Well the weather's taken something of a turn for the nice just recently.
There's been the occasional day of rain of course - it is April after all - but for the last couple of days it's been veritably summer-ish.
This is good news for me for a change. I'm not the biggest fan of summer and hot weather, being of the morbidly obese body-type, but the last few years seem to have brought a string of miserable summers followed by perishing winters. A bit of sun (even if it just reminds me of why I'm not keen on it!) will not go amiss, I think.
One interesting surprise on this front as well. The shining of the sun usually seems to bring out the ants that have been infesting my house. However, just recently I've virtually not seen them at all.
Now I've obviously got every finger and toe I possess crossed in saying that. The presence of irony in the world would tend to suggest that upon my return home I will be swamped in a surfeit of the little buggers.
However, in theory there's a reason for their disappearance. I recently bought a device that claims to act to repel insects, firstly by emitting a super-sonic squeal that insects find unpleasant, but also by making your mains wires produce an EM-filed that repels them.
Now when I first plugged this in it didn't seem to have much of an effect - the ants kept coming. However, a couple of days ago I tried changing the setting (as I say - it didn't seem to be working, so there seemed nothing to loose) and since then, almost ant free.
Here's hoping that when I return home tonight this is still the case!
I'm still blasting through Claymore. It's a really good manga and it's so easy to read.
Showing posts with label bugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bugs. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Friday, 13 March 2009
romic celief
Today is "Red Nose Day" - the day devoted to people engaging in hilarious antics in a bid to raise oodles of cash for Comic Relief.
I've no particular beef with comic relief. I used to watch it years ago, even did a bit of fundraising, although my general interest has waned.
I'm not a big believer in charity. It's always felt a bit wrong to me - not so much because I don't think the causes are worthy, but more because I don't think there should be any need for it. In other words, I think those things done by charity are often so important that they should be being paid for by Governments. My take on the issue is that part of the reason I pay taxes is so that the government will take care of most, if not all of that stuff.
But anyway, I did actually donate this year. Nothing huge, but I texted in a few times in support of the Kilimanjaro climb. I did this mainly because fellow lard-arse, Chris Moyles was dragging his arse up the mountain, so I thought I'd show my support.
The anime mags turned up yesterday, which was nice, so I'll get to scan them in this weekend. I should also really get my hair cut - it's starting to get a bit unweildy. If I ever won the lottery one of the odder things I would do is start trimming my hair again.
I've had a variety of very bad haircuts over the years, btu the one I really liked most was having my hair trimmed "number 1" all over. That's a bit like a longer skin-head type cut if you've never seen one. I just foudn it so much easier not having hair, but the problem was it made me look "evil" or "like a thug" (the words of my friends) and since that's not a good thing when you're having business meetings, etc, I basically try to maintain a 'short, side-parting' type cut.
I splattered a lot of ant powder mid-week and since then I've not seen a single ant. I don't know that it's actually finished them off, so I think I'll stock up on powder just in case they find some other way in. I've still no actual idea how they're getting in or if they've nested somewhere close by, so I'll just have to maintain vigalence.
My other plan for the weekend is to sort out my computer desk. Since I got the big LCD monitor I've freed up a lot of desk real-estate so I can have a re-arrange. But also it's exposed a lot of nooks and crannies so I need to give it a good dust around as well.
I've no particular beef with comic relief. I used to watch it years ago, even did a bit of fundraising, although my general interest has waned.
I'm not a big believer in charity. It's always felt a bit wrong to me - not so much because I don't think the causes are worthy, but more because I don't think there should be any need for it. In other words, I think those things done by charity are often so important that they should be being paid for by Governments. My take on the issue is that part of the reason I pay taxes is so that the government will take care of most, if not all of that stuff.
But anyway, I did actually donate this year. Nothing huge, but I texted in a few times in support of the Kilimanjaro climb. I did this mainly because fellow lard-arse, Chris Moyles was dragging his arse up the mountain, so I thought I'd show my support.
The anime mags turned up yesterday, which was nice, so I'll get to scan them in this weekend. I should also really get my hair cut - it's starting to get a bit unweildy. If I ever won the lottery one of the odder things I would do is start trimming my hair again.
I've had a variety of very bad haircuts over the years, btu the one I really liked most was having my hair trimmed "number 1" all over. That's a bit like a longer skin-head type cut if you've never seen one. I just foudn it so much easier not having hair, but the problem was it made me look "evil" or "like a thug" (the words of my friends) and since that's not a good thing when you're having business meetings, etc, I basically try to maintain a 'short, side-parting' type cut.
I splattered a lot of ant powder mid-week and since then I've not seen a single ant. I don't know that it's actually finished them off, so I think I'll stock up on powder just in case they find some other way in. I've still no actual idea how they're getting in or if they've nested somewhere close by, so I'll just have to maintain vigalence.
My other plan for the weekend is to sort out my computer desk. Since I got the big LCD monitor I've freed up a lot of desk real-estate so I can have a re-arrange. But also it's exposed a lot of nooks and crannies so I need to give it a good dust around as well.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
return of the ants
Worrying sign yesterday - there were a few ants running along the floor.
It seems a bit early in the year for them to have appeared, as it's still pretty cold, but I guess it is spring now.
I put down these "ant trap" things that I bought a while back. They're supposed to have stuff in them that they take back to nest and it kills the queen or something. I couldn't see much evidence of the ants taking much interest in them, though.
I had a really difficult time trying to find anything to deal with the ants last year - everywhere I thought would sell ant powder didn't for some reason. I've a few more ideas now and may try looking on the interwebs.
Part of the problem is I have no idea where the nest is or how they're getting in. Every time I see them they seemed to be in a different place, and what's more it was illogical where they were. It's like at one point they were in a particular cupboard. They'd obviously got in because my tin of golden syrup was there and they were after the sugar.
But when I looked around the edges of the cupboard I couldn't see a trail of them going in or out. However, the cupboard is attached to the wall, but it's not an external wall - it's an internal wall. Does that mean the nest is in the wall? That seems bizarre - how the hell would they have got in there?
Bloody things.
I watched Gatekeepers 21 last night.
It's pretty good. I mentioned I've seen it before, but I hadn't watched the original gatekeepers, so I don't think I really understood it. Gatekeepers 21 is a short 6-part OAV and is set closer tot he present day, so it actually stars the descendents of the original gatekeepers.
My only real criticism is that they did bugger about with some aspects of the original. Some of these meant the show made more sense, but others just seemed a bit random. It's a bit more adult - if Gatekeepers is basically a Japanese shounen action show, then gatekeepers 21 shares more in common with dark American superhero comics. The hero is a bit maladjusted and dislikes the world around her.
The animation was pretty good, but then you tend to get that with OAVs. Overall I quite enjoyed it, and it's a good sequel.
It seems a bit early in the year for them to have appeared, as it's still pretty cold, but I guess it is spring now.
I put down these "ant trap" things that I bought a while back. They're supposed to have stuff in them that they take back to nest and it kills the queen or something. I couldn't see much evidence of the ants taking much interest in them, though.
I had a really difficult time trying to find anything to deal with the ants last year - everywhere I thought would sell ant powder didn't for some reason. I've a few more ideas now and may try looking on the interwebs.
Part of the problem is I have no idea where the nest is or how they're getting in. Every time I see them they seemed to be in a different place, and what's more it was illogical where they were. It's like at one point they were in a particular cupboard. They'd obviously got in because my tin of golden syrup was there and they were after the sugar.
But when I looked around the edges of the cupboard I couldn't see a trail of them going in or out. However, the cupboard is attached to the wall, but it's not an external wall - it's an internal wall. Does that mean the nest is in the wall? That seems bizarre - how the hell would they have got in there?
Bloody things.
I watched Gatekeepers 21 last night.
It's pretty good. I mentioned I've seen it before, but I hadn't watched the original gatekeepers, so I don't think I really understood it. Gatekeepers 21 is a short 6-part OAV and is set closer tot he present day, so it actually stars the descendents of the original gatekeepers.
My only real criticism is that they did bugger about with some aspects of the original. Some of these meant the show made more sense, but others just seemed a bit random. It's a bit more adult - if Gatekeepers is basically a Japanese shounen action show, then gatekeepers 21 shares more in common with dark American superhero comics. The hero is a bit maladjusted and dislikes the world around her.
The animation was pretty good, but then you tend to get that with OAVs. Overall I quite enjoyed it, and it's a good sequel.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
creepy crawleys
I seem to be infested with spiders this summer.
Everywhere I turn there's one hanging in the corner of the room. As soon as I set something down leaning against a wall a spider seems to set up a home in the crack that's formed.
Now, I'm not really arachnophobic, as such. I mean, I'll admit I'm not the hugest fan of bugs in general. But with spiders, I only don't like them when they're fairly large or they have fat bodies.
A lot of it's to do with all the legs--which is why I don't like bugs in general--but also when you get those spiders with the big fat bodies, I dunno, it weirds me out for some reason.
Luckily the ones I seem to get are more of the tiny body with long spindly legs variety, so I don't mind them too much. I get sick of having to clean up all the cobwebs, though.
And I also once heard that we each swallow several spiders (a year? in our lives?) while we sleep--occassionally they fall off of the roof (that's how they end up in the bath) and occassionally their fall happens to coincide with your open mouth. That's why I tend to pick them up and chuck them out the window when I find them in my living room/bedroom area.
Forgot to mention--newtype, animedia and animage turned up on Monday. Less than a week again, I believe. I really am impressed with cd-japan. Hopefully I'll get them scanned before the w/end, but if not I'll definitely do them then.
Everywhere I turn there's one hanging in the corner of the room. As soon as I set something down leaning against a wall a spider seems to set up a home in the crack that's formed.
Now, I'm not really arachnophobic, as such. I mean, I'll admit I'm not the hugest fan of bugs in general. But with spiders, I only don't like them when they're fairly large or they have fat bodies.
A lot of it's to do with all the legs--which is why I don't like bugs in general--but also when you get those spiders with the big fat bodies, I dunno, it weirds me out for some reason.
Luckily the ones I seem to get are more of the tiny body with long spindly legs variety, so I don't mind them too much. I get sick of having to clean up all the cobwebs, though.
And I also once heard that we each swallow several spiders (a year? in our lives?) while we sleep--occassionally they fall off of the roof (that's how they end up in the bath) and occassionally their fall happens to coincide with your open mouth. That's why I tend to pick them up and chuck them out the window when I find them in my living room/bedroom area.
Forgot to mention--newtype, animedia and animage turned up on Monday. Less than a week again, I believe. I really am impressed with cd-japan. Hopefully I'll get them scanned before the w/end, but if not I'll definitely do them then.
Monday, 14 July 2008
ants
Ants seem to be getting in my kitchen, somehow. Not at all sure how or where they're coming in.
I'd seen a few odd ones kicking about before, but I discovered a shed load of them making a bee-line (or ant-line if you will) for a tin of golden syrup that had a few drips down the outside of the tin (ants love sweet stuff).
I cleaned the cupboard and put everything in sealed plastic bags, so that should discourage them a lot, but I'll need to get some ant powder or something. I'd actually been trying to buy some when I saw the random ants, but it was really difficult to find any in the supermarket for some reason. I guess I can look in homebase or something - I'm sure they'll have something.
Polished off the magazine scans this weekend with the last two animages. I wouldn't be surprised if the next newtype, animedia and animage arrive today or tomorrow, so I'll have to get them done too and then the decks are cleared for me to attack all those artbooks I've got piled up.
Only managed to have a look at a couple of new anime series while I was doing the animage's, as it's actually a really easy mag to scan (it has the bit of having to un-glue it, but then the pages are all nice and easy to scan). The series were:
I also finished off the second disk of Gurren Lagann. The second disk was all stuff I've not seen before and I'm thankful that my opinion formed from the first few eps is definitely vindicated. It's a really, really great show.
Though I'm again struck the animation quality is kinda all over the place. Plus the chara designs often seem very, er, fluid. I don't really mind, but it can be a little distracting at times.
Also watched a few more Ai Yori Aoshi eps and I'm disappointed again. Some nice little "flashes" of the romantic comedy / slice of life stuff that really works, but mostly it was still grinding away at the generic harem style show stuff. Ah well.
Looks like the first season of Code Geass is finally getting its DVD release in August too. This was some very good news to compensate for the woes that have resulted from ADV's continuing slide into death's slow embrace.
What I'm referring to is that basically ADV have lost the licences to all of the shows they picked up recently. Now thankfully, the shows have mostly been transferred to Funimation, so I'm sure in the fullness of time they'll come out through them, but unfortunately two shows I'm collecting (Red Garden and Welcome to NHK) were literally at last volume release stage and they've now gone into limbo.
This is annoying on so many levels - I can't finish watching the shows; I've no idea when Funimation will release their versions; I've no idea if they'll keep the same number of eps per disk or use the same style for their releases and, in the fullness of time, I've no idea how it will work for resale. I'd bought both with the collectors boxes so it kinda makes the problem even worse.
*sigh*
Still, at least Funimation have announced release dates for Black Lagoon: Second Barrage and Hellsing: Ultimate (which they picked up from when Genoen pulled out of North America).
The western DVD Anime field seems to be in nothing less than a state of crisis. Let's hope official download/internet type stuff starts to pick up the slack - and quick. Not that I don't vastly prefer DVDs, but electronic files is a lot better than nothing at all.
Lastly, this weekend I actually started working on some updates for my websites. It'll be a while before I'm back in full flow, but I think I'm finally out of my non-productive slump.
It's weird when I get so much done - I end up wondering why all my weekends aren't like that.
I'd seen a few odd ones kicking about before, but I discovered a shed load of them making a bee-line (or ant-line if you will) for a tin of golden syrup that had a few drips down the outside of the tin (ants love sweet stuff).
I cleaned the cupboard and put everything in sealed plastic bags, so that should discourage them a lot, but I'll need to get some ant powder or something. I'd actually been trying to buy some when I saw the random ants, but it was really difficult to find any in the supermarket for some reason. I guess I can look in homebase or something - I'm sure they'll have something.
Polished off the magazine scans this weekend with the last two animages. I wouldn't be surprised if the next newtype, animedia and animage arrive today or tomorrow, so I'll have to get them done too and then the decks are cleared for me to attack all those artbooks I've got piled up.
Only managed to have a look at a couple of new anime series while I was doing the animage's, as it's actually a really easy mag to scan (it has the bit of having to un-glue it, but then the pages are all nice and easy to scan). The series were:
- To Love-Ru: watched some more of this and it's distinctly okay. My opinion didn't really change from what I said a few days ago.
- Library Wars: This was really good, actually. I didn't know much about it at all going in, but it's quite a nice show. The premise is a little hokey, but the real story is more of a love story than anything else, and it focuses on the relationships. Strangely, it reminded me of Full Metal Panic, for some reason, but with less in the way of an obvious comedic set-up.
- Wagaya no Oinarisama: just started and don't know quite what to make of it yet. I'd assumed it was a romantic comedy in a similar vein to kanokon from the pictures I'd seen, but it wasn't really like that.
I also finished off the second disk of Gurren Lagann. The second disk was all stuff I've not seen before and I'm thankful that my opinion formed from the first few eps is definitely vindicated. It's a really, really great show.
Though I'm again struck the animation quality is kinda all over the place. Plus the chara designs often seem very, er, fluid. I don't really mind, but it can be a little distracting at times.
Also watched a few more Ai Yori Aoshi eps and I'm disappointed again. Some nice little "flashes" of the romantic comedy / slice of life stuff that really works, but mostly it was still grinding away at the generic harem style show stuff. Ah well.
Looks like the first season of Code Geass is finally getting its DVD release in August too. This was some very good news to compensate for the woes that have resulted from ADV's continuing slide into death's slow embrace.
What I'm referring to is that basically ADV have lost the licences to all of the shows they picked up recently. Now thankfully, the shows have mostly been transferred to Funimation, so I'm sure in the fullness of time they'll come out through them, but unfortunately two shows I'm collecting (Red Garden and Welcome to NHK) were literally at last volume release stage and they've now gone into limbo.
This is annoying on so many levels - I can't finish watching the shows; I've no idea when Funimation will release their versions; I've no idea if they'll keep the same number of eps per disk or use the same style for their releases and, in the fullness of time, I've no idea how it will work for resale. I'd bought both with the collectors boxes so it kinda makes the problem even worse.
*sigh*
Still, at least Funimation have announced release dates for Black Lagoon: Second Barrage and Hellsing: Ultimate (which they picked up from when Genoen pulled out of North America).
The western DVD Anime field seems to be in nothing less than a state of crisis. Let's hope official download/internet type stuff starts to pick up the slack - and quick. Not that I don't vastly prefer DVDs, but electronic files is a lot better than nothing at all.
Lastly, this weekend I actually started working on some updates for my websites. It'll be a while before I'm back in full flow, but I think I'm finally out of my non-productive slump.
It's weird when I get so much done - I end up wondering why all my weekends aren't like that.
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