Eight years ago, after the Singapore edition of our wedding reception, we opened one of the gifts, examined it thoroughly, nodded at each other, and reached a unanimous conclusion - we did not know what it was.
It was gigantic, made of glass, shaped like a half-sphere and did not look like anything we were familiar with. Was it a vase? Naah, too big. Was it a punch bowl? Naah, too shapeless. Was it a serving dish? Naah, too weird. Was it a fishbowl? Naah, who gives someone a fishbowl at their wedding? But it did look like half a fishbowl.
Anyway, not knowing what to do with it, we put it in storage, and kept our fingers crossed that one day it would simply self-destruct and cease to be a problem for us anymore. After all, the storeroom is that bottomless abyss where things go in but rarely come out.
Unless you're moving out. Then they all come tumbling out and you hold up each item and go "What the...?!"
We're moving out in a few weeks for our place to get renovated. So we've taken this opportunity to do some serious decluttering. Especially the storeroom, which the women of this family have never set foot in. For good reasons.
As Viv laboriously carried out his given task ("You can't go off on your business trip to the US unless the storeroom is half-empty."), he discovered that... that hybrid vase/fishbowl/punchbowl thingie. Both of us looked at it and went, "Oh my goodness, this thing is still here!" (yeah, apparently, the demons of the abyss had also rejected it with a "what on earth is this?") And the very next second, we looked at each other and our eyes lit up. No, not with love. With the same idea.
Blueberry.
As I'd mentioned in this post, I'd been feeling rather guilty that Blueberry was living in a 1-litre tank when he should ideally be in a 1-gallon tank. This was perfect. I measured and the thingie actually held close to 2 gallons of water! How perfect!
So we prepared Blueberry's new home, scrubbed it, decorated it with the rest of the colourful pebbles (remember how I was lamenting that even the smallest pack of the pebbles was too big and I couldn't use them in the old tank all because then there would be no place for Blueberry?), put the water plant inside, and finally transferred him over. He seemed a little confused at first ("Whoa! What?! All this space? For me? For meeeee???"), but soon after started merrily swimming around, exploring his penthouse.
It was gigantic, made of glass, shaped like a half-sphere and did not look like anything we were familiar with. Was it a vase? Naah, too big. Was it a punch bowl? Naah, too shapeless. Was it a serving dish? Naah, too weird. Was it a fishbowl? Naah, who gives someone a fishbowl at their wedding? But it did look like half a fishbowl.
Anyway, not knowing what to do with it, we put it in storage, and kept our fingers crossed that one day it would simply self-destruct and cease to be a problem for us anymore. After all, the storeroom is that bottomless abyss where things go in but rarely come out.
Unless you're moving out. Then they all come tumbling out and you hold up each item and go "What the...?!"
We're moving out in a few weeks for our place to get renovated. So we've taken this opportunity to do some serious decluttering. Especially the storeroom, which the women of this family have never set foot in. For good reasons.
As Viv laboriously carried out his given task ("You can't go off on your business trip to the US unless the storeroom is half-empty."), he discovered that... that hybrid vase/fishbowl/punchbowl thingie. Both of us looked at it and went, "Oh my goodness, this thing is still here!" (yeah, apparently, the demons of the abyss had also rejected it with a "what on earth is this?") And the very next second, we looked at each other and our eyes lit up. No, not with love. With the same idea.
Blueberry.
As I'd mentioned in this post, I'd been feeling rather guilty that Blueberry was living in a 1-litre tank when he should ideally be in a 1-gallon tank. This was perfect. I measured and the thingie actually held close to 2 gallons of water! How perfect!
So we prepared Blueberry's new home, scrubbed it, decorated it with the rest of the colourful pebbles (remember how I was lamenting that even the smallest pack of the pebbles was too big and I couldn't use them in the old tank all because then there would be no place for Blueberry?), put the water plant inside, and finally transferred him over. He seemed a little confused at first ("Whoa! What?! All this space? For me? For meeeee???"), but soon after started merrily swimming around, exploring his penthouse.
Blueberry's upturned mouth makes him look perennially grumpy, but somehow, all of us -- Xena, Viv and I -- could sense his happiness at all the space he now had. (Yesterday, we also bought some water conditioner for him. I mean, it's great that we can drink water straight from the tap, but it also means that the chlorine used to treat the water might not be too good for him.)
So yeah, aal iz well for now.
Here's Xena, telling us, "Make sure he doesn't jump out, guys!" as we sit and admire him in his new home.
So yeah, aal iz well for now.
Here's Xena, telling us, "Make sure he doesn't jump out, guys!" as we sit and admire him in his new home.
6 comments:
Haha, with me, I usually need the thing I threw out about a week or ten days after I threw it out. You are so much better at this!
Now that Mr. Blueberry Bubbles is well-settled, I foresee a shaadi.com note looking for a prospective Mrs. Bubbles, "homely, sky-ish complexion only" :D
Hope your move-out, renovation and move-back-in go smoothly! A hattip for daily blogging when facing such considerable activity! I could never do it.
heeh, Xena sounds like Becky who wants her school blown up :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZChycU5gobg
awwwwwww--u got to use all the pebbles..nice
Yay! Blueberry got a new home and I enjoyed reading this post as much as he's enjoying his new home :)
Arun,
It's a Siamese fighting fish. It tends to fight off and kill any company that's why solitary confinement is recommended for it. So no shaadi.com for him. :P
mad hatter,
Someone had sent it to me earlier. Hilarious!! :D
Horizon,
Yeah so I was so happy about that. I hate it when things are just lying around, not being used. :/
Keirthana,
Thank you. :)
I think males need be isolated from other males only. But true, in the wild, the female probably has hiding places or sufficient space to retreat if the male turns aggressive, not possible in a small aquarium.
BTW, I read a book on aquarium fish once that said that the black molly male develops psychological troubles unless there are two or three females present. The book never explained how these psychological troubles manifested themselves. Anyway, black mollys (and guppies) give live birth, and so my little aquarium used to quickly get overcrowded.
I like the dwarf gourami, and a male & a female get along fine along with other fish in a small tank. Problem is the female is not colorful, and the pet stores around here no longer carry females; males only. :( One of the reasons I no longer keep fish.
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