Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

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Peanut said:
@Spikedriver It doesn't work!!! The nests survive... This is another field I've baled hay on more times than I can remember. After a controlled burn.

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My ex said that on the horse ranch she worked at they would pour gas directly on the mound and then poke it with sticks, light it, and run. The ants would start swarming out as soon as the gas was poured. A couple good pokes would really get them riled up and more would come. Then throw a match and poof! Instant population reduction...
 
A shovel will reduce numbers if you have single queen colonies... But if there multi-queen you can have 8 to 10 million ants per acre who cooperate to some extent.

But the only sure way to wipe their populations to almost zero... Mother nature. They can't live north of the hard freeze line across the US. Even a short freeze (overnight) can kill millions in places further south.

We would wait, some times a few years, for the right weather conditions. Afternoon, 34 degrees, freezing rain falling and temps expected to drop below 32 after dark.

We'd take a shovel per man, walk nest to nest and turn the nests out. They begin freezing in the heart of the nest and can't repair it before temps drop further. Dad and I have killed every ant in entire fields doing this.
 
Yes, I've seen videos of fire ants grouping together and being swept along in flooding, floating. ?

Thanks @Double R ! I hope you don't limp along all gimpy-like and get a sore back like I do. I've learned that trying to walk with a broken toe can lead to a sore back. So sorry you hurt your toe, twice! Personally I don't have any sturdy boots, no steel toed, no ranch boots. My foot bruised nicely with that other injury last year. It looked like deep bruising.
There have been stories of inebriated folk "falling asleep" in Florida too close to fire ant mounds and dying from the injuries from ants. Little devils. When I have been bitten by them it leaves a raised welt, from ONE ANT, for a week!
 
Patchouli said:
Thanks @Double R ! I hope you don't limp along all gimpy-like and get a sore back like I do. I've learned that trying to walk with a broken toe can lead to a sore back. So sorry you hurt your toe, twice! Personally I don't have any sturdy boots, no steel toed, no ranch boots. My foot bruised nicely with that other injury last year. It looked like deep bruising.
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Thanks 😊 I am sore several abnormal places. I was doing exactly what you said.
I am thankful that I had thick leather work boots on when the log got me. It hit so hard it should have busted my toe wide open. Instead it just had an instant bruise. It did split my toe in a few places but not anything terribly noticeable until I clean it.
Deep bruising and bone bruises are horrible. I’m still not sure if I’ll loose my nail or not. It feels like it wants too. The pop I felt has me wondering if it broke back into place. I can actually slightly bend that toe and I haven’t been able too since the first injury to it.
 
Spikedriver said:
My ex told me that they will form a bunch of ants into a little ball and float, and they will spin the ball around in the water so no ants are under water long enough to drown. I'm not sure if that's true or not but I do know that I walked through water for at least 25 feet, and suddenly I had a couple dozen fire ants on my ankles. I though somebody was injecting acid into my skin. I never want to experience that again!
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The shape depends on the size of the mound but she was basically right.
 
I wish I had enough liquid nitrogen to go wipe out ant colonies in my area. LOL.

Gripe today but also hoping there is some legal recourse for another friend. She got out of an abusive relationship-- ex-husband literally pushed her head through the wall at one point and is extremely violent. He's also a deadbeat who quit his job to avoid paying child support and only does under the table type work to avoid taxes & child support.

Anyway, he offered the ex-wife to transfer his power bill account (which he claimed was completely paid off) to her rental house as a favor to make it easier to get power cut on. But it turns out he was only trying to screw her over. He owed $500. So the power is now in his name & he fled the state (to NC), she can't get him to pay a dime, and the power company is shutting the power off and won't let her transfer it in to her name & is demanding she pay the $500. She explained the situation to the power company but they don't care. She has 3 small children & they don't care about that either. No laws protecting children from those shutoffs here apparently.

Anyone know if there is a way for her to get off the hook for her ex's power debt & get her power back on?
 
If the bill is not in her name how is she responsible?
 
Sheepdog & Havasu, I don't know. As far as I know it was handled entirely over the phone. I'm guessing that the power is on in the exhusband's name at the rental property but he left state so she's stuck there & the only way to not get electricity cut off is for her to pay what is owed. She made the mistake of trusting him. Not sure quite why she agreed to let him put it in his name there-- I think it somehow was supposed to save $ on creating a new account, but I really don't know. I don't have that power company, but I believe they charge something like $300 to turn on power in a new person's name instead of just transferring. I'd have to get more details on how it works. Also, this power company LOVES to shut people's power off because they can charge $100 to $150 to turn it back on. They will shut people's power off for being less than 10 days late on a payment & refuse to take payment plans to allow people to pay it off in smaller increments-- despite the fact that state laws require them to give at least 60 days and allow them to make payment plans.

I suppose if she knew enough about his account info she could have a male friend pretend to be him and give permission to switch power over to her name instead, but that would be fraud. I suspect he did this just to screw her over because she's mad he left him.

Editing to add that I vaguely recall that the same power company allowed my friend's ex to transfer his trailer's power bill to her name without his permission.
 
About 15 years ago we purchased a pizza shop that my son and his buddy ran. Being novices in that area we discovered there was a $5000 backlog on the gas used to run the ovens.

We had to eat it to keep the gas flowing.

Just saying...

Ben
 
@Patchouli @Double R I’ve been following the broken toe posts because it reminded me of something. I had broken the 2 smallest toes on my right foot. I slipped on the rolling deck of a ship at sea the day before crew change. My plan had been to hitchhike to alabama for my 3 weeks off. I had no other way home. With broken toes I still had to hitch from TX to New Orleans where I could catch a train. I had good hiking boots but couldn’t get them on my foot so I had to buy cheap sneakers and cut the side out.

That was a miserable trip, me, my heavy backpack and broken toes. The worst was Baton Rouge a guy put me out at the first exit on the east bank of the Mississippi. The interstate was raised through that part of town, no place to stand with my thumb out or for a vehicle to stop. I walked over 4 miles before I found another place to stick out my thumb. It was almost dark before I got a ride to NOLA. I never want to do that again! Now that was a crappy day! I can laugh now but it was no fun at the time. ;)
 
Patchouli said:
@Double R I thought I wasn’t wimpy, but you are a powerhouse.
Pain meds and a post-op shoe. No break.
Still have to work.
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I'm a huge wimp. lol
Glad no break! I haven't had it checked again. But it feels better than it has since the first injury even thought it's worse right now in a different way. That probably doesn't make sense. It was a rough night for sure. As you said, still have to work. I'm just glad the throbbing has stopped. It throbbed all the way up my leg. Hope yours is getting better by the day.
 
Yes the do! Besides the train I had several other reasons for getting to NOLA. Mainly several friends who were able to get me anything I needed for pain. I crashed on a friends couch for 3 days, comfortably numb, thanks to her. She was always the mother hen type and enjoyed my stay.

But gawd do broken toes hurt...
 
The post-op shoe is really good. Glad I consented to it. :D Doc said my foot was sprained and bruised. I may have already said that.
@Peanut Your will to survive is strong.
@Double R One other time I went medical for a broken toe, and it really was broken. Most of the time I just tape it to the next one and hobble around for a two weeks.
 
I have had post off shoes before but they don’t fare well in fields 😂 Plastic bags over only go so far. My doctors and specialists hated my visits for checkups when I had to wear one.
Our doctor doesn’t do anything for broken toes so I just roll with it anymore. If the bones sticking out id probably go in then 🤔😉
 
Sort of funny, the night I got to New Orleans Ms. A made a drug store run for me. She was puzzled as to why I insisted she get popsicles. I needed the little popsicles sticks to make splints for my toes. My little toe never did heal right, doesn't matter, all my toes look weird to me. lol But, even 2 months later my toes still hurt.
 
SoJer said:
E'nen, RR! (Probably the first person to 'Spell that Right', eh? ;) How beith Thou?

jd
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I’ve had a lot of different ways over my forum years. Lol but yes! RR is right.
Doing ok. Grumpy but trying to make the best of it. Nice to chat with my forum folks for a bit. Feel a bit better already. 🤗
How ya doing this evening?
 
Purdy Good.. Actually still at "work".. Work pms, into late Eve (They 'split shifts' at work, to help keep the number of 'interpersonal interactions' down, due to Covid, etc) and during 'cures' (Laser-parts that get glued-up under a Microscope in a 'clean-room', then the 'UV-sensitive epoxy' (not too different from the stuff yer Dentist uses to do repairs / fill a cavity, etc) gets 'cured'..) ..I have 'down time' for ~30-45 mins, where I can read / post a bit, etc..

..Honestly, though, I'd Much Rather be out in a barn, brushing out my Horses' mane, or cleaning up the Saddle + other Tack for goin' ridin tomorrow, but.. Kinda need a Horse for that.. :rolleyes: *sigh* Oh well, maybe someday, again..

jd
 
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