The touch of death

In many ways, I think I'm cursed. I don't know what it is. Probably things don't really go afoul all that much, but I'm also a little on the paranoid side... So I worry that I'm about to spread doom onto everything. Here are all my paranoia moments from today.... (so far) (and a couple of the intervening parts too)

First I cleaned out Napoleon's bowl. He seems to be pooping less, so it's not getting dirty as quickly as it used to. But still, it was definitely time for fresh water. I don't think Napoleon really likes having his bowl cleaned though. Something about the manhandling and claustrophobia of being in a little cup while I do it is just too much for his little fishy nerves to handle. He always plays dead for a little while afterwards. It really freaks me out. I definitely would not put it past myself to inadvertantly take the life of my beloved fish. So I go through several panicky moments, asking myself if I remembered to put the dechlorinator in the water, worrying that maybe I put in too much... But when I tap on the bowl Napoleon perks up, and swims around. Dead fishies can't do that!

A more plausible manifestation of my curse seems to be working its evil ways on Floyd however. He's definitely looking a little sickly on one side... Oh gosh. Why do I have the touch of death? Please let there still be hope for the little guy!

This afternoon I washed Steggie. She was so extraordinarily dirty. She'd never been washed (except for when the dealership prettied her up to be taken home). And she's going to have passengers on Saturday, so I figured she might as well look nice for them. She was worried she'd make a bad impression. I had to explain to her that they'd already met and liked her, and anyway, there's no way anybody could not like such a cute, high-tech, fuel efficient car with icecream on top! That comforted her a little. But she liked the bath too. There was so much tree goop, bird poop, and bug splatters on her. Just spraying her with a hose helped. It was great to see the grime run from the water. Of course, she's still parked under the goopy tree, and I still have to drive her all the way to the Bay Area tomorrow... But she'll still be much cleaner on Saturday than she would be otherwise.

Jed says I'm a bad mommy for letting my car get so dirty. I think maybe Jed didn't get the-birds-and-the-bees talk from his mom, or maybe just needs a basic course in Biology, if he thinks that I can be the mother of an automobile (albeit a very cute one).

I actually met a couple of my neighbors while I was washing the car. Not the loud construction ones, and not the ones that the police investigated, but some others down the street. They seem nice. And had a really cute kitty! Maybe the cat will come visit me sometime...

And just so you can understand my paranoia a little more, there is a very real possibility of the touch of death rearing it's head at any time, even when I'm just washing the car. You see, Steggie has a little intake vent towards the back which is used to cool the electric motor. I don't want to know what happens if I get water (or at least, too much water) in there. There was a very explicit picture in the owner's manual telling you not to aim a hose directly at it...