Ant Farm:Day 4/5

These ants suck.  They don't do anything.  They hang out in the wood hole for the skybridge - about the most entertainment I get is blowing them out of the hole from the tube and watching them charge back into the hole and then realize it just blasted them out - get second thoughts - run away - not know what to do except hang out in the hole - run back - remember getting blown out - run away - over and over again.  Its mildly amusing.  I think I'll seal it up a  tiny bit better and let the harvester ants go to work when they get here......

Ant Farm! Day 2!

Okay...so I think the ants in the "farm" aren't the "digging" type of ants.  I think we got a few different types in there too.  But they just pass by each other.  I tried to give them a hint by digging a hole with a knitting needle - but...to no avail.  They spend a LOT of time preening their antennae too.  I know ants are typically female but these are like high-maintenance-lazy ants.

So the big ones just hang out in the tunnel....the little one I think got drunk on fermenting Twinkie and is just sitting on it moving rreeeeaaaallllll slow and just looks....drunk / stoned....so far not much happening.

I just ordered some harvester ants from www.antsalive.com.

ANT FARM! Wood Shop! Do it yourself!

So - we got a bit of an ant problem in our house....which the kids have resorted to catching them, with my son putting them in the "cockpits" of lego-spaceships he was building so you could see them through the windows of the spaceships. We had our own full blown ant-air-force/space-force around here as he had a good ten or so with two and three ants apiece in them.

Ants are pretty darned cool, when you're five.  So for a get-together with my mom at a restaurant, my kids decided to give her a "present" of a lego-space-ship with ants in it.  At the dinner table.  In the restaurant. I had no idea.  Of course the lego-space-ship broke apart and the ants "got out" and my kids were scurrying around on the floor of the restaurant looking for the ants while my mom's freaking out wondering what she just got dumped on her.  


Anyways, a trip to the science store showed ant-farms were $32 for ONE - and a large one?  $45!!!!  Mmmmmm - no.   Not when dad can make them at home.  A trip to Lowes Hardware store and one more to Home Depot for $25 for four plates of acrylic, two 2"x3"x8' (Y'all reading overseas or even to our north or south...okay - NON americans - I don't know what that is in metrics - if you must convert it you can do it here ) and voila I had two that were way bigger for less AND I got an excuse to use my tools....ahhhhhh to be a man and create with my hands.  I just gotta build.....something about when I'm done having something behind I can see and touch and hold. 

The hardest part was I don't have a table saw (or a radial arm saw) but I do have a circular saw.  So - I needed to cut grooves to insert/recess the acrylic into which normally on a table saw you'd just drop your blade down and then run your wood across.  I had to get creative with a handy portable workbench dad gave me and a block of wood to run the circular saw across it - but other than that - it was pretty easy.  If anyone wants to see it - here it is below in photos you can click on and embiggen.

looks like a kitchen...acts like a workshop...

sawdust on the floor freshening the air in the house...

the first two pieces together with clear acrylic in between

1/2" x 3/8" "doorway" to the "skybridge" I built in the exotic ant-mansion

Two ends on....

Project complete on the kitchen counter with West Wing and East Wing visible

exotic sky-bridge with a commanding view of the sugar-jar and Mountain Dew Repository - every Ant's dream!

there's actually an ant in there...with a science experiment in the background - Oh Horror of Horrors! 

These are the ants that were diverted from the Space Program to a work-camp. 

ahhhhh....kitchen floor mess....

brave trooper - I named her "Sojourner" - exploring the ant-mansion.

Actually....she hung out there for 20 minutes preening her antannae....it was kind of annoying....maybe she was enjoying the view of the sugar jar...

project fully separated apart....

individual ant-mansion unit - this is the West Wing - cost for one? $12.50 and some nice memories

It was funny tonight as we had family prayer and I thought of all the things I've built for our family.  Beds.  Modifications to the cars.  Ant farms.  More beds.  Shelves....nothing too fancy but still its nice to be able to build with my hands....   I did clean the kitchen up though with the new vacuum.....

I hope these are the kinds of ants that dig and not just the types that run around.....if they are the kind that just run around but don't dig I might have to order some kick-ass ants to dump in there and eat their sorry behinds and dig some tunnels....

OREGON ROAD TRIP! RIPPLEBROOK! THREE LYNX! HARRIET LAKE! FROG LAKE!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Letter from Tony Snow

 Tony Snow June 1, 1955 – July 12, 2008

I used to listen to Tony Snow when he was a radio show host.  He had a great sense of humor and an easy style that I just enjoyed and came to love when he hosted for Rush.

I have a letter from Tony Snow, an email, to me that he sent me after I wrote him wishing him well in his cancer recovery.  The email is dated 8/10/07 to me.

But, I have some collections from the world's notables in my files - this is just one of the e-versions, I thought I'd post it.

I told him I was praying for him and wished him well, and this is his response.  He didn't mention my name in it, but that's okay - it was to my email personally. I just thought I'd share something I got from a man I admired who once represented our country and share his faith in God.

THE WHITE HOUSE Washington Thanks so much for the kind note - and for including me in your thoughts and prayers. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you thinking of me and raising my name in prayer. Prayers have enormous power. They're good medicine - and they certainly have lifted my spirits. I feel as if I have been borne on the shoulders of thousands of friends, all of whom have made the ride easier than I ever could have imagined. We're blessed to live in a land where people just want an excuse to do something good for someone else. Thanks for taking advantage of that opportunity with me. Please encourage others to do it closer to home for other friends in need. Kind words, notes, emails, and small gestures have a way of lightening the load, while making our own lives richer and more rewarding. Again, thanks for the incredible gift of caring. God bless, TONY SNOW