This is Monkey's house as seen from the apartment over his neighbors' garage. They're wonderful people and gave him a place to stay during the fumigation.

If you cursor over the foto you will see the same view with the tent over the house. Isn't that amazing?! You don't get better neighbors and friends better than that, do you? They own Thai Basil Restaurant and everyone should go there for the excellent food, service, and ambiance, served in a termite-free environment.

A foto is worth a thousand smirks.

It's time to get the gas out. Doug amazed Monkey by unzipping (i.e. unclipping) the tent's private flap releasing the gas venting mechanism. Then Doug plugged-in the fan he'd hidden inside before finishing the house tarping.

Click small animated image for more turgid animation.

With the gas well venting, the un-tenting can begin.

Relying on his prehensile appendage to increase the length of his reach, you-know-who starts pulling clips from the tarps on the deck.

Doug checks under the tent for termites. Seeing none, he gives the go-ahead for John to pull the tarpaulin off the house.

"STOP!" Monkey yells. "Glenn's still on the tarp on the roof!"

"No he's not," John scoffs. "That's an old picture from yesterday."

"Oh, good. I was worried there for a second, tee hee."

As many hours as it took to put up the tent, it took minutes to bring it down. But as the crew worked, Monkey was moved by the way the cloth draped from the roof, flowing down in tarpaulin cascades.

"Reminds me of a poem I just fixed," he said.

WHENAS in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.

Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free;
O how that glittering taketh me!

And yet, sez I, of liquefaction
I much prefer the Earth's inaction
Quick-sanding mud is such distraction.

Prey, Julia, of robe cascading
From my roof in stripes parading
Lustful gawkers' eyes evading
Get off my roof!!

Animation 1: How to Ride a Wild Tarp.

Learn how to properly fold, roll, and buck. (330k file)

Animation 2: How Not to Fold a Wild Tarp.

Learn what Monkey learned above. (230k file)

A Short Story version 1.0

Doug put the fuses back in the Air Conditioner circuit box and padlocked it shut. That restored power and turned the A/C on. "Ooops," he said to Monkey. "I need the key to open this up and pull that fuse or your air conditioner's going to run all night with the windows open upstairs."

"Sorry, the key is in the house."

"Doh!" Doug goes ooops. "Where's the thermostat?"

"Upstairs."

The fotos below tell the rest of the story.
Only one, however, can be clicked-on for a larger, more scarier version. Can you guess which one?
 

A Short Story version 2.0

"Doug!" Monkey felt sorry for the guy. "You should have done that before you sucked all the breathable air out of the house."

The big boss-man arrives the morning of the 3rd day with his special death gas geiger counter. As all scientific equipment, the meter requires repeated tapping to make it display the number one wants, not the reading it has.

"If the house is safe, it will always read zero," Bart explains.

"Don't worry," Opice assures. "You'll definitely find this house is full of zeros.".