I'll keep my roaches, thank you very much

Even though it's been more than two years since I left Texas for good, I still make it a daily habit to check my hometown paper, The Facts. Full disclosure: I was a reporter there myself for almost three years.

This week I've been caught up in the saga of a bat-infested apartment complex in the Dow Chemical-supported burgh called Lake Jackson. The families in the complex have finally been removed from the building, but until that point, the residents had gotten used to living with the creatures. Personally, if I had to watch kids whack bats with pizza boxes at dusk every night, I might be asking for my security deposit back, but that could just be me.

I guess some people can adapt to anything. I, for one, used to be terrified of cockroaches. Now, however, I'm to the point where I barely even flinch when I see one. Granted, the tiny roaches that have infested my apartment building are nothing compared to the thumb-sized flying monsters that thrive in Texas (I will NEVER call them "palmetto bugs"). But for me, it's an accomplishment.

I just won't mention how, a few weeks ago, a baby rat invader had me on the bed paralyzed with fear for a good hour.