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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (33408)	3/26/1999 7:29:00 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Snake stories: One morning in Manila the teenager who was guarding the next door neighbor's construction site (the process went on a while) came banging on my door, babbling breathlessly about a big snake. There was a good bit of scrub country around then (all built up now), and we had grassland behind us. No big deal, I figured, probably a python come looking for the chickens. Called Joey over and went to display my skill with snakes, which are creatures I've never been afraid of in any specific sense. Went over to the indicated posthole, with the kid from next door hanging well back (most Filipinos are terrified of snakes) and Joey (about 3 at the time) eager to run ahead. Looked in the hole. Big snake. Big cobra, in fact, neck spread out like a dinner plate. Quick retreat for further consideration. As I said, I'm not afraid of snakes in general, but large cobras do inspire a certain respect. First step is to muster a general retreat, as they will spit, and the vicinity of the hole was clearly no place to be. Contemplate methods of disposal. I'm all for animals, but one doesn't want large cobras wandering around the house. No convenient mongeese around. Hole very awkwardly placed for deployment of shotgun. Finally dug out the reserve gas can, poured a gallon into a plastic jug, and tossed it into the hole from a safe distance, minus top. Match followed. Poof, no more snake. Pulled out remains later, just over 4 feet. Over here you're actually more likely to find cobras in built-up areas, especially on city fringes, then out in the countryside. The rats like the people, the snakes like the rats. Almost never hear of anyone getting bitten, though, if you do it's almost always because they were trying to kill the snake at the time. Only time I ever had to confront snakebite here was during the shooting of Platoon, on one of the jungle locations. Trucks all drove up in the morning, and one of the drivers, wearing the usual rubber flipflops, climbed out of the truck and stepped on it. Morning is always the worst time, it's cool, and the snakes are too sluggish to get out of the way. The snake got him of the big toe, the guy jumped, fell, and hit his head on the truck, opening up a few stitches worth on his head. We had a doctor on the set; he came over and started working on the poor guy's head, took a while to convince him that the problem was elsewhere. Meanwhile we found & killed the snake: little stubby bright green thing with that classic pit viper head. Local boys said bad news, get him to the hospital fast. Local hospital had antivenin, but it was expired, so they had to send him all the way to Manila. By the time he got to the hospital there his leg was swollen twice its size and black; he lived, but he still limps badly. Australia has the nastiest snakes in the world, as well as more than its share of other poisonous creatures.

To: Ish who wrote (33408)	3/26/1999 7:48:00 PM
From: Dayuhan	Respond to of 108807

BTW, you wrote: I do wish I could afford some of those adventures. Trust the travel writer on this one, you can. Just steer away from the organized safaris and tours. Choose a country with favorable exchange rates: in Asia, Vietnam and Laos are beautiful places and incredible bargains. Large parts of Indonesia are far removed from the headline-hogging unrest, and a dollar buys a hell of a lot of rupiah these days. The important thing is to establish contact with someone reliable in the country (The internet is great for this), and get a referral to a smart local person who you can hire as a fulltime guide. This can often be done for ridiculously low prices. Stay away from travel services; in many of these countries there are plenty of recent graduates, even from better schools, looking for work. Where exactly you want to look depends on what you want to do. If you wanted to fish, for example, you look for people who live in that country and fish, and get a referral from them. Complicated, but it can be done, and often with less effort than you'd think, though it takes some time. You could probably spend 2 weeks fishing in the Philippines, including fare, for less than what you'd spend to drive to Florida and spend 2 weeks fishing there. If you're interested, let me know; I can set you up with the man you need to talk to. Fishing nut, has a store in Manila, travels all over Asia. He could set you up with people almost anywhere in Asia, for that matter, though the infrastructure varies.

To: Ish who wrote (33408)	3/26/1999 11:57:00 PM
From: nihil	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

one-armed hog farmer lost an arm in a combine I always had a lot of trouble combining hogs too. The big fat ones would get caught in the blades and pulling them out was really a bitch. Oh, about affording those adventures. Maybe you could persuade your wife to shelter the live stock on wheat straw. Did you know the Finns and New Mexico State University have developed cattle feeding programs -- urea and wood pulp in Finland and shredded classified documents (from Los Alamos) and pig manure in NMSU. I think wheat straw and horse manure ought to work. Save lots of money on carpet. Just trying to be helpful. I share your urge.