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You know those pesky little black ants that sometimes show up at your picnics in Utah? Not very often, but sometimes? If they crawl into your food, they are annoying. If they crawl up your leg, they are slightly annoying, but if one or two stays on your leg for a few moments, no problem. You will simply brush them off when they are noticed. No harm, no foul.
Sometimes you get a trail of smaller ants that come into your house and get into the sugar, or something else sweet. We call those "sugar ants". They are pesky, and none of us wants to have to deal with them. But, you have to admit, they have a cute little name.
Occasionally, we run into the black ant's slightly nastier cousin, the "red ant". It's a bit peskier, because they will bite you, I've been told. But, tell me. . . have you ever actually been bitten by a red ant? I didn't think so. It's kind of a "live and let live" situation.
Let me tell you about the Texas cousin of the black ant. It is the "fire ant". You probably think the fire ant is red and easily recognized. No, it's not red. . . it's black. It looks just like the Utah version. If you're from Utah, visiting in Texas, and nobody saw fit to tell ya'all that you'd best avoid an ant pile at all costs, be prepared for a rude initiation. They live in ant piles that are all over the place. Yes, ALL OVER THE PLACE! I stepped in an ant pile last summer when I was visiting here. Someone that was with me (Dale) said, "You've got ants on your feet." I said "oh", and calmly stomped them off my feet. Didn't think anything more about the ant incident, until later that evening when red welts started to appear on my feet and ankles. They were ugly, but they didn't itch or anything, which I thought was odd. Dale said, "We'd better get something to put on those bites. They will start to bother you tomorrow.". THAT was an understatement. They started to bother me the next day and proceeded to keep on bothering me for about a week.
Okay, so, recently, I started having welts showing up mysteriously on my feet, toes, stomach. You see, it's mysterious because you never actually feel the little nasties biting you. No, you don't even feel them on you. I couldn't figure out where I was getting bitten from. Eventually I realized that each day I was waking up with a few more welts. No, I am not a rocket scientist, so it took me a day or two, but finally figured out that they might be in the bed. I tore the bed apart, washed everything. Found two nasty little ants crawling around on the comforter. Ha!! found you! I shook them off outside. Sprayed the comforter, the mattress, all around the bed, the pillows, anything else I could think of. Hoped the fumes and poison wouldn't kill me and Dale in the night. Now, no more bites. But, yes, the exterminator is scheduled for Tuesday!
See posted picture of bite on my toe. I would show you the others, but I didn't want to show you my belly. And no making fun of my toes!
Oil Change Time. Last time I had my oil changed it cost me $45. FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS! for a little Mazda. You know how they reel you in with their teaser rate of $39.95, which is not so great anyway. Then you get in there and it's "well Ma'am, with your car it needs a special kind of oil filter which costs more, so. . . .". Here's what's funny: Seems as though every car I've ever owned, be it a Saab, a Pontiac Grand Am, a Pontiac Montana van, a Chevrolet Astro Van, a Pontiac Bonneville, or my car right now, the cute little Mazda, has always been the odd car that requires a special "this or that" that's of course more expensive than the one they figured for in the ad! Hmmmmmmm . . . anybody else ever had this experience. I mean, where is that car that's only $39.95 for the oil change?
So, anyway, I have been needing another oil change but have been too cheap to pay the $45.00 at Kwik Kar or Kare (not sure which it is). Lo and behold, a guy comes to my door selling a wonderful deal. I pay $89.00 right now and I get a card from their business (Eagle Transmissions) that entitles me to 5 oil changes and a few other free wonderful deals. I hesitated and was "having to talk to my husband" when he throws in another card for 5 oil changes to use for our truck. All for the $89.00. I was even allowed to post-date the check. I know, you're thinking this is all too good to be true! I went ahead and did it, and today I got my first oil change. Guess what? It worked.
Now, I wasn't born yesterday, so I know an advertising gimmick when I see one. The fine art of "get you in the place and upsell you like crazy". Sure enough, he wanted to sell me the upgrade to synthetic oil for only $29.95 more. The synthetic oil lasts longer so you don't need to change your oil as often. I know this, but you see I currently hold in my hot little hand, oil changes for a year for two vehicles in my household for only $89.00. Soooo. . . . . no thank you. Next thing, of course is "you need your air filter changed. It would be $28.00 to do that. Would you like us to go ahead and do that for you?" "No thank you" I say, because I just drove past Pep Boys and changing the air filter is one of the easiest things to do, maybe even easier than pumping your own gas. So I went to Pep Boys and purchased my air filter for $17.00 which I still thought was a little bit high. Anyway, saved myself $10.00 on that one. When I went to check out, I wasn't too surprised to find that everything was included except "shop supplies". That was an additional $3.50. Well, they had me on that one, so I paid my $3.50 and happily drove away with fresh oil in my car and a smile on my face for not folding under the pressure of the dreaded "upsell".
