The sky is falling... and don't let the closet bugs bite!

Very happy no one was in bed when the ceiling fell!

When we came home from Neemrana, Karen found large chunks of our bedroom ceiling on her side of the bed and on the floor.  We noticed cracks forming a few weeks before, but never thought it would be such a disaster.  Thankfully, we went on vacation and Karen was spared!

Now to our closets.  When we moved in last year, we noticed wood powder and cracks in the tops of our closets in both our bedroom and guest room along with some dead bug skins.  We notified the maintenance department that takes care of our home, and they promptly came in blazing with a bug spray.  They ended up drenching the closets with termite spray diluted in kerosene (I just found out about the kerosene part...another story), leaving us with a uninhabitable house for a few days.  We ended up staying at a friend's apartment while the clean-up crew (one poor guy who is ordered around by 4 "supervisors") eventually cleaned up the mess dripping from our closets.  I figured any living creature was now dead in our home!

Fast forward 8 months.  When we came back to India at the very end of July, we noticed a chirping or gnawing sound coming from somewhere in our bedroom.  We ignored it for a few weeks as we thought it was probably our air conditioner or some other noise India makes.  The chirping grew louder over the next few weeks, so I started to investigate.  While doing the manly job of testing the closet's wood integrity, I just about put my entire fist through the paper thin upper-side panel.  I shrieked.  I remembered I had pictures of the bugs from last year and so began a Google investigation.  After 20 minutes, I came to the conclusion that the bugs were known as "old house borers".  They are known to make noises after their 4th year of infestation (after their pupa stage).  You don't want to see what they look like the 5th year!!  Nasty!  Karen and I immediately placed a work order to have these closets taken down as they were infested!

Below is a slideshow of pictures with an audio clip of me talking to the bugs.  You can definitely hear them in this clip...especially after the 3rd hello!!  I wish I got Karen talking to them...they respond to her voice more!!  I don't know what they are saying.  I don't know if I want to know...