War Zone

The rookery has turned into a war zone. The primary invasion force landed last night. Emp. Peng. summoned me to the kitchen to identify a strange bug on the countertop. I don't know what the quarter-inch long, skinny, shiny black oblong things are, but the one on the countertop had a cloud of friends swarming around the light fixture. People toss around the phrase "cloud of insects," but these actually dimmed the room. Deploying the bug zapper and the vacuum got most of them. Today, I mounted a perimeter defense. The window most likely to be their main entry point has been shrink-wrapped, and shrink-wrap adhesive has been supplemented with clear packing tape. The tops of the windows with the air conditioners got the same treatment. The a/c units themselves have had borders sealed with duct tape. The look is something I like to call "Early Department of Homeland Security." Well, Early DHS and Star Wars. We put the giant prequel posters up yesterday in the entryway, above the front door. Where the former owners had a large, oak-framed clock, we now have a life-sized, lightsaber-wielding Yoda with the message "Size Matters Not--Except on an IMAX Screen." The first thing people will see upon entering the house is a subtly reflective Darth Maul above "At last, we will have revenge."