Darn Little Bugs

I was working in a couple’s home doing all sorts of remodeling projects. I had fixed a lot of structural cracks all over their house and was re-caulking base boards and shoe molding. I was preparing areas for paint. I finished up with all of the prep work and hauled scaffolding into their twenty-five foot foyer. This couple had been together for so many years I do not think they were able to think for themselves. I climbed up on the scaffold and began to paint the foyer area. I finished up and started to concentrate on the other areas of the home that required attention. Their second floor was built like a balcony over looking the living room and foyer. The staircase was a difficult place to manipulate. It was the same height as the foyer but much more narrow. I had to use an extension ladder and a sixteen-foot plank to reach the area. I ran to the lumberyard and bought a two by twelve pine board.

I set up the staircase to paint and climbed out on the plank to check and make sure it was safe and secure. I noticed these little bugs kept crawling on my arms and legs. You have to realize that this was a nice house and the introduction of bugs started to make me wonder. I would be mortified if I brought these little creatures in with me. I started investigating and they seemed to be coming out of the plank I just bought. Now at this time, I am being evasive and trying to find the source of these bugs. They began crawling, now they are flying, and they are all over this house. I had to tell the homeowner we have a little problem here. He was concerned and said what is that. I showed him the bugs and asked if he had been having this problem for a while. He was shocked at my question. By this point in time, they had crawled and flew into all the wet paint on the walls and looked like some kind of black speckled paint. He kept reassuring me this had just happened and even cracked a joke and offered me a bath. About this moment, his wife arrives home and the two of them decide to call the pest control people. I was relieved that I was not the source of the infestation. I stayed away for a few days and then returned to finish the job. There were plenty of jokes to go around.