Dagnabbit! That Pesky I-95 & The Vermin That Drive Upon It With Stray Debris In Their Truck Beds.

I was chalking up yesterday to a successful day: blue sky, lots of items on the to-do list checked off, more of my University office cleaned, and a celebration of Tunga's new car, Beatrix LaStrange (he agreed to the name).

There was also mild traffic on I-95, and I was looking at the ocean (well, Sound) and thinking about the long run I wanted to take before I began my evening chores.

That's when I heard 'thwap." Debris was flying out of the back of this service truck on the highway - just the basic things: washers, screws, deadbolts, wrenches, screwdrivers, and blowup dolls.

Something hit my windshield and I instantly saw the spider legs. Then, as I got home, I noticed the crack goes from the base of the window halfway to the middle.

Just like that. KaPow! Now another item to add to the agenda.

This, of course, happens hours before Chitunga delivers a dead bug to me. He found it between his mattress and bedspring, as he's in cleaning mode to head back to school.

"I think it's a bed bug," he announces. We only found one, but now the paranoia is up. They travel in backpacks, suitcases, and duffle bags. Summer is an open house amusement park on Mt. Pleasant. It could of come from anyone.

We only found one, but the panic is up, especially since the kid and I have both had bites in recent days --- but they are definitely spider bites with two fangs and, according to Internet research, the bits were not in locations common to bedbugs. They didn't look the same.

According to our research, the bug we found was an adult male in desperate need for food. A well fed male would have been longer and more plump. Good thing we found reliable resources online, otherwise we'd be up all night thinking we have bed bugs.

Okay, that's exactly what happened, but we don't.

It could have been a tick.