A prior commitment

Chris & I had talked about doing something together today. That’s as far as we got. Talking.

I knew I had to do the filters on the aquariums, which takes about 2 hours, at the most. Because the water in the 210 looks & smells a bit off, I stuck in a test strip. When I read the results, I realized I had a prior commitment. Then I tested the 55. All that one needs is the PH raised. I checked the 50, it too has to have a water change. I figured it’s time to change some of the media in the filters so I was getting prints ready for Chris, so he’ll know what to get. And how many of each.

Then my phone rang.

He just acquired a prior commitment. A stopped up main that’s a bugger to get to. Yeah, they have clean outs, but they’re in a crawler, in a corner. And it’s rooted. So they take a jar of RootX to install. 

Yesterday Chris ran 3 calls. Today they have this main with roots.

It’s no wonder we can’t make plans to go anywhere for any length of time. I have an aunt & uncle in Oregon, near the coast, that have invited us up there. We each have a parent in Texas that we should get up the guts to go see. Chris wants to go see friends in Kansas & Illinois.

Between the business, & my own personal zoo, how the hell can we make any plans? Much less pull them off? We can’t even get a 3 day weekend off! If we had Brian come in to take care of the tanks, we’d have to worry about Ding Dong biting him. If we had someone to come in to feed all the air breathing animals, they’d have to be a friend to Ding Dong, & arrange to be here when Brian came by, who is the only person I know of that can deal with the tanks & the occupants, & the problems that can come up quickly with them.

Last year, for our 28th, Chris & I went to the Colorado Springs area. About 70 miles south of where we live. In the 2 & 1/2 days we were gone, we dealt with customers, a broken down truck, & worried about the animals. Joe was here, but said that the dogs wouldn’t eat, or take their medicine for him. We’ve talked about (yeah, right) doing something special for our 30th. I see that happening. 

Am I complaining? Yeah, you betcha. What would I change, so that we could do the things we want to do? Nothing. Get rid of animals? No. We took them in, knowing it would be for their lifetimes. Shut down the business & get jobs? I think not. Chris has worked too hard to get where he is now, & isn’t cut out to take orders from a “boss” & there aren’t too many bosses that could, or would, deal with my attitude. (A few succeeded, but they were exceptional. Remember Peterson, Chris?)

I guess instead of complaining about things I’m not going to change, I need to work on dealing with the way things are.

What I really want to do is scream “Bite Me” at everything, get Chris & head for a beach to watch the tide.

From the shade, of course.