But those are eradicable, and not nearly the bother of some other insects I could name.

There are definitely more spiders here than anywhere else I lived.

ETA: I had cave crickets out the wazoo in my basement in MD. They can jump really really far. Occasionally they would make their way into the house proper and really freak me out.

It sounds like Seattle has more bugs than SF, but it has less than any of the east of the Mississippi places I've lived. Which puzzles me, now that I think of it, because there are spiders galore, way too many of them, and I can't figure what they're all eating.

I remember it was super cold the week of my b'day (aka next week) in 1986. Right before I left for college.

One of the droughts record it looks like we're fixing to pass was in 1986. I wonder if it was the same weather pattern.

"I stay inside!"

Smart girl. Palmetto bugs are not dumb, either. They started coming inside en masse once the weather hit 100. I have a pest control service, though, so I usually only see them on their backs, kicking feebly.

Yeah, cockroaches/palmetto bugs skeeve me way more than spiders - I kind of like the latter.

I kind of like the latter.

Color me shocked.

Hubby has convinced me that the arachnid population has its uses, especially vis a vis eating the mosquito population. He also understands my feelings and will take the larger ones out of the house when spotted. I have stopped shrieking like a mad three-year-old and can now just point and say, "That. Remove it, please."

Then there was the day Hubby said, as I was on the computer, "Don't move. Don't look down." Me, trying to be a grown-up about it, immediately looked down. Shiny, black, kind of built like a race car, rather than the blue-eyed wolfies that Hubby likes. "What's that?" I asked. "It's a black widow," he said, looking for something to scoop and hold with."

It's a whole different feeling, adding, "Potential high-speed trip to ER" to "OMG, nothing living needs more than four legs, get rid of it!"

Not even going to look at megan's whitefont.

That's why you arm yourself!

Did I ever tell y'all about the contraption I built to deal with water bugs (the giant flying roaches)?

We had one of these [link] and I attached one of Jon's work boots to one end with duct tape. I would adjust the handle so it was as long as possible without being unsturdy.

This way I could smite them from very very far away because of their aforementioned aggressiveness.

SO, ANYONE SEEN ANY CUTE PICTURES LATELY????

I miss the lack of bugs. There are too many of them here in DC and I sometimes lose sleep if I see a centipede. Fortunately, I have not seen any roaches and if my DH has seen any he knew better than to mention it.

Not even going to look at megan's whitefont.

That was just my NSFJ whitefont.