Free At Last
So as of last week, I was officially free of bed bugs. You see, I gave myself roughly a month after the move, just in case they showed up again (stowed away in my stuff). But no. I have had no bed bugs. No bites, not bug dirt, nothing.
And it's so wonderful. If you've never had bed bugs, you can't even imagine how thrilled I am. They're such a horrible bug, because they get in everything and NEVER LEAVE. Today, I made an effort to hook up my TV (finally) because some friends came over, and I wanted to give them the possibility of Rock Band (but since my RB2 disc is fucked up, we ended up watching a movie instead). And I could totally play some video games right now (and the night is still young, I have a good two or three hours before I must go to bed for work tomorrow), sitting in my comfy chair.
I didn't talk a lot about what it was like, having bed bugs, in the last few months at my old place. I couldn't sit on my couch or my beloved blue chair (I loved it primarily because it was Sierra's favorite chair, and I still miss her), because the bugs lived in there. I lived in fear of new bites every night when I slept. My stress level was heightened just by coming home at the end of the day. I hated my apartment, hated the place I had to call home, hated my furniture for harboring them. I hated most of the time I spent there, and I will forever tell others considering that rental company to stay the FUCK away, because of how poorly they handled it.
My cat has thoroughly enjoyed the new place, not just because we can finally snuggle on comfy furniture, as we did in the early days of our time together (before the bugs drove me away from all the furniture). He isn't so thrilled about the lack of places to hide (lack of furniture, in other words), but he loves his shelf chair (the one armchair where he can lie up on the back behind my head, he also enjoys it when I'm not sitting there) and even loves the red chair (the fold out bed chair, it's very wide). I admit that he'd probably be happy wherever I was, but it's still nice to be able to actually enjoy living somewhere again.
I live in fear of the possibility of bed bugs happening to me again here. It only takes one stupid neighbor to bring in a couch off the street to infest the whole building. I haven't made any effort to get to know my neighbors, mostly because it takes time and energy that I'm woefully short on, but I think they're all smart enough not to do that. But there's no way of knowing for sure.
I spent most of my time in the past year pretending, at work, that nothing was wrong. I hid a significant part of my life, because I was afraid of being fired. Of course, if bed bugs were potentially being brought to work, they wouldn't necessarily come from me (I found a dead bed bug on the U Scan machines many months back, obviously brought there by a customer). But still. The social stigma that comes from having bed bugs is horrendous. I might've lost friends over it, if I'd had any. Every time I visited my aunt, I had to shower and throw my clothes in the washer for fear of spreading any bugs to her. EVERY TIME. It wasn't like she mandated that rule, but it was a precaution I felt necessary. And considering how much time I spent there in the early days, and that they didn't get bugs, I think it was worth it.
This is not a period of my life that I will easily forget. I put it behind me now because dwelling on it simply makes me ill, but I hold this as an example to all of you. Please, BE CAREFUL. Be careful when contemplating that tempting sofa on the curb. Be careful when inviting unknown houseguests who are not as scrupulous as I was. Be careful when going to hotels (the most common place to get them). Be extra friggin' careful when researching places to rent. Please, PLEASE, be careful.
Now, I think I'll fire up that XBox, since it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy a good video game in a comfy armchair. <3
And it's so wonderful. If you've never had bed bugs, you can't even imagine how thrilled I am. They're such a horrible bug, because they get in everything and NEVER LEAVE. Today, I made an effort to hook up my TV (finally) because some friends came over, and I wanted to give them the possibility of Rock Band (but since my RB2 disc is fucked up, we ended up watching a movie instead). And I could totally play some video games right now (and the night is still young, I have a good two or three hours before I must go to bed for work tomorrow), sitting in my comfy chair.
I didn't talk a lot about what it was like, having bed bugs, in the last few months at my old place. I couldn't sit on my couch or my beloved blue chair (I loved it primarily because it was Sierra's favorite chair, and I still miss her), because the bugs lived in there. I lived in fear of new bites every night when I slept. My stress level was heightened just by coming home at the end of the day. I hated my apartment, hated the place I had to call home, hated my furniture for harboring them. I hated most of the time I spent there, and I will forever tell others considering that rental company to stay the FUCK away, because of how poorly they handled it.
My cat has thoroughly enjoyed the new place, not just because we can finally snuggle on comfy furniture, as we did in the early days of our time together (before the bugs drove me away from all the furniture). He isn't so thrilled about the lack of places to hide (lack of furniture, in other words), but he loves his shelf chair (the one armchair where he can lie up on the back behind my head, he also enjoys it when I'm not sitting there) and even loves the red chair (the fold out bed chair, it's very wide). I admit that he'd probably be happy wherever I was, but it's still nice to be able to actually enjoy living somewhere again.
I live in fear of the possibility of bed bugs happening to me again here. It only takes one stupid neighbor to bring in a couch off the street to infest the whole building. I haven't made any effort to get to know my neighbors, mostly because it takes time and energy that I'm woefully short on, but I think they're all smart enough not to do that. But there's no way of knowing for sure.
I spent most of my time in the past year pretending, at work, that nothing was wrong. I hid a significant part of my life, because I was afraid of being fired. Of course, if bed bugs were potentially being brought to work, they wouldn't necessarily come from me (I found a dead bed bug on the U Scan machines many months back, obviously brought there by a customer). But still. The social stigma that comes from having bed bugs is horrendous. I might've lost friends over it, if I'd had any. Every time I visited my aunt, I had to shower and throw my clothes in the washer for fear of spreading any bugs to her. EVERY TIME. It wasn't like she mandated that rule, but it was a precaution I felt necessary. And considering how much time I spent there in the early days, and that they didn't get bugs, I think it was worth it.
This is not a period of my life that I will easily forget. I put it behind me now because dwelling on it simply makes me ill, but I hold this as an example to all of you. Please, BE CAREFUL. Be careful when contemplating that tempting sofa on the curb. Be careful when inviting unknown houseguests who are not as scrupulous as I was. Be careful when going to hotels (the most common place to get them). Be extra friggin' careful when researching places to rent. Please, PLEASE, be careful.
Now, I think I'll fire up that XBox, since it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy a good video game in a comfy armchair. <3