Balloons!!!!

I held off for 2 weeks to take my vehicle to the dealership for my free oil change and inspection because of all the latex balloons tied to the new and used cars for sale in the lot. I gave myself a good pat on the back for watching out for that.

I drove into the dealership yesterday and all the balloons were on the pavement with most of them totally deflated. I just patted myself on the back again. I was doing a great job keeping myself safe from all those latex proteins. After all these years, I can stay on top of exposures.

I checked in with a new person working in the service department. He had no idea about latex allergy, but my account stated no latex gloves. I told him I was waiting for my vehicle.

While walking past the parts department & cashier with the half wall exposing the mechanics bays, I noticed new rubber floor runners. I almost made it to the waiting room when I saw all the latex balloons waiting to be tied to the vehicles for sale. They had been blown up, were up at the ceiling, and had their ribbons, or whatever, hanging from them to attch them to the vehicles.

Oops, time to go outside for an hour or so waiting for my vehicle and pray that I wouldn't have a reaction. I did try to accomplish a couple of errands after that. My mistake, I'm now homebound on benadryl again.

Life is truely a challenging experience with natural rubber latex allergy.

Sal

Woodchuck War

I come here often just to check the miracle that I'm here. I haven't had much to write about. Been busy weeding and mulching my flower gardens. I'm finding that some of my flowers aren't coming up any more. I have had moles in the past which could explain this.

This year, my problem is a darn woodchuck who has decided to live under my house. He's using the bunny entrance from last winter. I bought a used Havahart trap at a garage sale, just the right size for him. I didn't know how to set it, so I just placed it over the hole. All that did was make him dig under it leaving me with a bigger hole in the lawn. This was after I'd placed rocks in the hole. Well of course he dug around those.

I sprayed with an animal deterrent. That didn't stop him. Casey is now very aware that he is around. One afternoon, she was jumping out of her skin while watching for him. She knew he was somewhere in the lily clump near his hole.

I made a call to Farmer Mark to help me set the trap. He brought dried corn on the cob for bait. I told him I was ready to dynamite the entrance. The night before, I heard him under the opposite side of the house trying to make a second entrance. It sounded like he was going to break down the bathroom wall. He couldn't make it through the flashing lining the foundation on that side.

The Havahart does work. I caught my neighbor's cat in it. I've reset it with lots of peanutbutter on crackers. He knows I'm out to get him. He's still avoiding the trap. It's beginning to feel like a war zone here.

He showed up in the backyard yesterday. When I went out, he headed for the canal. I told him to go over to Sue's house. Didn't he head right over there. I'm begining to think his IQ is higher than mine. It's that, or Mother Nature didn't like something I did.

Sal