The Daily Peeve / Rant

[pinkytoe]

Brother and mouse....brother stores a brand new 4 wheel car near his vacation home in the mountains for family to use. Picks up one day and notices a horrible smell while driving. Turns out the car was infested with several mice families over the winter while at the storage place - in the engine and inside under the seats and console. His insurance wouldn't cover the damage nor would the storage place. Almost had to have the car totaled as the damage/smell was so bad but ended up spending mucho to have stuff replaced and everything professionally cleaned - out of his own pocket.

[early morning]

DH and mouse and car - we had a 1969 Barracuda in the early/mid 1980s. DH loved that car and kept it mostly clean and tidy (rare for him!). Something or other broke, and while it sat in the driveway awaiting parts, a mouse family moved into the bottom of the driver's seat. The engine repair didn't faze the mice, and DH was focused on that so wasn't paying attention to much else. Now the seats in a Barracuda are low, and especially if you're tall, as DH is, you are setting way back and your legs stretch out kinda flat in front of you. So when he test-drove it, several little mice objected to his sitting on their home, and crawled out, running across his feet, up his legs, and in general causing a bit of consternation. Sadly, I was not along for that ride- but while he was telling me about it in a very injured tone of voice, I though it was hilarious, and could not stop laughing. We had to set traps to get the mice out, and there was a bit of smell that went away fairly quickly. He was advocating for poison bait, until I pointed out that dead/decaying mouse in seat would NOT be a smell he would want in the car. Hw never really thought it was as funny as I did.

[Tradd]

The IEEPA tariff refund process goes live on Monday. The CBP website (ACE portal, that has been where importers and brokers do somethings has been around since 2016) where the refund submission will be done is a mess. It's gotten very creaky. We're having massive issues. We were on hold with the help desk multiple times for 4.5 hours this week when the calls disconnected without talking to anyone. Ugh. Chaos.

[early morning]

Oh, Tradd, that sounds AWFUL. What a cluster this has all been. And what has been gained, for the American people?

[KayLR]

SO mad today! It's nice out so I decided to get the exterior windows washed (I do them myself). Some years ago I bought a long-handled tool kit from Windex which came with pre-loaded (with window cleaner) pads that stuck onto the handle head by just slapping it on. Wet down the window--wipe down with the pads--easily reach up high. It did a great job & I actually enjoyed washing windows.

Well, today I found I only had one pad left and I had already used it once (you can do about 10 windows with one pad). Went to Freddy's...didn't have them. Wally World, nope. Safeway nope. But the manager-buyer guy said they'd come out with this new product--a JUG that attached to your hose! Oh great. Just another plastic jug for the landfill and something on my hose that would undoubtedly drip down to my armpit.

So, I am making my own pads and I will use my handle and pfffftttt on them! I think I will write to Windex too!

[Tybee]

A hard frost last night. I have been raking beds and exposing plants and it was a bit premature. And over the weekend, we were able to walk around our favorite lakeside town with the kids and see when things would be open, so it was doubly rough, as we had all been saying, we're so happy it's spring.

[iris lilies]

A hard frost last night. I have been raking beds and exposing plants and it was a bit premature. And over the weekend, we were able to walk around our favorite lakeside town with the kids and see when things would be open, so it was doubly rough, as we had all been saying, we're so happy it's spring.

we had stupid weather fluctuations here, really affecting Iris bloom. It was 90° one day and overnight dropped down to 16°.

I think we are through the worst part of spring weather fluctuations here though. I haven’t put my house plants outside yet, I’m waiting another 10 days.

[pinkytoe]

Around here, they always say no planting until Mother's Day. It is very frustrating for a gardener. My rant is finding that yesterday grasshoppers had decimated my little stand of newly planted rhubarb.

[catherine]

Around here, they always say no planting until Mother's Day. It is very frustrating for a gardener. My rant is finding that yesterday grasshoppers had decimated my little stand of newly planted rhubarb.

You're lucky you don't live in Vermont, Zone 5b. Our planting date is Memorial Day.

[Tybee]

You're lucky you don't live in Vermont, Zone 5b. Our planting date is Memorial Day.

Yes, that's us in Maine, too. Up in Michigan, the older locals told me not until the first week of June at the earliest.