Jack the Fish

(NOTE: There are two blog entries for today, so be sure and check the one out below this post...I am living the life!)

I have had Jack the blue betta fish since March of 2005. Jack was originally Sophia's fish. I am not sure how long they had him. They went on a Spring Break trip in March of 2005. I watched the fish and 2 birds. Well I noticed no one was clamoring back to come and get them. One day Talana called and asked if I would just keep them. Well Patti had given Sophia the two birds. So I contacted her to see if she wanted them back. She didn't, but said she'd check with some nursing homes which gave me an idea. At the time I lived across the street from an assisted living home. I went over there to ask them. Worked out perfectly as they had an aviary. Now I knew I'd keep Jack as I already had a red betta, Romeo. Poor Romeo only lasted a couple of months.

Well today when I came home from work I went to feed Jack, the betta fish, like I always do. He was in the cave in his bowl and wasn't coming out. Usually he comes out once you get his attention. He had passed away (Taps playing in the background). I used to change his water every couple of weeks for years because it hardly ever got dirty. But in the last month or so the water got dirty in a couple of days. I washed everything extra good, used the same Bowl Buddies tablets and my same filtered tap water. I even used some drops that were suppose to clear cloudy water, but they didn't work. I was starting to think maybe he was in declining health. I did notice Wednesday there was one pellet he didn't eat. It appears it was Jack's time to go the big fish bowl in the sky.

So I flushed him down the toilet Nemo-style. Then it reminded me of the time two of Sophia's guinea pigs died. Talana was worried how Sophia would take it; she's animal crazy. I think Sophia might have cried a bit when they told her. Tears dried up then she asked if they would buy her some more. Gotta love kids!

Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Arkansas with my sister and her family? I thought I would be a responsible pet owner and take Jack with me. So I put him in the cup-like container with lid I bought Romeo in. I put that in the cup holder in my car. Poor fish didn't eat the whole weekend we were in Arkansas. Guess 5 hours of car vibrations was too much, poor thing, and I felt bad because I didn't think about the car vibration effecting him. After that my mom fish-sat for me.

R.I.P. Jack. You were a great fish!