Wood roaches

I decided not to take a photo today, was too busy. Mebbe tomorrow. Roommate wants me to replace the kitchen sink. I agreed, and started to go at it, BUT of course, like everything else in this godforsaken dump, beginning any project is a possible Pandora's box. I went to look at what I need to do to remove the kitchen faucet and found out the water shut-off valves are stripped. Roommate (Let's call her, "Trudy"...) says we'll have to shut the water off outside at the main. I say ok, show me where.
She takes me out there and isn't sure which meter is ours; but she thinks it's the one closest to the road. So I lift the cover and it's swarming with what she says are wood roaches. Hundreds of 'em. I'm not a skeerdy-cat so I reach in and brush the dirt off the water shut off and realize I'll need something to turn it with. But since we're not sure it's our meter, I vow to check it before I turn it off for too long.
So later when I go out there I turn the shut off valve off and go in the house and turn on the water and the water keeps on coming out.
for a while. I assume that there isn't THAT much water pressure in this house: I could be wrong, and I might need to let it run a while longer. But I want my roommate home when I do that in case it's the neighbor's water and they swarm out like so many angry bees.
I tried looking at the other meter but it needs to be dug out, I couldn't find any turn off valve in that one. Actually I'm not sure there are two seperate shut off valves for the duplex, I'm thinking one is water and the other is a gas meter with no shut-off valve, but I could be wrong.
I'm just livid about the shut off valves under the sink being stripped. That is just par for the course. Nothing in this duplex is easy,or even close to normal.
I should, though, have taken a photo of the spider I found in the midst of the roaches. It was pretty slick looking and cool as hell.
And calm. Although it did raise its forelegs like a tarantula, it was very small and shiny. I assume also blind, or close to blind, since it lives in a water-meter with hundreds of roaches.
We don't seem to have any bugs in this duplex: roommate says they spray for bugs. That's a plus, since I have seen firsthand just how many roaches there are out in the alley way, although they did not seem too happy at being exposed to sunlight.
All the warning signs are there, in my roommate, that I would run from if she was a potential girlfriend. Mainly, the homeless person nest out in the storage shed. I'd have gotten rid of that eons ago. In fact I probably will empty it out and cover the hole as soon I figure out how to make this place habitable.
I wonder if she thinks I'm gullible or crazy to live here with all this jerry-rigging going on, and I wonder why I'm so happy.
I couldn't tell you, but I'm glad she's not my girlfriend, and I'm seriously happy I'll never have to deal with her as such, nor anyone else.
there's so much to work on to make this place liveable, not least of all the dogs barking , no shrieking like banshees when she comes home at around one a.m.
Bark collars: i'm looking for them on the internet.
seriously.