PONCE INLET -- Anytime I move into a new home, I know to expect the unexpected. That said, despite home inspections, something is bound to go wrong the day I move in. Within the first week, the refrigerator went on the blink and the air conditioner compressor was not far behind.
When they do a termite inspection, they are looking for a specific bug: a termite. There weren’t any. But being a semi-native Floridian, I know that under something or around the corner, Palmetto bugs are lurking. So I called a company that does an annual pest control spray. I used them previously and was more than pleased with the results.
The flaw in my thinking was, I’ve never lived in Ponce Inlet before.
While I have not seen a single roach of any kind since the spray, I have a new problem: Spiders. I don’t want to hear that they aren’t dangerous. The fact that there are spiders in my house makes me crazy. They don’t die easily and having one land on you - even for a second - is not only creepy, it’s the stuff nightmares – and movies – are made of.
According to the pest control people, who have now returned three times to eradicate them, they are wood spiders. They nest in all that wonderful foliage behind my house and occasionally make a wrong turn or look for new digs.
I am hoping that the third time is a charm and that the latest stuff doesn’t kill me before it kills the spiders. It’s been 48 hours and I haven’t seen one.
So yesterday I had a worker crawling in my attic and when he came down, he asked if we had a problem with mice.
I cringed and asked what he saw. He explained that the attic is full of mouse traps, none loaded, but all ready to catch with a slight setting. They were apparently left by the previous owner.
Now I have something else to worry about.