Road Trip Minnesota

If you look close you will see a horse in each of the squares.  By Bev Doolittle

I was at a sale recently that was in a luxury apartment building.  The building was a huge complex located in a prestigious part of the city.  The grounds were meticulously kept and the whole look of the place was nice and had an expensive sense about it.  However, as soon as I went in through the common entry door there was a smell like that of a really bad hoarder.  I live upstairs from a hoarder and the house never smelled like that even on a bad day at it’s worse.  The hall was clean and no sign of anything like a hoarder anywhere.  I went to the apartment where the sale was and that was clean and didn’t smell and I soon forgot about it.  I found numerous things I wanted to buy but when I looked in the closet at the bottles of cleaning stuff I saw a can of bed bug spray.  I got out of there fast and forgot about buying anything.  Later after I got home I got a little paranoid that I might have picked up bugs on me when I was in there but not really positive about that, so I looked up bed bugs on Google and learned that the smell from the halls in that building did not come from a hoarder, bed bugs leave a smell.  I will never forget it.

I look at all the new luxury buildings going up everywhere around me and can’t help but think what they might be like someday.  Luckily I don’t live in an apartment building and the hoarder I live upstairs from doesn’t have bugs and I rarely see a mouse.  The cats usually take care of the mice.  This is definitely something to keep in mind though.  And no, I didn’t pick up any bed bugs.  I didn’t sit down on anywhere in that apartment or try on any coats or such.  I think the bed bugs were eliminated but the smell in the hallway is there to stay awhile.  If you like going to sales and thrift shopping, it’s a good idea to Google up bed bugs and read through the materials that tell you how to look for them.  One of my other neighbors advice is to put whatever clothes you buy from a thrift shop or sale in the dryer for awhile because the heat kills them.  Putting something in the oven for awhile should work on other items.

I know, this isn’t good for business.  I still strongly support the reuse economy. We just have to be careful out there.  After all, even the posh hotels get bed bugs.