In the end, I went another way with dealing with the wasps because I just knew something like today’s strip would happen should I even attempt something like that. I even rehearsed many times how I was going to slip the jar over the nest then slide the cardboard over the opening to seal them in there, but when the moment of truth came I just couldn’t do it; too many variables to account for which equated to too many possible ways of getting stung.
Funny, after the previous strip a friend of mine emailed me a solution that would’ve been much safer and easier for all involved (including the wasps.) I didn’t come across this solution at all on the Internet while I was searching for a way of removing the wasps humanely since most sites just detailed the quickest and most reliable ways of killing the wasps and destroying their nests. I’ll post the solution in a future blog post, once I determine if my friend was telling the truth or just punking me in the hopes that I hadn’t gotten the nest down yet.
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UPDATE: BLOG UPLOADED!
I wanted to get this strip up before the day progressed any further so the accompanying blog will have to wait until later tonight. (Stuck at work finishing up a project in the meantime. BUH.)
Enjoy!
First!
Haha! I expected this! The adrenalin rush in this situation sometimes makes the one who is keeping the painful wasp retaliation at bay forget the next stage of the plan.
Moral? If you are going to mess with insects that like to sting/bite make sure you are not alone, that way they distribute pain between you. And maybe the other person will keep cool head and you will evade pain altogether.
Oh, man I feel like fortune cookie, telling people what they already know…
wooHOO! congrats on snagging the first spot on this one, Maryz! you know what happens next: the Shades of Firsting are yours. wear them well – these will not only protect your eyes during wasp attacks but they’ll also help you make better plans before you get into a fix:
😎
in Real Life, knowing that the adrenalin rush and fear of stinging pain could cloud my judgment, i ran the plan over and over and over in my head, thinking of all the ways it could go wrong. unlike bot here, i didn’t drop the sheet of cardboard i was going to slip behind the wasps to seal the jar – instead, common sense took hold and i realized it just wasn’t going to work and had to come up with a Plan B.
This reminds me of an incident I had w/ a black widow a few years ago… My kids (13 & 5 at the time) and I were supposed to be leaving to go out of town and as we were packing the car, I saw a GIGANTIC black widow on the wall of the garage! My husband is the family pest killer but he couldn’t get away from work to deal w/ it until hours later and I was afraid it would have “disappeared” by then. Having the safety of two kids and two dogs to consider, I just couldn’t leave it alive – sorry, arachnid lovers! So I armed myself w/ a fly swatter and a bottle of windex, w/ my 13 yr old bringing up the rear w/ a broom. Needless to say, there was a lot of squealing, screaming, feinting, and almost some fainting but I finally got it w/ a one-two flyswatter/Windex combo! 🙂
i try not to kill bugs whenever possible but Black Widows are on my Death List, Z – like you, i wouldn’t want any family members or pets to be bitten by one so i eliminate them whenever encountered. i love that your bug killing gear included windex, and i totally chuckled at your description with all the squealing and screaming. 🙂
Random fact: black widow venom is one of nature’s most powerful aphrodesiacs.
Thank you, Chuck Palahniuk, for providing a bit of knowledge that makes everyone with a spider problem have strange thoughts.
hmm… i want to test this out, Ed, but conflicted due to the whole painful/deadly spider-bite thing.
Here’s an idea; DON’T drop the most important piece of paper in your life.
Is this a “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets” reference?
What’s that?
It’s a short story by Jack Finney about a man who goes out on a ledge to chase a paper that is important for his job. The best way for you to get a grasp of it is to google it and read it.
yep, bot’s slip-up is most unfortunate, Flixthend. no doubt his nerves got to him.
Two options in this scenario: drop the jar and run till your in the next town, or try to slip the paper under the jar.
This is why I don’t take prisoners in these situations.
of course, to enable option 2, bot will actually need to get that paper back in his hand, 52pickup!
Yeah, but I couldn’t think of a witty second option.
This is why I took a slower (but just as effective) tack when I had to get rid of the wasps at my mom’s house. (Sprayed them with water from a good distance twice a day over several days.)
the “spray” tactic is a good one, reynard61, as you just might see in a follow-up strip. 🙂
Well, it just seems to me that this particular strip is an example of, as my mom would say, “executing the robbery without planning for the getaway”. But since we get to see this only a bit at a time (and you were apparently not stung), I’m going to assume that “Operation Wasp-away” was a resounding success.
i will say that – at least in Real Life – the operation was a success, reynard61. at least for now. 🙂
Ooops. 🙂
“ooops” indeed, Insectoid!
Run. Run like your life depends on it.
i think that’s Plan B. or possibly Plan C, TCG. 🙂
Hey, do I get to claim writer’s credit? 😀
using the plastic container and cardboard was something that actually happened, Bl4ckw0lf! well, all the way up to the actual implementation of them. heheh. so if you’re the author of my life than yeah, you get credit. 😉
This has truly become the “Seinfeld” of webcomics…
“So that’s your plan, Jerry? That’s your whole entire plan?”
Jefbot’s level of excitement in Panel 3 suggests that he really needs to get out more. Love the pagan exclamation, though.
thanks, Q – i love me some Seinfeld. to be fair, though – just bottling up the nest wasn’t his “entire” plan. if you look closely, you’ll see that bot dropped his cardboard sheet in panel 3, which would’ve allowed him to take his plan further.
I did notice that… and mombot is probably thinking: “My son, some hotshot! He wants me to stick to the plan, but he can’t even stick to his cardboard.”
Now this is where that infested/possessed/haunted scarf would come in handy!
ps I keep meaning to ask; has anyone ever pointed out that on your main (index) comic page you have 2 buttons that actually go to the first comic and that one is labelled “Previous strip”?
absolutely, Jim! this would’ve been a piece of cake if bot still had his sentient scarf. speaking of which… where’d that thing go?
and, yeah: sorry about the glitchy button. hoping to get that fixed with the next update.
Okay, I got the wasps in the jar… now what? Napalm grenades is always a good answer to burning questions such as this one
it’s amazing just how many puzzles can be solved with the tossing of “napalm grenades,” Jiro.
Little Dutch Boy—Extreme Edition.
I know Mombot could pick up the piece of paper (“But you told me to stick to the plan—” “I know, Mom, but please !”), but the first thing I thought of was to get her to call Cornfather so he could saw the relevant chunk out of the wall from that other side . . .
ha! yes – the Cornfather could conceivably help, Sarah W, but seeing as how he’s at least 30 – 60 minutes away, bot’s arms (or nerves!) could give out in that time. could be worth a call, though. heheh.
Whoops…that’s a good moment to have a stiff piece of cardboard. I had to deal with something like this (on a smaller level) at work the other day. A wasp, in the restaurant, as I was seating guests. They watched me efficiently put a glass over the thing and slip an old placemat under it, and carry it outside. I got a standing ovation for that one. 😀
wow! bot could really use your deft touch and wasp-removing skills right about now, T! in fact, i could’ve used your help when i was removing the wasps from my parents’ door a few weeks back!
Any time you need help, darling, I’ll do what I can. 😀
In that situation, my panicking would have been over powered by calm judgement. My theory at the time would have been duct tape and use it to hold the jar on the door cutting off air, as well as surrounding the area near the top of the jar to make sure no air could get in.. Yes this is horrible but in that situation it would be the most rational plan of attack I could come up with.
Then I would panic after securing the jar. I don’t panic during situations like this or during situations where it’s possibly life threatening( one day I’ll tell the story where a guy tired to rob me using a knife). However I do panic like crazy right after the event.
i can relate, Satoshieyes – i felt like panicking right before and after confronting the wasps, but during i was pretty calm. i would hope i’d remain calm during a life threatening event, but i also hope i never have to find out!
I love the extreme vibrations caused by the wasps’ buzzing. I’m guessing those vibrations will cause Jefbot to lose his grip on the jar.
it’s possible, Rainey! those wasps are pretty angry right about now.
Last year I almost caught a mouse on my counter with a Tupperware container. It wasn’t until it got away that I thought “what would I have done if I had actually caught the mouse?”
Still don’t have a good answer to that question so I’m thankful I wasn’t able to catch it.
i’m glad you didn’t catch it either, TPC – no telling what you would’ve done to the mouse or what the mouse would’ve done to you. 😉
The moment when the shit is about to hit the fan and you don’t move to the side of the fan.
i generally try to unplug the fan before anything is even close to hitting it, DJ. jefbot on the other hand…
🙂
Well, poor Jef shouldn’t have dropped that piece of paper.
So you know, I’ve started to try and save some insects that I see around my apartment now as well. Mainly all the grasshoppers that are around here and spiders that look to tiny to harm me. So you’ve started a small conversion in me.
Once again, I’m not called anonymous inernet. My username is GardeBlaze and I will never change it to something so bland and overlycommon! Got it?
…
I’m yelling at my computer, I’m going to go outside now.
I do that all the time, along with my cars. You’re not along GardeBlaze
it’s true, GB – if only bot hadn’t dropped that piece of cardboard, this would’ve been a way easier mission! well, possibly. i can tell you from experience that getting the cardboard slipped behind that container while keeping it semi-sealed is much easier than it looks.
and – yay for giving bugs a chance to live! (confession: i’m not a big grasshopper fan as they do a lot of damage to crops and yard plants, but i never actively kill them.) glad you’ve had a little change of heart! 🙂
Doh! It works great with a single wasp. I can see how things could go terribly, terribly wrong with a whole nest though. I’m looking forward to hearing about your friend’s solution!
very true, Shanna – it’s when the chambers started hatching and more wasps started tending the nest that i decided it was time to take it down. as my mom told me – it would’ve been much easier and more humane to have taken the nest down before the wasps started multiplying! ugh.
I don’t know why, but I keep thinking this alternate solution involves Vodka and some myth I vaguely remember on Mythbusters.
while i do approve of vodka being used as a solution for things, Saeed, the solution my friend gave me doesn’t involve its use, sadly. though i am going to have to see what myth was being busted now. 🙂
I have returned.
My computer went kaput so I had to get new one. So I just now got caught up. Also, I seriously think that you should at least contemplate reading Homestuck. After all, if Rufio/Prince Zuko can like it, then why can’t you?
hey, NeoD! sorry to hear about the passing of your computer but it’s always awesome to get a new one! hmm… Homestuck. just checked it out. i dig it! if i can find room on my morning bookmarks for it, i’ll do so. 🙂
That is JUST what I did after catching that bee.
heheh. glad we can share the experience, ShadowShuffler. 🙂
Yeah… this is going to end well…
I like that expression there in the last panel…
The thought of ‘I am SO screwed’ is clearly running through his mind.
yep, that’s pretty much exactly the thought flashing through bot’s brain, Skydron! as for how it will end – i can tell you it won’t end well for at least one of the players here. heheh.
Just caught a centipede with this method.
Terrified my little sister on accident too.
Your epic fail has brought me many lols, Jefbot. Sorry for falling off the face of the internet for a while, RL jazz y’know.
Ha! I love the reaction! Plan B. Fully flush out Plan A! Always hilarious!!! Thanks Jefbot!
I ran into a wasp somewhere and did this to it. I had paper on hand though and slipped it over.
….I then had someone else hold it together and grabbed a loooooong stick, took the jar outside, stood back and knocked the jar over with the stick and ran back inside. I despise insects of flight.