Some of you might remember the battle I had with a roach in one of the actor apartments, last year. That particular housing is located in a semi-questionable section of downtown, and although there is some gentrification going on in the area, with upscale condos next door and across the street, there are still plenty of crack houses around, and the actor apartments, although comfortable, are in need of a major facelift. The apartments are ground level and it's not surprising roaches roam the streets and easily find their way indoors.
So, when I arrived here at my very upscale, beachside 7th floor condo, I breathed a sigh of relief. Roaches and wealth don't mix; surely a building with a concierge and a guard gate would never allow for those nasty creatures of the night. Or so I thought. So, yesterday evening, I'm sitting in the living room working on my lines when I see this dark spot on the white marble floors. Curious, I get up and there, to my horror, is a roach (or palmetto bug, I still can't distinguish the 2) on its back, its legs wiggling wildly. I had left my flyswatter and bug spray at home, so I panicked, momentarily, trying to decide how to do away with this unwanted intruder. All I had was hairspray, and I know that if it's strong enough, it will freeze the insect in place eventually killing it. So I ran to my room, grabbed the bottle and gave the bug a spritz, which just made it turn right side up and start crawling. I wound up spraying about a quarter of the bottle and sprinkled a little ajax on it, which finally did the trick. A little cruel and unusual punishment, but I just couldn't face smashing it with a shoe on the beautiful white tile floor.
It's still sitting there, unceremoniously, until I figure out how I want to dispose of it, as I can't seem to find a dustpan anywhere.
Guess roachies don't discriminate.
14 comments:
In this world, roaches outnumber us buy about a million to one. Seeing one is no big deal, seeing the floor move when you turn on the light at night is freak out time. We live in the woods and each spring and each fall they look for places to live and we battle with them until they are all gone. Spray, crush, kill until they are gone. If you think roach guts are bad for a marble floor, think about the hair spray spot on the marble. One quick squish and a little toilet paper and your problems will all flush away. MUD
I thought about what the spray might have done to the marble, too, but I'd have done EXACTLY the same thing! I have known to paralyze quite a few critters with hair spray! 409 works pretty well, too.
And why is it hair spray so frequently rights them onto their legs and they run? I've had that happen, too!
the Ajax was a nice touch. CLEAN dead cockroaches with real good hair, huh?!
GOOD luck, m'dear! HAPPY LINE LEARNING. I'm thinking about you. xx
MUD: I remember you saying you have lots of buggies in your part. remember, you're also male.. :-) i have an aversion to smashing things and hearing them crunch. Had never thought about the spray on the marble.. but, since i posted i found some roach spray in the back of a cabinet. will use that, though hairspray is less toxic.. :-) And, I did see the walls move in one apartment they put me in, in spite of the piles of boric acid i placed everywhere. Truly gross.
Z: I will try 409 next time... that way you can just clean up afterwards, using the residue. Not sure why, it does that, but it started running in circles and it went flat on it's back again and stuck there. There's nothing more I hate than roaches..
And thanks for the good thoughts..I need them. got a bunch done yesterday, or so i thought.. until i started going through the stuff, today that i knew and faltered, as much as I did with the new stuff i learned yesterday. A little panic set in, but it will be fine. A lot of it is repetetive, so it's hard to remember which goes where.. and some of it is non-sequiturs and that's even harder. Eek.
Roaches. Yuk. They are too abundent in the South and here in Texas. I take off my shoe and swat the guts out of them. And, I've done the hair spray thing, too. Windex works, too.
Fortunately I have tile floors!
Best on your line studying. You'll be brilliant. Good to hear you have a comfy place to study.
I am an expert!!!
Slide him onto a piece of paper and flush him down the loo!
frasypoo! COuldn't he run onto your HAND/ARM from that piece of paper!? EEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO YOu are BRAVE!
incognito..but the words DID come somewhat easier today, right? BUILD on it... See what an expert you've made me! (Smile)
get rid of your raid everybody the new bug killer, HAIRSPRAY and AJAX... woman. you know you could singe the beasts incog. get your hairspray and a lighter and torch the bad boys.... if you want to try this i would suggest you do it outside!!!
ikky ikky!
A cigarette lighter with that can of hair spray would have been quite sufficient I do think; and more fun too!
Baking soda is an interesting roach-a-cide. They have no means for relieving themselves of gas. If they eat the baking soda they eventually swell up and burst. No kidding.
The best way is to have somebody else's shoe handy. This way you can let somebody else to clean it up after it gets icky.
What a great bunch of suggestions... and almost all non-toxic..
KAREN: I can actually deal with the crawly ones, its the one's that fly that get me crazed. Windex.. will try that next. And thanks for your good thoughts.
FRASY: Oh... like Z said I'd be afraid he'd crawl off the paper before I hit the loo...
Z: I'm with you... and the words are there, but not solid enough, so i still have to call for line...my brain just sometimes says, no more.
PATJ: Well, it is non toxic.. as for the spray and lighter... uh... pass. :-)
WOMAN: Major ick.
DANNY: Hmmm... guess this must be a boy thing.. cos PatJ had the same suggestion..
PAN: Will also try baking soda.. though if they burst... am wondering if its innards spray all over the place.
SNOOPY: hehehe...that's a great idea... but i was the only one here... but will consider that.
ew! Boric acid..behind appliances..works every time!
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