Protecting yourself from mosquito bites in the Phoenix, Arizona area

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I moved to Phoenix when I was 19, and, uh, I'm not 19 anymore, and I have never, ever, seen a mosquito problem here until this year. So, in addition to telling everyone that that's why I left Minnesota, I am doing something about it.

Something that is really working for me is Repel 100 (no, they don't pay me to mention their product, I wish they did), which I got at Target last week. It comes in a small spray bottle, and you just spritz a little bit on yourself and then rub it all over your skin. Yeah, it smells kind'a bad, and feels greasy, but it works. And the reason that I know it works is that if there is an area of my skin that I miss, I get bit. Or if I go outside for just a few minutes without it on me, I get bit. And once it's on me, I can go out into the garden, watch those nasty little skeeters just fly by, and stay out as long as I want.

The mosquitos this year were caused by the enormous amount of rain that we got here recently. If you have mosquitos, don't blame your neighbor's green pool. Even if you, and your neighbors, have done everything right, it's too late. This year's crops of mosquitos have already been hatched, and they are now interested in blood.

By the way, I also spray *Bug B Gone* all over the yard, including the courtyard and the side yard. This helps a little, but really, we just have to wait for some cooler and drier weather for the mosquitos to go away, and that will be in just a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'm wearing my Repel 100 before I go out.

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