I am a mottephobe; that is, I am intensely afraid of moths.
My computer has been overheating a lot lately, so tonight I decided finally to call Alienware and ask them what to do. Sabastian, I think he said his name was, suggested that I dust the damn thing out, so I strolled down to Rite-Aid and bought some cans of air. I got back and gave my computer A Thoroughly Polite Dust-Off (Arrested Development reference) out on the balcony.
When I finished, I brought my computer back inside, and, sure enough, was greeted by a large moth sitting on the far wall. I didn't know what to do--my roommate wasn't home, and I do not have the courage to handle that kind of situation by myself. Fearing additional moth invasions, I quickly slammed shut the sliding screen door to the balcony. This apparently perturbed the little demon, as it began to fly about. Now, everyone knows that moths are more or less attracted to bright lights, but it's a little known fact that moths are even more attracted to people who are afraid of them. I do know this, so quickly did what any mottephobe would do in this situation: I panicked and dropped to the floor to cower like a turned undead. I managed to get the screen door open again, hoping that the moth would leave.
After a minute or so of stewing in my own cowardice, I crawled out onto the balcony again and closed the door. Now, at least, there was a closed door between me and my foe (assuming it was even still in my apartment). Unfortunately, a cursory glance from my position on the balcony failed to reveal its location, which meant that now it could be anywhere, so there would be no relaxing for quite some time. Joy.
I grabbed my now-empty cans of air, aware of their ability to dole out cold-element blasts when inverted. Of course, I had already expelled most of the propellant from both cans after cleaning my computer in an attempt to freeze a leaf on a nearby tree (it worked quite well, as a matter of fact), but I knew that there was still a little bit left, so I was hoping it would be enough to deter a would-be moth attack. Armed with my improvised weapons, I reentered my apartment looking for trouble.
I slowly and carefully patrolled my place, checking every possible moth location (which was every possible location, period), always ready to spray whatever I saw if need be. I made my way around, and began to calm down, as I was more and more convinced that the moth had indeed flown back outside when I gave it the chance earlier. I had just a few more locations to check, though, before I could really calm down. And lo!, I found it on the blinds.
I retreated, and it flew to a new location, which was much more in the open, which came as a bit of relief to me, since now I could at least keep an eye on it. I stood there, cans in hand, waiting for either my roommate to return or for the moth to make a move. Neither happened for some time, so I decided to take my trusty kakuro book and my PSP and hit the road for a while to cool down. I didn't have to do this, though, as just then my roommate entered. I quickly briefed him on his task and fled the scene. He shooed the moth away and I breathed about thirty consecutive sighs of relief.
So that's what I've been up to. How about you guys?
