Man v Nature

Day 9 The Day I Destroyed the Bug

As I mentioned before, we are in the midst of a jungle and are amongst bugs and critters. Today, we had our first encounter with a cockroach, located above the mirror in the bathroom (the hottest and most moist area of our dwelling). I'm not going to lie, it was a pretty big bastard. Raechel's scream drew my attention to the bathroom, and I grew nervous upon witnessing my adversary. I questioned myself as to how I could best the beast. Should I use cunning and wile, or brute strength? Rae's suggestion of calling the front desk was cast aside with disgust, mankind has been conquering nature (bugs) for ages. I, too, could live up to my forefathers well-trodden path to make nature bow to me. Deciding upon both cunning and strength, I strategically positioned the trash can below the beast. Then with the blind courage of a kamikaze, I thrust forward with the kleenex box. In a matter of milliseconds, the beast was crushed, falling to its grave in the shadowy depths of the garbage can. Quickly I secured my victory by tying the garbage bag, and again double-bagging it in our other trash bag, before deposing of my foe on the outer step. Homer has spoke of quintessential victories in epic terms, this would have fit well beside the epics of Odyssey: such was the epic battle of Frick vs Cockroach, circa 2009.

Video to come on youtube

Rae's version of the story goes a little differently... and in the end the bug was not "crushed", but buried alive in the trashcan.

Wikipedia facts on cockroaches:

• Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger than the best-known American cockroach
• Are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps
• Ampullex wasps sting the roach more than once and in a specific way. The first sting is directed at nerve ganglions in the cockroach's thorax; temporarily paralyzing the victim for 2–5 minutes, more than enough time for the wasp to deliver a second sting. The second sting is directed into a region of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex among other things. When the cockroach has recovered from the first sting it makes no attempt to flee. The wasp clips the antenna with its mandibles and drinks some of the haemolymph before walking backwards and dragging the roach by its clipped antenna to a burrow, where an egg will be laid upon it. The wasp larva feeds on the subdued, living cockroach.
• David Frick and Chuck Norris are cockroaches best known predators