It's Been Only a Few Hours...

And yet I have not been this stressed out in a long time...

Today I got a wild hair and decided to pick up two small goldfish...
No big deal... When I think the height of easy and low matenance, I think gold fish.

It was instantly a more involved process than I was ready to take on from the start.
With the helpful pet store owner scolding me and insisting that I name the fish before he would let me purchase them.

George and Sally, I said, hesitantly looking at the plastic bag. Not knowing anything about what was going on.

So usually they say to prime the tank over a period of time to allow particulate matter to settle and to allow chlorine to evaporate and disipate in the water to create a stable environment for the new inhabitants... Not me... Oh no, I am impulsive, I couldn't have waited 24 hours and risked the urge to research this plan.

So Autumn mentioned that she wanted a googley eyed fish...
So I got one of those and a little gold one that wasn't anything special...

I poored in 10 drops of the dechlorination solution (instead of 2) and poored the little critters in....
At first they both seemed content to be out of the bag... The googley one taking the lead in energy... So after a while I noticed the little gold one looked sad... I took every possible movement as a sign of depression.

It wasn't swimming, it was just staying in the same spot and staring off into the cramped space it now called a home.

So I was convinced that I had killed them and that it was only a matter of time till I would need to go dig up my net and throw them out... I even contemplated spending the rest of the afternoon making small Viking ships out of popcicle sticks that could be lit ablaze in memory of their short lived lives.

Corky mentioned that I should already start planning the invetations to the funeral and start posting adds for the memorial services.

So after all that stress, staring at the poor little guys, I freak out, sure that I am killing them with chemicals, and break down and call a local aquarium. It's now 5:55. They close at 6. I am in my car so fast, driving with a small cup of tank water in one hand and steering with the other... I break in as the doors are locked and have them test the water...

The man looks up slowly from the multicolored test tubes...
It doesn't look good...
(I feel like I am in the ICU)
They are going to need round the clock water tranfusions...
It's not going to be pretty...

And you need a 55 gallon tank...

I just don't know about this, at the time, when the fish man was solemly reading me the diagnosis, I would have done anything to make the situation better... but the truth of the matter is I have a $10 investment that is poised to cost me major money... Maybe I could get a bigger tank, sure, but a 55 gallon tank sounds considerably more expensive... And then what, will I have to buy a share in a small pond then lake to keep this thing up?

It's a GOLDFISH!

They are supposed to be calming... I should not be driving down 11th as fast as I can splashing water all over my car just to illiviate the guilt of not being able to read the directions on the back of the water conditioner...

Lame... I can't keep anything alive...

If anyone wants so sweet fish, they are yours if you drop me a line before the roomie comes home and gets attached....
Hell, take the whole set up,
I couldn't live with the guilt.