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A Drink (Or Other Casual Encounter) With The Devil

Reminds me of how my old dear (haha) believes 'unexplained' crashes happen. It's bees and wasps. They fly into the car and buzz around distracting the driver who naturally hits a tree at speed. The stripy culprit then leaves unharmed.

I thought this a bit silly as drivers are generally not prone to panic at the sight of insects. If they are, they can just keep the windows closed.

However, a few years ago there was a TV drama based on this premise - a disastrous crash caused by insect-distraction - so maybe Mother was right after all.

I have been stung by a bee that appeared in a car when all the windows were closed (it was probably dozing away somewhere in the upholstery and woke up). And I must admit to a fair bit of erratic driving when the damn thing starting buzzing round the back of my neck! Luckily a quiet road, but yes, I can see how this could be a thing.
 
I have been stung by a bee that appeared in a car when all the windows were closed (it was probably dozing away somewhere in the upholstery and woke up). And I must admit to a fair bit of erratic driving when the damn thing starting buzzing round the back of my neck! Luckily a quiet road, but yes, I can see how this could be a thing.

Few years ago as I cycled home from work a bee or wasp flew up my armpit and stung me. Thought I'd been stabbed. Dunno how I didn't fall straight off!

Did a smart detour to Boots the chemist for bite cream & slathered it on there & then.

Note to self: running shirts with short loose sleeves are no good for biking.
 
Reminds me of how my old dear (haha) believes 'unexplained' crashes happen. It's bees and wasps. They fly into the car and buzz around distracting the driver who naturally hits a tree at speed. The stripy culprit then leaves unharmed.

I thought this a bit silly as drivers are generally not prone to panic at the sight of insects. If they are, they can just keep the windows closed.

However, a few years ago there was a TV drama based on this premise - a disastrous crash caused by insect-distraction - so maybe Mother was right after all.
This is an issue in Australia, isn't it? Drivers flip down their sun-visors, and in doing so deposit a huntsman spider or some other equally unpleasant insectoidal thing into their laps, with concomitant effects on their due care and attention.

I may have posted elsewhere on here about the impact a wasp had on me when it flew in through the open window of the hire car I was driving and hit me on the ear. I was doing about 60 mph. It bloody hurt. I managed not to lose control of the car, but I could easily understand how you might. As it was, I had to pull over and contemplate the wonder of nature for a while, until the pain had eased sufficiently for me to feel able to continue. And this was in the UK, where the wildlife is generally of reasonable proportions.
 
Not enough!
“The UK's deer population is believed to be at its highest level for 1,000 years, with some two million deer in our countryside and semi-urban areas.

There are thought to be some two million red, roe, fallow, sika, muntjac and Chinese water deer in Britain’s countryside and semi-urban areas, the highest level for 1,000 years.

Numbers may have doubled since 1999...”
https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/deer-culling-in-britain-facts-and-statistics/
Time to call in the wolves . . .
 
Reminds me of how my old dear (haha) believes 'unexplained' crashes happen. It's bees and wasps. They fly into the car and buzz around distracting the driver who naturally hits a tree at speed. The stripy culprit then leaves unharmed.
I thought this a bit silly as drivers are generally not prone to panic at the sight of insects. If they are, they can just keep the windows closed.
However, if an ARACHNID shows up, it is essential to OPEN THE WINDOW, QUICK, BEFORE WE CRASH! Especially if they are the type that pop out from behind the sun visor so that they're right next to your hairline. :spider:
 
When he eventually calmed down .he told them that the week before he had been walking near the lake and he felt he was being followed. He looked at them both sincerely and told them he had seen what he believed was a dark entity following him. fleeting behind trees. He told them he threw stones at it and ran. He was apparently terrified when reporting this.
After posting the previous two facetious remarks, I hopped to the sleep paralysis thread and followed a link posted there to art work depicting what sleep paralysis feels like. The pictures strongly conveyed the horror of being crept up on and clung to by shadowy, malevolent shapes. Could episodes like "Derek's" experience be related to sleep paralysis, but experienced in a waking, mobile state? Maybe triggered by the right combination of sleep deprivation, stress, anxiety and something like a vitamin deficiency?

My sympathy to you both, Lizard King and Swifty. It's traumatic for a community when young people die, especially by their own hands. I often wish we could have a "sympathy" button along with the "like" button.
 
Time to call in the wolves . . .

Hmmm: Ban foxhunting, where a pest species is chased, cornered and torn apart by a pack of canids, yet reintroduce wolves to do the same to deer?

I also think that Britain's cat and dog owners might have words to say about this, to say nothing of the livestock farmers.

Let's ask a muntjac:

"So my options are:

a) An unexpected rifle bullet through the heart from ambush while I blithely go about my daily business, or;

b) Being run down to exhaustion, then eviscerated alive
.

This is so perplexing. Can I have a minute?"

maximus otter
 
Hmmm: Ban foxhunting, where a pest species is chased, cornered and torn apart by a pack of canids, yet reintroduce wolves to do the same to deer?

I also think that Britain's cat and dog owners might have words to say about this, to say nothing of the livestock farmers.

Let's ask a muntjac:

"So my options are:

a) An unexpected rifle bullet through the heart from ambush while I blithely go about my daily business, or;

b) Being run down to exhaustion, then eviscerated alive.

This is so perplexing. Can I have a minute?"

maximus otter
I came out of work last week at almost 11pm, the sea threat fog was down and the spotlights lit up a muntjac walking past in the haze, magical moment at the time Max but I also really like venison steak ..

Who killed Bambi? (not Max this time)

 
Satan, was an angel yes, he was created by God, but he thought that he was more powerfull then God was, so him and 1/3 the angels in heaven fell to the earth, where they remain till Jesus returns and bounds satan for 1000 years, then he comes back and finishes him off, and destroyes the earth once and for all. you will all see soon enough, that God is the way, the truth and the light, but i'm not gona force any of you believe, it is of faith that we are saved
As a kid, I always felt really sorry for the devil because it seems he got sacked from heaven for wanting humans to have free will and this pissed off god. As apparently god is a bit of a tyrant and wanted his will to have dominion over absolutely EVERYTHING!
 
As a kid, I always felt really sorry for the devil because it seems he got sacked from heaven for wanting humans to have free will and this pissed off god. As apparently god is a bit of a tyrant and wanted his will to have dominion over absolutely EVERYTHING!
The Devil was the GOOD guy? Who knew? :D
 
As a kid, I always felt really sorry for the devil because it seems he got sacked from heaven for wanting humans to have free will and this pissed off god. As apparently god is a bit of a tyrant and wanted his will to have dominion over absolutely EVERYTHING!

This is a theme of Milton's Paradise Lost. Satan/Lucifer sees no reason why God should be the boss; 'Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.'
I love Milton.
 
I'm probably going to look incredibly stupid but what is this infamous wayback machine? I keep seeing references to it and would love to know...

It's the more popular label for the archival Web repository maintained at archive.org. The name comes from the Mr. Peabody cartoons presented on the original Rocky & Bullwinkle show in the 1960's.

Peabody&Wayback-2018-A.jpg
 
This is an issue in Australia, isn't it? Drivers flip down their sun-visors, and in doing so deposit a huntsman spider or some other equally unpleasant insectoidal thing into their laps, with concomitant effects on their due care and attention.

I may have posted elsewhere on here about the impact a wasp had on me when it flew in through the open window of the hire car I was driving and hit me on the ear. I was doing about 60 mph. It bloody hurt. I managed not to lose control of the car, but I could easily understand how you might. As it was, I had to pull over and contemplate the wonder of nature for a while, until the pain had eased sufficiently for me to feel able to continue. And this was in the UK, where the wildlife is generally of reasonable proportions.

This is a thing. Happened to my father in law who's Irish and terrified of all spiders no matter the size. He put down the sun visor only to have a Hunstman drop into his lap, the slammed on the brakes without looking what was going on around him and jumped out of the still moving vehicle and ran. Fortunately he caused no damage to anything aside from his pride.
 
This is a thing. Happened to my father in law who's Irish and terrified of all spiders no matter the size. He put down the sun visor only to have a Hunstman drop into his lap, the slammed on the brakes without looking what was going on around him and jumped out of the still moving vehicle and ran. Fortunately he caused no damage to anything aside from his pride.

You'd think Aussies'd check the visors each time they got in the car. I would, after reading all this, and I'm certainly not arachnophobic.
 
I read a tale once of German Soldiers (paratroopers) on Monte Cassino before the battle that killed so many on both sides. They swore that they had seen "the Devil" laughing on the slopes of the mountain in the moonlight.

Would love to know where I read it, maybe a poster on here can help?

I think that might have been part of a Sven Hassel novel. Can't recall the title, but seems very familiar.

If the devil had been there, he'd have pissed himself at what was to play out during and after the battle. The body count was high, which is understandable in the fight for such an important strategic position, but the monastery atop the Monte was flattened by the USAAF, despite there being an agreement that the Germans wouldn't install troops there. (Once it was rubble though, they dug themselves in and it was this which made the fight to take the position so tough)

Old Nick must have loved to see the obscene way the Catholic church spunked millions and millions in post-war restoration of the Abbey, to make it EXACTLY how it had been beforehand.
It is breathtaking, no two ways about it, there's no sign of the bombing or the fight (other than the HUGE cemetery out the back), and it seems like you have stepped into a genuine original medieval religious hideaway. Value for money? What other worthwhile causes could have benefitted from such a serious cash injection?
Satan laughed.

“The UK's deer population is believed to be at its highest level for 1,000 years, with some two million deer in our countryside and semi-urban areas.

Never mind the big beasts which may cause you to crash, but beware of the passengers the deer carry. An increase of the deer population, coupled with our milder winters of late, means there's a lot of ticks out there, looking to re-locate to a new host. Ticks = Lymes Disease, so keep an eye out for bites,
 
You'd think Aussies'd check the visors each time they got in the car. I would, after reading all this, and I'm certainly not arachnophobic.
Nah. Most of the time, they crawl out of the air vents anyways, especially on hot days when you put on the air con.

It helps to remember that they look terrifying, but are actually harmless to humans.
 
This is an issue in Australia, isn't it? Drivers flip down their sun-visors, and in doing so deposit a huntsman spider or some other equally unpleasant insectoidal thing into their laps, with concomitant effects on their due care and attention.

I may have posted elsewhere on here about the impact a wasp had on me when it flew in through the open window of the hire car I was driving and hit me on the ear. I was doing about 60 mph. It bloody hurt. I managed not to lose control of the car, but I could easily understand how you might. As it was, I had to pull over and contemplate the wonder of nature for a while, until the pain had eased sufficiently for me to feel able to continue. And this was in the UK, where the wildlife is generally of reasonable proportions.

My brother's step-daughter flipped her car end over end because a spider caused her to panic. She was going down a steep hill at the time and it was a miracle she wasn't injured. (No word on the fate of the spider.)
 
Never mind the big beasts which may cause you to crash, but beware of the passengers the deer carry. An increase of the deer population, coupled with our milder winters of late, means there's a lot of ticks out there, looking to re-locate to a new host. Ticks = Lymes Disease, so keep an eye out for bites,

I wonder when they are going to come out with an equivalent of Frontline for humans?

Edited to add for anyone who doesn't know; Frontline is the stuff you put on dogs and cats that kills ticks and fleas.
 
Nah. Most of the time, they crawl out of the air vents anyways, especially on hot days when you put on the air con.

It helps to remember that they look terrifying, but are actually harmless to humans.

Oh right, if they don't bite they're still mates of mine! I like spiders.
 
I wonder when they are going to come out with an equivalent of Frontline for humans?

Edited to add for anyone who doesn't know; Frontline is the stuff you put on dogs and cats that kills ticks and fleas.

That'd be good. Otherwise you just have to cover up.

When I walked my dogs in t'woods I'd always wear long sleeves and jeans rather than shorts, not because of ticks but to keep off the horse flies. I'd even wear little cotton gloves in case I was bitten on the hands. The gloves had cotton lace inserts and the little buggers used to bite me through them!
 
That'd be good. Otherwise you just have to cover up.

When I walked my dogs in t'woods I'd always wear long sleeves and jeans rather than shorts, not because of ticks but to keep off the horse flies. I'd even wear little cotton gloves in case I was bitten on the hands. The gloves had cotton lace inserts and the little buggers used to bite me through them!

Unfortunately I run, and running gear isn't noted for it's insect-proofness. When it's hot I'm running in just shorts and a t shirt, and at the moment a lot of the undergrowth is at chin height, so I'm having to be really careful.

I want them to develop human Frontline too because I'm really susceptible to flea bites and it costs me a fortune keeping my dog (who is entirely untroubled by the little buggers biting her) flea free.
 
Unfortunately I run, and running gear isn't noted for it's insect-proofness. When it's hot I'm running in just shorts and a t shirt, and at the moment a lot of the undergrowth is at chin height, so I'm having to be really careful.

I want them to develop human Frontline too because I'm really susceptible to flea bites and it costs me a fortune keeping my dog (who is entirely untroubled by the little buggers biting her) flea free.

Yup, one thing I don't miss about keeping dogs is the flea situation! Dog fleas are ferocious. Cat fleas are like little friendly cousins by comparison.

We cycle as you know, sometimes in places with strong tick potential. I'm considering going with full-length cycling tights instead of my regular racy skin-tight shorts for those runs.

Ticks're HORRIBLE. My JRT used to get them and we'd have to burn them off. Luckily she was a trusting dog and didn't mind the extra fuss or it could have been nasty.
 
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