beastly blue bastards

[sergebroom]

On March 9, I had announced the death of Rupert the Red, the tropical fish of Bob, my cubicle neighbor. Quick on the rebound, Bob found himself a new companion, Buford the Beastly Blue Bastard. Bob, being on vacation all of this week, had asked if I wouldn't mind fish-sitting Buford. No problem, I said. The little guy isn't exactly the noisy type.

Except that, as the days passed, the bowl started to smell more and more, and the water got cloudier and cloudier, making me wonder how long ago it had been cleaned. Buford was becoming less than energetic, This morning he was simply hovering close to the surface where it wasn't covered by scum.

Something had to be done.

I was going to go out and buy a fish-scooping net, and wing it as I am totally unfamiliar with the cleaning of aquariums. Then again, there wasn't much choice. Buford would soon find himself sleeping with the other fish if I didn't take a chance. So I picked him up, put him in a coffee cup, and rinsed the bowl and its gravel again and again and again with tap water until the smell was gone, all the while making sure Buford didn't try to escape like his predecessor often did.

That was the right thing to do. I hope. So far, Buford is more lively than he's been for some time.