On a positive note: No more signs of bugs. Lots of dead ones. Will get one more treatment tomorrow, to just be sure. I guess it matters (from all I've read, and now from personal experience) to just get a guy who specializes in bed bugs right up front, off the bat.
Scary thing is that you can get bedbugs from movie theaters, restaurants, libraries (ex tenant went to the public library for the day), and other public places and the incidences are increasing exponentially in the United States (scary). Might just save up money and get our house treated every year...benefit is that this heat treatment kills bed bugs, lice, mold, dust mites, termites, spiders, etc etc that might be taking up residence in a home
When you are in a restaurant, library, etc.....ALWAYS place your bag or purse on a solid slick (treated wood/plastic) surface and NOT on the floor or on a padded type of seat. (My PSA for the day) :)
- writtenSherlock wrote:
I think that when somebody opened a bottle on my wooden table and gouged it, he would have been gone!Where do people like that come from?
He did come from a very bad place. I felt sort of as if he was my son. I thought at first he was a little older, but when I made a copy of his driver's license, he was just 20. My son is 16. He grew up in a rough place and honestly....probably didn't know better....or isn't in the habit of thinking before he acts....was hoping to "lead by example," and was also constantly thinking of my own kids being out on their own someday...so forgiveness came pretty easily.
Sherlock wrote:
I do feel sorry for her, though. Her dignity must be in the toilet. Instead of handing out money to corrupt foreign governments, we need to be taking care of people at home. We don't do a very good job of that!And, of course, people need to do all they can to help themselves!
110% agree! The USA spends so much money "buying friendships" around the world because of the corruption that we (our government) spews everywhere....buying silence and/or submission. Purchasing a front of "humanitarianism..." while citizens are unable to find decent housing; can't get a decent education; have hungry kids with holes in their shoes and no clothes for winter; can't pay for medicine; and are going broke trying to pay off hospital bills.
Today, on FB, she posted "YAYAY....got my tax returns! Now I can have a warm place to lay my head and food to eat!" She got soooo many "likes" for that.
It infuriated me. I'm spending over 2 grand and NOT getting rent (kind of soured at the idea of tenants at this point).
We also HANDED her $100.00 AND paid for a hotel room for her for a week when we dropped her off. The hotel isn't a national well known chain that is "nicer," but it's a decent enough one in a decent part of town (and believe me....I feel very guilty and sorry for the owner to have to deal with the repurcussions of the infestations, but I couldn't just leave her with nowhere to go....); AND I told her that she needed to let me know where she is and that I will help her out. So she HAD some money and she HAD a safe and warm "place to lay her head," courtesy of us.
Futhermore, I can actually feed my family of six for a week on $100.00, and that's what I'm going to be doing for the foreseeable future, until we can get a bill paid off. I do realize it's "harder" to feed yourself economically when you don't have a fully equipped kitchen....but she should be completely able to feed herself for a week or MORE on that...and then we were going to re situate her for another week. Guess I won't do that now that she's "all good..." (sigh)
Also, all those "mutual friends" who "liked" her comment....I just wondered what she has told them. I've been discreet and not mentioned why she doesn't live here, so I'm wondering what she must have told them about me....because she has a BIGGER MOUTH and a BIGGER PERSONALITY; or maybe just a LOUDER (more abrasive, more harsh, more "I'm in the spotlight-ish" personality...or something....than I do. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the one looking bad.
Holy cow. Thought just hit me: what if she told people SHE left because WE had bugs?!?
Ugh. What a mess
- writtenYอคอญอฅฬeti. wrote:
Does he partake in the water bill in any way? It's a precious resource to waste so imprudently. The avoidance you've described, if it were a one time offence, mayhap indicates he is aware of worse transgressions, and believed you'd confront him with those, rather than this which may not have crossed his mind. To be frank, I don't much care for lavish furniture (nor does the cat), just try to mind mother's concern for it.
Get well soon, try not to overdose on poison next time.
By the way, the exterminator may have claimed it was serious to raise the price, if not prematurely negotiated. Around here, we don't take tradesmen at their word.
1. He did not help pay the water bill. If he had continued to live here, that would have changed. And I agree. Water IS a precious resource. I always tell my kids, "Some day you might not have clean water to drink...." and make them turn it off whenever possible. When they wash their hands/brush their teeth, I've taught them to turn it on to "just enough" rather than the gush that most people put the water on for those things...we are pretty careful with water. So it was bothersome to me that he was using it so carelessly.
2. I don't have much really nice/fancy furniture, either. I've tried to get nicer stuff as time goes on. The nicest I have is that dining room set. In fact, for the first 15 years of our marriage, husb and I used the bedroom set I had as a kid. The last house we lived in had no REAL furniture in the living room for 2 years. I finally got a NICE-ISH set after I saved for it and watched and waited until it was discontinued....and then got it on a huge discount.
In fact, most of my furniture for most of my life has been second hand. Which, by the way, is a GREAT way to introduce bed bugs to your home.
3. I called 5 different exterminators and got price quotes from them all, based on the square footage of the house. His was not only a bit less expensive than others, but also offered a 100% guarantee. I'm sure that the price is hiked up simply because of the panic factor. People are willing to pay in order to get rid of the bugs. Yep, I fall into that category.....
- writtenPepperJ wrote:
Oh...and exterminator said the DE works....but it takes months to get them all. The way it works is by cutting the bugs and causing them to dehydrate. It's basically microscopic crushed seashells. He also said that they know it's in the area and they will not go near it. So it WAS effective containment. And that's awesome...what I was aiming for.Now...this little girl I babysit a couple days a week has been pretty sick. She has a cough and a cold and is slightly feverish. Her mom hasn't taken her to the doctor, so I'm not sure what it is she has. Also, I have a friend who has a 5 year old daughter who has tested positive for influenza. Before this bed bug crap...as in the days IMMEDIATELY before and the day I picked up the lady to live in my house, I was over at my friend's house, helping her care for her daughter. My friend has PTSD and sometimes has problems coping with life. So I was there a couple times....helping with sick child and also with the other kids in the household.
It's entirely possible that my family has gotten sick from regular old germs!!
It's just human nature to blame the visible (as in very, very visible dust clouds that floated around whenever someone walked into the basement) than the invisible germs, but I'm pretty sure we have a germ, based on the fact that some of us are getting mild temperatures now....
My other room mate has been sick for 2 months. She's been back and forth to the doctor's office every week or so to try to figure out why she's been sick. Obviously, it's something that is going on with her that happened before DE
Also, I'm a wuss. So there's that, too. I seem to get sick easier than most.
- written
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- writtenCaraMia wrote:
Rockster?? Have you read Peppers reply to me?
I mean we BOTH offered the same idea.
I have never heard of anyone having a bad reaction to Diatomaceous Earth before this.
Maybe using too much? Like OVERKILL??
I have my own allergies too, especially to exterminating chemicals and such...but had NO problem with it.
BUT...that is me, I guess.
Pepper, by any chance did you ask your exterminator about the D Earth?
I am NOT a professional by any means, and just because of this, my handing out helpful advice are done and over.
Pepper, I wish you all the luck in the world with this horror.
Also, I suppose that you will have a tremendous job of cleaning up the D EArth from your home. You didn't mention that.
I have an unopened can in my basement...I was given "just in case".
But I did spend time with my friend..in her home....after she applied it.
I never once saw it hanging in the air.
And she has never seen another insect of any kind in her home.
Geesh...
Good luck.
And I am so sorry.
Oh, please don't get sad or anything. I'm sure that because we used it, it kept the bugs contained to one area!! So it was very, very helpful!!!! I'd rather have a bit of a sore throat and have the bugs in one area than to be happy go lucky and have them all over the house!!
And who knows? Maybe it was coincidental that we were coming down with something anyway?
All I know is that I used it so thick that it coated the carpets. Because I do dumb stuff like that. Yes, complete overkill. I should have SPRINKLED lol :) So....completely on ME :)
As far as clean up....my husb has vacuumed twice. We need to vacuum again....not to get rid of the DE stuff, but to vac up dead bodies ugh
- writtenI'm so sorry this is happening to you. I don't know what to tell you other than to maybe contact a credit counseling service....
I know once when I was in debt badly and couldn't pay, I contacted the credit card company directly and they put me on a payment plan and lowered the interest.....
- writtenI'm so sorry for your loss, Araz. Hugs
- writtenSherlock wrote:
Well . . . she did you wrong by not telling you, and she could have taken measures to rid her possessions of the bugs.
Yep. And we were thinking of letting her stay, and giving her that security and decent lifestyle and a helping hand up....right up until the time she lied about having lice, too. Of course it's embarrassing, but so are bedbugs. And we could treat the lice/bedbugs all at once and be done with it. But not if someone isn't going to admit to it and/or put in the effort (minimal....because in essence, SOMEONE ELSE is taking care of your problems for you....) to take care of it, then there's nothing to be done.
Sherlock wrote:
We must, however, also take into account that bedbugs are very difficult to eradicate, and she probably had no idea what to do about them. They are probably the reason she sought to move. Her landlord should have done something about them. An infestation of bedbugs or roaches is enough to constitute "constructive eviction" if the landlord refuses to do anything about them.
1. If this treatment we had done works, it doesn't seem as if it was hard at all....just costly. Which worries me that we will be dealing with them a few months down the road
2. She is one of those people who is very prideful about her KNOWLEDGE. She is also constantly on the internet. I'm sure she knew WHAT to do about them, but couldn't afford it. HOly cow....I've been researching them so much now that I know ALL there is to know about them, unfortunately! Also, she lived in an apartment building, all of which was infested. So.....eradicating in her apartment might not have done any good.
She also admitted to me later that she's pretty sure the infestation of the building started in her apartment, and that she knew she had them for 6 months.
Sherlock wrote:
Interestingly enough, Pepper, MOST US homes before WWII had bedbugs from time to time. Everyone knew what was meant by the old admonition, "Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!"
I know :) Kids and I went to an outdoor museum...replica of the origins of our town...with homes that the rich lived in and homes that the poor lived in and homes of people from different countries, etc. Found out that people would use turpentine on the walls and floors to try to keep the bedbugs at bay. I think houses burned down because of it
- writtenCaraMia wrote:
Pepper, I am so sorry that this happened to you!!
The best thing that I have seen someone use is https://www.diatomaceousearth.com
She, too, invited in a new room mate and wham! They were totally infested.
She used this stuff for a while and now they are totally gone.
Every other pest that finds its way in as well...it is good stuff.
She gave me some of it but I have never opened it.
She got it at WalMart.
Might be a good idea to go ahead and lay some down now before it gets too bad.
It is supposed to be the safest thing around...and it works.
I stayed with my friend for a couple of days,and never saw or felt anything in her home.
I hope you find some peace of mind as well.
And Nix is so right!
Why wait for the tax return and why didn't your new room mate exterminate their own home....
We did use the diatomaceous earth stuff. It ended up making all of us sick.....me and two of my asthmatic kids. My 6 year old got a stuffed nose and cold symptoms. My husb said he kept breathing it in and it was uncomfortable and had a sore throat. My other room mate, who has COPD, had to up her oxygen use and nebulizer use.
It's possible that we all had these symptoms because I went out and bought a 5 gallon can of it and spread ALL of it around.
Probably due to panic.
So with every step, you could see dust in the air.
If I had been more moderate, I'm sure that we would not have had symptoms.
That said, I'm sure use of it contained them mostly to her room before the exterminator came, which is awesome so thank you for your advice :)
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