Exterminate
Exterminator guy arrived at the last moment in the estimated time. After a few minutes, I understood why. Quite a talker. Pleasant, lots of stories, belongs doing face to face customer service sort of work. Honestly thought him quite gay, but he spoke of his wife and sons, so I amend. Maybe gayish. Not for me to say. Reassuring sort of impression if he's meeting women alone in their homes, at any rate. In the best way.
Put out snap traps and a few glue traps - to protect Moby. Apparently the old fashioned cheap-ass wooden traps are still the best. If I find a glued mouse, he offered advice on how to end their suffering more quickly. Anoxia, which I know to be rather blissful.
Sprayed around the windows as deterrent. Not entirely clear on that, but defer to expertise. Moby socialized politely, as he so often does. The Decon ones we got are not very useful, apparently. For roaches, yes, for mice, not so much. Oh, well, at least they are safe around cats. I.e. Moby. The snap traps are not where the cat can get hurt by them. This is probably all a bit of overkill, but - as he mentioned, more than a few folks in this area have called them in. And we know Previous Owners have had a mouse issue (judging by the number of traps found in a bag.) Best to be certain and thorough.
E. Guy also chatted with me about fruit fly infestation, such as it is. A simple swipe of everythingcide (from work) down the drain will do the trick. Hospital grade killing solution. I can do this. Already made headway with cider traps.
Friend K I wrote to mentions difficulty killing things, when I mention mice issue. I don't like killing things, but I do what I have to do without too many qualms. Not a happy job, but a job that must be done sometimes. As when I find a spider in the OR. I kill it. It is out of place, will not find food, I cannot take it outside. Spider will not survive anyway, so I end it quickly. As I once had to kill a mouse that a roommate's cat had mangled. Thirty years ago, I still remember how bad it felt. Still.
I have much less of a problem with death than I do with torture, suffering. Death is release from pain. Nature will not hesitate to kill something outside it's range. For many years, I would have asked my mother, via time travel, to have aborted me rather than raised me. I get it.
So, end suffering, end infestation. Tolerate spiders outside, as well as other creatures in balance.
Friend K(above) tells me she is pregnant again. Oh.
Joy.
Well, except that our friendship with that couple is, again, on hiatus. For another 18 years. We are not kid people. Glad they are happy, so we are happy for them, of course we are. But it is as if they went overseas for a year, then came back to say they were going to move there. We have to be happy for them, for getting what they want, and we are. But D and I are a bit sad for ourselves, that we can't just be friends with them as we once were. Nor within the time we allotted for raising children already present.
Children are welcome here, but not with enthusiasm. I'll get toys and coloring books, and take each for the individuals they are, while waiting for them to become adults.
I feel so old today. My face shows the strain of loneliness and bad air. I really didn't need a no-case day off.
Friend K's brother is husband of ex-bestfriend, which doesn't help. I've never mentioned to her that M and I are ex-friends, nor will I. Not my job. That is on M - Ex-friend, as she ended it. All kinds of knotted pain. Snarled allegiances. If M doesn't say anything, I surely will not. K's husband, Dave, is dear to me, but mostly as D's friend. D and I are both feeling fraught. Friends with children do not realize how disenfranchised they make their childless friends. We will never say a word, knowing how taboo it all is, but we ache.
So, I offer nursely advice about nausea, and smile and congratulate. Not my life, not my choice. I will try to grow my tomatoes, and, in time, my strawberries. Still think it's better than being disappointed in offspring. I will not pass on my pathological family manners.
Put out snap traps and a few glue traps - to protect Moby. Apparently the old fashioned cheap-ass wooden traps are still the best. If I find a glued mouse, he offered advice on how to end their suffering more quickly. Anoxia, which I know to be rather blissful.
Sprayed around the windows as deterrent. Not entirely clear on that, but defer to expertise. Moby socialized politely, as he so often does. The Decon ones we got are not very useful, apparently. For roaches, yes, for mice, not so much. Oh, well, at least they are safe around cats. I.e. Moby. The snap traps are not where the cat can get hurt by them. This is probably all a bit of overkill, but - as he mentioned, more than a few folks in this area have called them in. And we know Previous Owners have had a mouse issue (judging by the number of traps found in a bag.) Best to be certain and thorough.
E. Guy also chatted with me about fruit fly infestation, such as it is. A simple swipe of everythingcide (from work) down the drain will do the trick. Hospital grade killing solution. I can do this. Already made headway with cider traps.
Friend K I wrote to mentions difficulty killing things, when I mention mice issue. I don't like killing things, but I do what I have to do without too many qualms. Not a happy job, but a job that must be done sometimes. As when I find a spider in the OR. I kill it. It is out of place, will not find food, I cannot take it outside. Spider will not survive anyway, so I end it quickly. As I once had to kill a mouse that a roommate's cat had mangled. Thirty years ago, I still remember how bad it felt. Still.
I have much less of a problem with death than I do with torture, suffering. Death is release from pain. Nature will not hesitate to kill something outside it's range. For many years, I would have asked my mother, via time travel, to have aborted me rather than raised me. I get it.
So, end suffering, end infestation. Tolerate spiders outside, as well as other creatures in balance.
Friend K(above) tells me she is pregnant again. Oh.
Joy.
Well, except that our friendship with that couple is, again, on hiatus. For another 18 years. We are not kid people. Glad they are happy, so we are happy for them, of course we are. But it is as if they went overseas for a year, then came back to say they were going to move there. We have to be happy for them, for getting what they want, and we are. But D and I are a bit sad for ourselves, that we can't just be friends with them as we once were. Nor within the time we allotted for raising children already present.
Children are welcome here, but not with enthusiasm. I'll get toys and coloring books, and take each for the individuals they are, while waiting for them to become adults.
I feel so old today. My face shows the strain of loneliness and bad air. I really didn't need a no-case day off.
Friend K's brother is husband of ex-bestfriend, which doesn't help. I've never mentioned to her that M and I are ex-friends, nor will I. Not my job. That is on M - Ex-friend, as she ended it. All kinds of knotted pain. Snarled allegiances. If M doesn't say anything, I surely will not. K's husband, Dave, is dear to me, but mostly as D's friend. D and I are both feeling fraught. Friends with children do not realize how disenfranchised they make their childless friends. We will never say a word, knowing how taboo it all is, but we ache.
So, I offer nursely advice about nausea, and smile and congratulate. Not my life, not my choice. I will try to grow my tomatoes, and, in time, my strawberries. Still think it's better than being disappointed in offspring. I will not pass on my pathological family manners.
Posted by Zhoen on Monday, August 20, 2012
3 comments:
when children are old enough to discuss things, which wont be long, then childless friends are a blessing for the child...being talked to and treated as a Human Being and not just a child is a massive gift. The giving is both ways too.
A good friend of ours BC (before children) has become a peripheral friends since we started having children. Most likely for exactly the reasons you outline. As parents, I'm also sad to see relationships like that tumble, but what is to be done about it?
Periodically we'll have an adult only party and she'll come. Perhaps your friends will occasionally, if even only rarely, ditch the kids to pay you a visit.
gz,
Some are, but I have very little feel for children, and D even less, although we treat all with kindness and respect. Better as they get older, but then they are busy with school. Either way, we see the parents, our friends, rarely. They are, appropriately, since they are good parents, focused on their kids, at the expense of friendships. Especially of friends who are not fond of children.
Phil,
We don't mind the kids, but when they are still small, it's impossible to actually socialize. Which is to say, under seven. So, with these friends, that means nearly eight more years of waiting to be able to spend enough time to have a real conversation with them. We understand, but it is sad.
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