DocHoff 70 Share Posted July 10 I never realized how close to Toronto I live, we were thinking about visiting this year, but I've spent too much money on aquariums this year; kinda ate into the vacation fund. I think I might have a little problem, lol. The wife took away the Petco credit card and the PetSmart discount card. I'll admit it; I went a little overboard. This was supposed to be a hobby for the kids; with a little six gallon nano tank. But it ended up as a 40 gallon, two 20s, two 10s, and one 15. And then, you discover fancier types of filters and some of them have UV lights and.... Jenn was right to take the cards away, lol. I got real obsessed real quick. So, the trip to Canada's been delayed for a tiny bit. Oh, and word to the wise: cherry shrimp are prolific breeders. I learned how to gender type them, so I got a male and female red cherry shrimp, and they ignored each other. So, I intended on two more reds. But when I got to the store, I discovered that cherry shrimp come in like every darn color of the rainbow. So, being a sucker, I bought a male and female of every color. Nothing happened at first. But after a month or so, I had so many freaking babies it's unreal. Granted, they're cute. They run all over everywhere, bounce off each other; I watched a few of them use the head of an adult as a launching pad. Of course, there's easy solutions for population control; I'm pretty sure my hogchokers would love a few shrimp in their tank, but I discovered that I have a hard time feeding live stuff to other stuff. I had bought a bag of bladder snails as a treat for my dwarf puffers. But after putting one snail in with those two murder beans, I couldn't do anymore. So, I have a six gallon just filled with bladder snails. So, now I had to postpone the Canada trip, and the wife won't let me go near pet stores. Petco's siren song is just too alluring for me to resist. "Doc! Doooccc! Come on inside, dude. You know you want some hillstream loaches! Get like three or four, a new 20 gallon. Maybe a bubble wall, some river rocks, a few moss pads. You know there's probably a sale on those anubias you like. What's one more 20 gal? Jenn won't mind. You could put it right by Jenn's loveseat; you know how she likes fish. You know what? Why don't you just come in?! You don't have to buy anything, you don't have the credit card anyway. Just come in, watch the bunnies hop around. If Brock's working today, you know he'll let you hold the chinchilla again. He let you feed the guinea pigs the last time. Just come on in." Darn Petco! And darn Brock, too, Mr. "hey, I was thinking. You bought some dwarf puffers in March, and if you liked those, you and the Mrs. would love South American puffers. These ones are a little bigger, a little more social than your dwarfs. Oh! Not much is in your 20gal; whatcha think about three or four of these wrestling halfbeaks? They're only ten bucks a pop; you know that you can't say no to these little surface-dwellers! The kids'll love em". Darn you, Brock! Jenn does like fish, as do the kids, but no one's really thrilled that the living room now looks like mini-Petco. 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 1 On 7/10/2024 at 2:40 PM, DocHoff said: I never realized how close to Toronto I live, we were thinking about visiting this year, but I've spent too much money on aquariums this year; kinda ate into the vacation fund. I think I might have a little problem, lol. The wife took away the Petco credit card and the PetSmart discount card. I'll admit it; I went a little overboard. This was supposed to be a hobby for the kids; with a little six gallon nano tank. But it ended up as a 40 gallon, two 20s, two 10s, and one 15. And then, you discover fancier types of filters and some of them have UV lights and.... Jenn was right to take the cards away, lol. I got real obsessed real quick. So, the trip to Canada's been delayed for a tiny bit. Oh, and word to the wise: cherry shrimp are prolific breeders. I learned how to gender type them, so I got a male and female red cherry shrimp, and they ignored each other. So, I intended on two more reds. But when I got to the store, I discovered that cherry shrimp come in like every darn color of the rainbow. So, being a sucker, I bought a male and female of every color. Nothing happened at first. But after a month or so, I had so many freaking babies it's unreal. Granted, they're cute. They run all over everywhere, bounce off each other; I watched a few of them use the head of an adult as a launching pad. Of course, there's easy solutions for population control; I'm pretty sure my hogchokers would love a few shrimp in their tank, but I discovered that I have a hard time feeding live stuff to other stuff. I had bought a bag of bladder snails as a treat for my dwarf puffers. But after putting one snail in with those two murder beans, I couldn't do anymore. So, I have a six gallon just filled with bladder snails. So, now I had to postpone the Canada trip, and the wife won't let me go near pet stores. Petco's siren song is just too alluring for me to resist. "Doc! Doooccc! Come on inside, dude. You know you want some hillstream loaches! Get like three or four, a new 20 gallon. Maybe a bubble wall, some river rocks, a few moss pads. You know there's probably a sale on those anubias you like. What's one more 20 gal? Jenn won't mind. You could put it right by Jenn's loveseat; you know how she likes fish. You know what? Why don't you just come in?! You don't have to buy anything, you don't have the credit card anyway. Just come in, watch the bunnies hop around. If Brock's working today, you know he'll let you hold the chinchilla again. He let you feed the guinea pigs the last time. Just come on in." Darn Petco! And darn Brock, too, Mr. "hey, I was thinking. You bought some dwarf puffers in March, and if you liked those, you and the Mrs. would love South American puffers. These ones are a little bigger, a little more social than your dwarfs. Oh! Not much is in your 20gal; whatcha think about three or four of these wrestling halfbeaks? They're only ten bucks a pop; you know that you can't say no to these little surface-dwellers! The kids'll love em". Darn you, Brock! Jenn does like fish, as do the kids, but no one's really thrilled that the living room now looks like mini-Petco. haaaaa... alas...the lost trip to Toronto...however... everyday those beautiful aquarium animals coming to life is a rewarding trade off... I think you came ahead sir! And... shrimp? I'd be always hungry looking at the aquarium... szechuan style! I also think that the dilemma of feeding some to another is a heavy road. But its a worthy journey... tech takes us so far from our natural beginnings...and understanding that we all *eat* each other is an important understanding... we're all connected, one way or one day to another!! gogo Link to comment
DocHoff 70 Share Posted August 1 Szechuan shrimp... idk. I love shrimp; cocktails, scampi, garlic shrimp, shrimp tacos. But these critters are nowhere near that size; they're like the size of the shrimp you get in the Maruchan instant lunches, those cups of dehydrated stuff. So, I think their tiny size helps in not looking at them like cooking ingredients. But I also think region plays a big key; what some of us see as pets, others see as dinner. As far as Toronto, I do think I came out ahead. The whole family loves aquariums. https://us.zonerama.com/Link/Album/1000176752 I tried to use Google pictures, but I'm having hiccups w that right now. The link's as good as I can get til my son comes home to looks at what I messed up. There's nothing real exotic on there right now; just some Kuhli, Corydora, halfbeaks, hogchokers; stuff like that Link to comment
DocHoff 70 Share Posted August 1 I'll tell ya what, pets are a touchy subject for some. Me; I like jokes. A lot of my pets look pretty tasty; I have a dwarf lobster that looks like it'd be a mouthful of heaven, with maybe like a garlic butter sauce. Others have said as such. But heaven help you if you mention that you've been to parts of the world where THEIR pets are considered a main staple/delicacy. Some folks....are tricky navigating, lol. Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 2 5 hours ago, DocHoff said: I'll tell ya what, pets are a touchy subject for some. Me; I like jokes. A lot of my pets look pretty tasty; I have a dwarf lobster that looks like it'd be a mouthful of heaven, with maybe like a garlic butter sauce. Others have said as such. But heaven help you if you mention that you've been to parts of the world where THEIR pets are considered a main staple/delicacy. Some folks....are tricky navigating, lol. povs on eating stuffs is so varied and can become quickly heated... im happy i never had any inclination to Star dinto a steak gogo Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 2 Aaaaah, what a wonderful evening! This last weeks been all about my mom with me trying to be a good listener, helper and not as annoying After six weeks off of work, she returned back for a small four hour shift at the seniors residence where she works and was feeling fine ... everyone ganged up to greet and welcome her back...she's 77 years old and still gets better greets than I did when I used to work at the office cuz shes got...personality... ,,, personality... and a big, big mommy's heart ... I'm flying back home tomorrow and feel like I'm already gonna miss her much... before going home, we stopped at our family's go-to Thai resto thats always packed, which led us to the bar (a first time for meek people like us ) where we ate beautiful curry, fried crab rice, aaaaaaaaaaaaand... gulped back big cocktails, I think they were mararita *hic* something.... Brave return for my mom The lady behind the bar's name was Paiil and she knew some customers that my mom knew as residents of her home! as a result, she brought the manager over, and we all became friends. We're anxious to go back, you go the first time for the food, and return for the service gogo Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Share Posted August 5 Was told that I have the good 'Heilfleisch' of a 20 years old. Heilfleisch is the ability of the body to recover from wounds. All healed with nearly no scars. Wonder if there is a word for it in English. Heil is for healing, Fleisch is flesh/meat And oh wonder they asked me if I would spend some blood. The curse of a universal blood group with even no antibodies to other factors in blood hungry summertime. 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 6 That would be lovely to hear on any day! I’m not sure what the exact translation would be … godly? 🤗… I’m sure those traits would have passed onto the kids as welll.. no wonder they wanted to buy yiur blood 🩸 🥰 gogo Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 19 Only got to see Ammamma last Thursday so today was a catch up day... tried to pick up some chicken fried rice from the South East Resto down the street but it was closed.. opted to cross the street to the South Asian Indian place called Royal Paan (Paan in Tamil means bread ) which was PURE vegetarian...and had them fry up a bowl for our darling 99 year old Matriarch... check out her surprised smile... My Ammamma and I are twinz, we both love new foods, and this just smelled and *felt* delcious..yah it was still hot, check out that face! Link to comment
Timotheus 430 Author Share Posted August 19 On 7/10/2024 at 11:01 AM, gogoblender said: Timooooo!!! Just happy to hear that you're heading down to Toronto! Do you have relatives there, or an event you're going to? I've been to TO (as they call it :P) just a few times when I was a kid, and we have quite a number of relatives there, but time seems to be more and more fleet of foot these days, and getting down to the states to visit Momma has taken more of my time Dang, and missing Montreal...you guys are gonna miss out what could have been the start of the show ... Poutine! I hear ya about your kiddo, changed responsibilities, always on the look out, plus...diapers... diapers change everything dont they? Does your kid *travel* well? gogo No relatives, no nothing. We just really liked Canada the first time we went there (Vancouver & Rockies). It was a last minute decision to be honest, we've never booked a holiday this late. Lotta pre-travel stress, but everything went as smooth as we could hope for and Mick did great. We were unsure how the would do on a long flight but it went really well. It's been a few weeks now but time flies and I haven't really been in the mood for forums these past few weeks... 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 19 3 hours ago, Timotheus said: No relatives, no nothing. We just really liked Canada the first time we went there (Vancouver & Rockies). It was a last minute decision to be honest, we've never booked a holiday this late. Lotta pre-travel stress, but everything went as smooth as we could hope for and Mick did great. We were unsure how the would do on a long flight but it went really well. Happy to see the fam back … I was thinking about you guys as we came back from the states and hoping that you had fared well and made it back to your beautiful country… Get those bicycles and gear work calls Timo! 3 hours ago, Timotheus said: It's been a few weeks now but time flies and I haven't really been in the mood for forums these past few weeks... Whaaaaaa… how dare thee!! I’m booking a flight down to the Netherlands and going to become your go-go goblin for the next week 😳🤭🥳🥳 gogo Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 24 Yeeowch from yesterday... Root Canal ...par Doox ...aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee gogo Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Share Posted August 29 Perhaps you know thati live a bit away from civilisation Our heating is done by making gas from surrounding wood. This gas is then burned in a combined heat and power plant. Now with electro cars already or planed in the family the system had to be rethought, What to do with the heat if you have to charge a car in hot 35c summer time? What to do with the power if you need massive heating at -30C in winter? I had some small power and heat buffers already. Now I work on a heat storage system which stores all the excess summer heat in below ground crystals. 4 Cubic metres of batteries for the power. adds to costs: 30000€ Energy would be around 7000@/year currently. Lifetime of system is guaranteed for 12 years. 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 29 4 hours ago, chattius said: Perhaps you know thati live a bit away from civilisation Our heating is done by making gas from surrounding wood. This gas is then burned in a combined heat and power plant. Now with electro cars already or planed in the family the system had to be rethought, What to do with the heat if you have to charge a car in hot 35c summer time? What to do with the power if you need massive heating at -30C in winter? I had some small power and heat buffers already. Now I work on a heat storage system which stores all the excess summer heat in below ground crystals. 4 Cubic metres of batteries for the power. adds to costs: 30000€ Energy would be around 7000@/year currently. Lifetime of system is guaranteed for 12 years. I sometimes forget how astonishingly enormous your managed logistics are for your home :eek : .. costs and timing must be always something to think of...makes me think of that wonderful British series that I fell in love with once that I digested at high speed when I was sick ... I couldn't believe I was watching it, but I found that because they brought the focus to real affairs that had to be calculated I was instantly drawn in...plus the fabulous characters Those crystals you are talking about underground fascinate me Is that how you refer to the batteries? gogo Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Share Posted August 29 You know these pocketwarmer pads? pressing a metal piece in them they crystallize and give away heat. In the microwave they become liquid again. The heat storage uses a similiar princip. For power storage battery blocks are used. If I would compare my family to a TV series .... The Waltons They aired when I was a young boy and there were only 1 (one and BW) TV for up to 20 people and 3 (three) programs broadcasted. We lived at the farm of my grandparents then. At weekend all the cousins were at the place too for help. And this series was something everyone could live with. 1 Link to comment
Hooyaah 3,021 Share Posted August 29 On 6/21/2024 at 1:45 PM, Vishanka said: Hello, reporting back. My left arm isn't doing too well, it's pretty weak and I begin to assume I might have some other condition in it, tendinitis or something, hardly can use the whole arm, it's definitely sore. The medication I take has been quite harsh but so far my other muscles have not went worse, I really was scared to get fully paralyzed. The doctors assumed GBS which totally can paralyze you, many things I got fit to that but they have have not been able to prove it with a spinal tap. The upside is that GBS usually cures itself, even if you end up completely paralyzed for a while. Usually the weakness reaches its peak around week 4 and I'm at week 3. If my left arm has an additional different problem it would be very soothing as I'm doing otherwise alright, I can do short walks, I can sit for longer periods of time. The other muscles have not declined further I'd say. I'm not working currently and don't know whether I can return to work because I'm driving a lot and because of the weakness I can't drive safely. Unfortunately I also have trouble writing or gaming with my left hand doing quite badly, but nevertheless I'm cautiously hopeful that I actually might recover. Sorry for dumping my health report. @Vishanka I have been wondering how you are doing, Vishanha; here's hoping that you are well now. We here at DarkMatters (such as Rommel and I) view our fellow members as friends and hope the best for each and every one. A good report from you would be wonderful; we care about you and hope only the best things for you. 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 30 21 hours ago, chattius said: You know these pocketwarmer pads? pressing a metal piece in them they crystallize and give away heat. In the microwave they become liquid again. The heat storage uses a similiar princip. For power storage battery blocks are used. If I would compare my family to a TV series .... The Waltons They aired when I was a young boy and there were only 1 (one and BW) TV for up to 20 people and 3 (three) programs broadcasted. We lived at the farm of my grandparents then. At weekend all the cousins were at the place too for help. And this series was something everyone could live with. Thanks for the explain Chattius... ahhh, Waltons... dramatic theme and adventures on Waltons Mountain ... your description of your cousins reminds me of my grow-up at my parents place with tons of uncles, aunts and cousins always over and with, somehow, my dad giving them the *opportunity* to work at our place, on our fence, drive way, lawn, garden, anything ... People love purpose gogo Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted August 30 12 hours ago, Hooyaah said: @Vishanka I have been wondering how you are doing, Vishanha; here's hoping that you are well now. We here at DarkMatters (such as Rommel and I) view our fellow members as friends and hope the best for each and every one. A good report from you would be wonderful; we care about you and hope only the best things for you. Here with the power call out Vishanka... Steves voice allied to mine... good vibes sent and hoping you're keeping well ! gogo 1 Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Popular Post Share Posted September 10 Birds Invasion Returning from work half the village was at our house. They said the sky was covered with them and they wanted to look. Too bad that all was over when I arrived. What happened: Granddaughter wanted to help with garden work. She filled the fertilzer spreader with the small pellets and started. What she didn't knew: she took them from the wrong barrel. The barrel she used was filled with high protein(high price) pellets as bird food I bought for winter. All the food spreaded on a small gras piece. And the very similiar looking gras fertilzer with lot of iron to fight moss 3 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted October 9 On 9/10/2024 at 3:20 AM, chattius said: Birds Invasion Returning from work half the village was at our house. They said the sky was covered with them and they wanted to look. Too bad that all was over when I arrived. What happened: Granddaughter wanted to help with garden work. She filled the fertilzer spreader with the small pellets and started. What she didn't knew: she took them from the wrong barrel. The barrel she used was filled with high protein(high price) pellets as bird food I bought for winter. All the food spreaded on a small gras piece. And the very similiar looking gras fertilzer with lot of iron to fight moss awww c,mon Chattius.. .dont everyone deserve a lovely 3 star Michelin meal once in a while gogo ps Foods expensive, even when you're being generous like that to your lovely animal friends.. still, you put a smiley on all those birds faces that day Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Popular Post Share Posted October 13 I was so angry that I was singing in the public... A former firefighter died aged 101 in a senior home at the district capitol where his daughter lived. I drove to the burial and: no chorus, no music, ... Seems he wasn't in the records any longer. No one from town was there and this to a person who got the live saving medal three times. Actually I was the youngest and only still active firefighter there. Paid town firefighters were created after he had retired. And he wasn't in their records too, no honor guard... I spoke to the pastor and he said that he would wait till I would return with a guitar from the twins from my van. Not many songs I can play good enough on guitar. The firefighter last farewell and the german burial version of cohen's Hallejulah. 'In deep sadness we are standing here and are thankful for the times with you. We want to accompany you on your last way. And even if we feel great pain- the memories cure our heart. And the lord is our comforter, hallejulah,...' I even wrote an article about him for the newspaper, he deserved it. 2 1 Link to comment
SLD 496 Share Posted October 13 2 hours ago, chattius said: I was so angry that I was singing in the public... 3 hours ago, chattius said: I even wrote an article about him for the newspaper, he deserved it. Thank you, chattius! 1 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,293 Share Posted October 14 On 10/13/2024 at 5:28 AM, chattius said: I was so angry that I was singing in the public... A former firefighter died aged 101 in a senior home at the district capitol where his daughter lived. I drove to the burial and: no chorus, no music, ... Seems he wasn't in the records any longer. No one from town was there and this to a person who got the live saving medal three times. Actually I was the youngest and only still active firefighter there. Paid town firefighters were created after he had retired. And he wasn't in their records too, no honor guard... I spoke to the pastor and he said that he would wait till I would return with a guitar from the twins from my van. Not many songs I can play good enough on guitar. The firefighter last farewell and the german burial version of cohen's Hallejulah. 'In deep sadness we are standing here and are thankful for the times with you. We want to accompany you on your last way. And even if we feel great pain- the memories cure our heart. And the lord is our comforter, hallejulah,...' I even wrote an article about him for the newspaper, he deserved it. I wish to honor you for the respect you paid. This is the best, only way for us all to move forward, with everyone who has meant something coming forward with us. Thanks for this epic share old friend 23 hours ago, SLD said: Thank you, chattius! Will echo this thankful acknowledgement, and if my voice anywhere reaches Chattius' level of skill, I'll try and add to his googo 1 Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Share Posted October 15 Proved that it was the town's new database: two digit numbers for birthyear. At least they know now that their are some people older than 100. And: their is a reason that I play tuba. Our third could work as a professional one person event (or burial) musician. The other kids have nice voices too. I had a beautiful voice as a boy, before virus disease and Stimmbruch (voice breaking) hit. But if I oiled my voice enough (means drunk enough) I can perform a parody of Wandrin' Star. I even wear a hat and have a beard... But thankfully you can sing some songs even my voice. And the rough voice even fitted to the anger I felt. 1 Link to comment
chattius 2,642 Share Posted October 21 Autumn breaks. There was a week with travelling funfair/carneval, street concerts and shops opened on suday in my birthtown Wetzlar. So the twins spend the weekend at my brother who lives in my birthhouse. And then early sunday morning a call: a bomb exploded in a luckily empty restaurant. Luckily on the street to railway station and not where my brother lives in the historical part of the town. It is not clear yet if terrorist or family clan fight between rivaling restaurants is the reason. I I Was with our firefighters ata neighbout town. House burned down, I dead, 3 injured. Terrible weekend... 1 Link to comment
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