Wasp Attack

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I don't know if I've ever mentioned this in any of my blogs before, but I happen to be a Trustee in my subdivision.  A Trustee I've come to learn over these past 4 years is part policeman/enforcer, part collection agent, part friend, enemy, helper, landscaper and a few more things. 

This past week, I noticed that the 4 large street lights around our traffic circle were all out. Strange, because the night before, they were working like champs. I just had an electric company not yet one year ago clean and replace all 4 lamps and wow....was I surprised at the cost!  Could all 4 lights be out simultaneously?

My first instinct was to call AmerenUE to find out if the power had been turned off or interrupted to the the lights.  I was told by a friendly worker that it could take 5 to 10 days before a field engineer could investigate.  Today, and much sooner than expected, I got the news the power is all there.  Drats!!!!  That means an expensive call to the electrician.  

On my neighborhood walk in the early evening, I thought I'd do some troubleshooting of my own....usually this gets me into trouble.  Yep, there was the meter box...hmmmm, looks like a door here?  Maybe behind the door would be the breakers and maybe the one that takes care of the lights had tripped? Simple right? 

Not seconds after my left hand began to open the hatch did I feel a bunch of something fall on my inner forearm...darn....WASPS!  A ton of them flew out and so did I...but it was too late, two stings on that arm....ouch!   I went home, got my spray and did some Rambo action....All dead! What I discovered on the inside of that door latch were two large nests and I unknowingly had disturbed their hidden condos.   I flipped the breakers (0ne looked like it had been tripped) and then went home to get sting relief.  I had one stinger still in my arm...the internet sight said to remove it by rubbing the edge of a credit card over the stinger...it worked.  Now what to take for the welts.  Of course I popped a Benadryl and put ice on the stings.   Then I made a paste out of baking soda and water and applied it.  Then I put a few drops of vinegar on the stings.   

Okay, that night, I went back to the scene of the sting...good news the lights now work so my adventure was not for naught.  Bad news, the stings still hurt and one has left a nice welt.   

What do you use for WASP sting remedies?  When I was a kid growing up, my parents swore by a pipe tobacco paste.  No pipes in the house other than water, so that one was not an option today.