aquarium fish

Waiting For Krampus Or Somebody Like Him

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First off, December 4th is the Feast Day Of St Barbara. She is the patron saint of armourers; architects; artillerymen; firemen; firework makers; mathematicians; miners; tunnelers; lightning; chemical engineers; and prisoners. I think I might fit in there somewhere. Secondly, December 5th is the Feast Day Of St Krampus. St Krampus would accompany St Nicholas and punish all bad children and evildoers with switches and other torments.

Yesterday, December 1st, SWMBO and I took a drive down to VA for the purpose of activating a couple parks and to make a trip to Buc-ee’s.

The first park we activated was Shenandoah River State Park US-1316. It is a nice small park located along the Shenandoah River (hence its name). We scouted out the park first before setting up. There were ruminants everywhere in the park. Anyway we settled on setting up at Cullers Outlook, a vista located at the top of the park and over the river. The view there is pretty spectacular. We were the only ones there in the parking lot, though we had a drive-by inspection from one of the rangers. It took 27 minutes to work 33 contacts of which 7 were Park-To-Parks. I stopped in at the Visitors center after and the staff there were very friendly. They have a large aquarium filled with native fishes and a display of stuffed native wildlife.

The next park was about 1 hour away by the roads we took. Seven Bends State Park US-1315 is located in a remote area accessed by a gravel road. There are 2 places to access the park: one off of Hollingsworth Road and the other off of Lupton Road. We opted for the Hollingsworth Road end which is located behind and adjacent to the Muse Winery. It was a small area with a playground and trail access. It only took us 7 minutes to make 14 contacts which made us bonafide. I think next time we are in this area we will try the other end of the park. In any event, propagation was on our side.

We heard the following birds: Carolina Wrens, White-Throated Sparrows, and Eastern Bluebirds.

We continued about 40 miles along US-81 to Mount Crawford VA where the Buc-ee’s is located. For those not familiar, Buc-ee’s is a HUGE truck stop/travel plaza. The franchise is based out of Texas and is common through the South. This one has 120 gas pumps so there is no waiting. The food there is made fresh and is quite good, though we can only speak for the Brisket BBQ Sandwiches, the Turkey BBQ Sandwiches and the Chicken and fries which is what we have tried so far. The Beaver Chips are good also and make a nice snack on a long drive.

That is how SWMBO and I spent the first day of December. I hope all my readers are well and for now, namaste, kidlets.

Missie, Ollie and Moxie at Cullers Overlook in Shenandoah River SP
Looking South from Cullers Overlook
Looking North from Cullers Overlook
Cullers Overlook Sign
Aquarium in Visitors Center
Wildlife Exhibit
Buc-ee’s Yes, it’s that big

A Dark and Stormy Night

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Well, as much as a cliche as it is, it IS a dark and stormy night. I am sitting here in the living room watching my livestock. The cats are laying in various strategic positions, soaking up the heat from the stove. My fish are swimming around as fish tend to do and my hermit crabs are wandering their tank and chirping at each other.

Got a bunch of stuff done today. Went to a local farmers market and got some chocolates for my mother-in-law. She has a sore leg due to falling over a cat. We also went to lunch and then went to a grocery store to do shopping for us and to pick up a few things for my MIL. After we got home I did some riding on my stationary bike while playing a video game. It distracts me from the fact that I am actually exercising and gives my wyfe and I some interactive time. When I got done with that I, with the help of my ever patient wyfe, changed the water in the fish tanks. The majority of our fish are, like our cats, rescues. A lot of them were slated to be food for other fish or were supposed to be bait. I have gold fish (feeders that are over 2 years old), rosy reds which are a type of minnow used as feeders and fathead minnows which are used as bait. I also have cory cats, plecos, a female betta and a otto cat. No, not all in the same tank lol.

After all that I got on the radio for a bit. I am trying to perfect my skills with a sideswiper (also called a cootie) key. It is quite a change from a straight key but I am getting there. Most people are patient. There was one whose callsign will not be mentioned that was put out with me because my keying was not perfect and his computer couldn’t decode it. I guess listening and decoding in his head was too onerous a task. lol Well I am going to finish my coffee and enjoy the warmth. A lot can be learned from kittehs.

TTFN and namaste 🙂

Coffee, kitties and CW

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Yup, a nice Autumn day. It is 18C outside and overcast. A good afternoon to sit here sending CQs to the world. I started out on 10M on the frequency of 28.050MHz and worked a station in Arizona. I changed to the 12M band on 24.910. Nothing. That is the way it goes. I sought a lower frequency to work. I went to 18.085MHz to try my luck. The 17M band can be a good on at times, lots of DX or West Coast. I did have a ham tell me he could hear my signal down in Alabama very strongly. I am also seeing spots on the RBN and other spotting pages. Things may be looking up as I go down in frequency. I worked a station in Colorado. Not too shabby. I refilled my coffee and gave vittles to the livestock (my fish, my hermit krabs and my kitties). Sent out another series of calls on 18.085 MHz. Then I worked a ham from Texas who I had last worked back in 2007. Tempus fugit. Went to my old standby band, 40M. I can always find someone to work on 40M. Sent a series of calls on 7.113MHz. It is in the old Novice portion of 40 but I often find people on here. Of course when I am the FIST Sprints I tend to hang around on 7.059 to 7.062 if I am not on 20M. I am glad they started the Sprints back up and I hope they become popular again.

Well it has been an interesting couple of hours but I am going to take a break from radioing. I think I will design my next batch of been.

Namaste, kidlets

Wow, just wow

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Here are my thoughts as of right now. First off, if your state goes to the effort of installing roundabouts (traffic circles in some areas) then an effort should be made to educate people on how they work. They are supposed to make traffic flow smoothly and folks who pull up to the entrance and sit there waiting for the circle to be completely clear are defeating that purpose. Second, if you pull out in front of someone at least make an effort to get up to the speed limit instead of rolling along at a snails pace. Third, show some courtesy and consideration to truckers. Don’t pull in front of them and slow down, don’t cut them off. Now I do have more things on my mind. You (each and every individual) don’t know everything and your way of doing things is not the only way. If someone shares some information or or an idea with a group, don’t try to show your superiority by making negative comments and/or telling them how wrong they are. By doing this you are not showing anything but how big an asshole you are. 🙂

It was beautiful weather today. I had mown my lawn the other day, right before it snowed and I am glad that I did. It was getting a bit shaggy. Also it was nice to have a bit of slack time this afternoon prior to having to get ready for work. I got to sit with my kittehs and relax …. except for one incident. My largest goldfish somehow found a way to jump out of the aquarium. I picked him and placed him back in the tank. Now we are keeping an eye on him to make sure he is okay.

Enough for now. Namaste, y’all

A Confession!

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I like goldfish (Carassius auratus). Some in the aquarium hobby would see them as common or plebian, but I like them. Don’t get me wrong, I like all kinds of tropical fish such as plecos and corys and neons, but I have always had a soft spot for goldfish. I actually prefer the simplicity of the common types. I rescue feeders from pet stores and give them a chance. Right now my biggest is about 4 inches. He started out black but has since turned gold.

I do like the fancy ones, the orandas, moors, reiku, etc, but i prefer the simple little comets and feeders.

Here is a picture of one of my tanks. The picture quality could be better but it was taken with my fone and fish tend to move around.

There is a simple pleasure I derive from watching them swim around. It is relaxing and has an almost therapeutic virtue to it. More nonsense to come later.