Expressions of the Royal Hiney

Oh it's been a trying day here at Deerledge. The subjects are in an uproar, chaos reigns and there's no end in sight.

Gary's helper couldn't work today because he had to attend a funeral so that means.....you guessed it... Gary up my butt all day. Not that I mind, it's just that it's not what I had planned. So, I rode with him this morning to do a service call, dealt with Route 1 traffic on a cloudy day in August (are we crazy?) and he, Hannah and I went out to lunch. He was on his way to dragging us up to Portland to go shopping and his pager went off and he had to do a service call. pheeeew. yee haw. I needed a break!

Strolling through the living room to turn on the air conditioner, I noticed that my angelfish, Fins, was swimming upside down. "What in the world?" I say. "Turn around and swim correctly, Fins!" Glancing to the back of the tank, I notice another fish laying on the bottom in what appears to be the sleep of death. Looking to the top, a neon tetra is just bobbing along belly-up. "Oh no! What's happening?!" I look at the thermometer and it reads 115 degrees. I do a double take... yes 115 degrees! No wonder the fish are dropping like flies... they are cooking to death. The dial on the heater just spins freely without shutting off. I pull the plug on the heater, withdraw a couple gallons of water, start throwing our cocktail ice cubes into the tank and pouring cold tap water in as well. A few fish start to perk up right away but I'm pretty sad that I lost 6 fish so far. Six of my oldest fish that I've had for three years. Not that they are pets of any type, I just get attached to my stuff. So, without further ado, I guess a trip to the pet store is in order for a new thermometer and some replacement fish.

Hannah did not want to smile for me with her tiara on. "Come on Hannah" I begged. "Just a little smile...please!" A smirk, a harrumph, and a ho-hum later, she finally got it right.