Saturday, March 31, 2007

Gorilla vs Snakey Part 5


Word of warning, this post contains pics of a dead snake.

Had to dispose of my fifth snake last night. It's about a year since the last gorilla vs snakey, the one in Bambi's house. (I had a post about that.) This one wasn't as big as that one. This only measured 14 to 16 inches and was as fat as a cricket lighter. Adrenaline rush and dump wasn't as high but it was still there. The snake had a bulge in the tummy like Bambi's snake, I presume it ate a mouse.

I did the usual drill: jam neck then crush head then fully decapitate. I used my old wooden bokken to jam the neck and the samurai katana-inspired hunting knife to crush and cut. Yup, seems both serve some use other than just being part of my weapons collection.

I've disposed of 3 snakes with this knife already: this 14-16 inch one, the 8-12 inch one in my toilet while I was reading and a 6 inch baby snake. (Add to this another not so baby 8 inch snake and Bambi's 3 1/2 foot snake makes 5 snakeys.) I'm naming this knife the serpent killer. Every time I use it the thin edge at the tip always gets bent. And I always re-straighten it with pliers. I'll straighten it today.

Things I've learned through the years so far about dealing with snakes?

  1. Be fully aware and focused. But it is important not to panic.
  2. The younger ones slither away faster.
  3. Move away but know where the snake is at all times.
  4. Heat or rain tends to make them go indoors.
  5. They appear in places which used to have talahibans, especially here in the south.
  6. As much as possible don't dispose of it alone, have someone to help you.
  7. For larger snakes, a group disposal would be in order with each person having different roles: shooers, jammers, crushers / decapitators.
  8. Snakes are a bit slower after eating.
  9. A severed snake head supposedly can still bite you and inject venom.
  10. For even larger snakes, call the fire department! This tip courtesy of Chameng.

Crossposted: http://gokitomo.com, http://gorilla.multiply.com and http://gorilla.vox.com








Sunday, March 25, 2007

At Choco Kiss with Old Friends


I got a call from Rolly that one of our college friends was in town. Dang is here on vacation from Canada. She brought along Baby Emma. Dang suggested we have an early dinner at Chocolate Kiss at the UP Alumni Center this Sunday. UP has always been home base for us since we all went to school there.


Chocolate Kiss at UP Alumni Center


Dang and Baby Emma


Dang and Baby Emma

At the gathering were for Dang and Baby Emma were Rolly, me, Anj and Cerwin, Ate Elvie, Enteng and Luchi. Including Petite and Allan, we're the only ones left here. Everyone else is abroad. (Note: seems Chocolate Kiss is open at the upper floors on weekdays, but on weekends the ground floor is the only one open. Heck, I only knew that now.)


Anj and Cerwin


Luchi and Enteng

We used to have one very big barkada at the UP Institute of Library Science (now the UP Institute of Library and Information Science). Imagine 15 to 20 guys and girls going out to eat during lunch at Beach House, Green House or CASAA. Small college, big barkada. As we got older the group started to include girlfriends, boyfriends and, eventually, spouses. The peeps abroad are Dang and Allan, Bam and Veegee, Jeanette and Troy, John and Abie, Bebs and Arnold, Zyrel and Jho, Abet and Nigel.


Dang and Baby Emma with Rolly


Dang and Baby Emma


Ate Elvie

We started the meal, as per barkada tradition, with a prayer. Usually it's Anj or Bam, and sometimes Jeanette or Ate Elvie, who leads the prayer. Weird as it may seem, a barkada like ours with a wide variety (or absence) of religious beliefs can actually sit down and pray. This time it was Anj who took the reins. Hehehe, she's probably the only one who could actually make us drop forks and say grace. Jeez, you could just imagine the religious discussions we had in college. They weren't pretty. (Yes, we've been called pagans a couple of times.)


Dang and Baby Emma with Rolly


Anj and Cerwin


Dang and Baby Emma

We didn't really miss Allan, who was left in Canada, since Baby Emma looks so much like him. :D


Kuyukots


Kuyukots again

One sad note, though. Anj, Cerwin and the kids are bound for New Zealand within the year, further decimating the ranks of the kuyukots (yes, that's the name of our barkada mailing list... hey, everything else was taken...). :( I also hang out with the hardbound (another barkada mailing list) peeps and the pattern is also starting there as well... :(


Dang and Anj... What do they have in common? Answer: Caesarian births.
They probably scared the hell out of Luchi with their pregnancy stories.



Dang and Baby Emma with Anj

Crossposted: http://gokitomo.com, http://gorilla.multiply.com and http://gorilla.vox.com







Saturday, March 24, 2007

Slam! Whiplash!


Yup, got into a minor accident last Thursday on my way to work. It's been 17 years since my last car accident so I'm kinda new at this again.

I was in Sta. Mesa on my way to Ortigas when I was rear-ended. The car behind me lost its brakes and slammed into me. The force was strong enough that I rear-ended the car in front. It's minor, not really a debilitating / car-crumpling accident. It's just annoying, though... Repairs and time and all that jazz. The result: broken bumper, broken luggage compartment post, misaligned luggage compartment, dinged / scratched and misaligned hood.

One worry everyone had was if I sustained whiplash. I think the bump was strong enough to jolt me but not enough to do damage. Anyway, I could describe the impact as two to three times the force of riding those Wild River or Log Jam water rides when you hit the water after a drop. Definitely stronger than a roller coaster, but not as strong as the force of the side-on collision I had in 1990. That one crumpled the whole front of the old red 1978 Lancer and broke the front axle. For this accident I couldn't help but feel that I got the raw end of the deal. Heck! I was sandwiched between a Honda City up front and a Nissan Sentra at back. The Mitsubishi Lancer received damage on both sides!

As the guy in front of me and I got out of our cars, all we could do was look to the guy at the back of the line in disbelief. All I could mutter was "Ang lakas nun!" No one lost their cool. We were all civil about it. The guy in the Sentra was apologetic and said he'd pay for the damages, he admitted that he lost his brakes. We all exchanged cards and contact info.

Yesterday, Saturday, our family friend Jun, who sold us the car saw the damage. He also has a talyer. I thought that he could do the repair work since I know the car will be in good hands and that the paint job will match. I brought the Lancer to his shop that same day. Conservative estimate: around PhP7,500. Estimated completion: Wednesday. So I'm without a car for half a week.

I have this ritual when it comes to car repairs. When the car is going to stay long at any shop in Las Pinas, meaning a whole afternoon or overnight, I pack a knapsack, a Gatorade and take the long walk home from the shop. It's exercise. It's zen. Makes me think things through and appreciate the fact that it wasn't any worse. This walk took about 40 minutes in the noon day sun since the shop was in Lopez, on the other side of BF (I actually crossed the Parañaque / Las Piñas border).








Friday, March 2, 2007