Bob: March 1-July 9, 2007

My cup of Monday is officially full and running over. I got home from work and found out that my last Bob was indeed sick, and didn't make it through the day.

Since neither tank of Bobs lasted the guaranteed two years, I'll be sending away for free replacements. And I'll wait until the weather cools off before I try to hatch new ones.

But the apartment feels a little more lonely tonight.

Good bye, Bob. I'll miss you.

Bobs are Doomed

Well, I have two Bobs left. They're healthy enough, don't get me wrong! The littler one is getting close to being an adult.

The problem is, now that the littler one is getting big enough to tell, well, he's definitely a he. My last two Bobs are both male. No baby Bobs.

Bobs are doomed.

Bad day for Bob

Bob and I didn't have a good night last night. I aerated the tanks, and everyone was just fine. Then a few hours later, when I got up to put Bob back in the kitchen and go to bed, I noticed that I couldn't see anyone swimming in my new tank. No one. There were four growing Bobs in there and a squizzlet the last time I had checked. Now nothing.

I looked very close at the bottom of the tank. There was a layer of fluffy greenish stuff that I thought was algae. But everything I've read says algae in the tank is a good thing, and this was no good thing. The fluffy greenish stuff was twitching in a few places. It had grabbed onto my four baby Bobs and now covered their little gills and it wouldn't let go.

I used the aqualeash to pull them up off the bottom and move the water around them. Some of the green stuff came off, but not enough.

I moved them into little dish and tried to clean them off more. I aerated the water in the dish and put some of the sea-medic stuff, and it was all I could do. I went to bed.

When I got up this morning, one of them had shaken it all off. I pulled him out and put him in the old tank. The other three were still very bad. When I got home from work, the one I'd put in the old tank was still all right. I was relieved to find the little tiny Bob still in the new tank and still alive, so I moved it to the old tank. I hope it does okay.

But one of the three Bobs in the dish was dead. The other two don't look good at all. I don't think there's any hope for it. I put in just a little more medicine. And now I can only wait.

I love my little Bobs. I'm glad I saved one. But I'm sad.

Odds and Ends

I promise I'm preparing a nice journal about my adventures in New Orleans, including all my stories from Jazz Fest. But in the mean time, life has continued, as it is wont to do. So while you're all waiting, breathless with anticipation......

:-P

Earlier I posted photos of my lego OCD. Well, just the other day, I found...


Gasp! A STRAY!!! Don't worry. The situation has been rectified.

So, while I was in New Orleans, I had a friend looking after Bob. I saw him on line when I was on my computer in the hotel room (I love free wi-fi) so I went to ask him how my little ones were doing. He said he had just the hour before seen all three of my sea-monkeys swimming around.

All... three?

Um, there are supposed to be four.

But maybe one was hiding behind the pirate ship. Or inside the pirate ship.

Nope.

Got home, settled in, went to check on Bob, and only saw the three males. Turned the tank around, and there behind the pirate ship was my last momma Bob. Sigh.

On the up side, the one baby I knew was there when I left is still squirting around, and there are two new ones I hadn't seen before. So we're still net positive for sea-monkeys.

ALSO.

While I was gone, the new tank came in. With, of course, the new little packets of instant Bob.

Check out the new digs!


Check out Bob checking out the new digs!


And here's the new digs just now ready to become the new Bob!


After I give the new baby Bobs at least a week to get established, I'm going to take any surviving pirate ship baby Bobs and add them to the sparkly new tank. I'm really really hoping to keep the new tank cleaner than the old one. I've been developing some more hygenic sea-monkey habits. I wanted to cleans my little plastic pumps with boiling water, but the plastic is too soft, I find. :-P

I hope I have better luck with my new Bobs. I want them to enjoy their nice shiny new tank for a long time!

My Favorite Bob

I just found my favorite Bob dead. She's the one who laid eggs last week. She's the first one I could tell apart from the others, and she was the biggest one and the one with the most energy.

She's the one I was nursing just last week, and she got better! She was doing fine. And then I think I must have killed her.

I've been aerating the water by blowing bubbles into it using the aqua-leash, but that always worries me, because if I'm not careful, the little sea-monkeys get all jostled around against the bubbles, and I'm afraid they'll get shoved against the side of the tank too hard. Well, the websites all say you can aerate the water also by pouring it from the tank into another container and back. This isn't supposed to hurt the sea-monkeys at all.

But I think it's because of the pirate ship. It has holes so they can swim inside, and this Bob must have been inside of it, or maybe just slammed against it while I was pouring. But I was being so careful! She must have been inside of it and got stuck, and all the back and forth and water and no water...

It wouldn't be so bad if it was one of the ones that look all alike. And it wouldn't be so bad if she'd died when she was sick. But I feel so terrible because my first momma Bob is dead, and it's because of something I did. I guess I know not to do that any more, but I was already having a bit of a bad day. Now I just feel terrible.

I'm going to bed before this gets any worse.

P.S. I just went to check the tank one last time, because I figured if I was going to have to eat those words, I may as well know the worst at once. I found a brand new baby Bob, though, so that's a happy thing. I feel somewhat better now.

No News

I've heard nothing new about my cousin's baby. All I have to report is a little drama with Bob.

My biggest female laid her eggs, and they're hatching. Four new squizzlets at least, as far as I can count. Which isn't well, since the baby Bobs don't stay still for long.

But I've been worried about their mother. She seemed to be spending way too much time butting her head against the tank floor, instead of darting around all over the tank like she normally does. So I sequestered her last night in a little dish that has apparently become the sea-monkey infirmary. I aerated the water as much as I could, and sprinkled a little extra food for her.

This morning she was skimming along the top of the water, which I think was a good sign. I opened the blinds and put the tank and the dish on the table where they could get a little indirect sunlight all day. When I came home from work she was much more lively, and I've put her back into the tank with the others.

I'm still worried. She beats her little leg-fin-gills with a sort of labored lethargy, and moves around more than she was, but is still at the bottom a lot. What bothers me most, though, is her color. She was flushed and somewhat pinky, but now she's almost completely colorless. Also, the gold-brown stripe she had along her back, like the others, has changed.

This worries me most, because this stripe is their digestive track, and while the others look healthy and well fed, the stripe she has is very dark and stops about a quarter of the way down her body. This seems to me like she's having trouble digesting her food, and that it's not passing through her right, but is instead possibly rotting inside of her! I am trying not to be paranoid, but I'm new at this sea-monkey thing.

I guess this seems like much ado about nothing, and I've taken some ribbing for being so attached to my Bobs. But this is what's going on these days, in lieue of more significant news.

Bobday: The Morning After

Heh, yeah, right. Like I saw any of the morning side of today. I guess I woke up and saw daylight at some point and pulled the covers over my head.

There's something unhealthy in my during-the-week sleeping habits, I think. I never used to be able to sleep more than 10 hours at a stretch, but then, I did that a lot more often.

Now it's more like 6-7 hours a night during the week, then some sort of marathon on Saturday, where I can easily sleep 12-13 hours if I let myself. And I've been letting myself in the interest of NOT GETTING FRIGGIN' SICK ANYMORE.

So I skipped mass this morning, and now, it's like, 6:30 in the evening. Jeez. So much for evening mass, which I thought I'd make it to.

Anywho. Bobday was great. I made a sign, and there's Bob wearing some silver Mardi Gras beads and the hat I made for him! :-P



We had sparkling wit, brilliant conversation, and of course legos and NES. And crepes. And the best damned whip cream ever. I'll have to quadruple the recipe next time, instead of doubling it.

But I realized something somewhat disturbing yesterday. I couldn't find any squizzlets. No baby Bobs. Absolutely zero Bob Jrs. This is not happy. There were at least 3, and now there aren't any. And they can't have grown that quick. And no, sea-monkeys do not eat their young.

And then this evening we had a somewhat terrifying moment. My biggest, prettiest sea-monkey, the large female who should be laying eggs any day now, was down at the bottom of the tank, apparently struggling as some trailing strands of gunk were caught all around her little legs, and keeping her from swimming away! Eep! This has never happened before, but I think the bacteria in the tank took off a bit, and that a fluffy mass of it just sort of engulphed her.

That decided it. I immediately moved the Bobs to a separate glass and began straining their water through a coffee filter. I know I've lost some dormant eggs, and they really seem to miss the algae at the bottom, but I think this was the best thing to do. I made sure to use my aqua-leash to squirt the water around the bottom of the tank and the ship to make sure I got all the gunk stuck down to stuff up and floating. I got all the water filtered, and everybody back into the tank.

Oh, and for folks who have asked, I now know that I have 9 adult Bobs. I counted them as I moved them one by one. I also found another little black Bob body, so hopefully cleaning that out will reduce the bacteria growth, and also hopefully the stuff I ordered to get rid of the bacteria comes sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile everyone seems happier, and I've given them an extra feeding, since I took away what was in the water from Friday. Here's hoping things go more smoothly for a while. I'm still upset about the baby Bobs being gone. :-/

Updates as details warrant!

Good bye, two little sick Bobs

The two little sick Bobs did not make it.

Bobday will still be a fun celebration of the Bobs I still have, but today, I miss the little ones I cared for as well as I could in the last 24 hours.

Good news/Bad news

It's been that sort of day. Good news first. I learned something new about sea-monkeys!

I've been pretty darn sure that my biggest, most energetic sea-monkey is female. She developed some black patches near the base of her tail which I decided must be egg pouches.

I was wondering a couple of days ago if one of my other sea-monkeys had picked up something or had something stuck on his head. There was this sort of saucer shaped whisker sort of formation. Sort of like Jamie from Mythbusters' mustache. Well, I think the sea-monkeys with those are male.

Because he's used those whiskers to clamp onto the female sea-monkey and now she's having to haul him all over the tank. I think she tried to knock him off by ramming him into the mast of the pirate ship. I was amused. :-P

So my sea-monkeys are definitely getting all grown up, and it's exciting!

But I'm also sad and a bit worried.

Two Bobs are sort of laying on their backs at the bottom of the tank, weakly waving their legs, and sluggishly scooting around every so often. They don't look so good. I feel really helpless about it too.

I'm worried that the bacteria that I think might be forming in the tank is NOT helping their health. The sea-monkey folk make an additive to combat bacterial growth, and I actually ordered some over the weekend, but it won't be here for weeks.

All I can do is try to find something to isolate them in and make sure to squirt them with aerated water so they don't have such a hard time breathing. I hope they'll be better in time for Bobday. :-/

Keep your fingers crossed.

Junior!

A squizzlet!!! I saw him, I saw him! Bob Jr. has arrived, and with impeccable timing. Today is Bobday! Exactly one month since Bob began to hatch, and today,

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

a new Bob is born!

Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

The Bobs That Remain

Since I've put off the Bobday party, here are some photos. You can definitely see Bob.


And closer, there's a Bob about to swim in front of the fore-deck.

Ded Bob

So, last night I found a ded Bob. Only one. Looks a few days old. Everyone else looks healthy, so I don't think it's a problem. Just a little bit of sad.

I actually made it to work this morning. But after a while I felt myself going downhill, and now I'm back at home where I can be MIZERBUL without being contagious.

I HAAATE BEEEEEG SIIIIIGGGGGgggg....
(weak and pitiful wailing and wimpering)

I'm tired and I'm lonely and I'm demoralized.

I should try to do some more work.

Maybe take a nap.

Blah.

THERE they are!

So I finally captured my sea-monkeys on camera. Picture immediately below. No fanfare. No buildup. I don't want to get anyone's hopes too high. Meet Bob!


Oh. Yeah. He's still really hard to see, isn't he. Here, I've picked one out in the photo below. Like I said. Not much. But it's Bob! Pictures after Memphis hopefully, to show how much they've grown!


Another new addition to the family today, too! Check it out!


I continued my trend of naming gadgetry after Tolkien's elves. The network is Feanor, my old laptop is Eol and this one is Maeglin. The nano is named Haldir. Yes, I'm a Tolkien nerd. Now I just need to get him loaded up and ready for the road trip tomorrow!

A day of rest

Today I had church, lunch, concert, dinner, and now I'm finally home.

I took the Sea-Monkeys over into a little sunlight yesterday. They loved it. Here's their tank in their temporary, indirectly sunny locale.


And here's a pretty picture of the moon off of my balcony. It's not all that great, but that's okay. I like it.


Going to Memphis on Tuesday. Vacation!!! Basketball!!! Mississippi River!!! Go Owls!!!

I hope Bob does okay while I'm gone. The first feeding day is the day I leave, and I feel like I'm going to miss a whole phase of their development, if I'm gone 5 days. Oh well, hopefully I'll catch it with Bob Jr.

Squizzlets named Bob

Will invented a new word... squizzlets. And they are just squizzling away in there. No pictures. They're too small, and I don't know how to do anything but auto-focus on the camera. That's really not working very well.

But Bob is alive and well! Updates will probably cease to be daily. I'm sure you're all glad to hear both of those statements. :-)

Happy birthday, Bob!

March 1st. A new month, a new friend. Everyone meet Bob!

Bob?
Ooooh Bob?

Okay, I need a better camera. But Bob is there. I *saw* them! There are lots of little specks. Some of them float up. Some of them drift down. And that one? *gasp!* THAT ONE IS....

SQUIZZLING!!!

And that one! And, and!

Yay!!!

THEY'RE ALIIIIIIIIVVVVVE!!!!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeee!

<<>>

What's in a name...

I've never played World of Warcraft, but I'm very tempted to name my little colony of brine shrimp The Horde. Is that allowed, since I'm not at all an aficionado? I'm in fact, not even a novice. I am completely uninitiated.

I'm also thinking of naming them Spawn.

Or Bob. Yeah.

Thoughts? Any other suggestions? One syllable would be optimal.

Hur du Foder Upp Dina Sea-Monkeys

I really wish I knew how to put the correct diacritical marks on that. Swedish is my guess.

Anywho. My tank is all rinsed...

(Why, what's in *your* drainboard?)

...filled and prepped...


...and ready to sit for 24 or more hours until I can get back and add packet #2. Thursday's the big day, after I pay my rent and go to the bandhall to copy music, and maybe even take my computer into the shop to find out why I can't burn CDs. Then I'll come home and unwind by bringing my leetle shreempees to life. Yay! :-D

Oh, and by the way, those plates are in the drainboard because I have new ones now, and I don't know what to do with the old ones, but they were dirty, and I didn't want to keep them around like that. So I washed them. My car no longer has the same initials as Dave, though, which is sadness. :-P

Oh, and thought to ponder for the day. If I hadn't gotten a speeding ticket day after last Thanksgiving, I wouldn't have been out at the UPS store getting a form notarized. And if I hadn't been out there getting a form notarized, I wouldn't have seen the beautiful soft sunset in the sky this evening. And if I hadn't seen that sunset, some of the joy in my life right now would not have come. I would still have all the grumps not associated with my speeding ticket, and none of the gentle beauty of that sunset.

Great evil can come of great good, but great good can come of great evil. Tone down all those superlative terms like great and evil, and you have my lesson for the day.

Love you guys!

Grootbengen van je Sea Monkeys!

I have no idea what language that is, but I saw it on the instructions, and I think it's fabulous! I'm guessing Dutch.

I have Sea-Monkeys!!! Check it out!

And here's a closer-up of their tank! It's a pirate ship! Arrrrr!


I'll be setting their tank up tomorrow, but probably not evoking the little hatchlings until Thursday. I want to make sure I have time to watch them hatch, and Wednesday I'll be running off to rehearsal.

For now, I'm terribly excited. Someone asked me if I was going to name each one of them. While that would just be silly, I *would* like to name them in the aggragate. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to name a pod of Sea-Monkeys?