Gordon was stung by a scorpion last night in our kitchen. His toe started swelling, so I dragged him to ER. The stings of Texas scorpions are not deadly in general, since our guys are not that venomous. You have to go to Arizona to get into serious danger. But he has never been stung before, and I wasn’t sure that if he had an allergic reaction, he would tell me about it. His default response to bleeding and other injuries is, “I’m fine.” Luckily there were three of me, as kids immediately backed me up with “Dad, go to ER with Mom right now!”
I drive him to ER in the dark. We get there and he forgot his wallet, because according to him we were all screaming at him that he was going to die. So I had Kid 1 bring his wallet while I filled out the forms and showed them the pictures of the scorpion’s corpse just in case, and they took his vitals.
Good news: he is not allergic to scorpions.
The ER person asked him if he was stung once or multiple times. Gordon said that he was stung once. The ER person asked if he thought the scorpion could sting more than once and Gordon said, “Probably. It didn’t die like a bee.”
To which, I said, “No, it didn’t die from stinging you. It died from a shoe I hit it with.”
That was apparently funny.
On the way back we got stuck waiting for the train. And waiting. And waiting. And I did that back up the vehicle, turn around and go the other way thing, which I normally do not do, because 15 minutes was enough waiting. All in all, it was a fun night, followed by close examination of the floor for additional scorpions. Another one was found and disposed off.
All is well that ends well. It seems that the test of patience is still ongoing. To give you an example, in February we ordered a new tub for master bathroom because the other one was not only broken but also badly wired. The tub has been unusable since we moved in, so after three years, I finally decided to get a nice one, the kind of tub that makes tiny bubbles and heats your water. It took a very long time to get the tub. It had to be installed, and plumbed in, and tile was placed around it. Long story short, after months of waiting, yesterday I finally got into it. It’s awesome. It has an actual shower head, so you can rinse your hair. I threw a bath bomb into it. I put hair mask on my hair.
One small problem: none of the electric functions work. They forgot to plug it and I can’t reach the cord, because they built tile around it. ::laughs:: We will see what happens today. The upgrade to scorpions was a bit upsetting, so I am hoping for something less venomous, if at all possible.
I am tired and I have the novella to edit, so, I am going to excuse myself from blogging on interesting topics today.
Please talk amongst yourselves. 🙂
Show, am I one of the firsts?????
Wow*
You’re first! ☺️
I hope it will get better ????
I don’t have a bathtub in my appartement, so each time I come home to my parents house, I buy bath bombs and spend at least 1 hour watching films while resting in the perfumed bath ???? I totally get the need for a nice bathtub.
I told myself that I would never go to Australia because of all poisonous and venomous things out there, but Texas seems dangerous as well????
Have you checked to see if anyone accidentally pushed the Drama Button? Because that may be your issue right there.
(And now this is going to drive me crazy. Where is the Drama Button from? A webcomic, maybe? A movie?)
It appears to be a website/app with dramatic orchestral music whenever you press a button https://www.dramabutton.com/ or a gimmicky ad for the arrival of the TNT network in Belgium https://youtu.be/9OIJRMqYAA0 ????
The video is awesome ! Thank you for sharing it !
That’s true, I’ve seen that as well. But there was a webcomic where all this stuff was happening and they found out after a while that someone had pushed the drama button. Shortpacked, maybe? Anyway, not important, just one of those things that’s going to bug me until I remember, lol.
Found it! It’s a drama tag, not a button. (Whatever. I’m amazed my perimenopausal brain even remembered that much.)
https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/tab
Given the week you all have had, I’m now picturing this kind of scenario. Hopefully sanity will be restored soon.
hehehehe
That made me laugh so hard!
That video was awesome!
We found a baby scorpion once in our apt when we lived in AZ. *shudder*
Well all this talk of scorpions has made me *rethink* Texas and Arizona as warm weather retirements. I think I do better with large crocs, pythons and flying palmetto bugs… Sigh. And I was so looking forward to DRY warm weather ….
Lol! Loved this!
OMG, The Emperor’s New Groove is my favorite Disney movie. I can quote it in its entirety. Perhaps I like it because it is not a very Disney movie. It reminds me of Looney Tunes. I wish they did more movies like that.
Anyway, scorpions. The only effective thing against them is a shoe. We used to live in El Paso, and there were scorpions everywhere. Luckily, no one got stung. But you couldn’t go barefoot in the house. You can also use the vacuum to dispose of them, but I am afraid that the nasty buggers will probably survive that.
They were “blond” scorpions, not black. I hated them then and I hate them now.
Emperor’s New Groove is an absolute GEM.
There is actually a reason it is so far from Disney’s usual fare! They will likely never make a movie like that again. https://www.vulture.com/article/an-oral-history-of-disney-the-emperors-new-groove.html
Thank you for the link, Meg- so interesting!
Swords are also effective if they happen to be on your popcorn ceiling.
Scorpions normally seek indoors when it gets a wet as it has been. I hate them ever since I had one fall off the ceiling in front of me. It’s a tough balancing act to treat for them and have pets. I wish you all the best and am glad Gordon’s reaction was mild.
May the edits be mild and enjoyable. Sending positive thoughts your way.
I came home last night and found a Asian Honey Bee hive in our roof. No one stung yet but my wife is freaking out over them. Today we get an estimate for having them removed. I sympathize.
Asian honey bees are closely related to European honey bees. A bee keeper might come vacuum them out for free. You just need to get the queen or get a queen, and the bees will follow the queen. Then you vacuum up the rest. Shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg, unless actually getting to them is difficult… I’ve seen some huge hives in walls recovered this way. Bee keepers love to get “free bees” LOL. Also, be thankful they aren’t AFRICAN honey bees who are much much more aggressive.
Oh no!! Glad he did not have an allergic reaction.
I hate scorpions I haven’t been stung yet knock on wood but I have woke up with one near my face on my husband’s pillow while he was at work so needless to say I did not sleep the rest of the night and had the lights on! They always say we’re there is one there is another so glad you found the other.
My German Shepard was bit by a rattle snake on Saturday so guess what I searched for this weekend. Thankfully he is doing good and didn’t have to stay with the vet.
Hope your bathtub can get plugged in without having to do much damage to the tile. My husband says I don’t need one with jets because then I would never get out of it ????♀️????
So happy to hear your pup is ok!
My Shepard had a tussle with a copperhead recently (he’s fine and still curious). We sympathize and send belly rubs!
Visiting grandma as a kid almost always involved scorpions. We would unfold the sofa bed with a can of Raid in hand, use something to knock the critter to the floor and spray, spray, spray. If it survived that, then it got smooshed and thrown away. Clean sheets and then bed. I look back on a lot of the things we kids did and wonder at our survival????.
It is my understanding that scorpions glow under black light, making it easier to find them. But there are few scorpions in New Jersey, so take it for what it’s worth. I’m glad all are well.
It has to be a specific wavelength. Sometimes you learn the weirdest things from Amazon reviews 🙂
My first experience in Texas was a flat tire late at night, backing a car off of our dolly along I-10 and disconnecting it from the moving truck in some fiercely prickly grass.
Was not grass. Just grass among giant fire ant hills and as it turns out, I’m allergic. Commence a month of misery ????
I’ve since returned to Texas and greatly enjoyed it but I’m ok up here. Pennsylvania does not have these atrocities, thank goodness.
I’m glad Gordon is ok????
Men. Mine wanted to put duct tape on a wound that ended up needing a dozen stitches. And why does it always happen at 9 p.m.?
Glad Gordon is OK.
Super excited for the novella and Ruby Fever. We appreciate what you do SOOOOO much.
Or a fever, which started during REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS WHEN A DOCTOR VISIT COULD BE MADE, then turns into a raging fever at 11p.m., necessitating an ER visit and five times the cost. ARGH.
I’ve actually stitched up hubby a time or two, for cuts on his fingers. But when he got a cut down to the bone in the middle of his forehead, I sternly said no.
Most ERs use a medical version of superglue now for cuts. No sewing needed. ????
I am on a road trip with my folks. Scorpions in the house doesn’t sound quite as bad as bugs all over the hotel room. Needless to say we were there less then 10 minutes and we got a full refund.
Are you kidding? Your slice of life blog is always interesting. I will admit I would have take an anti histamine and waited to see what happened. But I don’t know y’alls allergy history either, so that’s just me, heh. Glad Gordon is fine!
Oooo, the novella is getting closer and closer! (Rubs hands while cackling maniacally). Happy editing, hope it’s not too laborious!
I love The Emporer’s New Groove! I can recite large chunks of it, but only in German as we lived in Berlin for 10 years when the kids were little. I think its even better in German.
Glad that Gordon’s ok. I’m reading Magic Rises. When I read Gordon’s response to his toe swelling, I heard Curran’s voice. 🙂
Someone from the tub company should have checked twice to make sure everything was plugged in before the tile was done. Have fun with getting that done so you can enjoy the full benefits of the tub.
Heh, and I can definitely imagine Kate saying “no, it didn’t die from stinging you, it died from the shoe I hit it with”. Except Kate would have used a sword.
So true! XP
But she would’ve totally used a shoe if her sword wasn’t handy. Or if she didn’t want to damage the floor.
The kids bellowed like Hugh and Erra. ????????????????????
Years ago my neighbor came running out of her house crying there was a bug in her house. She was speaking in German. I didn’t understand her well and called my teenaged son who is bilingual. He was barefooted, she pointed at the bug on her kitchen floor, he stomped on the bug. My neighbor gasped and mouth hung open as my son picked up a squashed scorpion.
Apparently my children and I are not highly allergic to bees, scorpions and black widows. Probably we get it from the same gene pool as Gordon, Low Land Scots.
So there are poisons and traps for ants, mice, etc. Is there something comparable for scorpions? I ask because I’ll probably be moving to Austin area within the next year and inquiring minds really really want to know.
And was the scorpion the size of the one in the picture? I’m surprise your menagerie didn’t go after them.
There are companies in the Austin area, as well as in the counties south, Hays, Comal etc, that will spray for scorpions. They are a thing here.
Glad you’re okay, guy, and stay out of Arizona.
I don’t know if anyone else mentioned it in the comments because I don’t have time to read them all right now. But you can use a black light on scorpions to find them. The scorpions glow. Best done in the dark ????????
Scary situation, I’m glad Gordon is okay!!
+1!
+1
Hillarious. Oh, the joys of adulting!
When we relocated to Pennsylvania (in the boonies) we renovated all the bathrooms, plus a whole bunch of things, cause that’s how you usually do things in HK. I bought a spanking new bath tub to put into our master bath, cause the room is 200 sq ft, it needs it. It has been sitting there unused for 5 years, and recently been promoted (or demoted) to being the laundry basket.
One of the things I learned while living in the Texas Hill Country was to NOT kill the wolf spiders. They prey on scorpions. Consequently, wolf spiders are one of the small number of spiders I can quickly identify. ????
OMG! I loathe wolf spiders! The first year in our house, April 1, my sister called to tell me that my father had fallen and broken his wrist. I was on the phone, and as I walked to get laundry done, I saw this massive black spider thing on the floor, right in the middle of room! That thing was so big that you couldn’t cover it with a half dollar coin, and that was the body, not including the legs! I said to my sister that my husband thought it was funny to put a big plastic spider down for April fool’s day. I went to pick it up and the thing jumped at me! They are still around, but I drowned that thing in Raid as soon as I climbed down from the end table I jumped to stand on when it came at me. No scorpions in Ohio, I think, so I just kill them every time I see another nest pop out the dozens of them. The last one I saw was on the door of the building I had to enter, so I grabbed piece of really long grass and tried to knock it down because as long at they’re outside, I leave them alive. The thing grabbed the end of the grass and argued with it! They are very aggressive and used to being able to kill anything to eat it. Never would be about the day I’d let them live to kill anything else I had in the house!
I don’t like spiders. Any kind of spiders. I get that they serve a very useful purpose, but I hate their faces. This hatred and irrational fear comes from the fact that when I was a teenager, I went out to the garage to get something for my dad and saw a spider with a really weird bumpy formation on its back just sitting in the middle of the garage right in front of the toolbox. I was pretty sure it was a wolf spider (we get them a lot where I live) and I knew if I tried to go around it, it might chase me (because that has happened to me before and also contributes to the irrational fear and hatred). I was barefoot, because of course I was, and I didn’t have anything to try and prod it to make it go away, so I threw a rock that just happened to be on the floor near me at it. Cue the explosion of many, many baby spiders all scattering from their mom’s back. Cue the shriek to rival a B-list horror movie actress and the uncontrollable sobbing as I sprayed tire cleaner (the only thing I could see within reach that I thought could kill them) all over the floor to try and kill those tiny, horrible monsters. My dad is still aggravated that his garage floor is now stained from the tire cleaner and now I know if I see that weird bumpy formation on the back of the spider, it’s because they’re carrying their brood and to stay FAR FAR away.
I killed a huge wolf spider in my kitchen a couple years ago. Was just sitting on my counter staring at me. Ugh. Well, the next couple weeks, I started finding a lot more camel crickets, so I apparently got rid of their main predator. Sigh.
BTW, I’m originally from NY and moved to NC. If you’ve never heard of a camel cricket, look it up. When I first saw one, my immediate reaction was WTF is THAT??!! Harmless but super freaky.
There was a scorpion on our dish sponge once and my mom didn’t notice it so when she picked it up it stung her. It scared us too because we had never run across one before that. She just ran and put orajel on her palm because she was desperate. I’m glad Gordon didn’t have a allergic reaction.
I know this is not the answer you want, but evidently skunks eat scorpions.
… or so I was told when I lived in New Mexico.
I think between Oreo Squirrels and Wolf spiders (who also apparently hunt scorps), I’d take the spiders ????
Skunks eat all sorts of vermin! We don’t have scorpions where I live, so I’m not sure about them, but I could believe it.
Yikes! That sounds like a stressful evening.
Maybe the tub people have a gadget they can use to reach in and plug in the tub even if a hand can’t fit? I wish you luck!
F**K scorpions! I would burn the house down with those beasties in it and hide in a tub while they burn!
Scorpions, I hates them. One of the downsides of living in South Central Texas. You can spot them with a UV light. They glow in the dark, the little nasties
Because scorpions are such boring topics? I am very glad everyone is ok. That’s the most important thing.
Egadz…. I draw the line at scorpions….. and I empathize about the bath…. our tub leaks at one of the jets, haven’t been able to use it for years. I don’t ever want another tub with jets, just a soaker (if even that, I’m a shower person)…. tired of cleaning the gunk out of the tubes every time, tired of the leaks, my inner germaphobe shudders at the bacteria/mold factory aspect of the tubes….just no.
The only time I tried out a whirlpool tub, I had gotten in without starting it up. When I did turn it on, I ended up covered in someone else’s body hair. Gack! Never again!
Scorpians GAH!!!
Tub, I want mine gone with one of those step in showers.. too $$ though and maybe not practical? Good luck with your tub.
Portable bath tubs are a thing. Look them up. I did and was floored…I’m a shower girl, but every so often a tub would be nice I think. That’s when I found out about portable bath tubs (hip baths sort of)… and oh, the other thing? A portable tankless water heater for camping running off a propane tank! Egads. What a concept, a hot shower in the wild? And with a portable bathtub, even a hot soak?! Camping just went Glamping LOL
Your quote about killing the insect with a shoe: That was hysterical ????.
Glad that Gordon is OK.
Yeah: Novella- id did see that.????
I’m bad to myself. During Round Top Antique week, I rent the same very nice B&B every time. Hanging over my bed is a light globe with a dead scorpion inside. Has been there two years now. Keeps me on my toes watching out for them while in Texas. You could not pay me to tent camp there.
Wait, is it scorpion themed decoration or did they just not realise it’s there to remove it?
You’re awesome it always amazes me how you can make your cotidian life sounds so interesting. I mean I’m sorry for Gordon sure he had a hard time and I’m happy he is ok. But that Kind of things happen in Real life. You are great!
Wait! What does “cotidian” mean? I have access to a multi-lingual dictionary and the defination is not available. This is going to drive me nuts if someone doesn’t explain. Please help?
It means day-to-day or ordinary. It’s spelled quotidian in English but in Romance languages (Latin, Old French, Romanian) it’s cotidian ☺️
Thank you so much for that! I find it makes me quite twitchy when I’m unable to find the answers to things like this.
Oh lord… Someone need to Smack Murphy for you guys and repeal his law.
I am glad your hunny is ok. My hunny is like yours. He had stomach issues for YEARS and just blamed it on the medication he took and his gallbladder surgery.
After a year of me saying there must be something else wrong and a new Dr, we found out he is allergic to wheat/eggs/walnuts/pecans/apples. He is fine now…when he avoids that stuff, anyway. I still give him an “I told you so” look when he talks about it, lmao
Glad Gordon is okay. I got stung by a scorpion at around 2 am in the morning. On a weekend. Of course. In a second floor apartment. First one stung me while I was sitting on my couch reading. Then I found a second one near my bed a little later. All I remember is that it was a lot worse than a bee sting and that I didn’t get much sleep that night (fear, not pain). 😉 I ran after them with a can bug spray, stomped on them and then saved them in a jar (who knows why? Make sure they’re really dead? Evidence?). I was by myself at the time and not in the calmest frame of mind. I learned later that they often go around in pairs and tend to show up when there’s been construction going on nearby disturbing their nests. I’d be thrilled not to experience that again…
Glad you’re ok, that must have been so scary on your own!
I’m in England and I had no idea about all these ???? facts: that they’re usually in pairs, fluorescent and get eaten by spiders. Keep it coming BDH, it’s fascinating!
Thanks! Me too. Always learn interesting things from the BDH.
Thank goodness that there were three voices of reason around to insist on the hospital trip. I’m glad that Gordon’s fine and not allergic to scorpions. Phew!
Glad that Gordon is okay. That sort of stoicism is evidently prized in male company. My husband was a former army medic, so he always dealt properly with wounds, but illness – no.
He went to work every day, never took off for just feeling bad, but come the weekend – Hoo doggy!
He felt awful. Let him sleep.
Could I go get him some decongestants? And an aspirin?
What about a new box of tissues?
Couldn’t the kids be quieter?
And when he gave me whatever he had, he had to go to work!
I grew up with scorpions (deep south Texas), and was stung a couple of times as I remember. I went barefoot every chance I got so that might have been part of it.
I have not seen one here in Houston, but I would not rule out their presence in the local ecosystem.
I have more trouble dealing with centipedes and the like, but that’s me. Possibly I don’t handle extra appendages well…
Yikes!
…and ugh, bugs.
Glad all is well.
Curious about the bathtub though (I need a new one and this one sounds very nice!)
Oh my! It seems like excitement never ends at the house of Andrews! Glad Gordon is ok.
My condolences. I hope your tub is fixed soon.
Don’t know what to say about the scorpions, except it was funny.
The scorpions in Arizona aren’t that bad either. They just hurt a lot, unless you’re allergic but I’m sure that goes for any venom related allergy. As I’m sure you’ve already discovered, they are territorial, so if you’ve had them once, chances are they’ll show up again at some point. Luckily, they’re stupid and it takes awhile for a new batch to figure out that the previous batch has been disposed of and move in.
I’m so glad Gordon’s encounter with the monster turned out um…ok?
Hoping the tub is fixed soon. You deserve it.
I’m glad none of your pets were stung because getting the patient history would be really tough.
I was really excited to move into our new home with a jacuzzi tub. It’s HUGE! Then the home inspector found it didn’t work. ????Owner said it had never worked! WTF!???? Turned out it was wired incorrectly and was a 5 minute fix by the electrician. ????My next disappointment was finding the water heater wasn’t large enough to fill it. When I need tub time, I have to plan out 2+ hours to run out the hot water, wait for the tank to reheat, run it out, repeat as necessary. I also bought some stock tank water heaters to help keep the water in the tub warm thru this mess. My partner thinks I’m ridiculous, but I NEED my tub.
Almost seems to call for a point of service hot water heater installed at the tub.
Portable tankless water heaters for RVs and camping are a thing. All you need is water source and a gas propane tank, LOL. Temporary measure I’m sure for you. But Irishmadchen is right you might think about hooking just that tub up to a gas tankless water heating gadget…
I am all in for a nice bathtub with jets and heat and depth. What I really truly want is one that takes care of hair automatically as well. I have women hair loss due to the genetics my parents bestowed on me. Not their fault, but I am just saying my brother has the most beautiful dense hair of head imaginable. And clogged drains, despite using tub shroom AND outer cover are becoming a monthly nightmare. I have way tooany searches for female bald styles on my phone of late.
Also, on a similar vein, while I’m happy the world has bagless vacuums now, I want bags back. Just one single resusable one will do. The insides of my vacuum is forever dirty and forever on display and it is driving me bananas.
This wasn’t a very pleasant conversation from me. Wishing the rest of BDH and House Andrews luck with their life’s medium sucks. (None of these are little sucks)
If you get fabric softener dryer sheet and put a piece in the bagless vacuum’s dust bin, it will cut the static electricity that makes the dust stick to the sides of it. What I hate is that the stupid bins fill up too fast when I’m trying to clean the floors and don’t want to stop because one room is done.
I feel you! And thank you for the dryer sheet tip, I am going to get on that today! Dust here I come….
I moved my family from Indiana to the New Mexico desert 9 years ago. In our first few months here we got to experience the joys of scorpions. None of us stepped on one but we had a few close calls. We bought a grabber stick with disposable glue board that attached so we never had to get too close. Even so I always make my husband get them. At least tarantulas have never come into the house although I have seen a few on the more remote walking trails.
OMG. O..M…G…..
I love reading your blogs, and normally never comment. But are scorpions really that bad in Texas??? We are having a house built in Waxahachie – my husband is retiring from LE, Texas has always been our dream! But SCORPIONS you say? I knew there were some, but in reading the comments, they really seem to be like ants in NJ. And, we have 5 dogs and a very crazy cat. How do you handle it with pets? Yooowzers.
it really depends, I live in the country in an old rock house north of Austin, surrounded by fields and trees, and it is scorpion central in the summer, especially when it rains or gets super hot and they come inside to get cool/dry. They’ve fallen from the ceiling or or next to me, crawled over my feet, and I always check my clothes and shoes before I put them on 😛 but if you live in a city with very little green space around your home you might not see them. they’re like bees, the sting is just painful unless you happen to be allergic.
It’s not crazy just depends on where you live I’m not sure about the Waxahachie area as I’m in the Midland/Odessa area (desert) but we see about 2 a year in the house. I find more in my pool than the house.
Don’t be surprised to find your dog’s or cats trying to play with them if you have one/two in the house as they normally not always but normally find them first.
Just make sure to look on the ceiling and under the cover and pillows before you go to bed at night in the summer.
????
Hey Nicole,
This is the first scorpion sting House Andrews have experienced and they’ve lived in that house for a decade. It’s also on 2 acres of Texas wilderness in the middle of town ????.
Wish you the best of luck with the new house and no stinging surprises!
Lol thank you!
It doesn’t matter where you move; there’s always something annoying or hazardous in the area. You just figure out how to deal with it. That said, I’ll never move to CA, because wildfires and earthquakes are scarier to me than arthropods. Hurricanes and tornadoes are about my limit.
Take these things as a sign that your luck will turn, and for the better, soon. SO GLAD Gordon is okay. I would imagine it certainly didn’t feel great to be stung. Way to go with the shoe!
For those living in rural areas, game birds, chickens or guinea fowl will take care of scorpions, ticks, snakes and those nasty little beetles that look like lady bugs but aren’t.
Good lord -‘ there are nasty beetles that look like ladybugs?
Suddenly my day feels better. No scary stinging things here in Olympia WA. I do need a bathroom remodel, though…
Glad Gordon was okay. So we have a real-life Kate with Ilona – killing the scorpion after Gordon was attacked. 😀
I saw a YouTube about a chicken (I guess it’s must have been a pet) in a home pecking away/chasing a cockcroach in the living room while a big cat sat lazily watching the fun.
I wonder if chooks (Aussie
for chicken) can be ‘trained to attack scorpions and other nasties??!
Glad Gordon’s not allergic to scorpions.
You don’t have to train them. Chickens consider little skittery things delicacies. But it’s tough to house train them, and they’ll eat things in the garden that you would rather they not, like all the stuff you planned to eat yourself.
Scorpions?!?!? Aaahhh (runs screaming) – I know homes are not hermetically sealed, but how do they get in? Thank god (or goddess, of your choice) that we don’t seem to have them in the Pacific NW. I see occasional ants or other bugs and arachnids … usually because I notice the cats following them around the house.
Thank you (and both kids) for insisting on ER visit, and thank you Gordon for agreeing like a gentleman to go quietly.
Bathtubs — love them! I don’t have a jetted tub, primarily because they say it is not good to use bubble bath with jetted tubs and I adore bubbles … PS, favorite bath bubbles are l’Eau d’Issey shower gel, close second Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia.