Unwelcome House Guest

Yesterday one of my friends came over use my computer for some work stuff and while she was scanning I decided I better get started on some letters I've been meaning to send. I keep some of my letter writing papers in a wooden crate that I've had for years and have the crate resting on shelves in my office. I go over to pull the crate out and just about dropped the entire thing when I noticed two extremely long tentacles wiggling around at the back of my papers.

Typing away at my desk, my friend calmly says, "Oh, you have a cockroach." Having never seen one before (we don't have them much in Washington), I don't know what to think. There's no food in the office and I am not a very messy person, so I have no idea what attracted him to that spot. He was HUGE though - like almost three inches long without the antennae! I carefully took out all of my papers (without touching him - gross!), took the box outside and hoped he would be smart enough to find his way out through the very large opening (there is no lid on this crate). Guess Mr. Roach didn't graduate from high school because three hours later he was still there.

All night last night and today I've been on the lookout for anything remotely resembling my unwelcome house guest. Ew!