ZAP!!

Since I came to Taiwan, I have been dealing with an almost continuous and very severe mosquito problem. For some reason, these little blood-suckers never touch Nick, but I am covered head-to-toe with bites, most of which - I believe - are acquired while I'm sleeping in my own apartment.

At this moment I have over 30 visible bug bites on my right leg from my knee down. That is 30 bites on one HALF of ONE LEG!!!! This is particularly unbearable for me coming from Colorado; a place where, in general, you never have to even think about mosquitoes.

Last week, I finally bought something to help me cope with the problem: an electrified tennis racket!

While this little contraption hasn't solved all of my problems, it certainly is a fun way to kill mosquitoes, and it has helped me to control the population to some degree. When you get one there's a little flash of light and a satisfying CRACK sound.... it's great! At night before we go to bed, I go on the hunt to try to purge the apartment of blood-suckers. Here is a picture of me "on the hunt"

I even take the thing to bed, so that it's within reach if I hear any buzzing around my head during the night (although it is almost impossible to get one of those suckers in the dark).

I have found that the easiest way to kill a mosquito with this thing is to wait until the mosquito lands on the ceiling and just hold the racket up next to him. But, sometimes, the thing gets away and I end up running around the room looking like a crazy person. Here's a video of a successful "hunt" last night:

Overall I give this thing a 10 for fun and an 8 for effectiveness. I also bought a little Raid mosquito plug-in thing last night, so hopefully that will kill them while I'm sleeping w/out needing active interaction from me.