My clothes are in trash bags. I vacuumed my bed today. Everything in my house has a faint odor of rubbing alcohol, and I have to shower and change clothes every time I leave the house. Welcome to the bed bug diaries. The adventures of me and my two roommates as we live with, and exterminate, the horrible little creatures that have been feeding off us at night.
It all started a couple weeks ago when my roommate Jen told us her girlfriend thought she might have bedbugs. No problem, we thought. Just because Jen's girlfriend had them didn't mean Jen necessarily transported them back to our house on her clothes. We didn't even know for sure that their house had bed bugs. And even if they, and we, did have them, how bad could it possibly be?
Ha. Ha ha.
Long story short, they found bed bugs at her girlfriend's house, and a week and a half ago, Jen discovered a bite on her arm after sleeping in her own bed at home. And we sprang into action. In a day and a half of frenzied cleaning, my roommates and I:
- Put all our clothing, bedding, towels, etc. into garbage bags and began laundering them, drying them twice to kill the eggs (thank god we have a washer and dryer)
- Encased our mattresses and box springs in bed bug-proof allergy covers
- Cleaned everything we owned with rubbing alcohol
And that was just the first two days. In the week or so that's followed, we've also had a lot of fun caulking (leading to giggles every time we refer to it, because we are clearly 14), vacuuming, and putting ordinary household objects in the freezer. Yesterday I absent-mindedly opened the freezer looking for something to eat, and instead found my roommate Justin's collection of of strange looking figurines. Not very appetizing. But we are hoping cold kills the eggs too.
My laundry is about done. Yay! And I am going out tonight. Which means I have to:
- Take care of the laundry
- Assemble all the clothing bags I will need: t-shirts, pants, long-sleaved shirts, undergarments, socks, cute hats
- Take those bags into the bathroom, along with an empty garbage bag
- Put the clothes I am wearing into the empty garbage bag, and seal it
- Shower
- Primp, put in contacts, brush teeth
- Dress quickly, sealing garbage bags soon after I open them
- Grab coat, shoes, wallet and keys from "outside only" garbage bag
- Leave the house immediately
And leave the bugs behind! For the night anyway.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Saturday, August 30, 2008
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