Ugh, what a drag, we have a flea infestation up the ass.
I am fighting the big fight right now, doing pretty much every recommended thing under the sun to be rid of them. The cat is NOT helping at all. We treated her with Frontline on the nape of her neck, and she cleared up in a couple of days, but she is not helping by being a mobile poisoning unit because she figured out where the fleas were and avoids those areas now! Frontline is supposed to work by allowing fleas to jump on your cat and ingest the poison in their blood. Sadly, Nietzsche is now spending all of her time on the kitchen stepstool, a sewing machine that for some reason lives in the kitchen now, and an end table in the living room. She refuses to set foot in the girls’ room, where she dropped her big load of fleas in the first place on their little rug.
I have tried shutting her in the girls’ room for short periods of time, trying to get her to sleep on their beds in the sun, and she cries and paws the door. Useless thing!
So I am vacuuming, putting their blankets through the dryer on hot, washing things, sweeping, and spot-spraying with Knockout ES. One morning we wake up and the girls have no bites, and the next morning they wake up with twelve. Of course they have no self-control, so they scratch and scratch, and end up all scabby. They insist on showing me this repeatedly: “Look, this one burst!” Ugh, lovely.
This morning I was stretching before my run when I stopped to slap some of the bites on my ankles, rather than scratch them. I have tried to teach the girls to do this as well, but when Strudel gets mad at me or tired, she claws herself raw. That will show me who’s boss.
Franny noticed I was itchy and said, “Mom, do you have flea bites too?” All amazed.
“Yes, of course,” I said.
“I didn’t know!” she said.
“Well, I don’t complain about them.”
It was like you could see the hourglass turning over. I love these moments where there’s a little glimmer of realization that adults have problems too. Sometimes it takes her a couple of days to discover that I have the same cold she does. She is always amazed. I am not playing momtyr, but I was raised not to complain until I am half dead, so generally I don’t. That’s what this place is for. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
In Other News: The Wall, I Have Hit It
Oh my heartbreak this morning as I was out, dashing happily around the lake, when I was taken out by shin splints. I was so angry I thought the top of my head was going to pop off. I NEED this running right now.
I slowed down and stopped to rub my legs. “FUCKITY FUCK FUCKLOAF ASSBURGER FIDDLESTICKS COCKTOAST…Oh, hello, ma’am, I did not see you and your stroller full of impressionable preschoolers there.”
The lake is kind of a funny place to run, since I kind of fall into myself and pretend I’m invisible when I’m doing it, and it’s full of people. This morning the center of the lake looked dead white, like it was the gateway to the edge of the world or something. I saw herons and falling yellow leaves. I am so happy that I can’t see shit generally, except, er, when I’m driving at night. People’s faces are a blur. I pipe music in through big ass cans instead of ear buds, which always hurt. This makes the world even more muted. Today I was listening to A Night at Birdland, and with Art Blakey’s wet cymbals you can’t even hear the gabbling, latte-swilling stroller moms.
So I hit that wall and walked until they settled down. I think I need to change a few things: more stretching, and new shoes. I think I am resting enough. I also need new jog bras. My currents are from before Strudel, and they are not quite doing it. They fit around, but the cup…it is a little like putting a small egg into a regular egg carton. It just rattles around and looks sad in there.
By the time I got to “Night in Tunisia” my shins felt okay again. That’s gotta be one of my all time favorite songs. I think I have a dead musician crush on Lee Morgan. I have almost all of his albums and a few of Blue Mitchell’s. I think trumpet is my favorite. Rock N Rolla!
7-Dust gets rid of household fleas better than anything else. Its cheaptastic too.
Sorry, I am horrible creepy lurker person – just felt the need to help you fight the good fight.
Grah, fleas are gross. No help from me, sorry, hope they clear up soon.
I need to go for a run after work to help me with all of the passive aggressive shit my mom is pushing on me about the holidays. Ho, ho ho!! Fuck. Not even halloween and it’s all ruined. Oh wait, complaining! Can this be my place, too?
To help with the shin splints strengthen your dorsi-flexors (preferably some time well after your morning run). Sitting in a chair, put something reasonably heavy betwixt your toes, and alternate pointing your toes and drawing your feet up. Think sit-ups for your shins.
2-3 sets of 15-20, and ice your shins after running.
should help.
Thank you kind lurker (you are not creepy, this is a public interwebs website!).
Dorrie, send me the link to your anon blog o’ bitching. I won’t tell.
JB: THANK YOU! This is fun while internetting.
I worked with this Jamaican guy and when my cat had fleas he told me to put small branches of eucalyptus under couch cushions and mattresses. It worked! It was in California, so there were such trees around.
Now, I have to look this eucalyptus nonsense up and see if other Jamaicans back it up.
Although not Jamaican, other freegans corroborate:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=eucalyptus+fleas&spell=1
But, it seems its the pods, not the branches, that are most effective.
Okay, thanks.
I have to say, every time I see the word freegan I laugh now. You have “ruined” me. Thanks.
I’m pretty sure Sevin dust is carcinogenic. I like you and I don’t want you and yours to be poisoned. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbaryl
So, I’m that girl who comes and talks about bras when no one else wants to talk about bras. I apologize in advance.
Title 9 has a great selection for the bosomy lady; I got one sports bra there that replaced THREE that I used to wear simultaneously. I didn’t get sized there, so I don’t know if they are any good at that, but I had been sized at Nordstrom not too long before that (also totally worth it if you are bra shopping) so I had a correct size in mind when I went in.
It ain’t necessarily cheap, but a good bra really makes a difference in one’s life.
They are right on your way around the lake, too.
Aha, that’s really close to Super Jock n’ Jill, which is where I got my last super awesome one. Alas, I am no longer a bosomy lady. Thanks for the tip.
Sevin Dust, 5% or 10% seems to be O.K. Mostly talc and quartz dust. Deadly for the small critter lungs. O.K. for crumb snatchers (offspring). Plenty of open air after application, showers. After any/all applications, throw a flea collar in the vacuum cleaner bag.
When the cymbols rock, do some sort of tantric, pan like, nymph dance around-about the lake. Release yourself.
Thanks. I have been keeping the cat away and keeping windows open from everything I do.
I figure if there is a detrimental effect on bugs, there will probably be some kind of effect on people, in many cases. I don’t know how those dark ages people made it.
Ugh. Last flea infestation I had, the damn things were an inch thick on the carpet – at least, that’s what it seemed like. Nothing I did touched em’, so I sent the Ex and kids to a motel and nuked the place with industrial foggers. Took me two days to vacuum and scrub everything down to livable again. After two bouts with a carpet shampoo-er, the floors looked brand-new though.
Have you tried the “dish of soapy water under the nightlight” trick? Use a shallow white dish if possible. If all your shallow pans are clear you can put a paper towel under it to make the bottom look white.
I can only parrot what Cyberwolfe said. The times I’ve had a flea infestation I went the super fatal toxic nuclear route. 2-3 foggers per room. Start early in the a.m. and plan a full day excursion til the toxicity (?) settles – we do a multiple DC museum run. It sucks, but does the job. Then after you clean up your house is nice and spiffy. Since we got rid of the dog I haven’t had any flea problems as the cats are strictly indoor and I try my damndest to overdose them with Frontline.
Boo fleas and shin splints. New shoes will probably help (shins, not fleas). When I run today I may try pretending to be invisible just to see what happens. My chances of getting run over might go down!
I had a recent infestation of fleas myself. We used foggers. Twice. Then I heard an old wives’ thing about moth balls in the vacuum bag. I vacuumed every day for a week. They make your house smell like an old folks home for a few hours, but it helped. Just remember to change the bag often.
Grace from Santa Cruz, California here. Long time listener, first time caller.
I can send you a box of eucalyptus leaves, pods and branches if you require. I saw freakin Martha Stewart put a bunch of New England autumn leaves into a box to ship to her auntie in Arizona for no reason at all other than for her aunt to get a whiff or iron leaves between wax paper or what-the-fuck-ever. My package of leaves and pods would not be so frivolous, though it may be just as decorative.
Shin splints. Know them well. Happens when you train too much too soon. My 2 cents –
Run and walk. Create an iPod playlist where you alternate slow with fast songs and walk/run accordingly.
Do stretch before and after. Here’s a classic stretch performed by a white guy who kinda looks like Patrick Swayze
http://www.getridofthings.com/images/shin-splints-4.jpg
If you can get your head to your knee, all the better.
If they get really bad, you have to stop running and let it rest. Start up again one to two weeks later by walking and running to the iPod playlist. You can do your flat out running after a week, but do start out slow.
New shoes? Always. You’ve gone to a running store, yes? And they let you test out the shoe before buying, yo? Independent running stores are big on the shoe test drive and they can use your patronage. So, go on over, get fitted with special attention to any pronation issues you may have, put on at least four pairs and run around the parking lot or block and feel ’em out.
All righty, then. I will rly, rly, srsly send you a box of eucalyptus swag if you wish.
xo
Another cheaptastic hint, and I’m allergic to the little bastards. Go to thee store and buy Borax laundry detergent. Sprinkle it on your carpet, leave for a day or two and vacuum up.
Works wonderfully, and I’m in Florida where fleas are everywhere! Google “Borax and fleas” and you’ll get lots of information.
Thanks guys.
Oh hey, Grace! Long time, no see. Thanks for all the tips. I am trying a few different things. I am actually on intervals right now, but that’s proving to be too much. I think I will walk til I can afford new shoes.
And thanks for the eucalyptus offer–we actually have them here and I bet I can find a homeowner to mooch off of. They are in the park, too, but I don’t want to nick off the park.
Thanks, Kathy. I am afraid that the Borax and kids won’t mix.
The girls woke up bite free today, so I am going to continue with due diligence and cross my fingers.
Another thing Borax is good for (I lived in FL for too long) – roaches. Mix the borax with sugar and water, maybe a touch of flour, make little balls out of it and hide them in places you know the little fucks come out of. The borax gives them gas and they eventually go to their little homes and internally combust – can’t pass the gas through their exoskeleton.