Koi

You don't see ads for Koi being given away very often, when you do and if you want them, you better drop whatever you're doing and call immediately.  I've done that over and over - sometimes I score, mostly I get "they're already gone".

Well, I have been frequenting Craigslist much more often and typing in Koi as the search and yes, I have seen the offers but haven't been able to "cash-in" on any of them.  There are a lot of people scouring the ads for free Koi.  This afternoon, the thought crossed my mind: let's take a look.  Pond being shut done, giving away my Koi and goldfish.  I called immediately.  No, no-one else had called and yes, he wants to give them away, but he wants to give ALL of them away to one person, including the goldfish.  I did not hesitate: okay.  If I couldn't take them in my pond, I have another guy who wants a lot more fish in his new pond.

I head over there.  I get 3/4's of the way there and see that my fuel gauge is just above empty.  No problem, stop and get some fuel before getting there.  Problem? I rushed out of the door so fast, I forgot my wallet!  Got to the house - it is foreclosed and already resold.  I didn't know that, I was ringing on the doorbell. If someone was home, they weren't answering.  Waiting - get a old of the guy, he is running late.

He finally shows up.  He was in LOVE with that pond. He did not want to lose his home, but he said that Bank of America would not help him.  I asked him about the HAMP program before finding out that he not only had been foreclosed on, the house was sold yesterday - for $60,000.  His loan was for $250,000.  This is the stark reality for a lot of folks in the Phoenix area: our homes are literally worthless compared to the amount we "paid" for them.

He had bought the Koi when they were very small and stated that he had had them for 2-1/2 years.  3 to 4 inches, some 5.  I got a lot of fish.  Small, fortunately, or I wouldn't have been able to deal with it in my ponds.  He came just short of crying.  He spoke about the pond and his fish as if he had grown up with the pond and as if the fish were family members.  I could only offer my apologies and sympathy for his situation in losing the home and his lifestyle.  I understand.  That's why I have fought to keep my place.  I don't want to  go rent out a property and live on a rental forever.

I was, however, very concerned when I found out these Koi had been sitting in this small, plastic tub for over a day.  No aeration.  Amazing they hadn't sucked all the air out of the water and floating, dead on the surface.

Well, I left, a bit saddened by this guy's new reality and the fact that he had to leave what he fought so desperately to keep.  As time moves on, he'll get over it, but it is still very fresh in his heart and mind right now.  No, I don't tell people to "get over it" or even think that, mostly.  Sometimes the situation warrants it, this guy was having his moment and I was not trying to deny it.  We shook hands and I left.  I did offer him that he could keep all of these fish in a small, plastic pond and they would adapt very well.  He said he had thought about it - but apparently his future includes having to move around alot.  I didn't ask, didn't think it appropriate, especially if it was going to bring up a tender/sore subject.  Better to leave it alone.

I do believe, however, I will offer to give him his fish back if he gets into a position where he will get a pond going again.  No-one talks about a thing with that much love in their voice, tone and words and doesn't think they aren't going to eventually get back into it again.  His remorse was that he had bought the fish when they were very small and had watched them grow for almost 3 years.  Wow.  What can you say to a person in that situation?  You can't really say anything, you just give them an ear to spill out on and give them a place to vent it out.

How will I identify these fish if that were to ever happen? Not too hard: they are the smallest fish in either pond.  I have good sized fish in those ponds.  Okay, they are mostly Koi and I know my Koi.  Today's addition was a LOT more Koi, but the smallest Koi is much larger than any of those.  Well, there are 3 Koi I haven't seen in a while - I don't know if they are still alive.  I bought them at PetSmart and have no idea whether they are still in those ponds or not - there are plenty of hiding places in them.  

Time for bed.

G'nite.

ben

Tuesday 3/15/2011

Tuesday

3-day weekends are nice, but there's nothing like taking a full work-week off - thusly creating 9 day span of not having to get up and go to work. I fully intend on doing that this summer. 

Allegedly, there is going to be another reunion in North Carolina again this year. Funny how the family lines in the west aren't even invited to these affairs..........

......so I probably won't be saving for a vacation to NC to spend it with a bunch of strangers I haven't seen since I was 8 years old or thereabouts..........

I'll spend my vacation doing nothing but staying home, undoubtedly, which is fine by me, it's better than no vacation at all. By the time summer hits, they are predicting $4 per gallon fuel and certainly it LOOKS like it's going to go there. The price of everything is going to go up. Including vacations.

I have a vacation on my mind, I guess, because I haven't been on one in so long. I mean, I have done the staycation thing 2 years running now, I think, or is it 3? I wouldn't mind heading to a California beach and spend several days there. Dunno if that's really in the cards or not, but one can always dream.

Oh, my pond. Well, it has a big leak. I mean, like the thing is draining out several inches per hour. I just turned the pump off and am waiting for a pond liner to arrive. Yes, I pretty much figured this thing has been moved around too much, it's probably got a crack or hole somewhere, I ordered the liner off of Ebay before I even put the thing in the ground. So, it's going to sit empty until that liner shows up. The pond itself will serve as a shield against the rocks that are so incredibly abundant in these parts.......I think I will also put an old piece of carpeting down underneath the pond for extra added protection. 

I have my large pond clear as a mirror now, the water is very clean and I moved the UV sterilizer to the medium sized pond yesterday to get the algae gook out of there as well. 

As for tenants, wellllll, it is what it is. I have a better understanding now why the female tenant has been having trouble with paying the rent - Subway only pays here $7.50 per hour. However, she has been working a LOT of hours so she got herself paid up quite a lot the other day - which I dumped almost all of onto the electric card reader. I am preparing for summer this year. Last year I said I was going to do it and I didn't - quite the mistake. By the time June hits, I want $400 on that reader so I will be AHEAD, not scrambling to come up from behind. At the moment, it has about $235 on it. As soon as another tenant pays up, I'm dumping another $100 on it and then next month $200 more on top of the regular usage and that should get me to where I want it. 

I am also going to have the entire system checked out - by a different company than the one that both installed it and fixed the broken compressor. How does a compressor go out after only 13 months of use, half of those months not even being used at all? And THEN, paying "$800 service and labor fee" even though it was under warranty. What a complete and total ripoff. 

If I had that home to do all over.........

No use complaining. It's not a bad house, it's just that I learned quite a lot after the fact. I knew in the middle of the process that there was a lot I didn't know and probably wouldn't find out until afterwards, yes, that's definitely the case here. 

Well, work day is here and fortunately, there are a couple of deliveries to be made. I dunno if those orders are pulled yet or what, but, I'm just glad there's something to do.

With that, I bid you.....Good day.

ben