Holy Smokes!

A spider just dropped on me from the ceiling! Eek! A Brown Recluse? I hope not. But this is why I needed to create an “Express Posts” category. And this is the kind of stuff that could go on Twitter, too.

Advertisement

Summary of the last few weeks

1. Went back to Phoenix

2. Went to Rawhide and saw a humourous morgue show right after the haunted train ride.

3. Walked around the desert and took picture of plants.

4. Went back to Atlanta.

5. Went on a high-tech scavenger hunt this weekend that permitted me to see my coworkers doing bizarre and blackmailable things, while simultaneously keeping my reputation intact. One person even came away with a different hairstyle. This, by the way, falls under the umbrella of “alternative reality games,” games that are played in a reality setting but including elements of a game.

6. There is an interesting article in the recent issue of Wired that addresses this and other topics of interest.

7. I did some other crup but I don’t remember what it was. And no, I wasn’t drinking.

7a. I dressed as a pimp for Halloween, oh yeah, and it was a moderately popular outfit. I didn’t go to quite the depths that some people did…

8. I’m going home for Thanksgiving again

9. I am not praying for rain. They weather forecaster has already said it might rain by the middle of this week. Hmph. I know, that’s unsentimental of me.

10. PLEASE RAIN! PLEASE RAIN! I’m torn between my hatred of rain and the fact that my body is 75 percent water. Plus, I can’t tolerate the idea that Phoenix has more water than Atlanta.

11. PLEASE BRING THE CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK FOUNTAIN BACK!

12. That is all.

Roachology

I think I’m starting to think like a roach, as you’ll see from this entry.

So I called for extermination last Wednesday and I assume they came, although they left no evidence of having done so other than leaving my door unlocked so that I got a little freaked out when I returned to my abode that night. When I peeked in and saw that my stuff was all still there, I figured it was OK to go inside. Since I NEVER leave my door unlocked by mistake except for very short periods of time and even then only in weird situations where I consciously postpone the locking process, i.e. virtually NEVER, I can only assume that the exterminator came.

That probably explains the sharp drop in the number of roaches I’m seeing, in conjunction with the greater effort I’m making to keep my place clean. That said, there are probably still roaches living inside the walls and around my hot water heater, which is locked away and inaccessible to me. And then the major problem is the same as it always has been: outdoor roaches coming in through the front door. So tonight I saw one of those big outdoor ones. It was crawling around in all the filth in the places I can’t clean, and walking all over the Baits Motels that have been set up along the baseboards. But it was also kind of stupid, so after whacking a broom at it several times, it finally died a painful and suffering death before being flushed down the toilet. Thank goodness for the stupidity of Georgia’s roaches. Now I jinx myself…

One of the problems is my building is a bit older and IMHO the construction isn’t the most solid, and there are cracks and openings aplenty. Plus, the doors don’t fit properly in the jambs. And then like a lot of other complexes around here, there is a lot of pine litter around the base of the buildings, plus shrubbery and trees are close to the foundation. It makes the place look nicer and lusher, but it also attracts bugs because they don’t see much of a delineation between natural and manmade areas and it’s harder to spray. (I live on one of the upper floors, by the way). And the outdoor hallways and tight spaces and frequent changes of occupants mean lots and lots of roaches. If one person sprays, the roaches go to the next apartment owner until they spray. UGH.

But I’m getting good at predicting their behavior so I can kill them. They tend to be stupid and try to come back out to the place they were when you tried to kill them. Rarely do they have the tenacity to stay in one place for long, and that makes them easy to kill — so you figure out a way to weaken them, block their escape routes and then go in for the kill. And then BAM! They’re dead. Think like a roach and YOU will be the one prepared to survive nuclear holocausts. (I should start my own infomercial-type thing.)

My stupid bug phobia

I’m scared of bugs, and I’m being forced to face my fear. There’s this scary flying bug that looks like a roach or something and I can’t seem to kill it or make it go away. It ran behind the refrigerator and it’s too quick for me. I’m going to probably let it be there and then call for a bug spray session tomorrow.

I have no qualms (well a few) about killing cockroaches and the like, but I’m just tired of this crap and I don’t like things that fly. I’ve always been scared of bugs, and I ended up with the buggiest apartment. I hate that. Over time, I’ve lost my fear of killing roaches and things that crawl for the most part, but anything that’s large and flies is a bit much for me still. Right now, I’m freaking out. I can’t get a good reach at it. Should I just go to sleep like this? I can hear it flying around and I don’t want it to snuggle up next to me!

Ugh. I need to get some rest. I’m thinking the best strategy is to try and keep them from breeding, since it’s pretty much the norm for them to get into my place from time to time.

Random stuff

Boring weekend, moderately busy week at work. Lots of change is in the air.

Mom says she’s bought a hex bug that she wants to give to me. It’s essentially a ROBOTIC COCKROACH. Which is just what I need. I’ve killed a few roaches this week, as well as pantry beetles that have been spotted in here on a few occasions. I think I’ll like this high-tech bug thing. It just might help me bridge the gap between myself and my six-legged friends.

I am being informed that Equus is coming to NYC this year and it’s being suggested jokingly that I go. I can only giggle in response. (Actually I’ve already sort of unintentionally [meaning I didn’t exactly make a strong effort not to see them] seen pictures of the dreaded scene, so it’s probably all downhill from there. Is that too much information?)

Clones win! I find it amusing that the Register actually made a serious graphic diagram of the big last-minute play. I’m still waiting to hear about ASU’s game vs. San Diego State. Georgia Tech and the Braves both lost from what I’ve heard.

It’s nice and cool outside, about 60 degrees.  Winter is coming soon and fall is upon us. On one hand I’m happy and on the other hand I don’t like cold weather.

Name that rat

By the way, we were having a slight rodent issue for a while, and then I saw one that had gotten run over by a car. I named the flattened body “Flatatouille.” Thankfully, I haven’t seen much of that since I’ve gotten back, although there was a GIANT green bug thing on the wall tonight. It’s like living in the Amazon some days. Not to mention the flattened/dessicated dead frogs I had been finding before….

Come on people

Easy on the inappropriate Harry Potter searches, will ya?  Look, I don’t want to sound creepy, but I like to look at the stats for this blog and find out what’s bringing people here. A lot of it is to find out the dirt on Harry Potter. You ain’t gonna find it here, folks.

Anyway. I updated my family blog. I forgot to add in there a tiny highlight of today, for family members reading:  After visiting the post office again (read below) I snuck out for dinner at the Fanous (or Fanoos) Persian restaurant. Man, that place is awesome. I didn’t take an photos since I didn’t want them to think I was a restaurant reviewer or something. My plate of food was beautifully arranged and tasty too. I can’t recommend this place enough.

It’s a Persian “tea house,” which translates roughly to “Hookah! Hookah!” in English. Still, the food is the main reason people go there. It’s a lot like the Darvish tea house, but with (I dare say) lower prices and better food. I ordered a chicken kabob with iced tea and hot tea for a total of $18, including tip. It sounds like a lot but consider this: The price also included a nice appetizer selection including crisp pita pieces, Shirazi salad (cucumber, tomato and onion in a salted lemon sauce), mustokhiar (sp — yoghurt sauce with pieces of cucumber and mint), and a dip that I believe is called borani-e bademjan (zesty seasoned eggplant drizzled with yoghurt). The kabob came with basmati rice and a grilled tomato. In short, I loved it. I couldn’t finish it and I didn’t want to take leftovers with me. Which means it probably won’t last. Heck, I like this place way better than Darvish, and it’s got a pretty nice location in a strip mall on Roswell Road. But it seemed like it didn’t have the same kind of popularity that Darvish has, and it didn’t have as thick of a crowd as the other restaurants in the strip mall. Still there were definitely people there and I know from the research that was done that it has some loyal fans. All in all, the Persian Tea House model is quite different than the quieter, more intimate and more low-key kinds of Persian food you will find in the Phoenix area. It’s more aimed at the younger crowd, which I think is something that would be good to have in Tempe, AZ. If you come to visit me, family, I will take you there.

Yeah, so I had to go to the post office again to see if they would give me my mail. I guess the postman got sick of stuffing my mail in there; I let it go for too long and it was the finally last straw. Now, he isn’t delivering to my box anymore. He left a note saying it was at the USPS postal store, but I went there this evening (after the Gosh-awful heat/humidity combo settled down) and they told me I should just call at 8:30 a.m. to find out what happened to my mail. They think he might have taken it to the warehouse down the street. I’m thinking they probably threw it away or lost it. The best I can hope for is to convince him to deliver my mail again, if I promise pretty please with a cherry on top that I’ll check it more regularly. This is so stupid!

No answers yet, for now. This better get fixed soon so I don’t miss getting my birth certificate from Iowa. Anyway the USPS visit seemed like a good excuse to get the Persian food while I was out, and to get a little minor grocery shopping done at Whole Foods. (There’s a Kroger too.)

I’m also tired of dodging crappy traffic and seeing people give each other the finger for stupid reasons. On the plus side, there are fewer of those road-rage shootings in the ATL than the PHX. I suppose I’ll take middle fingers versus guns. I’m also tired of lousy intersections and broken “walk signal” buttons. I swear people break them on purpose. Also, I’m tired of the lack of sidewalks on some streets. Con(des)truction on the sidewalk leading to one of my favorite OTP shopping centers has made a trip there far more hazardous than it should be. I’ve actually stopped going there altogether since there are other plazas with the same stores that are less dangerous. And closer, too.

ALSO: Bus routes here are sometimes complicated, which is why I rarely ride the bus. I’ve only done it a few times and it’s sucky. It’s often easy to get somewhere, but hard to get back because you don’t have the option of taking multiple buses at some destinations. The stops are spaced apart from each other and the drivers won’t stop at the stops for the other route to pick you up. Frankly I think it’s pretty lame that two bus drivers drove right past me at stops because I wasn’t at the exact stop they were looking for.

And by the way, just a thought about dealing with people in general (and not to single out bus drivers, if that’s what you’re thinking — this is a generic comment): I’m tired of lousy customer service. There are way too many people out there who are making it obvious they hate their jobs. Look, I know you hate your job. Frankly, I would hate to have your job too. (Is that cruel to say?) I might even hate my life altogether. But for Pete’s sake, and we love Pete, let’s not show the world how miserable we are. Instead, let’s try to find some pleasure in life. I’m not saying sing the “happy happy joy joy” song all the time. But I firmly believe that if you can sap some tiny bit of joy from your miserable, slug-like existence, you may find your existence isn’t so miserable anymore. If that makes sense.

OH and ATTENTION ALL BURGLARS AND TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA MENU INSERTION FREAKS AND POSTAL POSTFOLKS: I be goin’ to Phoenix next week. Flight is next Friday.

Oh, and I just killed a flying cockroach in my living room! Just now. Go me. They love the crappy humid weather we have right now. I think since it has (had) been a drier, cooler summer than last, roaches haven’t been much of an issue. Now that it’s hotter and humider again, I think I’m going to see more of these fellas. Still, probably not as many as last summer.

That is all folks… time to go back to living. And sleeping. Over and out.