tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post6685406389259409826..comments2023-12-23T05:14:34.273-05:00Comments on Wit's End: Hysteresis and the Vile Conspiracy to Blame the BugsGail Zawackihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-13431899744494938792012-10-27T18:56:06.591-04:002012-10-27T18:56:06.591-04:00I hope y'all Northeasters enjoy the government...I hope y'all Northeasters enjoy the government weather this weekend.<br /><br />PLoveringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04027992777731735792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-1232548884385788172012-10-27T16:53:35.388-04:002012-10-27T16:53:35.388-04:00Hi Michele - I plan to leave. I think the pets wi...Hi Michele - I plan to leave. I think the pets will be okay - the kitchen is heated with a propane stove that won't go out with the electricity so the birds will be okay. I might take the cats with me.<br /><br />Just saw Otello at the Met, it started with a terrific storm. Most appropriate!Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-38220881167429897512012-10-27T12:06:39.180-04:002012-10-27T12:06:39.180-04:00"All areas will have strong to damaging winds..."All areas will have strong to damaging winds and tree damage will be an issue."<br />you bet they will. <br />this aint gonna be pretty. <br />are you staying put?<br />what about the pets?michele/montrealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-46630537021485464332012-10-27T08:43:06.071-04:002012-10-27T08:43:06.071-04:00For cryin' out loud Jerry, I was kidding! I d...For cryin' out loud Jerry, I was kidding! I don't feel victimized in the slightest. I feel incredibly, and unjustifiably, lucky. Lucky in my personal circumstances, and lucky to be alive at this moment in time, the pinnacle before the collapse. Left to my own devices (in other words, if I'm not compelled to drive for other people) I maybe drive once or twice a week.<br /><br />I do agree however, that I and everyone else is beyond hope.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-42678045371629827952012-10-27T02:18:40.445-04:002012-10-27T02:18:40.445-04:00I knew it all along! Thanks for confirming my sus...I knew it all along! Thanks for confirming my suspicion.<br /><br />Your militancy has nothing to do with trees, or even with the state of the planet. You only want to justify your own sense of being a victim.<br /><br />How else can you explain the fact that you tool around in a car every day of the week even as you denounce the genocidal emissions of toxic and planet killing fossil fuels?<br /><br />Thank you for this stark reminder that I am correct in my assessment that human kind, including you, is utterly and completely beyond hope.<br /><br />God have mercy.Jerry McManushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03124700740429023228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-29987926594957885962012-10-26T19:41:03.230-04:002012-10-26T19:41:03.230-04:00Jerry, it's funny (haha) you lament the racket...Jerry, it's funny (haha) you lament the racket you have been subjected to. I only just got home to check email and comments, having spent the afternoon hiking up the steep mountain at the Delaware Water Gap.<br /><br />It was lovely on the far side of the slope, but on the river side - the side with the spectacular view - the sound from route 80, even from so high on the ridge we could hardly see semi-tractor trailers, was excruciatingly DEAFENING. I have always hated the sound of machinery, I must have a Luddite gene.<br /><br />So I have deep sympathy for your pillow-over-the-head response to diesel engines. I hate it when I hear all the lawn mowers and chain saws in my rural corner. Even the noise of air-conditioners makes me tremble with fury!<br /><br />So I thank you sincerely, honestly - for reading and for posting your heartfelt comment.<br /><br />However, I must take slight exception to your last disparaging mention of my squirrel torture. I never intimated - did I? - that a squirrel was "my only problem". Seriously, I have other problems, lots of them actually.<br /><br />But out of consideration for the tender sensibilities of the throngs of readers who patronize Wit's End, I try to avoid such talk, and keep the overall tone cheery, so as not to unduly cause needless and excessive distress.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-11680951838268939622012-10-26T15:46:28.196-04:002012-10-26T15:46:28.196-04:0080 farenheit here now in the sun...in the last day...80 farenheit here now in the sun...in the last days of OCTOBER. <br />I wish the end would be like in "Sleeping Beauty". We all go to sleep and wake up in a few million years. But then, I do not want to wake up with many who are here today...<br />michele/montrealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-52424783961685111672012-10-26T15:38:56.719-04:002012-10-26T15:38:56.719-04:00Hi Gail,
I enjoy reading your blog, despite the r...Hi Gail,<br /><br />I enjoy reading your blog, despite the relentless bad news, and you have pointed me to other links that have become part of my regular reading list, such as the collapse of industrial civilization blog.<br /><br />Please do keep up the good work, I hope you don't stop posting your observations and research.<br /><br />If you think squirrels are bad, here is a reminder that it could always be worse.<br /><br />I live in the urban core of a medium sized city, mostly because I long ago made the decision to live without a car. I have enjoyed living here for many years, despite the noise which never really bothered me that much, at least not until this year.<br /><br />For some reason the local transit agency decided it would be a good idea to make my block the terminal for one of its extremely busy routes. I now have very large, filthy, and extremely loud diesel engines constantly running outside my window all day and half the night. This despite numerous complaints and threats of lawsuits to the agency and various city and county councils.<br /><br />This has utterly demoralized me and completely destroyed my ability to enjoy life on even the most basic level. It is a humbling experience to feel completely powerless in the face of evil.<br /><br />I now spend my time with my head under a pillow praying for collapse to come as soon as possible in the vain hope it will shut down those buses and send the drivers straight to hell.<br /><br />I have resigned myself to the prospect of being forced to move, despite the fact that I have lived here for well over 15 years in relative contentment. I would gladly gnaw off my left arm for an opportunity to live somewhere that a squirrel was my only problem.Jerry McManushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03124700740429023228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-75335355556947710222012-10-26T09:59:04.706-04:002012-10-26T09:59:04.706-04:00Heh, that is pretty diabolical Catman! But my bar...Heh, that is pretty diabolical Catman! But my barn cats both died last spring. I'm hoping the owl will eat him.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-37880263441196339112012-10-26T08:45:45.497-04:002012-10-26T08:45:45.497-04:00Squirrels: If you have outside cats, lean a ladde...Squirrels: If you have outside cats, lean a ladder on the roof so the cats can easily get up there. They'll quickly learn to climb, especially when they see squirrels scampering around up there. Squirrel removal will become their full time occupation. The squirrels will move.<br /><br />That works for me in the old farmhouse with the sheet metal roof and a hundred squirrel access entry points.<br /><br />catman<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-29141445736871579732012-10-26T07:52:59.143-04:002012-10-26T07:52:59.143-04:00I certainly saw a lot of squirrels eating the osag...I certainly saw a lot of squirrels eating the osage oranges, which I never had seen before. I had to look it up - I thought nothing ate osage oranges. And their population could have exploded, in response to a temporary surfeit of nuts. Nut trees, like pines and others, put all of their remaining stored energy into reproduction when they sense they are dying, so they often have a season or a few where they produce enormous amounts of nuts/fruit/seeds.<br /><br />So there are temporary winners, like the crows, which are omnivorous and can take advantage of expanded range as more delicate species die out.<br /><br />I've managed to annoy a few people talking about the trees, myself!Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-90805614243651678702012-10-26T07:03:50.763-04:002012-10-26T07:03:50.763-04:00I believe in the squirrel explosion: This year th...I believe in the squirrel explosion: This year there are many, many young squirrels. They don't do any particular harm though. Some of the neighbors apples got eaten by squirrels, but that was more than made up for by the lack of bugs. Where did the bugs go? I am a little worried about that--meanwhile the bugless apples this year were the sweetest and tastiest that the tree has produced. <br /><br />Oh yes, the trees here look like hell. A few are turning color nicely, but mostly not. People really get annoyed if I mention it. I really think people are delusional--and by choice! <br /><br />--Gaianne Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-34765567793829137302012-10-25T23:18:42.662-04:002012-10-25T23:18:42.662-04:00Ha -- I'm becoming very cynical -- but you re...Ha -- I'm becoming very cynical -- but you really made me laughter with this: "Well, since when did tooth decay or athlete's foot compare to being "...hollowed out by a common fungal infection that slowly eats through the trunk?" Wouldn't a more appropriate analogy be gangrene, or leprosy...or maybe necrotizing fasciitis? Since when do tooth decay or athlete's foot fungus ever reach "flammable concentrations"?Mossyhttp://www.gwenet.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-37153367456850400472012-10-25T22:28:16.537-04:002012-10-25T22:28:16.537-04:00I will try the cayenne!I will try the cayenne!Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-3109027040955214752012-10-25T22:22:45.359-04:002012-10-25T22:22:45.359-04:00For the squirrels try cayenne pepper. The powdered...For the squirrels try cayenne pepper. The powdered kind. You have to get it to where they walk and snuffle. Moth balls works too but in most cases the human residents end up breathing too much of the stuff. Only as a last resort.<br /><br />About snow sports:This anon has a nephew who competes at World Cup level as a cross-country skier. Cross-country happens at lower altitudes than downhill racing. The official season is now weeks shorter both fall and spring. Race venues get changed at the last minute and promoters go to crazy lengths to make/truck/spread snow on race courses. Mobilizing the entire Norwegian military to get snow to the Holmenkollen. The mass participation base of the sport is gone - it is now an elite pursuit for those who can travel to where there is snow. Yet denial persists. In the American branch of the sport denial is absolute and total and denial is strong in Europe as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-63365847306263560742012-10-25T21:56:48.943-04:002012-10-25T21:56:48.943-04:00Bats in the belfry, ha!
That storm is going to la...Bats in the belfry, ha!<br /><br />That storm is going to land all those big old trees in Nantucket on top of those beautiful antique buildings. I'm glad I got to see it before.<br /><br />I'm toying with the idea of leaving - I live along a creek and I'm worried about flooding...sigh...Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-14174231848467414012012-10-25T21:48:42.784-04:002012-10-25T21:48:42.784-04:00oh Gail! this looks bad. http://news.yahoo.com/noa...oh Gail! this looks bad. http://news.yahoo.com/noaa-east-beware-coming-frankenstorm-171317994.htmlmichele/montrealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-66874527095208383092012-10-25T21:18:44.686-04:002012-10-25T21:18:44.686-04:00People always blame detritivores for the detritus,...People always blame detritivores for the detritus, whether it is forests or their bodies, because they can see them. Then they want to kill the detrivores,* instead of stopping the pollution of the forests or their bodies. But god forbid they stop filling the air with crap and their mouths with industrial garbage, because the American way of life is non-negotiable.<br /><br />Good luck with the skwerels in the ceiling. I suppose it's better than bats-in-the-belfry, ahem!, like moi. ;) <br /><br />____<br />* An example in our bodies: candida albicans (fungal infection)<br /><br />Brian Bowmanhttp://arrowpeakhealingfarm.com/noreply@blogger.com