Friday, March 6, 2009

Ants In My Pants.... And RENT, The Broadway Production

Well, not my pants, really, but my pantrys in the kitchen. First thing Thursday morning I discovered Carpenter Ants crawling all over my kitchen counters. Hmm. Not a good thing, no matter how you look at it. I immediately called the people that normally do our bug spraying but they were too busy to come. Unwilling to share my space with said ants, even for a day, I was forced to seek help elsewhere.

I perused the Yellow Pages of our phone book and found another long time, locally owned business, who came to my house within 2 hours. This man is an entomologist and specializes in getting rid of termites and carpenter ants. They were here for nearly five hours. Apparently, our infestation had been going on for some time. Think more than 20 years. Yes.

The guy said when he went up on the roof to treat where he thought they were nested, something like 5,000 to 6,000 angry, dying ants came pouring out of the little opening. When Mr. Snoots heard this he said to the guy "Don't tell her that! She won't ever be able to go to sleep tonight, or ever again, for that matter". You know how freaked out I can get by ANY kind of creepy crawly. I include the flying variety as well. Ick!

These guys were so thorough that it astounded me. They are my new heroes.


As we were walking down the hall to the kitchen, the younger man (I'd guess about 23 or 24) spotted my Theatre posters from my trip to New York City and asked if I'd seen those shows on Broadway. I told him yes, I had seen them all, and he told me that he's actually a musician/actor who'd had to move back home to pay off his college loans, which is why he was working as an exterminator.

Then, he totally blew me away when he told me that he'd been cast as the character Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of RENT, which is being staged by our local Community Theatre. I said "Get Out! Our conservative, bible thumping, straight-laced community is letting RENT be produced on stage?" I was totally flabbergasted, but thrilled and excited beyond belief. We chatted for like 30 minutes about theatre and swapped audition stories and giggled like two little kids.

It has been many years since I've had someone to talk *theatre speak* with, and I was in Hog Heaven. I told him I was definitely coming to see his performance and I think this savvy kid may possibly become my new best friend... I know. It sounds kind of creepy, doesn't it? A 56 year old woman being best friends with a kid my daughter's age sounds odd, but I'm telling you that we had such a blast talking, I believe a healthy friendship could be forged.



Back to the extermination. So, they not only treated the spots of origin, but also sprayed the entire exterior of the house as well as the attic. Five Hours spent searching & spraying: $327.75.... No more ants in the house and crawling on me: still $327.75.... If they have to come back for further treatment: still $327.75.... Finding a new Theatre-Tony Awards-Watching-Friend: Priceless

This is a picture of our daughter in NYC during RENT'S Intermission, posing for a picture with former RENT cast member (2nd cast) and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Jai Rodriguez. Did I mention Snooty Daughter & I adore RENT?

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Eewyoo! C R E E P Y !
EVERY Spring it seems the ants crawl out of the wood work here.
Pesty NASTY lil buggers!About 2 -3 weeks later, they're gone!
So neat you have your Theatre posters framed! And better yet you have made a new and exciting friend!
Waiting for 'Rent' to come to our surrounding community!

Sjn said...

ditch your old pest company, apparently they were NOT thorough enough!
We just found the Broadway show tunes music channel on cable, and I love it! Along with the song they list the show and the singer's name. Great for Broadway trivia, which my husband thinks he would so win!

Anonymous said...

My daughter has seen so many different productions of Rent, I have lost count.

#1

I Am Woody said...

I think young friends keep you young!!

Snooty Primadona said...

Mr. Snoots & I decided that we are going to dump the old bug sprayer & go with the new one, after this whole ordeal. Our old bug spraying company has tried to get rid of the ants for years, but we never had the results like what we had yesterday.

Yes, the whole thing creeped me out, but I think we might actually get rid of them with this new company, once & for all. It's about time.

Metabolic: Those posters were framed 27 years ago, after my trip, and they are still my pride & joy.

SJN: I LOVE the show tunes channel too. My poor kids had to grow up listening to show tunes (and me singing along) from Day One. At least my daughter has the same passion I do for the theatre now.

Philly: I think your daughter would fit right into our family. Our daughter has seen RENT on Broadway five times, at least. She's the one that got ME hooked on RENT before I ever even saw it.

Shawn said...

Wow..that is a post of extremes! Gazillions of dead or dying ants wandering your home, with who knows how many little ant corpses piled up here and there in your walls. Ugh.

Then a blast from Broadway right in your own home/town! How cool is that?

Anonymous said...

I'm still not over the first picture! So glad the bugs are being taken care of!

Alpacamountain said...

OK, my skin is crawling...
I do battle with carpenter ants every year. My hubby loves to watch me at war, out in the yard in my jammies every morning. I talk to them as if they could understand me :)

That is so cool to run across someone like that by total chance.

Daryl said...

ewwwww .. ants .. any bugs are totally gross .. I am always freaked but appreciative when our Rose catches a crawling thing .... now when I need is a way to get rid of those miserable little teeny moths that love cashmere ... I already have lavender in every drawer and hanging in little bags in the closet .. and yet I keep finding/killing them..

Mental P Mama said...

RENT is wonderful! And I love how the Universe introduces us to people;)

Treasia Stepp said...

What a neat way to make a new friend. Nothing wrong with being friends even with the difference in ages.

Good thing you dumped the old company or no telling how bad it would have been in another few years. I've always been told that if they want you to take out a yearly contract then they aren't a very good pest control agency. Because they should get it done right the first time. If not then should come back free. Sounds like you found a winner with this new company.

Anonymous said...

Rent's coming to LA!!!!
How long will it be in Midland? While I'm there in June perhaps?

brneyedgal967 said...

Oh God - Ants?? I haaaaate ants with a passion. I haven't seen any around here... yet.... knock on wood.

What a great new friend! A theatre buddy... I love the theatre - just haven't been in a while. I took Harley Guy to Pollard Theatre in Guthrie when we first started dating. He was about like a fish out of water, but he said he enjoyed it. I wonder if he'd go with me again to see a show?

Anonymous said...

Okay those ants would seriously have freaked me out too...ack and my goodness they are so big!

Unknown said...

Age has no boundaries in friendship!

Glad you got that bug problem handled...that could have been more horrible than it was!

Pam said...

Man, I do love my pest control people! We live out in an unincorporated portion of Tarrant county and we get some pretty bizarre creatures...scorpions, big honkin' spiders, ants, etc. These guys are my heroes!

BTW Snooty, thanks for the ideas for places in OKC for the rehearsal dinner...that's where we're gonna be having it. You have done more work than I have. I'm sure your recommendations will have simply mahvelous food!

Unknown said...

I'm itchy all over!!!!
I hope they don't come back, and I would LOVE to see a Broadway show!

Anonymous said...

Snoots, if you cant sleep there, come on over to my place. I would have already checked into the first hotel I came to...Im probably worse than you are about a bug.

Heather Kerrigan said...

How the hell did I miss this post? Must have been when I caught your sinus infection!

I adore Broadway almost as much as the fairway. I think the connection is very cool. I just found out my golf coach has the same birthday as me. I don't know what it means, but it was cool too.

At least you could call someone in to kill said pests. Hubbie's father used to own a pest control business so Hubbie insists on killing all our creepy crawlies himself. Let's just say, our time frames are not always consistent.

 

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