2020 was definitely an interesting year. While everyone was hoarding toilet paper, paper towels, and wipes, I was driving to work every day. I was deemed an essential frontline worker because I work for a major online supplier. The best thing about working through the beginning of Covid was no traffic! Seriously, my commute was so easy both going to work and coming home. It was great! Many of the safety procedures my employer put into place are still in place today. My employer also offers free on-site Covid testing. Employees can get tested weekly if they want. It's been really nice. Even now with associates getting vaccinated, they continue to offer free testing.
Also while the BIG pandemic was going on, we were dealing with a pretty severe plague at my house....bedbugs. Never in my life have I experienced bedbugs. I don't even know with 100% certainty how they got into my house, but my best guess is on one of the used books I ordered. That's the only thing I can think of. I initially went to the doctor because I thought I had an allergic reaction to a new medication, but no, it was bug bites. Let me tell you, it was miserable!
Do you know what is 100% effective on bedbugs and safe for pets? 90% alcohol. Do you know what was almost impossible to find during the pandemic? Alcohol! We used diatomaceous earth (food grade) under our bed and we found some other stuff on Amazon that we sprinkled on our box springs before we encased it, but we finally found a horse ranch that sold the correct kind of alcohol in a 4-pack, gallon size, so the Handsome Husband and I took a little field trip to purchase it. It was actually a very nice drive. It's great to live so close to horse country! The alcohol was the most effective and quickest treatment.
Additionally, we were washing our bed linens daily and vacuuming in the den and bedroom daily (the most affected areas). The husband also researched online and found out heat kills the little buggers. We started washing the linens weekly, but tossing in the dryer daily. Do you know how annoying it is to completely make your bed daily?? I'm not talking about pulling the sheets and blanket up, I'm talking wash your bed linens and put the whole bed back together type of making your bed. It's a royal pain, but it's what we had to do to keep the bugs at bay. We put encasements on our box springs and mattress. Hubby taped them with packing tape because the bugs cannot climb on slick surfaces. We had to put our shoes in plastic boxes for storage (I actually had bedbugs in my shoes!) and put all our clothes in plastic bags with zippers or in plastic totes.
I am happy to report that the plague of bedbugs is over! We are bedbug free, but I still keep spray bottles of alcohol in key places just in case.
On the health journey front, I lost another 2 pounds this past week, so I'm down 14 pounds from my starting weight.
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