Nigel, this is actually starting to get to me.

[Doktor Howl]

i want in on the fitted bedsheet racket!

By the time you've heard about it, it's all...sewn up.   

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

i want in on the fitted bedsheet racket!

By the time you've heard about it, it's all...sewn up.   

OH GOD FUCKING DAMMIT THAT IS RWHN'S JOB! 

[Freeky]

But he isn't posting as himself, nor as much as he was.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

But he isn't posting as himself, nor as much as he was.

Eh. I could blame myself, but I think he's enough of an aware thinker to get over it.

[Freeky]

Yes, I hope so.  I hope he comes back to make MOAR PUNS.

[Cain]

Big Elastic Sheeting ain't an industry I'd like to fuck with.

[Doktor Howl]

i want in on the fitted bedsheet racket!

By the time you've heard about it, it's all...sewn up.   

OH GOD FUCKING DAMMIT THAT IS RWHN'S JOB! 

But would he wait a full page to drop the punchline?

[navkat]

There's a reason for this.

Some highly populous cities--New York and California particularly (Suu probably saw the ridonkulous number of ads for "green" bedbug management services when she visited Long Island this year) are having a rash of problems with bed bug infestations. What's worse is they're becoming resistant to the usual treatments and regularly soaking the places people sleep with kerosene and noxious nerve agents isn't an option so they've had to create some pretty wacky, knee-jerk laws to address the problem of hotels who simply don't give a shit (you'd be surprised how many do things like not bothering to change sheets/linens between guests, not vacuuming the mattresses regularly, etc). The cure to everything, of course, is more legislation because we're too fucking lazy and instant grat-oriented to do silly shit like research the place we're staying or boycott an establishment for things like price gouging and unsanitary practices.

So now you have laws on the books like "thou shalt not use anything other than an expensive HEPA pillowcase" and "Thou shalt not make the beds bootcamp style with two open sheets instead of a fitted."

Or fucking kill me.

[Elder Iptuous]

how does fitted sheets impact the bedbug issue? (or sanitation in general...)

[LMNO]

The cure to everything, of course, is more legislation because we're too fucking lazy and instant grat-oriented to do silly shit like research the place we're staying or boycott an establishment for things like price gouging and unsanitary practices.

I'm starting to realize that you really can't fault the government for these regualtions because, well, people really aren't doing anything about it themselves.

If people really are too stupid not to shit where they eat, then this sort of falls into "promote the general welfare", y'know?

[Triple Zero]

how does fitted sheets impact the bedbug issue? (or sanitation in general...)

It is so proactive, it doesn't need to!

[East Coast Hustle]

how does fitted sheets impact the bedbug issue? (or sanitation in general...)

It doesn't. At all. Unless that "fitted sheet" is a full allergen barrier bag that completely goes over the mattress and has taped seams and a taped-over zipper. And even then, that just keeps the ones in the mattress from getting out, it does nothing to deter the ones in the carpet, blankets, comforters, etc.

As far as treatments that bedbugs cannot develop a resistance to, there is nothing more effective than diatomaceous earth, which is totally non-toxic to humans provided it's not ingested in large quantities.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The cure to everything, of course, is more legislation because we're too fucking lazy and instant grat-oriented to do silly shit like research the place we're staying or boycott an establishment for things like price gouging and unsanitary practices.

I'm starting to realize that you really can't fault the government for these regualtions because, well, people really aren't doing anything about it themselves.

If people really are too stupid not to shit where they eat, then this sort of falls into "promote the general welfare", y'know?

Do a little research on bedbugs... this is like saying that we have mosquitos because people shit where they eat. The fucking things are insane.

Yes, inspecting beds and changing sheets between guests is incredibly important, but the reason places get bedbugs is not because of a lack of cleanliness, it's because they're hardy, it only takes one to create an infestation, and they're nearly impossible to get rid of.

OHSU has had a bedbug infestation problem for over five years now, all because they treated a transient woman who had been exposed to them, and her bags and/or clothing were carrying a few bugs and eggs. They placed her possessions in plastic bags in a locker, but at least one got out (or dropped off before being bagged) and that's all it took; one a single bug was in the building, they were (and continue to be) fucked forever. They eventually CLOSED DOWN THE WHOLE BUILDING to try to eradicate the infestation.

I know a woman who picked up bedbugs traveling, and it took her over a year to get rid of them. A friend in San Francisco got them, and in the end he got rid of them by sealing off the upstairs of his house for a year.

I'm terrified of the fuckers. We've got them in Portland now, too. Apparently they're absolutely epidemic in Las Vegas; Mr. Language's sister works for one of the chi-chi hotels and says that even the nicest places are having problems with them.

[Elder Iptuous]

iirc, Suu had only limited success with the DE once she had a problem with the little bastards, right?
also, you have to put that crap all over the place, no?
...
hmm... I wonder if you could make a spray that has DE suspended in something like a spraypaint that will adhere it to a surface and then dry, while maintaining the suitably sharp microstructure that fucks up their protective coating.  this could then be applied to the surfaces bedbugs are likely to cross.

[LMNO]

Apologies, Nigel -- I started thinking in more general terms.  I agree that bedbugs have fit in very well to the current environment, and can spread insanely easily, even in places that are looking out for them.

I was thinking more in terms of the argument, "The gubment is trying to dictate how we live our lives, and are treating us like babies!" when in fact the majority of people involved are acting like babies.  

I know: wrong topic, wrong perspective, wrong conclusion.  I understand that individual freedom is paramount.  I just can't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the counterargument, "if you all weren't such assholes all the time, we wouldn't need a law telling you to stop."

Anyway, this was a threadjack.  I'll stop now.