Bean counting with Latina's and the INFESTATION (an idea for 'bonding' :) )

[fathertime]

    The last couple days I sensed a certain melancholy with my woman.  She is having a hard time getting around with her big belly and other final stage pregnancy symptoms. 
   
This morning I was rummaging through the cupboards and freezer to put something out for my babe to cook this evening, when I discovered some unwanted guests.  There was a large INFESTATION of some sort of Weevils in the cupboards.  As I may have mentioned, I have been stockpiling the rice, beans, pasta, mostly dry foods as I think there may come a day that I am happy I did this.  Well anyway, the damn weevils were able to eat right through the plastic bags and multiply within the bags of dried food.  I was none to happy to see this, because this is OUR FOOD, not for some damn weevils to steal, have insect sex in, and crap on. 
This evening the wife and I joined forces and painstakingly went through about half of the bags and sifted every bean and all the rice looking for these interloping weevils.  We found lots of weevils, a couple worms, and a surprising amount of small stones within the beans.  Earlier in the day, I bought some airtight containers to put the stockpile of sustenance in, which is what I should have done in the first place.  What I noticed throughout our few hours together this evening was that my woman was all cheered up.  We were working on a monotonous job together, maybe this was the sort of job the pioneer farmers would do 150 years ago, but it was actually sort of fun just talking and murdering the weevils together.     Now that she is so far along in her pregnancy there is a lot less things we can do together, but for this one night we worked as a unified team of perfectly contented murderous bean counters.  It is the small silly unplanned events that are sometimes what can bring a couple together in this mean, mean world.   

Fathertime!

[Jeff S]

You got it FT, spending quality time with your sweetie isn't all about doing expensive things, but rather doing things together - any things. It also had little to do with the monotony of the job, just that you two were doing something that made life a little better for the family. It's funny how the little things are what bond you. Your wife is supposed to be your teammate as well as your lover and caretaker, and doing team activities makes her feel more part of the team, and so more connected. Good observation.

[Researcher]

   My wife is all about doing things together.I like that this is important to her.She went to a couple of "women only" birthday parties recently and didn't care for them.She said she only wants to go if we are together.

   Researcher

[robert angel]

I agree. Whether it's cooking or watching TV to name but a couple things, my wife likes doing things together and it's healthy. One of the only things she does with a couple girl friends and not me, is to go and eat things like dried fish, durian fruit and a few other things she knows I don't really care for.

I guess I do cut the lawn alone and do most of the gardening solo, but we both do the laundry--she does most actually and I'm usually in the room and near her when she irons.

She about freaked out the one night I had to be out of town w/o her, but I think she'd be OK now.

At the same time, I think it's healthy to sometimes do limited things alone, to have different hobbies, etc. She's not at all interested in my collecting American Indian artifacts--maybe they even annoy her a bit--at least she's not banging pieces that are worth hundreds of dollars together  anymore, putting them in boxes, etc--altough she still considers them as 'rocks' no matter how thin, perfect and finely worked they are.


I have no interest in Korean soap operas, dubbed into Tagalog or not, that she likes, although some of the actresses are very pretty.

She even likes to go to the shooting range and I never expected that, because she doesn't like me carrying a small concealed handgun, C&C license or no license, regardless of where we're going.

[JimD]

Shouldn´t this thread be moved to Feature Requests And Bug Reports?

[fathertime]

Shouldn´t this thread be moved to Feature Requests And Bug Reports?

hehe! dat's a good one!


I gotta agree with the general consensus here that these latina babes just want to be with their man doing things.  I notice that when we are doing little thing, even if they are banalities, my wife enjoys it.  "Watering the flower" so to speak is doesn't require much for my wife.  An American wife might not be happy/content with doing team projects like putting together a crib, killing interloping insects, and taking a night stroll.  But my Colombian babe appears to be happiest when we are doing these sort of wild and crazy things!

Update on the INFESTATION: the bugs are winning. My wife and I plan to go to battle again tomorrow and go in for a second massacre and force them into a full scale retreat!
Fathertime!

[Jedironin]

Ah, yes... nothing like a little mutual murder to bring a couple together! 

Hate to say it, but if they're that bad you may have to call in a  professional. The little rascals are probably in the seams in the woodwork, etc. and will need to be "nuked". The plastic containers are a much better option for long-term storage. They also float in case of a flood. 

You can also put some bay leaves and/or cedar wood chips in the cupboards, to help repel bugs, after you get this problem cleared up. Just be sure to change the leaves and sand the wood lightly every month or so.

[robert angel]

Pure peppermint powder worked for us when we had pets and my sons would eat things like pop tarts in front of the TV, leaving crumbs.

It seemed the itty bitty sugar ants and even a some fire ants, would come out of nowhere--no trail--and in the middle of the living room, a pile would be snacking on the crumbs on the rug.


Pure peppermint (white) powder will kill them,  but it takes a  2 or 3 days. It dehydrates them (bugs) and they become empty skeletal shells. Plus they bring it on home to wherever they came from. I used to use a liquid peppermint  & lavender spray mix on everything--it wouldn't stain the furniture and kept bugs away. Lavender and other natural things really do work.

I checked my source site BugRepel.com and was bummed to see it's down--I hope not out of business.  Sometimes, a big company will buy a smaller one to put it out of business--same thing with inventions. Chemical repellents are nasty but make huge money.

The BugRepel people were super nice to deal with on the phone. They even sent me edible massage oils and our favorite--they made me a custom bottle of "Robert's Love Oil"--no kidding--it's great stuff--even tastes good! They're kind of 'Grateful Dead' band, hippy types, but really nice people to deal with.

[Henry]

Literal bean counting. I thought you were referring to Latinas being frugal.

[Researcher]

         Yeah, latinas seem to enjoy just being together. Mine sure is feminine though but I'm not complaining.I was building a shed back at the first of this year and my wife was helping.One of these masculine AWs would have probably been more help in carrying concrete blocks but that's OK.I'll stick with my Colombiana and carry the blocks myself.

  Researcher

[Bob_S]

Literal bean counting. I thought you were referring to Latinas being frugal.

Or more likely, their complete lack of frugality and your need to teach them bean counting to survive and thrive in a modern (but collapsing) economy.

[Fuzzyone]

 F.T.

   I could just picture in my mind you and your wife picking thru bags of beans, screaming out loud.. " I found ONE"

[JimD]

Not his wife though. Her English propobly isn´t that good, more likely "¡encontré uno!".

[fathertime]

Or more likely, their complete lack of frugality and your need to teach them bean counting to survive and thrive in a modern (but collapsing) economy.

Hola Bob!

My wife is very frugal actually.  She stops me from buying her stuff sometimes, if she doesn't think it is necessary.  She is still wearing most of her barranquillian clothing and did not want her any maternity clothing, her mom made her a couple pairs of stretchy pants but that is it.

Fathertime!

[fathertime]

Not his wife though. Her English propobly isn´t that good, more likely "¡encontré uno!".

Well fuzzy and jim,
she did say that that and an excited Mira Mira!

Fathertime!

[Bob_S]

She is still wearing most of her barranquillian clothing and did not want her any maternity clothing, her mom made her a couple pairs of stretchy pants but that is it.

Way to go, mom!  But as she gets further along, she'll need more.  You'll find her wearing your shirts, soon! 

[Jedironin]

^Well, that's okay. Don't the ladies always look better in our shirts than we do? 

Best Wishes to the 2 ... er... 3 ... of you, FT! 

[raycjs]

FT

i love your story about the weevils, you should write and book the life and times of FT........ i am happy to hear you guys are doing well, it is true you can do some of the most simplest thing that cost almost nothing and as long as you are dong them together she will be happy.......

as always best of luck to you

Ray

[InnocentVixen]

aww you guys sound like such a cute couple

[fathertime]

aww you guys sound like such a cute couple

thanks IV, my wife is very cute. me I'm just sorta cute!

[fathertime]

For informational purposes what we have done to destroy the weevils is we have fried them! 

I put pans of rice in the oven at 170 degrees for 14 minutes, it killed all the weevils, worms,  and their eggs.  We then used a fine strainer and let the smallest parts perhaps eggs,  fall into a pan.  After this we sifted through the rice/beans/pasta/etc and plucked out the dead insects.  Afterword we put all the food in large airtight cannisters where it will stay until we eat it.  We will be eating the older food first and eating the resupplies last, always 'first in first out'.  The food is clean!  Hopefully it was an exercise in futility but either way we have a long supply of food and water if need be.  Given my opinions on the fate of society, it made perfect sense for me to do this.

BTW for those interested, here is an riveting made for TV movie you all might get a kick out of, especially NC. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXiCXRjJfGE]

Fathertime!

[ignorante]

she doesn't like me carrying a small concealed handgun, C&C license or no license, regardless of where we're going.

  Ouch!    That would be a deal breaker, right there.  I never go anywhere without a pistol unless there is a metal detector at the entrance.

[no comment]

BTW for those interested, here is an riveting made for TV movie you all might get a kick out of, especially NC.  

That made for TV vid suggests that a flu brought over from Asia will be the source of the problem, not an economic disaster.  Just be careful of the guys from the Asian board returning to the states, especially that Dave H.
BTW, what's the price of admission to your bunker? Will a sack of weevil-free rice do the trick?

[Bob_S]

Just be careful of the guys from the Asian board returning to the states,

Hey, that's right!  Cold and flu season is upon us (getting my shot next week), and Cap's in-laws are coming for a visit.  Oh no!       

[fathertime]

That made for TV vid suggests that a flu brought over from Asia will be the source of the problem, not an economic disaster.  Just be careful of the guys from the Asian board returning to the states, especially that Dave H.
BTW, what's the price of admission to your bunker? Will a sack of weevil-free rice do the trick?

yes i know NC it is about the flu, but you know I love those world disaster flicks. Did you watch it?

I'm afraid you will have to provide more than a weevil-free sack of rice for admission to the bunker.  If you bring a 6 pack of young barranquillian babes to do all the chores associated with bunker living then we might have a bargain after I clear it with the Missus!

Fathertime!