Aug. 15th, 2008
Termites & Sorcha's Gate to Hell
Aug. 15th, 2008 11:52 amSo. Termites.
There was a small pecan tree trying to grow right next to the foundation of the house. TMF has been trying forever to get it out, but the thing about pecan trees is, they are dammned hard to kill once they get started.
You can't lob off the top and expect the tree to die. No. They grow back.
And pecan trees have roots that grow straight down. Great tree for having *near* a house, but not right under the foundation ring. Those roots keep growing though. It's said that you can tell the approximate depth of the root by figuring out how tall the tree is.
And if you've lobbed off the top of the tree, add a few feet because the roots still grew down.
So...this tree. Right under the foundation ring of our house. A week or so ago, TMF doused it with rock salt. And the tree suffered. It looked as though it was finally going to give up the ghost and die for us. So TMF got out with the shovel and started digging.
He pulled up a small tree with a good foot or so of root system. And on that root were termites. When you live in a pier and beam house, termites=very bad.
TMF's been worried. Excessively worried. Obsessively worried. So yesterday I called for an inspection. Termite man said that the little munchers would find any wood, dead or dying, and give it a go. But just because we had termites on this one bit of wood outside, didn't mean we had them chewing down the front wall of our house.
He said our foundation sits high enough that we'd be able to see if they were coming in the house from the ground. They make little dirt tunnels, or in this case, little dirt elevator shafts.
But, to put this worry to rest, he's coming back out Monday morning to have a better look, and probably go under the house to check there as well.
This brings up a whole new issue. Under the house.
It was about 4 years ago, we'd moved a bit of scrap wood and found.....termites. So, worried, I called Orkin. The guy comes out, does a perimeter search, drops all sorts of dread warnings (which I now recognize as sales manipulation) and tells me he needs to inspect under the house.
So we go into Demon's room. She has an access in her closet. We clean it out, Orkin man has donned his white suit of termite defense. He pulls up the cover and with flashlight in hand, prepares to enter the underside of the Casa.
That's when we all heard the growl.
Things you don't expect that tend to startle you....doorbell at odd hours, light bulb popping when you turn on a lamp, growl from inter-dimensional gate to hell from the floor of a closet.
Orkin man pulls his head back from the opening in the floor and asks if we have cats. We respond that we do and point to the cats who are supervising this whole procedure from the bed. And one can tell by the look on their face that they heard the growl too.
You know it's got potential to be bad when the cat looks confused and slightly alarmed.
Orkin man did not venture under the house that day. He gave us his card, promised to call and schedule an appointment for several expensive treatments, and left. I had already realized the depth of the sales pitch I had gotten and had already made up my mind that I would not be inviting the Orkin man back for those expensive treatments.
But ever since that afternoon, we've wondered about the thing under the house.
See, out house is pier and beam. It rests on a concrete rectangle and piers under the house. In theory, should something dig under that concrete, it could get under the house easily.
But there were no holes. Anywhere. For several hundred yards.
Whatever was under the house had either dug a very long tunnel to get there, or....best as we could figure, was a creature from the depths of hell. It would explain a lot about Shaman's evil behaviors from time to time.
And now, on Monday, another termite man will be venturing forth to the lower level. This time TMF is off work though and I may send him with the termite man.
With a gun.
There was a small pecan tree trying to grow right next to the foundation of the house. TMF has been trying forever to get it out, but the thing about pecan trees is, they are dammned hard to kill once they get started.
You can't lob off the top and expect the tree to die. No. They grow back.
And pecan trees have roots that grow straight down. Great tree for having *near* a house, but not right under the foundation ring. Those roots keep growing though. It's said that you can tell the approximate depth of the root by figuring out how tall the tree is.
And if you've lobbed off the top of the tree, add a few feet because the roots still grew down.
So...this tree. Right under the foundation ring of our house. A week or so ago, TMF doused it with rock salt. And the tree suffered. It looked as though it was finally going to give up the ghost and die for us. So TMF got out with the shovel and started digging.
He pulled up a small tree with a good foot or so of root system. And on that root were termites. When you live in a pier and beam house, termites=very bad.
TMF's been worried. Excessively worried. Obsessively worried. So yesterday I called for an inspection. Termite man said that the little munchers would find any wood, dead or dying, and give it a go. But just because we had termites on this one bit of wood outside, didn't mean we had them chewing down the front wall of our house.
He said our foundation sits high enough that we'd be able to see if they were coming in the house from the ground. They make little dirt tunnels, or in this case, little dirt elevator shafts.
But, to put this worry to rest, he's coming back out Monday morning to have a better look, and probably go under the house to check there as well.
This brings up a whole new issue. Under the house.
It was about 4 years ago, we'd moved a bit of scrap wood and found.....termites. So, worried, I called Orkin. The guy comes out, does a perimeter search, drops all sorts of dread warnings (which I now recognize as sales manipulation) and tells me he needs to inspect under the house.
So we go into Demon's room. She has an access in her closet. We clean it out, Orkin man has donned his white suit of termite defense. He pulls up the cover and with flashlight in hand, prepares to enter the underside of the Casa.
That's when we all heard the growl.
Things you don't expect that tend to startle you....doorbell at odd hours, light bulb popping when you turn on a lamp, growl from inter-dimensional gate to hell from the floor of a closet.
Orkin man pulls his head back from the opening in the floor and asks if we have cats. We respond that we do and point to the cats who are supervising this whole procedure from the bed. And one can tell by the look on their face that they heard the growl too.
You know it's got potential to be bad when the cat looks confused and slightly alarmed.
Orkin man did not venture under the house that day. He gave us his card, promised to call and schedule an appointment for several expensive treatments, and left. I had already realized the depth of the sales pitch I had gotten and had already made up my mind that I would not be inviting the Orkin man back for those expensive treatments.
But ever since that afternoon, we've wondered about the thing under the house.
See, out house is pier and beam. It rests on a concrete rectangle and piers under the house. In theory, should something dig under that concrete, it could get under the house easily.
But there were no holes. Anywhere. For several hundred yards.
Whatever was under the house had either dug a very long tunnel to get there, or....best as we could figure, was a creature from the depths of hell. It would explain a lot about Shaman's evil behaviors from time to time.
And now, on Monday, another termite man will be venturing forth to the lower level. This time TMF is off work though and I may send him with the termite man.
With a gun.
Do me a favor! Check this out
Aug. 15th, 2008 11:57 pmVirginia's been on a mission lately. She's been fighting the fact that Texas, as well as a lot of other states AND the Federal Government has no required break for employees.
This basically means that if your company or job decides to work you 8 (or longer) hours straight, with no lunch, coffee, or smoke break....they can. And if they have had breaks in the past, it could change any time.
This came about when she was working at Golden Corral (buffet restaurant) and after telling them she was a diabetic and REQUIRED a break for a meal and to check her blood sugars, they worked her 9 hours straight without a break, because they had no break policy and no requirement to give her one.
She's working on a website, wants to make this legislation, and was even on TV today!!!! I'm proud of her. She did really well, considering she had like half an hour's notice that she was going to be on TV.
Go watch! And if you want to add your voice, let me know and I'll find a way to get you added to a petition.
Link to the story and video.
This basically means that if your company or job decides to work you 8 (or longer) hours straight, with no lunch, coffee, or smoke break....they can. And if they have had breaks in the past, it could change any time.
This came about when she was working at Golden Corral (buffet restaurant) and after telling them she was a diabetic and REQUIRED a break for a meal and to check her blood sugars, they worked her 9 hours straight without a break, because they had no break policy and no requirement to give her one.
She's working on a website, wants to make this legislation, and was even on TV today!!!! I'm proud of her. She did really well, considering she had like half an hour's notice that she was going to be on TV.
Go watch! And if you want to add your voice, let me know and I'll find a way to get you added to a petition.
Link to the story and video.