The Good Banter Thread

[CountryEscape]

Question about fleas: My dogs have them, although I think now the problem is more that they have irritated skin, rather than the actual fleas, but getting sooooo tired of watching them scratch, when I am miserable if I have one mosquito bite! What I'm wondering is do I vacuum before or after fogging the house? I'm also planning to shampoo the carpets. I know I shouldn't shampoo after fogging, as the fogger stuff says it lasts up to 7 months, so there must be residual that stays on the carpet, and I don't want to wash it off. So, what order would you do the fogging:
1. Fog, vacuum, shampoo
2. Vacuum, fog, shampoo
3. Vacuum, shampoo, fog
Your thoughts? Also, my Boston is pregnant, so could not take the Trifectis (chewable tablet that gets rid of fleas, ticks and worms!) so she got Advantage topical, as Frontline did nothing, although not certain the Advantage did the trick either, unless it's a skin irritation now, not necessarily fleas.

 

[sissy]

Thing is you have to look at energy efficiency also .My other fridge that got hit by lightening and was only 9 years old used more energy than my new fridge and new one has LED lights that when fridge is open they do not heat up .The range I bought after same thing lightening strike has 2 ovens and they are smaller .All i need is the small oven and not a giant one for what little I bake for us .Electric sure is not getting cheaper and after getting these new things my electric bill which I just got is 94 dollars for 1 month .It was 119 last month because heat pump needed serviced .House is all electric .I have LED lights out in my yard and around the pond .I think of the safety of my dogs in the back yard .I also have the brinkman LED driveway lights down both sides of my driveway .I also keep lights in the windows of the guest house .

 

[j.w]

Well CE if it was me I would vacuum and put some kind of flea killer inside the vacuum bag and empty the bag right after in a far away place or burn the contents as you don't want any eggs hatching or escaping fleas right back again. Then I would shampoo the carpets and then last of all do the flea killing fog. If you shampoo after you would be just getting rid of some of the effects of the fog I would think? You might want to vacuum a few days after you fog and then vacuum again in another few days to pick up any eggs that might have made it through all that. I've heard giving garlic to dogs helps keep fleas away but never tried it myself.

 

[Big Lou]

Question about fleas: My dogs have them, although I think now the problem is more that they have irritated skin, rather than the actual fleas, but getting sooooo tired of watching them scratch, when I am miserable if I have one mosquito bite! What I'm wondering is do I vacuum before or after fogging the house? I'm also planning to shampoo the carpets. I know I shouldn't shampoo after fogging, as the fogger stuff says it lasts up to 7 months, so there must be residual that stays on the carpet, and I don't want to wash it off. So, what order would you do the fogging:
1. Fog, vacuum, shampoo
2. Vacuum, fog, shampoo
3. Vacuum, shampoo, fog
Your thoughts? Also, my Boston is pregnant, so could not take the Trifectis (chewable tablet that gets rid of fleas, ticks and worms!) so she got Advantage topical, as Frontline did nothing, although not certain the Advantage did the trick either, unless it's a skin irritation now, not necessarily fleas.

Recommend you consult you vet. Could make a big difference in success or failure. Good luck!

 

[HARO]

I totally agree, nothing is made like it used to be. You used to be able to buy large appliances (fridge, washer/dryer, stove, etc.) once and have them for 30 years or more. Not anymore. If you have those appliances for 10 years, you're doing well. That's why I chose to fix my 30+ year old (when I had it fixed 3 years ago) Maytag washer. The guy said it will probably run another 30 years now. People these days want new and shiny, too, sometimes what they have is perfectly good, they just want what is new on the market. Lots of electronics are made to last a very short time. TV's, DVD's, microwaves .... they are all becoming either so cheap (microwaves) or they get so much more advanced in a few years (TV's) that people are throwing them into the trash. I had a microwave for only a year, fuse went bad on it, but to fix it would have cost more than a brand new one at ... $40. There is definitely something wrong with that! I guess we want cheap, and that's what we are getting!

While on the subject, I imagine most of the members here own as least one cordless drill. I found my first one on the side of a country road, a Makita 7.2 v. A little underpowered, but handy as heck for driving the odd screw or drilling a hole outside. A charger for that drill was $30., but when the single battery went, it was fairly expensive. so I got a Craftsman, complete with a worklight, charger, and two batteries for about $130. The cells lasted about seven years, which I thought was pretty good, but a single replacement would have cost more than the whole kit, IF the store could still get one! I opted for a Rigid 18V. for $150.. and the batteries only lasted about six years (one is still so-so). Replacement? One for $100. Taking the advice of a fellow shopper at HD, I now own a DeWalt 18v., which came with two batteries PLUS a free over-sized one, and their batteries regularily go on sale at two for $99, so I'll stock up one of these days! My question..... HOW IN THE HELL CAN THEY CHARGE THOSE PRICES FOR REPLACEMENT BATTERIES???
BTW< if anyone has any working batteries, I'd be happy to see these tools go on with their interrupted lives!
John

 

[mogsie]

HELLO ALL ! how is everybody ? ok i hope, ive not been on here much recently, not just as ive been busy but i have been enjoying my garden and the out doors in general, (it is summer) plus i havent forgotten about you all, especially my 3 best friends on here ( jw, sissy and addy) no disrespect to anybody else ! i am just more of an internet user when i need to learn something, and these days i tend to take a very english approach towards pond keeping ( placed in another thread on this forum this would cause controversy and debate) which is everything is fine so leave it alone !! , dont get me wrong when i first joined this forum searching for info i got plenty and i am thankful for it, but after reading many of the posts i was testing for this and testing for that eventually my garden shed became a laboratory ! if things where unbalanced this way i would add something to balance them the other way and so on and so on !, now i dont test for anything, hell i dont even know what my pond PH is as i havent done a PH test for about 18 month, but my fish are happy ( and breeding again ) my plants are happy and the water is nice and clear which = I am happy ! and these factors is how i now judge my pond health, thus the english approach - if everything is fine leave it alone ! it works for me, it is just nice to pop on here every now and then and say HELLO.

 

[CountryEscape]

Missed seeing you on here, Mogsie, glad everything is peachy with you and your ponds! I agree, I have not tested my pond for PH or anything else for well over a year. I have to add water often because of evaporation (everyone probably does this time of year), so I figure those are good water changes. Not been adding any fish ... except a few fantails in the goldfish pond, but they are 1" long, so can't mean much at this point ... Plants are going nuts in the bogs and lilies are blooming. What more could a ponder ask for, right?

 

[CountryEscape]

I think DeWalt is an excellent drill, and the batteries last really well, sounds like. And, the reason they charge so much for the batteries is because everything anymore is disposable, so they figure you will buy a new drill rather than replace the batteries. It's like a printer! They are cheaper to buy with 2 ink cartridges, than the buy just the 2 ink cartridges. Make sense? Nope, but that's how it goes. I bought a new printer for about $40, and the 2 cartridges for the SAME printer were going to be $45. Maybe the ones in the printer are not full, but I don't care, I don't use my printer hardly at all. Disposable, that's what everything is these days. Soon, our landfills are going to be full to overflowing with small appliances and electric tools and larger items, too, and then what???
JW, I think you have the same idea as me. I'm going to vacuum, then shampoo. Fog after everything is dry, and then vacuum a few times in the following week, to get rid of any stragglers. I have a central vac system, so everything goes outside. I can dump it and then spray it with Sevin, that should kill any fleas that may have been sucked up! Good idea.

 

[sissy]

welcome back mogsie when you and Mirka gonna tie the knot and how is the new house and guessing you have been busy .I have missed your goings on and neat pics .

 

[sissy]

Hoping I spelled her name right Mogsie .Oh and I do own a dewalt 18 volt drill driver .saw and stuff Ce and had them for over 12 years now but finally need new batteries

 

[j.w]

Good to see you again Mogsie, wondered where you were. Figured, family, fish or fun w/ friends! I have been cutting down on a lot of posting lately as stuff going on here too. Drama in the hood and house hunting for my sister who has been living w/ us here for 2 months now. She is moving out tomorrow to her new home.

CE you will get those fleas out one way or another. I think the trick is to stay on top of them so they can't move back in again from outside. Don't they live in the grass waiting for a ride on one of your pets to the great indoors?

 

[sissy]

have to say the same mogsie don't mess with what is working .I try to keep it simple ,simple works

 

[HTH]

It is possible to rebuild the battery packs for corldless tools. The problem is that the cells have metal tabs that need to be spot welded between cells to build up the battery Never messed with it.

 

[Big Lou]

Glad you're back mogsie.

 

[Big Lou]

Wanted to buy a new battery for my old Craftsman cordless drill until I saw the price.