ants, pt 3

Definitely spoke too soon about no ants in the kitchen. I just walked
in and saw 4 or 5.

We have a way to go.

ants, pt 2

I noticed an ant twitching today. While I don't like to see any
living creature in pain, I am relieved that the ant poison I have put
down seems to be working.

I don't see any ants tonight as I go into the kitchen. I'm sure I'll
see some more soon enough but this may be a sign that the ant poison
is working. (I did just see an ant by the computer. What they are
doing there I have no idea.)

killing ants

Ants have reappeared in my kitchen and bathroom, and the occasional
one is seen near or on me as I sit in my chair. It's one of the signs
of spring.

I had a bad infestation of ants last year. Lasted from spring through
most of the summer. I laid barriers of baking soda by my kitchen
sink, the counter-tops all around and the baseboards. It worked well
by the baseboards. After pouring it all along the baseboards, the
ants stopped finding the cat food. That wasn't the case on the
counter-tops. They bothered me all summer there.

And that is what I am faced with now. My current technique to deal
with them is to wet a sponge, sweep them up with that and then rinse
the sponge under the faucet. This usually makes the ants fall into
the running water although sometimes I have to squeeze the sponge to
get them all out. The ants get washed down the drain in theory (out
of sight, out of mind being the rationale behind that) but many climb
back up out of the sink. I sweep them with a sponge again. And lately
I am thinking that my squeezing the sponge hard enough might kill
them or injure them. The temperature of the water too should be
considered. Too hot or cold will kill them,

It bothers me as I kill them. My heart feels a little ache each time
I do anything about it. I am intentionally killing them all. I don't
like that. When more come back again and again (different ants,
probably not the same ones) I get aggravated and sweep them up with
anger, feeling less guilty. But here I am, killing many live
creatures. The Jains don't like to kill germs. I don't like to kill
ants.

I probably will get some real toxic commercial spray since other
approaches haven't worked for me. I'll have to be careful it doesn't
harm the cat.

I guess I prefer to wash them down the drain because I am not
actually killing them then and there with that action. I am not
squishing each one. I am moving them somewhere else where, it
happens, they probably die. Some escape. Most die by drowning. Others
due to the temperature of the water. Others from whatever nastiness
is in the drain (chemicals, waste although ants can deal with some of
that stuff in their normal encounters in life.)

They don't scream. They do run away, sometimes. When I stand by the
sink or shower, at least when this started, they run away. Later on
in the summer, at least last summer, they didn't respond when I made
my presence known. I wonder why.

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Stevie Wonder, A Night of Wonder, was on VH-1 Classics. Very good
show. Great sound. Good songs. Too bad it was only an hour with
commercials.

The drummer played a rock beat throughout, not a funky soul beat. I
wonder why. Not very ornamented. It sure could have been.

Movies full of lessons for life

Have seen two movies in the past few days that I'd seen years back,
in college. Both are full of life instructions: A Thousand Clowns and
Harold and Maude. A Thousand Clowns didn't have as much of an impact
on me this time around but it's full of bon mots. Harold and Maude,
besides being side splitting funny at times, also has the music of
Cat Stevens in it which sounds as good now as it did then.

I also saw, again but in full this time, Human Nature. Also laden
with messages about the meaning of life but nowhere near as rich
overall.

Carpe diem is the message.

ah, spring

Time for the quiet of the winter to be repeatedly shattered by loud
motorcycles, loud car stereos, more cars honking their horns because
the car in front of them at the light isn't starting up fast enough
and so on.

It has started already.