People say the art of the perfect cup of tea is something to be pursued over a lifetime. I can see why.

I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately. Mostly green, with occasional cups of black chai or mint. Currently, I’ve been drinking mostly Gunpowder Tea from Adagio. Good stuff!

Spring is my favorite season. Every day slowly gets warmer, and things turn green around you. The breeze is nice, and for the most part bugs haven’t come back. For the most part.

I hate bugs.

So technically I’m posting this past midnight (May 17). But it’s still the 16th in California! (And besides, I had it finished well before the day was over anyway.)

Anyway, I was assisting a user up in a research lab one morning. All of a sudden she goes crazy and points out a roach who was just chilling by the base of my chair, minding his own business. She kyaaaa’s off somewhere while I planted my foot on the little sucker (body ~1.5″) and kept working away. She comes back with bug spray and some tissue, only to find what was a roach was now a roach pizza.

She then tells me, “Thank you! I’m been trying to kill that one all morning!”

Girls. Seriously.

I am thankful everyday that we are at the top of the food chain.

Can you imagine how life would be different if we had to deal with something like that everyday?

“Alright boys, it’s almost 6. Time to go home. The spiders will be out soon.”

stolen from Imdb

The pirates which have plagued me this week and the past week are much more angry. The little brutes responsible for my recent string of bites along my arms and legs are small winged insects, aptly named Pirate bugs. Normally, they are a boon to gardeners and farmers alike, as they go around hunting pests like aphids and mites. But apparently, around this time of the year as Summer really dies down, these normally calm insects go crazy and begin biting everything they can.

They’re about the size of gnats, so you can imagine my surprise when I thought the gnats were going crazy and rabid. Upon closer inspection, you notice these non-gnats pack a giant stabby thing which hurts. They leave small itchy red bumps which annoy me. Another thing you notice is that they usually don’t fly away after having bit you, giving you plenty of time to swear, apprehend and squish between your fingers. How can you fend off the enemy which fears not death?

This Summer, they’ve been especially bad, so I’m eagerly awaiting the first frost to knock them all out.