creepy crawly company

i'm back from the school trip. and it seems that while i was gone, i had company: i guess with a) my old apartment, b) the weather getting colder and c) the crumbs around the gas stove, it was only a matter of time before the cockroaches found a comfortable home in MY home.

prologue:
i heard a creepy crawly noise from the kitchen and went to investigate. i saw the little bugger run behind a little styrofoam tray and my hand soap pump. i moved the hand soap, only to have the cockroach climb UP the hand soap pump! i was inches away from direct contact!! aaaaah. there were no girly screams, but there was definitely some vocal reaction.

chapter one:
he ran down the side of the counter, between my stove top and the counter. i couldn't catch it under a jar so i tried dropping diluted mr. clean on it. apparently soap solutions temporarily paralyze them by blocking the pores (?) that are on their body which they use to breathe. but, it scurried away and i didn't see it again. i got out two little round caps (traps) with holes on the sides and poisonous bait inside) left over from last year (sept) and put those out and was resigned to sleep without catching it.

chapter two:
and then, i was up in the kitchen for something and i saw it scurry behind a box near the trash can. on the floor. i grabbed a plastic cup to catch it with, but it got away. the little buggers are FAST. it went under the fridge, so i tried "fishing" it out but pushing paper underneath, but no success. i couldn't figure out where it went. so, i did a little research and set out a mixture of sugar and baking soda in 3 cups, on their sides, in 3 places that the cockroach was likely to be. but i didn't know where it was, and all i could think was, "how am i supposed to sleep knowing there's an absolutely DISGUSTING bug scurrying around my apartment?! it better not find it's way to me...!!" i hate cockroaches. HATE.

chapter three:
so i started getting ready for bed. i washed my face and got my toiletry bag out from the school trip and went to put my toothbrush back and he was just sitting there!!!! on the edge of my toiletry container on the window sill by my sink!! i may have yelled. yeah, may have. i got the mr. clean out again and flicked some on it. he reacted but didn't run. i ran and got a spoon. i splashed mr. clean on him and he ran back into the wall. (there's a window half blocked by a wall, so he went somewhere back into the part i couldn't see.) i started to take the stuff off the window sill to open the window, and he reappeared up in the corner of the ceiling. "run! plastic cup! fast! caught!! now what?? i'm holding a cup against a wall with a huge ugly cockraoch in it..." i slid the cup down the wall and it appeared to be not too happy having been splashed with soap. i got it to the back of the cup and quickly pulled the cup away from the wall and slammed it down on the floor. safe!! and he managed to land on his back. nice. i put some of the baking soda sugar mixture on the floor and slid the cup over it.

epilogue:
he's currently still under the cup, on his back, legs in the air, twitching. i feel a little bad killing it, but there's no way i'm sharing my apartment with that kind of a roommate. he'll stay there until tomorrow. then i'll flush him. 　*shudder*

i swear my apartment isn't THAT dirty, but spotting a cockroach makes me feel like it's somehow my fault for not being cleaner. of course there are some prevention methods (going into effect TOMORROW!) but still... *sigh*