Bluegirl, that's a good point about adjusting to whatever your experience says is normal - like traffic noises or train sounds if you live near their passages, or heat in a Nevada summer, or cold in a Minnesota winter. It's just what you expect and we build positive associations with it for the pleasant events that happen in that period. As a relative outsider to cicadas, the negative associations have gotten firmly established before any positive ones could set in. Tammy and MG have plenty of their own negative experiences too, and if they start laying eggs in my rose canes we'll definitely move them into my mental "bad bug" category. Of course, I'm not big on loud repetitive uncontrollable sounds anyway - having lived in landlocked places all my life I find the sounds of ocean waves to be slightly disturbing and annoying, though not to the same extent. I'd way rather listen to crickets chirping than a tape of ocean sounds during "deep relaxation" parts of yoga class, but I realize I'm in the minority here. So, Michael, if these chirping sounds are all mating behaviors, does that mean that crickets and grasshoppers are just more, um, horny than other bugs, or is it that they have quicker life cycles and we're hearing new generations of cricket males like perpetual teenagers desperate for a date on Saturday night? You'd think if the same old thing didn't get results last night, they'd give up or try something new, but I guess that doesn't apply to teenagers either... Cynthia

I had a bad infestation of crazy ants at my old house. I kept them at bay by mixing boric acid and vegetable oil and putting it on small cardboard squares I cut from a cereal box. I place them where they came in, and all along their paths. It took awhile to get rid of them, but they finally succumbed. The hardest ones to get rid of were the ones going into the attic. I mixed boric acid with vegetable oil and molasses and smeared it on the outside wall where they were marching up to the eaves. Pretty soon, they were all dead. I'm sure now that no one is living in my house, the bugs have taken it over completely.

Yup, I've got one now. I cough a lot since I have asthma and I live on a dirt road where avoiding dust is impossible, on top of my regular allergies. Two years ago I was laying on my back watching TV in bed. Not a good position to be coughing. All of a sudden I had a very heavy cough, felt a weird pain at the top of my abdomen. I put my hand there and there was an egg size bump. It didn't hurt after it popped out but I still went to the doctor. He said my hernia is around scar tissue where I had surgery there 10 years earlier and it's common for that to happen. He said most people just live with it unless it causes problems. And he told me about the mesh surgery but said I would be a good candidate to get the hernia AGAIN since I'm a cougher. The only time it hurts is if I bump it into something, like leaning over the washing machine getting clothes out which hurt like He!! and I never did that again. So I'm keeping an eye on it and if it starts to feel strange in the least I'll have it fixed. But I'm sure my hernia is way different from umblical hernias.

I am post menopausal at age 49. Going through menopause since age 40 and finally post after 45. Once or twice a year, I get the same symptoms you have. In fact, having the same syptoms now. It started on Thanksgiving Day and will last a few weeks and then go away, or I may have some bleeding. I also get a migraine with it even though I have never had a history of migraines before. The best thing for you to do is to go to your physician. it could be something entirely different!