Just call us the Kevorkians

So I went through my drafts of past blog posts that were not published for one reason or another and I came across this gem. I had totally forgotten about this instance and don't remember why I didn't put it on my blog to begin with. Probably because I was a little embarrassed, but it seems over the years I have lost any kind of self pride. 
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This past weekend was a bit traumatic for me.

Background information—

About six months ago Pat and I purchase some goldfish. Not the normal looking ones; we wanted really weird looking ones with bulging eyes and huge stomachs. But I guess these features comes at a price. A few months ago we noticed that our fish with the huge stomach was having a hard time swimming–frequently laying at the bottom of the tank upside down. We thought that he might be sick but waited it out.

As time went on his behavior got worse. He now could not control his direction when he did swim, and sat that the bottom of the tank upside down almost all the time, except when we fed him. His condition really concerned me because it is sad to watch a fish that can't swim–it goes against nature!! We went to the pet store and they gave us some drops to help the ammonia levels. That didn't work, so I did some research on the internet. I discovered that it is a common problem among these particular breeds of fish. From what I understand all fish have glands that helps them swim correctly. When this gland becomes over-inflated the fish floats upside down on the top of the tank. When this gland is under-inflated the fish lays at the bottom of the tank upside down. The internet offered some remedies (such as a pea diet-which we tried and didn't worked) and even said they have surgery for the problem but it is often fatal!

So a few weeks went by and his condition kept getting worse. It just killed me to see him sitting at the bottom of the tank and not being able to swim.

This weekend—

This past Friday I was again assessing our little fishes condition and saw that by laying on the bottom of the tank all the time he had rubbed away his top fin and had blisters all along his back!!!!! I WAS HORRIFIED!!!! I felt horrible for not being able to help him. What kind of life is this for a fish. I decided that I needed to take the matter in my own hands and end his life.

Pat and I discussed how to go about doing this in a way that the fish would not suffer:

Flush him? Is that humane? He might live and for how long? Where does he go to? No we couldn't do that. Apparently they can live for hours and even days suffering in sewage! Definitely not an option.

Freeze him? Do fish get cold? It didn't know and didn't want to risk him freezing to death. I wouldn't want to go that way, so I couldn't inflict this pain on our little guy.

Chop him? We read online that a method that some people use to kill their fish is by putting them down the garbage disposal. We don't have a garbage disposal, but even if we did I do not think we could bring ourselves to do this.

In doing research online I was disgusted by the methods people chose to use to put their fish "down." There had to be a more humane way.

I decided to call around to different vet clinics and ask if they euthanize gold fish. You can imagine their response. There was always confusion and me having to go into further depth of my situation. This then usually led to a suppressed laughter and on a few occasion out right mockery. How dare they! Here they are in a career that is supposed to care for animals and they openly laugh at me because I am trying to put down one of God's creatures in a humane way?! I was highly offended.

After calling around to a dozen or so vet clinics, I was surprised to find that none of them would euthanize a gold fish. I was heart broken. What was I supposed to do now? Let the poor fish suffer for God only knew how long? I couldn't do that.

You see, I have always been very understanding of those individuals that used Dr. Kevorkian to stop their suffering of their terminal illness. I am not scared of death, just the process of dying. I was determined to find a painless option is helping our little fishy go to the other side (animals most definitely go to heaven).

Once again I turned to the internet and finally found a solution--clove oil. Apparently clove oil in small doses can put a fish to sleep, and then an overdose of clove oil will put them to sleep permanently.

I set out to find clove oil, which was not an easy task, finally finding it at a local health food store. Once the oil was purchase, Pat and I had to man up and put the little guy down. And when I say Pat and I, I really mean, just Pat because I couldn't do it.

It happened just as the internet said it would. However, I was really freaked out that he would come back to life so I put 10 times the amount of clove oil in his water to just make sure he was really gone. And he was.

I know it seems crazy to go to these lengths for a little gold fish. But if crazy is defined by people who cannot stand the suffering of any living creature, then so be it! WE ARE CRAZY!

Smiths x 2 = Great Fun

A few weekends ago a few of our friends, Tommy & Amanda Smith and Nate & Ashley Smith (yes that is right Smiths all around) decided to embrace the Halloween/Fall spirit and go on a corn maze.

The night started out with dinner at a very special restaurant per my request--a little place I like to call...I-Hop. For some reason Fall reminds me of I-hop and yummy warm pumpkins pancakes. You just can't go wrong with I-Hop. I know. I know. I know. It is so sad that we live in New York City and have the most amazing restaurants at our finger tips and we chose to waste a meal on I-Hop. But there is just something about sitting in a booth, being a in large restaurant, being in a restaurant with space, inexpensive meals for a lot of food, and not having to worry about getting out of there so the people waiting can have your table. Needless to say, I had a great time and the evening was starting out picture perfect.

From there we drove to the corn maze in Queens to begin our journey through the Amazing Maze. We were all very surprised to find out that this was no ordinary maze where you simply meandered around hoping to find your way out eventually. This maze had a set of very complex clue system that still has me puzzled. However, we made it through and had a lot of fun doing it. Even though we found our way out of the maze before we had all the clues, we went back and made sure to complete our handout they gave us and I proud to say we found almost every single one of the clues.

Ashley making sure we don't get lost

A very natural pose

 

Nate and Ashley supposedly looking scared...

My all time favorite picture of Pat.

Pat and I are so lucky to have such great friends. It seems the cream of the crop (no pun intended) are here in New York City and I truly believe that the friends we have here will be our lifetime buddies. Thank you Smiths for making this such a fun night!

Sunny Sunday in Central Park

Living in the most populous city in the United States has its advantages and disadvantages. If you a person that likes quiet solitude on a sunny fall day, then New York city is not for you.

With the arrival of fall here in the city we have been lucky to have several days that have been gorgeous weather. Since these days are few and far between, when we do have one, everyone and their dog (literally) wants to be outside to enjoy it. Our desires were no different on this particular Sunday, so Pat and I took our bikes out to Central Park to go for a little ride.

The weather was most definitely enjoyable but the mass numbers of people were not. It was as if it we were having a modern Woodstock in every inch of the park. I know once we leave New York City I will miss the energy that comes with being around so many people, so I better just stop complaining and just embrace it.

The Millionair Magician

Us with the man himself, Steve Cohen, and his magic tea kettle

 A few weeks ago Pat and I were able to go to a Steve Cohen magic show. Steve Cohen is known as "The Millionaires' Magcian" probably because his show is so expensive that only millionaires can see him. And of course that is why we were able to go.

Since moving to New York I have heard things here and there about an amazing magician that has shows at the Waldorf Astoria. I heard he is so good that it is super hard to get tickets, and if you do have the opportunity to get a ticket be ready to pay a good price for it. 

So one day I saw a deal on tickets to his show and knew I had to pounce on it. The tickets were still a little steep for my liking so we called our good magician friend, Jake, to give us the real low down of this guy--We wanted to know if it would really be worth it and if it would be better than the Magic Castle where he took us to last year. 

Jake gave us a resounding "YES!" so we bought the tickets, and boy...we are SO glad we did. 

The day of the show we had to get all "dressed" up because magic shows are classy events. We headed to the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Before this I had never been inside this hotel and was shocked at how beautiful everything was. I am definitely adding this to my list of tourist attractions people must visit when they come to New York City.

When we were able to enter the room in which the show was going to be held, I was surprised to see that it was simply a large hotel room with about 50 or so chairs set up facing the front of the room. Once we were seated in the second row I started to read the program: 

"Before the days of radio and television, wealthy patrons would regularly invite entertainers into their home, to delight small gatherings of family and friends. In those sophisticated, friendly environs, the living room became the stage, and the audience looked gleefully on, mere inches from the show."

 

From the very first card trick our minds were blown. The show was full of wonder, amazement, bafflement, awe, and laughter. After the first couple of tricks I just had to shut off my brain and stop wondering how he was doing all his "tricks" and just enjoy it as pure magic. 

It was so fun because the crowd was small enough that almost everyone got to participate.

One of his magic tricks that still boggles my mind is called "Think-a-drink." This trick consisted of all the audience members writing their favorite drink down on a piece of paper. The papers where then all passed in and random cards were then selected. Mr. Cohen then had a tea kettle where he magically poured out several drinks that were written on the card, all from the same kettle one right after the other! Some were even complex alcoholic drinks with many different ingredients. I have no idea how this was done, but I do know the drinks were real because I was able to sample a shot....of blue Gatorade of course.

There was also another trick that I was selected from the audience to participate in: the "Mental Map." This is where Mr. Cohen told the audience to think of any city in the United States. Once I was selected I went up to the front of the room and wrote down on a piece of paper, without anyone seeing, the city I was thinking of--San Francisco. Steve Cohen then showed a large paper map and had me wave my hands all around the map for a few seconds making sure to wave my hand over the city of I was thinking of. I was very careful to not even look at the map but rather just look the magician straight in the eye knowing that I might give away my city by looking at it. Once I had passed over my city he took the map and kept ripping off portions of the map until he whittled his way down to the Bay Area. He then place a pin right in the city of San Francisco. How he read my mind, I will never know. 

There was one section where the magician read our minds. He had us write down our name and three unique things about us. Once again we passed the papers in and Mr. Cohen then proceeded to read everyone's mind telling us what we wrote on the cards and even telling us things we didn't write on the cards. Mr. Cohen knew Pat's name, our cat's name and Pat's hobby: Cryptozoology.

There were so many astounding magic tricks that blew our minds that it is hard to pick a favorite. However, one trick that sticks out in my mind the most was a trick where he took three rings from the audience. He then placed them in a champagne glass, spun them around, and magically in seconds they were all chained together. Each owner of the ring then examined the connection of the rings and made sure that it still was in fact their ring--and they all were! He then put them back in the glass, spun them around, and again, within seconds they were magically separated!

The hour and half show FLEW by and left us in total wonderment for the rest of the night. After talking it over on how he could possibly do anyone of his tricks, we finally came to the one and ONLY conclusion--Magic.

Please. Someone. Help me make this a reality.

Life has been really busy lately. It's been a long time since I have felt there isn't enough time in the day. Life is good but it could be so much better if Pat and I had jobs like these people in this video. Can someone please tell me how I make this video a reality in my own life?