Stung, then stung again...darn it!

Saturday, Lavie, Alvis and I went up to Lavie's parent's home to help them clean up their backyard from the damage Rita did a few weeks ago. I was able to get the big oak limbs off the wellhouse roof. A branch knocked a small hole in the roof of it, as well as broke a few rafters loose, but patchwork should be quick and easy. After much work, Lavie's dad got the John Deere tractor working and we were able to haul off about 8 very large oak-tree branches that came down.

Alvis rode around on the riding lawnmower--hauling a trailer of smaller twigs and branches to the dump-pile.

On the last oak-branch pull I was walking back across the back yard and felt a tickle in my glove by my wrist. I looked down and saw a yellow-jacket crawling around inside it.

It's funny how the brain works for different people in certain situations. Very clinically I looked at it crawling around in there and thought, "Gee, it sure is pretty, but shouldn't be there." I flicked it out and it swung back and landed on the back of my leather work-gloved left hand and began to sting it. One part of my mind is thinking "I don't feel any stings inside the glove where it was." The other part was thinking, "it can't sting through the leather--isn't it neat watching it try, but I better get it off". So I pulled it off with my free hand (still gloved) and flicked it to the ground.

I still hadn't moved yet. I was standing still, facinated with these beautiful insects. Then my exposed calf caught fire.

I looked down and there was another one. This one had gotten a good sting into the flesh of my calf muscle. So it is burning and I reach down and flick it off. Now I begin to walk back to Lavie's dad on the tractor--so I can warn him. I get about half-way to the tractor and feel a slight prick just above the high-top work-boots. There is a third yell0w-jacket attempting to sting me through my bunched up sock. He gets pulled off and flicked away. So now both my legs are on fire.

I hobble inside the house and Lavie's dad puts a poultice of snuff on both the bites. They are like hot pokers. Lavie looks at me and asks if I am alergic to insect stings. Good question. I wrack my brain and eventually remember getting stung by a wasp as a kid several times when I was playing inside some stacked concrete drainage pipes awaiting burial in our neighborhood. "Nope!" I say with reasonable confidence.

Luckily I have a pretty high tolerance for pain so in another 15 minutes I was bummed, but otherwise ok. Later than night I found a third sting on my bum--so I guess I really was bummed! These appear to be the same ones that stung the dog during "Rita Watch--Day 7". Lavie's dad vows to get-em!

Hornet resources:

• Venomous Insect Allergy information
• Eliminating Wasp and Hornet Nest information
• Folk-medicinal cures

Shortbreak tech cookies:

• Microsoft's MSCONFIG utility got an update for Windows XP SP2 systems.
• Firefox has released Deer Park RC 1.5 Beta 2.
• Runtime Software has a free Backup and Drive Image tool
• Info about the Gimp 2.4 update features (coming soon!)
• PBS's NOVA series to run a special about Albert Einstein and his impact on science this Tuesday.

My gasoline bill was up an extra $100 last month. Bummer. Stung yet again! No more anime/manga for the month--darn it!

See you in the skies.
--Claus