Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Trials of Life

Well obviously I am not very good about keeping up with this blog.

On another note, my roommate and I bug bombed our house today. It was quite exciting. We set out papers under the little cans, gathered up all the stuff we needed for the next four hours and set it on the porch, and set the bombs off. The instructions were so cryptic. "Point cans away from face... Leave area immediately!" So we did. I'm sure we would have been amusing to watch, running from room to room giggling nervously every time one of the cans started spraying its noxious gasses. So now I am at Starbucks, two hours early, waiting for my shift to start. Oh well. It gives me time to catch up with stuff, like blogging.

The mice are beginning to disappear. We finally got our landlord to call the exterminator, who set out more poison and sticky traps... Basically what we had been doing before. Maybe the poison and sticky traps are industrial strength. So far we haven't found anything on the sticky traps besides these brown-gray hard shelled bugs that are impossible to kill. I had to beat one with a broom handle. The poison has been eaten on, but we haven't seen much activity lately, so maybe they are going away. I found a bunch of mouse droppings in one of the cabinets at floor level in my bathroom, so I dropped some poison in there too.

On the topic of the bathroom... It's dreadful. It's tiny, the walls are an awful gray-tan that sucks the light out of your very soul, and there is no mirror. I bought a tiny mirror for $1 at Salvation Army, but it barely fits my face. The landlord said that there would be a mirror by the time we moved in, but I'm guessing she forgot...? I have plans for that bathroom, though. The insides of the cabinets were actually part of the master bedroom closet, so someone just took some plywood and build shelves and walls to make cabinets for the bathroom. If you can call them walls. There are gaps in the corners and along the seams where the wall meets the shelf. I want to paint them, because it's just naked wood, but how do you make something pretty with paint that is shoddily put together in the first place? I also want to get a little shelf/cabinet/thing to hang on the wall above the toilet for more storage space, as well as a real mirror if the landlord doesn't carry through. The only problem is that these things cost money, and money, as always, is tight. Suggestions?

I also have a prayer request. The transmission on my car has given out, and it is going to be $2900 to fix, which is a little out of the available funds range. It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that if/when it rains or I need to get groceries, my bike is not the best mode of transportation. Some prayer would be great. Thanks, guys. You're the best.

Well I guess this is long enough. Happy weekend guys. Have a great Father's Day.

Friday, June 10, 2011

The days are just packed!

Well I have been in Stillwater for nine days. So far, our house has mice, spiders, and ants. I have been systematically dealing with the spiders as I find them, and ant traps and spray have taken care of the pesky creatures, but the mice were another issue. I found out from one of my other roommates that the house had mice when we moved in (no one told me?!), but for some reason they thought they would just... go away... Right. So on Sunday I found a little brown present left by one of them on my pillow. I later discovered chewed holes in some wrapped candies that my mom gave me for my birthday (21!!).

Austin and I promptly got traps from Wal-Mart and set them up, baited with peanut butter. When they were empty the next day, we discovered that the crafty mice had licked all of the bait off without tripping the trap. Those wily critters. I kept finding chocolates around my room. They had *somehow* gotten on my desk, dragged the candy across the room to the closet and shredded the wrappers. I found chocolate in my shoes, behind the door, under my bed, on my desk chair... How frustrating. The chocolates now live with Austin until the coast is clear.  The landlord was called, and you know what she said? "You are pretty much on your own... Go get some poison." Excuse me. You, as the owner, are responsible for keeping the house vermin-free. I am paying rent. Either get rid of the mice or I will get a cat and not pay the pet deposit.

We took matters into our own hands, though, and got some sticky traps (I know, they're awful, but seeing as how they were too smart to trip the spring traps and our landlord refused to call the exterminator, sticky traps were the next best thing). I baited them with chocolate and we got two mice within two hours. I haven't seen anymore, but we did set out poison packets and those have been nibbled, so we might find more later. I guess I thought that they would disappear, but when they didn't and I kept finding nibbled chocolate shreds and poop on my bed and the floor, I declared war.

Oh, and the transmission on my car is going out. My mother's bike has been my new best friend, but my legs are in a constant state of ache. The car will be towed back to Tulsa next week because apparently there is no one in Stillwater who is good enough to fix it.

My good friends from Tulsa, Haden and Lydia, came to Stillwater on Wednesday night and we all stayed up til the wee hours of the morning, drinking adult beverages and watching the Emperor's New Groove and eating Pringles and peanuts. Such a good way to spend a night.

I started my new job at the Starbucks in Stillwater. Well, it's not really new because I just transferred from Tulsa, but still, it's been interesting. I definitely miss my old store, but hopefully I will come to like this one too.

Oh friends, these days have been an adventure. Hopefully there will be more to come, but none involving broken cars and little rodents.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Stillwater: Day 1

Well it's my first full day in Stillwater. Austin is at work, so I am on my own for a while, which is okay. I am sitting at the Aspen Coffee shop on 6th, trying to figure out what to do with my day. It seems pretty full at this point. I have to go to Wal-Mart for a few *more* essentials, Salvation Army for a cheap mirror to put in my bathroom until the landlord puts one in, and figure out which provider to use for internet at the house. To my deep chagrin, Cox does not serve the Stillwater area. LAME. My brother is helping me figure out a plan with SuddenLink, but I have to go buy a modem and stuff. Being an adult is so stressful. Oh and I have to move into my room. I have my bed set up but I have been living out of boxes so far. Also lame.

Anyone in Stillwater have internet provider suggestions?