area. Usually those things take big jumps from major hubs to major hubs several states apart.

Taking another gander at the order details, I noticed it had been ordered on the 3rd. (I had to check because this crazy pandemic thing has been erasing my sense of passing time.) I'd thought it hadn't been that long ago, and now I had that confirmed. So I wrote the seller a little note.

"You show this delivered on July 1. I find this problematic because 1) we don't have it, and 2) it wasn't ordered it until the 3rd!!!!  Please either correct your records or sell me your time machine!"