Route1966: February 27, 2005

Where Were YOU At Midnight?

Where were you Wednesday at midnight? I was in my living room performing a 50% water change in the new aquarium. Now, if you are a night owl, perhaps this doesn't seem so strange. But since MR. Morticia leaves for work at 4 AM, we are in bed by 9:00 every night. Which begs the question, why was I doing what I was doing Wednesday night?

Well, we've been fighting this darn sore throat, coughing, body ache flu since Saturday, so we've been up and down at all hours. Wednesday night was no exception. I woke up to the midnight striking of the grandfather clock and found myself alone in bed. The bedroom door was pulled closed but I could see light coming from underneath it and hear the clomping of heavy feet. I climbed out of bed and looked into the living room to find a mad scientist shuffling vials of colored chemical compounds.

I asked the scientist, "What in the name of Einstein are you doing?"
"There's a problem in the aquarium."
"What do you mean?"
"I got up to get more cough syrup and as I passed the aquarium, I noticed one of the fancy guppies folded in half."
"The aquarium light was off."
"It was the iridescent one."
"Oh. Well, what's going on?"
"I've just finished the water sample testing. Nitrates have spiked and the PH is off. We have to do a 50% water change."
"When you get home from work tomorrow?"
"No, woman. I mean right now."
"But it's midnight."
The scientist looked at me with his eyebrows cocked. "Do you think your fish know it's midnight?"
"Umm ... no."
"Then go get the tub ready and let's get started."