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demonkitten
That Hax woman is a nightmare! I read one of her articles recently where she encouraged a woman who knew her in-laws and their children had bedbugs to visit. She pooh-poohed the gals concerns, and said it was all a matter of laundry. And this was also after the woman mentioned, she had to deal with past insect infestations from the same individuals. Like fleas. All because the little brats would be "disappointed" they couldnt visit. I was like "uh what"! I almost wrote in blasting Hack, asking how she'd like her designer home, which I'm sure she has. To be infested to the nines so bad, she might have to burn it down. I don't think that would sit well, ya know.

Ole' Hax claims a little soap n water is all it takes to get rid of bedbugs? Can every reader who has ever had bedbugs show up to wash their mattresses in her house? And store all those mattresses with the covers washed, dried and left on because those bugs can survive a year without eating? Because the experts (or anyone who can search for 5 minutes on the internet) seem to think an exterminator is the only individual qualified enough to treat bed bugs.

Was going to reply to the rest of this thread but I'm now itching and have to go check my mattress and every other corner of my place.

I apologize if I offended anyone by sounding ignorant. I didn't mean to come off as that. The only thing I meant was I do have experience with bed bugs, not as an Internet searcher. Because places I have worked have had bad reoccurring infestations in the past. Both quarantine and exterminator were implemented, but the problem still persisted for a while. I almost brought them home myself, that didn't make me happy. I just meant nothing is sure fire, no matter what you do. Anything can go wrong unfortunately.

I was only saying, that I do not think Miss Hax gives good advice sometimes. Plus, if the family in question wanted to visit I would turn them away without question or remorse. If only to prevent my own home being infested, despite it may seem impolite. That is only my opinion, again I apologize if I sounded uninformed.

Bedbugs are horrible things to get in your house, from what I hear. Whenever I stay at a hotel, the first thing I do is check for any bedbug residue. Fortunately I have never seen any, but if I did, I'd immediately leave the room. Even though I have never spotted any I keep my suitcase closed, don't lay clothes on the bed, etc. I would not be blasé about a potential infestation.

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demonkitten
I apologize if I offended anyone by sounding ignorant. I didn't mean to come off as that. The only thing I meant was I do have experience with bed bugs, not as an Internet searcher. Because places I have worked have had bad reoccurring infestations in the past. Both quarantine and exterminator were implemented, but the problem still persisted for a while. I almost brought them home myself, that didn't make me happy. I just meant nothing is sure fire, no matter what you do. Anything can go wrong unfortunately.

I was only saying, that I do not think Miss Hax gives good advice sometimes. Plus, if the family in question wanted to visit I would turn them away without question or remorse. If only to prevent my own home being infested, despite it may seem impolite. That is only my opinion, again I apologize if I sounded uninformed.

I was definitely pointing out the ignorance of Miss Hax, not you demonkitten. I'm completely ignorant about bed bugs but I don't pretend to be otherwise in an advice column. People will read her advice and follow it and it won't work. I hope the bed bugs are no longer a part of your life. I've read a few horror stories here and there. As an advice columnist she needs to get her facts straight and not shoot from the hip. Thanks for the insight on Miss Hax, I will not be listening to any of her advice after reading your post. She is a hack.

It is bad when it is your friends that sluice; it is even worse when it is your family.

With many of the older folks gone, including my mother, that used to make an effort on getting together and have family time, my cousins are not willing to even to meet me halfway with anything. Not even communicating with one another. Again, with so many family members gone, I thought it would be nice if we could have at least some communication on a very informal basis, just to catch up.

I found rather quickly it had to be over the phone when THEY had time to talk ONLY. We could not exchange emails or letters or even a card at Christmas, they didn't like that. Not even a Christmas e-card with a short sentence, telling me everyone was alive & well.

Guys, I went out of my way to accommodate them. But because our lives are so very different (child-free spinster taking care of my disabled father vs. married with kids) they are not at all interested if I'm alive or dead. The kicker (to me anyway) is that the kids they have are in their 20's. So, some time ago, I said screw it and haven't talked to them in years.

For all the palaver about family, it is only the immediate family that means anything.