Seth and I broke down and got a pet. I have had a lot of pets in my life. But this time I got a robotic pet.
Growing up there were lots of animals in my life. I think my mother fancies herself somewhat of an animal whisperer. There was always at least a dog in my life, and occasionally other smaller managable animals. When my dad started his job in Florida he was traveling at least one week out of every month. To punish my father she would purchase pets. We had every pet you could think of: albino Argentinean bullfrog, hamsters, tarantula, several rabbits (mine was eaten by a dog, a tragedy I still have yet to recover from), outdoor cats, and lots of iguannas (which may have escaped and for all I know have taken over the Florida wilderness). I don't remember what happened to all of these pets but they were always around.
The difference between my pets then and my parent's pets now is that they were small and generally caged (although there was a time when my mother hid a family of rabbits in my sister's closet for two weeks so my dad could get used to the idea before she let him know that she already had purchased a rodent family). After I moved out for college my parents decided to upgrade on the animals. The family pet for 15 years was a Lhasa Apso named Xao Bai (pronounced Schowe By). She was a good pet but when she died the Border Collies came. Border Collies are working dogs. They are black and white medium to large dogs. They are best used for herding sheep or cattle or anything that requires fetching or runing. They have a lot of energy.
My parents live in on a 1/4 acre city home in Salt Lake. Not exactly dog heaven. They started off with one Border Collie but when it was not destined to be a pageant dog they expanded to two. Apparently pageant dog had a litter of five puppies and they are now the proud owner of THREE border collies (not to mention the rest of the puppies that are temporarily there until they find a home). I found as I got older that the home of my childhood, the home with a small non-shedding dog and a caged creature was no more. It was the dog house and humans were welcome. Every time I would visit it would be one dog or another's time for shedding (apparently dogs have shedding cycles and unlike a woman's cycle they never seem to do it at the same time). I would go home and the fur would leave with me. I found fur in my things for weeks afterwards.
This was a horrifying situation for my mother because she loves her dogs and was terribly embarrassed at the truth of the situation...There was just too much fur. To combat this situation they ended up purchasing a Roomba. Although the roomba is not a substitute for a real vacuum cleaner, it immediately made a difference. All the siblings have noted the less furry situation of my parents home. I was a skeptic but had secret dreams of someday owning my own pet. Seth will not allow animals in the house so I bough a roomba myself. It is AMAZING. This thing picks up everything! Mostly my hair and carpet fibers but it is so nice to come home to a clean floor. I feel like I have my own maid.
We decided to name our little electronic pet. This was a tough one. He started off as Roombi but that didn't seem original enough from its birth name. Then he became Sucky McGee, but it didn't roll easily enough. Now he is Sir Suckington. He is of a noble heritage
Sir Suckington is amazing. He goes about my house bumping into the walls and cleaning everything as he goes. He is like a drunken super robot. My house has never been cleaner. The floors are immagulate. You can walk on after a hot day and take your socks off, your feet will not pick up a thing. The floor is spotless. Not only that, the thing cleans under my bed. It is amazing.
Sir Suckington is the opposite of my parents' border collies. Instead of leaving fur everwhere it walks, it cleans it up. It really is the best pet ever.
Time. It moves us, controls us. It ticks on, inexorably down to the end. Much like the beeps that vex Jack Bauer in '24'. Time, my friends, is inevitable. But boring watches do not have to be. I was tired of the old spinning dial, so I went searching for a new timepiece. Luckily, I did not have to resort to sundials, and I found the wonder of crazy Japanese watches.
