Josh News Update: Holidays, Horrible Sickness, and the Wasp-ocalypse!

Worst News First

     First off, to any frequent readers, I would like to apologize for my relatively lengthy absence.  It was a myriad of things all coming down at once.  I had a Family Emergency with some very serious consequences as a result, then I had an abnormally large amount of homework that same week.

      Following that I came down with a particularly nasty virus that knocked me out of school and work and right into some hospital care- out for roughly an entire week.  Oof.  It was no good at all, to the point of losing a whopping 10 lbs. in a mere 4 days  For my slight build, that's a problem.
     Anyways, I'm on the tail end of that and on the mend.  Still feel like crap, but I am now up and about, so that is some sweet optimistic news for me.  As I should be back to regular posting soon.  And I may even start putting up video reviews finally.

#IndigenousPeoplesDay

     On to some good news, I'm really appreciative of the fact that Minneapolis, of which I live in the suburbs of, has changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day!  That is an awesome start for some serious work towards helping the Native American/American Indian Movement.  I've been in an American Indian Lit class, covering a wide range of subjects from, thankfully, their point of view.  Getting some history from their side is both refreshing and horrifying at their poor treatment over the years, and having Columbus Day is one extra kick in the junk on top of a bad situation.  So thank you Minneapolis, I hope this trend continues.

#GamerGate

     Then we've got the highly volatile #GamerGate going on.  If you are a follower of this blog, I'll be putting up a post devoted to this singular topic most likely in the next couple days.  I've been involved in it on the periphery since it began, and it isn't what the mass media is making it out to be.  It is not a hate campaign, if you make a nice look through my twitter feed, you'll see plenty of evidence that it is not about hate or misogyny.  Please keep the comments peaceful. 

On to Wasp-ocalypse!

     Lastly.  This is possibly the most disgusting thing I've had to do in recent months.  A while ago, a roommate had heard some stuff in the ceiling of his room,  After some investigating we found there were wasps moving in.  Those freeloaders!  Or would they be "Beeloaders!?!"  I know I'm lame.  Whatever.
     Because the dropping temperatures of fall season, they were moving in at an alarming rate and flooding the house.  Hundreds of them a day.  Two weeks ago, we had a pest control come out and spray them.  Then a week ago, we did another spray ourselves, and then last night we (roommate and I) tackled the hive nest removal.  It turned out to be a much larger situation than we had originally anticipated it to be.  So here's are a couple disgusting pic I got.  To give you an idea of the size it turned out to be enough stuff to fill a 13 gallon garbage bag.  An added problem was the fact that at least a couple hundred of the things were still alive.  Sluggish, but still alive, so we bagged them and tossed them out.  The animal lover in me feels bad about it, but these things are dangerous to have in this quantity in my house.


     On a good note the Bumble Bee nest way over behind my shed is untouched and will remain as such.  They are always pleasant and offer a ton of entertainment for me to watch them fly around like happy drunkards.  Their big, fat, and round bodies continuously bumping into everything and swinging in funny circles.  Plus with all the honey bee deaths there is quite a plight for them, I would very much like to keep them alive for more than their honey.  They are nice company to have around.