Random 5 for October 29, 2023 – Preying mantis, appliances, hair, panhandling, smoking

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Bug season – This is the time of year we get both Asian beetles (they look like ladybugs but aren’t) and box elder bugs around our front door. It’s hard to get inside without bringing in a visitor. Both are harmless and can be washed away but this year I found a secret ingredient. There was a giant (and I mean GIANT) praying mantis on the sidelights by the door. Each time I checked there were less and less bugs. I couldn’t quite tell if the mantis had a big belly but he stayed there for 24 hours and cleaned the bugs up nicely. I must remember that.

Self-check? Really? – I go to Costco which is a warehouse type of store. Everything you buy there is in bulk. They have great meats which is one of the draws for me along with paper products. As I was moving to the self-check section with my two rotisserie chickens, one of the self-checkouts had a huge refrigerator on a cart getting checked out by a young couple. I don’t know how they will get it in their vehicle but assume they have some sort of pick-up truck. This was a first. It would be easier at a loading dock around the back rather than roll it through the store.

Haircuts – I haven’t whined about haircuts for a while. I had one this week and I’m still in the “my hair is freaked out” stage. It’s a little shorter than usual so it’s way of freaking out is by standing up. Hopefully by next week, it will have forgiven me and go back to normal.

What would you do? – Yesterday at Starbucks, I was approached by a guy who needed money. He was clean and groomed and spoke with an accent. He was driving to a nearby town and was running out of gas. He had no money. I don’t carry money with me. I have a credit card and pay for my Starbucks through the app so I couldn’t help him. He said he was tired and hungry and didn’t know what he was going to do. I felt sorry for him (while wondering if this was a ruse). As I drove home (after doing nothing) it occurred to me that I could have bought him breakfast. I could put that on the app and maybe someone else could help. In today’s world (or anytime in history) you never know if someone is sincere or you are being played. This is truly sad. My blogging friend from New York City would have helped him out somehow.

Speaking of Starbucks – Today there was a guy out of ZZ Top (google if you don’t know them) in the store. He was polite but was missing a few teeth that made him look…umm…odd…like someone who lives off the land in the middle of a forest. His white hair was long and so was his beard but overall, he wasn’t bad looking. That is until he got into his car and lit up the fattest cigar I’ve ever seen. For breakfast! Really? Ugh! Some habits are turnoffs for me. Smoking is one of them.

So how was your week?

72 thoughts on “Random 5 for October 29, 2023 – Preying mantis, appliances, hair, panhandling, smoking”

  1. Love it when praying mantises show up! They really do help with pest bugs, and they are neat insects in themselves.
    I give to homeless charities, and don’t usually give to individuals on the street.

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  2. That’s what my husband does. He doesn’t usually give money but offers to buy a meal. Some will accept and some pass up the offer.

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  3. I hate that when I think of something later! Speaking of ruses, my son and pregnant DIL had their battery stop suddenly on their way to him taking her to work this morning this morning. Late model GMC Terrain, she’s in work clothes and with her pride and joy, a Louis Vuitton purse. He’s in workout type clothes. He tried to direct people around their car and people acted like he was asking for money. One guy actually said he thought they were homeless. WHAT? Because they are standing next to an expensive car haha? We wondered if it’s because she’s pregnant. I’m sure you’ve heard of that ruse! People are getting so suspicious!!! Ugh.
    Anyway, praying mantis. I started thinking about that name. He’s also a preying mantis. Get it? hahaha

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  4. I’m always so excited when a praying mantis is in my yard. I assume they are beneficial, but you have seen their effectiveness! Likely there are more near by.

    And I am also uncomfortable with individuals asking for money. I have somehow learned to trust my gut. I’m asked too often to respond to everyone, but I try to have a few extra dollars on me so that when I’m feeling I’d like to help, I can. I am almost positive I’ve been duped at times, but I try not to overthink it once I’ve given. 🤷‍♀️

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  5. I can’t bear being around people who are smoking and with cigar-smokers, the smell clings to them even when they aren’t smoking. UGH!
    I think I would be as scared of the praying mantis as of the other bugs. You referred to it as “he”. Are you sure it wasn’t a “she”? I believe with mantises, the females are larger and deadlier.

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  6. Haircuts…take it from someone who often gets an unexpected buzz cut…it will grow. Luckily it’s not like getting your nose fixed. So don’t let it BUG you. And I’ll leave you with one word…hat. 🙂

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  8. Knowing what the beards in the band ZZ Top looked like, he should be afraid to light a cigar near that long beard – yikes!

    We used to have a lot of panhandlers when I worked in Downtown Detroit. This one little old lady, very small, but wiry, would wear ratty combat boots that she stuffed with newspapers in the boots in Winter – you could see it hanging out. Her hair was wild and sticking out every which way from a knit hat and she had a tattered dress and wore the boots, hat and a cloth coat all year around. She was known as “The Quarter Lady” as she would position herself in an alley between our building and the big parking garage – everyone who passed her she’d call out “Gotta quarter?” and grab you on the arm as you walked by I wasn’t driving downtown but took the bus which let us off right where she stood. I didn’t like her and really didn’t understand why she was allowed to do that, especially grabbing people by the arm and acting kind of wild. I never gave money to her and later was glad I didn’t because many years later I learned it was all an act. We had a temporary secretary come into our office to sit for a secretary on an extended medical leave and she got friendly with all the staff. We were at a staff luncheon and someone brought up “The Quarter Lady” and we commented we hadn’t seen her in awhile. The temp piped up with the answer saying “I temped at an estate firm on the 26th floor and we probated her estate – it was a gig for her – she had money, lots of it and left it to her family – being “The Quarter Lady” was her day job.”

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      • I don’t know the specifics about that, just that her probate case involved a substantial amount of money. She really looked deranged – a wild and unkempt look coupled with grabbing people’s arms was disconcerting. And, once you start giving them money, they’ll keep asking you. She never asked for food – that would be different as maybe people would buy her something at Starbucks which was right at the entrance of our building. But, no – she didn’t say she was hungry.

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  10. My hubby found a praying mantis on our doorstep this past week and moved it out to the garden. I bet it was after those beetles too.

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    • This is the first one I saw here. They are so prehistoric looking and so big! I’m surprised I didn’t name it. I hope it survived and went on to munch more bugs.

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  13. Bugs here too so I’ve been checking doors. As for giving money to strangers I don’t do it except for one woman who lives in a neighboring town. She is a regular with her cart on our streets collecting things. When I see her, I pull over and give her some cash. Our streets are sad these days.

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  14. The praying mantis is one of the strangest-looking bugs! It’s that tiny head of his. I haven’t seen one in a long time. But then, I don’t have many bugs, so I guess I don’t need him.

    I need to get my coffee at Starbucks instead of fixing it at home. It sounds like it’s more fun.

    I still carry cash. I guess I’m old-fashioned that way. I do find it comes in handy every so often.

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    • I had maybe a dollar or two on me but for my morning run, I don’t take cash. Most trips are ordinary but every once in a while, I’ll meet someone interesting and worthy of a post.

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  15. I didn’t think anyBODY would have anything to do with the imposter ladybugs. They stink and the orange squiggle goo they leave is a mess maker. Our house in Missouri was covered with them and we had to power wash the outside of the house after they all croaked. Great news about the praying mantis! We don’t have the imposter ladybugs here… thankful! Just NO to the starbucks guy. Seems weird to have someone like that hanging out at a Starbucks. I never carry cash and I’m not going to be doing anything in front of him on my phone. That was very creepy, Kate.

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  16. No, no, no, Kate! You were right not to help the ‘young man’. We have similar occurrences here, but the latest is ‘I’ve been sleeping rough and trying to raise £4 for a night in a hostel.’ Hubby was approached today. The young man was clean and tidy with no evidence of sleeping outdoors last night (it had been pouring with rain for most of it) and he was targeting any single woman coming out of the shop. There is a major drugs problem here and in the town we visited today. How are you to know that being kind could result in someone swiping your bag/purse while you’re distracted. I recall someone praying on generous souls for money, then picking up his takings, walking about 300 yards and getting into a fancy Merc. Professional beggars are also rife over here, and some have the latest smartphones and wads of twenties, yet say they cannot afford a hostel room.
    It’s a horrible world we live in, and I’m afraid I keep my distance having been duped too many times into buying a hot drink and roll/pie/even asked for a bacon twist which was the most expensive pastry on offer, for someone I thought was down on their luck.

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  19. We have stink bugs…..ick. Seems there’s a bug for every season sometimes. That ZZTopp guy may not have had a big cigar when he got back in his car…..may have been something else! The panhandlers have chosen our local WalMart as their hunting ground and last week someone saw a limo pull up outside which “disgorged” about 10 poorly dressed people who took up panhandling duty around the entrances and in the parking lot. Sad. Very.

    Hugs, Pam

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  20. With the past couple of days freeze and snow storm hitting us, I suspect any bugs are history or hibernating. The cold temps can claim all the grasshoppers…please. Hate those gross things. Isn’t it depressing to be so cynical about people’s motives any more?

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  21. It’s stink bug season here. They are everywhere outside I want to be. Like on the deck. I don’t know what I’d have done about the guy in Star$. I agree that buying him something to eat might have been a good idea, but who is to say? Laughing about your description of “a guy out of ZZ Top.” They’re still out there.

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  22. There are multiple praying mantises that wind up on my windows or front doors, but I can never figure out why, because all the bugs are in the garden and never congregate by the house in SoCal. I usually offer the mantises a ride on my sleeve and take them back to plants. They refuse to get off at the milkweed, but they climb right onto my Oklahoma roses.

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  23. I agree with you about the guy asking for money. These days, it is hard to know what to do! I try to trust my gut feeling, but I am often skeptical, and I feel bad that those who really need the money are being hurt because of the many out there that are scammers.

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  24. I’m wary (and weary) of stories people tell.

    At a rest stop, I heard someone asking for money for gas. The guy he was talking to gave him $20, got in his car, and left. The panhandler immediately went up to someone else to ask them for gas money . . .

    As I walked by exchange #2, I said, “didn’t that other guy just give you $20?” If looks could kill, I would have been a dead duck.

    I read a story once about a panhandler who “earned” over $80K a year just by asking for it. And another where he averaged $50 an hour by “passing his hat.”

    So, nope. I don’t believe them. I would offer to call the police for them. And if I have food, I give them some. That’s it.

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