A bunch of useless crap
Published on July 30, 2007 By MasonM In Blogging
I delivered the load of animal feeders yesterday afternoon. It turned out that I had been misinformed about where they were going. I had been told they were going to a farm, but it turned out they actually went to the Shalom Wildlife Preserve here in WI.

I followed the little gravel road that was not built with trucks in mind at all and had a difficult time getting around some of the curves without taking out a few pine trees in the process. On one curve I had to pull up and back up several times before I was able to jockey the trailer over enough to avoid a row of small Spruces. But I finally got back there where the guy was waiting to unload the feeders with a skid steer.

Getting back out of the place was just as difficult as getting in, but I managed to do it without killing any trees (or damaging my rig).

I'm now sitting at the truck body shop in Oshkosh waiting for someone to pick me up and take me back to the yard. I'm getting the damages repaired from the last dimwit incident. Hopefully it will be ready in a day or two and I can be on my way again.

I'm sure dispatch will have something for me to do using one of the spare trucks while mine is being fixed. At some point today I'll rent a room for the night as my bedroom will be sitting here at the shop.

I want to try and get by Cabella's at some point before they close today. I was there yesterday close to closing time. I bought a new shirt but as they were announcing that they were about to close I didn't get a chance to try it on. It seems they run big because the XXL I bought turned out to be too big even though that's the size I normally wear. I want to get by there and exchange it for a smaller size, XL.

I also picked up a new pair of hiking boots as mine, which have seen me through several years of outdoor adventures, are getting pretty ratty. My old ones carried me along the Appalachian Trail among other interesting hikes.I hate to break in a new pair as my old ones are so comfy now, but they don't last forever and mine have seen a few too many miles on the trail. The new ones are pretty nice and are waterproof which is an improvement over my old ones, but they just aren't the same. It'll take a while and a few trail miles before they become comfortable.

During my recent geocaching hikes through the woods some sort of insect(s) managed to get inside my right hiking boot (old pair). I have no idea how it or they got in there, they must have been really small, but when I pulled my boots and socks off a couple of evenings ago I had a number of welts that were obviously insect bits all over the top of my foot and a couple on my ankle. And of course once they were exposed to air they started itching like crazy. That's when I decided that I needed new boots. I am also now making a point of liberally spraying insect repellent on my boots and socks as well as my legs. Ounce of prevention and all that. Sad thing is, as an experienced hiker I already knew to do that but had gotten lax after not doing any hiking since the car wreck. in '04.

I cleaned the bites with alcohol and they were looking a good bit better by the next morning even though they still itched a bit all day yesterday. Damn bugs. I'm guessing either small ants or possibly chiggers but didn't see any chiggers buried under the skin at the welt sites. The grass and woods are chock full of hungry bugs this time of year so the list of suspects can be quite long.




Comments
on Jul 30, 2007

Of all the critters that annoy you when outdoors, I hate chiggers the most, they leave the nastiest scars ever if not caught in time.

I carry a little spray bottle of 100% DEET to combat all them critters, especially the noseeums.

on Jul 30, 2007
Unauthorized Hitch hikers!  There outta be a law!
on Jul 30, 2007

Of all the critters that annoy you when outdoors, I hate chiggers the most, they leave the nastiest scars ever if not caught in time.

I carry a little spray bottle of 100% DEET to combat all them critters, especially the noseeums.



Yeah I stepped up to a higher DEET concentration myself after this incident.
on Jul 30, 2007
Unauthorized Hitch hikers!  There outta be a law!


Yeah but where do you find handcuffs that small?