Whoever said, “You know they aren’t so bad”, when talking about having a cockroach problem. AS IF!!! And then I watched Despicable Me 4, turns out the ROACH makes a pretty good animated villain!
Somewhere this summer those little (insert a curse word) bugs found their way into my apartment. Generally, I think I know where they manifested from. There was a hole in the wall beneath the kitchen sink! (And it is sealed now). This is information or a story that no one wants to talk about. How embarrassing! People you’ve never met wondering, “how do you live?” Then I found friends have had the same problem and a sympathetic ear and a few stories shared gives you hope that you will come out the other side and not fear losing your home because of a little bug issue!
As I understand, the building went through an infestation over the past year. I never want to see the dreaded bed bug! The property management team does what they can to eradicate the situation by having pest control come in twice per year. I’m not a fan of having people roll through my apartment to “check” it out and I’m allergic to dogs, but I guess if it saves us all from the headache of sealing your apartment then, sure I guess come in with the bed bug beagle and sniff away. The cockroach approach is a bit different. I immediately thought of Dale Gribble, the fictional character from King of the Hill. He talks a big game, he is paranoid and consumed by conspiracy theories. Yes, he is a pest control expert, driving his bug truck and crawling through air ducts! I love watching King of the Hill and as soon as I heard that someone was coming to assess the problem, I almost shuttered! BUT, let me tell you, it has been a very interesting and eye opening experience with Alfie. Very direct, not outwardly critical but helpful in his approach. No drinking a beer in the back alley though! Alfie’s approach is the use of paste to attract the bugs out of hiding onto traps and it is very effective. I am thankful for that. The visits are every three weeks. The number of bugs caught had dropped, then spiked and has now been depleted to 1 bug caught.
It is an eye opening experience when you feel like you’ve been over run by this ugly bug. Your eye is peeled on everything in your house; the food in the cupboard, the dishcloth at the sink. YUCK.
This is like going to the dentist for a check up, yet very different! I will mark a 3 week countdown to the final visit! Thanks to those that shared their roach stories with me. I feel much better know it’s just not me!!
