Should I stay or should I go?

[papayahed]

I'm waffling.

My lease is coming up shortly and for now I've ruled out buying a house. The question then becomes Do I want to stay in my current apartment??

Pros of current apartment:
I'm near the river and bike path
I have a pond out back
The Ducks
I won't have to change my address


Cons of current apartment:
Ya'll know my problem with the bugs
The apartment is kinda small
The oven is small
I don't have a garden tub
old kithen appliances

The biggest sticking point is the whole moving thing, I'm just lazy and don't want to pack everything and have to haul it elsewhere.

[motherhubbard]

I don't know about the bug thing. what's going on there?

[papayahed]

I don't know about the bug thing. what's going on there?

huh???? I'm slipping, I was sure I whined to everbody about the bugs.:lol:

ok, I'm from Michigan on my arrival in Louisiana I was amazed at the multitude and size of the bugs here. The mosquitos are as big as my head but I can deal with those. The bug problem and my apartment are the wood cockroaches, those are even bigger then my head!!

The apartment complex has an exterminator in every month.

So about three months into my lease one morning I sleepily walked into my bathroom and I am greeted by the biggest bug I have ever seen. It was a huge roach and what was worse was those antennae that were even longer then it's body. It was dead, but still unsettling. Soon after that I saw a few more, either dead or in it's death throes. Then all of the sudden earlier in the year every time I went into the bathroom there was a roach. I swear one even came after me. The last straw was when I opened my make up drawer and there were two baby roaches crawling all over my eye liner. I've complained at least three times to the management company and they have sent the exterminator out above his monthly routine. I've asked other neighbors and nobody else has this many sightings. I haven't seen any since early february but I'm still checking the bathroom before I go in...


blech. I feel sorry for my downstairs neighbor, every time there's a sighting I get on my steel toes and attempt to smash the bugs into oblivion..

Maybe it was the mouse stories I've been writing about....

[pussnboots]

Even though I know moving can be a pain in the butt, I think I would move. You can throw a moving party and have your friends help you out.

[islandclimber]

i would go... a roach infestation would be awful... ich, ach, gross... and since it sounds like location is the only sticking point there for you, why not find another good location but a nicer place, or at least no roach infestation...

cheers

[Ryduce]

I say go.

1.I can't deal with bugs.
2.There are plenty of rivers and ponds out there.
3.You may be lazy,but moving can be a fun experience.
4.I can't deal with bugs.
5.You can ride your bike anywhere.Better yet,go for a jog.
6.I can't deal with bugs.

[Virgil]

So about three months into my lease one morning I sleepily walked into my bathroom and I am greeted by the biggest bug I have ever seen. It was a huge roach and what was worse was those antennae that were even longer then it's body.

Are you sure that wasn't Gregor samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis? :lol:

You don't mention whether the rent is reasonable. That woould probably be my deciding factor. And are you going to get less bugs elsewheere? If they have an exterminator come every month, maybe that's just Louisiana. Plus how far a commute do you have and will that change?

Personally I hate moving.

[papayahed]

Are you sure that wasn't Gregor samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis? :lol:

You don't mention whether the rent is reasonable. That woould probably be my deciding factor. And are you going to get less bugs elsewheere? If they have an exterminator come every month, maybe that's just Louisiana. Plus how far a commute do you have and will that change?

Personally I hate moving.


Well, the bugs are indigenous to Louisiana. Most people have an exterminator so I expect a stray bug now and then. I've been asking around and my bug sighting ratio is much higher then most. Plus the fact that I think this complex isn't being as kept up as it should is a major factor pushing me to move.

There is a complex down the road that I have my eye on, it's a little more expensive, it may run me $150 - 200 more per month, which I can afford but I don't know if I want too pay that much more.

Did I mention I'm quite lazy?


But then again - the bugs.

I know I told you guys about the locust right???

[Virgil]

$150-200 more per month sounds like a lot. That's got to be 20-30% more than what you're now paying. $200/mth comes out to $2400/year and that will go quite a bit toward a down payment on something you would actually own.

[motherhubbard]

I don't know about the locust.

[kratsayra]

I haven't been following your stories about the bugs, but if it were me, I'd stay. I'm incredibly lazy. Moving is very stressful, I don't like it at all. But then again, your story about the roaches in your makeup box sounds pretty awful. Have you tried killing them yourself? I have found those awful store-bought bug killing things to be quite effective at times. Moving stresses me out more than bugs.

[Shalot]

The first apartment my husband and I had was old and run down and not kept up and we had bugs. We put down a couple of roach motels. It seemed to work for while, but I saw them in my kitchen and I got very disgusted. Then when we moved to our new better brighter apartment, I was afraid that we would carry the roaches with us, so I put down roach traps there too. And I never did see any bugs at my new apartment.

On the one hand, you could stay for a year, and pocket the $2400 Virgil was talking about and put it into an interest bearing account, move somewhere else and make sure you won't be stepping into a similar bug situation at a higher price. And continue to save up for a down payment on your own house (if you're interested in owning your own home). But, if you're going to pay more and still have bugs, I don't see the point in moving. Then again, it sounds pretty gross.

[Niamh]

Cockroaches? Locusts?:sick:
Well if you are crunching the roaches, no wonder you have more sightings! Standing on them makes them give birth. you need to flip them on their backs.
I say get the hell out of that place. Move to somewhere better....

[Gadget Girl]

Eww, roaches are disgusting. My old home has roaches too before I move out from that place. I also have a talent in sighting roaches. When you put me in a new place, I can see them immediately within a second. Ugh, I hate roaches...

Okay, about the moving topic. When you stay at your current apartment, you better have to find a plan to end the lives of those annoying bugs. Let's say, clean your home (I'm not saying you aren't, sometimes a clean home still has bugs), buy one of those cockroach killer sprays (it really helps if you sighted a bug, quickly point the spray directly at its eyes) then, you have to check where the bugs are coming from. Maybe they are coming from your neighbors (that was my problem back at my old flat) you don't know what your neighbors are doing. Maybe they are careless about their trash and the bugs are just transferring from your place to the other. That's really a problem.

If none of these works, I definitely have to choose 'go'. :)

[Pensive]

Don't know but my sixth sense says that you should stay in your present home.

[Sweets America]

Wow, my own decision would already be taken. Away from those damn bugs. Actually I might not have had the time to take the decision: I would surely have died from terror after my first encounter with the bugs.

[papayahed]

I don't know about the locust.

I live on the second floor one night I heard a noise at my patio door, I thought it was someone coming to murder me so I swung the door open really fast -you know to catch them off guard. In flew a giant bug. I really dislike bugs. I chased the thing around the house for a good 5 minutes, I caught it in a towel and threw it and my good towel out the patio door.


$150-200 more per month sounds like a lot. That's got to be 20-30% more than what you're now paying. $200/mth comes out to $2400/year and that will go quite a bit toward a down payment on something you would actually own.


The first apartment my husband and I had was old and run down and not kept up and we had bugs. We put down a couple of roach motels. It seemed to work for while, but I saw them in my kitchen and I got very disgusted. Then when we moved to our new better brighter apartment, I was afraid that we would carry the roaches with us, so I put down roach traps there too. And I never did see any bugs at my new apartment.

On the one hand, you could stay for a year, and pocket the $2400 Virgil was talking about and put it into an interest bearing account, move somewhere else and make sure you won't be stepping into a similar bug situation at a higher price. And continue to save up for a down payment on your own house (if you're interested in owning your own home). But, if you're going to pay more and still have bugs, I don't see the point in moving. Then again, it sounds pretty gross.

That's the other sticking point of moving, it will cut into my shiney bauble and hair product fund!!! The apartment I'm looking at is new and shiney and has a gorgeous pool and updated appliances. I'm not sure I want to own anything here, I'm not convinced I'm staying.. (I may just be gun shy since KC)


Cockroaches? Locusts?:sick:
Well if you are crunching the roaches, no wonder you have more sightings! Standing on them makes them give birth. you need to flip them on their backs.
I say get the hell out of that place. Move to somewhere better....

Flip them on their back???? That would require me to get entirely to close!!!

[Virgil]

That's the other sticking point of moving, it will cut into my shiney bauble and hair product fund!!! The apartment I'm looking at is new and shiney and has a gorgeous pool and updated appliances. I'm not sure I want to own anything here, I'm not convinced I'm staying.. (I may just be gun shy since KC)


Well, the downpayment would be for whatever in the future.

[Niamh]

Flip them on their back???? That would require me to get entirely to close!!!

Get a fly swatter, tape a bamboo stick onto it to make it longer and use it to flip them on to their backs....

[papayahed]

Get a fly swatter, tape a bamboo stick onto it to make it longer and use it to flip them on to their backs....

And then what???????

[stephofthenight]

electronic fly fryer... tere amazing. like a flyswater but it zaps them...its fun...and it makes pretty blue lights whn you smack them.:D :lol:

[Remarkable]

This house seems to be generally nice,but living with bugs is unacceptable.If,and only if,that other house will have no bugs,then that 200$ is worth it.But,if there is still a number of bugs,then you can stay where you are and live with them...Anyway,aren't you just a little bit obssesed with them?I mean,none of your neighbours is as troubled as you are and they also have less bugs,as far as I understood from what you wrote.

[Granny5]

Rent can't be that much higher there than in Arkansas. Look for a single family house. As long as you're in an apartment, unless everyone deals with the bugs, you'll always have them. The south is full of all kinds and you have to stay alert. Borac (sp?) Acid will kill roaches, all kinds. They eat it, go back to the nest, die, then the other roaches eat them and die. I don't have a bug problem but I keep it around just in case. It's won't harm children or animals, either.

[SleepyWitch]

dunno if it works with roaches, but they say when you've got ants you should leave some baking soda around. when they eat it it bloats up their stomachs and they burst to death :lol: maybe it's a urban legend but it would sure be fun to watch mwuuuahahhaaahaaahaaa

[metal134]

If you go there will be trouble, but if you stay it will be double.


Sorry, I just absolutley could not resist! :D

[Niamh]

And then what???????

do the same with a dust pan and brush and when they are dead, sweep them up and fling them out to the birds!

[AdoreroDio]

GO! I didn't know about the bug problem before voting- I change my vote. Blegh...that's terrible.

[Virgil]

If you go there will be trouble, but if you stay it will be double.


Sorry, I just absolutley could not resist! :D

:lol: That's a great song. :)

[papayahed]

Don't know but my sixth sense says that you should stay in your present home.


hmmm, you may have convinced me. I'm way to superstitious for my own good.


This house seems to be generally nice,but living with bugs is unacceptable.If,and only if,that other house will have no bugs,then that 200$ is worth it.But,if there is still a number of bugs,then you can stay where you are and live with them...Anyway,aren't you just a little bit obssesed with them?I mean,none of your neighbours is as troubled as you are and they also have less bugs,as far as I understood from what you wrote.

I may be slightly obssesed, but I don't like these things in my bathroom:

http://www.carolinanature.com/insects/cockroach9587.jpg


Rent can't be that much higher there than in Arkansas. Look for a single family house. As long as you're in an apartment, unless everyone deals with the bugs, you'll always have them. The south is full of all kinds and you have to stay alert. Borac (sp?) Acid will kill roaches, all kinds. They eat it, go back to the nest, die, then the other roaches eat them and die. I don't have a bug problem but I keep it around just in case. It's won't harm children or animals, either.

hmmm, I think I'll pick up some boric acid.

I'm still having to adjust to the south. Holy crap! Yesterday it hit 80 F and there were bugs everywhere (outside).


dunno if it works with roaches, but they say when you've got ants you should leave some baking soda around. when they eat it it bloats up their stomachs and they burst to death :lol: maybe it's a urban legend but it would sure be fun to watch mwuuuahahhaaahaaahaaa

I'll check that out too.


If you go there will be trouble, but if you stay it will be double.


Sorry, I just absolutley could not resist! :D


do the same with a dust pan and brush and when they are dead, sweep them up and fling them out to the birds!

but then I have to get close to kill them and I don't have the protection of my steel toes.



The bugs are a big part but there's also the crappy appliances and the small bath tub.