It's deja vu!
Mar. 28th, 2003 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenrileyFirstly, I'd like to find whomever coined the saying "March comes in like a lion, goes out a like a lamb" and SMACK him upside the head... and I have a somewhat immature husband so I'm good at smacking people upside their heads. March came in like a lamb... mild, warm, beautiful. It's now the end of March. And what do we have? Rain! Storms. Massive clouds covering everything. And wind. Lots and lots of strong wind. And it's cold. I don't remember it ever being this chilly in Texas at the end of March. Hell, I don't remember it being this chilly in Texas at the begining of March. So March is going out like a lion. Stupid saying.
Now, onto the deja vu bit. A bit of background information, if you will: When I was pregnant with Alex, Jeff and I lived in a one bedroom apartment across the street from where we are living now. It was a rattrap in the first place, but the management didn't bother to ever fix anything, so it was not the nicest place to live. However, it was where we could afford on Jeff's grossly underpaid tech support salary, and with me being pregnant nobody would hire me, and I'd had to quit my previous job because of the pregnancy (I was housekeeper at an athletic club... the chemicals in the cleaners used for 8 hours a day 5 days a week would have hurt my unborn daughter). So we were strapped for cash and the not-so-nice apartments were where we lived. Around April, a beehive was discovered on the side of the building. A man came and sprayed, said they were taken care of. Two weeks later, they were back. By the first of May, they were inside the apartment. I woke up one morning and there was a bee buzzing around the bedroom. I thought perhaps it had just flown in the day before when Jeff was outside smoking. But no such luck. There were two more dead in the windowsill. I told Jeff, we told the complex, they said wait until the following morning and if more were found, they'd do something about it. There were more the next morning, so the complex had a man come out. Once again, we were told the bees were gone. The following morning, they were buzzing around the bedroom again. Jeff and I moved our decrepid old mattress to the living room and slept on the floor in there. We lived in a bee-infested apartment for one month and the management never did anything about it, nor would they cut us a break on rent or move us to a new apartment. We were told it was our fault the bees were there, as management believed we were letting them in. When Alex was born and I had all the health problems and the re-admittance to the hospital, we moved into my parents house so I could recover. Jeff had just lost his job and he didn't get another one until recently. We lived there for a year and a half. We cut out on our lease at the old apartment and are STILL arguing with the management about the bee issue. We feel we should not have to pay for an apartment that was uninhabitable and they feel we should pay to the end of our lease as they never noted a problem with the apartment (ignoring the fact housekeeping was afraid to clean up the bedroom after we moved out since the windowsill was COVERED in dead bees... you couldn't even see it, and we hadn't been inside the apartment for two weeks).
A note on the bee issue. I'm highly allergic to bees. If I get stung by even one, I have about 5-10 minutes to get to a hospital before I die.
Yesterday I scared myself silly. I was taking Alex's old excersaucer to a friend of mine who has a 5 month old son. I stepped out of the apartment and off the porch to load the excersaucer, leaving Alex inside, and stopped dead in my tracks. I had just stepped into the middle of a SWARM of bees. A swarm. An entire colony. The amount you would find in a large and active hive were buzzing in the air all around me, literally all around. They were above me, at my feet, to my front, back, and sides. The air was thick with bees, and somehow, I managed to turn around and get inside without being stung or even having one land on me. I wait about 10 minutes and look outside. The swarm is gone. I open the door. Nothing, not even the sound of bees. I take a tentative step outside. Still nothing. There is a little girl playing with bubbles outside the building next to mine. I step to the sidewalk and look around. Finally I spot them. Most of the swarm wasn't visable by this point, but there were about 30 or so bees buzzing around the outside of my building, up near the roof, at the second floor apartment direcly above the apartment behind mine. I could see a space between the brick and the roof where I am entirely certain the bees have taken up residence.
On the plus side, the management of this complex is ever so much more reliable and trustworthy. I know it will be taken care of quickly here.
Now, onto the deja vu bit. A bit of background information, if you will: When I was pregnant with Alex, Jeff and I lived in a one bedroom apartment across the street from where we are living now. It was a rattrap in the first place, but the management didn't bother to ever fix anything, so it was not the nicest place to live. However, it was where we could afford on Jeff's grossly underpaid tech support salary, and with me being pregnant nobody would hire me, and I'd had to quit my previous job because of the pregnancy (I was housekeeper at an athletic club... the chemicals in the cleaners used for 8 hours a day 5 days a week would have hurt my unborn daughter). So we were strapped for cash and the not-so-nice apartments were where we lived. Around April, a beehive was discovered on the side of the building. A man came and sprayed, said they were taken care of. Two weeks later, they were back. By the first of May, they were inside the apartment. I woke up one morning and there was a bee buzzing around the bedroom. I thought perhaps it had just flown in the day before when Jeff was outside smoking. But no such luck. There were two more dead in the windowsill. I told Jeff, we told the complex, they said wait until the following morning and if more were found, they'd do something about it. There were more the next morning, so the complex had a man come out. Once again, we were told the bees were gone. The following morning, they were buzzing around the bedroom again. Jeff and I moved our decrepid old mattress to the living room and slept on the floor in there. We lived in a bee-infested apartment for one month and the management never did anything about it, nor would they cut us a break on rent or move us to a new apartment. We were told it was our fault the bees were there, as management believed we were letting them in. When Alex was born and I had all the health problems and the re-admittance to the hospital, we moved into my parents house so I could recover. Jeff had just lost his job and he didn't get another one until recently. We lived there for a year and a half. We cut out on our lease at the old apartment and are STILL arguing with the management about the bee issue. We feel we should not have to pay for an apartment that was uninhabitable and they feel we should pay to the end of our lease as they never noted a problem with the apartment (ignoring the fact housekeeping was afraid to clean up the bedroom after we moved out since the windowsill was COVERED in dead bees... you couldn't even see it, and we hadn't been inside the apartment for two weeks).
A note on the bee issue. I'm highly allergic to bees. If I get stung by even one, I have about 5-10 minutes to get to a hospital before I die.
Yesterday I scared myself silly. I was taking Alex's old excersaucer to a friend of mine who has a 5 month old son. I stepped out of the apartment and off the porch to load the excersaucer, leaving Alex inside, and stopped dead in my tracks. I had just stepped into the middle of a SWARM of bees. A swarm. An entire colony. The amount you would find in a large and active hive were buzzing in the air all around me, literally all around. They were above me, at my feet, to my front, back, and sides. The air was thick with bees, and somehow, I managed to turn around and get inside without being stung or even having one land on me. I wait about 10 minutes and look outside. The swarm is gone. I open the door. Nothing, not even the sound of bees. I take a tentative step outside. Still nothing. There is a little girl playing with bubbles outside the building next to mine. I step to the sidewalk and look around. Finally I spot them. Most of the swarm wasn't visable by this point, but there were about 30 or so bees buzzing around the outside of my building, up near the roof, at the second floor apartment direcly above the apartment behind mine. I could see a space between the brick and the roof where I am entirely certain the bees have taken up residence.
On the plus side, the management of this complex is ever so much more reliable and trustworthy. I know it will be taken care of quickly here.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-28 02:48 pm (UTC)Scary.
That's a pretty nasty allergic reaction you have there.
Good thing bees aren't as spectacularly aggressive as, say, wasps. But perhaps you're allergic to wasps too?
Hmm. For once I'm glad the only thing I'm allergic to is bananas. They usually don't force you to eat them. That'd be strange.
"Eat me!"
"But then my stomach will hurt like hell..."
"Do I look like I care? Eat me!"
"Oaawww..."
Kinda sucks though as I really like bananas. Until about fifteen minutes later, that is.
In other news, I'm fattening up. Slowly. Let us rejoice.
Ever notice how there's never any articles on getting fat? Just a truckload of 'How to lose 50 pounds in five days using only Ex-Lax' type articles and similar things telling women they'll only be pretty if they're emaciated.
Have you seen Invader Zim? Are you familiar with the Happy Bee Song?
Just wondering. Cos, er, funny. Hee.
Re:
Date: 2003-03-28 02:57 pm (UTC)You had it in two. :) I am indeed also allergic to wasps. And hornets. And yellow jackets. Pretty much anything with a stinger, I'm allergic too.
And some bees are as aggressive as wasps. Do you know about Killer Bees? It's a breed, a cross-breed actually. Some scientist took the African bee and the American honey bee and crossbred them in a lab in South America somewhere. They are highly aggressive and will follow their target for a few miles before they give up, but they are also exceptionally fast and military-like coordinated, so they usually don't have to fly those few miles before they overtake their target. They escaped the scientists lab and have been migrating steadily north ever since. They've reached Texas, so we have them here. They are virtually identical to the American Honey Bee (the kind taking up residence in my building, which I only know because had they been killer bees, I would have been stung the minute I opened that door, and would be dead a hundred times over) except for the Queen, which you can never see anyway because she remains in the hive.
And do you know about fire ants? I'm allergic to them too, though not nearly as bad as bees, wasps, etc. I could tell stories about those buggars.
You don't even want to know my other allergies... my list might scare you (and make you wonder why I ever go outside in the first place) even in it's abbreviated form.
I have seen Invader Zim. It's alright.
And your banana conversation? That's great. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-28 03:12 pm (UTC)And then people are scared of things they aren't allergic to. Seems silly.
What is up with that?
Date: 2003-03-29 03:44 am (UTC)Re: What is up with that?
Date: 2003-03-29 05:50 am (UTC)And if you aren't in the mood for quesadillas, I can do fried chicken or whatever. :)
Re: What is up with that?
Date: 2003-03-29 05:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-31 12:29 am (UTC)percival
(no subject)
Date: 2003-04-16 07:49 am (UTC)I like bees, myself. (I am fortunate enough not to be allergic. I was also fortunate enough never to get stung until I started actively messing about with their hives, but that's beside the point.) But I find it mind-boggling that your apartment management would claim you were letting them in on purpose.
Re:
Date: 2003-04-16 12:36 pm (UTC)It's not that I don't like bees. I find them quite fascinating and amazing little creatures. If I weren't so allergic to them, I probably wouldn't have a problem being around them. But I don't want to die anytime soon, so I stay away from them to avoid being stung.
Thanks for the info on swarming bees. :) I'm always up for learning something new.