Thursday, August 31, 2006

Arachnophobia

Webster defines it as a "pathological fear or loathing of spiders." And I think I am safe in diagnosing myself with it.

Some of you know about the condo in my life. I do not own it yet but have wanted to for a while. It belonged to my grandparents originally and then passed to my mom and uncle. Things happen on it slowly because 1.) I don't know what I'm doing, 2.) I don't have a lot of time, and 3.) I have limited resources (manpower, knowledge, money, etc., although to be fair, many people have offered to help paint and clean when the time comes). We have known for a while that there was a bit of a spider problem but it definitely seemed to get worse over the summer, to the point that after the last time I was there a few weeks ago I decided I couldn't go back until the place had been treated. I made the appointment and the exterminator came out this morning to do his assessment. By the way, I was true to my word and did not go into the condo - my dad was the one that met him with the keys.

Here's the report. As we feared, the condo has brown recluses. One might even call it an infestation. The recommendation is a 12-month treatment plan, with quarterly maintenance after that. The wood shingle roof and the assumption that the neighbors probably have them as well means we'll have to be vigilant about keeping them from coming back. The exterminator also recommended that we really not spend any time there for the next couple of months and said definitely not to move in for at least three months. He did say that if we were going to go in there and clean or organize at all we should get a bunch of those big Rubbermaid containers and put all of my stuff in them to keep the spiders out. I think it is too late for that now, but whatever. The bug killers will treat the interior, exterior, and garage, including the "attic" (crawl space) and inside the walls, which they will do by taking all of the covers off the switches and outlets and drilling holes. Not surprisingly, this is going to cost a lot of money.

Of all the people in the world to have to deal with a spider infestation, it should not have been me. I do not yet know what this means for my future in the condo. I'll keep you posted.

Listening to:
The Last Kiss Original Motion Picture Soundtrack









Reading:
West of Then: A Mother, A Daughter, And A Journey Past Paradise












P.S. Are you ready for some (fantasy) football? Let me know if you want a team this year.

2 comments:

kel said...

So sorry about the money pit, I mean condo. Do you have to pay?

I want to see Last Kiss. I have no idea what it's about, but the previews look interesting.

Sars said...

Jo, that's terrible!! I'm just glad you didn't find out you had spiders the hard way. I don't think I want a fantasy team this year.