Back to bed bugs

I forgot to add the last but not necessarily final chapter of the bed bug saga. About a week ago, both of us feeling stronger finally, Grumpy decided to try sleeping in the bedroom again. After all this time, residual poisons lying around everywhere, we were discouraged to find a couple of live bugs under the edge of the mattress that had been resting on the floor. Squashed them, naturally, and observed a few others, nicely dead. So, we took some evasive actions: Bought a bed frame to elevate the bed off the floor; sheathed mattress and box springs in bed bug proof (and mite proof) very expensive zippered covers; trashed all old pillows & replaced them with bed bug proof (and mite proof) pillows; put diatomaceous earth in plastic bowls under all the roller legs of the bed frame; scattered diatomaceous earth along the baseboards. (That stuff slices up their exoskeletons.) We also kept the bed clear of the wall. Hopefully, there was no way for a bed bug to get into the bed, except possibly by climbing up onto the ceiling and dropping.

So far, so good. No bites. There may very well be some live bed bugs trapped in the encapsulated mattress, but they can't get out. Die! (It only takes a year to 18 months for them to die of starvation.)

Need I add that I did not participate in this experiment (except to shop and help set it up)? Grumpy is brave and rational; I am not. I am edging toward solitude and have taken up permanent residence in one of the spare bedrooms at the other end of the house. I like it there. I'm as alone as I can be at this point. I have silence while reading, and Grumpy has all the TV or radio noises he desires all night long, suffering no complaints or snide remarks from me. And, thanks to an east window, I continue to get up early almost every morning and take Lady to the park for a runaround.

Tonight I drug my old but like-new Eureka Timberline tent #2 (#1, genuinely old, has zipper problems) from the garage into the back yard, where I miraculously remembered how to set it up. If the opportunity presents itself, I can camp out on my road trip. I'm dusting myself off and remembering how to be me.