And the ants shall inherit the earth...

So the problem with my water system? Ants. They got into a switch and clogged it up. The ants down here get into everything, and they love electricity, so they often cause problems with outdoor electrical outlets and lights and...well, and well switches. This is exactly what my boss has warned me about since I bought the house. He told me to check these switches periodically, as ants will get in them and clog them and your whole water system will go down. I don't like telling him too often that he is right, but I gave him this one. This is the same switch that my boss just installed for me when I bought the house, and already the ants have taken it out. Bast$@*s! (Woodrow should know what that means.)

So I could have gotten away Scot free yesterday with just a $30 switch (well, plus the $115 service call), but we figured since I already had the guy out there I may as well have him replace the pump that has been on the verge of going out on me since I bought the house. So I had them go ahead and replace the pump while they were there. And last night I was curious if I would notice the difference. My last pump was loud. It would rattle and squeal. It kept me up for the first couple of weeks after I moved into the house. It is located on the other side of the wall where the head of my bed is located, and it comes on by itself periodically for a 45 minute to hour and half time period a few times a week in the middle of the night. Evidently it is going through some "charging" process or something. Freaked me out the first time it happened! I thought someone was outside using my water faucet in the middle of the night! During those early weeks I would awaken in the middle of the night and hear this horrible sound like a generator running on the other side of my wall, and I would wonder how in the world I was expected to sleep through that! But within a couple of weeks, I was. It's amazing what you get used to.

So when I got home yesterday, I was curious to hear what a new pump sounds like. What a world of difference! We can stand outside next to this thing and barely hear it! In bed, I just hear a gentle hum coming from outside whenever the pump runs. Beautiful!

As for the ants, there's ants in the bird cage. And ants in the cats water bowls. And ants in my bathroom, and in my bedroom. There are even ants in my pants. I do not jest. The other night I picked my jeans up off of a packed duffel bag that was sitting next to my bed from my last trip, pulled them on, and proceeded to feel a stinging bite on the inside of my thigh. I ripped them off and threw them down on the bathroom floor, and was horrified to discover a couple dozen ants crawling around inside my pants. Yes, I have ants in my pants.

I've been trying to get into an environmentally-friendly, gentle-living lifestyle in this house, so I've been avoiding chemicals and poisons, but that's it! Where's the dang exterminator?