Bedbugs

I never thought it could happen to me!

After catsitting on the Lower East Side for two weeks and finding myself bite free, I was sure those nasty mosquitoes who had been biting me were retired for the summer. This may be true, since it's been a while since I've had a mosquito bite. But the first night I spent back in my own bed, I knew I was being bit. I was itching and scratching everywhere, and I couldn't force myself to sleep.

Finally, at 2am, I threw my covers off and turned on the light. And what did I find tucked in the corner of my sheets? A tick sized bedbug! I quickly killed it with a paper towel only to find that it was filled with my blood.

Well, there was no way I was sleeping now. I sat on my computer for the next 2 1/2 hours researching bedbugs. Gross! I'm so clean! How did I get them? From the cruise? From the building? Should I go to work the next day? How can I get rid of them? Ugh!! Why did this have to happen on my birthday week????

The next day I successfully left a message on my landlord's phone after being hung up on three times. I was finally able to talk to someone in the office who sent over an exterminator, meaning I had to miss a big chunk of my workday. He told me that I had a minor case, and not to worry about the majority of my clothes, though I did have to bag up everything in the bins under my bed. He did find one and it's eggs living in my box springs. I've never seen anyone spray so much...extermination chemical! He COVERED my apartment. Of course, I told him that even if he needed to spray my silverware it was fine with me, just get them out!

Well, I put bed bug encasings on my mattress and boxspring, and took my bedding to the dry cleaners. When K came home we did the same to her room. Unlike me, her bed is made with wooden slats, which we can't cover, so she's been sleeping in my bed with me.

This whole experience has brought us back together. We were able to talk through everything and I definitely feel like we're healing. We're both fighting a war against the same devil!

K actually went around asking the other tenants if they have experienced this problem. Turns out, this building has had bed bugs off and on for months, even though K and I signed a paper with the landlord stating they had no knowledge of bedbugs. We found our out!

We called the landlord's office and complained immensely! K was able to get him to tell us that we didn't have to stay and that we could likely get our security back if we wrote him a letter. You bet we're writing him a letter- a very strongly worded one!

So now we're left with this: we're both moving, separately from each other. I hope to be out of here as soon as possible and into my new place. It's just going to be rough to hire movers and pack up all this stuff, not to mention continuing with weekly exterminations until we know the bedbugs are gone for sure. I've had no bites for the past three nights, and I'm feeling very good about our situation now.

So please, craigslist posters, respond to my emails! I need to move. And please don't charge me more in rent than I can afford. Thanks.