Get Set Gazette On-Line News from Get Set, Inc. December, 2000 Edition

Welcome, Miami Valley Special Education Center, to the Get Set program.

Famous Quotes

So many of us define ourselves by what we have, what we wear, what kind of house we live in and what kind of car we drive.

"If you think of yourself as the woman in the Cartier watch and the Hermes scarf, a house fire will destroy not only your possessions but yourself."–Linda Henley

"Time flies like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana–Groucho Marx

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3."–Alice Kahn

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper."–Robert Frost

"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. Then when you do criticize that person, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes."–Unknown

"What I lack in spirit, I make up for in apathy."–Andrew White

If you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.–My Mom

"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."–Thomas Edison

If we have not had an in-service with your staff in the last 2 years, we need to do so.

After a day of fishing in the ocean a fisherman is walking from the pier carrying two lobsters in a bucket. He is approached by the Game Warden who asks him for his fishing license.

The fisherman says to the warden, "I did not catch these lobsters, they are my pets. Every day I come down to the water and whistle and these lobsters jump out and I take them for a walk only to return them at the end of the day."

The warden, not believing him, reminds him that is illegal to fish without a license.

The fisherman turns to the warden and says, "If you don’t believe me than watch," as he throws the lobsters back into the water.

The warden says, "Now whistle to your lobsters and show me that they will come out of the water."

The fisherman turns to the warden and says, "What lobsters?"

Want to repel flies? I have been told that if you fill zip-lock bags with water and a shiny new penny and hang them every 3 feet or so in the sun light the flies will avoid the area. It seems the sun’s refraction confuses the flies.

Pregnancy Q & A:

Q: I’m two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?

A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: How will I know if my vomiting is morning sickness or the flu?

A: If it’s the flu, you’ll get better.

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?

A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: What is the most common pregnancy craving?

A: For men to be the ones who get pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?

A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?

A: Yes, pregnancy.

Wanted for Attempted Murder (The actual headline):

Linda Burnett, 23, was visiting her in-laws, and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head.

One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda’s eyes were now open, and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she’d been shot in the back of the head and had been holding her brains in for over an hour.

The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. (Apparently in the heat a tube of bread dough exploded and sounded like a gun shot.) When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed and came to her aid. And, yes, Linda is a blonde.

How to Track Down Carpenter Ants (Adapted from an Austin Frishman article in the November issue of Pest Control Magazine.)

1. Look for sawdust, similar to pencil sharpener shavings. This is sometimes called frass, although technically it is not. Frass infers it went through the digestive tract and is composed of fecal material. Carpenter ants do not digest the wood. They tear it off with their mandibles and spit it out. However, the sawdust usually contains body fragments of carpenter ants.

2. If you find sawdust in a pile on the floor or ledge, look directly upward. The ants usually drop the material from above. If the pile of sawdust is in the center of a room and there is no likely void above, the "frass" may have been carried there from nearby excavation.

3. You find dead ants - This is a "dead" giveaway of at least a previous infestation.

4. You hear a chewing-like noise in the wall - A stethoscope and a good moisture meter can help pinpoint a nest. The stethoscope picks up the ant’s mandibular clicking. (It sounds like cellophane being crinkled.) The moisture meter picks up the increase in moisture created by the ants respiring.

5. A small burst of compressed air can flush carpenter ants. They sometimes do not come out for a few minutes after injecting, however.

6. When following a live ant back to the nest, you’d be best served by following one with its mouth full of food or liquid. Ants carrying food are going to go straight back to the nest along a pheromone trail. Hungry ants are still foraging. A foraging ant can meander around for hours.

7. To help an ant return to the nest, try the following:

• Indoors, place a drop of sugar water or honey near the ant. Once it "tanks up" it will most likely return directly back to the nest. Follow the ant(s).
• Use a small grain of rice - wet or dry. Follow the ant(s).
• Take a few granules of granular raw sugar. Place it near the ants. Follow the ant(s).

8. Hitting the Trail: To help pinpoint possible carpenter ant trails, look for protein sources. This can be as varied as an outdoor grill, a garbage can or a pet food dish. The ants can congregate at these sources even in the daylight hours. It makes trailing them easy, particularly on a sunny day.

Also, look for carbohydrate sources. There can be aphids congregating in the underside of flowering plants or shrubs, a soda can left unrinsed, spilled jelly or other sweets.

9. If all else fails, someone will know. Ask everyone exactly where they saw the ants coming and where they saw the ants going. (This questions also works well for any other pests.) Let’s work smarter, not harder. Once you have found all of the above-ground nests, fill them with aerosol foam insulation or spray them with 4 oz. of Kleen Kill Enzyme Cleaner per quart of water. Flood those in the ground with 8 oz. of Kleen Kill Enzyme Cleaner per gallon of water.

10. There can be more than one ant trail and a few satellite nests. Carpenter ants are much more active at night, but you do not have to stay up all night - just after nightfall is an excellent time to inspect for carpenter ant activity with a red light.

11. If you know what they are eating, mix in 3% - 5% borax. Replenish with fresh baits as needed. If the ants are dying near the bait, you have made it too strong. If the ants are still there in 2 - 3 weeks you have made the bait too weak. Keep all borax baits away from children, pets and wildlife.

One of life’s mysteries is now a two-pound box of candy can make a person gain five pounds.

Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.

Time may be a great healer, but it’s also a lousy beautician.

Sometimes I think I understand everything; then I regain consciousness.

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

He who laughs, lasts.

http://www.getipm.com This last month has been an interesting one for our web site and e-mail correspondence.

1. The Los Angeles Health Department agreed not to promote a malathion-based pediculicide shampoo.

2. We received an academic excellence award.

3. A Village in India thanked us for helping them stop being routinely sprayed with pesticide poisons.

4. The National Safety Council has included us on their web site as a valuable source.

5. Doctors in Australia have voted and have included our web site as a scabies data base.

6. An Entomologist said "no mas" and asked for his e-mail accusations to be removed.

Together we are truly making a very big difference!

My Mother passed away 1/4/01 at 1:20 p.m., so I have included a lot of jokes in this newsletter. She loved my jokes. Good-bye Mom! Love, Steve

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Marne, MI 49435-975102
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