Commuting - Bedbugs

With an increasing number of office buildings in New York City suffering infestations of bedbugs, I wonder if any bike commuters have been impacted by the problem either directly or indirectly? I'm asking because my employer sent around an email asking all staff at their US facilities to avoid leaving shoes or clothing in desks until further notice. It seems they want to avoid any chance of the critters coming into the building from someone's home, or, and perhaps worse, avoid claims employees 'caught' the bugs at work.

These bedbugs are DDT resistant because they come from countries that still use it. It takes a cocktail of pesticides to kill them.

Please keep this crap out of here. If you want to spout crap, take it to politics and religion, where it belongs. This is a forum for "commuting" not "ranting about things I don't like".

Isn't that why they invented the internet??????

I've heard nothing about bedbugs, as I'm apparently too far away from the US. What exactly are they?

Nevermind, did some reading on them and I can see why we don't have them. We have a sh**load of ants over here, which apparently are natural enemies of the critters.

Wonder what relevance of bedbugs to commuting by bike? Are you afraid the bedbugs will take a ride on your rear rack and come to your house? But they don't need a bike for that ;)

With an increasing number of office buildings in New York City suffering infestations of bedbugs, I wonder if any bike commuters have been impacted by the problem either directly or indirectly? I'm asking because my employer sent around an email asking all staff at their US facilities to avoid leaving shoes or clothing in desks until further notice. It seems they want to avoid any chance of the critters coming into the building from someone's home, or, and perhaps worse, avoid claims employees 'caught' the bugs at work.
The bosses would really prefer that employees remove all clothing before entering the building, is what it sounds like. Then, get dressed as you leave the building. That would stop the little buggers, I mean bugs.

This makes me very nervous. I was in a hotel in Vero Beach Fl a couple of years ago. I could not sleep so I was surfing the net on the laptop. My wife woke up staring at a bedbug on her pillow. The only light in the room was from the laptop. I could not believe she saw it. We went downstairs and the hotel staff acted as if they did not know what it was. I knew only from watching the Discovery or History channel. We packed up and drove the 11 hour drive home. No sleep for me at all. I asked the hotel for a refund on the room and they refused. Well chase sided with me and I did not have to pay for the room.
Another concern I have is that the business I run acts as a central genetic hub for roaches. Bedbugs can't be too far behind. I have almost completely eliminated the roach problem at work. So maybe I will be in the clear.

I got bed bugs in my apartment about three years ago in San Diego. I had just bought a futon off of Craigslist. I don't think the owner knew it had bugs when they sold it to me. It had been in storage for a while in a U-Store-it kinda place which is probably where it got the bugs from.

It took me a few weeks to figure out that I had the bugs. I had just moved to a new place and I though they were just bugs in the apartment. When I found out I had bugs it was pretty expensive though, I didn't have to pay for it, the landlord did. I washed every piece of cloth I owned at an industrial laundramat and threw out the futon. The exterminator sprinkled some white powdery stuff all over the edges of the room and anywhere that the bugs might live. I asked him what the powder was and he said it was just a generic form of bathroom cleaner such as Ajax or some other heavy scrubbing powder.

I lived at my girlfriends house for a week while the power was in place and the dude let off a bug bomb. When I got back I cleaned up the powder and never saw another bed bug. It was a pain in the ass but there was no need for DDT or any other highly toxic chemicals to be sprayed all over the place, let alone used in mass like you all are talking about.

My apartment was pretty small. It was over 100 years old and was less than 300 square feet. I could imagine that if you had a lot bigger house, lots of carpet, kids, pets, pile and piles of clothes and blankets, ect... they might be harder to get rid of. Humans have been living along side of bed bugs for millions of years. Trying to eradicate them is like trying to wipe out the common cold. Its not going to happen, ever. Just learn to deal with it and don't own so much stuff.

I got bed bugs in my apartment about three years ago in San Diego. I had just bought a futon off of Craigslist. I don't think the owner knew it had bugs when they sold it to me. It had been in storage for a while in a U-Store-it kinda place which is probably where it got the bugs from.

It took me a few weeks to figure out that I had the bugs. I had just moved to a new place and I though they were just bugs in the apartment. When I found out I had bugs it was pretty expensive though, I didn't have to pay for it, the landlord did. I washed every piece of cloth I owned at an industrial laundramat and threw out the futon. The exterminator sprinkled some white powdery stuff all over the edges of the room and anywhere that the bugs might live. I asked him what the powder was and he said it was just a generic form of bathroom cleaner such as Ajax or some other heavy scrubbing powder.

I lived at my girlfriends house for a week while the power was in place and the dude let off a bug bomb. When I got back I cleaned up the powder and never saw another bed bug. It was a pain in the ass but there was no need for DDT or any other highly toxic chemicals to be sprayed all over the place, let alone used in mass like you all are talking about.

My apartment was pretty small. It was over 100 years old and was less than 300 square feet. I could imagine that if you had a lot bigger house, lots of carpet, kids, pets, pile and piles of clothes and blankets, ect... they might be harder to get rid of. Humans have been living along side of bed bugs for millions of years. Trying to eradicate them is like trying to wipe out the common cold. Its not going to happen, ever. Just learn to deal with it and don't own so much stuff.

Very well said.

keep the politics out of this please

A few years ago while staying in a motel, I was awakened by itching and biting. I soon discoverd BEDBUGS were the cause. After arriving home from my business trip I wrote Motel 6 and the apparently FICTIONAL Tom Bodett about my experience. I got a very nice letter in return appologizing abjectly and profusely, swearing that such a thing was heretofore unknown in their chain. They promised that this would never happen again. Then I noticed a 2nd letter in the envelope. Apparently my original letter had also accidently been put in the envelope as well . Across the top in red ink was written: "Send this schmuck the "bedbug" letter!



GOTCHA!!!!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bed-bug.info/images/bedbug_main.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bed-bug.info/&usg=__A6c5XLKoYtu22XWLSQNLHv5s3ok=&h=337&w=550&sz=136&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=CuyFry0WkSQycM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=178&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=381&ei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&tx=82&ty=63

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uspest.com/files/u6/bed_bug_bites.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uspest.com/go_green/feature_tech&usg=__8Zl_h2oWfk8z6Xnyo7SCmnp8dHU=&h=293&w=439&sz=21&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&tbnid=YxM6caO4CN3zBM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=249&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C496&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=836&vpy=192&dur=83&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=137&ty=36&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:15&biw=1152&bih=672

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ecofriend.org/images/_bed_bug.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/all-natural-formula-bed-bug-repeler/&usg=__dZZGwe-yBJNmGXGwJnXZ5c5LmM4=&h=245&w=291&sz=26&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&tbnid=KIc2PL7FeLbZyM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=215&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C496&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=264&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:15&tx=109&ty=86&biw=1152&bih=672

One or two of these should take care of the bug problem.


http://zvis.com/images/nuks/tpotapple2a.jpg

Its a CF bike having a catastrophic failure.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bed-bug.info/images/bedbug_main.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bed-bug.info/&usg=__A6c5XLKoYtu22XWLSQNLHv5s3ok=&h=337&w=550&sz=136&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=CuyFry0WkSQycM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=178&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=381&ei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&tx=82&ty=63

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uspest.com/files/u6/bed_bug_bites.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uspest.com/go_green/feature_tech&usg=__8Zl_h2oWfk8z6Xnyo7SCmnp8dHU=&h=293&w=439&sz=21&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&tbnid=YxM6caO4CN3zBM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=249&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C496&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=836&vpy=192&dur=83&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=137&ty=36&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:15&biw=1152&bih=672

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ecofriend.org/images/_bed_bug.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/all-natural-formula-bed-bug-repeler/&usg=__dZZGwe-yBJNmGXGwJnXZ5c5LmM4=&h=245&w=291&sz=26&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&tbnid=KIc2PL7FeLbZyM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=215&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbed%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D672%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C496&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=264&oei=AXGKTLHaKMnDnAfkzNDiCQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:15&tx=109&ty=86&biw=1152&bih=672

Great. Now I won't be able to sleep at night. Thanks a lot.