Bugs

The biggest problem to me with the house was that it took all of my time and energy. I was way too embarrassed to tell my friends what was really going on so I gradually lost them. I'm not saying it wasn't my fault--it was, I took days to return calls and I still didn't have any money to go out for lunch. I let it happen. That damn house was a full time job.

We had moved in in October, when the air conditioning wasn't used. When spring came we turned it on and starting noticing small bugs that looked like the cross between a fly and a moth. They were about a centimeter square, were very slow moving, and were attracted to the light. At first it wasn't too bad, just a few here and there. But gradually as it got hotter and hotter more and more started flying around. They seemed to be coming from the basement so I called in exterminators galore. It would get better for a week then return to the old levels. We didn't know what to do. We called them fly moths. The internet called them sewer flies and said they come from open drains. So we called in the plumber, again! He found a few things and fixed them. Once again, they got better for a week or so then started coming back. By the time we had done all of this it was fall again and they disappeared. What was going on? As we were to find out, this cycle repeated itself four more summers until we found the cause. More on that later. I don't want to get ahead of myself.