roaches

decided to go home to pasay/makati last night. housemate over there was in bangkok for a conference, and the sublets of the other room were likely as not to be in parts unknown. not to mention that i forgot my handy-dandy large umbrella the last time i was there (and might need it today for the photo trek organized by our estimable photographer-in-residence jose).

so, after a few hours of grappling with the strangely flaky broadband internet connection (the rampant thunder and lightning storms of late may have something to do with that), decided to finally hit the sack around eleven-ish.

one-thirty am or so, i feel that prickling sensation between my left shoulder and my neck; that sensation that can only mean a roach is crawling on me. bolt upright, brushing my shoulder with my right hand and look for the offending creature. nowhere to be seen. move the pillows, still nothing. i gingerly sniff my hand - and there's the acrid whiff of roach on it. rubbing alcohol takes care of that, but now there's more work to be done.

now, there's a light on, a fairly weak one (10 watt incandescent), the theory of operation being that roaches are negatively phototropic -- so they should steer clear of the room. so much for theory. i opened the main room light (a twisty 20-watt compact pl flourescent) - lo and behold! perched on the jalousie frames were three roaches; the adult kind, winged and able to fly. good thing that i keep a can of insect spray next to the bed. DIE, you buggers! each one of them got a good, solid blast from the can.

they erupted into flight. oh boy.

one flew straight at me - reflex brought the spray can up, and whoosh, the roach flew into the emergent cloud of bug spray and dropped to the floor with an audible thud. then they scampered out of sight.

urgh. i lay me back down to sleep (with the main light on), and as i was drifting off, i heard through the pillow (!) faint scratching sounds. one of them was back on the bed, and scurried off to the side. i proceeded to blast the area between the bed and the wall.

then a few minutes of peace. once more, lie down. no sooner done than a roach emerges from between the pillow and my knapsack (which i had placed on the bed), calmly cleaning its antennae between its, what to call it, mouth parts. okay, this is getting ridiculous. slowly, i reach for the can of spray, and blast the roach in one unbroken stream as it scurries away the lenght of the bed.

geez, will i ever get any sleep?

just then, the roaches begin to run up and then fall down off the walls. one of them falls just beyond the foot of the bed. lying on my stomach on the bed, i decide to watch it die.

it lies on its back, legs spasming to get it upright; but the end result is akin to a rowboat with only one oar, it just spins in place. i get the bug spray and drench it in chemicals, but its still very much alive. wow, these things are tough. no wonder its posited that they'll survive a nuclear war that may wipe humanity out. just then, another roach joins the spinning-rowboat-party. blast that too.

minutes pass.

still ticking.

i'm getting impatient. right, get the rubbing alcohol, and liberally wet them with it. in moments, they've stuck their necks out (wonder why) and have stopped moving. personally, i think they drowned in the alcohol that i poured on their abdomens (as their breathing is accomplished through holes in their sides, i believe -- may have to wikipedia that).

after that insecticidal incident, no more roaches were noticed by me. or maybe i was too tired to notice after i fell asleep again.

really have to find a way to address that house's roach/ant/rodent/spider problem...