The Coolest Fish in an Aquarium

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When my last job went out of business on St. Patrick’s Day, I was put in a position where I needed to find a job quickly. It took a month, but I was finally hired for a job with Hertz Rental Car. Several days later I learned that they hired three people for two openings and since I was the last in, I was the first out.

After I was hired, a woman called me about a job working for a company that maintains aquariums. I turned it down because I just got a job but when that job was taken away I called her back and she hired me that day. That was six months ago and I am still working with fish. During that time, I come to believe the most interesting aqurium fish is the Blackspotted Puffer Fish, also known as the Dog Face Puffer.

This fish comes in a variety of colors.

It seems to recognize humans and will look at you with those big eyes. They are also friendly, and some will let you pet them and even handle them.

I only have a freshwater tank at home but if I had a saltwater tank, that would be my first fish. The only drawback is they have sharp teeth that they need to keep trimmed so expect some chewing. We have some accounts where we can’t put plastic plants in the tank because the puffer will chew them into little pieces.

On another note, I am still looking for people to review both of my recent books, Identity Crisis and The Last Healer. I have two copies each that I am willing to give away in exchange for a review. Just send me an email to cehuss (at) tampabay (dot) rr (dot) com and tell me which book you want or both. I will send anywhere in the United States. If you live outside the U.S., I’m still willing to send you a book as long as the postage is reasonable.

Chris’s New Bad Behaviors

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As most of you know, we keep the cats out of our bedroom at night because Chris is far too annoying. Lately, Floki has been crying outside of our bedroom door every morning starting at around 4:15. Chris decided that what Floki was doing was not annoying us enough, so he took over. Now, every morning starting at 4 a.m. Chris is out there scratching on the door. He is relentless, too. Sunday morning I thought I could wait him out. I thought he would give up after fifteen minutes. Instead, fourty-five minutes later, I was the one who gave up.

I gave them all wet food and went back to bed. My wife asked, “Did you give them dry food, too?”

“No,” I said. “If I put dry food down, Chris won’t eat the wet food.”

“Maybe not,” she said, “but he will surely be back scratching on the door in five minutes.”

I don’t know how many minutes passed, but he was scratching on the door a short time later so I had to get up and put dry food in his bowls.

That day I went to Target and bought a child gate and put it so Chris could not get down the hallway to our bedroom door. It worked but I returned it today because my wife often gets up in the middle of the night and I feared she would trip over it in the dark.

The other bad thing he has started doing is dragging his water bowl across the floor, spilling its contents along the way.

The bowl belongs against the wall, left of the coo coo clock cables.

This one is a head scratcher. I had a tall bowl there before but he started tipping it over. Now that I have a shorter bowl, dragging it across the floor is his alternative. He has done this several times now, including ten minutes ago, which reminded me to write about it.

I am at a loss for what to do about both of these new issues.

Photo Friday: Floki the Hockey Fan

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Recently I posted that Floki was very interested in watching the movie “Strays.” Some people commented about how their cats liked sports and I mentioned that football or hockey would probably be intriguing for cats. Sure enough, my wife and I were watching a Hallmark movie about a past his prime hockey player still trying to make it to the NHL. As soon as they showed him playing in a game, Flokie suddenly became interested.

He didn’t care about any of the romance stuff but as soon as the game started, he was glued to the set.

Floki Likes Strays

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Saturday evening my wife and I sat down to watch a movie. We decided to stream a movie called “Strays.” After about twenty minutes it became apparent that the movie tried too hard to get laughs from crude humor and it just didn’t work so I suggested changing the channel. By then Floki was very interested in the movie and Rose didn’t want to deprive him of the entertainment.

He moved from the television stand to the coffee table to the floor and back again.

All the while he stayed interested in the movie. We watched half the movie before going to bed. Sunday, I made dinner, and we sat in the living room to eat. I didn’t want to look for a new movie because I wanted to eat so I put the same movie back on. Again, Floki became very interested. He sat on the floor watching the movie until it was over, probably forty-five minutes or so.

Is Floki weird or is watching television normal for some cats?