Everyone agrees Mondays are capital TROUBLE. Mine was no different. The highlight of my troublesome Monday was briefly noted in my Tuesday morning randomizing where I ranted a bit about the glass in the top half of our storm door shattering for no clear reason scattering zillions of tiny pieces all over the place.
Do you know there are several songs called Trouble? Be prepared to get a sample of a few throughout today’s post.
Trouble is on the rise with the return of ants…giant ants a.k.a. Carpenter ants. At least, we think this is what they are. We didn’t ask for any id, but it’s a good assumption these are the itsy bitsy beasties which are trying their best to invade our house again.
There’s nothing cute or whimsical with Carpenter ants. They don’t come marching in for your fruit bowl or crumbs dashed on the floor. They eat the wood in your home.
A few years ago, we hired an extermination to rid us of these little pests. The job was effective. It was expensive. It wasn’t a sure cure-all and we knew this, but we were desperate.
Now, when trouble comes marching DH uses one of products he found at local Wal-Mart or Home Depot, which seem to do a fairly effective job of keeping ants out of the house, Bayer Advanced Home Pest Control Indoor and Outdoor Insect Killer. Recently, I found both on Amazon similar priced.
Boys and trouble are synonymous, right? Well, not always. My DS has his moments, but is a good kid. I got two voice mails about my DS. The voice on the other end belonged to a woman. She called to complain that my DS was harassing her and warned if he didn’t stop then she would call her local police. Experience told me something was really odd about all of this and I did what any mother would do I confronted my DS. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: I got a call from Ms. Trouble (for obvious reasons, I won’t use her name), she said you’re harassing her and if you don’t stop then she’s going to call the police. Do you know this person? Is the daughter of one of your friends? How do you know her?
DS: Yeah….she’s one of my Facebook gaming friends. But, Mom…there’s something not right about that woman.
Me: When did you call speak to her last?
DS: I tried calling her today. I saw her post, saying she was having trouble and I just wanted her to know I was here as a friend for her, if she wanted to talk. (Honestly, my DS is just this considered. He’s very compassionate.)
Me: Don’t call her anymore. In fact, remove her from your Facebook friends’ list. She said more in her message, like you would say she is trying to molest you.
DS: Yeah, it’s true! She has this thing for younger guys. I mean, I didn’t think she was what do you call ’em… a cougar. She is a grandmother! She offered to come visit me this summer, which I thought was a little creepy. That’s when I figured out she liked ME! I tried making up excuses, like I’m going to be really busying hanging out with this friend, that friend,….Mom, her kids are older than me! I already de-friend and even blocked her on Facebook.
Me: Good, never ever call anyone else you meet online unless you know the person for a really, really long time. There are a lot of strange needy people out there. The trouble is, a lot of the goofballs are the ones you least expect.
Holy cow, what is the world coming to? The real trouble here is actually on the other shoe. I mean, after all my DS is a minor. This woman apparently has little to no sense. That’s the real trouble of this world, isn’t it?
Trouble reared its head when I learned about a goof on my part. Last month, I posted what I thought was our last payment on our Best Buy promotion (18 month – 0% same as cash financing). The trouble was I thought I only had to give the payoff balance, as the final payment for that promo offer.
We had three separate promos going with the same sort of deal 0% APR for 18 month. The trouble was I did not understand you had to payoff the balance plus include the minimum balance due at the time to not be penalized on the deferred interest.
That’s when I quickly found myself in trouble facing almost $500 in interest charges. Thankfully, customer service did a one-time courtesy reversal credit if I made the minimum payment. I pounced on that and soon my trouble melted away – just like that!
Let’s hope no more trouble falls on me before the week ends. For more truly, tempting, and terribly terrific letter ‘T’ posts, visit Miss Jenny’s Alphabe-Thursday link up!
1. How do you deal with trouble – run away from it or chase it down?It all depends on the kind of trouble I’m facing. If it’s manageable, then I’d rather chase it down and get it under control. Otherwise, I’m all for running away from it until I can get a handle on it.
2. When was the last time you were in trouble? And for what?The question is, when am I not in trouble? There doesn’t seem to be day which passes that I don’t goof up somewhere along the line resulting in trouble for myself. The good news is, for the most part I don’t find myself in super-duper major trouble. I can’t recall when I found myself in that kind of jam.