BiGGiePauls33
Current BRS President
You never know, they say the secret in the sauce is always the poop.Since this is where I collect my water, maybe seagull poop is the secret.
Paul B's thread
- Thread starter jamesdong009
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Paul B
paul b
A couple of days ago I went to my pain manager Doctor. She is a very good Doctor and looks a Greek Goddess but of course that had nothing to do with me going to her. She is one of my wife's doctors and I just went to her through osmosis.
I am very prone to trigger finger and had 9 of my fingers operated on for that. (It's common in electicians that worked hard and didn't sit around all day drinking coffee) If you don't know what that is, it's when you bend your finger while for instance brushing your teeth, putting on your socks or trying to coax one of your hermit crabs out from behind a shoe that you inadvertently dropped in your tank and you want to take a picture of it. The crab not the shoe which you feel looks kind of cool.
Anyway, you can't straighten out your finger unless you put it in a vise and pull very hard as you are screaming like you just sat on fire coral while wearing a Speedo.
So I went to her for some Cortisone shots which is a miracle drug and I wish I had enough of it to take a bath in.
In her office there was the Doctor, a very young female "Nurse, Assistant, or interior decorator" and a young man in his 20s who looked like he was always in pain or scared even though I was on the table.
The Doctor took the needle and said this is a very painful shot. I said I know as I probably had 10 of them before but I am not a Sissy.
She gave me 3 shots in 2 fingers and I kind of made a face as it was a little painful but it's not me to scream or lay on the floor screaming for Beyonce while kicking my feet against the walls.
After it she said, I'm sorry I know that was painful and she told the guy to get me a glass of water. I stopped him and said, "I don't need water for some silly shot, thats for wimps". It's just pain. The Doctor said, they don't make Men like me any more as most of them would faint. I'm sure they would as "men" today are not like Men used to be years ago, especially in my Fathers day when Men were Men and not little scared babies. I wish we would bring back the draft.
I am very prone to trigger finger and had 9 of my fingers operated on for that. (It's common in electicians that worked hard and didn't sit around all day drinking coffee) If you don't know what that is, it's when you bend your finger while for instance brushing your teeth, putting on your socks or trying to coax one of your hermit crabs out from behind a shoe that you inadvertently dropped in your tank and you want to take a picture of it. The crab not the shoe which you feel looks kind of cool.
Anyway, you can't straighten out your finger unless you put it in a vise and pull very hard as you are screaming like you just sat on fire coral while wearing a Speedo.
So I went to her for some Cortisone shots which is a miracle drug and I wish I had enough of it to take a bath in.
In her office there was the Doctor, a very young female "Nurse, Assistant, or interior decorator" and a young man in his 20s who looked like he was always in pain or scared even though I was on the table.
The Doctor took the needle and said this is a very painful shot. I said I know as I probably had 10 of them before but I am not a Sissy.
She gave me 3 shots in 2 fingers and I kind of made a face as it was a little painful but it's not me to scream or lay on the floor screaming for Beyonce while kicking my feet against the walls.
After it she said, I'm sorry I know that was painful and she told the guy to get me a glass of water. I stopped him and said, "I don't need water for some silly shot, thats for wimps". It's just pain. The Doctor said, they don't make Men like me any more as most of them would faint. I'm sure they would as "men" today are not like Men used to be years ago, especially in my Fathers day when Men were Men and not little scared babies. I wish we would bring back the draft.
Paul B
paul b
My Kids and Grand Kids are now in Columbia. I can't believe they went there on purpose but they normally live in Manhattan so they just traded one dump for another. I am very worried about them now because that is not a very safe place but maybe better than Manhattan.
My Daughter has a friend there who she went to high school with so they stayed with him a few days. But now they are in a Jungle resort. They find frogs in their toilet and that is outside in the jungle. They have to deal with swarms of bats, bugs and very sketchy electricity, no internet and sporadic and dubious running water. It also rains most of the time.
My Daughter texted me to complain and I told her, remember your Father (me) spent an entire year in a jungle with no roof, walls, running water, electricity and the internet wasn't even invented. She said the food is pretty good but I ate C Rations every day and there were people shooting at me most days. She stopped complaining to me.
My Daughter has a friend there who she went to high school with so they stayed with him a few days. But now they are in a Jungle resort. They find frogs in their toilet and that is outside in the jungle. They have to deal with swarms of bats, bugs and very sketchy electricity, no internet and sporadic and dubious running water. It also rains most of the time.
My Daughter texted me to complain and I told her, remember your Father (me) spent an entire year in a jungle with no roof, walls, running water, electricity and the internet wasn't even invented. She said the food is pretty good but I ate C Rations every day and there were people shooting at me most days. She stopped complaining to me.
BiGGiePauls33
Current BRS President
Nice shot
Paul B
paul b
So the parking light burnt out on my Jeep Renegade. Not a big deal and when I used to be a mechanic for General Motors I could change this in 30 seconds. Of course I was in my 20s then and much more limber. Now to stick my head under the car is much more of a challenge.
To get to this thing you have to turn the wheels all the way one direction and remove a silly plastic plate in the wheel well.; Thank God for that or else you would have to remove the engine.
I jacked up the front end just so I didn't have to squeeze my almost 75 year old body under the car to much and I can just about see the bulb socket through the little access hole. I stick my arm in there to touch the back of the socket but in my 20s I must have had another elbow in between my existing elbow and wrist as it is not the easiest thing to reach.
I can touch it with two fingers but two old fingers aren't going to be able to turn the thing so it can be removed. I twist and turn while doing a lot of loud grunting and finally get the thing out.
I look at it and it is yellow. The turn signal light bulb is yellow and this is supposed to be white....So it is the wrong bulb. It's the next one in the same housing but a little farther away. I looked around to see if I could find someone with a longer arm, maybe Spiderman but he wasn't around. Of course not!
I took off my shirt thinking that 1/16th of an inch material in my New Jersey Reefers T shirt may give me a tiny bit more reach. I know, it is silly. But it worked. I also had to grease up my arm with some Coppertone to get it all the way up in there and scream a little as my two fingers snapped the thing out.
I look at it and this is the same old fashion regular light bulb that we used on cars in the 60s. You would think that in this day they would have at least upgraded the bulb to LEDs. The replacement bulbs are LEDs.
I stick the new bulb in the socket and again look around for Spiderman to put it back in but he still isn't around. More grunting, screaming and Coppertone and I get it in and turn it on. It works....... It is a nice bright white but the one on the other side is much more yellow so I have to change that also. I wasn't happy and I am not speaking to Spiderman.
To get to this thing you have to turn the wheels all the way one direction and remove a silly plastic plate in the wheel well.; Thank God for that or else you would have to remove the engine.
I jacked up the front end just so I didn't have to squeeze my almost 75 year old body under the car to much and I can just about see the bulb socket through the little access hole. I stick my arm in there to touch the back of the socket but in my 20s I must have had another elbow in between my existing elbow and wrist as it is not the easiest thing to reach.
I can touch it with two fingers but two old fingers aren't going to be able to turn the thing so it can be removed. I twist and turn while doing a lot of loud grunting and finally get the thing out.
I look at it and it is yellow. The turn signal light bulb is yellow and this is supposed to be white....So it is the wrong bulb. It's the next one in the same housing but a little farther away. I looked around to see if I could find someone with a longer arm, maybe Spiderman but he wasn't around. Of course not!
I took off my shirt thinking that 1/16th of an inch material in my New Jersey Reefers T shirt may give me a tiny bit more reach. I know, it is silly. But it worked. I also had to grease up my arm with some Coppertone to get it all the way up in there and scream a little as my two fingers snapped the thing out.
I look at it and this is the same old fashion regular light bulb that we used on cars in the 60s. You would think that in this day they would have at least upgraded the bulb to LEDs. The replacement bulbs are LEDs.
I stick the new bulb in the socket and again look around for Spiderman to put it back in but he still isn't around. More grunting, screaming and Coppertone and I get it in and turn it on. It works....... It is a nice bright white but the one on the other side is much more yellow so I have to change that also. I wasn't happy and I am not speaking to Spiderman.
Paul B
paul b
I feel a rant coming so don't read this. I just go nuts when I see bad engineering. I love when I see something designed correctly. That is beauty to me. I can sit for an hour and just stare at a set of rear differential gears in the rear axle of a car. That design has remained almost exactly the same as when Henry Ford sat with Firestone and were building cars. It's the same because it was simple and it worked. It worked perfectly and I can count on one hand how many times I have seen one of those fail in the 60 or so years I have been working on cars.
I love it when I go to a "good" hardware store (Not Home Depot) and just smell the hardware. A gearhead can smell good metal hardware.
The "screws" you find in a cheap box store are built almost 100% in some foreign country with dubious metals that are not good enough for any serious project. You can tell by the heads of screws which are a combination of phillips and slot so neither screwdriver works really well. A good piece of hardware will always be either slotted, philip, Torx or allen. A real gearhead can also tell by the color of the metal if it is really steel or a combination of iron, "white metal", aluminum or chewing gum. Even the "Hardened" bolts in a box store are very sub standard as are the drill bits.
My Daughter recently bought me a very large box of about 200 drill bits. They were listed as American, Titanium drill bits. They are actually regular, bits from China and really good for drilling into butter or cottage cheese. They will work in steel, "once".
Using a real titanium bit from America, which is as rare as finding a duck billed platypus in the Central Park Lake will drill through anything but that 1/4" bit may cost eight or ten bucks. A quarter inch bit from Home Depot is probably a dollar forty nine for a reason.
If you want a really good bit, you have to find an American made Cobalt bit. But you may find that Platypus first.
I love it when I go to a "good" hardware store (Not Home Depot) and just smell the hardware. A gearhead can smell good metal hardware.
The "screws" you find in a cheap box store are built almost 100% in some foreign country with dubious metals that are not good enough for any serious project. You can tell by the heads of screws which are a combination of phillips and slot so neither screwdriver works really well. A good piece of hardware will always be either slotted, philip, Torx or allen. A real gearhead can also tell by the color of the metal if it is really steel or a combination of iron, "white metal", aluminum or chewing gum. Even the "Hardened" bolts in a box store are very sub standard as are the drill bits.
My Daughter recently bought me a very large box of about 200 drill bits. They were listed as American, Titanium drill bits. They are actually regular, bits from China and really good for drilling into butter or cottage cheese. They will work in steel, "once".
Using a real titanium bit from America, which is as rare as finding a duck billed platypus in the Central Park Lake will drill through anything but that 1/4" bit may cost eight or ten bucks. A quarter inch bit from Home Depot is probably a dollar forty nine for a reason.
If you want a really good bit, you have to find an American made Cobalt bit. But you may find that Platypus first.
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Paul B
paul b
This morning before 6:00 was so beautiful that after my walk I took my Jeep on the beach and collected 50 gallons of NSW. It was so clear and calm that I don't have to strain out seaweed or do anything to it except heat it a little and added a little ASW as it is a little weak like 1.014 The temperature is almost 75 degrees.
I took this just before I collected water. Just beautiful
I tried to get some of that "red" water just below the sun.
The temperature is almost 75 degrees.I took this just before I collected water. Just beautiful
I tried to get some of that "red" water just below the sun.
Paul B
paul b
This morning like yesterday it is cool and windy. Not great weather to go amphipod collecting but I went anyway because the rocky coast is on my morning walk. I only go walking at about 6:00 am and at that time no one will see this fish Geek walking around with a pail turning over rocks like a 5 year old.
Last week you could put your shoe in the muddy water under rocks and come up with a thousand amphipods, but today was different.
Almost every rock had under it crabs. Japanese Shore crabs which are an invasive species and took over just about every inch of real estate so they are here to stay.
But the adult amphipods were gone. Not one. I don't know if it was to cold (71 degrees) I doubt it, or it was Prom night.
I couldn't collect even one adult amphipod but I got a lot of mud and these limpets which are extremely common.
They won't live more than a few months in my tank but occasionally I collect them just because I can. I may throw them back in the sea in a few weeks.
Looking closely at that muddy water, now that I am home, I see that I did collect multides of baby amphipods and other microscope creatures which will all go in my tank. I also see that I collected many very tiny Japanese Shore crabs which I will not add to my tank. They are not very harmful and grow to about an inch but I don't want them and may put them in a small tank just for the coolness factor or I may mail them back to Japan.
I mainly want the mud which contains all sorts of bacteria which I feel is beneficial to my tank and probably also harbors what many hobbyists would consider pathogens. These will not harm anything and will only help to boost the immunity of my fish.
Last week you could put your shoe in the muddy water under rocks and come up with a thousand amphipods, but today was different.
Almost every rock had under it crabs. Japanese Shore crabs which are an invasive species and took over just about every inch of real estate so they are here to stay.
But the adult amphipods were gone. Not one. I don't know if it was to cold (71 degrees) I doubt it, or it was Prom night.
I couldn't collect even one adult amphipod but I got a lot of mud and these limpets which are extremely common.
They won't live more than a few months in my tank but occasionally I collect them just because I can. I may throw them back in the sea in a few weeks.
Looking closely at that muddy water, now that I am home, I see that I did collect multides of baby amphipods and other microscope creatures which will all go in my tank. I also see that I collected many very tiny Japanese Shore crabs which I will not add to my tank. They are not very harmful and grow to about an inch but I don't want them and may put them in a small tank just for the coolness factor or I may mail them back to Japan.
I mainly want the mud which contains all sorts of bacteria which I feel is beneficial to my tank and probably also harbors what many hobbyists would consider pathogens. These will not harm anything and will only help to boost the immunity of my fish.
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Paul B
paul b
This was a true story and I think I posted it a year or two ago
I remember being quite cold many times but once in particular sticks in my mind. It was 1970 and I was a Sargent in the Army in Colorado before I went to Nam. I did my jungle training in Colorado in the winter and in Colorado if it doesn't snow at least 5' deep, they don't even notice it or take out a snow shovel.
We were doing war games which is totally stupid. I had to ride in a small "roofless" Jeep across these plains which stretch almost to Vermont with this skinny second Lieutenant who was not to bright.
We had to lay out this COMMO wire for a few miles by ourselves. We started out and the wire was going out the back. It was snowing. And snowing, and snowing. Eventually it was a foot deep and we didn't know where we were or why we were there.
Remember this is decades before cell phones or even credit cards. We didn't even have a working radio or a pen to write a post card.
Now we were covered in about 18" of snow and it was cold. The Army "Cold Weather Gear" at the time was about as good as Lycra that Nadia Cominich wore on her Olympic trials.
I was shivering, scared and disgusted. The snow was getting deeper.
The LT. tells me he is going to climb on top of a hill and see if he can tell where we are.
I said, "Good Idea because we are going to die"
So he gets out and leaves me there. Now it is getting dark and the snow is picking up as is the wind.
After a few minutes I hear: "HHHHhhhhhhhhooooWWWWWWWlllllllllll".
I am a New York City boy and the only thing we have in New York that howls are rats and roaches.
I must have been thinking "Big Foot", wolf, or the very strong Russian Cossack girl I was dating.
The Lt. is no where to be seen. I yelled for him but it was drowned out by:
"HHHHhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooWWWWWWWWlllll. HHHHHHhhhhhhooooooWWWWWllllll."
And, It, or THEM was getting closer. HHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhoooooWWWWWllll.
Then CLOSER.
I remembered, I have a weapon. An M-16. Yeah. But wait, I idon't have any bullets. I was praying for at least one bullet so I could blow my brains out before whatever it was that was going to kill and eat me any second and wouldn't have the satisfaction of hearing me scream. Or cry, maybe wimper. OK beg for my life.
I got out of the Jeep and climbed on the hood. Now I am at least two feet off the ground and we all know that Big Foot and wolves can't climb that high.
I held my rifle by the barrel and was ready to smash the first thing that came close.
My visibility was very limited by the snow so I waited until I could smell freshly killed accountant on his breath and I would strike. The cold was completely through the Lycra thin clothing I was wearing.
Suddenly and without warning, I HEAR:.....................................................
"Sargent Baldassino What are you doing?"
So we were lost and I had to walk in front of the Jeep a couple of miles while picking up the wire until we found our way back.
I remember being quite cold many times but once in particular sticks in my mind. It was 1970 and I was a Sargent in the Army in Colorado before I went to Nam. I did my jungle training in Colorado in the winter and in Colorado if it doesn't snow at least 5' deep, they don't even notice it or take out a snow shovel.
We were doing war games which is totally stupid. I had to ride in a small "roofless" Jeep across these plains which stretch almost to Vermont with this skinny second Lieutenant who was not to bright.
We had to lay out this COMMO wire for a few miles by ourselves. We started out and the wire was going out the back. It was snowing. And snowing, and snowing. Eventually it was a foot deep and we didn't know where we were or why we were there.
Remember this is decades before cell phones or even credit cards. We didn't even have a working radio or a pen to write a post card.
Now we were covered in about 18" of snow and it was cold. The Army "Cold Weather Gear" at the time was about as good as Lycra that Nadia Cominich wore on her Olympic trials.
I was shivering, scared and disgusted. The snow was getting deeper.
The LT. tells me he is going to climb on top of a hill and see if he can tell where we are.
I said, "Good Idea because we are going to die"
So he gets out and leaves me there. Now it is getting dark and the snow is picking up as is the wind.
After a few minutes I hear: "HHHHhhhhhhhhooooWWWWWWWlllllllllll".
I am a New York City boy and the only thing we have in New York that howls are rats and roaches.
I must have been thinking "Big Foot", wolf, or the very strong Russian Cossack girl I was dating.
The Lt. is no where to be seen. I yelled for him but it was drowned out by:
"HHHHhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooWWWWWWWWlllll. HHHHHHhhhhhhooooooWWWWWllllll."
And, It, or THEM was getting closer. HHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhoooooWWWWWllll.
Then CLOSER.
I remembered, I have a weapon. An M-16. Yeah. But wait, I idon't have any bullets. I was praying for at least one bullet so I could blow my brains out before whatever it was that was going to kill and eat me any second and wouldn't have the satisfaction of hearing me scream. Or cry, maybe wimper. OK beg for my life.
I got out of the Jeep and climbed on the hood. Now I am at least two feet off the ground and we all know that Big Foot and wolves can't climb that high.
I held my rifle by the barrel and was ready to smash the first thing that came close.
My visibility was very limited by the snow so I waited until I could smell freshly killed accountant on his breath and I would strike. The cold was completely through the Lycra thin clothing I was wearing.
Suddenly and without warning, I HEAR:.....................................................
"Sargent Baldassino What are you doing?"
So we were lost and I had to walk in front of the Jeep a couple of miles while picking up the wire until we found our way back.
Paul B
paul b
Now that my tank almost instantly recovered from my massive sponge elimination and the Ugly stage it created that lasted about 5 months, the tank looks just like the Great Barrier Reef. Almost all the corals, even the ones that I thought were dead came to life and look fantastic.
The water surface which had been covered in dino slime causing me to net it out every day is completely clear of anything.
The tank is again crystal clear and the fish look like jewels like they are supposed to.
It took quite a while and I "almost" added some chemical to speed the process along but thankfully I resisted and the tank is still natural with only mud from the sea. I did replace about 90 gallons of ASW with NSW which I feel made the final difference as ASW is completely devoid of nutrients but I needed that to help eliminate the invasive sponge and I hope it stays eliminated.
You can see some of the nasty "slime" here as it covered everything and killed some of my old gorgonians. I couldn't clean them fast enough.
This was probably a month ago.
(That fish is one of my older ones. I don't remember when I got him but it was in my last house before I moved here about 5 years ago so he may be 10, 12 or much older. I have no idea)
Yesterday I had to go to my shoulder surgeon for the pre surgery nonsense and he is near my favorite LFS. (thats actually the reason I picked this surgeon)
Now I have no idea how many fish I have because lately I have been going there quite a few times and I always pick up something. Those smaller fish like bleenies and clown gobies you can put in almost as many as you like as they are so small.
You can plainly see some of that slime here that I thankfully eliminated.
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The water surface which had been covered in dino slime causing me to net it out every day is completely clear of anything.
The tank is again crystal clear and the fish look like jewels like they are supposed to.
It took quite a while and I "almost" added some chemical to speed the process along but thankfully I resisted and the tank is still natural with only mud from the sea. I did replace about 90 gallons of ASW with NSW which I feel made the final difference as ASW is completely devoid of nutrients but I needed that to help eliminate the invasive sponge and I hope it stays eliminated.
You can see some of the nasty "slime" here as it covered everything and killed some of my old gorgonians. I couldn't clean them fast enough.
This was probably a month ago.
(That fish is one of my older ones. I don't remember when I got him but it was in my last house before I moved here about 5 years ago so he may be 10, 12 or much older. I have no idea)
Yesterday I had to go to my shoulder surgeon for the pre surgery nonsense and he is near my favorite LFS. (thats actually the reason I picked this surgeon)
Now I have no idea how many fish I have because lately I have been going there quite a few times and I always pick up something. Those smaller fish like bleenies and clown gobies you can put in almost as many as you like as they are so small.
You can plainly see some of that slime here that I thankfully eliminated.
Paul B
paul b
I got my fish food prepared for my surgery next week as I won't be able to use my left arm for a while. I also do this when I go away so my tank sitter only has to dump one in the tank every day.
These are film containers. For anyone under 50, film was used in cameras before cell phones. It is like Scotch Tape but pictures stick to it.
These are film containers. For anyone under 50, film was used in cameras before cell phones. It is like Scotch Tape but pictures stick to it.
Paul B
paul b
I don't know whats going on with my tank but it's a good thing. My inhabitants have always been healthy but after I eliminated the invasive sponge and the subsequent dino's and algae that resulted from it and I changed out 80 gallons of ASW and put in NSW, (That I have used for years) everything is looking and acting like they are in the ocean.
Corals that I thought were dead and growing like crazy and taking over bare real estate. My fish always spawned but now it's like they found an aphrodisiac. My mandarins, Ruby Red Dragonettes, Fireclowns and some gobies and bleenies are all over each other like wet suits. My fish that are not paired are also all pregnant with obvious eggs.
I am happy but wish I knew what I did that was different. I am getting a shoulder replacement in a couple of days so I won't 'be collecting water or sticking my hand in there for a few months.
After I put everything back from the sponge situation, I left out about 10lbs of rock. I may put it in eventually, I don't know yet. I am sure in a couple of months the corals will again cover everything like it used to.
I think I have about 40 fish.
Even my 12 year old urchin is smiling.
Corals that I thought were dead and growing like crazy and taking over bare real estate. My fish always spawned but now it's like they found an aphrodisiac. My mandarins, Ruby Red Dragonettes, Fireclowns and some gobies and bleenies are all over each other like wet suits. My fish that are not paired are also all pregnant with obvious eggs.
I am happy but wish I knew what I did that was different. I am getting a shoulder replacement in a couple of days so I won't 'be collecting water or sticking my hand in there for a few months.
After I put everything back from the sponge situation, I left out about 10lbs of rock. I may put it in eventually, I don't know yet. I am sure in a couple of months the corals will again cover everything like it used to.
I think I have about 40 fish.
Even my 12 year old urchin is smiling.
Paul B
paul b
This morning after my 6:00am beach walk
I did a little maintenance that needed to be done before my tomorrow morning surgery. Things I won't be able to do for a while.
I noticed my skimmer water level was to low and I found the ozonizer almost clogged. That happens about every two months and I need to take it apart to clean.
My skimmer top needed cleaning
as did my algae scrubber
I did a little maintenance that needed to be done before my tomorrow morning surgery. Things I won't be able to do for a while.
I noticed my skimmer water level was to low and I found the ozonizer almost clogged. That happens about every two months and I need to take it apart to clean.
My skimmer top needed cleaning
as did my algae scrubber
Paul B
paul b
I am waiting to go to the hospital. They called and changed it from 7:00 to 9:00 am so I have time to do nothing. I watched a video of the shoulder replacement and I told my surgeon that if has a problem to wake me up so I can give him some pointers. He wasn't amused.
I also may bring my own hardware for him to use. I also told him if my new titanium shoulder isn't made in the US. Leave it out or use wood.
The hospital is about 40 minutes away.
While I'm waiting, I am brading the dorsal fin spines on this guy.
I also may bring my own hardware for him to use. I also told him if my new titanium shoulder isn't made in the US. Leave it out or use wood.
The hospital is about 40 minutes away.
While I'm waiting, I am brading the dorsal fin spines on this guy.
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