Hooters Aly Begins Her Journey To Miss Hooters International, Fight Breaks Out At Barbie Movie & Prison Jim Harbaugh
When I wasn't looking the price of a big bag of ice at the gas station went nuts
How do I know inflation is still a complete mess? Last night, I went out to buy the text group MegaMillions tickets (hit a few Mega balls for $2) and as I was pulling the sled up to the gas station, the price of ice caught my eye because Saturday morning I will be buying a bunch of ice on Put In Bay for a certain golf tournament you might've heard about over the last few months.
Anyway, the price of the large bags is up to $6.29 a bag. I nearly fainted.
And it's possible that $6.29 bag of ice has shrunk over the last couple of years, especially when you learn shrinkflation was going on in the fall of 2021.
Now, I have a golf tournament to run and I'll pay whatever the price is for ice on the island, but this just goes to show you how crazy things have gotten in five years since I started running the tournament. I think the first year we charged like $35 to play. Then it went up to $40.
Honestly, when you figure in the price of ice and tourney supplies, this might be the biggest steal in golf tournaments right now.
Can't wait to see those of you making the trip this weekend.
Enjoy the ice. It's costly.
I'm intrigued by this John in Houston guy who was shot out of a cannon via the raccoon discussion
You guys have determined that John in Houston is officially the new sheriff around these parts and I'm not about to argue with such a declaration. The guy means business, especially when it comes to raccoons.
• John in Houston writes back:
OK, I didn't think my original update would have generated such responses, but what can I say? I feel passionately about those devil chicken murderers. Since I sent you that email on Thursday, we've killed three more of the bastards and thrown them into the highway ditch ("bar ditch" in Texas vernacular). I'd say I want them to rot in hell, but rotting in the ditch under the Texas summer sun is still pretty close.
Some questions have been asked, so I wanted to give some answers:
1.) I'm honored to be nominated for Sheriff, but if it's an elected position I'd probably get run out of office by the press within a matter of months for committing wrongthink. Four years of an Ivy League education apparently didn't work and I came out with all of the wrong opinions.
2.) Deer aren't much of a problem where I live, but squirrels and feral pigs are. I have just over 100 pecan trees on my property and both of those pests will damage the trees and the pecan crop in the fall if given a chance, and both are very difficult to trap compared to raccoons. As far as hunting them, I do the best I can, but the squirrels are able to get up into the trees pretty quickly and hide before I can get inside to get my gun and the pigs have so much to eat around here that they move around a lot and don't reliably come back to the same place every night. My wife especially hates the pigs because they will absolutely wreck her vegetable garden, especially root vegetables like carrots and beets and onions.
3.) No one asked, but I use "dog-proof" raccoon traps baited with cat food and marshmallows and chained to a t-post. They are like little steel cylindrical mousetraps with much stronger springs. Most animals can't reach inside to get the treats out, but raccoons can get their grubby little hands in there and then they get stuck and just sit there all night struggling and waiting to meet their doom the next morning.
OK, that's all I've got. I have real work to do this morning (I'm only a pretend farmer, I have a real job too). Keep up the good work.
- John in Houston
ps - I 100% support you against the travel ball menace. I've had my own experience dealing with those idiots and their dumb attitudes. Community rec ball is so much better for EVERYONE, especially the kids.
Kinsey:
You're damn right I asked John which Ivy League school he attended.
"Harvard (mid-90s grad)," he replied.
This is exactly why I get up so energized each morning for this column. You just never know the characters that are going to come along and share a little bit of their lives with this community.
One day we'll have Beau in Toledo and the jet fuel he puts into his lawn mower (which then led to jet fuel experts weighing in on jet fuel...just fascinating layer upon layer of discussions) and the next day along comes Harvard-trained John in Houston opining on raccoons and the trouble they cause his farm.
I LOVE every single minute of it.
Here's something I wasn't expecting to read via the inbox
Mike T. in Idaho tells me that he loves Dateline and there's no way he's canceling his Peacock subscription because "they have like 30 seasons on there!"
"Best $5 a month!" he adds.
Dateline?
Honestly, Keith Morrison's voice just makes me think somebody is about to be murdered in some horrible way and then a full investigation is about to break out for the next hour. Morrison's voice freaks me out.
We have a scumbag problem
"But they're just hungry," according to the wokes.
Yellowjackets
• Patrick from Spokane, WA writes:
We have a pretty bad yellowjacket problem here in the inland Pacific Northwest. I am allergic to those little a$$holes - I have to carry around an Epi-pen. You mentioned yellow jacket traps from Amazon - by chance are they RESCUE! brand?
That is a Spokane company (Sterling International) that manufactures them here in the USA. My co-worker's husband is in management there. Great products - they have many different types of traps. They work well. Best of luck.
Kinsey:
I received multiple messages from readers who use the Rescue brand yellowjacket trap.
Full disclosure: #NotSponsored
I didn't buy the Rescue traps, but after reading through all the reviews of the Rescue traps, I will be buying them after I test my latest purchase. If I've learned one thing from this column, when multiple readers email within 30 minutes of the column going live about the same topic and same conclusion, it's typically a spot-on review.
• Greg in Pinetop, AZ writes about the Rescue traps:
I’ve wrote you before recommending these traps. In 2 seasons they have completely eliminated yellowjackets from my ½ acre property (2 traps). The bonus is that the smelly upper upper chamber solution also traps and kills common flies. It’s a win-win!
That's it.
Despite the NFL guys putting on the pads this week, we really are scrambling right now for sports stories. I had planned to take my son to see Ohtani pitch this week in Detroit. Nope, not happening. The Angels moved his next start to Friday in Toronto.
Take care. Have a great day at work.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com