you can never have too many friends...

Yesterday, I discovered that Ozzy (my Oscar), had ich, thanks to the minnows I had fed him, and probably the temp change when I cleaned his tank. So, of course, it was on a day I had to go to work, and my hokey little town has no pet stores.

So being the calm, rational person that I am, I declare national emergency,and call all my friends to see if THEY can get some medicine for fishy. I get ahold of Becky, who volunteers to get some medicine, which I'll pick up from her house after work (I work till 11pm, pet stores close at 9pm). Then I wonder if Wal-Mart carries any ich medicine. I call, and discover that they do have it (after being on hold for 20 mins).

So I call Becky back and leave her a cheerful message telling her that she doesn't need to run to store, but thanks anyway. I feel a little foolish for panicking earlier.

Later on in the day, I call Dee, and tell her I'm making a Walmart pilgrimage at midnight, and invite her along. She enthusiastically agrees; she's been stuck at home all day, and the cat is driving her crazy.

After work, I stop at Dee's house (by this time I've talked to Nick), and tell her all about the phone call. She gets teary eyed when I tell her about "the words", and says she's so happy for me. We discuss how awesome hearing "the words" is, and how she felt the first time Greg said "the words" to her. We are talking, as girls do, in hushed tones (when we talk about stuff like this), and her boyfriend Greg decides to join the conversation. He's been sitting in the chair like a limp dishrag up until this point. "What," he asks, assuming we're talking about him. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing," Dee tells him, "We're talking about something else."

"Oh," says Greg, "I thought I was in trouble again." The cat meows in agreement, and then tries to use Dee's leg for a scratching post, which distracts her and we stop talking about the "L" word.

We made it to Wal-Mart and back without incident, although Greg said I was as giddy as a school-girl (I have NO idea why), and then I raced home to Ozzy.

I met my mother at the door, who was grim and pale faced. Of course I think I was too late and Ozzy has already died. "Oh, no," I say, "He's dead, isn't he?!"

Mom stares at me, horrified. "Something happened to Nick?!"

"What? No, nothing happened to him, why did you think that? He's fine!"

"Well, then who's dead?" mom asks, with dread on her face.

"THE FISH!!!" I say, "I thought something had happened to him, the way you looked when you came to the door!!"

"It's 1:30 in the morning," she says. "I thought you were hurt, you didn't call..."

After I convince her I'm not dead, and that I haven't been carjacked, mugged, or mauraded by wild bandits, we go check on Ozzy.

Of course, the fish is no worse than he was in the morning, but I wouldnt' say he was happy. He has so many white spots on him, you could play connect the dots. Well, I hope the medicine works, but if it doesn't...

...Becky left ME a message this morning, saying she had gotten the Oscar his medicine, and I could pick it up anytime (she hadn't checked HER messages, lol). So, I guess I always have backup.

What would I do without friends (or a mom, for that matter)?