Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[dualstow]

Thanks! I used the exact same product once upon a time, pre-renovation and before we had a cat. Pretty effective.
They’ll probably go away by summer (still planning their takeover of the entire house), but if they don’t I’ll keep those Terro traps in mind.

[WiseOne]

Quick checkin here - no news personally, gorgeous day here in NYC. Has Ad posted lately? I thought I saw some posts by him early yesterday.

Dualstow: Spray bottle with a bit of dish soap and water. Then find the entry point (follow the trail of ants) and caulk or spackle it. Poisons not a good idea when you have four legged curious critters in the house.

[dualstow]

Thanks, WiseOne. As far as I can tell, they come from behind the cabinet and granite. I will crush them when I see them -- kind of like PointedStick's advice for fascists -- as I did in previous post-poison/have-cat seasons.

[WiseOne]

Then you need to seal the openings between the cabinets and wall - if too big for caulk you can try jamming in steel wool.

Probably you can just focus on the spot where the ants entered, or you can make a big production of it and pull out the dishwasher & stove and seal everything behind them. Might as well - you have the time now, right?

[dualstow]

No way am I pulling out that gas stove. I'll take the ants.

[vnatale]

Quick checkin here - no news personally, gorgeous day here in NYC. Has Ad posted lately? I thought I saw some posts by him early yesterday.

Dualstow: Spray bottle with a bit of dish soap and water. Then find the entry point (follow the trail of ants) and caulk or spackle it. Poisons not a good idea when you have four legged curious critters in the house.

This is what I used when I had a larvae beetle infestation in my house. Once I removed most of them they never seemed to come back after I put this all over my kitchen floor (the outer edges)…


https://www.amazon.com/Harris-Diatomace ... NrPXRydWU=


Of course it also helped that I moved the cat food to my bedroom instead of the kitchen.

I had thought my cats had been eating a lot. Instead it was house mice stealing all that food and storing it ALL over the house, which then made it easily accessible to these larvae beetles.

I had one speaker cabinet in my kitchen with a port hole that the mice had used to store in a one foot square area about two feet high of stolen cat food!

Vinny

[dualstow]

I guess the cats didn't do their job!

[vnatale]

I guess the cats didn't do their job!

They were too well fed! They had no motivation!

Vinny

[dualstow]

I guess the cats didn't do their job!

They were too well fed! They had no motivation!

Vinny

Good point. I thought maybe it was because they already had rat friends that they don't eat.

[vnatale]

I guess the cats didn't do their job!

They were too well fed! They had no motivation!

Vinny

Good point. I thought maybe it was because they already had rat friends that they don't eat.

No rats were in the house when all that mice "grand" theft had been going on for I don't know how long!

Vinny

[Mountaineer]

Good morning internet forum fans. I've been granted another day to focus on the good things in life - past, present and future. I find that the more I spend energy and time thinking about what I have been blessed with vs. what I've not, the better the day goes. Smiles and kindness are far less draining than frowns and grouchiness and self-pity. Thanks be to God this virus mess will end well even though there may be a lot of suffering along the way; it's all good!

[Smith1776]

I'd also like to wish everyone a good morning!

My cat Lily was running around the house last night doing cat sprints. Little bugger made me think someone broke into the house.

[Mountaineer]

Good morning guys and dolls!
Here is something to reflect upon as the events of today unfold:

"Oho!" said the pot to the kettle;
"You are dirty and ugly and black!
Sure no one would think you were metal,
Except when you're given a crack."

"Not so! not so!" kettle said to the pot;
"'Tis your own dirty image you see;
For I am so clean – without blemish or blot –
That your blackness is mirrored in me."

[vnatale]

Good morning guys and dolls!
Here is something to reflect upon as the events of today unfold:

"Oho!" said the pot to the kettle;
"You are dirty and ugly and black!
Sure no one would think you were metal,
Except when you're given a crack."

"Not so! not so!" kettle said to the pot;
"'Tis your own dirty image you see;
For I am so clean – without blemish or blot –
That your blackness is mirrored in me."

Matthew 7:3 Context

1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Vinny

[Smith1776]

So, I'm sitting here just reading about the specs for the upcoming PS5. Given our present circumstances, it is dawning on me how much of a privilege this is. How many people in the world are too wracked with economic anxiety to give a shit about a game console?

My portfolio is safe, no thanks to me. That was all Browne's work. My income is safe till at least June 1st. Again, not because of my foresight, that's just thanks to a great employer. And social isolation hasn't negatively affected my psyche, primarily because I'm introverted and bookish anyway. Besides, I have you wonderful people to chat with anyway.

Feeling grateful. I don't take for granted how incredibly lucky and privileged I am.

[vnatale]

So, I'm sitting here just reading about the specs for the upcoming PS5. Given our present circumstances, it is dawning on me how much of a privilege this is. How many people in the world are too wracked with economic anxiety to give a shit about a game console?

My portfolio is safe, no thanks to me. That was all Browne's work. My income is safe till at least June 1st. Again, not because of my foresight, that's just thanks to a great employer. And social isolation hasn't negatively affected my psyche, primarily because I'm introverted and bookish anyway. Besides, I have you wonderful people to chat with anyway.

Feeling grateful. I don't for granted how incredibly lucky and privileged I am.

At these times I'm thankful that I was created as a Super Introvert rather then the Extreme Extrovert who needs constant human presence.

Vinny

[WiseOne]

Checking in here!

I don't know if you've seen the youtube videos, but in the past few days there's a new custom here in NYC: lean out your window and yell, clap, bang pots, and cheer every evening at 7pm. And cars & fire trucks come out to honk horns. It's going on all over the city including my little neighborhood. Such a beautiful moment.

https://secretnyc.co/videos-new-yorkers ... l-workers/

Vinny, you appear to be blessed with the world's laziest cats. Mice stealing their food and they didn't care? Geez! Of course, this means you spoil them rotten and they have a wonderful life as a result.

[Libertarian666]

So, I'm sitting here just reading about the specs for the upcoming PS5. Given our present circumstances, it is dawning on me how much of a privilege this is. How many people in the world are too wracked with economic anxiety to give a shit about a game console?

My portfolio is safe, no thanks to me. That was all Browne's work. My income is safe till at least June 1st. Again, not because of my foresight, that's just thanks to a great employer. And social isolation hasn't negatively affected my psyche, primarily because I'm introverted and bookish anyway. Besides, I have you wonderful people to chat with anyway.

Feeling grateful. I don't take for granted how incredibly lucky and privileged I am.

That's good but in fact your portfolio's safety is largely due to you. Yes, Harry figured out how to do it, but you actually followed his advice. Most people won't, e.g., most members of the "Knuckleheads" board.

[vnatale]

Checking in here!

I don't know if you've seen the youtube videos, but in the past few days there's a new custom here in NYC: lean out your window and yell, clap, bang pots, and cheer every evening at 7pm. And cars & fire trucks come out to honk horns. It's going on all over the city including my little neighborhood. Such a beautiful moment.

https://secretnyc.co/videos-new-yorkers ... l-workers/

Vinny, you appear to be blessed with the world's laziest cats. Mice stealing their food and they didn't care? Geez! Of course, this means you spoil them rotten and they have a wonderful life as a result.

That was in reference to my prior cat who died a few years ago at the age of 18 and his later years' behavior.

The three I have now, who are between 2 and 4 years old? They've proven to me that mice do not stand a chance in my living space. They are right on the hardly any that have dared to enter my house.

I'll further add that when, unknown to me, one of my gerbils had escaped and was in this bedroom, all three cats were unrelenting in their attempts to get at it. Fortunately for the gerbil, I was able to get to it first!

Vinny

[Mountaineer]

And social isolation hasn't negatively affected my psyche, primarily because I'm introverted and bookish anyway. Besides, I have you wonderful people to chat with anyway.

At these times I'm thankful that I was created as a Super Introvert rather then the Extreme Extrovert who needs constant human presence.

Vinny

You two will enjoy this article.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith ... oom-alone/

[Smith1776]

That's good but in fact your portfolio's safety is largely due to you. Yes, Harry figured out how to do it, but you actually followed his advice. Most people won't, e.g., most members of the "Knuckleheads" board.

Thanks for the kinds words!

And I'm so happy that name has caught on. Legit chuckling right now.

[shekels]

May Peace be with You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuKfiH0Scao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUItt1-FZ2w

[Mountaineer]

May Peace be with You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuKfiH0Scao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUItt1-FZ2w

Excellent! Did you know Bill Withers is from WV? A true Mountaineer.

[CT-Scott]

This is what I used when I had a larvae beetle infestation in my house. Once I removed most of them they never seemed to come back after I put this all over my kitchen floor (the outer edges)…


https://www.amazon.com/Harris-Diatomace ... NrPXRydWU=

When we bought our current house (in the woods) back in 2008, we kept using the extermination company that the prior owners used. They treat for carpenter ants and set up (and clean up) mouse traps, mainly, but they've also done some as-needed things over the years (e.g., carpenter bees, and a bat in our attic). One issue I had was with some sort of beetles that were coming into my kitchen in the gap between the countertop and the backsplash behind my kitchen sink. The guy didn't recognize the beetle, but thought it might be a "carpet beetle" and said that they can be around moist areas. Getting side-tracked, but later I discovered a water stain in the ceiling of the room directly below the kitchen sink. I surmised that when we were washing dishes, we were allowing a decent amount of water to pool up behind the faucet and get in there, but I'm still not 100% certain if that was the source (the dishwasher is nearby, so I also wondered if there could be some small leak somewhere). I ended up caulking the gap between the countertop and the backsplash, and I *think* that solved both problems, though I think there could still be moisture/water now trapped behind the walls/ceiling of the room below that would be nice to remediate somehow. That water stain has turned black from mold, so some amount of repair is needed.

Of course it also helped that I moved the cat food to my bedroom instead of the kitchen.

I had thought my cats had been eating a lot. Instead it was house mice stealing all that food and storing it ALL over the house, which then made it easily accessible to these larvae beetles.

I had one speaker cabinet in my kitchen with a port hole that the mice had used to store in a one foot square area about two feet high of stolen cat food!

We had a similar problem several years back before we had our current cats. We had a small dog at the time (now deceased) and would leave the food out. We found the dog would bark at the food bowl a lot, like it didn't like something about it. I suspect that she was smelling the mice, or maybe even mice had peed/pooped in the bowl? Anyway, at one point I needed to move my daughter's bed (I think that might have been when a squirrel had gotten into our house - that was fun) and found a pile of dog food in an enclosed area under her bed. The idea that a mouse had made a home directly under her bed was concerning.

We ended up emptying the dog's food bowl (into our dog food bin) every night. We haven't done the same with our cat's food, but probably should.

[Mountaineer]

Greetings on this wonderful day to be alive. Come to think of it, every day is a wonderful day to be alive, even the sucky days have something good in store for us such as oxygen, and bodies to utilize that oxygen.

"You have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have." J. R. R. Tolkien