Things that go BITE in the night

Egad. So far, since little Johnny has joined us on this big blue planet, we have had a lot of cockroaches and mice in our apartment. I can't stand them! This summer's been great - no mice and very few cockroaches, I'm sorry, water bugs. However ... last week, we gradually became aware of a bed bug infestation in our building.

First, I had some bites, which I assumed were mosquito bites. Then, I kept getting more bites. At 25 bites, I did some research and saw pictures of bed bug bites that looked an awful lot like the bites on my shoulders.

The next day, we came home to find our next door neighbor's apartment being swept for bed bugs. Hmm... we called the management company first thing in the morning, and they said they'd give our number to an inspector.

Now, it doesn't help that throughout the week, Jim made it obvious that he didn't believe we had the bugs. Easy for him to say when he has no bites! I mention this here because there's a chance he was given more information than he relayed to me, in an attempt to keep me from worrying. Of course that's silly because I feel much better when I *KNOW* what I'm dealing with, rather than pure speculation! It was a rough week in relationship-land.

So we wait a couple days for this inspector to call us, and Jim calls our management company each day to let them know we're serious. I am furious during this time because I worry that every day wasted is an opportunity for a bed bug to lay eggs in my room. Yuck!

Finally, Friday we give in and call our own inspector. Only problem is, they need our dog to be out of the apartment because they're bringing a canine inspector. I call the super to see if he will take her for a walk. I don't even get that far because as soon as I tell him we've called someone to look for bed bugs, he tells me not to waste my money - the building has an inspector on call, and there is a known issue in our wing of the building, concentrated in the apartments directly above us. Yippee! He tells me he'll call management and make sure they lean on the inspector to call. They call Jim within the hour to make an appointment for Monday morning (today). Sometimes you gotta call in the big guns.

Over the weekend, I forget my key and a neighbor (from a different wing of the building) lets me in. While we walk through the lobby, she informs me that she has seen a bed bug in her apartment. "Don't be fooled," she says, "they are everywhere in this building. It's an infestation." Oh goody.

When I get into the apartment, Jim tells me he ran into one of our neighbors ... we call her Angry Debbie because she is always up in arms about something. She told him that management is keeping secrets from us - bed bugs are throughout the building and they're trying to pretend it isn't a problem, etc. She is a piece of work, but I'm not sure how far off she is this time.

Inspectors came this morning. No bed bugs in the living room or little Johnny's room (although I must say it was a rather cursory inspection). There are, however, bed bugs on our box spring and I was able to see them with my own two eyes. I guess that would upset some people, but I was glad. I was afraid they wouldn't see them and then we wouldn't do the cleanup necessary to get rid of them and/or the building wouldn't pay for it.

I've been wanting to move out of here for so long now and I am really frustrated that it has taken so long and that we didn't just cut our losses last summer. Oh well, maybe I will remember this in the future and that will be my silver lining.