xexes 108 Share Posted February 2, 2017 These stories are true and mostly unexaggerated. In fact, if anything, they aren't emphasized enough to convey the true tone of the situation. I'm tempted to preface this with something like "Just because a couple is bad together doesn't mean they are bad people, just bad for each other", but, in this case, it just wouldn't be true. Names have been changed. The Ladybug Story The home that I purchased has several citrus trees and the state that I live in is well known for citrus trees not doing well because they hate the environment. But still, just about every time there is a yellowing leaf on any tree, Leon would do a thorough inspection and work himself into a conniption fit equivalent of sudden bankruptcy. The moment I walked in the door, it was like I was water there to put out a fire - but, a hopeless, helpless bucket of it. This was never a single incident, but every single time. I'd like to point out here that the house and its property are mine, and Leon was not on the mortgage. In fact, the deal was that Leon would live there and pay $100 rent because he was so poor (he was), but he never did pay a dime in the three years he lived there. If he helped out, he made sure to tell me about his single gallon of milk or creamer (I don't use it) he got to help. All of the utility bills, all of the food, all of the things surrounding every day living and home were paid by me. Everything else required to make his life go were paid by his mother - behind his father's back, who had strict orders not to. (When it was all over I would realize why). So I researched how to care for citrus trees. So I woke up early nearly every single weekend and tended those fuckers with their two-inch thorns out in the blinding sun and scorching heat. But that wasn't enough and Leon continued harping about it, so I researched more and did more. Fertilization, pruning, mulching, the works. For someone who was relatively poor, my Home Depot bills were horribly large. That wasn't enough, still, so I reached the very pinnacle of research and added my own nutrients one bag of chemicals at a time. I worried that Home Depot would think I was running a meth lab. All this was sufficient until the bugs began to come. Leon would tell me about them and how I had to do something. I told him about the chemicals I could use but he would say no, don't use any chemicals. How in the world am I going to get bugs off my trees without chemicals? So I looked into other solutions. I brewed my own pepper-mace basically and sprayed that on the trees and it did nothing (oh was it horrible to make). I told him that we could try ladybugs as they eat the bugs in the trees specifically, but he said no. With nothing else I could do, Leon would fuss and freak out again and again. Finally, he gave me permission to try ladybugs. But he demanded they be rush-ordered. Off of Amazon I rush-ordered 100,000 ladybugs for just a few dollars. I divided the clump of nesting materials and bugs evenly and put one on each tree and called it a day. But Leon wasn't satisfied with this. Instead, he delicately and gently spread one or two nesting twigs per branch, evenly coating the tree with bugs as if they were tinsel on a Christmas tree. I spent 15 minutes, he spent 3 hours. Next day, only about half the ladybugs are there. We can't figure out where they have gone. No dent in the bugs on the trees. No big deal, ladybugs need time to eat and reproduce and balance out the eco-system. Day after that, half of those that were left. Next day, it's very hard to find any ladybugs, and the ones that we do find are lethargic. They're dying and we don't know why. The day after, there's really no ladybugs left and the bugs in the trees never really changed. Except it was as if the spider population had exploded. There were webs and baby spiders everywhere. And then I figured it out. Yep, we had rush-ordered lady bugs to sacrifice to the spiders. After a few more months of moping and whining I finally got his 'permission' to spray chemicals. I did and the bugs in the trees were taken care of almost immediately. -- Hello! I am not done writing but I need to go, so I will pick this back up later. notes to self. The 900 hotel ticket story the worst fight ever The latte machine story / cabinet/ tile The tree light story, going to home dept before closing A relaxed, dark and gritty roleplay based on Disney's Zootopia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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