It Was the Buggiest of Readings

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

I might have been a little tired when I read this last night. I might have mentioned? Maybe? That part of this post-viral thingy is that I get very tired suddenly, and sometimes my awareness doesn’t catch up with me in time. I think it hit about three pages into this story, so …

It’s not an audio book, it’s a reading. Which is no excuse for forgetting how to pronounce a character’s name, forgetting the story title at least once and… well, if I didn’t forget my own name it’s a close thing.

On the other hand it’s the one story I ever plagiarized (though considering I took it from a pencil-drawn comic book that remains in my bedside table to this day, maybe we should call it an homage. Besides I bought the author off with Chinese food.)

I’m doing this, because I am doing a Winter Blog Fundraising. I’m doing a Winter Blog Fundraiser, hopefully the first and last, because the summer one was odd. More people donated than ever, but the amounts were lower. So… at the time people suggested I do a winter one. I meant to forget it, but we need to have a bunch of stuff done on the house and that’s… well… Which would be okay, but it comes on top of very expensive water main repairs. So– Here we are and I’m doing a Winter Blog Fundraiser. There’s a Give Send Go for the Winter Fundraiser and well, if you need anything else including a snail mail address, please go here.

But I hate to do it without giving anything in return. So I’m doing something for free every two days.

Yes, I do know I already do the blog for free, but you know? Something extra.

And so, yesterday I read Calling The Mom Squad, based on younger son’s comic. He was four when he wrote it. I would scan it and put it here, but he says no. So…

To download or listen to the reading, go here. I hope you enjoy it.

11 thoughts on “It Was the Buggiest of Readings”

  2. “Water main repair.”

    Remember that one. Leak between the meter and the house. “Leak” scoff. Shattered ’70s PVC. Giant Sequoias took it out. Resulted in rerouting. Luckily also had to connect house to sewer line so the new copper water line was buried in those costs and the sewer assessment fee (which we did not vote in, grouse), which were interest free for a year. Just had to trigger the whole thing about 10 months before we’d planned. Although did avoid the sudden neighborhood rush (weren’t the only ones resentful on how it went down, dang interfering state and feds). Then, more recently, took out the Sequoias (’17 ice storm did a number on them, they didn’t come down but branches did, had to take them out), found out in ’21 when we had the yard sprinkler system put in, that the root system was crimping the copper pipe. PVC would have been broken, again. Copper eventually, but a lot stronger, if we hadn’t taken the trees out. We could reroute the pipe mostly out of the way of the trees root systems, but couldn’t reroute the meter and where the pipe attached. About 6″ from the meter was where the tree roots were pinching the copper water pipe.

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    1. When we dropped out of the 3-party well sharing agreement (Excedrin Headache #254) and did our own well, the 300′ line from the pumphouse to the farm pole was PEX. There were 3 trees that could play with the pipe (now 2 because we took down the one next to the farm pole), but it was well worth it. Beyond a connection to a yard spigot near the pumphouse, there’s only one joint in the trench. Beats the dozen-plus I’d have needed for PVC.

      Legacy PVC after the farm pole, with some trees not-quite nearby. With the closest one gone, it’s 20 feet (guessing) from trees to the pipe. That was done before we bought the place, so it’s a SWAG as to the route. Another yard spigot is next to a tree, but so far, no issues.

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    2. According to my Navy acquaintance, there is a formal difference between leaking and flooding:

      “You find a leak. Flooding finds you.”

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      1. Flooding definitely found us. Three to 4 inches sitting on the lawn between house and trees. It’d been raining hard, but not that hard. Given where the meter was located, where the pipe connected to the house (that didn’t change), straight shot under/between the two Sequoias. Without digging it was easy to suss what happened. Thus the reroute around. But still couldn’t eliminate roots growing to the actual meter connection. Gone now. Based on the mushrooms cropping up through the grass in certain spots, the roots are rotting. So is are the base of the stump, based on how the Rhododendrons and Camellias are shooting up and spreading out suddenly. The Camellias have been blooming all along. Rhododendrons bloomed for the first time since planting in ’18, spring ’24. Usually Rhododendrons bloom every spring after being planted (unless they fall victim to my black thumb, these survived that, just didn’t bloom). Nice little bushy oval in the front yard blocking visual into the living room from the street. But not blocking light or visual outside.

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  3. You evil, evil lady. I got 11 minutes into this and started laughing so hard that I had to stop and put it aside for later.

    I have real work to fix, (It’s NOT MY FAULT I JUST DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO) and can’t type while laughing.

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