Fish for Thought

I didn’t think that anyone actually cared to see my fish so I haven’t posted in forever again. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my mother-in-law would like to see some current shots. So…

…you can read about these two tanks from an older post. Not much has changed in them other than a couple of fish have disappeared and plants are growing.

The 75-gallon has experienced some large changes. The refugium in the tank on the bottom has crushed coral on the bottom and has a large ball of chaeto that is spun by two powerheads. The return pump is on the right with a protein skimmer. The top has also gained some inhabitants. There are two clown fish, one yellow tang, one engineer goby and a blue damsel.

…I’ve taken a few pictures much closer. This one is a chili coral during the day; he’s very boring and just gently gathers dust and debris that falls on him.

I was concerned about his health and started to monitor him more closely. After gently squirting some water and phytoplankton over him, he sprang to life. The only problem is that it happens overnight. You can see a large difference in attitude at night.

…my apologies for the bluish tint. I use a mixed lighting fixture that has two actinic bulbs and they cast light in a wavelength that is beneficial to the corals but is also blue in color. Once the white lights come on most of the nocturnal corals head to bed and the day corals will spring up. Which leads me to the open brain coral, here he is when first waking up:

…and over the course of the day he gradually fills with water and expands to feed.

Here are some button polyps that also wake during the day.

The xenia coral is very soothing to look at. They gently wave and flex with the water currents as they filter the water for food. They’ll retract their fingers into a small fist when threatened though.

This carnation tree coral looks like cheese puffs before they open and spread out.

I had purchased a variety of shrimp, crabs and other cleaning crew associates like snails and I also bought a starfish. I hadn’t seen the starfish in a long time and while cleaning tonight I found a small surprise. Can you find the starfish?

It’s amazing how the little things matter. I’ve started taking the larger items outside to dry instead of running them through the dryer. I started with towels and sheets and I’ve gradually added a few other heavy items. The time needed to dry a load is greatly reduced and I’m sure I’m impacting my electricity bill as well. I could go eco-hardcore and hang up everything; but, I’m too lazy to pin every pair of socks and such. Mom, why didn’t you tell me how efficient this was. I know you must’ve hung laundry for a reason; but, I never bothered to understand or listen–if you did tell me.

The kids have enrolled in a summer reading program at the library today. I remember participating in these when I was a kid and my dad always looking at my books and scoffing. I feel the same at times. Why are they reading books for entertainment when they could be reading books to grow and mature. I’ve a fine line to walk here.

On a side note, I enjoy staying home. I like tidying things up and taking the kids out. I wonder if Wal-Mart would notice if I sent Shannon to replace me at work? Eric stopped by yesterday to pick some stuff up and socialize. We spent a bit of timing planning looking at the shrubs that I’m to rip out on Thursday. He was amazed by how much I’ve tinkered with my various tanks. He has a Betta in a jar. When you start talking CO2 injection, float valves and refugiums and such his eyes are starting to twinkle. I may’ve just lit a fuse–his wife won’t be happy.

I can see the frustrations that sometimes hit Shannon. Part of my vacation routine is to wake up early and to prepare myself for the day. After that, I putter for a few and then start breakfast. I decided to make omelets–though I haven’t made an omelet in forever. I figured I’d do something easy and cut up some bacon and cheese. The omelet turned out well. I divvied up the kids serving and placed the extra cheese and some grapes as sides. Brianna was fine, Wesley is fine and Ellie is suspicious:

“Daddy, what’s this stuff in my omelet?”

“That’s a bacon and cheese omelet.”

“I don’t like this omelet”

“Would you like to try mine?” I ask as she nods. “Close your eyes and take a bite.” She bites into it and chews. “Would you like to trade?” She just nods her head. “Ellie, Daddy’s omelet is the same as yours. It’s a bacon and cheese omelet. See?”

“Okay, I like mine better, it’s bigger.”

…sheesh.

Shannon arrived safely in Canada and is off visiting family. The kids have taken it different ways. Brianna cried pretty hard as we were driving away from the airport and has been oblivious since. Wesley has basically shrugged and hasn’t said anything. Ellie has said a few times that she “misses her mommy“. I can’t quite capture the whiny tone with italics; but, I’m sure you can imagine it.

I’ve made it a goal to establish a bit of a routine during my two weeks off with the three oldest. I created a basic schedule and the kids seem to enjoy it so far. Every five or six seconds they come barreling down the stairs asking for what’s next. If we can stay true to it this could be a good thing. I posted the text file up on one of the monitors and Ellie has already tried to read it to see where we are. They’ve even been good when the schedule says to wash their hands and face. I was expecting the normal revolt when it came to cleaning their room; but, they chugged right into it. Wesley, the wise one, did ask me where the fun was on the schedule though.

I’m gathering my items to make Hamburger Helper for dinner and Wesley comes to the counter with the same tone that Ellie had earlier. “Mommy said we’d have Daddy Noodles everyday.” Sheesh, this is why I get the reputation of not feeding my kids. Back goes the hamburger and out comes the ramen noodles. I can whip up a mean batch of noodles and goldfish crackers. Hopefully I never have to cater for any company or they may be disappointed–kids loved it though.

Boy have things changed in the last three months. I haven’t updated this blog in forever.

My original tank, the one in the lower left, from Nikki is now the home of three Mystery Snails, two Oto’s and our Betta. The tank above it is empty and is to be used as a quarantine tank for any newcomers. It’s the 10-gallon that I’ve mentioned before. The big tank on the right is the 55-gallon tank and it holds the zebras, platies, neon tetras, a bala shark, otos, a clown loach and many plants. You can’t see the other perk to the 55-gallon as it’s stashed underneath; but, I now inject CO2 into the tank via a CO2 cylinder instead of the home-brew yeast version. I hated replacing the yeast concoction and I never did it in a timely manner to keep production up. I know I’m not using much as I’ve had this baby pumping CO2 at 1 bubble per second for the last month and the pressure inside the tank hasn’t moved.

Now, the really big news in my fish world, I now have a saltwater tank:

This is a thing of beauty. I purchased the tank, stand and much equipment from Larry. Much of the equipment is stuff I don’t recognize. So, with a lot of trial and error and dash of creativity I’ve created this beauty. It’s a 75-gallon tank with live rock and sand. I’ve planted some Caulerpa in the top as well; but that was only due to a mistake. I had thought that I was buying another type of macroalgae to go in the refugium and I was wrong. I do have a filter running in the top with some floss to extract debris, it has some bio-wheels in it; but, no carbon or other chemicals. The tank is drilled to the sump below and the return valve and two powerheads provide circulation on the top.

The bottom section hosts a sump made up of the 30-gallon tank. I’ve added an acrylic divider to allow the left side to be a refugium and the right holds the heater, protein skimmer, trickle filter and a pump to return water to the tank. I added a float valve to top off the evaporation. It’s gravity-fed from a 5-gallon bucket of RO/Kalkwasser water on a bookshelf beside the tank. All the lights are on timers and simulate the day/night cycle. I need to rig up a way to cover the front to prevent prying fingers from playing in the water; but, right now, I slide a piece of thin plywood across the front.

Work has continued to go nicely and I’ll be enjoying the first consecutive, two-week vacation since starting at Wal-Mart. I’ve had weeks off together before but it was always during paternity leave to care for the family and Shannon. Shannon is taking off to Canada with Bradley and will be gone for twelve days. That’ll leave me with the three oldest and some grand plans with the house.

I’ve recently rearranged my computer area too. I purchased an adapter for my old 21″ monitor so I now have two 21’s side-by-side again. The third 21 didn’t make it through the fire and I’m using a 17″ on top to host my widgets and such. I’ve also reconnected my KVM switch too to allow me to tinker on other computers again. I’ve also wanted to learn a bit more about Linux and I’ve started playing around with VirtualBox a bit more seriously. I’ve had guest installations of Windows XP/98/95/DOS to test my software on and it’s been solid. I installed Ubuntu as a guest and I’m surprised at the progress in the OS since I first tried it many years ago.

I gained three fish tanks from Michelle and friends. She hooked us up with a 5, 10 and 30 gallon tank. There’s plenty of working equipment with them as well. I’ve tested the two smaller tanks and they’re leak proof and ready to be filled. Now, I just need to rearrange the room to accommodate three more tanks!

Here’s a current shot of the first tank we started with, the 20-gallon. We have seven neon tetras, two otos and two red-wag platies. We picked up another tetra from a party at Nikki’s house. He quickly acclimated himself to our tank and I’ve no idea which is which now.

Here’s a very poor shot of the 10-gallon tank and our Betta. I’ll have to take a better shot next time. I’ve an air pump in this tank that is dialed down to release a very slow trickle of air as Betta’s don’t normally like high water movement. The cannon will blast it’s air bubbles about every 5-7 minutes which frustrates the kids sometimes. They keep waiting and telling me that they think it’s broken since it’s not shooting. A watched pot never boils.

Our larger tank has experienced an algae explosion. I need to cut back on the tank’s light and nutrients so I can start to starve the algae. I’m also going to need to do more frequent water changes outside of once a month so I can contain the growth. I kind of like the green algae on the castle as it looks like ivy; but, I’m not too fond of the brown that grows on the front.

Here’s some random links that have amused me lately: words Shakespeare invented, a simple online golf game that’s pretty mind-numbing, history’s greatest gadgets, old-time Hollywood scandals, cheap stabilizer for your digital camera, dresses that reminded of Marissa’s duct-tape dress, pictures of art created from one-sheet of paper, open source alternatives to common computer software, retrospective words of wisdom, cool things that link to Google Maps .

I’m also pretty pumped about a new library that will be opening in south OKC in the future. It’ll be a bit further than the Moore library; but, I’m sure the newness and novelty of the library will make it worth it. I guess the Norman branch will be getting new facilities too. Sometimes I feel like an old fuddy-duddy. I remember being a little tyke and my parents taking us to the Norman library. There’s a nice park on the opposite side of the library with a wading pool (which has since became a splash park), an outdoor theater and large grassy areas. I remember visiting Jazz in June a few times in that park as well. Fast forward to today and like a crotchety old man I say if it was good enough for me than why change it?

I’ve been very lazy lately. I’ve been very busy at work lately and I haven’t posted here about anything. I might get another tank soon. Shannon’s good friend Michelle has a 30-gallon tank that they’re not using and I might be on the receiving end of that soon. Once I thought I had MTS but it’s no fault of my own since all of Shannon’s friends keep hooking me up.

My training partner in OKC went on paternity leave a few weeks ago which left me to graduate two training classes, facilitate Food/GM School and then start two more training classes. It was entirely possible; but, I worked a few extra hours and had to buckle down my organizational skills.

I’ve continued to play WoW on the server and it’s quite a bit of fun. I wouldn’t mind seeing an occasional friend on there but no one has expressed interest. Here’s another fish that I caught recently:

…I’ve also decided that I’m going to own the downstairs area. First I’ll put fish tanks everywhere so clutter can’t pile up. Then I’m going to organize the remainder of the room so I have a sense of peace within the house.

Well OU lost the Fiesta Bowl again this year. I received a text from a Wal-Mart Store Manager that I know that said, “What does marijuana and Bob Stoops have in common? They both get smoked in a bowl.” Horrible. I talk enough smack to other people about their lackluster play that I deserve it when my teams get beat.

I am excited that the NBA’s SuperSonics may get moved from Seattle to OKC. I’d much rather have the Hornets move to OKC as they’re a team on the rise, winning record and stable offices. But, beggars can’t be choosers.

A couple of years ago OKC hosted the New Orleans Hornets after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana. My good friend Tim had purchased season tickets for both of the years that they were here. He’d attend some games and resell the tickets whenever the Hornets played a popular team and by midseason he made enough money to repay his investment in the tickets. After that, he’d pick and choose whatever games he’d go to. Whenever our work scheduled allowed I’d attend some of the games with Tim. We did that for two years and it was quite a bit of fun.

The mayor, Mick Cornett, has been aggressive about pursuing an NBA franchise to come to OKC and I’m sure it’ll eventually happen. He’s also spearheading a drive for OKC to lose weight, called OKC Million. I’ve joined the cause and I hope to lose forty pounds by the end of the year.

Ran some errands with the three eldest yesterday. First visit was to the urologist. Shannon and I had decided that four kids were fulfilling for our family and decided against having more. A vasectomy for me is safer than a tubal ligation for her. So earlier this year, I took some vacation and took care of it. You’re supposed to visit with a sample two times after the surgery so they can test for potency. This was our second visit and it’s a little awkward to walk around with a little container of something intimate and hand it to a nurse across a packed waiting room.

We also stopped by Petco on the way home. I’ve never been to one; but, I’ve heard pleasant things about them.

…the fish department had more accessories and supplies than Petsmart but it appears the fish tanks aren’t fully stocked since I have more fish than they do. You can see from my crummy video that Brianna loves the birds.

Today, I logged into the library’s web site to check out what kind of electrical books they had when I noticed I had another block on my account. Looks like they didn’t check all my books in again. While the kids were playing I talked to the Information Desk Clerk and explained the situation. She, very politely and tiredly, told me to check around the house and maybe look wherever I keep my magazines and I’d probably find the book and that it’s only human nature that allows us to forget where we leave things. I agreed with her that it was human nature to forget some things and that maybe someone forgot to check in my book–she disagreed. She changed her mind though when I showed her the book that I pulled from the shelf. She waived the fees for the book and also waived the fees from the last book too. Very kind of her.

I’m a seasonal drinker. I drink eggnog from Halloween through Christmas and try to freeze some for consumption during the year. I drink iced tea throughout the entire year and I prefer it a little different, evidently it’s called half-and-half. I drink coffee and hot cocoa quite a bit during the fall and winter months. I don’t think my coffee maker has been cleaned since my mother-in-law stayed with us; so, I finally percolated some vinegar to clean the innards of the coffee maker. Hot vinegar sure does stink and it brings back memories.

Whenever I feel a strong emotion or a moment that I want to remember I try to bottle it up so I can savor it again in the future. I try to notice the smells, sights and surrounding using all of my senses. Smell has been linked to memories and hot vinegar reminded me of my mom cleaning the coffee pot.

I’ve been curious why my UPS’s in the office always say that there’s a wiring fault. I’ve also been curious if I could rewire the overhead fan to have separate switches for the fan and light. I did some reading online about residential wiring and jumped in. It’s been quite the experience and I had some intense moments. It’s supposed to be safe to use a multimeter to test the socket; but, I don’t feel comfortable sticking anything into a socket. This would be one of the moments that I stopped and looked around and tried to bottle the moment. Things tested fine; but, after all my diagnostics it appears that I have an open ground downstairs that I’ll track down eventually. I’m also gradually sketching out what breakers affect what part of the house. My little tool helps; but, it’s not totally specific.

Got a chance to see my Aunt Lauren today. I’ve haven’t seen her in about five years and she still looks fit and trim. Didn’t get a chance to meet her husband though. I also had the chance to see Leila, Ethan, Crystal, Shirin, Ariana and my parents.

These last two weeks have been nice. I’ve been slow to move in getting projects done; but, some of them got accomplished. One of the perks to not being sick often is that I have a nice nest egg of sick and personal hours to pay for sitting around. Even after two weeks, I’ve still got a nice nest egg left–didn’t even have to touch my vacation either. On a totally unrelated note, here’s a cool video of some folks playing Sweet Child o’Mine on sitars…I love it:

I volunteered to take the kids and Char to see Toby Keith’s house. Shannon decided to make it a complete family trip and we loaded up the van. Poor Char was sandwiched in the way-back seat between Brianna and Ellie. The van is supposed to hold seven; but, I don’t think Dodge meant three adults, two baby seats and two boosters when they were counting

The house is nice and the pond has some beautifully landscaped property around it. If I save up my $50 a month spending money in an account with 10% yearly compounding interest I can build a million-dollar mansion at the end of 2061. Sweet.

I need to install a storm door for our living room.

…my brother and sisters used to do the same thing when I was growing up. They’d watch the world outside the storm door and it was the cheapest TV you could find. Brianna is standing up on the tip of her toes trying to see outside. She’s perched on a nice solid hope chest that Shannon’s brother Mike built long ago.

I had scheduled a water change on the 10 and 55-gallon tanks today. The 55-gallon is self-sufficient and didn’t need a change as the chemicals are stable at zero. I did trim some plants, move some others and scraped the walls for algae though. I just wish the 10-gallon tank would stabilize.

Man, I wish I was a kid again. I took the trio on errands today. We stopped by Wal-Mart to gas up since I have a gift card with $2.96 on it that I needed to spend. I’ve been carrying this stupid gift card for some time and it’s extra weight in my wallet that I don’t need…it’s just not efficient. I wouldn’t throw three dollars away so I wouldn’t just toss the gift card; but, I never remember to use it when I’m at Wal-Mart. Even with the 3¢ off per gallon it was stinking expensive.

I gassed up the van and then had to dust my jacket. I leaned against the van, playing with the kids, while it was filling up and the stupid van covered me in debris. I was covered in a mix of dirt, dust, salt and whatever else has been dumped on it since summer. To the car wash!

The kids love the car wash. I splurged and bought an $8 trip through the Boomerang Car Wash. Brianna clapped and giggled the entire time. As soon as we pulled out, Wesley shouted “Again!” Not a chance at $8 a pop. Ellie then let me know that she had $14 at home and she’d like to buy a car wash.

We went to the Norman library and had a grand old time. They have quite a bit more toys and books than the Moore library; but, the kids only really care about the toys.

We had lunch at McDonald’s in Norman. The kids were very well behaved and didn’t make a mess. I did let Brianna control her own soda and she hasn’t quite grasped the idea of a straw yet. She still thinks that you have to tip the soda to get it to come out and quite a bit of it ended up on her. We stopped at Home Depot and Petsmart to pick up some things and headed home.