Apartments Are Fun, Part: Ugh

The first time I ran the dishwasher in my apartment, the front of it fell off. Not the entire door, just the face that covers all of the wiring. Fortunately, it was a pretty easy fix, no real harm done. Just a nice little reminder that things certainly aren't what they used to be. So that was my first "Apartments are fun!" moment.

And then, a month or so ago, I posted a photo of my living room window on Facebook. Normally, your basic apartment window wouldn't seem to be remotely interesting (not that everything I FB is interesting, by any means), but this particular window was in the middle of my living room. Still is, in fact. Propped up against the wall, where it's been ever since it fell from the frame when I tried to close it. As much of a pain as it's been to have it where it is, I've been able to see the silver lining: these are the original windows, in all of their steel-framed, single-paned glory. The windows will all be replaced--hopefully before it begins to rain again.

So that got the second "Apartments are fun!" note.

And tonight, "Apartments are fun, Part: Ugh." Because we came home to find teensy gray ants all over the living room and deck. It's a third-floor apartment. But there they were: little ants in a line from the back door, half way across the living room. I don't like killing things, so there was a lot of sweeping up and throwing away. I found their nest under a plant and so threw away the nest, the plant and all of the little buggers I could find. I figured that if I put them all in the dumpster together, they could all just move into a new place and be happy together somewhere that wasn't my living room. Is that weird?

What made it worse was that, after finding them wandering around late, I wondered "Do ants sleep?" According to "The World Almanac for Kids," eh, maybe. Ants don't have eyelids, they do rest, but apparently, hooking them up to the machinery that would allow us to see if they actually sleep would be a bit bothersome to them--no doubt keeping them awake if they were trying to sleep. The World Almanac for Kids also says that "ants display many behaviors similar to ours. For example, worker ants take care of larvae by feeding and washing them." Fantastic. One more reason to not kill them: Who would wash the babies?

So there's your lesson for the day: Apartments are fun, ants may or may not sleep and Melanie is weird.