Mentor Away: Little or No Internet Access Until Monday

  • Thread starter Evo
  • Start date
In summary: Evo, I found a place for you to stay in Maine rent-free, but you jumped the gun, as you always do. A little fix-up, some winter prep getting firewood lined up, and some gathering/caching of food and you would have been all set.:I'm not gone yet G01. *wonders if the freezer we store the fish in will work as a fire shield*::mad: I'd better not hear that there was a huge fish fry when I get back! That fish needs to last 'till Christmas!5 miles? You are not moving! You are just relocating locally
  • #141
rewebster said:
being 'highly combustible' isn't the problem-----it's that they're more prone to spontaneous combustion

Static is the main problem - awlays make sure your squirrels are properly grounded.
 
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  • #142
mgb_phys said:
Static is the main problem - awlays make sure your squirrels are properly grounded.

yeah--they can be foxy, too

hint to evo: be sub-species 'related' if you are going to be a 'squirrel lady'
 
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  • #143
rewebster said:
being 'highly combustible' isn't the problem-----it's that they're more prone to spontaneous combustion

mgb_phys said:
Static is the main problem - awlays make sure your squirrels are properly grounded.
:smile: Good point! I'll have to attach grounding strips to them. Or perhaps a rub down with a fabric softener sheet would work. This would have the added benefit of making them "springtime fresh".
 
  • #144
Evo said:
:smile: Good point! I'll have to attach grounding strips to them. Or perhaps a rub down with a fabric softener sheet would work. This would have the added benefit of making them "springtime fresh".

well, we'll need a photo:


caption: rubbing down softly so that you don't have to 'ground squirrel'
 
  • #145
rubbing softly so that you don't have 'ground squirrel' :smile: :cry:
 
  • #146
Evo said:
That reminds me of a demented cat that got into my house once. I tried making a similar tunnel but it wouldn't fall for it.
Because it wanted to stay?
 
  • #147
EnumaElish said:
Because it wanted to stay?
Unfortunately. I would leave the door open so it could get out and it would not leave.
 
  • #148
EnumaElish said:
rubbing softly so that you don't have 'ground squirrel' :smile: :cry:

I've always wondered why farmers just 'pattied' their cows when they walked by them
 
  • #149
Evo said:
Unfortunately. I would leave the door open so it could get out and it would not leave.
Awww, it loved you, Evo!
 
  • #150
EnumaElish said:
Awww, it loved you, Evo!
No, it wouldn't let me near it. It was evil. :devil:
 
  • #151
Strange, but every time i hear of some one moving, i have a picture of an old truck with grand ma sat atop in her rocking chair and Jethro driving, and hillbilly music playing.
 
  • #152
wolram said:
Strange, but every time i hear of some one moving, i have a picture of an old truck with grand ma sat atop in her rocking chair and Jethro driving, and hillbilly music playing.
I loved that show.
 
  • #153
Evo said:
I keep forgetting I'm not 25 anymore. I don't "feel" old.

well, it's a terrible way to be 'reminded'
 
  • #154
Demon spiders

I can't find them, but every night I wake up with 4-6 new bites. I have changed all the linens, washed everything, vacuumed. I can't find anything!

Last night I woke to find bites on my neck, arm, and back. I tore the bed apart. Nothing.

I'm washing everything again, even the comforter.

It's not mosquito bites, they're very obviously spider bites. I need to buy something at the drugstore for them (the bites, not the spiders). I'm wondering if I get enough spider venom in me if I can develop an allergy and go into anaphylactic shock . Remember, we're talking about me here where the unlikely becomes the inevitable.

I believe that I am fighting a losing battle with a demon horde of spiders.

I'm beginning to understand the guy that burned his house down last week to get rid of some wasps.
 
  • #155
I guess I let you suffer long enough with this problem.


Probably Fleas---

and Probably from the previous tenant. Fleas were bad this year. You can't see them. They jump too often and are too fast to see.

You should bomb each room, if you don't they may come back again.

(it wasn't someone biting you from another dimension)
 
  • #156
rewebster said:
I guess I let you suffer long enough with this problem.


Probably Fleas---

and Probably from the previous tenant. Fleas were bad this year. You can't see them. They jump too often and are too fast to see.

You should bomb each room, if you don't they may come back again.

(it wasn't someone biting you from another dimension)
No, it's not fleas, flea bites are different. These are venomous bites, puffy with hard white raised heads that quickly develop, much different from the tiny red spots flea bites make.
 
  • #157
I think I would still bomb every room

________________________________

"Confirmed spider bites of humans are relatively uncommon. Most spiders are non-aggressive and only bite humans when accidentally pressed against the skin while hiding in clothing, shoes, bedding.

Although all spiders have some type of venom, most spiders are too small or otherwise incapable of puncturing the skin and only a few species of spiders have venom toxic enough to cause harm.

Spiders are often blamed for skin sores or apparent bites when no other cause is found."

http://www.badspiderbites.com/spider-bite-treatment.php

________________________________

have you been rolling in hay or grass lately?---

---maybe they're chigger bites
 
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  • #158
Evo said:
No, it's not fleas, flea bites are different. These are venomous bites, puffy with hard white raised heads that quickly develop, much different from the tiny red spots flea bites make.

Unless you've developed an allergy/sensitivity to the flea bites. They might not even be left from a previous tenant, but brought in by Dr. Foofer and now being shared during his confinement. You're not going to get that many spider bites overnight.
 
  • #159
Moonbear said:
Unless you've developed an allergy/sensitivity to the flea bites. They might not even be left from a previous tenant, but brought in by Dr. Foofer and now being shared during his confinement. You're not going to get that many spider bites overnight.
Not even if it's a demon hoard of spiders? Or a single demonically possesed spider?

I'm pretty sure it's not fleas, perhaps bed bugs? I'm actually using a bed that was in storage for the Evo Child since it's smaller than my bed and gives me more room. I don't need a king size bed for just me and the two critters.

I guess some kind of bug bomb is in order, but I'll probably end up gassing myself. I killed a HUGE brown spider in my room yesterday and no new bites this morning.
 
  • #160
New topic - calcium deposits on crystal.

I have some calcium deposits on two crystal glasses (it's not hard water etching). I was going to buy one of the calcium and lime solvents, but they come in huge bottles, so I bought some white vinegar to soak the glasses in. That should do the trick, shouldn't it? Anyone have any idea how long it will take to dissolve this way? (I want to know when to give up)
 
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  • #161
You might want to try scrubbing the crystal with toothpaste or a paste of water and Barkeeper's Friend. Vinegar is probably not going to do much for you. Calcium is tough.
 
  • #162
turbo-1 said:
You might want to try scrubbing the crystal with toothpaste or a paste of water and Barkeeper's Friend. Vinegar is probably not going to do much for you. Calcium is tough.
I'm afraid of etching the glass. I guess I will have to break down and get the scary stuff.

Oooh, hydrochloric acid. I found that suggestion through google.
 
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  • #163
Vinegar may work--it has for me. But don't throw out the vinegar. It's good for spraying and killing both varieties of fleas (including the kind that lay eggs just below the skin that end up looking like puffy with hard white raised heads) and brown recluse spiders.
 
  • #164
Evo said:
New topic - calcium deposits on crystal.

I have some calcium deposits on two crystal glasses (it's not hard water etching). I was going to buy one of the calcium and lime solvents, but they come in huge bottles, so I bought some white vinegar to soak the glasses in. That should do the trick, shouldn't it? Anyone have any idea how long it will take to dissolve this way? (I want to know when to give up)
Is the crystal from the old place, or was it washed in the new place? I presume hard water is the problem?

Vinegar should work - perhaps warmed. Lemon juice might work too.

I seem to remember Lime-a-way, but that's nasty on SS and metals, so one would use it in a plastic or ceramic container. One can get Lime-a-way in a spray bottle, but then dilute it before disposal. And wear rubber gloves!

I thought there were special dish detergents for use with hardwater.

One could also try a non-abrasive cleaner.
 
  • #165
Evo said:
I'm afraid of etching the glass. I guess I will have to break down and get the scary stuff.
If toothpaste is mild enough not to ruin the enamel on your teeth, it should be safe for glassware. Test it on other (cheaper) glass first to see if you can scratch or dull it.

I looked up calcium, glass, etc on Google, and ran across this:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/tips/sick_glass.html

Toothpaste is one of the recommended treatments.
 
  • #166
Vinegar should work...if it's going to work, an overnight soak should be long enough.

As for your bugs, yes, bedbugs are possible too. Look around the seams of the mattress. Actually, if the mattress had been in storage a while, it could have carried in some sort of mite as well. Yep, sounds like bug bombing is the best approach. If you're only getting the bites in the bedroom, then at least you know which room to treat.
 
  • #167
Evo, look carefully at the bites. Spiders have paired fangs, and their bites leave two raised bumps side-by-side. I have a bite scar one on the inside of my left middle finger that has been there for years and years, unchanged. Some spiders can do some pretty impressive tissue damage. If your bites aren't pairs of injection sites, they are not from spiders.
 
  • #168
Bed bugs (and possibly spiders too) will retreat to crevices in the mattress, in the walls/floors. They will migrate to adjacent rooms, and even adjacent apartments, so one has to be careful of attached apartments.

See if this applies - http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef636.asp

See also - http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/entfactpdf/ent58.pdf

In recent years, bed bugs have also made a comeback in the U.S. They are increasingly being encountered in homes, apartments, hotels, motels, dormitories, shelters and modes of transport.

. . .

How Infestations Originate
It often seems that bed bugs arise from nowhere. The bugs are efficient hitchhikers and are usually transported in on luggage, clothing, beds, furniture, etc. Outbreaks can often be traced to travel, especially in countries or cities where bed bugs are common. This is a particular problem for hotels, motels, and apartments, where turnover of occupants is constant. Bed bugs are small, cryptic and agile, escaping detection after crawling into suitcases, boxes, and belongings. The eggs are almost impossible to see when laid on most surfaces. Use of secondhand beds, couches, and furniture is another way that the bugs are transported into previously non-infested dwellings.

Once bed bugs are introduced, they often spread room to room throughout a building. Unlike cockroaches that feed on filth, the level of cleanliness has little to do with most bed bug infestations.
 
  • #169
Astronuc said:
Bed bugs (and possibly spiders too) will retreat to crevices in the mattress, in the walls/floors. They will migrate to adjacent rooms, and even adjacent apartments, so one has to be careful of attached apartments.
Yeah, when she said the mattress had been in storage, that really bumped that to the forefront as the likely culprit (or source of the culprits). Of course, it also could have been picked up in the moving truck too.

One of my friends decided to just keep the rental truck an extra night and bug bomb the entire contents when moving into a new house, just to ensure none of the bugs of the previous apartments/condos/storage spaces or any hitch-hiking in the truck from previous users lived to move into the new house. Plus, when it was time to air things out, all they had to do was open the door on the truck. I just might try that when I move to a new home since the current place seems to attract ants, and I don't want to move them with me.
 
  • #170
For the glass, if the vinegar doesn't work, try working/rubbing/'laying a small piece of cloth soaked' in something with little sodium hydroxide or sodium hypophosphite ----and if that works (and/or even if it doesn't work)---get a little bit of jeweler's rouge and rub the spots little for 5-15 minutes (while you're waiting for something interesting to pop up on a thread, as some of us do as we bounce around the web).

________________

(sometimes I feel like a fly caught 'on the web' for as much time as I do --just once in a while:rolleyes:---spend on the thing)

_____________________

I've heard 'soaking' glass in Coca-Cola works too
 
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  • #171
OK--5 weeks now---need an update on the move, arm and back, and bug bites
 
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  • #172
Still moving. I'm waiting for the Evo Child to get here, she has promised to help. It will be so much more productive.

Arm is getting better, still hurts when I move it, stlll can't straighten it. Back is better, and I found my special pillows, so my neck is MUCH better.

Problem : I have very deep very tall cabinets, which is a waste of storage space. I'm considering making some shelves. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'm good at simple carpentry.

Haven't had time to befriend the squirrels yet, but I noticed I have some bunnies. :approve:

Also, the largest freaking hawk I've ever seen. I can't find a picture of it online, but from the head and beak I know it's a hawk. It's over 2 feet tall. The chest, down to the claws is pure white, with a white throat and the white goes up the middle front of the face in a bar that covers the eyes and goes above the beak. The rest of the bird is grey with an orange-rust tail, but I can't find a rusted tail hawk with the other features. Magnificent bird. It scared the living daylights out of the fruit bat. That's how I noticed it, he was a little upset.
 
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  • #173
Evo said:
Problem : I have very deep very tall cabinets, which is a waste of storage space. I'm considering making some shelves. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'm good at simple carpentry.
NOOOO! Use only hand-saws and have 911 enabled as a one-button dial on your cell phone, even then. :eek:
 
  • #174
Evo said:
Problem : I have very deep very tall cabinets, which is a waste of storage space. I'm considering making some shelves. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'm good at simple carpentry.

really?---you mean, like cutting a board straight?

------------------------

sounds like a Cooper's Hawk (red-tailled)
they have some variation in the species

http://www.geocities.com/tgrey41/CoopersHawk8.jpg


http://www.raptor-gallery.com/1-14-07-RT-Hawk/images/_MG_1747.jpg



Copy_of_Goshawk_and_squirrel.jpg



http://www.geocities.com/tgrey41/Pages/CoopersHawkp.html
 
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  • #175
turbo--I haven't been around here long (down here in GD anyway*)-----(is she really that...--uhhh--what's a good word as to not offend?)



(*it may seem like a lot longer to some people)
 
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