I may like Robots, but I'm NOT Wall-E!

The Chronicles of the Curious Cockroach

So my cockroach invader was back last night ... Is it paranoia if you're actually right about your suspicions? lol

I was just settling in for a good night's sleep when I hear a rustle in box stacked right next to my head. I've never really unpacked and sorted things since moving into our new house so my decorations are varying heights of cardboard brown ;) [I did make a little headway recently in the organization category but nothing too dramatic]

Anyway, the rustle! I'm like "Ok, so maybe I'm hearing things but I'll flick the light back on and soothe my mind." WRONG! I didn't have my glasses on but there was definitely a brown spot moseying around the gift bag sticking out of my box!!!!!  I would have screamed but I knew everyone else was in bed. My brother has just gone to bed a few minutes before and had a ninja-cockroach-slaying experience a couple weeks ago so I quickly rushed to his door and knocked. He gave the tired advice of using a shoe or a paper cup to smash it or catch it so I could smash it. Unfortunately this did not work so well when it's crawling over squishy, rip-able things that I like and don't want to destroy with a cockroach massacre. Also, doesn't help that I'm trying to do this as quietly as possible so I won't wake my sister in the next room because our walls act like sound conductors.

The cockroach was just curious and slow at first but when I grabbed that flip-flop, it got a spike of energy. :P
It scurried down the box/bin tower that had been it's treasure trove and disappeared once it hit the floor. I'm not 100% certain if this is where it went, but it disappeared right where there's a little flap in my carpet from running an internet cable to my computer. I tried looking around on the wall behind my bed and on the floor under my bed as much I could see but nothing moved or made a sound.

So I tried prying the flap up but I couldn't quite reach it ... due to the infamous boxes. I moved a lot out of the way and was satisfied it wasn't in the box I first saw it perusing. Also moved my bed frame away from any wall it was touching and made a safety perimeter to discourage the cockroach - if it was still in my room - from trying to explore my bed next. Now I had a better angle at the little breach in my carpet but didn't really have anything to grab it with since I still had to reach around my bed frame. Costume props to the rescue!

I remembered that I had this plastic long-handled axe in my closest that I got insanely cheap after Halloween a couple years ago. It's got a longer spiky piece sticking out of the middle and would be perfect for what I needed. I manage to flip the carpet up and I see that indeed there is a hole that a cockroach as curious as the one I encountered could have used to infiltrate my chambers.

Anyway, I moved all things rustle-y into the hallway and turned on my mini-fan that doubles as a white-noise, mind-soother for me and just try prayed that I'd make it through the night with no more encounters!


When I wasn't scrutinizing it for it's villainy, the cockroach actually reminded me of the one from Wall-E! The last living thing on earth that doubles as Wall-E's cutesy little sidekick, able to withstand the clumsy robot's accidental assaults on the cockroach's life. The thought of it being able to withstand radiation and a robot rolling over it was not a comforting thought, but I wondered if re-watching that movie would help me come to terms with my rivalry with these little insects of steel. Who knows - one should never be lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to the enemy! ;)

All that to say:
Leave it to a cockroach to light the fire under me to really get my room in order!