You've got to be kidding me!!

So I think we're all aware that I'm in a pretty fragile state after the squirrels and the dilemmas they pose. The squirrels that I am still afraid to trap because they are so small and wild.

I've been working from home for fear the squirrels will chew through wiring and start a fire, since this house is a big tinderbox waiting to go up at any moment. If I wasn't home and something happened to the cats I'd never be able to forgive myself.

Today, I woke up a little late and had to start the marathon conference calls first thing. I decided I'd grab a shower when I had a break long enough. Finally after 5, I had a breather and started the hot water. I couldn't help the feeling that I was being watched. I have a set of obsessive checks I do before I get in the shower when I'm home alone... making sure there is no one hiding behind the shower curtain, obsessively cleaning my toothbrush, checking the drain for bugs (I once lived in an apartment with no p-trap on the shower drain and all kinds of things would stumble in).

Today, the coast was clear so I stepped up into the shower. I still had a nagging sense that I was being watched, so much so that at one point I got a chill up my spine. I looked through the shower curtain at the window, no one there. I looked out into the hall, no one there. Both cats were sleeping. Must be my paranoia. I was just about to rinse my hair when I looked up...

The house has had several bathroom incarnations, including a built in shower enclosure that the previous owner removed and replaced with our claw-foot tub. He was a little lazy and didn't replace the ceiling tiles and as a result we have some ugly ones and a little gap in one spot where the false wall used to be. The ceilings are 10 feet high and are usually blissfully unimposing and airy.

You can imagine my horror when, while scanning the room, I noticed the source of the creepy feeling, and it was coming from above me.

In the little gap left from the remodel, about 5 feet about me, watching me shower, the owner of a pair of antennae lurked in the shadows. A peeping tom cockroach. I shrieked and dropped the conditioner bottle. I was terrified that at any minute he would become mobile and crawl or fall or worse - fly - closer to me and I still had to wash my face which meant for a few seconds I would have to close my eyes. I finished my shower with haste, jumped out of the tub and stood in the hallway dripping wet and completely terrorized. I could still see his antennae moving around, little pervert.

I called the pest control company and they'll be back out Friday. Looks like Bart needs to go up a ladder again, this time to close that hole.