Last summer I went on a bit of a rehab binge. Maybe it was all the Amy Winehouse on the radio or maybe it was just luck, but it seemed like every time I turned around, I was learning about extreme drug and alcohol abuse and what it's like to stop it. Well, all with a fairly good dose of fiction, because well, because. Who needs facts?
By far my favorite was Augusten Burroughs's Dry (which also happens to be my favorite Augusten Burroughs book; it's good; and hilarious). I also read A Million Little Pieces AGES after Oprah got mad at dude for lying (I forget his name and the book isn't around). Whatever. It was a pretty interetsting read. (I got it for cheap at the thrift store right before a plane flight.) And I also saw an MTV Real Life about drunk twenty-somethings. You know, while I was kwilting. I think there was other stuff in there, little hints and stuff, but those were the big three.
So, during all this reading I learned that one of the last stages of alcoholism is hallucinations, often of tiny, creepy-crawly things. I think Augusten (sure, we're on a first-name basis) said spiders were common, but I think ants would work to.
So last night, when I came home, I was hoping it was just late-stage alcoholism. (Well, not really *hoping*, but you know.) But no, it was actually ants. Everywhere. Especially on the walls around my ceiling. "Why," you ask? "What food do you keep along the edges of your ceiling?" "Why," I reply, "I didn't know I kept any up there."
Ugh. I didn't have ants (or roaches, or grasshoppers, or mice, or rats) in Oregon. And neither I nor my roommates were spontaneously clean or anything. But here? Leave out that empty pan of macaroni and cheese one night... So now my kitchen is covered with ant traps. They're working OK, but I forget which brand is better. I know one rocks -- either Raid or Combat -- but it's been so long. If anyone has any good intel, I'm all ears.
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2 comments:
Um, I have to admit to being quite relieved that the ants are real and not evidence of a bad trip! I have no great solution for you-- although a quick google search says kill them with a 2 part vinegar/1 part water solution (which also helps mask the smells that bring them in). Spray it right on the darlings. And once they're sort of gone, leave talcum powder at all your corners and vacuum up a day or so later.
Good luck. The joys of warmer climates... here I know if I wait long enough the weather will kill them for me!
Ohh thats what I was about to recommend. Its non-toxic and cheaper. We occasionally had ants all the way up on the 3rd floor in Portland.
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