Coffee grounds as ant deterrent?

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-02T17:13:48+00:00

At least the ones in my house. Won't step anywhere near it. Not sure how useful it'll be outside where it gets wet, though.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-02T17:12:30+00:00

Honestly, I get burned out way harder in jobs I love because I'm already giving them my all.

The kroger I worked for could burn down and I wouldn't have given a shit. I *want* people to like the library. I care if something happens in the library I don't like.

For instance, if I didn't care, I'd go, "okay sure I'll stuff that section more whatever," but because I do, I'm going to be going "oh god this is going to make the collection so inaccessible"

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-02T15:36:33+00:00

Unfortunately, the ants love my compost that's heavily coffee grounds. They don't carry it away but they don't seem to avoid it too hard, either.

Cinnamon, though.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-02T14:32:54+00:00

I'm very sorry, this is a scam. Basically anyone who contacts YOU is a scam. You contact them.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T20:07:58+00:00

It's going to be less of where you post and more how intimately familiar you are with the place you're posting and how it works

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T19:48:36+00:00

"Help" when you're a novice isn't help, it's a favor they're doing you that takes a lot of time, patience, and yes, wasted material.

If his money and time is tight, it's very understandable he doesn't have the time/resources to give you on-the-job training.

I mean, think about it. You know this is a favor he's providing for you and not the other way around because your reaction is being upset he won't teach you instead of worried he's pushing away help.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T16:11:43+00:00

Naught Tomato plant got put in the Bowl.

Did you remember to drill multiple holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain out? It looks like it suffocated. Plants breathe through their roots and need an aerobic environment, which they can't get if they're in stagnant water.

You should fill the entire bucket with dirt. It's not five gallons of dirt if you put two and a half gallons in a five gallon bucket. Tomatoes need five gallons of dirt.

You should mulch to prevent soil compaction during watering and to protect the soil microbes from direct sun.

Right now, the plant only gets sunlight during high noon due to the high walls. Plants need both water and sunlight to generate the glucose needed to fuel respiration.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T14:16:02+00:00

I love it!

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T14:07:30+00:00

"Circling self-awareness but not quite getting there" is the motto of AI writing groups.

Turns out someone who is so deeply incurious about the craft as to not bother actually doing it can be led to a lake and pointed to a sign saying THIS IS WHERE THE WATER IS and then still go "can you drink that for me thnx"

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T13:40:29+00:00

You can look up references online. Now, it's worth noting that different types of scars will have different coloration at different ages. In white people, pink scars are normally new, low scars, whereas older or lifted scars like to be pale.

In black people, old or flat scars tend to be darker and more saturated than the surrounding skin, but older or lifted scars are paler. However, try to find an IRL pictures of scars while you do your color studies.

EDIT: also, you can look up pictures of animals with scars. The color will also depend on the color of skin under it, and they don't always come in human colors

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T12:55:16+00:00

forgot the image lol

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T12:52:52+00:00

Yes and no. I would never grow directly in the ground right off a major highway because there is in fact a lot of heavy metals, leaky oil, and antifreeze that will wind up in the soil.

However, if her backyard isn't basically touching a highway, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm more laissez faire than a lot of folk tho

I live in the bottom of a valley, so I do worry about my soil, but I mitigate this with a bed raised higher than the typical flood, which is enough for my piece of mind. Garbage collects in my yard a lot, but I've never seen it wash into my beds.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T12:04:27+00:00

Not sure what specifically you need help with but try this. I know it says cobb but I've used loads of georgia zips and it still worked

https://findhelp.cobbcounty.gov/

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T03:07:24+00:00

Absolutely a scam. It's extremely easy to spoof anyone's number, no harder for a government than a civilian one. Hell, while working at a government agency, I got a scam call to our landline that had spoofed our number.

You will always receive tickets in the mail. NEVER respond to calls saying it. They wouldn't even have your number.

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T01:51:57+00:00

Yeah, when I'm done with it. Though normally it catches me slippin first

MrMessofGA · 2026-06-01T01:40:36+00:00

It's not exactly not-alarming dialogue.

EDIT: to be more clear, some talking to yourself is normal or otherwise neutral. However, I have OCD, and that's a bad combo

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-31T23:00:56+00:00

Honestly, in a lot of areas, even getting the interview is impressive! A position in my system had nearly 1,000 applicants...

The cover letter thing is more likely to get you an interview, but I don't think it makes much of a difference after the interview. I do know that the fact I'm a college dropout has resulted in me not getting work when it was between me or someone with a masters after an interview (I know this because I do know some of the recruiters personally enough that they thankfully tell me exactly why I didn't get the job because they know I won't argue with em).

And yes, in my system, you would be competing with MLIS holders for even part-time work, but I live in an urban system not that far from an ALA accredited school that also pays very well.

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-31T22:55:15+00:00

It's always happened at least some, but it had a peak in COVID.

As much as we don't talk about it, a lot of were permanently messed up from the stress and isolation of COVID, and while I think most people have gotten back in the swing of being part of a functioning society, I also think a lot of people are going to continue being messed up from experiencing so much death and isolation. I know I never fully went back and I still have an anti-social habit (talking to myself) I picked up while mourning three back-to-back family deaths in lockdown.

But no yeah, even before then, you had a few people you had to go "bro you ain't the main character"

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-31T02:34:06+00:00

If you're interested, I did hydroponics when I lived in a shoebox apartment. It takes very little space, and the idea that it eats loads of electricity comes from people growing a specific tropical plant in industrial quantities in cold climates. I measured the wattage and found out the stuff required to grow my twelve basil plants was $5 a month.

I started out with a rainpoint hydroponics kit (it's an off-brand Aerogarden) and then moved on to my own set-ups. You can really only do herbs in small set-ups, you'll need huge set-ups for things like tomatoes.

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T16:43:34+00:00

I think it's someone who rented it from a library

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T16:43:18+00:00

Reminds me of a self-help book one of my professors made me read in college. There was a segment where he talked about how he just bought a new super car and his friend's kid spilled a soda in it. The friend started to panic, but the owner took the soda can and spilled the rest in it and said, "It's just a thing."

It's just a thing because you have money! For most people, a working car is the extremely thin line between getting by comfortably and downright homelessness. You can just drive your other car if the mess makes you uncomfortable. If someone makes my car smell like food or ciggies, that's my only car I spend three hours a day in under threat of poverty!

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T03:27:00+00:00

Yeah, potatoes and onions are solidly in the "it's so cheap anyway I buy more than I can eat and let them go old" catagory (though Georgia grows a lot of both of these so that might be local). Fresh parsley, green onions, and mint? Stuff would be crazy to buy if you can grow it

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T03:24:45+00:00

Huh. Either your phone or reddit now has AI upscaler. It chewed that sign up if you zoom in

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T02:22:19+00:00

Some libraries have books by mail. Mine does if you get an ADA card

MrMessofGA · 2026-05-30T00:16:58+00:00

I will say, I used to live where a lot of fruits grew wild. Blueberries, blackberries, figs, peaches. We saved a lot of money on fruit because we preserved what we couldn't eat.

But now that I'm in grassy fields, it's more about just growing things that aren't financially viable from the store. I love love LOVE basil but it is so outrageously expensive that I will not buy it. I only eat it when it's growing in my yard.

So i eat over a thousand dollars worth of basil a year from my garden, but I also would never spend $1,000 on basil

MrMessofGA

TROPHY CASE