Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Our Other Pets


This blog has never acknowledged some of our pets that do not get much recognition. In fact, not one of them has been given a name (by us). They would be our fish.

We have gold ones and dark colored ones. We have had them for four years or so. Some of them have been with us for the duration. They spend their summers in a fishpond in the back yard, then we scoop 'em out and drop 'em in an aquarium in the basement to "winter over". Pretty sure the pond would freeze all the way down in a harsh winter, so we bail it out for the cold weather.

There have been at least a couple generations of new fish, some gold, some blackish. So, anyhow, this is my tribute to those l'il swimmers. You may need to click on these pictures to see all the dark colored ones that blend in. It may be interesting to see if the dark ones survive better - a sorta "survival of the fittest" thing.

We're pretty obsessive about these things. Whenever we scoop out the fish, for pond or aquarium, we also toss in all the snails we can find. We are under the impression that somehow these snails are nature's purification system, and they will help (along with the filter) to keep the water crystal clear. Uh-huh.

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In an unrelated matter, I didn't need to fill up, but I stopped at this one gas station on the way to work this morning because they have this "three cents off on Tuesday" deal, and that made it about $3.92. Later in the day, prices rose a bit, and you could not get gas for less than $4.04. So here I am, feeling all proud, like I conquered the oil cartel single-handedly. Then I realize, big whoop, I may have saved something like three percent, all told. On the nine gallons I put in the tank, we're talking "savings" of a buck eight. Enough to buy, well, a quart of gas..or milk... Sweet victory!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I needed gas yesterday, and I could not bring myself to fill up the tank. I just didn't want to fork over the money, so I left with 3/4th of a tank, which in hindsight was pretty irrational.

gerry said...

Getting scary, isn't it. It does make you re-think all your driving habits.

Jen said...

Hey Ben-
Great blog! I like the fish pond, have been thinking of adding one to our yard. They had a report on the news the other night about people running out of gas on the roads; they are just bull headed about filling up and trying to go as far as they can before filling up.
Also- check my blog tomorrow--I am part of the WOF pack. Hope to see you then. Jen :)