despite my nightly routine mattress checks, i woke up the other day with two bites on my arm. i was furious. that night, i inspected my bed again, found nothing, and was very annoyed that something had clearly bitten me and i couldn't find it.
when i woke up the next morning, i found a dead bed bug and a smear of blood near the foot of the mattress. i wanted to cry. in fact, i did cry. this is an endless battle, and i'm losing it daily. i feel like sisyphus, doomed to an eternity of constant and pointless struggle.
so i took a photo of the bug and blood, and then collected the bug and added it to my list of captured specimens. i then checked my legs for further bites and found one on my foot. then i had to get ready for work.
when i got home that night, i ran into my neighbor who had a recent court date. i hadn't yet heard the results, so i stopped and asked him. he said it went really well, that he won his case, had his rent reduced to $450, and that exterminators were scheduled to come the next day. in his next breath, he told me that the rent invoice he'd received that day had a ton of legal fees listed on it -- the building management was now trying to charge him for the fees on the case that he just won. what the hell kind of sick logic is that?!
i told him that i still had no lease renewal offer and it seems the management is handing me my hat, but in the most passive manner possible.
so, no one is really winning. we all keep losing in different ways. but i definitely need to think about my legal options, and whether i have the time to exercize them.
