tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post115714526658712007..comments2023-06-25T08:14:04.091-04:00Comments on Brad and Claire: Death to all bugs! ( in four difficult steps)Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17248248999320718608noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157580421342972152006-09-06T18:07:00.000-04:002006-09-06T18:07:00.000-04:00Ha ha ha! Great post. Looking in my shoes has on ...Ha ha ha! Great post. Looking in my shoes has on and off been something I do when in other parts of the country where it might be necessary, such as the south. I picked up this trick by reading a Hardy Boys book once in which Frank or Joe were told to do this, or didn't and almost got in trouble with a scorpion or some such deadly creature.<BR/><BR/>It's interesting how much cockroaches are practically universally despised by females, and how they often turn to males to solve the problem. I was called upon to try and deal with one of the creatures when working in VA this summer, and some of the girls were so terrified they didn't think they could sleep until it was killed.redsoxwinthisyearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12276506361739035636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157323185434858192006-09-03T18:39:00.000-04:002006-09-03T18:39:00.000-04:00Amy- yes, good point- you don't want to let on tha...Amy- yes, good point- you don't want to let on that a bug is involved on when you summon him...I should have included that in step one...<BR/><BR/>And Capt L., I guess I should have a couple of boys so I can have more cockroach killers at my beck and call...Clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03821358083272070291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157255741294159862006-09-02T23:55:00.000-04:002006-09-02T23:55:00.000-04:00As a guy who grew up in Atlanta, I can testify to ...As a guy who grew up in Atlanta, I can testify to the size and ferociousness of the cockroaches in your neighborhood. Yet, some of my fondest memories growing up were when someone in the family would see one of these bugs and yell "Cockroach Alert!" My brother and I would come running from whatever corner of the house we were in, and we'd track the insect down like a wild animal until it was completely vanquished. Boy do those things ever splatter when you whack 'em good with the heel of your shoe!John Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12686523008155127091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157249941289507372006-09-02T22:19:00.000-04:002006-09-02T22:19:00.000-04:00That post had me laughing more than once. :) We ...That post had me laughing more than once. :) We go through periodic periods of bug sightings. As it turns out, I use the same tactics you do! That's so crazy! :) But I have to be careful not to let Russell know I'm calling him in to kill something because he'll try to get out of it. He'll say something about equality, that it's my house too, that he doesn't like bugs either, or that he *knows* I'm more than capable of killing a bug since I have told him stories of the Great Bug Massacres that occur while he's gone...silly stuff like that. (I've been known to cut live bugs in half with scissors if they refuse to squish on the carpet.) So I muffle my screams and say in a very calm voice, "Russell? Would you come here for a minute?" Like I just want to show him something normal and inanimate. When he arrives like a slightly duped knight in shining armor, I explain that there is something living that should be dead, and then look at him with what I hope is an adoring look (rather than just manipulative). Lucky for me, he loves me. :DAmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01979584118649220205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157229179498175202006-09-02T16:32:00.000-04:002006-09-02T16:32:00.000-04:00Claire, as a baby newlywed I greatly appreciate yo...Claire, as a baby newlywed I greatly appreciate your sage advice & have filed it away for future reference.<BR/><BR/>Today, I saw an iguana about 3 feet long in the courtyard today. But husbands are not nearly as much fun to get to kill iguanas as dogs. So I ran up to J&J's house and got Pepper (the resident dalmation). She came scurrying down the stairs after being alerted to the "iguana". She knows the word as well as dear old Woody (May he rest in peace) knew the word "squirrel". As soon as she saw the evil beast she chased it, cornered it & chomped it with her bare teeth. After a bit of shaking and playing with the ole iguana, it lay still and dead.ahappywifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08485708353555717338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157226768890863782006-09-02T15:52:00.000-04:002006-09-02T15:52:00.000-04:00eww! Now for the rest of my life I will check my s...eww! Now for the rest of my life I will check my shoes first. Good thing I have my dad and bug spray always handy to do the killing.Shay Dawghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14860336118163767192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157215028775314092006-09-02T12:37:00.000-04:002006-09-02T12:37:00.000-04:00I'm so glad we don't have cockroaches around here!...I'm so glad we don't have cockroaches around here! I shivered at Brad's shoe story. Spiders are bad enough.Kristihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06880230682016982129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157206841256628132006-09-02T10:20:00.000-04:002006-09-02T10:20:00.000-04:00KJ, I smiled when you talked about one entering th...KJ, I smiled when you talked about one entering the house because it brought to mind a sort of Far Side type image of a man sized bug walking in the front door. Now that WOULD be cause for screaming. <BR/><BR/>Lis, you're right. All that is within me revolts against the grossness and wrongness of the existence of bugs and the best way to express that is in screaming...It's just a simple cause and effect equation. Bug=scream. BUT when you know that there is a choice which consists of these two options: scream and have to deal with the bug yourself, or not scream and get someone else to kill it for you, you learn to repress the urge to express the outrage.Clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03821358083272070291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157205385563826032006-09-02T09:56:00.000-04:002006-09-02T09:56:00.000-04:00Oh my WORD, Claire! Cleverness personified! (And b...Oh my WORD, Claire! Cleverness personified! <BR/><BR/>(And by the way, it was I that coined that title, not my dear bro. I was just absentmindedly still signed in with his name).<BR/><BR/>Oh yes, the other thing that works (if you are short on guys) is to rescue somebody else. It can, I discovered, provide just enough somethingorother to quell the scream reflex. Perhaps it was surprise. Our tough Air Force girl guest comes running meekly to <I>me</I> for help?<BR/><BR/>And about the screaming: isn't it important to express outrage against gross wrongs in the world? Shouldn't your soul revolt against the curse, and the wrongness of the cockroach's very existence?lishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01368403710526809342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157176999398266932006-09-02T02:03:00.000-04:002006-09-02T02:03:00.000-04:00Hehe... You're awesome Claire! :) Lisa and I have ...Hehe... You're awesome Claire! :) <BR/><BR/>Lisa and I have a "game" of opening the garage door a crack to catch a glimpse of the cockroaches scurrying around there, and then quickly shutting the door tight so they can't come into the house. Just an adrenaline rush to see the big creatures, but knowing they're at a safe distance. <BR/><BR/>And when the occasional one enters the house, Linda gives it a good whack! Which kinda goes against your whole post about getting the guys to do it for you... but Linda is different... she's just as brave as a guy and those cockroaches better take her seriously in this aspect of their lives. What fun!KJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07062714632715052882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157170200662837992006-09-02T00:10:00.000-04:002006-09-02T00:10:00.000-04:00Soj, I have hunted crickets several times in the m...Soj, I have hunted crickets several times in the middle of the night. It's a desparate feeling and it makes me so mad that it's easier for me to kill them by myself...or at least it has been in years past. It's been a while since I've had to kill a Jiminy. <BR/><BR/>Bria- yes, I think the steps would work on most anybody, male or not. The point is- Someone Else Other Than Me- someone Braver.Clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03821358083272070291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157169109723248892006-09-01T23:51:00.000-04:002006-09-01T23:51:00.000-04:00Your four steps sound like they might work on brot...Your four steps sound like they might work on brothers, too. And I think you were very wise to add the fourth step. Many's the time that I've hung around and heard the crunching that I so badly wanted to avoid. Or as happened today--"Hey, want to see the fly's sucker thing?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157167984391879292006-09-01T23:33:00.000-04:002006-09-01T23:33:00.000-04:00Great job, Claire! Although, I have two things to...Great job, Claire! Although, I have two things to add. One of the couples who lives in my house (there are three!) also suffers from cricknaphobia (as I do), and she got her hubby to kill a Jiminy the other night in a much different manner.<BR/><BR/>We heard the beast chirping, and she calmly (following your #1 rule) approached him and said, "Your choices are to stop watching TV right now and come kill this Jiminy, or to get up at 2am and kill it when it wakes me in the middle of the night." He opted for choice #1.<BR/><BR/>I had to sleep with earplugs in last night because there was yet another dreaded Jiminy somewhere in my vacinity (I killed one two nights before at 5 in the morning). I have no husband. Earplugs had to do.<BR/><BR/>Why did God allow cockroaches and Jiminy's onto the Ark, is what I want to know?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157162044078389002006-09-01T21:54:00.000-04:002006-09-01T21:54:00.000-04:00Hurray!!! for women being women and for manipulati...Hurray!!! for women being women and for manipulation :-) good job with the explanations :-)Bookerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15889198370808653959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157160609662113302006-09-01T21:30:00.000-04:002006-09-01T21:30:00.000-04:00jYou could just go to Home Depot and buy some Rid-...jYou could just go to Home Depot and buy some Rid-a-bug and have your husband spray around your house (under sinks and in a few corners) and if you do it regularly like every couple months, all you'll see are a few dead ones, and then after awhile you'll hardly ever see any.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157156958888689662006-09-01T20:29:00.000-04:002006-09-01T20:29:00.000-04:00Claire! You just succeeded in undoing the work of...Claire! You just succeeded in undoing the work of the last one hundred years of the women's suffrage movement...but, still, I'm with you on getting a man to kill bugs for me... or wash dishes or change diapers or anything else I can beg for.ljmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636461842297063133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11205826.post-1157152601789694352006-09-01T19:16:00.000-04:002006-09-01T19:16:00.000-04:00Ha! Great post Claire! I enjoyed it quite thorou...Ha! Great post Claire! I enjoyed it quite thoroughly! Much as I hate to admit it, I know what it's like to search one's bedroom after dark, changing sheets and whatnot. I once found an unidentified bug or mite or something at like 12:30, and I was so freaked out I didn't get to bed for at least an hour. I'm ok with bugs I can identify, though (spiders, ladybugs, etc.), and although I kill them anyway, I don't have trouble falling asleep. :)Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06260586240701323300noreply@blogger.com