A Discovery

Today a mosquito hawk died on my keyboard.  I was innocently reading the Pioneer Woman's cooking blog, when the insect fell from the sky and landed near my left pinky.  This is the first time I've seen one up-close.  I've saved a few from our box, but they've always been to active to inspect closely.  I inspected this one.  They remind me of the big metal aliens in the Fifth Element.  They have the bulbous eyes with the long tapered nose.  And they have a big hump right behind, like the 'shoulders' of the aliens.  That's about where the similarities end. 

See the resemblance? Photo from here

Having this monstrous bug drop, practically in my lap, made me curious to know more about them.  I've always heard that they eat mosquitoes; therefore they are good bugs and in the same category as spiders.  But I discovered that they don't.  The larvae eat roots, and the adults eat nectar (if they eat anything).  Talk about a big disappointment. 

PS In mentioning spiders, I've reminded myself that I grew up in a place where spiders are the good guys.  I may have to rethink that position now that I'm in the land of crazy/multitudinous/ginormous-creepy-crawly-things, that sometimes BITE and can be POISONOUS.

Today's Exploit:

I've not been getting much sleep the past few days.  I've had to stay up and build tools a couple days.  We went to breakfast one day, and then I came back and had insomnia (so I made cookies).  And today I decided to stay up and wait for the cleaning ladies. 

Our room hasn't been "cleaned" since I got to this rig.  That's almost 2 months.  Not that we're dirty, but I haven't been cleaning the shower like I do the sink and toilet. 

So to wait I went running.  Five miles today.  And I made enormous Buttermilk Biscuits for the rig crew.  And I talked to the aforementioned rig crew for about an hour.  Then I returned to the trailer.

The shower was still a disaster, but they had moved all my laundry (strategically placed to deter the making of my bed) and made the bed.  Aaarrrgh.  Not too bad, but they'd also washed my sheets.  I mean, I appreciate the effort, but I'm PICKY!  Eczema sucks, and I'm afraid other people's detergent will aggravate it.  The worst part was that they were still there and I couldn't remedy the situation IMMEDIATELY. 

So I went into town to buy groceries.  I want to make Rice Crispy Treats, and a flourless Chocolate Cake.  (I'll try to post these on PJ's Kitchen) 

When I got back I stuck my sheets in the washer, and got into the clean shower.  And then I tore all the bedding off the bed.  That was a very stress-relieving activity.  Then I put my sheets in the dryer.  By then it was 11:00.  So I gave up, wrapped myself in a blanket and fell asleep on a bare mattress. 

At 12:47 the phone went off.  But I'd just fallen asleep and was not in the proper state of mind to register anything more than the fact the phone was making noise.  I jumped out of bed, hit a button on the phone to make it stop and was in the bathroom, half way through my "morning" ablutions before I registered what had happened.  The phone rang, it was not the alarm. 

I fell back into bed and probably was asleep before I landed. 

Another PS  I am SO ready to leave this rig!