My mother-in-law Linda visited the following weekend.
I tried to hide the roach problem, but she's observant. She saw me frantically checking the pantry before making lunch.
"Rachel, honey, do you have roaches?"
I started crying. Right there in the kitchen. Six months of shame, frustration, and disgust just poured out.
"I've spent over three thousand dollars on exterminators and they're still here. I don't know what else to do."
She hugged me, then pulled out her phone.
"My neighbor had the same problem last year. She was about to sell her house. Then she found these devices and her roach problem was gone in a week."
She ordered something right there on her phone. "They'll be here Tuesday. Consider it an early Christmas present."
Tuesday afternoon, a package arrived. Inside were six small white plug-in devices.
The box read: PestLab™ Pest Repeller
I called Linda. "What is this?"
"Just plug them in," she said. "One in every main room. Give it one week."
I was skeptical. After $3,200 in professional treatments failed, how could a $39 plug-in device possibly work?
But I had nothing to lose.
I plugged them in: kitchen, living room, both bathrooms, our bedroom, and the basement.
It took maybe five minutes total.
Then I waited.