Tator Tot: Oct 31, 2007-March 13, 2008

Bad news. Yesterday, my goldfish, Tator Tot, died. I was gone from the office Monday and on the way to work Tuesday Leslie gave me the bad news: Tator Tot was exhibiting weird behavior and it looked like the end. He was in a C-shape floating at the top of the bowl, except when he would do a series of acrobatic twists and dives. It actually looked pretty awesome. Except he was dying. This behavior lasted until Thursday. I couldn't get him to eat, and it looked like he was suffering badly. So I googled "kill goldfish." I didn't want to flush him or anything. I was looking for euthanasia tactics. One method was to give him a dose of clove oil and vodka, two things I did not happen to have on hand at work. I found one measly comment on this site about how someone tried Alka-Seltzer. Bingo. I asked around and found some. Tator was hovering near death, and I hoped this would push him over the edge. Several other coworkers gathered around, and I put the tablet (of death) in. It was like a bomb had gone off in the bowl. He was thrown around powerfully by the effervescence. Again, looked cool but a little sickening. Then it ended, and he was thankfully dead. Now he's in a better place, with better fish food and more oxygen. I think that's what killed him in the end. (my fault). I ended the day with cookies and a small emailed eulogy to celebrate Tator Tot's life. You can't spell funeral without fun, as Meredith has taught me. I miss him, but not enough to buy another fish. It would be nice to say I don't want to replace him. Really, I hated cleaning that nasty bowl.