Boy, I saw that headline and clicked in to find the weekly post on the' dogs pool ... Funny what stories we tell ourselves from a little scrap of input.

Long ago and far away...

I used to work downtown on 4th Avenue. Anyone remember the old Farmer's Market? The brick front on 4th that opened into a small collection of diverse businesses, from a coffee counter (pre-Starbucks) to a Chinese restaurant, a flower shop, a bakery? Anyway, the bakery was run by a relic named Tony (I think), and I occasionally picked up an apple fritter that I would nibble on throughout the day. I still remember one late summer when the showcase was so full of fruit flies that it was almost comical. Sad, really, because Tony had long since given up caring about the appearance of his wares, let alone of himself. Just felt like sharing.

By the way, I'll never forget the day when the young man who ran the coffee shop told me, "If you have any money at all to invest, there's a company called Microsoft that's going public Monday." Needless to say, I'm still working, although I doubt he is.

Thanks for the tips. It's been bad this year. These little buggers drive me mad when they swarm my wine glass. Can't get my drank on! I won't even mention how many I have accidentally ingested...oh well, 'extra protein' as my mom used to say! (Gag.)

I used apple vinegar,water and sugar in ramekins strategically placed around my townhome. It killed a bunch. In the kitchen I just sprayed w/windex twice on a swarm by the ramekin and killed a lot more.

There does seem to be a lot more than usual this year.

dm: Everytime you eat a fresh or dried fig you eat a mummified bee. In the spring bees fly inside the tiny green figs to pollinate them. The hole or "eye" they enter by (opposite the stem end) swells shut and the bee is stuck inside as the pollinated fig grows.