Roach Attack!

Dallas has not been treating me well lately. Last week, I experienced a host of transportation related problems such as:

• Getting hit by a car on my bicycle
• Closed ramps on the Tollway, thus not allowing me to get to where i need to go
• A flat tire (of course, at night, on a deserted street, and i'd left my cell phone at home)
• My carpool forgot to pick me up the morning after my flat tire

This week, it's been cockroaches galore! And yes, they are "Texas sized". These are monster cockroaches, and they have nine lives. Here is what went down:

• On Friday night, my boyfriend came to visit and and he encountered one coming out of the bathroom. He said it was a big one, but I didn't see it.
• On Sunday night, I was out on the balcony nursing my new plants and i saw one crawl off the edge.
• On Monday night, after 2 hours of reading on my couch, I get up, turn around and see one crawling right where i was sitting. I beat it with a rolled up newspaper and start crying. I called my parents and my boyfriend in despair. My mom encouraged me to save the roach in a plastic bag to show to my building manager. I refused, but i did take a photo of it to email (i would post it but it is too disgusting). As i was typing up the email to send to the building manager, i turn around and see another roach! I beat it again with said newspaper and thought it was dead. I turned around to finish my email. When i went to clean it up, it had disappeared!! I looked for it, and found it on its back in the bathroom. I beat it again, and it only flipped around and started running. I then beat it one more time, and it seemed to be dead. I tried to scoop it up with a piece of paper, but then it started running AGAIN. Finally, i beat it with all my might without smooshing it into my new bathroom tile. At that point in time, I was crying my eyes out and trying not to throw up. In desperating, I called the only person i know in the building, who is a very sweet 23 year old guy who lives downstairs. It was 12:30am, and he had been sleeping. But he made his way up to my apartment to clean up the guts.
• Tuesday morning, I called the building manager bright and early to make sure she got my email and to ensure that the exterminator was going to come ASAP. They were able to get the exterminator to come that afternoon. whew!
• Because my neighbor cleaned up roach guts at 12:30am, I baked him a few cupcakes from scratch tonight (Thursday). I decided to open the balcony door to get some fresh air in. My neighbor called to let me know that he was home. The minute i answered the phone, I noticed a gigantic roach crawling up the wall near the balcony door. I asked if he could come over instead to not only pick up the cupcakes but also kill a new roach. I was on roach patrol until he got to my apartment and then he made three attempts to smoosh the roach, but it was running around like crazy! It was perfect timing that he was coming up, otherwise, I have no idea what i would do.
• I called my dad, and he said that roaches are harmless, just dirty. That did not make me feel any better.

So tomorrow, I am going to call up the building manager again, because i pay way too much money for this luxury apartment to deal with a roach infestation!!!! I really think that someone is rotting in the apartment below mine, and the roaches have decided to camp out for awhile. I live on the 6th floor - i should not have roaches in my apartment!! Even in 10 whole years in New York City, in the dumpiest of dumps, i never had roaches. I did find 2 dead roaches (two different apartments, 5 years apart), but that was nothing.

Hummer count - more than usual this past week...at least 5-6 a day