Okay, you asked for it. Here's one mean, hungry bedbug looking for you. They sense heat and smell carbon dioxide. Guess what? You and I are both carbon dioxide factories that put off a lot of heat. When we slide into bed and drift off into restful sleep, for the bedbug that's like the "Cafe Open" sign being turned on.



See that long slim proboscis, that's the mouth part, it finds an easy spot to puncture your skin and starts engorging itself on your blood. It's saliva acts as an anesthetic, so you don't feel a thing until the next day.

When you travel check around mattresses, headboards and other cracks & crevices for bed bugs, their fecal matter or cast off exoskeletons. Do not unpack and place your clothes in the dressers at hotels. Keep luggage up on table and away from the bed area. If it's summer when you get home, and you can do without what's in the luggage for a day, place luggage in large black plastic bags. Seal the bags well enough that a bed bug cannot crawl out. Put the bags in direct hot sun for a long enough period of time for the heat to build up over 120 degrees Fahrenheit and permeate through your belongings.

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Just a quick reminder, be sure to insulate your exterior pipes and
faucets. We see a surprising number of older faucets not winterized. It's
actually amusing, sometimes people who have newer faucets that are frost proof
will still install insulating covers and people with older faucets that are susceptible
to freezing will ignore installing faucet covers.



FYI- if you have a frost proof faucet, you shouldn't have to winterize it. When
you close the handle, the valve is actually about 12" up the pipe and it
allows that last part of the pipe to drain of water. But if you have the old
style, the valve is right there at the handle, so it leaves the pipe and faucet
full of water. If that water freezes it will expand and split the pipe or
faucet.



Since it looks like we may have freezing weather for a few more days, I
recommend taking few minutes today to ensure you have faucet covers if your
need them.