Friday, March 18, 2011

Pond Stuff

The liner did show up today.  I was going to install it and put some new fish into it - but - I decided on changing the game plan.  I am going to fill on the hole were the water line was fixed - so I am going to have to wheelbarrow quite a number of loads from the back of the property to the front to do that.

The point is to make it as level as possible, and the side of the pond where the repair on the water line was done is not level.  I will need to bring the dirt level up to at least the bottom of the pond on that side of it to make it level.

The other reason I changed my mind is that I realized that I do not want to put any Koi in that pond.  It will be, at least at first, goldfish only.

I say that because I acquired 3 more Koi today.  I am totally uninterested in goldfish at this point- I have plenty of them and don't want anymore, Koi are way cooler looking.  Today's score was a butterfly Koi and then 2 - whatever kind of Koi they are.  Underfed, apparently. I put them in the larger pond, came back later, threw some Koi pellets in there and that butterfly Koi went crazy.  I think it overfed itself.  It looked like it hadn't eaten in a long time the way it was feeding.  That one is about 6 inches long, the other 2 are around 3 plus inches long.

The smaller ones were trying to inhale the pellets, but they kept ejecting them, assuming they are too large. I tried putting in goldfish flakes but they ignored them and kept going after the Koi pellets.

Well, tomorrow, I am thinking anyway, I will be putting the liner in the pond, filling up the hold, leveling out the pond, filling it up with water, getting the pump and filter going, etc etc etc.  Put some fish stress stuff on there that also helps the fish adapt to new water.  Catch goldfish out of the large pond, dump them in there.  Put some plants in there - this will be a weekend project, at least.

But, I am at my bedtime.  Even on weekends, I mostly go to bed early.

G'nite.

ben

Friday 3/18/2011

Friday

Following the tracking on my pond liner coming from - Missouri I believe it was - it's at the FedEx facility in downtown Phoenix. Meaning I hope it comes today!! I would love to get that thing up and running with fish and plants in it this weekend.

China says the Libyan conflict should be "resolved through dialogue". Is this what happened in Tianamen square? Does China hold dialogue with the people that simply disappear off the face of the earth? Yes, I'm sure they do, before they kill some of them. Let's not forget the fact that China is a Communist nation. I am well aware of what happens to Christians in the underground movement over there, religious freedom is not tolerated.

In other words, China can go jump off a cliff. Or, at least, the government that oppresses it's own people. It is hardly surprising that they and other nations like them have their "reservations" about enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya.

The Security Council gave it's approval, let's get on with this already. From what I have been reading, the "rebels" don't HAVE days to wait, it either happens now or it's a waste of time, at least in terms of the cause of the upheaval that is quickly being smothered by Qaddafi. This enforcement needs to happen today, not Sunday or Monday as the news is reporting.

As for Obama and his wishy-washiness, the man cannot get out of Washington fast enough for me. Instead of taking the initiative, he waited for France and Britain to take the reigns. He is a gutless wonder.

I am not going out and buying iodine pills and a geiger counter today. Although, in the cause of a preparedness mentality, having those pills around might not be such a bad idea considering the largest nuclear plant in North America is about 75 miles from where I am sitting right now.......

The thought that it might melt down has crossed my dream mind a few times while sleeping. I have gotten a bit edgy when I've had to go INTO that plant and sitting in a semi not 50 feet away from one of the reactor buildings. But, I hope that technology has advanced enough that if there ever is a problem there, they can get it shut down quickly enough to avert a disaster. In Japan, however, the forces of nature took them by surprise. I don't envision earthquakes or tsunami's in Arizona, but one never knows. At least on the earthquakes, I am pretty sure in my belief that a Tsunami will never hit the Phoenix area. If it does, that would mean travelling across land around 400 miles. Yeah, highly unlikely.

As for the bullied kid picking up the bully and slamming his body on the ground - good on him. The mother of the bully wants the bullied kid to apologize. What a world full of pansies we have become. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. Kids beat up other kids every day. I had more than my share of school yard fights, I refused to be bullied. In fact, the biggest bully of them all - who had gone around to all the rest of the kids on the school play ground during a particular school year finally came knocking on my door one day. This kid was feared because he had 10 older brothers. Yes, TEN of them.

So, he decided that I was going to "bow" to him one day, of which I was having nothing to do with it. I told him where he could shove it which is when he started visibly shaking with fear - he made me mad. Even with his cohorts standing by his side, I stood up to that idiot. He then stated that he was going to get one of his brothers to come and kick my @$$. I informed him that I, too, have brothers and they have a lot of friends. One of your brothers comes after me, my brothers will come after ALL of your brothers.

It wasn't an idle threat, either, my oldest brother used to run around all over the place looking for gangs to beat up.

I was never bothered by that kid again. I did, however, have my share of fist fights starting the first day of kindergarten. I don't remember parents threatening to sue other parents and/or the entire school system. Nobody was killed or even maimed. Bloodied up, pained, yes, pride hurt, undoubtedly.

That's just one aspect of our pansied society. I know this incident didn't happen in the U.S., but it's the same mentality. When a kid that is being bullied stands up for himself and takes on the bully - and wins - that ought to put a bit of fear into the hearts and minds of other bullies who see such a video and wonder if the same thing could happen to them......

my time is up, good day.

ben

 Sunday - early 20 minutes until departure time.  I don't much care for delivery on Sundays for it takes a while to get security to the ...