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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Serious Business  |  Topic: Useless Conversation 0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.
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Author Topic: Useless Conversation  (Read 3400340 times)
Chimpy
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Reply #36365 on: August 02, 2017, 08:10:37 PM

I went out to the garage last night to put the garbage from the kitchen into the can to take out to the curb and I heard this buzzing noise and I looked up and there was a mutant wasp that was like an inch and a half long and almost as big around as a bumblebee. Fucking freaked me out.

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
Merusk
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Reply #36366 on: August 03, 2017, 06:05:48 AM

I had something of similar size burrowing into the sand between bricks in my backyard patio two years ago.  Did yours look like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
Chimpy
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Reply #36367 on: August 03, 2017, 07:17:39 AM

Probably was one of those as the cicadas are all over the place.

While it is nice to know the thing was basically harmless it still freaked me the fuck out.

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36368 on: August 03, 2017, 08:01:43 AM

Wasps were dead before sunset.

Poked the nest once for fun (ran around to the back door and watched them through the window. I just like studying insect behavior.

Then I nuked 'em with death spray, they didn't suffer. That stuff is pretty much instant death.
schild
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Reply #36369 on: August 03, 2017, 08:25:26 AM

Wasps deserve to suffer.
rattran
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Unreasonable


Reply #36370 on: August 03, 2017, 09:00:17 AM

I was cleaning up the back deck this morning, one wasp nest in an old fan, 2 in the grill. Turned on the fan, so now those are gone. Will fire up the grill later today. Wasps deserve death.
Mandella
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Reply #36371 on: August 03, 2017, 10:11:28 AM

Okay, I'll be that guy.

Wasps are cool. Ever sat and watched them for a while? Watch them hunt and transport caterpillars and spiders back to the nest (I'm including dirt daubers -- they make clay nests and don't sting -- in the definition of wasp here). Their ability to process and solve logic problems and to build meticulous structures is fascinating.

Yeah, many can and will sting. But paper wasps learn and get used to activity around them very fast. They'd much rather live and let live. I've let huge nests develop in my workshop areas with no problem. They even reduce the frequency of annoying interruptions from other people!

Caveat: I can't include hornets or ground dwelling yellow jackets in the above. Hornets are super aggressive year round, and yellow jackets go nuts during their swarming time, aggressively defending a wide swath around their nest. They just won't be good neighbors, so they have to go.
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36372 on: August 03, 2017, 10:23:59 AM

Don't sweat it, Mandella, I hear you. I only take them out if they're in a place where their nest will be disturbed, thus this case where they were behind the mailbox. I even let a paper wasp nest grow on my back patio roof eave because they just minded their own business and never bothered me.

I also need to root out some carpenter ants that seem to have built a nest or satellite in my attic. Not looking forward to that.
WayAbvPar
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Reply #36373 on: August 03, 2017, 11:31:48 AM

I am a live and let live kinda guy, but when I wake up to a wasp stinging me on the back of the neck, the gloves come off and the vermin die.

When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM

Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood

Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36374 on: August 03, 2017, 12:06:59 PM

Without Bart around, this winter is going to be mousepacolypse. Had way too much infiltration last winter.

I once rented a small country house that had the most horrific mouse problem I've ever seen. I kept the place immaculate, as it was in bear country so I lived by bear country rules, no food or waste outside a sealed metal container. Had no idea why I had such a high level of infiltration and it was making me fucking batty seeing mice everywhere. Landlord flipped out on me, but turns out he was a massive douche. Also turns out his shitty 'fish pond' that he dug out in the back yard and always bitched I couldn't keep clean...because he didn't dig proper drainage...but I digress...he had a 50 gallon cardboard drum of fucking fish food in the garage.

While he was ranting about what a piece of shit tenant I was when he found a mouse hole in the garage, he ripped open the drywall in anger....and the entire cavity was full of fish food.

That was fucking hilarious. But yeah, I have a thing about mice.
Khaldun
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Reply #36375 on: August 03, 2017, 01:13:41 PM

I leave paper wasps alone if they're in a place I'm unlikely to disturb, sure. But if I might reach in or accidentally jostle the nest (or someone else might), it's gone.

Abagadro
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Reply #36376 on: August 03, 2017, 08:32:32 PM

My 12 year old is sitting on the living room couch 10 feet away from a nice TV hooked up to Netflix watching Netflix on his phone. 2017.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
WayAbvPar
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Reply #36377 on: August 03, 2017, 08:52:03 PM

Heh.

When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM

Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood

Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
MisterNoisy
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Reply #36378 on: August 03, 2017, 09:51:46 PM

I like wasps and spiders and will usually let either of them be.

That said, I've got a spider setting up shop between my car's passenger side mirror and the door.  I tear down the web every morning and it gets rebuilt every night.  I figure that little bugger will get tired of rebuilding their home every night eventually, right?

XBL GT:  Mister Noisy
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schild
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Reply #36379 on: August 03, 2017, 10:05:26 PM

My 12 year old is sitting on the living room couch 10 feet away from a nice TV hooked up to Netflix watching Netflix on his phone. 2017.
You didn't even know you were having a kid when you joined f13. Let that sink in.

Edit: actually, I guess you had a four month window where knowledge was a possibility.
Rasix
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Reply #36380 on: August 03, 2017, 11:13:26 PM

We have a pool, so wasps are part of the deal. While annoying, they're better than the bees. The wasps tend to not bother you intentionally, while the retarded bees try their best to land on you or end up getting trapped in the water because they break the surface tension. Ironically, the kickboard I use to kill the wasps, I use to save the dumb bees.

I haven't seen any nests, so I have to assume they're coming from the neighbors (they fly off in that direction) or the nearby shopping center. I have no idea how far they range for delicious chlorine water.

My 12 year old is sitting on the living room couch 10 feet away from a nice TV hooked up to Netflix watching Netflix on his phone. 2017.

Sadly, I mostly watch TV on my phone unless it's live sports. My TV tastes differ far rest of the family (kid's far too young), and late at night, I'd rather game.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2017, 11:19:33 PM by Rasix »

-Rasix
Khaldun
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Reply #36381 on: August 04, 2017, 07:32:19 AM

We have the same deal with this cute little yellow spider who lives in the car side mirror. She builds a web every night, is usually hanging in it in the morning, and dutifully crawls into the mirror in an unhurried way as the car starts to pull out of the driveway. If you come outside at about 9pm and shine a flashlight, she's busy making the web again.
Cheddar
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Reply #36382 on: August 04, 2017, 04:20:58 PM

I kill wasps with extreme prejudice, and watch as their larvae plunge to the earth in agony from the nest.

I think they have a colony in my west neighbor.  Jim is like me (east neighbor) and nails fuckers down; like the fucking ants.  Sick of battling the goddamn ants.

I will win the ant war.  And fuck wasps and your hippy "hey man, they cool and build stuff!"  They were born to die.

Also Jim drinks Coors, so he ok in my book.

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
rattran
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Unreasonable


Reply #36383 on: August 04, 2017, 08:09:29 PM

You're in the southeast. You'll lose the ant war.
calapine
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Reply #36384 on: August 05, 2017, 03:35:36 AM

You're in the southeast. You'll lose the ant war.

Don't watch Phase IVthen. That film turns you into an antophobic.


Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!
rattran
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Reply #36385 on: August 05, 2017, 05:03:41 AM

Watch the MST3K version, for a KTMA it's pretty good. Though the film is still pretty terribad.
Yegolev
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Reply #36386 on: August 06, 2017, 11:06:55 AM

The thing about eradicating the ants in Georgia is that worse shit surges when the ants are gone.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36387 on: August 07, 2017, 07:10:09 AM

I grew up on sand plains. Forest over the top of ancient sand dunes (from when we were underwater in dinotimes). We used to get epic ant colonies and wars in the yard. It was fun growing up to watch the different kinds of ants war over territory, there was a pretty good balance, because no one species ever took over.
Merusk
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Reply #36388 on: August 07, 2017, 07:17:23 AM

I like wasps and spiders and will usually let either of them be.

That said, I've got a spider setting up shop between my car's passenger side mirror and the door.  I tear down the web every morning and it gets rebuilt every night.  I figure that little bugger will get tired of rebuilding their home every night eventually, right?

Nope.

I had ants in the bathroom this weekend. Time to go put more DE around the perimeter so they can razor themselves to death while infiltrating the foundation.

Moles, though.  Those fuckers I need to find a way to eradicate. I've got 25'-35' of dead grass because of moles this year. I don't know where they came from but the fuckers are going down.  Chipmunks are next, I've got a ton of holes in my garden this year. I guess the neighborhood's outdoor cats must have gotten killed or moved away.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2017, 07:21:51 AM by Merusk »

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36389 on: August 07, 2017, 08:52:11 AM

Since I honestly try to kill as little as possible, I eradicated my chipmunks one year by chasing them into a downspout extension in the backyard. Then I'd slip a no-kill trap on the end and pick up the pipe. They'd slide right into the trap. Took 'em over to the graveyard and dumped em. Probably transplanted a dozen or more, didn't see any for a couple years.

Though it was much more satisfying to have the cooper hawks in the woods. Had almost no rodents that year, and the squirrels were always dodging the birds of prey to cross my yard.
Khaldun
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Reply #36390 on: August 07, 2017, 10:41:13 AM

Our yard is like population ecology in action. You'll get a year when there are more rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and maybe a woodchuck in the yard. Then that's usually followed by a year where we see foxes, broad-shouldered hawks and owls around a lot more and eventually no rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and woodchucks.

The sadder version is a year where I mowed the lawn very little and then the next year where frequent mowing yielded dead fieldmice and shrews quite a bit.

The chipmunks used to go into the downspout a lot but I think they gave up after our dogs more or less gave them a heart attack--the dogs learned what that scrambling noise in the spout meant and they'd go up to it barking and growling ferociously and the poor little guy in there couldn't get more than a quarter of the way up and was slipping constantly, squeaking in panic the whole time. It would always be a major ordeal to get the dogs off the case.
HaemishM
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Reply #36391 on: August 09, 2017, 03:13:25 PM

I turn around to look out the window by my cube and see a goddamn black as night death cloud coming my way. The eye of it should be over me just as I'm leaving work. Fuck you, weather.

Yegolev
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Reply #36392 on: August 10, 2017, 05:05:51 AM

the window by my cube

Stop complaining. awesome, for real

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #36393 on: August 10, 2017, 06:49:18 AM

I can't even open the two windows at my desk! Took one for the team by working in the office with the librarians instead of up in the old building (mid-19th century), where I had floor-length windows that opened out onto a private balcony....I got so much more done up there, but down here is better customer service :/

The four flights of stairs was also awesome exercise.
HaemishM
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the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


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Reply #36394 on: August 10, 2017, 08:23:59 AM

I can't actually open the windows. This is what it looked like the other day.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgPCm7llNi/?taken-by=garyaballard

Yesterday was worse, yet it was over 2 hours after I first noticed said death cloud.

schild
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Reply #36395 on: August 10, 2017, 09:04:36 AM

mississippi is majestic
Hawkbit
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Reply #36396 on: August 10, 2017, 07:02:12 PM

Shit.

Last week on the way to the bus stop around 9am some guy turns around and shouts 'faggot' in my face. It was so out of place for our neighborhood I almost confronted him, but something was off about the guy. I regret not calling the police because two nights ago he stabbed our neighbor a bunch of times. Now it comes out that he's been doing this all over the neighborhood for a few weeks now and the police couldn't really locate the guy because he's mobile.

I'm so glad I didn't confront him myself, but shit I really regret not being more proactive in calling it in.
Signe
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Muse.


Reply #36397 on: August 10, 2017, 08:40:49 PM

Yikes!  That's pretty scary, Hawkbit.  I'm glad you're okay.   ACK!

My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
Cyrrex
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Reply #36398 on: August 10, 2017, 11:23:56 PM

Not being unsympathetic, but would that even be the kind of thing the police would respond to in the first place?  I would guess not so much, but maybe there's more to the story.  I'd assume they'd rather spend their time hunting down black motorists they can shoot in the face.

"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
SurfD
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Reply #36399 on: August 10, 2017, 11:51:31 PM

Moles, though.  Those fuckers I need to find a way to eradicate. I've got 25'-35' of dead grass because of moles this year. I don't know where they came from but the fuckers are going down.  Chipmunks are next, I've got a ton of holes in my garden this year. I guess the neighborhood's outdoor cats must have gotten killed or moved away.
Chewing gum.  Stick of Wrigley's type, not sure if flavour matters.  Apparently they can't digest it, so if you leave a half a stick by the entrance to one of their holes, they pop up, eat it, disappear back into the hole, and are never seen again.  Probably a rather horrible way to go, but from what I hear, it works.

Darwinism is the Gateway Science.
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