It is currently raining right now, but the title of this post has nothing to do with this rain. Well, I guess it does, it a way. This is the story of what happens to me when I have to work a 12 hour shift at Mosquito Control. So in short, when it rains, it POURS
"Adventures in Mosquito Slaying- chapter two"
I had to work a 12 hour shift today. Nothing out of the ordinary...everybody has to do it. Every week we rotate, in no particular order. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we work 12 hour shifts and on thesdays and Thirsdays, we work our normal 8 hour shifts and then get Fridays off, giving us our 40 hours of work.
Tonight, it was my night to set traps in Maple Grove ant St. Charls. I left at 4:30 and headed for my first house in St. Charles and all went well. The same happenes at the second house. The Third location for a trap was not so pleasent. I had to put a trap at the dead end of Ryan Road, which just happent to be in the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, a place where we are not allowed to treat the mosquitos. THis was BAD news for me because I am ALLERGIC to mosquitos!! Seroiusly, mosquito bites on me look like red golf balls. I drove all the way down Ryan Road, expecting to find a turnaround or something to place the trap, but when I got to the end, the road just stopped. there was no IDEAL location to set the trap anywhere (we like to put them by trees or other plants that produce shade). ALL that I saw forever was waist high grass. Since there was no was to turn around, I walked into this grass, about 500 feet awat from the road and set the trap. My only wish is that it is easy for me to find tomorrow. When I got back to the truck, I realized that I would have to drive in reverse all the way back to the main road...about 2 miled. It was horrible because it was a two track dirt road and it was all muddy. Eventually I made it and headed out to Maple Grove.
The forst house in Maple grove was fine...it waw the second house where it "poured," both literally and figurativly. Bill wanted me to set a high trap here, which means that I have to throw the rope into the tree and raise one of the traps up about 30 feet. I thought it would be easy because the house was in the middle of what seemed like a forest. I drove up to the house and the entire time I was hoping that there was a turn around when I go there. There wasn't. The driiveway was once again a muddy, winding two track that I would once again have to reverse to the road on. I shrugged it off and went to set the trap. On my first throw of the rope, I missed my target branch and got the weight stuckin another tree. In order to pull it out, I had to walk through puddles and I was only wearing my tennis shoes. It was bed. I pulled and pulled on the rope, but no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't get it out. After 45 minutes of fighting with the rope and the tree, I went back to the truck to look for the scissors and to regroup. I didn't find the scissors. I tries one more time and although I still couldn't get the rope down, I managed to get another rope and manuver the two ropes together to set up the trap. this enoter time it was pouring rain and I was soaked. I was also missing a contact because I got something in my eye while shaking the tree, which caused me to rub my eye, which caused my contact to fall out.
As I went to leave, I started to calm down a little bit...that is...until I got the truck stuck in the mud. The rain had caused the driveway to get muddy and of course the trap truck doesn't have 4 wheel drive, so I got stuck. I tried to radio for help, but I was out of range and I tried to call home and Megan, but no one answered. I was doing the whole forward, reverse thing that a person does when they are stuck, but i wasn't going anywhere. All of a sudden, when I was in reverse, the truck moved! RIGHT INTO A TREE. Thats right, I backed up into a tree. The truck moving had taken me so much by suprise that I didn't have a chance to turn my wheel, which, on this WINDING driveway was more necessary than ever. So I hit a tree and dented the trap truck. And that my friends, was the end of the most gray sky day one single person has had at Mosquito Control all season. That is why it poured on me today.
I couldn't wait to go home, take a shower and wash the horrible day away. Now I have to see what tomorrow will bring. Bill was gone when I got back to base, so he doesn't know what happened. now, I will sleep the night away and hopefully I will dream of thing other than trees, traps and ropes.
