Random Thought Thread

[bluemax_1]

So, I’m not going to say I like getting stung by wasps here and there. But I kind of don’t mind it.

It burns a bit, but that's about it. Doesn't freak me out like most people. It had been awhile until last summer, when one landed on the back of my neck while sitting at my desk in the office. I smacked it and got stung in the neck, grabbed the little asshole, and threw it in the trash. Said, "Ow you f'er!" A coworker saw it all, and looked at me like and said, "Doesn't that hurt?!?!"

From what I've heard, there's a difference between being stung by a yellowjacket vs being stung by a hornet. Somewhere along the lines of the size difference.

Been stung by yellowjackets here and there. ONE sting; OW! Asshole!

Not too bad. Been lucky enough not to have been hit by a dozen or more. The itch for a few days, is the annoying part.

I've known folks who've been stung by hornets, as well as yellowjackets, and they've told me hornets are a different level. I don't feel a pressing urge to see for myself.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

From what I've heard, there's a difference between being stung by a yellowjacket vs being stung by a hornet. Somewhere along the lines of the size difference.

Been stung by yellowjackets here and there. ONE sting; OW! Asshole!

Not too bad. Been lucky enough not to have been hit by a dozen or more. The itch for a few days, is the annoying part.

I've known folks who've been stung by hornets, as well as yellowjackets, and they've told me hornets are a different level. I don't feel a pressing urge to see for myself.

Been hit by a tarantula hawk (in AZ) and velvet ant (also in AZ) before. Hornets don't worry me, though I don't think I've been stung by one.

Ever hear the noise a velvet ant makes when you pick it up? Squeals like a high-pitched pig. I didn't know they lived underground, and were actually a wasp...

 

[beeinak]

There is a pest control company here that owns 6 different ones, so when people get quotes for service they almost always getting the contract regardless. The same guys wear different shirts depending who they are supposed to be representing. Pretty slick.

 

[Blues]

From what I've heard, there's a difference between being stung by a yellowjacket vs being stung by a hornet. Somewhere along the lines of the size difference.

Been stung by yellowjackets here and there. ONE sting; OW! Asshole!

Not too bad. Been lucky enough not to have been hit by a dozen or more. The itch for a few days, is the annoying part.

I've known folks who've been stung by hornets, as well as yellowjackets, and they've told me hornets are a different level. I don't feel a pressing urge to see for myself.

Last summer / fall on my late walk with the dog, every night for a month or so there was one of those large European hornets (or his brethren) that would come out of the woods and challenge me as a result of my headlamp. Big sumbitch.

Never stung me, and once I got lucky and whacked one midair with my walking stick. Fucker looked like an F-18 buzzing the tower.

 

[AriesTheCam]

I think you'll be very happy. Can't say it's cheap, but I love having a generator whenever we lose electricity. But the BEST thing is the Murphy Guarantee that as soon as you get it installed, you will not lose electricity for at least the next two years.

Your story is proof again that one always needs to get multiple estimates for jobs like this.

Wind storm caused major fence damage here a couple of weeks ago. Got three quotes. One from a generic fence repair company. One from a dude named Richard who barely speaks English but apparently has been repairing fences for a few years. And one from a company my wife saw doing a fence repair job about 30 miles from here, and with whose quality and attention to detail she was very impressed. She didn't realize it, but it was the same company who buiit our wooden fence in the first place about 20 years ago, and it has never needed repairs until now. Quotes ranged from $800 to nearly $2300! $800 was the company who built the fence and whose work independently impressed my wife. We went with them.

Good carpentry is honestly getting harder to come by. People my age range and younger seem to think they're too good for the work and the ones I worked with don't know simple things like how to read a tape without the "idiot marks" written on it, use a speed square, or how to properly use a level.

Luckily for me my dad was a great carpenter and taught me all this crap when I was a kid.. kinda stuck with me til I made my money that way (well at least for a couple years when I was hard up after leaving the service). You'd be amazed how many new guys I saw come and go because they couldn't grasp simple geometry.

Same goes for the mechanic trade.. I got yelled at for not holding this dudes hand (basically) once.. I was working on putting in a new timing chain and this dude forgot to put an oil filter on the car he was working on. Boom.. we bought that guy a new engine lol.

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

From what I've heard, there's a difference between being stung by a yellowjacket vs being stung by a hornet. Somewhere along the lines of the size difference.

Been stung by yellowjackets here and there. ONE sting; OW! Asshole!

Not too bad. Been lucky enough not to have been hit by a dozen or more. The itch for a few days, is the annoying part.

I've known folks who've been stung by hornets, as well as yellowjackets, and they've told me hornets are a different level. I don't feel a pressing urge to see for myself.

I’ve been stung by a bunch of yellow jackets all at once and it’s not fun. Just need to make sure you wipe the stingers out. If they are red and itchy the next day it’s best to put some triple antibiotic ointment on them because they can get infected and take longer to heal. Happened to a friend of mine. Still had red lumps where he was stung three days later. I told him the redness indicated possible bacterial infection and he should treat them. He called me the following day and said he wished he’d have known that sooner.

 

[bluemax_1]

Last summer / fall on my late walk with the dog for a month or so there was one of those large European hornets (or his brethren) that would come out and challenge me as a result of my headlamp. Big sumbitch.

Never stung me, and once I got lucky and whacked one midair with my walking stick. Fucker looked like an F-18 buzzing the tower.

Saw those Giant Asian hornets while hiking in Asia. Local guy said, "DON'T hit those! If you squash one, it releases a scent that draws a whole lot of them".

No idea if that's true, or just local lore/BS, but the size of those orange hornets was enough for me to go, "Uhhh... sure. Whatever you say, man".

 

[Blues]

Saw those Giant Asian hornets while hiking in Asia. Local guy said, "DON'T hit those! If you squash one, it releases a scent that draws a whole lot of them".

No idea if that's true, or just local lore/BS, but the size of those orange hornets was enough for me to go, "Uhhh... sure. Whatever you say, man".

I actually assumed that to be true myself and beat feet out of there with the dog figuring that it would release some chem trail leading the rest of the little bastids to chase. And I can't run faster than the dog...so I was gonna be a human sacrifice. LOL.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Saw those Giant Asian hornets while hiking in Asia. Local guy said, "DON'T hit those! If you squash one, it releases a scent that draws a whole lot of them".

In that case...

 

[bluemax_1]

I’ve been stung by a bunch of yellow jackets all at once and it’s not fun. Just need to make sure you wipe the stingers out. If they are red and itchy the next day it’s best to put some triple antibiotic ointment on them because they can get infected and take longer to heal. Happened to a friend of mine. Still had red lumps where he was stung three days later. I told him the redness indicated possible bacterial infection and he should treat them. He called me the following day and said he wished he’d have known that sooner.

In my case, I used to be allergic to insect bites and stings when I was younger.

A single sting would make the area swell up (although not as bad as a buddy in grade school, who was carted off in an ambulance from a single sting), and on my fairer complexion, the red mark took weeks to fade.

Got caught by fire ants in the South once (that one was dozens of bites). Made my foot swell up like a football.

The first time getting stung by a yellowjacket several years ago, I was worried, because it stung me on the cheek. Was waiting for my face to swell up, and... nope. Just the itch. Huh... maybe I've outgrown the insect allergies...

Got nailed again by 2 or 3, while mowing the lawn a few years ago. Was less concerned this time, due to the mild reaction from the other sting a few years prior. Same thing; a bit of pain at the moment of the sting, then just a small red bump, with a little itching for a few days.

In comparison, I got nailed by cat fleas from a friend's cat. THOSE bites itched for 7-10 days, and the red spots took ~2 months before they weren't visible any longer.

 

[AriesTheCam]

In that case...

I need one one these.. for research.

 

[bluemax_1]

I need one one these.. for research.

Here ya go. Legal in almost every state (except maybe CA, where it probably causes cancer )

https://throwflame.com/

 

[AriesTheCam]

In my case, I used to be allergic to insect bites and stings when I was younger.

A single sting would make the area swell up (although not as bad as a buddy in grade school, who was carted off in an ambulance from a single sting), and on my fairer complexion, the red mark took weeks to fade.

Got caught by fire ants in the South once (that one was dozens of bites). Made my foot swell up like a football.

The first time getting stung by a yellowjacket several years ago, I was worried, because it stung me on the cheek. Was waiting for my face to swell up, and... nope. Just the itch. Huh... maybe I've outgrown the insect allergies...

Got nailed again by 2 or 3, while mowing the lawn a few years ago. Was less concerned this time, due to the mild reaction from the other sting a few years prior. Same thing; a bit of pain at the moment of the sting, then just a small red bump, with a little itching for a few days.

In comparison, I got nailed by cat fleas from a friend's cat. THOSE bites itched for 7-10 days, and the red spots took ~2 months before they weren't visible any longer.

I'm one of those weird cases you described for sure. Everything bug related tears me up. Even mosquito bites on me are like triple the size of everyone else around me. It's almost like bugs hunt me down too.

I remember reading once that it might have something to do with blood type or something like that. They said said O types attract mosquitos more and I happen to be O Neg.

I guess I've always just assumed they were right as I've never researched it further but the evidence does lend to it seeing as I get nailed hard while everyone around me might get tagged once or twice.. at least with me and my group of people.

I've since learned for whatever reason that Avon "Skin So Soft" baby oil is a better bug repellant than anything else I've ever bought.. smells better too.

 

[ferider]

The difference is in scale...

For AriesTheCam ...

European hornet (left) and common wasp (right). If you are allergic, don't need a lot of hornet stings to say good bye ...

Thank god, we have big knives !

 

[AriesTheCam]

Here ya go. Legal in almost every state (except maybe CA, where it probably causes cancer )

https://throwflame.com/

I want an underbarrel flamethrower so bad lolol.. my wife's face would be priceless when I pull the ol' "Babe! I got it for us!"

 

[AriesTheCam]

For AriesTheCam ...

European hornet (left) and common wasp (right). If you are allergic, don't need a lot of hornet stings to say good bye ...

Thank god, we have big knives !

Nahhh.. I'm good on that

 

[Richard338]

Good carpentry is honestly getting harder to come by. People my age range and younger seem to think they're too good for the work and the ones I worked with don't know simple things like how to read a tape without the "idiot marks" written on it, use a speed square, or how to properly use a level.

Luckily for me my dad was a great carpenter and taught me all this crap when I was a kid.. kinda stuck with me til I made my money that way (well at least for a couple years when I was hard up after leaving the service). You'd be amazed how many new guys I saw come and go because they couldn't grasp simple geometry.

Same goes for the mechanic trade.. I got yelled at for not holding this dudes hand (basically) once.. I was working on putting in a new timing chain and this dude forgot to put an oil filter on the car he was working on. Boom.. we bought that guy a new engine lol.

My friend's a carpenter. He always complains about the new guys..."THEY DON'T KNOW THE GRADUATIONS OF AN INCH!!".

 

[AriesTheCam]

My friend's a carpenter. He always complains about the new guys..."THEY DON'T KNOW THE GRADUATIONS OF AN INCH!!".

He's absolutely right.. I'll concede the people that do know could easily teach them the correct way to do things and avoid dumb mistakes, but I had houses to frame.. I didn't have time to be someone's teacher as well.

They let the last one to get fired before I moved do measurements one day and was off an 1/8th of an inch on every board holding a balcony him and another guy were building.

You can imagine the slant it caused.. iirc the balcony was 15' to 20'. You could see it from the street. I showed him his mess up by setting a baseball one of the kids of another guy working with us left in his trunk on the end and let him watch it roll off the other side

 

[Blues]

He's absolutely right.. I'll concede the people that do know could easily teach them the correct way to do things and avoid dumb mistakes, but I had houses to frame.. I didn't have time to be someone's teacher as well.

They let the last one to get fired before I moved do measurements one day and was off an 1/8th of an inch on every board holding a balcony him and another guy were building.

You can imagine the slant it caused.. iirc the balcony was 15' to 20'. You could see it from the street. I showed him his mess up by setting a baseball one of the kids of another guy working with us left in his trunk on the end and let him watch it roll off the other side

Slider. Good pitch. Lousy otherwise.

 

[AriesTheCam]

Slider. Good pitch. Lousy otherwise.

Only a good pitch if your name is Randy Johnson.