Altogether Too Many Legs!

I hate bugs. With a passion. And our apartment . . . no, our entire complex is crawling with box elder bugs. We had a problem with them when we were upstairs too. Man, those things are nasty!! It gets really bad in here during the late afternoon - the hottest part of the day right before the sun goes down and it cools off. I'm thinking they must be attracted to or stimulated by the heat or something, because I've noticed that the last two days haven't been quite as hot and there also haven't been quite as many b.e. bugs crawling around in here. But even when Luke moved in back in February there were always around. Don't these things freeze?!?

The (almost) funny thing is, they remind me a lot of the love bugs in Florida. The coloring is about the same on both of them, and neither really does/hurts anything. They're both just annoying. So much so that I've spent the last couple of weeks internally debating which one I find more annoying. (What can I say, when you paint by yourself you have a lot of time for mind wandering. I actually came up with a lot of ideas for blog posts, so you'll be seeing more random stuff like this for a while.) Here's what I came up with.

Box Elder Bugs:
~are, apparently, a year-round annoyance. +1 obnoxiousness point
~can't be shooed away very well - unlike a fly, you have to actually flick or brush it off whatever it's crawling all over. +1
~never go away (see: February, above) +1
~I woke up last night multiple times because a cursed bug was crawling on my leg . . . I hate that feeling!!! +3
~don't really congregate en masse. -1
total = 5


Love Bugs:
~eat the paint when you it them with your car unless you get them off soon after (my car is evidence of this one . . . poor girl . . . ) +1
~are attracted to car fumes . . . especially diesel . . . which means there was no escaping them for me when I was at work during love bug season. +1
~ever seen a cloud of gnats or other teeny-tiny bugs? now imagine that was a cloud of paired off love bugs. and you have to walk through it. or push the elevator button underneath it. or sit on the seat it's covering. the wikipedia link has a pretty good picture of a small covering of the things. (much smaller than average!) +4
~are seasonal. you only see them for about a month around May/June and then again September-ish. -1
~there is absolutely no avoiding them during love bug season. you will be covered. your car will be covered. your front door will be covered. etc., etc., etc. . . . +1
total = 6

So apparently love bugs win for annoyance . . . well fought, box elder bugs, well fought. In a few more days I'll find more annoying things about you and the tide will totally turn in your favor.

What is the purpose for bugs anyway? Surely there could have been some other natural way to accomplish whatever good they do for nature back during the creation. Self-polinating flowers or something, you know? I'm pretty sure I probably lobbied for something like that back during the Creation. Bugs are just . . . eeww. And creepy. And altogether too many legs! What do they need that many legs for? If we can get around on two legs, I don't think they need dozens . . . no more than four . . . like kitties. Kitties are cute and fluffy. And don't even get me started on spiders!! I'm mildly arachnaphobic . . . to put it mildy.

P. ost S. cript
So I hadn't planned on blogging today, even though I've been mentally composing this post for a little while now. But last night a friend from Florida (one of the elders who taught Luke, actually) posted this on facebook. And I HAD to share it. Holy. Freaking. Hysterical!! No description other than that . . . but anyone who does not crack up seriously needs their sense of humor examined.