Radioactivity Needed
Posted on | May 25, 2008 at 10:21 am | 2 Comments
Pet Peeve of the Day: Insects are ruining my life. Firstly, I had to do battle with a wasp yesterday that had made a nest inside my barbecue grill. I should’ve taken a picture of the nest, but I forgot to do that before disposing of it. Instead, you can check out this entry from Memorial Day two years ago when I had the same problem. Man, those wasps sure love my barbecue grill. I think part of the problem is that I pretty much didn’t use the grill at all last summer because it wasn’t working well and I wasn’t getting much flame. So without the occasional blast of hellfire, those little buggers find it easy to establish domiciles within the dark metal vastness of the grill. Ever since the end of last summer, I’ve been trying to fix the grill, first by swapping out the propane tank. Didn’t work. Then I replaced the burner assembly. No go. The only thing left is the propane regulator. Where’s Hank Hill when you need him?
In order to get the old regulator off, I had to make sure I could get close enough to work on it without getting stung. So that’s why I had the wasp battle. I was able to dispose of the nest but the lone guard wasp eluded my every attempt to smash him. I just made him mad, yet he retreated long enough for me to detach the regulator. I brought the regulator down to the local hardware store, but unfortunately they were sold out of most of them. I guess a lot of people are repairing their grills at the start of summer. I wanted to get one with a dual hose like the old regulator (since my grill has a side burner), but they were definitely out of those. I could see the shelf sticker for it, so maybe they’ll get some in later.
So anyway, when I got back to the house, the wasp was back and was trying to make another nest. He had a friend with him too. I just can’t win. What I really need is some wasp-deterrent substance to smear on the inside of the grill to prevent them from finding it such a hospitable home. But I’m afraid that would poison anything I cooked on it.
After dealing with the wasps, I went inside with a vague intention of napping on the couch. And there it was: a devilish little eight-legged creature (yes, I know spiders aren’t technically insects) there on my green blanket, just waiting to kill me as I slept. I encountered the same thing a couple of weeks ago, when N grabbed the blanket off the couch and a spider came tumbling out, freaking us out. They sure like that blanket.
I was on the phone with N during this spider-sighting, and she made me capture it in a jar and relocate it outside, as always. I used to just smash the buggers and toss them in the trash, but now that course of action is forbidden. It’s another way my life has changed recently. I remember early in the relationship, she spotted a dead spider in my bathroom wastebasket and let me know in no uncertain terms that killing the hellspawn is unacceptable. Good thing she doesn’t feel that way about the wasps.
Actually, I should be grateful. Compared to other areas of the country I’ve visited, the insect population around here is negligible. Spiders, wasps, flies, the occasional ant, crickets, moths – that’s about it. I don’t even see grasshoppers around much anymore. Global warming must’ve killed them off. Or maybe it was all those spiders I set free.
Latre.
Comments
2 Responses to “Radioactivity Needed”
May 25th, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
> Actually, I should be grateful. Compared to other
> areas of the country I’ve visited, the insect
> population around here is negligible.
I’m glad you included this oh-so-true aside – otherwise the idea of a Denver resident complaining about insects is so staggeringly absurd, it might erode some of your credibility…
Just – don’t even try.
May 30th, 2008 @ 12:22 am
You’d hate it here. The other day I caught a spider sweeping cobwebs out of its web.