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Message-ID: <54483E4A.3020201@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 16:31:22 -0700
From: Richard Childers <fscked@sbcglobal.net>
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To: jessica.ppmrentals@gmail.com
Subject: Signs of bedbugs?
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Jessica,

I am writing in response to your memo of 13 October 2014, regarding the 
status of the bedbug infestation.

I was disappointed to see that you only provided a telephone number, but 
no email address, for your requested feedback - leaving one wondering if 
there were some sort of effort to keep all evidence of the infestation 
unwritten.

According to the wikipedia entry on the topic, bedbugs are alleged to be 
able to survive up to 300 days without feeding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedbugs#Feeding_habits
"... under certain cool conditions adult bed bugs can live for over a 
year without feeding. [41]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedbugs#cite_note-41
[41] Robert L. Usinger (1966). Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera - 
Heteroptera) V11. The Thomas Say Foundation. p. 13.


.. and so asking if the bedbug infestation is over, or drawing any 
conclusions from negative reports, only a few months after the last 
application of poisons, might be rushing things a bit.

I'm going to walk around and talk to people, but off the top of my head 
I can think of at least one person who has a continuing serious 
full-body rash consistent with a bedbug infestation's allergic response.

There could be more cases - but because nobody walks around exposing 
themselves it is not always easy to tell.

There is a significant component of fear associated with the reporting 
of bedbugs. People are afraid they are going to be blamed for the 
infestation, or that their children will be stigmatized, or that they 
will be held responsible. Most of them actually think they are somehow 
responsible for the mold that is growing on the walls, for instance - 
they have been told, over and over, that it is their fault, and few of 
them have the expertise to argue with this sort of intimidation ... 
backed up with the implicit threat of eviction.

And so if you wish to know the truth you need to explicitly explain to 
people that you are trying to solve a problem, that you need good 
information, and that you are not trying to assign responsibility to anyone.

Otherwise you will only get silence ... and the infestation you have 
been tasked with managing out of existence, will continue.


Regards,

~richard