Exterminators?

Dan, a SUNY sociology student, opens his email box to find an ad by one of his fellow sociology graduate students that reads the following:

Due to a family emergency, I will be moving to Hong Kong in December for an as of yet indeterminate amount of time, leaving my nice cozy room in ideally situated 808 Washington Ave. Apt 1 vacant. Fellow sociology students Jeff and Salvatore occupy the other two rooms in the apartment. Take a look at the details below if you're interested, or if you know of anybody who would be!

Some other details listed in the email made it seem like quite an attractive place to live, a steal at only $300 a month, ideally situation on the bus line and only a pleasant 5 minute walk from all sorts of shops, restaurants, grocery markets, and a small movie theater. Now, Dan, a married man who is in the final stages of his dissertation, soon to get his PhD, doesn't need an apartment, he's just curious as to what kind of a place I live. Getting a glimpse into someone's personal space is somehow like taking a glimpse into their psyche after all. "Wow, these pictures aren't bad either," Dan exclaims to himself.


He turns his head sideways to get a look at the picture of my room.

"A bit small, but cozy. Felix is a pretty neat guy. Oh look at that, he's even got a little teddy polar bear on his bed." What he doesn't know is that when I sleep, I put the bear on the meditation cushions facing my Buddha statue, and when I wake up and start my day, I sit him on my pillow on my bed.

Dan looks at the final picture. "The outside looks a bit dull, but let me click to enlarge this photo..."
And lo and behold, he sees the enlarged photo:
"Wait a sec..." he says to himself. "Is that?..." He gives the picture another careful look to confirm his suspicion. Confirmed, he chuckles to himself.



Dan sees me later in the day in the corridor, after I've spent a good chunk of time putting sublet fliers around. "So you're lookin' to get rid of your place huh Felix?" I make small talk with him about it. "By the way," he started abruptly, "were those exterminators going into your house? Or somebody else's?"
"Exterminators? What exterminators?"
No calls about the apartment yet...