1. We have ants in the kitchen and they get into the water jugs. (They don't seem to infest anywhere else; we have thirsty ants.) My mother put the jugs on these grey plastic coasters we have, with a maze-like pattern, but the ants learned to climb past the maze-like ridges, and so she's put the jugs on an artfully disarranged heap of coasters of varying sizes and textures. It's worked so far, but all that's going to happen is probably that we'll be left with very smart ants, the others having died of thirst.
2. I drove! By myself! For about fifteen minutes each way (ten for a competent driver, and five if you don't drive at the speed limit), and only one almost-accident (when I stalled on the slip road). I can also park, kind of, if the lots are wide and the car park empty and the parking gods in an indulgent mood.