June 22, 2010

  • The Attack Of The Beast On The Japanese Beetles


    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    The Beast almost had a heart attack late yesterday when he went out to inspect the peach trees and found them loaded (once again) with Japanese beetles.    Everything he's used up to now has supposedly had something to combat them included in the blend.  He's been upset that he couldn't find something that was JUST a fungicide but now he feels that he was gypped out of some serious money since nothing he's used thus far has made a dent in the beetles.

    His big concern is that the trees are very vulnerable while they are under attack by the fungus so keeping the Japanese beetles at bay is even more important than normal.  When I told him that the very first stuff he had used on the trees three years ago worked wonderful (and he bought it at Lowe's), he agreed.  He is now set to do battle once again.  He was upset that he couldn't go out and spray today due to the heat.  You just don't spray during the hottest part of the day.  Even an idjit knows that and that includes the Beast. 

    He was rather frustrated that he couldn't DO anything because the heat just knocks the s**t out of him and he spends more time in bed than working.  He also hates to pay the utility companies so he didn't want to have to turn on the AC for the garage, either.  Instead, he went to Lowe's, got the concentrate that we KNOW works and got it all ready for spraying in the morning.

    Then, voila!  His idjit brother (and trust me, he really and truly is an idjit) calls because, once again, he's screwed up his computer.  Not only does this guy overload his computer with all kinds of programs (and not just the free ones! ) but he doesn't listen and has them all load up on start-up.  Then he wonders why his computer is so slow and starts looking for another damn program to find out why and/or fix the problem.  He had almost a gig-and-a-half of programs on his computer that the Beast either removed or stored on a separate disk.  I really can't remember which it was but his dumb brother couldn't figure out how to do that on his own and had to wait for the Beast to come up and visit.

    The worst thing about all this is that he asks for advice; he'll even write down the instructions.  Then, he totally ignores what he's told and starts just deleting things BUT he doesn't use the add/remove program section.  And you can guess the result.  Missing DLL files.  Java gone.  All kinds of pop-ups because the programs that were set to load on start up have all kinds of fragments on the drive and the computer has to tell you it couldn't be found, etc.  I see the Beast rolling his eyes and taking deep breaths to calm himself before answering his brother's calls.

    The Brother's wife is a saint, trust me.  She is also the one who has the savvy about using programs, removing them, etc. but she knows better than to even offer advice to her hubby.  Sometimes she waits and then just works on cleaning things up for him.....but she does it when he's not around.  He is a TRUE, DYED-IN-THE-WOOL chauvinist.  It's a genetic problem in his family except with his youngest brother who was smart enough to attract a woman with brains and talent. 

    She makes a small fortune, which was a good thing since the youngest brother came down with MS in his early 20's.  She designs computer programs and works for a company that usually gives her a year-end bonus in five figures.  NO ONE, even the Beast brothers, would deny her knowledge outstrips theirs on pretty much anything.  The really cool thing about her?  She is one of the nicest, sweetest people you would ever meet and she adores her husband.  He is also talented and it really is a shame he was affected so badly with MS.  He was and IS a talented artist in many mediums.  I am constantly amazed at some of the more intricate work he's done just because of his shaking.  But that stops the minute he concentrates on actually DOING something (which I found out is normal for people with MS). 

    He has carved some different types of early ships that sailed the high seas.  He's even put coils of rope, made small barrels and various other things you see on some of the models you can buy but his are from scratch.  When their mind is focused, the shaking stops and doesn't resume until they stop whatever activity it is they are doing.  Even some of the work he's done with Photo Shop amazes me because he loves to experiment with some of the photos he's taken.  None of this is easy because he's wheelchair bound but he's learned patience.  This is a far cry from his older brothers.  It sometimes makes me wonder......

    Tomorrow (your Tuesday) is the day that the Beast will begin his relentless execution of Japanese beetles that dare to invade HIS trees!    Stay tuned for the further adventures....

    Love you all.  Have a great day.  Bratfink had some really bad thunderstorms today that were really scary.    We are due for some on Wednesday but I hope they aren't the same ones.  I sure don't need anything scarier than the Beast, thank-you-very-much!