george w, the christmas roach

03 January 2003 - 10:19 am

ah, so much to write about.

first, christmas. previously on borogoves we saw a note from b's sister. borogoves was apprehensive about how karl would be received over christmas. well, turns out it was fine. sis was nice, parents were nice. karl felt welcome (he told me so). we baked, and ate, and sat around in bathrobes, and ate some more. karl was introduced to the family tradition of eating lots and lots of cheese over the holidays. one night, we are required to eat cheese fondue for dinner. christmas eve night, we are required to eat raclette. at all other times, we snack on various cheesy and choclaty foods. i am now dead from a heart attack.

second, the roaches. we are now officially overrun with roaches. there are little roach colonels, with little roach badges of honor for valor in combat (did you see the colonel? he survived a squishing! they tried to get him, but he escaped into the treads of their squisher machine!), and loads of roach battalions, who must report each morning before dawn for inspection followed by a march around the kitchen. i even made up a song (sung to the tune of the battle hymn of the republic):

squishy squishy squishy cockroaches
squishy squishy squishy cockroaches
squishy squishy squishy cockroaches
i squish them all day long.

karl came up with the second verse:

crunchy crunchy crunchy cockroaches
crunchy crunchy crunchy cockroaches
crunchy crunchy crunchy cockroaches
i crunch them all day day long.

anyhow, merriment aside, they are gross. really gross. we didn't have any when we moved in, and after a month or two started to see one now and then. it's been getting worse, though. we bought roach spray, and have been spraying the baseboards and corners of the kitchen. we keep the kitchen spotless, not a crumb to be seen. but we've been seeing more and more of them. it's at the point now where karl and i each kill about 3 every time we walk into the kitchen or bathroom (which shares a wall with the kitchen). they come crawling out of the electrical sockets. we've plugged up the unused ones with those little plastic plugs, but the baby ones can still get through. karl unplugged my hairdryer in the bathroom this morning and found a nest of *eggs* underneath. i'm shuddering with disgust just thinking about it. they've even started to invade the dishwasher. so, we're spraying, we're keeping things clean. what else can we do? i'm about to call the landlord. we've been holding off on contacting him because we figure that he'll just want to fog the place. and i DO NOT want the place fogged. first of all, it doesn't really get to the problem. the little bastards live in the walls. the fogger fogs outside the walls. you only kill the ones that are out. it's not any better than spot spraying the baseboards and stuff like we've been doing. and second, it leaves a layer of poison on every surface in the apartment. that's bad enough for adult people, but i also have a guinea pig. her little system won't be able to deal with that. so. no fogger. i want them to bring in an exterminator to spray *inside* the walls. but i doubt the landlord will agree to that. sigh.

third, the latest ways dubya has pissed me off. i was just reading today in the washington post about dubya's latest economic stimulus plan. he wants to cut dividend taxes and accelerate the tax cuts he had planned for 2004 and later. cutting dividend taxes: who gets dividends? rich people. poor/middle class people don't have enough money to own the kinds of stocks that pay dividends. so. another tax cut for the rich. you go, george. even some of his aides (according to this article) advised him to cancel the rate cut for the top income bracket, because they think that such a tax cut will give the democrats ammunition in their "he only helps the wealthy" claim. but he refused. dumbass. the accelerating future tax cuts things isn't as onerous. it's only (only) going to cost up to $87 billion. the dividend tax cut, on the other hand, will cost between $142 billion and $248 billion over 10 years. does dubya really think that we're going to buy his bs that this is a good plan to stimulate the economy? does he think we're that stupid? that we can't see this plan for what it really is--a christmas present for the very rich? he makes my blood boil. and then there's the war with iraq. we're only going to have a few weeks to get the word out on what a horrible plan this "economic stimulus package" is before we'll be going to war, and then it'll all be forgotten. spend whatever you want! no worries about the budget! the safety of the world is at stake! just in time for the 2004 election build up to get under way, we'll have a war going. nothing like a war to make the public reelect the incumbant. i just don't understand how people can think that he's doing a good job as president. that's he's the man we need running things. that he's not making a total disaster of everthing he touches.