We got one!

I’m not talking about academia here, but something much more important.

The termite inspection.

This is a whole new area of knowledge for me.

I’m sure that New Yorkers are not immune to termites, but it never seemed to me that it was a subject that came up in conversation much.  I was on the board of my co-op for a long time.  We never had a termite inspection to the best of my knowledge.

Down here in Florida, however, they have a saying.  It’s not a question of ‘whether’ you’re going to get termites, but ‘when.’

And the answer to that ‘when’ for us was ‘right at the start.’

We knew when we bought our house that there had been termite damage.  Right after closing, we took down the drywall in the affected areas and, basically, rebuilt two walls.

We contracted with an exterminator for treatment and paid for a termite bond.  The bond is insurance.  It means that if you pay your yearly tribute and let the exterminator come back to inspect annually, then they have to pay to fix any damage the little flying beasties cause.

We’ve actually had to invoke the bond once since we’ve been here—to the confusion of our exterminator who claimed the treatment should have been 100% effective.  Then he came back to look and decided it was due to our sunken Florida room.  He gave us additional treatment in that area and a discount on our next installment since the critters had eaten away at a wooden railing.

Anyway, the whole point of discussing this on a Thankful Thursday is that we’ve just had our annual inspection and there were no signs.

This is not to say they won’t be back.  Remember, it’s not ‘whether,’ it’s ‘when’

But, so far, so good.

Whew!