I hate ants. I despise maggots. Urg. Ick.

I've been described as standoffish before, have often been called an antisocial b***h before. I don't do well in social settings, I tend to be pretty quiet and let the louder, more dynamic people around me do the talking. Oddly, I was a great wedding date for my gay friends in college - I knew that my job was to distract from the 'so why don't you have a girlfriend' conversations that were often flying around these guys at family events and it gave me a point of focus and the shy went right out the window. :)

I think we would all do fine in a big room together, and if some of us were a little quiet until we warmed up we would be understanding of it and not call each other nasty names. LOL

I think it would be great if we could all get together and have a housewarming for saef in her newly renovated home and then we would all get on a plane and fly to Southern California where Allison has prepared a gourmet meal for us.

Oh that would be fabulous, bargoo. :)

Re the exoskeleton question ... yes and no - depends on humidity levels. This is from Wikipedia:

"Diatomite is used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties.[8] The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate.[9] Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical-grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans, with questionable efficacy.[10][11] It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate cockroach and flea infestations.[citation needed] This material has wide application for insect control in grain storage.[12] It has also been used to control bedbug infestations, but this method may take weeks to work.[13]"

We have had really good luck with it on patio slugs and especially earwigs and ants when the weather is dry. It seems here that the worst of the bug problem is July and August, when rains are fewer. Now I know why!

Thanks Becky. It makes me think that it might not work for the ants here at the office mainly because they live in the garden area--an area that gets daily watering via sprinklers. I suppose I could spread it on the cement near the office door and windows, but then the wind would probably just blow it away. Hmmm. The building does have a company come and spray for pests, but I question their procedure as it has never done anything to reduce the ants. Meanwhile, at home, I've been employing Truly Nolen to deal with our ants. It is wonderful! Normally June is the worst month for getting ants in the house and I have not seen one! Our tech gave us a lot of tips (trim trees so they don't touch the roof) and he pays really close attention to where the ants' nests are and will spray directly into the hole. While I still see ants outside from time to time (morning is the worst) they aren't bothering to come inside and I'm quite happy about that.

Megan You work with sea turtles? Awesome! Do you have a specific geographical region that you cover and see to all the flora and fauna in that area or do you work with specific organisms in a larger area?

I am not at all adverse to ants. I don't like hundreds of them inside and use those poison peanut butter ant traps ( cats don't like those) inside. Outside the ants can do what they want.

I salted all the mags to death. I can't even bring myself to squish 'em with my shoe - that's how phobic I am about them. If I were to have to do something with gloves to destroy an infestation I would need gloves up to my armpits and even then I'd be spraying Lysol all around. Irrational, but so are many fears.

I am going to have to go and check the shed again this evening (the floor is concrete and so does retain some moisture) but I bought a new big box of salt and will arm myself before entering.

Good evening all!

Dagmar :yikes:

One time I had ants in my freezer, they just kept marching in there, and dying immediately. They were really hard to clean up seeing as how they were frozen to the surface of the freezer. They didn't go into the refrigerator section at all. I never did figure out what they wanted in the freezer. I fnally found their trail coming up the side of the house and coming in a window. I used old fashioned Grant's Ant traps to get rid of them. I had to be careful where I put them because I had a dog.

All the maggot talk is disgusting! I need to remember to come back here and read it if I feel like eating something off plan. I'll lose my appetite for sure! When I was younger, my dream was to become a vet-- like from age 7 or 8 and I started working for a vet as soon as I turned 15. Nothing gross ever bothered me except maggots. I won't get into details but I have seen some gross wounds on animals that were filled with maggots. One of the docs I worked with loved the gross stuff-- he loved to try to gross everyone else out with it-- he would slice absesses open and squeeze pus out to see if anyone got queasy. He had a very weird sense of humor to say the least.

My dd finally comes home from camp tomorrow and my quiet home will be somewhat back to normal. Then she and I leave on Tuesday for Arizona for her orientation-- I'm getting excited!

And to think they use maggots and leeches in the medical process these days. Maggots eat dead flesh and leave the live flesh alone. I think I'd TOTALLY freak out if a doctor suggested they put (medical grade) maggots on my wound.

If I had to make a choice between losing a body part or having it re-attached with the help of maggots I'd opt for the maggots. They would have to put me totally under every time they did the procedure though. :dizzy:

Dagmar :eek:

We went to see Moonrise Kingdom last night. Quirky, fun movie!

Today I clean my hall closet. Yuck--8 years of accumulated stuff to wade through. Afterwards we'll see another movie (probably Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter which I couldn't care less to see, but DH thinks it'll be good).

I did my first SUP paddle this morning. It was AWESOME! And I was pretty darn good at it damn quickly.The conditions were optimal - calm water, slight wind, still cool out but a bright sunny day. I had pictured myself doing this for a long time. And it went just like I had pictured it going. :dancer:

Within 15 minutes I was making the board go in circles, both clock and counterclockwise, sideways, in a straight line, and doing curves as well. All my kayaking training and core work served me well. As did legs developed through years of dogwalking.

I was able to carry both the board and paddle straight into the water and back out again and into the storage facility when I finished no problem. I have a lot of trouble balancing the kayak and lifting it out of the water when I am done but the SUP is EASY! :strong:

I was out there for more than an hour but it felt like 5 minutes and it felt GREAT! :yay:

This is my new sport! :woohoo:

Dagmar :D

Awesome Dagmar! Glad it went so well!!

Not so great today. My back went into a spasm this morning when I was making breakfast. I can't even get my shorts on right now.

DH looked stuff up on the net and he's gone off to see if he can get me something over the counter. He also gave me a maasage and put an ice pack on my back. Apparently I have to do this most of the day.

Next week is going to be one of my busiest in ages. I can't really afford to be off work but there's no way I can work if I can't bend at all.

Dagmar :(