Click on any pic to enlarge it.

Click on any pic to enlarge it.
Various recent photos.  The last one is, yes, of the hummingbird that has been nesting, hatched the eggs and now is feeding the while still sitting on them, I guess keeping them warm.  You have probably seen a hummingbird up close enough to realize how small they are - which should give you an  idea of how small that nest is and further idea of how small the the freshly hatched birds are inside of it - 2 of them.

Ummm, first 2 pics are of the Water Iris.  Today, it has 2 more blooms on it.  Note the chair and the table right next to the above ground pond.  I have spent considerable time sitting there pondering life, listening to water falling and looking at fish swimming with, of course, my dogs at my feet.
Tunnel on US 60 in the mountains.
2 pics of fire trucks on the night of my next door neighbor's house burning down.
Pic of a "typical" property in a town called San Carlos on the San Carlos Indian Reservation.
Tour bus filled with people coming at me on AZ 70 - I know that they call these people professional drivers, but from what I have seen, I have my doubts about many of them being coupled with that status and trepidation anytime one of them is coming at me on such a road, even if I am in a tractor-trailer rig.
Correction: This is just a motorhome. I don't even remember why I snapped a shot of it.  I encountered several tour buses on the way back and thought from the smaller pic I had that it was one of them.
Pic of the scenic trip back from the Reservation, the bus is also on the trip back.

Monday 3/21/2011

Monday

The U.S. at war again. Oh, we may be clouding it under the veil of the UN Security Council. It might be lessened due to the fact that we are claiming not to be taking the primary role in the lead of the nations that have come together to stop Qadaffi's slaughter of his own people, but make no mistake: we are at war. 

If bombing another nation's military outposts and strategic military locations such as military airfields, from the skies via Cruise missiles being shot from warships and submarines, B-52's dumping bombs and jet fighters taking out tanks doesn't count as acts of war - well we all know, this is war.

Question: what is the outcome? What if Qadaffi leaves? Who is going to take his place or what entity? What if Qaddifi lays down his arms and stops the slaughter? Then what? Are the "rebels" organized enough to take on the role of running that nation? If they get control, what are they going ot do with it? Are they going to have free elections?

Perhaps that is why the U.S. isn't taking the lead in this mess, moreso, though, the expense of running 3 wars at the same time. Perhaps Iraq is done and over with, perhaps not, but we still have a lot of people over there. Afghanistan will never be done, not until we just up and pull out. Libya? Who knows.

I am not against going in that nation and shutting down Qaddafi's military, not at all, as opposed to Afghanistan where I think we should pull up the stakes and get the bleep out of there. I just wonder if they think all of the ramifications through to possible endings. I'm sure those things are brought up, at the very least, in these negotiations for a joint military task to invade another country - even if only from the air.

Well enough of that. I have been following it closely since it started and will continue to watch. They certainly are making a big deal out of the fact that his compound has been destroyed.

Productive weekend - yes. Did I get everything done? Of course not. But I was busy outside. The pond in the front is up and running. It needs more fish in it, I have to buy a much larger net to catch the fish in the other pond. That or just find more free goldfish, lol. 

I was out there much of the day yesterday - listening to that neighbor's dog barking incessantly. He stands at the fence and barks, and barks and barks. They won't do anything about it unless........call it juvenile if you like, but my peace is more important to me than however my actions might come off to the rest of the world. I make my dogs shut up, I do not allow them to stand there barking back. 

After the line was crossed - no specific thing, just have had enough of listening to a dog that can not and will not shut up - I went to the fence and shouted very loudly: SHUT YOUR DOG UP OR I AM GOING TO TURN ON THE MUSIC!!!

It was 30 seconds later that the noise stopped and the dog was behind the secondary fence they put up. They followed my lead - I put up a secondary fence shortly after my new house was finished and I was living on the property. JUST because of my dogs getting into fence fights with their dogs. They didn't care, of course until I had had enough of it and started taking whatever actions I could that aren't just out and out breaking the law. Calling the police, animal control, the city, none of that did any good. 

I mean, what are you supposed to do, live in misery because of someone else's BS? I think not. My boombox answer to this scenario has worked out quite well and I have only had to do it 2 or 3 times now. The last time I did it, I left that thing on for a couple of hours at full blast. That was - a couple of months ago? 

Well, it's Monday, there is nothing to do in the truck routing system - which is never a good start to a work week. Gag. Oh well.

G'day.

ben

Water Iris

I had absolutely no idea, whatsoever, that one variety of plant that I have been growing in my pond is a water Iris.  That's because there haven't BEEN any flowers coming out of any of them up until 24 hours ago.

I knew something was up several days ago when I saw these round shoots that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  The plant itself is nothing but these tall, thin and semi-wide leaf-like things.  I thought they looked good enough in themselves.  I have 3 of these things growing in 2 ponds.  When I saw the tubular shoots coming up, my first thought was:  does this thing also bloom?  That is because I have a couple of other types of plants that do the same thing - leaves are thin, stalk type affairs, flowers come up in separate, tubular shoots.

Umm, 2 nights ago nothing, the next day 2 flowers in full bloom.  Absolutely beautiful.

So, someone is standing at that side door, looking at the flowers and telling me they were Irises.  I could not for the life of me remember the name of that particular flower until she said something.  That was Lynnette, who also said at least 3 times that "they are very hard to grow".

I had to laugh.  Perhaps dry ground based versions of this plant are hard to grow, there isn't anything that I have planted in the water that wasn't QUITE easy to grow.  More like weeds, do nothing and they will still grow like crazy.

I spent half this morning on the phone with Direct TV, I spent several hours working on the new pond including transferring some plants from the large pond to the new one and also  --  well -- catching fish in that larger pond isn't that easy with a small net.  I caught 3 goldfish and called it quits, the water was cloudly and all kinds of junk flowing around in it.  I also took back one very large goldfish that I first caught, put in the small pond and realized she wasn't like it at all.  She is HUGE with eggs.  I actually thought the smaller pond would be a better environment for her, but, I changed my mind and put her back in with the old population.

I then started pruning trees.  Just the Sissoo's. There are obvious points on branches where life meets death.  Yes, I cut back quite a bit of several trees back, lots more to go. In fact, this process of dealing with this winter's unusually and extremely cold nights with it's ensuing destruction of plant and tree life is going to take some time.  Much more than I expected.  I am glad this is a thing to do now at the end of winter and not at the beginning of hell summer.

The pond out front? Several more wheelbarrows of dirt left to haul out there and some decorative arranging of rocks and such and it is at least good to go for now.

The treatment of people.  Interesting topic.  How do I treat people, how am I treated.

I must needs get ready for the work week.

ben

Direct TV - AGAIN

I wrote a week or so ago about getting a new DVR from Direct TV for free, with no contract imposed.  It took me quite a bit of talking to quite a number of individuals to get it.

I went to record on it yesterday - push the record button - nothing happened.  All of my equipment is "older", meaning I have no clue what a new DVR or a new standard receiver would look like.  What I received was not a DVR, I found out quickly, it's a standard receiver.

I just spent another 2 hours on the phone with a bunch of people that denied me the request to send out a DVR, as was promised, and yes, you can have this standard receiver back.  One supervisor did get to the point of "well, we can do this:  send you out a new DVR for free, BUT, you will have to commit to another 2 year agreement.".

No, no and double no.  This is NOT what was agreed to when I was speaking with the disconnection department and after quite a bit of time wasted, I ended back at the disconnection department again.  The first woman "reviewed" my account and agreed that there was nothing they could do: it's a new DVR with the 2 year commitment or it's nothing.  Plus she threw in there that the receiver that I had already received automatically re-instated a new, 2 year commitment.  BS.  That got me going, as the original conversation with the person that was giving it to me specifically stated that there would BE no 2 year commitment.

All along, however, I have offered that if they want to replace ALL of my equipment, I would be happy to commit to 2 years again.  Nothing doing.  For whatever reason, they are not interested in doing that.  Meaning that every time one of my receivers fails, I am going to have to go through all of this as I refuse to buy equipment from them that they are giving out to new customers for free.  If I am forced to buy a receiver, it will be either off of Craigslist or Ebay.  That way, I own the blooming thing and I am not forced into a contract that has ALL KINDS of strings attached to it, been there done that.

Further, if I have a contract, I don't have near the leverage I have now without one.  I can disconnect any time without any thought of being charged for it.  It's just a tool that I can use: send me the equipment free or goodbye.

I was going to just end the call - she said she would be "happy" to disconnect my service ?!!!  if I wanted to today.  I got her supervisor on the phone.  Instead of railing on the woman that thinks it's gleeful fun to disconnect customers, I asked the man I was talking to a simple question: was the conversation I had had with the gentleman almost 2 weeks ago about getting a free DVR with no contract recorded?  Yes, sir, it would be available for review.  Then, I stated, I suggest you review that recording, because it is spelled out in that conversation to the nth degree that I was to get a new DVR, for free, with no 2 year commitment.  The ONLY caveat is that it would be treated as a leased DVR  and I would have to return it if I ever cancel my service with Direct TV.

Well who cares about that? What am I going to do with it if/when I cancel the service?  It is useless with any other company and I don't CARE if I own it or not.  In fact, NOT owning it is better: they will have to replace it for free if it ever breaks.

They like putting people on hold - for extended lengths of time. One guy put me on hold twice, for at least 5 minutes per, without any sound.  He obviously wanted me to hang up as I was asking for something that he didn't want to do.

Regardless, this situation might be over now.  I say might because I don't consider it a done deal until I have the new DVR sitting there, hooked up, activated and another call to Direct TV to ensure that there is NO contract automatically occurring.

This time, however, they are sending out a tech. Why?  I guess they want to know for sure that the one I have is defective.  Yes, it's defective.  Hook it up, it puts these blips and lines on the TV.  It's junk.

I don't care if they send out a tech, but the recorded conversation with the confirmation department included that there is no contract, no fee for the tech to come out and that the DVR is free.

Thank you.

ben

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

Skin Irritation

Okay, I"ve been to 5 different doctors spanning the time since the last quarter of last year about this situation.  The first 3 doctors didn't have a clue, the 4th doctor said, gee, there is a problem, you need a dermatologist and gave me the authorization to see a dermatologist.

Then our company switched insurance providers.
I then went to a dermatologist - twice - who didn't address the problem even though I repeatedly brought the subject up on both visits - $50 copay per visit.  Well, she "addressed" it:  I think you've had this problem a long time and you just haven't noticed it.

I didn't want to argue with her, she claimed sun exposure.  I have sun exposure issues, I can tell you right now that what ever is going on here?  Has nothing to do with sun exposure.  In fact, in all of these instances, I said I thought it looked like ringworm.   I have had ringworm before - a long time ago - back then it was prescription only medication.   I have asked these doctors whether there is an over the counter medication, they always tell me to go see a doctor.

The itching on my face has become unbearable.  I looked up ringworm on the internet today to find a couple of OTC remedies for it - they are used for Athlete's foot as well.  I don't KNOW if what I have is ringworm, I am only looking at it and thinking this is what it is.  Lotrimin is one such remedy.  I ran down to Walgreen's as soon as I found that - $10 is worth a try over a $50 copay for a "specialist" that doesn't even try to address the problem.  I have sun exposure on my arms as much as my face, they aren't itching.  Anyway, the symptoms are the same: itching, burning, discomfort - I haven't seen any scaling but I wash my face twice a day, so perhaps that's why I wouldn't see any.  I mean I wash my face with a special soap that was "ordered" by the dermatologist.

If this doesn't work, I am going to find another doctor and this time?  I am not taking no for an answer.  Do tests on my skin, I don't care WHAT it takes, you are going to find out what's wrong and if it is treatable, you are going to treat it.  I am not going to continue to shell out $25 or $50 copays for nothing information.

Heck, I was checking out another doctor today - I need a general practice doctor - this place charges $50 if you are a no-show. It's funny how they can charge you $50 or $25 for being a no-show if you don't cancel the appointment within 24 hours of the date, but they can do whatever they freaking please.  If the doc can't see you?  They'll call 2 hours before the appointment and cancel it.  If they have overbooked?  You are going to sit in that waiting area for a long, long time.  They aren't handing me 50 dollar bills for having to wait forever, are they?  BS.  Apparently this is the current trend: charge you for not showing up.  It's unfortunate, but I  have missed a few appointments because of my job.

The really funny thing about this is that these doc offices invariably refill that missed "position".  Not only that, but these doctors are unwilling to spend and real time with you if you have a lot to deal with.  If you get 10 or 15 minutes out of them, you are lucky.  A bit lop-sided system, I have to say.

Anyway, I'm trying this stuff for a week.  If it doesn't work, well I'll be looking for another doc in the next several days and I will make yet another appointment.

Thursday 3/17/2011

Thursday

I had thoughts of attending this family reunion in North Carolina. Besides financial factors - the cost of an air ticket to get there and back would undoubtedly be very high, not to mention a rental car, hotel and eating, plus whatever activities - I don't know any of these people.

The idea of spending a week with people I don't know? Could be an awesome time, could be a nightmare, could be a bit of both. Last time I spent a single day with an unknown family was not the greatest time on earth. That was when Caleb and I went down to visit my dad and his wife for - Thanksgiving I think it was. Some of her family was there and the dad/husband/son of my dad's wife was........more than I was willing to deal with. 

He talked and talked and talked and talked - endlessly - didn't want to hear anything anyone said, or if he did let in a word or two, he would instantly go on his own little venture of how HE had done the same thing or been through that kind of ordeal or whatever. 

I don't even have these people as FB friends - my family lines - save one. So, let's say I could magically come up with the $1,500 or whatever to go and "enjoy" myself. Lots of unknowns in that sort of situation. 

Funny that I have all of these relatives that I have never known. I saw them when I was a little kid - I mean little as in around 8 years old or younger, I really can't remember what age, I am sure it was before the age of 10. My family moved out west when I was 10 and that was the end of any visits to relatives. 

It's a strange thing to have a family that lives within 50 miles of each other but doesn't want to talk to each other, much less spend any time together. I have never really given any consideration to the fact that I have never known any of my relatives. 

Well, whatever. It is what it is and I'm not going to do anything to change at this late point in the game. 

The news is all over the scale. Japan and it's denial that the plant is going to melt down - we all hope it won't, of course, but experts from the U.S. are saying elsewise; the security council is waffling while the "rebels" are being slaughtered in Libya; but here's one that got my attention: a mayor in Florida is recalled and booted for his stance on tax, tax, tax the people. 

I would love to see that happen with certain members of the city council in the city of Phoenix and it's mayor as well. There have been proposals by one of the council members on how to save money so that taxes don't have to be increased. They seem to want to up the water bill by 5% every year. It would be a hoot if it started a trend: just recall these people who think that dumping the burden on the taxpayers even more than they are already being dumped on is, somehow, a good idea. 

That would get them ALL shaking in their boots. Gee, I better rethink this. Here's the point: these municipalities are basing their activities, expenditures, budgets on what it USED to be. You know, when the economy was good and all kinds of money was flowing into their coffers? Instead of cutting back, they seem to want to just keep things the same and make taxpayers foot the bill for it. I don't think so. The average pay and benefits for a city worked in Phoenix is $100,000 PER YEAR. 

This is what the council member was talking about cutting back, that and other things.

Whatever, just musing. I must get offa here.

ben

Direct TV Revisited (yes, another episode)

Putting it bluntly, I do not like calling Direct TV.  Like so many other companies, you call in and have to give a computer your information.  You then get sent to a live operator - after pressing 0 numerous times to get the computer to shut up and get to a real human being.

The person that answers the phone wants you to give the exact same information that you already gave to that freaking computer all over again.  You already know the person you are talking to isn't going to be able to help you - at all - unless it's a very simple problem.  The woman that answered the phone today?  Her English was so poor it was unintelligible 50% of the time I was listening to her speaking.  I won't even attempt to try to get anything done with a person that doesn't fluently speak the language that I am speaking, it is a complete waste of my time. However, she transferred me to the technical support department.

THAT person asked me the SAME information AGAIN.  NO.  WHY can't you people get software incorporated into your computer system to pass along the fact that I have already, completely, thoroughly identified myself at least twice before I got to YOU?  Yes, I did ask her that.  I have asked alot of Direct TV associates that same question over the years.  I expect, but I hate it.  It's very irritating to have to be passed from one person to another AND have to fully identify yourself every time.

This woman got rude with me, so I asked her her name and employee ID number.  "Well I want YOUR name first!".  That was enough of that.  I declared to her that she had made a huge mistake in treating me that way, I am relentless in my quest for "revenge", if that's even the correct word, when verbally assailed by a customer service agent.  I demanded to speak to her supervisor.

Lots of yada yada yada not worth going into and this guy gets on the phone.  I start telling him my issues, including the previous woman - when he starts talking over the top of me.  I usually go silent when that occurs  as I did this time.  I wait for him to finish and then I proceed, again, to inform him of why I had called since he had asked.  He starts talking over the top of me again.

This is one of the most aggravating, irritating and confrontive types of things you can do to a customer, or at least to this customer.  This means, to me anyway, that that person does no want to hear anything I have to say, he is right and I am wrong, it doesn't matter what my problem is and he is superior to me.  At least in his own eyes.  I asked him the location of corporate headquarters and informed him that I would reporting him, as well and what is HIS ID number?  He gave me it.  He told me corporate headquarters is in Colorado.

GONG.  LIAR.  I remembered it was in California somewhere, I just couldn't remember what town.  El Segundo, when I saw it, it rang the bell as I have called that number before.  Back and forth, I dialed the number and got on the phone with a person.  I tell him that I am on the phone with a supervisor.

I know, it sounds like too much to go through, but, these ordeals net me wins every time.  You see, I got my new DVR today.  It's a nice little unit, looks brand new - but who knows.  Works great is what I can say.  But what was not in the box were the 2 extra remotes I had asked for.  I'll admit that the man I was speaking to a few days ago did not actually agree to send me 2 remotes for free, but he NEVER said he wouldn't.  I had brought the subject up 3 times and he danced away from that subject and was only focusing on the issue with wanting to quit Direct TV and what would appease me to stay with Direct TV.  That day was a score, so was today, though at no small amount of aggravation.

Long story short.  No, of course not, it's already been a long story.  But - besides getting the card activated - I also got the 2 remotes for free.  This whole thing started earlier this week when I saw my bill and saw that they had raised my rate - even though I had been promised it would not.

It's a never-ending story with this company.

Wednesday 3/16/2011

Ummm, sooo. I can't really do anything that I want to do with the ponds until my new pond liner arrives in the mail/fed ex/whatever. I was thinking of putting all the Koi that I got yesterday in that pond. 

Next door - probably illegal alien - "neighbor" starting trouble again. He won't start the crap with me, he starts it with my tenants. This time, it was with the "kid". He had pulled up "too far". 

Let me just say here that there is no law on the books that I know of that says a vehicle has to be parked in front of the person's house where that vehicle's owner is staying or visiting. As long as you are not blocking a person's driveway or a fire hydrant, there isn't any law that says if someone moves 2 inches beyond a person's fence line, that is considering illegal, somehow.

So, this "man" comes running out, apparently, from his house as soon as the guy parked his car. He just stands there looking at him. I wasn't out there or I would certainly have made some nice comments directed towards this guy who has a hard-on for starting trouble. 

The kid thought that maybe it was because of that guy's driveway and the car that was parked in it. No, it isn't. They don't use that car, it never moves out of that driveway. Even if they did, you aren't anywhere NEAR blocking it or the gate. 

The kid had moved his car way back and I told him not to do that - another car won't be able to park behind his and then MY driveway will be blocked and I won't be able to get out in the morning to go to work. I also said not to let that man intimidate you - lol, THAT got him going. "I am NOT intimidated by ANYONE". Okay then, let's just park our vehicles as we have been parking them and if that guy wants to start trouble, let him call the police. Otherwise, I suggest you ignore him. 

I will be parking my old car there whenever the spot is open at this point. Oh, and to give an idea of this guy's garbage, HE had his van parked about half a foot into my side of the fence last week for several days. I didn't say anything - that's because I DON'T CARE. I don't sit at the window, waiting for someone to park "wrong" and then go running out having a cow about NOTHING.

As for the situation with Chase bank - and their giving me the wrong account number AND the wrong routing number, written down on paper - the mortgage payment finally went through. I was mad 2 days ago about this situation - I am still very unhappy with it. I have not heard back from the bank - they will be hearing from me. 

Anyway, time is running out and I want to read about Japan and also Libya - just enough time to squeeze that in, I think.

Good day.

ben

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

My Day Off

I've wasted half the morning on the phone with both my lender and the bank I was using to pay the lender.  I opened up an account with Chase bank last year - really haven't used it that much.  I decided to dump Compass Bank and go ahead and have direct deposit going with Chase.

No problems with the direct deposit.  Now, I don't have paper checks from Chase and I don't want any.  I had to make the second of the HAMP trial payment at the beginning of this month, meaning I needed my routing number and account number to give to my lender to make over the phone payment.  I went INTO the bank to get that number, of which a teller wrote it down and handed it to me.

The problem:  the funds have not been withdrawn from my bank. I have called me lender several times over the past couple of weeks and the bank as well.  The bank informs me that it didn't go through because it was the wrong routing number.  My lender just says it didn't go through.  Last week I had tried to make yet another payment on the account.  The problem there was that the teller at the window who wrote the number down missed a number.  Obviously, you have to have the account number right to do anything with it.

So, today, I'm calling again, why hasn't this payment gone through, why haven't the funds been withdrawn from my account?  Back and forth - I ended up with the corporate headquarters of Chase bank.  First guy I spoke with was rude, I hung up on him and called back.  The second person I talked with went around in endless circles, saying the same thing, over and over.  She hung up on me - I wasn't taking no for an answer. The third person said I had already called.  Yes, I HAVE already called and  I will KEEP calling until I get a resolution to this situation.

She takes my cell number and says she will call me back when she discusses with the second person what that person was able to find out.  I replied that since she hung up on me, it is highly unlikely that anything has been done.   I'm starting to get pissed at this point.  What kind of bank has employees working a teller window that give out incorrect information?

I took a trip to the Chase location where I had been given the wrong account number.  I walked in, asked for the branch manager - of course, that individual is on vacation.  Never fails.  Settled for second in command.  We go into an office.  I hand her my debit card and then I hand her the paper that the numbers had been written on by the teller and ask her to compare the two.  PLEASE tell me what the problem is.  Oh, she says, the routing number is wrong - completely wrong.  It's a routing number for Arizona and you opened this account in Colorado.

Colorado?  I haven't been in or through Colorado in years, I reply, the only thing I can think of is it is because I started the account up on the internet.  I voice my extreme displeasure with Chase bank and the apparent fact that something as simple as writing down a routing number could be messed up.  But I didn't stop there, because she was saying that the person didn't apparently look at the screen to see which state this account was set up in to give the correct routing number.

I then point to the account number.  PLEASE match the 2 up.  What kind of excuse is she going to give for that crap?  None, she can't.  She apologizes, great. However, I tell her, this HAMP loan modification, which is what this rejected payment was for, has strict rules.  One of which states that if you miss any of your 3 trial payments to be made on time, the modification is rejected.  What are you going to do about that if that's what happens?  Yeah, that is why I was getting so upset.  I have no idea at this point where that thing stands.

I'm not sorry to say that I will be moving my direct deposits from that bank to another, yet to be determined. I think there is a bank that is giving out $100 to sign up for a checking account.  I WILL be cancelling my account there.  It wasn't just giving the wrong routing number: it was giving the wrong routing number AND missing a number in the account number.

Whatever.

I fired up the third pond earlier.  It's out front.  It's the smallest pond.  I have some fish in the biggest pond that I am going to take out of there and put in the small one - after a few days that is.  I'm going to let the bio filter cycle through that fresh water for a couple of days before making the move.  There is a couple of fish in the large pond that are being chased around and nipped out, they will be removed from that one and put in the small one.

Meanwhile, the medium sized pond?  The fish are mating in there.  I opened up the door right next to that pond earlier and they were "rubbing" away.  I'm sorta curious to know whether that fish chasing that other fish in the big pond was actually trying to mate with it.  No idea.

Eggs in the hummingbird nest have not hatched yet, but if the site I read is correct, it should occur sometime this week.

Next door neighbor is going crazy over there with that backhoe, making a lot of noise with thing - have been listening to that noise for 3 and a half days now.  The company that rented it to him is coming or it today - I can add happily.

I think I am going to make some brats on the grill.  I'm hungry and it sounds very appetizing.

Later.

ben

Sunday 3/13/2011 Direct TV and other things

I'm gonna get my way with Direct TV, I do every time.  I may have to spend hours to get there, but I get my way.  Today?  No different.  I looked at my bill online - it had gone up $7 per month.  No, no and double-NO.  I already pay them enough money, I'm not going there with them.  I braced myself for a long, drawn-out series of phone calls.  I'm a pro, I guess you would call it, at this, I've been dealing with this company for over a decade now.  I know how they operate, I know that you might encounter some very rude "associates" and I know that I will have to talk to several different people, make several phone calls - and probably get hung up on at least once before I get to where I want to be.

The first person I talked to a knew I wouldn't get anywhere with.  That person has no authority, whatsoever, to give me what I am asking for.  I just ask them for what I want without going into to much of it, and then I ask for a supervisor.  No diss to that person, at all, just they haven't go the juice.  I know that sometimes a supervisor can sometimes they can't - or won't - I'm not 100% sure of their authority and how far they can go with it.

The first supervisor?  Hung up on me.  That after I wasn't budging - give me my "old" rate or - nothing.  He invited me to leave Direct TV and go with another company.  I immediately asked him for his name and ID number.  He hung up on me.  That man isn't going to get away with it, I will be contacting corporate tomorrow and discussing with them supervisors that can't take the heat that they are dishing out.

I call back.  This time I bypass the initial operator, telling them I was talking to a supervisor and that I want to speak to another one.  No problem, he gets me - eventually - to a supervisor.  I go the rounds - respectfully of course - with this guy. He can't help me.  Offers to switch me to a "specialist".  The specialist, turns out and after half an hour of listening to this person attempting to deceive me into thinking I am getting a good deal - has LESS authority than the supervisor I was talking with.

She asks me if there is anything further she can do for me.  Yes, as a matter of fact, put my rate back to what it was, thank you.  Can't do that.  I suggest you talk to Corporate like you were talking about.  Yes, I replied, but why should I HAVE to talk to them? Why can't you simply do what they WILL do after I get to them, which will be an even longer, drawn-out ordeal?  Oh, and btw, why is it your company is raising your rates in the worst economic atmosphere that has existed in this country since the Great Depression?  Other questions she couldn't or wouldn't answer.  She then offers to connect me to the disconnect department.

I thought about that a flash and thought it worth the gamble.  I'm thinking they might have some juice to be able to offer something instead of having you leave.  Roll of the dice, I am gambling here, can I get what I want or am I going to have to eat it, cause' I really do not want to quit DTV.  A little trepidation on this one, I think I talked to their department once, about 10 years ago, I don't remember the outcome.

So, a cool sounding person gets on the phone.  How can I help you?  "Well, apparently your company wants me to disconnect since the last person I was talking to transferred me here, without my asking and the first supervisor I was talking to invited me to quit the service as well".  We talked back and forth - I also brought up the fact of a bad DVR and remotes that don't work.

Without going into that entire conversation - I could but why?  Unless people want to learn how to deal with large corporations and getting what you want for less than what everyone else is paying for - I am getting a brand new DVR, 2 remotes and $12 per month taken off the monthly bill for the next 12 months.  That reduction is MORE than what was tacked onto my service.

Look Direct TV just raised their monthly rate for each additional receiver by $1.  I have 5 extra receivers.  Plus he took off DVR service charge.  My bill had gone up like $6, I'm off the hook for $12.  Yup, I took it. Not only that, but I didn't have to get into a contract to get the DVR.  I won't own the thing - it's considered a "lease" and I have to send it back when I'm through with it.  Yes, well, think about it.  I can't use it for anything but Direct TV, it's not like I have anything to gain by owning it anyway.  He also threw in that they will send the box and pay shipping to send it back.

That's it.  I won again.  It took about 2 hours of phone calls, maybe 2 and a half, but, I'm there.

As for today/going into other things?  Well, I like probably the rest of the world am watching the situation in Japan.  What a catastrophe.  Nuclear plants on the verge of melting down?  My God, those people are going through hell right now.  I do hope the world unites and goes to help them.  \

I spent most of the day outdoors.  I sprayed Miracle Gro through a garden hose attachment onto just about every plant on the property. I spent hours picking up leaves out front - not even half done with that.  Pruning plants and trees.  Getting the pond in.  It was quite the productive Sunday.  I have tomorrow off and I intend on spending at least the morning doing the same.  I have the outdoor bug right now - and there is enough to keep me busy for quite a while.

Oh, and I cleaned out the larger pond's filter system.  I couldn't believe how full of gunk it had gotten in just 2 weeks.  I am doing the smaller one tomorrow and switching the UV sterilizer from the large pond to the small one.  The large pond is free of the green water, the small one is not.  I imagine this to be a problem until I get more Plecos in them.

Anyway, that's enough.

Good evening.

ben

Blame Me

Next door neighbor has the use of a backhoe for tearing down his house.  So, I decided to go over there and ask him if he would dig out the hole for my small pond for the front of my house.  No problem.

So, he brings the thing over, we start digging.  On the final pull of the bucket - it was the last one, I promise, it was all I needed to get that hole dug - the thing snags the waterline that I didn't know was there and tears it out quite nicely.  Hole dug, waterline destroyed.  That would be the 3/4 inch line that feeds water to my house.

Water gushing all over the place, not a big problem to shut off the water, the meter is right there.  Of course, that shuts off the water to the entire house.  I do not have a propane torch or the accessories needed to repair a line like that.  I used to have all of that stuff, but it was all stolen.  I never replaced any of it, expensive and who wants to keep replacing things that.......keep getting stolen.

On a sidenote, and for readers that have been around for quite while, the elimination of Michael living at this household was also the elimination of any of the remaining theft issues.

As for me, I thought, well, time to replace all of that stuff.  But, a neighborhood guy told me to call his dad - who lives behind me - he would fix it.  Okay.  Well, they called him for me.  Yes, I can fix such things but no, I can't do it without the proper equipment, and no, replacing all of that today was not on any of my lists of things to do.

This went on all day long.  It turns out the company that installed the waterline for my new house used 3/4 inch line up until they apparently ran out of that and used something else.  I had no idea.  Sam - that guy that lives behind me and came over to fix the thing - indicated that the fittings he had would not work.  So, I sent him on his way, he had another project to fix while I ran around trying to figure out what size this particular application is.  Smaller than 3/4's and bigger than 1/2 inch.

Home Depot had no clue.  It dawned on me: they might have used refrigeration copper on this application, but HD apparently doesn't carry that stuff.  I went to Evergreen, they were able to identify it as refrigeration copper, but no, they don't carry such stuff and probably could only find fittings for it at a heating and refrigeration type of store. All closed on Saturday.  Of course, my company has it's own refrigeration store, it's huge, but yes, also closed.

Well, without going into the details of the fittings used, Sam came back, put it all together and that was that.  I spent most of the day outside, out front of my house.  In the interim periods, I was trimming back trees, bushes, plants and picking up leaves - a lot of dead leaves from the cold and frost this winter.  LOTS left to go out there, but put a good dent into it.

Some things seem like  a major catastrophe to some people, but not to others.  I didn't see this as a major ordeal.  Mostly because I have the knowledge and skill to repair it myself.  I may have actually been better off going to HD and buying a torch set today, but, this guy came over and I figured I would get out of it cheap enough - $40 for his time including some of his fittings and copper tubing.  That also includes completely bypassing having to dig out that rocky soil for the hold for the pond.

No, I did not give my neighbor with the backhoe money, neither did I offer any.  I have given him free use of wireless internet for a long period of time and that was more than sufficient to me for 10 minutes of use of a backhoe, which, literally, is all it was.  It would have taken me days and days to dig out that hole - the ground is FULL of rocks, it is very difficult digging.  It really sucks, basically, digging into the soil around here.  So, no big deal to me.  The water is back on and we're all happy campers.

I am on day one of a 3 day weekend.  I had to take time off - a day at least - or start "losing" vacation time starting next month.  80 hours.  I would have hit it at the beginning of the month and lost anything over that that I am accruing.  I have a lot of work to do on the property now that spring is - here even if not anywhere else.  March 20th is the first official day of spring this year.  My trees are all budding, plants are starting to grow again, temps are warming up, spring is here for me, if no-one else, lol.  The point is that now, it is obvious where and what to cut off from plants and trees from the winter frost.  Some plants, I believe, are a total loss.  I will let them linger a while longer in case they are late bloomers, if nothing, they will be unearthed and I will do something else in those areas.  Not a lot, though, nothing NEAR what I was fearing when we were hitting 20 degree weather.

Enough for one entry.

G'day.

ben

Caring For Your Pre-Formed Fish Pond

I am writing this entry for the Googlers out there that are looking for specific information about ponds that they/you are not finding elsewhere.  I went through this process earlier last year, trying to find information and not finding what I was looking for.  It is not intrinsic knowledge, learning how to set up and care for a small pond is not that difficult, but if you don't know what you are doing, you will probably waste some money in that learning experience.

I am not really going to go into digging out the hole to place your pond - this is pretty simple stuff.  Set your pond where you are going to place it, get a can of spray paint, spray around the bottom perimeter of the pond, start digging.  Once the bottom is in the ground but the shelves are at ground level, spray paint around that, more digging of the entire hole until it is deep enough.

But let me emphasize here that you do not have to bury the pond in the ground.  I have 2 ponds up and running.  One is above ground, the other is in-ground.  I like them both.  The one above ground is on a slab of cement next to a side door on my house.  Because that door leads to "nowhere", no one uses it.  I have the shelves of the pond propped up with pavers so that it doesn't collapse. It has been sitting there like that for - quite a long time now with out any problems.

That's my short bit about ponds and placement.  As for finding pre-formed ponds for sale, Home Depot and Lowe's carries them.  However, I found all of mine on Craigslist.  One of them was brand new that I got for a steal from some people that decided that pre-formed wasn't for them, they were going to build a much larger, in-ground affair. I would suggest that if you have never owned a pond before, start with the small pre-formed pond first.  Get your feet wet with the small version, you will have a MUCH better idea of what you want in a bigger pond.  It is prudent to do much research into in-ground, liner type ponds first before buying anything or even deciding where to put it.

Okay, you have this pond.  Maybe you rented a house with a preformed pond that still has live fish in it.  I am going out tomorrow to help a person that rented a house that yes, has a preformed pond, this lady has absolutely no clue, whatsoever, how to clean it or keep it functioning.  I am happy to help when I can, it's a great hobby and it's peaceful to sit and watch your fish swimming around doing the things that they do.

Maybe you are going to put one on your apartment patio - some apartments DO allow this, you have to ask your landlord, obviously.  The point is, preformed ponds aren't just for homeowners.  It's great fun, once you get it set up there isn't much maintenance.

Now for some specifics.  Namely, the pump and the filter setup.  I searched the high heavens for good information on this, I only found generic stuff.  I went to people's homes with ponds.  I joined a pond society for info.  After I got my first pond set up and wanted fish, I went to people's homes to get the fish and asked a lot of questions.  To no avail, I might add. Those ponds were all HUGE, built-in ponds up to 5,000 gallons.

So, I had my first pond.  I decided to buy a small pump to get water circulating, but didn't put in any fish or plants.  It was a 75 GPH (gallons per hour) pump.  I thought that since the pond was only 120 gallons, that size pump was adequate.  I then went to a 125GPH pump, finding that the 75 thing was not even close to enough.  No, that wasn't enough, either.  I then went to a 300 GPH pump.  I then found a waterfall type of filtering system. It's a large, plastic affair that has water pumped in from the bottom, goes through the filtering agents and then pours out into your pond like a waterfall.  They are very cool, I like those kinds of filters.

So, let's mesh these two together.  The waterfall filter has a bag of bio-balls that goes into the bottom.  You MUST have bio-balls if you are going to have fish in the pond, period.  Usually, the waterfall filters come with them, if they don't, you can buy them on eBay or you can find them at pet stores (MUCH cheaper on eBay).  The more, the merrier.  I don't know how anyone else does their's, I just know how I set mine up.  I found filter media on eBay - I buy it a couple of rolls at a at time. And yes, that's what it's called: filter media.

I put a layer of that above the bio-balls.  I then put that thick, porous filtering agent - don't remember what it's called but the waterfall filter should come with it anyway - on top of that.  That's it.  That's the waterfall filter.  I have them on both of my ponds.  Both of them are good for up to 1,000 gallon ponds.  That's right, think bigger is better with these small ponds if you want lots of fish in them.  My small pond is only 120 gallons and yes, I have a waterfall filter that is good up to 1,000 gallons filtering the water on it.

Now, guess what size pump I have on that filter?  No, it's not a 300 GPH pump.  I found the water flow to be far too low.  No, the submersible (yes, you want a submersible pump) I have on that baby is 700GPH.  Too much circulation isn't a problem, too little IS.  It looks quite normal in the flow coming off the waterfall, it is not overkill.  I would suggest you not make the mistake I did and start out buying ridiculously small pumps that you are going to find is not going to do the job.

Up until last weekend, I had 16 medium to large sized goldfish in that pond.  That's 5 to 9 inches.  They had been in there quite a while, too.  I got rid of some of them - gave them away to a guy that has a much larger pond - because they were obviously cramped in there.  I have 8 of them in there now, looks about perfect.  All the small fish are gone right now but breeding season should be starting up soon enough and then there will be little fishies in there again.  The point is, again, if you want fish, especially if you wanter larger fish, you must have overkill on the filtering system.  If you just want plants in there, well, a much smaller filtering system will suffice.  I'm gearing this piece towards those that want fish, it's much more interesting than having just a water feature with some plants and no fish.

If you don't want the larger waterfall filter, try something like the FishMate Bio Pond Filter.  Make SURE that you get a bio-type of filter.  However, I must point out that the waterfall filter IS a waterfall effect and has the sound of water pouring into water, it is quite the soothing effect.  The FishMate filter is much smaller, though, and does a good job - BUT - I haven't tried it on my ponds with large fish, I have only used it on a pond with much smaller fish.  The FishMate filter is also much easier to clean out.  I don't really care how much effort it is, though, to clean out the waterfall filter since it's doing it's job swimmingly.

BTW, my smaller pond is 6 feet long at it's longest point and 4-1/2 feet wide at it's widest point.  My other pond is a bit larger.  It's 8 feet long by 6 feet wide and is close to 300 gallons.  I have an 800 GPH pump on that one that I acquired through eBay. If you want to do this kind of thing on a budget, I STRONGLY suggest eBay.  I found a dealer on there that sells a quality pump and also gives a 2 year warranty on it for MUCH less money than I could ever find it in a store.  I also got my FishMate filter on eBay.  I ended up getting that one for free - but that's another story entirely.  Ebay is a good buying venue now that they have buyer protection on it - whereas it used to be buyer-beware: look at their feedback rating, but if you get screwed, don't come running to us.

I would definitely suggest buying the pump new, but the filter?  I see them here and there, the waterfall filter, on Craigslist.  Much better price, it's plastic so unless it's already broken, you shouldn't have a problem with it.  The waterline from the pump to the filter can be found at Home Depot - it's specifically made for ponds and is in the Garden section.  Get the 3/4 inch size, NOT the half inch size, btw.

Okay, well, the most critical components of your ponding system have been covered: the filtration/circulation system.  Let's go into a bit more, shall we?

I noticed that my fish were at the surface, attempting to gulp air, apparently.  Well, I had aquariums as a kid, I instantly knew that there is not enough aeration in the water.  If you are doing this stuff on a budget, then I would suggest to you that WalMart and Ebay are going to become your best friends if you want to find the best prices (at least, the best prices I could find).  Walmart sells aerators for less than $10.00.  I bought 2 of them, plus the long aeration stones and tubing.  I have one air pump for each pond - each of the pumps have 2 outlets so I have 2 air stones in each pond, problem solved and no, they don't use much electricity.

Green water.  Yup, you might encounter that.  When that happened on my larger pond, I went to WalMart and bought the algae removing liquid for ponds.  I bought a couple of bottles and it didn't work, AT ALL.  It did absolutely nothing to clear it up.  I did some research and it didn't take long to come up with a UV Sterilizer.  I read a lot of conflicting information.  Some people think they are harmful to your fish and plants, but science, at least what I read, says otherwise.  It just uses a ultraviolet light to kill off the algae.  That's it, seriously.  It's a tubular looking thing with a large UV light in it.  It has an inlet and an outlet.  You hook your pump-side hose to the inlet and you hook your filter-side hose to the outlet, clamp the hose onto it, start the pump up, plug in the sterilizer, walaah.  It took about 5 days if I remember correctly to completely clear up the water.

Where did I buy mine?  3 guesses, first 2 don't count. Yes, Ebay.  I found the cheapest one on there, I think it was $30 plus cheap shipping.  I did a search on the net for any info about it- some dude gave it a negative review, but, he said it worked.  I just bought the thing. I ran it for a month on that pond, but really only needed to run it for maybe a week.  I took it off and - I am using it again, 8 months later.  That's right, the water cleared up after the first time and stayed clear for a long time.  It clouded up again recently, so I put it back on there.  It's clear again and this weekend I'm taking it back off. I only need on of these sterilizers for my ponds since I can just move it around.  It's a good investment if you want clear ponds, which I do.  BTW,  UV STERILIZER, not UV Clarifier.  Trust me, your fish are not going to be sterilized and your plants are not going to disappear into outer-space.  

Algae on pond walls.  Think Plecostomus.  They are fastidious algae eaters.  The first one I put in the small pond had the walls cleaned off in a couple of days.  The only drawback is they can't tolerate winter-cold water.  Even with heaters, 3 of mine died off this winter.  I am going to get another one - I don't know what I am going to do with him next winter, maybe just sell him to someone with an aquarium and then buy yet another one the next spring.

Aging and cycling water.  Well, probably should do that in large ponds, yes.  In small ponds?  Go to Walmart, buy a bottle of "Pond Start", pour the recommended amount into the freshly poured water, walaah, your fish are ready to go in.  This is what the water cycling is for, fishies, it doesn't matter otherwise.  I have had NO problems with putting fish into a totally fresh pond full of water that has not aged or cycled at all as long as I used the Pond Start.  In fact, the only problem I have had with fish dying, other than the Plecos this winter, is a couple that have jumped out of the pond.

Water replacement.  I don't do it.  That is, the practice of half emptying a pond - or even more - and putting fresh water back in.  As long as you have a good filtering system, this is completely unecessary.  Water evaporates out of them anyway, so a small amount of water replacement is forced because of that fact, other than that?  Forget it.  If your water is cloudy with other than algae, you have a filtering problem. It's dirty and needs cleaned or it's not sufficient size for the pond.

What kind of fish?  I have Koi, Goldfish and other kinds of fish in my ponds.  I like the Koi the best.  I have several of them, but I have 2 18 inchers in there.  They are all yellow and totally cool looking.  I have a jet black Koi in there as well, he is very hard to see in that black pond, lol.  I have smaller Koi, all sizes of goldfish, some mosquito eaters and other fish I don't know what they are that I acquired from other people.

You can also have frogs and turtles, but, I tried the turtles, they tear down my vegetation so I don't do turtles anymore.

Where to get all this?  I have acquired 99% of my fish through Craigslist.  People shutting down ponds.  People thinning out their ponds.  People who bought a short-saled home and got a pond they don't want and are getting rid of everything.  I have acquired almost all of my goldfish for FREE and my Koi?  Very cheap prices.  I scoured Craigslist daily and called the instant I found Koi going cheap.  I scored enough times that I have enough now.  You can buy small Koi at places like PetSmart.  There are breeders - at least in my area - that advertise on Craigslist as well.  I don't use them, I haven't needed to.

Water plants.  Very cool stuff here.   Everyone loves the floating plants - water lilies the most popular.  I'm on a budget, so I look around for stuff until I find what I'm looking for.  My trips to get plants and fish have not been few, but thankfully, they are pretty much over now.  I don't need any more fish OR plants.  I got almost all of my plants for free.  I bought some of the lilies, yes, but other than that?  Again, Craigslist.  Pond owners will advertise that they are going to be thinning down their plants on a certain day and on that day, the clippings will be available for free.  Yes, free.  You do NOT need a green thumb to be able to grow water plants, they pretty much grow like weeds.

They will just break chunks of a plant off a larger plant.  They give them to you.  You go to the dollar store and buy the cheap plastic containers - these plants will grow in ANY container you might have.  People tell me they buy organic cat litter at Walmart to plant them.  Who wants to spend money when dirt is free?  Put a small layer of small rocks - available throughout the world for free, I have plenty of landscaping rock so I use that - on the bottom of the container.  Put a layer of dirt over the rocks.  Stick your plant and it's roots in there.  Put more dirt in until the container is almost full.  Cover the top layer of soil with more rocks - helps keep the dirt out of your pond, done.  Water lilies should be placed at the bottom of your pond regardless of how small it might be.

I have no problem with a bit of dirt at the bottom of my pond, but there isn't any (from plant containers) or if there is, it is not noticable.  There is some sand down there - where that came from I have no idea, but it doesn't look bad so I don't care.

Cleaning out your pond.  Another advantage of an 800GPH pump - it draws EVERYTHING to it.  I just pull the cover off here and there, clean off the junk and that's it.  I would rather have the floating material drawn to the pump first instead of floating to the bottom and just laying there.  I'm sure some of that happens, anyway, but the fish kick that stuff up and yes, it goes to the pump.  One way of the other, at least in my ponds, that junk ends up at the pump or sucked into it and into the filtering system - and yes, mostly the filtering system.

When I open up my waterfall filters to clean them out, there is a LOT of "gunk" in there.  Mostly looks like fish stuff.  I clean them out by my trees and plants, that kind of stuff has GOT to be great fertilizer!  I do not reuse  the filter media, I wash it out onto the ground next to a tree, but otherwise it gets thrown in the trash.

Oh, feeding the fishies!  Koi Pellets.  Yup, Walmart sells a large bag of that stuff for - $10 I think?  Lasts a long time.  Smaller fish I use Goldfish Flakes - again, Walmart.  I am actually not the greatest fan of Walmart, but that has to do with pissy customer service issues.  The prices on much of the stuff they have for ponds, however, can't really be beat.

I'm about done here.  I will add to this entry if I think of anything else.  The only other thing I can think of is water temperatures.  I live in a hot region - Phoenix, AZ.  Temperatures in small ponds can rise pretty high if you don't do something to cool the water.  In a place as hot as this, it's called evaporative cooling.  You might not even have to think about that if you are in a cooler locale, instead, you might have to think about what to do in wintertime.  But here?  I take use nature's way to cool the water.  I will take large rocks and stack them up on top of each other until they are sticking well up out of the water.  I take a smaller pump - maybe 500GPH is good - take a piece of tubing and have the water shooting up into the air out of the pump. Aim the water so it comes down on top of the rocks.  The water flows over the rocks and back into the pond.  Walaah, evaporative cooling, and yes, it DOES work. I made that one up on my own!! lol, didn't read it anywhere, it just struck me that this method should work and it does.

In winter conditions in frigid areas?  I don't think your preformed pond is going to do well with fish in them unless you are going to heat the water.  It got cold here this year, but that is my version of cold, the coldest night was 24 degrees.  No, fish don't like it that cold.  They sell these heaters you can put into ponds.  I think the guy I bought them from said they were $30 a piece, I bought mine for $2.  He was shutting down his pond last summer and wanted to get rid of his heaters.  I bought almost all of them thinking that when winter comes, if it gets too cold, I'm going to have an opt out.  Those heaters, though, if you are running a lot of them, are going to affect your electric bill.  At 300 watts a piece, I was running 4 of them, I saw more electric usage.  Just saying.  I did it anyway, I didn't have to run heat in the house hardly at all this year, I have a well insulated house and it stayed warm enough, meaning I didn't have a "heating bill" per se.

Okay, well that's it for now.  If you have any questions that I might be able to help you with, please leave it in the comments section below.  If you believe you are an expert and that I have said something wrong here, you can comment as well, as long as it isn't hostile.  I can say, though, that everything I have stated here I DO and USE in my daily ponding activities.  That speaks for itself.