Fish

It's been cold here - at least by Phoenix terms - it's cold.  The weather reports I read this morning were either wrong or at 5:00 am the temps were still coming down, cause' at 6:00 am it was 24 degrees.  I have resigned myself to the fact that this winter?  Gonna experience some plant damage due to freezing conditions and there isn't anything more than covering the plants with sheets that I can do about it.  I hope the plants don't TOTALLY die out, much of the stuff will make a comeback if even a little bit of the plant is still alive, especially Honeysuckles.

My trepidation today had a little to do with that - but not that much. Really aren't going to know the extent of the damage from last night and yes, in the morning as it's going to get freezing again - for days or even weeks.  I'm guessing eventually?  I will have a LOT of plant trimming to do.

Nope, the trepidation was with the fish.  How cold did those ponds get?  Are the fish all floating lifeless on the top of the water? Did they survive?  I went out, both ponds had no fish floating, sigh of relief.  Checked the temps.  The pond that isn't buried in the ground was almost 60 degrees, the one that is in the ground about 52 degrees.  Both ponds have 2 large heaters going in them right now.  So, cool that.

No, for plant damage?  Yup, I can foretell at least some of it.  I also found out that Taro - a water plant, does not do well in cold weather. The giant leaves were shrivelled up.  The small leaves that were just coming out were in perfect condition.  Still another night of this stuff to go, predictions of high 20's to low 30's tonight.

G'nite.

ben

Thursday 2/3/2011

Thursday

I don't think it got quite as cold as the weather people thought it was going to. They were predicting a hard freeze, yet I just checked the temp and it is 32 degrees. Yes, I just checked another source, it's 32 degrees. I believe my plants can survive that, it's the 25 degrees they were forecasting that had me worried.

Meanwhile, my dogs are giving me stares this morning as I put on their sweaters and herded them out the door. Sorry, doggies, but with those sweaters on at least you'll stay warm. They are all short-haired dogs, not exactly the kind of coat necessary to keep warm on a cold winter's day. The trailer tenants are going in the house this morning. Lynnette said around 8, I'm guessing they are in there right NOW, lol. Well, they'll take the dogs in with them is the point. I guess they feel they need to have a valid reason to be in the house, this apparently fits the bill.

I'm absorbed with the Egypt chaos going on. Now the military is doing something to at least put a stop to the violence, that's a good thing, I'm curious to see where this is all leading. Are the protesters really going to be able to get 1,000,000 people out there? If they could, that would be a sight to behold.

My back is hurting. I have had chunks of flesh ripped out of my body on a few occasions in my life, it ranks right up there with the worst of it. I have no idea how much she cut off of there, but it must have been a good sized amount cause' usually, stuff like that doesn't last very long in the pain department if it's small.

As for all the bad news she gave me yesterday, I just have to shrug my shoulders. I can't do anything about the past, I can only look towards the future. I haven't used much sun screen in my lifetime, so, my left arm has a lot of "stuff" on it. She told me I better start using sunscreen on my arms as well. I have been using it on my face since she told me to - even though there is now a suspicion floating around that sunscreen can cause cancer.

Saturday is my 47th birthday. I don't really know what to think about that. I sorta feel as long as I'm in my 40's, I'm not really that old, but don't say that to the younger generation. According to them, you'd think I already have one foot in the grave.

I don't know, but I am seriously considering going back to the gym. There is a Gold's Gym about 3 miles away from my house. I spoke with an individual on the phone yesterday, he would not, of course, give me a price over the phone. Typical sales pitch, sounded like a car salesman. Come in, sit down and we'll figure out what you need. You mean, come in, sit down and sign on the dotted line, don't you? I didn't ask if it was a contractual arrangement, if it is, I won't be going to that gym. Too many other gyms no longer require contracts.

I think they just want to try and persuade you to sign up. I AM serious about working out at this point, which is the only reason I called. I could hit the gym on the way home from work 3 days a week to start. Not going to set any weight loss goals at all, just want to get in there, get on the cardio machines and take advantage of a much greater selection of free weights. Plus, they usually have a machine that works on your abs.

I think I could get into it again, but this round, I want a portable music player of some sort, one that you can download music to. You know, the kind of music that motivates you? I know plenty of rock and other style music that gets me moving, lol.

Well, I finally got out of him - the dude at the gym on the phone - that the "average" monthly fee is about $25, which is what I expected. A FAR cry from the days of yesteryear where you were expected to sign at least a 1 year contract and the fees were much higher than that.

I'm just about at the end of the "thought" process - do I really want to do this - and into the yes, let's get with it. If I find I simply can't muster myself to getting in there at least 3 days a week, I'll drop it and feel stupid for not having enough motivation to work out at an organized venue. I think that is enough motivation in itself.

Right now? Well, I'm not very motivated to go out into the freezing cold and start pulling orders to load onto the truck to go out to jobsites, but, that's the nature of the business I am working at and really have no choice...........

...g'day.

ben