I Want To Check You For Ticks

OK.  That is a quote from Brad Paisley's song.  And I don't really want to.  Use a mirror.

  

Ticks are bad for us this year.  One of the main issues for us, is fields full of uncut grass.  Ticks are opportunistic predators and climb out to the end of a stalk of grass.  Then, when you brush against the grass...they got ya! 

  

Did you know ticks were related to spiders?  So you have a spider that can bury its' head in your flesh and suck your blood.  And then they don't have the courtesy to have a meal and move on.  No.  They LIVE there until they fill up like a miniature balloon and fall off to feast on blood another day. And the worst part is when they are sucking you dry,  they are sharing bodily fluids with you and if they have a disease, so do you!

We will have to bush hog the grass before it is time to pick blackberries, if  it becomes impossible to cut it for hay.  I do not want to wade through thigh-high grass to pick berries.

We use Frontline for the pets, but there is only surface applied products like OFF! for us people and you have to keep reapplying it.  Even with Frontline, our dog got a few ticks and they ended up giving him Lyme's disease and ehrlichia.  He was on antibiotics for weeks and I am not entirely sure they did the job. Oh, goody.  More vet bills.

 

So when I read this article in the paper this morning, I got excited.  A robot that kills ticks and does not leave poison behind.

 

I love the whole concept of robots doing the work I don't want to do.  Maybe it was a childhood growing up reading, no devouring, Robert Heinlein. He was the best science fiction writer, ever.  His book, The Door Into Summer combined cats, robots, romance and time travel.  It is way dated because it was written in the '50s, but still enjoyable.

I sent a copy of the article to my son, Travis.  He is working on his Mechanical Engineering PhD and has built quite a few robots.   Here's hoping I get one for Christmas.  Of course, I have also requested a wind turbine to generate electricity.  That is at the top of my post doc gift list.

But tick removal is way up there.

Brad Paisley Concert II

If you read the write up on the concert in the Roanoke Times, you will know that it was a big hit. Especially because all the musicians showed up and it was not necessary for me to pinch-hit. It was the kind of concert that set the bar pretty high for all future concert going.

I am embarrassed to admit that I did use the ear plugs. Hey, the guys up on stage had them. so why not those in the audience! In fact that could be part of the junk, I mean souvenirs, they sell...Paisley ear plugs. I pulled them out occasionally to verify, yep, too loud. How Old Ladyish is that??? I did pull them out when he used his acoustic guitar, so is that OK? I also left them off for the whole encore. Come on you have to be surrounded by all that sound for at least part of the time. The trick is to know how long you can get the whole experience without losing any part of your hearing.

I won't give you a play by play, just know that Jerrod Niemann was good, Darius Rucker was great and Brad Paisley was glorious. Lee said it looked like his mom never had to remind him to practice his music when he was a kid! He also switched out guitars for just about every song. One roadie just for guitar wrangler!

One thing I like about Paisley's music is that it is funny, clever, witty and touching, sometimes all in the same song. Rucker also included a few of his most touching songs and I don't know why he isn't headlining his own shows, but was glad to see him. One thing I noticed was that there was not a lot of Black people there. I wonder what is inherently white about country music these days. It is not racist as far as this white person can tell. Any ideas?

So all in all a great evening. We parked early and walked to the Hotel Roanoke for dinner. It gave us lots of time to move around before sitting for a looong time, have a great meal and still have a great parking space for getting out of the Civic Center. The only down side of the whole evening was on the way out. I stepped off the curb and my ankle just gave out. Down I went. Nothing really injured but sooo embarrassing. Good thing I don't know any of those people! I know there was a lot of drinking going on, based on the sticky footing and puddles of beer, but I didn't have any. I was suffering from old lady ankles, hips and eyesight. And that is not something I can get over in the morning, like a hangover, damn it all.




It doesn't look like I will be able to use these ear plugs again. They fell victim to the animals that inhabit the house and control our every move. A kitty soccer game knocked them to the ground and the dog picked up the fumble and tried to eat the evidence.