Getting Rid of Termites

Have you been through the fumigation process?

It is a bit of an ordeal with patches of humor and a short vacation mixed in.

The first step is the inspection - lots of poking and prodding all over the house and up in the attic to see if there is any structural damage or signs of subterranean or drywood critters.

To get rid of the drywood termites, tenting needs to be done and then poisonous gas blown in.

Oh boy!

The pest control people hand you Nylofume bags to double-bag all your food and medicines.

Does anyone actually trust that two sheets of plastic will protect items (that you plan to ingest at some point) from the harm of a poisonous gas that is able to creep inside your walls and exterminate bugs?

Perhaps.

But we ended up cleaning out the pantry/refrigerator/freezer/medicine chests. Boxing all contents, along with the indoor plants and removing them from the house.

Which comes to the funny part. If you leave your car in the garage during the fumigation, it must be unlocked and the trunk must be open...

"To prove you are not storing bodies in there?"

Yep, said the pest control inspector, it is a state law.

On day one, you hand over your key and hope for the best.

It is necessary to vacate the premises for two nights so herein lies the 'forced' vacation part of the equation.

It has been very cold in San Diego (not Alaska-cold or even Colorado-cold but cold enough to require shoes instead of flip flops).

Just a few miles inland the temperature rises dramatically. Which is why we decided to stay at a hotel in Rancho Bernardo.

Turns out that the folks there also thought it was unseasonably cold (even though it was close to 70 degrees) so I had the pool all to myself.

It was weird and creepy to go back home.

Even though we had written permission to return.

We opened windows in every room of the house.

Turned on fans full blast.

Opened doors.

And tried to convince ourselves that the poisonous gas really did vaporize, as promised.