The circle of life

Last night was the monthly book club for the girls. This is a very American ritual, whereby the women all get together to drink and discuss on their respective male companions. So, while this monthly meeting was going on, I invited one of those "respective males" around to bash controllers while trying to get little pixels to do what you want on a PlayStation.

The game of choice is FIFA 08. And while the game may sparkle prettily on the PS3, on my PS2 it is less gorgeous, and downright irritating. 8 games were played in all, and only about 6 goals in open play. Plenty of penalties though - every shoot out I lost - and the occasional result in normal time - all of which were scored by me. The point of this little narrative was really just scene setting. You see, pizza arrived sometime during the festivities, and on the way up my friend spotted a squishy, lethal looking brownish and relatively large eight-legged freak. Now I am marginally arachnophobic; less so since I got married and had to kill the bloody things regardless. And this ugly thing reminded me of the occasion that passed me by some months ago.

I took a load of washing to the machine, opened it up and swore loudly. For in the machine was some brightly coloured clothes, and in my arms was a mighty collection of whites. So I dumped the clothes on the floor, and pulled the smaller grouping of clothes from the washer. Turning back to the first pile, I was horrified to see this brown, squishy, fat spider come wandering out of a trouser leg.

Now the fact that I was carrying these clothes in my arms; or that my wife could have tried to pull the pants on without looking; persuaded me to kill the little menace. I turned around, grabbed some paper towel, turned back to squish it, and leaped a foot backwards in panic. There was no sign of the furry creature. I searched tentatively and in increasing panic for a half hour before conceding defeat.

And now here it was - two or more months later - outside my front door. I reacted bravely, and somewhat evilly, and stomped it into the ground repeatedly. This morning it was being devoured by many tiny ants. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Oh - and the first test between SA and India is looking good - McKenzie and Smith put on 132 for the first, and McKenzie was still going strong when I last looked at the score - nearing his hundred. Looks like this could be a fascinating match up.

Edit: Makkers fell short by 6 runs. Bugger.