Quacking With The Fosdick Lake Fosducks While Recovering From Cockroach Nightmares

The Flock of Fosducks who live at Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park were being very sociable today.

Via the picture you can almost tell how loudly the fosducks were quacking at me.

Even though the temperature was in the 90s, on its way to being over 100.

Again.

There were a lot of people aerobicizing under the noon day sun.

And 3 guys fishing. Humans, not birds.

I don't know how my camera managed to turn Fosdick Lake into such a nice shade of blue. My all natural visualizing orbs saw a lake looking green, not blue.

I woke up this morning with a really bad punched in the gut feeling. With a small bruise on my left forearm. I have no evidence that I've had another sleep walking incident. Except for the bruise. And that punched in the gut feeling.

I think the punched in the gut feeling may have been nightmare related. Last night I nightmared a cinematic epic that involved cockroaches. I nightmared cockroaches were crawling all over me as I laid in bed. I woke up, drenched in sweat, swatting at non-existent cockroaches.

The cockroach nightmare may have been caused by a partial viewing of Days of Wine & Roses. I made it to the part where Jack Lemmon visits Lee Remick's apartment for the first time. Lee had warned Jack that her apartment building was infested with cockroaches, and, if he did not mind such an infestation, he could come visit.

So, Jack Lemmon shows up with a bag of booze and a bottle of cockroach killing spray. He then proceeds to spray all over Lee's apartment.

A short time later the apartment manager is knocking on Lee's door, asking if she's been spraying the cockroaches, saying that the spraying has the cockroaches all riled up all over the building. Soon, the other tenants are coming out of their apartments to yell at Lee about the stirred up cockroaches.

Jack and Lee shrug it off and proceed to get drunk. I proceeded to turn off Days of Wine & Roses because I couldn't get past the nonsensical cockroach scene. That and I really am not a big fan of watching people get drunk, either in a movie or in real life.

Have I previously mentioned that I never saw a cockroach til I was in Texas? I remember my first cockroach like it was yesterday.

Before moving to Texas, I made a test run, staying in Fort Worth for a week. During that one week visit, on Wednesday, May 6, 1998, a date that lives in infamy, I saw my first cockroach, and also experienced my first ever bout of food poisoning.

The cockroach was seen in the Weatherford Visitor's Center. These were big cockroaches, not the petite German brand I have as occasional housepets. The food poisoning came courtesy of a hamburger from a greasy spoon located on the Parker County Courthouse Square, in Weatherford, which resulted in rocket-like projectile vomiting the next morning.

I don't think I consumed another hamburger until sometime in the century that followed the century in which I was food poisoned.

So Far We Have Not Reached 100 This Saturday In Texas While I Try To Figure Out How To Mail Betty Jo & Carlotta Some Pet Cockroaches

Coming up on 4 this Saturday afternoon it is looking like the 100 Degrees or more streak may come to an end today, what with it only 98.3 right now.

However, the clouds you see in the picture, taken around noon, have mostly disappeared. Without that cloud cover missing that HOT orb may be able to raise the temperature another 1.7 degrees and thus make this current HOT streak the 2nd longest HOT streak in North Texas history.

When I hit the Tandy Hills a bit earlier than the norm it was windy. The temperature was in the high 80s. The occasional blocking of the sun by the big white puffy things, was a nice relief, however it is very very humid. I assume the amped up humidity is courtesy of the remains of Tropical Storm Don. As are the big white puffy things.

Changing the subject from the Texas Temperature to cockroaches. This morning I exchanged emails with Betty Jo Bouvier and Carlotta Camano, neither of whom had personally met a cockroach of the insect kind.

I offered to mail Betty Jo and Carlotta some cockroaches so they could start up their own cockroach colony.

When Steve A learned of the plan to ship some cockroaches to Washington he advised me that I would need to supply a heat source if the roaches were to survive their trip to the Pacific Northwest. I assume Steve A assumed the cockroaches would be flying north and would get cold in the cargo hold.

Steve A also mentioned that cockroaches do not do well with cold and wet. I guess this explains why I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. We have a lot of HOT and DRY in Texas, not all that much cold and wet.

Sunday Night Sky In Texas With Cockroaches

In the picture you are looking at Sunday night's stormy view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at a bit before 7 this evening. A dangerous looking sky, but with no lightning and no funnel clouds.

Those may come later. We are in for a bumpy ride the next few days in North Texas, if the forecast is to be believed.

Upside, the rain has cleaned up the air. I should not be seeing any Level Orange Air Pollution Alerts in the coming days. So, I can breathe a bit easier and leave my gas mask at home when I venture out.

It was nice, tonight, to be able to sit outside and watch the passing cloud parade without dealing with air that is too warm. It is only 70 right now, coming up on 9. Not quite BRRRR territory, but getting close. A good night's sleep should be had, with no A/C cycling on and off, windows open, no Orange Level stuff penetrating my breathing space.

All I have to deal with, at the moment, is the cockroach invasion. Which I learned tonight has become epidemic in the neighborhood. I don't mind the little beasts too much. I have mine pretty much under control. For the most part. There are a few rogue roaches, but they work alone and are easily dispatched.

Return Of The Cockroach And Other Troubles

That's Clarence my pet Cockroach.

My one longtime reader may remember I was invaded by a herd of Cockroaches a few months ago.

Eventually an Exterminator was brought in. Everything had to be removed from the kitchen and then the spraying began. The herd of cockroaches then came out of hiding. Death did not come quickly.

I was told that the spray, water-based, would retain its deadly punch for about a month, killing any Cockroach babies that were in egg form when the extermination took place.

Well. They are back. Not in large numbers. Yet. I'd never seen a Cockroach before I saw Texas. They are the strangest insects. It's like they are smart. They are so good at defensive maneuvers when I go after them. I've gotten real good at offensive maneuvers countering their defense.

Sometimes the Cockroaches seem to have special teleporting powers. A couple days ago I lifted up my TV remote to aim it at the TV and a Cockroach jumped off the end of the controller. How did it get there? The remote sits on a glass topped table that is cockroach proof. The TV room is far removed from their home in the kitchen. It's very vexing.

Just a couple minutes ago I dispatched one trying to use the toaster. I'd barely completed that task when suddenly there was one on the wall where seconds before there was nothing. How could it get there so fast? That one got dispatched too.

I guess I should call in the Exterminator again. But that's such a lot of bother. And it really is a good, challenging hunting exercise, killing the little devils. I have a couple insect eating lizards living in here. Apparently they don't like to eat Cockroach. I imagine the shell is tough to digest. Sometimes you can step directly on a Cockroach, yet when you lift your foot it scurries away, apparently unharmed.

So, that's been my exciting day in Texas, so far, this bright, sunny, HOT Thursday. In the pool after dawn and killing Cockroaches. Life can't get much better than this.

Stopped From Having Fun In Texas

Earlier today I blogged about the Swine Flu and said I'd not heard of any cases in my county, that being Tarrant. Well, I heard on the radio, a couple hours later, that there have been 3 cases in Fort Worth, with one school closed so it could be fumigated.

Speaking of getting fumigated. Yesterday I had a Bug Man come and get rid of my cockroach pets. I'd grown bored with them and it was time for them to go. When the spraying was done the little devils started coming out of their hiding places. That was a bit unsettling. I had no idea I had so many cockroach pets. I could go days without seeing one. It took them awhile to die. I had to take everything out of my kitchen so the Bug Man could spray everywhere. That was way too close to being like moving.

The Bug Man suggested waiting til morning before putting the kitchen back together. So that's what I did first thing in the morning.

First thing in the morning, because I could not do my usual early morning swim, due to the pool getting shocked. If you don't shock a pool every once in awhile, bad things happen. Like at my first place in Texas, being a pool novice, the chemicals got out of whack and the pool turned a bad color of green. Had to bring in a pro to get it back clear. It was sort of disturbing to see how quickly chemicals turned the water back clear again. Where did all that green go?

So, with swimming not being possible, that stir crazy feeling came over me earlier than usual. I decided to go to Village Creek Natural Historical Area. As you can see in the picture at the top, I was thwarted. The park closed due to flooding.

So, I decided to drive to the Interlocken zone, which is another way into the park and where I could see Village Creek. It can be a bit wild when it goes into flood mode. But, I saw no signs of a flood. It was clear the creek had not even gone over the dam/bridge, which is what usually triggers a closure.

That's the dam/bridge in the picture. When the creek goes over the dam/bridge it leaves a lot of mud behind. There was no mud. Where I am in the picture is way past this side of the park's Park Closed sign.

It was perplexing as to why the park was closed.

I did see a new wildflower (that's it above) growing by the dam/bridge, which became the only bright moment in a dreary day. And now I'm really going stir crazy. But I'm not going to take off, again, as tempting as it is. Thunderstorms are predicted to roll in soon. We'll see. No sign of them yet.

75 Degrees, Lake Grapevine, Sprouts, Spring Creek Barbeque & Cockroach Invasion

It is early and I've already been having me a day. I am on Day 5 of Detox. I am on Night 4 of no insomnia. I am on Day 199 of TPF (Toxic People Free).

All is good. Except for the new, unfortunate, COCKROACH invasion that happened last night about 7. I turned on the lights in the kitchen to see that a Cockroach D-Day had occurred. Fortunately for me, unlike the Germans, I was well-prepared for the invasion, having myself a full arsenal of counter-attack weapons.

The Cockroaches quickly retreated, suffering major casualties. A couple stragglers made it into my bedroom. And one into my bathtub. They were all quickly dispatched. This morning there were no new signs of Cockroach occupation. I have defensive measures in place, in the form of several Cockroach Hotels.

The Cockroaches may be re-grouping. So, I've gone on a counter-offensive, sort of a Bush-like pre-emptive strike, by spraying all possible hiding places. If my measures meet failure, the earliest I can call in a professional strike team is Monday.

In the meantime, today I am going up to Lake Grapevine to go hiking. The temps may near 80 today. I think I'll skip the weekly free sample lunch at Costco. But I will be doing the weekly stop at Sprouts Farmers Market. Tonight I get to go listen to speeches at Spring Creek Barbeque. That should be interesting, and likely Cockroach-free. I hope.

Kill The Cockroach Part III

I've gone three days without a Cockroach sighting. I don't know if it is too soon to declare Mission Accomplished. The Cockroach Army may be re-grouping, planning a new line of attack in some other location in this place.

I don't know if it was the Las Vegas Roach Trap that did the trick. Or was it my aggressive 'Surge' where I purposely, frequently, turned on the kitchen lights at night to the point where the Cockroach Army no longer felt they had free reign to run all over my cooking zone.

I only saw 2 Cockroach Corpses in the Las Vegas Roach Trap. Two big ones. Smaller ones may not have been visible in the coffee/water brew.

If the Cockroaches attack again, I think I'll call in the professionals.

Kill The Cockroach Part II

I told you yesterday I'd update you on the Cockroach situation.

The good news is this morning when I turned on the kitchen light I did not see any Cockroaches. The bad news is when I looked in the Las Vegas Roach Trap, that I told you about yesterday, well, I could not see any Roaches trapped in the trap. They may be in there, drowned in the coffee slurry. I'm not going to reach in and find out.

There are around 4,000 species of Cockroaches. Of those 4,000 only 30 Cockroach species like to live with humans. Of the 30 types of Cockroaches that like to live with humans, only 4 of the species are thought of as pests. I guess that make the other 26 pets instead of pests?

The pesty Cockroaches are the American, the German, the Asian and the Oriental Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are nocturnal critters, running away when exposed to light. Some Cockroaches hiss. I've not heard mine hiss. Other types of Cockroaches make chirping noises. Mine don't chirp, either. Maybe they are not Cockroaches.

Cockroaches can remain active for a month without food. They can live off the glue on a postage stamp. Some can go without air for 3/4 of an hour. I've flushed 2 down the drain and turned on the garbage disposal, only to watch them crawl back out when I turned the water and disposal off. Only brute force dispatches them. Garbage disposals aren't brutal enough. I had one hop into my fridge's freeze. I thought, he's a goner. The next day, when I opened the freezer, the Cockroach quickly sprinted out.

There is a popular myth that Cockroaches will take over the planet if the human beings destroy the world in a nuclear war. It is true Cockroaches have a greater resistance to radiation than humans. But the same is true of most insects. The reason a Cockroach can survive a heavy radiation dose is because their cells divide way more slowly than humans. It is when a cell divides that it is most vulnerable to radiation.

Well, that's enough about the Kill the Cockroach project for today.

Kill The German Cockroach

Last week I watched 24: Redemption. A memorable line uttered during the show was, "Kill the Cockroach."

When 24: Redemption ended I went to my kitchen, turned on the lights and saw a big bug trying to hide. It was hard to track down. But eventually I executed it.

When I Blogged about 24: Redemption, I mentioned the irony of finding and killing my first Cockroach after 24 ended. But, I thought I was taking poetic license. I did not really know what type of bug it was.

But. Ever since that first one there have been more. They are kind of amusing the way they try to escape as soon as the light comes on. I sprayed some all purpose bug spray thinking that'd get rid of them. It didn't. They survive a direct hit of the bug spray.

This morning, like I said earlier, I was up by 3am. When I turned on the kitchen lights, to make coffee, there was one of the bugs to greet me.

I decide it was time to Google "cockroach."

Well. I'd only seen one Cockroach, previously, in person, that being a dead one out in the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce Tourist Center. It was big. My bugs aren't big, which is why I didn't really think they were Cockroaches.

Til I Googled. I now believe I have what is known as the German Cockroach. I don't like Germans, but I'm glad I have been visited by German Cockroaches and not the American or Australian Cockroach. They are huge. My Germans are little things compared to the Americans.

Wikipedia had a solution to getting rid of the pests that is supposed to be very successful. It is called the Las Vegas Roach Trap. Following the directions I took a canning jar, smeared petroleum jelly on the inside, put coffee grounds and water in the jar. And then put duct tape all over the outside.

The Cockroaches are supposed to be coffee addicts and so will follow the smell. The duct tape gives them traction to get up the jar. They can not climb on glass. The petroleum jelly is a back up in case, for some awful reason, the Cockroach falls into the coffee and gets such a buzz it's somehow able to climb the glass wall. The bug will stick to the petroleum jelly.

I will report tomorrow on how many Cockroaches I have trapped in my coffee jar. What if it is full of roaches in the morning? That will be truly disgusting. But, I'll take a picture and share.