There were at least thirty chigger bites on myself and fifty on my poor daughter. Talk about mother's guilt...I thought she had gotten away with nothing (and I was happy because it is a lot easier to suffer torture than to watch anyone else undergo it), but it turns out that her reaction was just delayed by two days or so. Finally, I have stopped itching right at the peak of my daughter's misery. The only thing that saved us was Aveeno oatmeal bath (can we sleep in it?) and Benadryl. I was taking four benadryls a night every night this week, and I have been keeping my daughter doped up on it too. Nothing else helped for very long. Fortunately the end is in sight because the severe itchy stage immediately precedes the scabbing-over and healing stage. (the first stage is pain, then a hard swelling, like a nodule). These symptoms in order are what differentiate chiggers from any other insect bites, but what a hideous progress.
Eight loads of wash later...
I love my new Kenmore. I got really worried because of course right after I signed the paperwork and confirmed the delivery of the new HE2Plus, I was reading all the terrible reviews on line for this washer. Leaks, bad computers, mildew smell, noise, 'walking', lost socks. You name it - anything that could go wrong was blamed on this model. So, I was super cautious at first, loading only towels and shirts I could afford to ruin. But dang, the very first load got everything whiter than they had been in three months. It uses very little water. It does spin at 1100 rpms so it wrings out the clothes so well that I do not have to use the dryer over 30 minutes for anything, any size load. It uses a fraction of the special HE detergent (yes I had to buy new and toss five bottles of the old stuff). I think a lot of the bad reviews are from people who don't want to shell out for a different style of detergent or don't want to make sure the washer is level. I did spend over an hour on the ground adjusting the legs so that the washer is almost perfectly level, but I also wanted the spinning parts to last as long as possible, and I didn't want it to 'walk' around. As for the smell, every manufacturer now recommends wiping the rubber door seal dry and keeping the door open to air the drum - common sense stuff for a moldy environment like Florida.
So far, so good, and I will be sure to post my favorable review in a few months.
Hi, Nice post. I could not help but laugh and cry with your description of the chiggers. I know what you mean. I feel you pain, as Clinton use to say. But hey, I ran into this site a bit ago and they saved my life.
ReplyDeleteGo to http://chigger-treatment.com and get their book on chiggers. It is well worth it and it works or bucks back. I ma still in love with those guys.