Reproachful Fumigated Fish Dance with Zombies at MOXI
After Halloween, Tom and Melika made a quick trip to Las Vegas to see Lady Gaga who, I’m told, wore several outfits that were at least as outlandish as Tom and Mel’s. Mitra and Stefan came up to help with the boys and Azelle. Nazy was under the weather, so the help from LA was very welcome.
Mitra and Stefan took both Arrow and Azelle to MyGym on Saturday morning. I took the very busy Tiger to Piano, Golf and Tennis lessons. And, as you’ll see, I remembered to bring my camera.
The next morning, I took Arrow and Tiger to MOXI (the Santa Barbara children’s museum.) We watched ourselves jump up and down (in slow motion) and Tiger created, on a computer, an ‘I love you card’ for his Mom and Dad.
As I played with children, time was ticking away for the Big Event. It began a few weeks when Nazy discovered…
“… flying ants,” Dan. “They’re everywhere.”
“They may be everywhere, but they’re not ants.”
“Not ants?”
“No. Those are termites. This is swarm season.”
“Luckily they’re at the front door, so we can just sweep them out.”
“Unluckily, I found them in the sink in the laundry room. This situation won’t be resolved with a broom.” I replied. “It will require high explosives,” I thought.
Explosives, it turned out, were not warranted. Chemical weapons, however, would be deployed. I wasn’t worried about the termites, but I couldn’t come up with a viable way to relocate the aquarium. Nazy tried contacting an aquarium expert..
“… so we can just carry the aquarium down the stairs…” he claimed.
“The filled aquarium will weigh about 600 pounds,” I replied. “We would have to move it down a curved flight of stairs. Lifting it without causing it to spring a leak would be impossible.”
“So..” Nazy began.
“So, Kyle, the expert, is a fool.” I concluded.
Kyle, in the end, agreed to rehouse the fish for a few days. He then confirmed his position as fool (with a silver cluster) by failing to show up. We decided to cope by turning off the filter and covering the tank with a couple of wet blankets.
Nazy, completely un-Kyle-like, double bagged everything edible. She moved her jewelry out of the house…. Well, she packed her jewelry and I moved it out of the house. She picked a suitable selection of clothes, cosmetics, creams, ointments vitamins, foodstuffs and more. When the crew showed up, they complained about the bushes close to the house…
‘… you mean the ones you forgot to tell us about during the preparatory inspection?” I asked.
They followed the bush conversation with complaints about the wind.
“… you mean the afternoon wind?” I asked. “The wind that blows off the ocean every single afternoon?”
“It’s too windy to put up the tent,” they claimed. “We will be back tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow morning,” I corrected.
“We’re booked tomorrow morning.”
“It will be windy tomorrow afternoon.”
In the end, they promised to come at 11:00. They showed up at 1:43.
Nazy and I stayed with Melika and Tom while the tent was in place. Early Saturday morning, the house was habitable again. I rushed in to see if the fish made it through the ordeal. They did, mostly, but the Angelfish is looking at me reproachfully.
I turned the tank’s filter back on and have set up camp waiting for the gas to be turned back on.
In spite of reassuring noises from the fumigation company, Nazy wanted to wash all the sheets and dishes before wearing or eating off them. I notice that although she is not willing to come into the house, she’s happy if I come in and start things.
The events of the week have drowned out other excitement like Nazy’s allergic reaction to medication.
For last week's letter, please click here.
