Excuse Me, Can I get a Life?

It’s a lament most of us have heard many times, and we’ve probably even said it in one form or another. It usually comes out as a joke, but often, deep down inside, there is a bit of truth to the joke. That joke goes, "I have no life."

Paul D. Aames has often times become frustrated with his "life," or lack thereof. "It seems that all I do is go to work and go home," Paul says. "I have work meetings, I travel with my work and I work long hours. All of this leaves me frustrated sometimes." Paul feels just like the old maxim says, I have no life!" But Paul did have the XCam2 and ActiveHome kit available, and that was about to give him the life he was looking for.

Being single is also a bit of a problem for Paul. "I work too much, and who has time for dating." As far as pets go, work gets in the way of that too. Paul did find one pet that he could have, even with his time crunch. He did some research, and discovered that he could have fish and take care of them, even while he was away thanks to automatic feeders. So Paul went out and bought himself three Red and White Crown Pearlscale Goldfish.

"They’re easy to take care of" Paul says, "and they’re just simply adorable." The outstanding characteristic of this breed of goldfish is that the scales of the fish develop into ’bumps’, which make it appear as if it has rows and rows of pearls glued to its scales. They were perfect for Paul.

One day while pining his meager existence in front of the fish tank, Paul had an idea. He hooked up his XCam2 in front of the fish tank. Then he hooked up a lamp to an ActiveHome Lamp Module, and he installed XRay Vision on his computer. From there, he could go into his house from wherever he was in the country, even at work, and watch the fish... "They just swim back and forth, back and forth, up and down, back and forth" Paul said, "and occasionally they’ll surface to taste the water above them."

It has been very therapeutic for Paul. He loves to watch them when he’s home. He loves the way they all swim to the surface when he gets near the tank. "They know there’s food coming," he says. "All three of them crowd around in one little corner right where I stand looking down. They look up at me and make that funny fish face waiting for me to drop the food to them."

He’s found that it’s kept him grounded, and reminds him that life is more than just work. "I’ve decided that I work too hard," Paul says, "so I’ve found the time to go play and to socialize." It’s kept him entertained as well, since they’re very graceful as they swim back and forth in the water. "It really looks like pearls swimming."

So now Paul has a life. "It’s a work in progress" as Paul puts it, but it’s definitely better than what he had gotten used to. Thanks to a few fish, an XCam2, and XRay Vision, Paul can now make the statement that ’he has no life’ more of a joke, than a lament.

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