Did I mention they're still around?
And HUNGRY?
I'm no longer sleeping in my own bed. Mostly, however, because half the world is stacked on top of it. That's on Richard. The bugs were getting so bad I'd wake up every few hours, turn on the lights, hunt, squish and flush, multiples at a time. I'd learned to fake them out before I went to bed by going in a few times after dark, turning on the lights so I could see them out and about, and after clearing the top of the bed, sitting on it, jiggling it around, doing whatever I could to convince them their meal had arrived. Then I left them in the dark for a bit again.
It worked. But I was still outnumbered. So Richard pulled out the drawers, emptied them onto the top of the bed, and took the drawers outside. Then the old diatomacious earth was removed and a fresh layer applied around the eddges of the floor and bed. And there it all sits.
Time for more research. I rediscovered something I'd spaced the first time I read about it: rubbing alcohol. 70 %. Kills on contact, harmless to humans, cheap. OK, scratch that last. Also scratch anything you may be thinking about availability. Reason? Uh, have you forgotten the pandemic already? Apparently the rest of the world hasn't. At least now it's available, and without a 6-week wait for delivery. But cheap? Not so much. I ordered some anyway.
Steve started complaining about bugs reestablishing themselves in his bed and his lift chair. Linens got laundered, diatomacious earth spread around again. A day of peace resulted. Luckily the alcohol also arrived, and Rich had a spritzer bottle for it. He also dug out what was left in the two old cans of bug killer we'd started out using.
My turn. Taking advantage of our two (!) days of 2-digit temperatures, I started out with the killer remnants, also wearing mask and goggles just as we do with the earth dusting. I'm not sure how much was still effective, but I was unable to smell any of it. Still, the front door was opened, the AC off, and everybody else elsewhere. Once the cans ran out, I filled the alcohol spritzer (5 times!), tilted his chair in every way possible, and nailed every reachable inch of upholstery, including pushing parts out of the way with one hand while spraying with the other.
Whew! And stink! It was so strong that Rich walked in about an hour later and immediately did a U-turn for fresher air.
Steve got out a clean sheet to cover his chair with before sitting in it. No sign of a bite yet from there, and it's been 3 days.
I did a lesser treatment of my chair, but followed that up by spritzing my chair every morning before sitting in it, and any time I start feeling them moving, either crawling up inside my shorts legs, or down from the neckline of my tops.
I know. Nasty! Creepy!
I even spritz myself on the feet and legs sometimes, and while I can't see them, I stop feeling them. I'm taking that as a win. If only I could get my own back!
I said I'm not sleeping in my own bed. But at least I'm actually getting solid sleep again. I gave the living room couch the same alcohol treatment I gave Steve's chair, with the bonus of being able to remove cushions rather than tipping it in all directions. It's wet when I get in it, and still stinks for half an hour or so, but I'm getting sleep. And I repeat the spraying every evening, particularly if Steve has come out and decided to sit on it instead of in his chair. Those bugs do hitchhike, particularly in their tiniest form.
I also ordered 3 more gallons of rubbing alcohol. The funny thing is, I tried ordering it on WalMart. They "allow" me a single quart bottle. I went back to eBay and found quart two-packs with no limit beyond their own supply. The seller let me know they would be coming in separate boxes. The first one arrived yesterday. It's from WalMart. The other 5 boxes will also be from WalMarts, each from a different location. HACK!
Now I just gotta find what happened to my spritzer bottle last night after I nailed the couch again just before sleeping.
(You don't suppose the bugs have gotten wise and carried it off, do you?)
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