The causes of the latest Bako funk were many.
Primarily it was work related. Business has been booming for the past four months. It's been quite the turnaround from 6 months ago and I am eternally grateful. Getting paid is another matter, but it is what it is. Several weeks I almost had more work than I could handle. Almost. But all that changed this week as we entered the summer doldrums. I wrapped up a huge job and had another put on hold. One of my clients is on vacation and I've yet to hear back on a couple of projects I bid on. All in all it's left me with way much free time. When I was busy I didn't have time to dwell on our current circumstances here in Bako, but this week is different and it doesn't make for happy times.
The second reason is the weather. We haven't yet crossed the triple digit threshold but we've been flirting with it all week. And as the old saw goes, "it isn't the heat, it's the humidity." How someplace that is essentially a desert can have swamp-like humidity is just one of Bakersfield's enduring mysteries.
And finally, the bugs.
The cockroaches have been almost unbearable and we reached our breaking point Wednesday night when the boyfriend flipped on the patio lights and a black sea of roaches went scurrying for the darkness. It was like watching the tide rush out and it was disgusting. More worrying than the roaches has been a new arrival... black widow spiders. They've been multiplying for weeks and some morning's the patio furniture is cocooned in their webs. I'm terrified to let the dogs in the yard fearing they'll poke their noses where they shouldn't and I'll end up rushing them to the vet. Wednesday night the boyfriend issued an edict...
"Tomorrow, you're calling an exterminator. Get them out here ASAP."
His preference was for me to call a local outfit, Banks Exterminators. Why? Because their commercials run constantly and they have an infectious jingle that sticks with you like a bad aftertaste ("Say Hello Banks, and Bye-bye- Bugs!"). I thought that was a dubious reason to pick a service, so yesterday morning, after I posted my sad sack post, I set about the mornings priority... finding an exterminator.
I had just Googled "exterminators Bakersfield" when there was a knock at the door.
When I answered it, there stood a Nordic god! A tall, blond, strapping young buck who looked as if he had just stepped out of an Abercrombie catalog, fresh off the polo field, or maybe lacrosse. He was half my age and ridiculously handsome. He was wearing too tight khaki shorts and an even tighter white polo shirt, which hugged his wide, well-built chest.
"Hi, I'm J.T." he said as he extended his hand.
I have to admit, I was taken aback. You don't often see attractive people here. Especially standing on your doorstep. I probably made a fool of myself like a lecherous old queen, but I just couldn't help myself. I kept staring at his...
Shirt.
Embroidered on the pocket it said "PEST CONTROL".
He started his sales pitch and I just said "Yes".
That seemed to take him by surprise.
"But don't you want to know about our specials?" he asked.
"Sure, whatever, can you start today?" I said.
It really seemed to throw him off his game. He had been trained to go through the whole spiel and was obviously not used to someone capitulating so quickly. He asked if he could come in and go over everything. Sure, why not. Did I mention he was ridiculously handsome?
He pulled up a barstool and I then proceeded to learn more than I care too about roaches and other pests. He confirmed one thing I suspected - the unusually long, cool, wet spring had made the normal roach problem here much, much worse. He also answered one nagging roach question I've had since we moved here. Every morning, particularly during the summer, we'd wake up to dozens of roaches seemingly dead on their backs. When you went to dispose of them you'd quickly discover they weren't dead.
"Yeah, they tend to flip on their backs at night to cool off" J.T. explained.
That's probably all you need to know about Bakersfield... too hot for roaches.
We filled out a contract and he explained they'd start first thing in the morning. And sure enough, they're here right now, going through their elaborate de-bugging routine. I'm so fed up with all the pests they could just go ahead and do an airdrop of DDT on the house and I'd be OK with it.
So hopefully we'll finally get a handle on the bugs. It's it looks like it's going to be a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler today. And I'm meeting with a potential new client later this morning. Taken all together, it appears to have broken the spell. This morning things are starting to look up.
