Someone has to do it. Pest control, I mean. I called the apartment management today where I live to report my roach sightings. There were two over the weekend. The first was the big mo-fo that I slayed with a broom and a hiking boot (disgusting), and the second was a tiny, itty-bitty roach I found in my tub, which I crushed quite easily and quickly with a flip-flop. Done and done. However, when you have large roaches, and cute little baby roaches (isn’t everything cute when it’s a baby, except maybe a Cobra or a bird?), you have some breeding going on. Hence the calling and the reporting of said roaches. The pest-control people come out here on a weekly basis. That’s disturbing in its own right, but at least all you have to do is place a call and someone comes into your place (you don’t have to be at home) and sprays the “living areas” and places where roaches like to travel, and it’s comforting to know they take the pest issue seriously. I called today and they came into my apartment today and sprayed. My apartment smelled kind of funny but hopefully, no more roaches for a while. I mentioned it to a couple of my new co-workers this morning and I asked, “Is this a Texas thing?” One of the guys answered, “No, it’s a Houston thing.” WTF does that mean? I really was too afraid to ask what that meant, although I did Google it and found out that roaches are more of a “hot climate thing.” Oh, and I mentioned to the apartment complex management lady that I’m also getting bit a lot by mosquitoes in my apartment. She said, “Oh, those are an ongoing problem.” Really?? This means that I don’t even have to go outside to get eaten alive. Hmmm. Apparently, sunshine and warmth comes with a price, which I’m paying with my flesh. You see, mosquito bites on me turn into huge red, itchy welts. It’s not just a minor annoyance. Perhaps I need to eat more garlic. Sigh.
Ha ha! I forgot to warn you about the roaches (Palmetto bugs as Floridians call them.) The big ones really are different than the little ones — a lot slower moving but they fly! And yes, it IS a Houston thing although it spreads out to all of the surrounding counties. I blame it on the production of pesticides in the Houston area during the 1960s and ’70s. I think it just made the bugs around there a lot heartier.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experiences, the dumbest thing you can do is set one on fire because it makes it want to fly! Let’s just say that the reason I know this involves alcohol, air rifles, and kitchen matches. Of course, I've since wondered if the fire technique would work for chickens, penguins, or ostriches. I just don't have the right predisposition to give it a try.