Bugs

I had to get up earlier than usual this morning, because I had to be at work earlier than usual. 

In fact, I had to be at work at 7:30, which is normal for some people, but for a person like me who would happily sleep until 10:00 every day if she could, it's downright painful.

So I got up around 6:20, which meant that I was cutting things very close, and I went into the kitchen to light the fire under the kettle.   I can't remember the exact sequence of events, because I was very drowsy, but at some point I saw a medium-sized cockroach scurrying across the counter top near the dishwasher.  I tried to kill it with a paper towel, but I missed it and it disappeared somewhere.

My memory is hazy, but I know that not five minutes later I saw a roach scampering down my bathroom wall.  I caught that one. 

I also found a little beetle lying near the bathtub.

In fact, feel as though I found hundreds of bugs this morning, but when I think about it carefully there were only three, maybe four if I'm forgetting one.

These bugs - the roaches especially - seem to come and go mysteriously.  Sometimes months will go by and I won't see one, and then I'll have a morning like this morning where I feel as though there's one everywhere I turn.  I suppose that if they're in the building you live in, every so often they'll pass through your apartment looking for a snack and a drink of water.  It's difficult to never oblige them, especially if you're a perpetually tired person like me who tries hard to be tidy but is not always meticulous about sweeping up every last crumb every night before bed.

My mother-in-law, a meticulous housekeeper, has told me that I must spray, spray, spray!  But I don't want to spray, because I read too many articles about the ill effects of toxic chemicals and I don't want my future children to be deformed and brain-damaged, as they surely would be if I inhaled one breath of Raid.

So instead I sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle... Borax, to be exact.  Yes, that weird laundry booster, the 20 Mule Team stuff, that has Boric Acid in it.  Boric Acid is natural (not that natural means safe - look at those poisonous mushrooms) and non-toxic to humans.  Bugs walk through it, get it on their little feet, and then eat it when they're cleaning themselves, and it does kill them. 

It's hard for me to measure how effective Borax is.  In the past I've "dusted" it in the corners of my kitchen and bathroom, and it definitely seems to reduce the number of visitors.  However, bugs have to walk through it to get a dose, and it doesn't kill on contact, so it's not impossible that even though you strategically sprinkled with Borax, you might come across a roach who's just checking things out in your kitchen before passing on to the next apartment.  I do like it though, and I'd rather use that than spray everywhere, when that probably wouldn't improve things much more.  The only thing you have to be wary of is getting it on fabric you like - Borax can discolor it. 

So my mission for the evening is to sprinkle some Borax, and I'm hoping that it will reduce the number of unwanted guests I find in the morning.  Aside from the bugs, I'm fine - just tired and as always wishing that I would get more done on the weekends!  I always start the work-weeks feeling as though I haven't even begun to enjoy my time away...