About a month ago our Dustbuster died. Normally, we’d just buy a new handvac without a second thought. However, since our income is only a fraction of what it once was, a Dustbuster would be an extravagance. So I pick up all the dead crickets, roaches, beetles, sunspiders and scorpions by hand. Brrrrrr.

Last night, after picking up the tenth bug of the day, I made a bet with my husband. If I could collect forty bugs in a week, he would buy me a new Dustbuster. Day one was a smashing success. I collected six crickets, a roach, two spiders and four click beetles for my bug jar.

Day two was leaner—three crickets and two click beetles. Day three I amassed two click beetles and a spider. Day four I got desperate. That evening, I saw a roach in the sunroom. Since it wasn’t officially dead, I smacked it with my shoe to add to the bug jar. Day five I awoke to find that last night’s roach was simply addled and not dead. He spent the balance of the night eating the other bugs I collected. Wah!