S in Chicago's Profile

I'll try not to repeat things others have said...

A nice shower head. Alsons Downpour Rain Shower has made my mornings splendidly luxurious. Only like $25, too.

Organic cotton dish towels from Crate & Barrel. I've almost completely stopped using paper towels.

An orchid. When it's in bloom, the whole kitchen looks lovely. Requires care but feels like an indulgence.

A really lovely watering can! Stainless steel from Sprout Home. I tried so hard to find a cheaper one that looked anywhere as good as this one, but when that search was fruitless, I gave in. It makes me happy every time I use it.

Blueberries for my cereal. So much nicer than raisins! (Though when the blueberries run out, raisins will do).

A reading nook. We took the chaise off our sectional couch and moved it across the room, under the window. On the best Sunday mornings, I sit in the sun, read magazines, and fall asleep.

My childhood library had something like this, so it brings back a huge wave of nostalgia, but still. "Nostalgic" is different than "hot."

We keep all our Dwells, and I've kept all my Harvard Business Reviews. Everything else (Time Out, Fast Company, Wired) we toss.

I started taking baths in my old place, because the tub was huge. I'd bath it probably twice a month, either at the end of the day or - even better - in the morning, setting a calm tone to my entire day. I could practically lie down, it was so big.

My new place has a tub with Whirpool jets - sounds great on paper! - but the tub is way smaller. I've taken one bath, and it was cold and uncomfortable. Jets are overrated. It's size that counts.

It just looks rickety. I don't want to sleep on a suspension bridge.

I prefer the gun store on The Simpsons: Bloodbath and Beyond.

The sponges at our kitchen sink start to smell moldy after just a few uses. So whenever I wash dishes, my hands smell moldy for hours. It's awful! Anyone have tips for keeping sponges clean? We wring them out after use but it doesn't seem to work.

Hey there Lawdesigner,

I wrote the post that Maxwell aired a few months ago. I had bedbugs for 4 months and definitely learned a few truths the hard way.

Bedbugs do have a smell, it's been described as "sickly sweet" and "like rotten raspberries." However, you can have bedbugs for a long time and smell nothing. Your infestation would have to get pretty bad before you started smelling bedbugs in your place. I would strongly caution folks against using their sense of smell as any sort of detection device.

Tossing your mattress is a contentious debate. I would argue against throwing anything away, unless it was impossible to contain or isolate. The mattress can be contained and the entire bed can be isolated. Dust-mite-proof mattress covers (called encasings) can be purchased from places like National Allergy. These zipper up and remain airtight, keeping any bedbugs in the mattress, IN and any bedbugs outside the mattress, OUT. Furthermore, the bed can be treated by an exterminator using a variety of residual chemicals, then isolated using vaseline to prevent more bugs from traveling up your bed legs.

Plus, if you toss your mattress, now you have no mattress. And you are almost guaranteed to NOT have ridden yourself of the problem, since the mattress is just one of the many, many spots where bedbugs are likely to hide. So you'll have to get a new mattress, which itself could become infested and the cycle starts again. Instead of buying a new mattress and isolating it, why not just isolate the one you've got?

Bedbugs can get very expensive, very fast if you start throwing everything you own away. Instead, I'd recommend getting a pest control operator experienced in bedbugs (that's the key, many are not) and having them inspect and treat your entire apartment. That part is expensive, yes, but it is truly an investment.

Otherwise, your tips are right-on. Thanks for sharing.

Bedbugger.com has a short response to this piece, see here:

http://bedbugger.com/2007/06/14/at/

I also recommend the Bedbugger forums if you have urgent questions that aren't answered in its fAQs. The Forums can be found here:

http://bedbugger.com/forum/

Thanks AT for keeping on top of the issue. The more people aware of bedbugs, the better chance we have of stopping their spread.

Hey Jem, it looks like AT: Chicago posted this yesterday. Cool. Thanks Chicago!

Kurtck, I urge you to visit Bedbugger.com (as well as The Bed Bug Resource, another great source of information and advice). There are lots of people who have gone through what you are dealing with. And your case is really the worst kind; when people don't react to the bites, the bugs can grow and spread literally undetected.

I'm sorry for your plight, but hey, at least you're not mad itchy like some people.

What's weird is that I actually thought I could see the words "Martha Stewart" in the image. Like a mirage. I swore it was there, then I went back and, no.

My god, she owns what she owns!