Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Saturday April 21 2018

Deep freezes and the toll that has taken on living things and another accident that totaled my car; this winter keeps going from bad to worse with no apparent end in sight. Here it is going into April and the weather is looking more like February!

I suppose I should start by going back to the middle of March— Sunday the 18th to be exact. That's when my fortune took a turn for the worse. I was returning home from Uncle Budd's in C’ville looking forward to what might have been the best day outside in a long time when I was rear ended —AGAIN—at a stop sign on the ramp coming out of town by the radiator shop on 119! I had just recovered to some extent from the incident where I got hit from behind while getting ready to pull out from a stoplight in rush hour at dusk in Greensburg last November. Now this time it was in broad daylight in picture perfect weather on a Sunday afternoon. Some kid who was not paying attention ran into me and what ought to have been the perfect day was down the drain. Ended up babying the car which was damaged more seriously this time—back into town where I stayed the night because I was not willing to chance any unnecessary travel beyond getting it to the insurance office and them the body shop on the way to work the following day.

To make an otherwise long story short—my efforts to get the process of repair and acquisition of a rental car went reasonably smooth. I was also fortunate that I didn’t have to come into work until 3PM because of a trade on the schedule I had made but forgot about until I called in to talk to my charge nurse. Had a rough time at work because the accident had aggravated some chronic back pain and other staff pointed out that I looked out of alignment —so I ended up going to be checked at an urgent care center the following day. That turned out well as there was no evidence of fractures or dislocations and the pain was already on the wane. However I got hit with even more bad news —I got a call later in the week that my poor car—a 2010 Honda that was love at first sight when I found it in an online search back in 2013 was deemed not worry repairing and totaled. So I was back in the market for a new car again and such a shame considering the old one was going to be paid off in November and still had more good years ahead of it.

3/27/18 12:28 PM

Found my new car—a red 2018 Civic at the Honda dealership in Greensburg that I’ve been dealing with for years. I did look into a few other options including the pre-owned center where I got my previous car—but it was slim pickings there. So I went to the main dealership and started looking at the new models.

I ran into the salesman who went over the options and then I made my pick and took it for a test drive on the loop to Twin Lakes Park and then back to the highway. Then did the paperwork and paid with a hold check that ate most of what I had left in the bank. Only $680 for a downpayment and I’m leasing with option to buy after 36 months.

I did look at the pre owned red one at the other lot across the road but it was going onto the body shop for some "Curb Rash" the man said. I then went to Smail. I have everyone at work saying I should get a Subaru Forester with 4 wheel drive but I just went ahead with my own plan. I just like the Civic and I would have been unhappy with something else. Ended up going for brand new because there just does not seem to be anything good in the pre owned category locally. I have also thought about leasing option for my next car anyhow. Anyway I got it done —I like this dealership because the service is very good and its all one stop shop. They will even handle the turn in for the rental and eliminate another logistical headache. Pickup day is Thursday.

3/27/18 07:09 PM

When it rains it pours—which has been my luck lately and looks like the theme for my next Norseman’s article. Between the car and all the losses this winter and after a stretch of chilly weather we had one really nice day yesterday before it turned wet again. A warming trend now but rain for the next several days starting early this morning. Yesterday was the day to get into the greenhouse but I had to go car shopping.

Glad that is over with and now there is the possibility of making major inroads on my debt once I get my settlement.

Also got 150 gallons of fuel oil yesterday. Going to aim for getting my tank filled in increments over the summer when the prices are lower. And work on getting the propane too. Then I’ll aim for enough wood to get me to the coldest months and a small stockpile for next spring. Getting stuff laid up in advance is better than trying to get it at the end of the season when there is the crunch of fall property taxes on top of the urgency to get supplies which makes me have to use the credit card. That was a big part of what dug me into the hole that I got in. Going to try to get out and avoid it from here on.

The oil man had come early and finished pumping when I got there. Luckily the furnace didn’t come on and I shut off the power to keep it from kicking on until the tanks had a chance to settle. While waiting I tended the greenhouse and gave everything a good watering. Then I came back and plugged it in and turned up the thermostat and let it run for a few seconds before turning it back down a few degrees lower than it was before. To 55 which will save even more fuel as it was hardly running at all at 57—even in colder weather. At 68 it would run a lot more and the fuel didn’t last as long as this winter. I learned a good deal from this experience in regard to rationing my fuel. The oil heat does keep up better in extreme cold weather. When I eventually go back to live there again I can probably keep the outside furnace going and shift to oil when it’s frigid outside and the outside one can’t keep up. And just keep a modest fire going or use the circulation loop with the house to keep the water moving and transfer a little heat to protect the system.

April 1 2018

Finally got out to my place on a Saturday afternoon to begin the process of cleaning up the chaos and getting the season off to a good start. That looks like so daunting a task between the greenhouse and the pond site which remain cluttered—as well as the fish / herp room projects ahead of me.

Started in the greenhouse with some long overdue deep watering of the Boston fern baskets and other plants. First I used some of the jugs of weak tea solution on hand to water palms, gardenias and other plants and to wake up the Red Rascal Amaryllis —hopefully in time to bloom with the Poeticus Narcissus in the bed outside the west door. Brought the Stanhopea hernandezii basket down from its hook above the pond and gave it a dunk in a bucket. Lo and behold a female mouse emerged dragging along several pinkies on her teats. I tried to kill her but she was too fast. But saved the little ones in a cup to feed to somebody —maybe the Florida Boxies —later on.

Filled the big galvanized pan with water to dunk the Boston ferns —since they really need to be soaked like this on a regular basis—and to maybe flush out and destroy more mice —which seem to have a proclivity for nesting in hanging planters. If I was not so damned busy with other things I’d be doing that and it would probably deter rodents from setting up house in my greenhouse. I found a couple more stuck on the glue boards that had been there for a while so I decided its time to move this issue to the forefront and deal with slugs too. I set four new snap traps that were on hand in my kitchen along with the remaining package of small glue boards and reset two of the old plastic spring jaw traps that were in the greenhouse —baited them with peanut butter. I’m going to try rigging more pitfall traps to drown them and even try using chop from the feed mill laced with cement to give the bastards terminal constipation. That latter one is an Uncle Budd tip and its probably safer than poison bait because the rodents will move that stuff around and it might end up in ponds or turtle pens and through the years I’ve had cats die from eating poisoned mice!

Was a smart move to open a rain barrel at the greenhouse a few days ago. That gave me a source to refill the tea jugs. Will start saving tea bags again and open the barrels by the house too.

Another project was to hang up the new fan to see how it looks and determine whether I might be able to use the rod and hook that I had a hanging tomato planter on to suspend it instead of the mounting bracket that came with the fan.

The setup holds the fan quite easily but I’m not going to use it because I had issues with the hydrofogger which would not remain stable because the propeller blades blow so strong that it swayed and swiveled —which is why I ended up using a short piece of 2x4 with a screw hook on the end nailed to the center support. I’m thinking a similar contraption can be used with the mounting bracket and nailed up a few feet back from the hydrofogger. The current position directly behind it won’t do because the fogger would obstruct the air flow and throws some mist backward. The inventor —Jim Mann—recommend putting the unit 4 feet ahead of the Modine for that reason.

Another minor project in need of doing is to remove the propeller from the fogger and take it to Bruce so he can blow out an obstruction that is blocking water flow. Another thing on the back burner since last summer.

At the pond things are not looking as well as this time last year. The winter flower show is mostly past and some of the daffodils are not as floriferous as previous seasons —though the cyclamineus types by the Rosyside pool are not bad. However one of the clumps of the cyclamineus type by the lower falls has disappeared along with Tiny Bubbles. I’m wondering if its not some kind of disease or pest since animals usually don’t bother narcissus because of toxicity of the bulbs and other parts of the plant. Might explain why some of my Lycoris have disappeared at that site. Some of it may be drainage issues as that site does get waterlogged at times in winter. Maybe I can improve that incrementally.

Did an adjustment on the catch basin with an elbow and a short piece of pipe to raise the intake at an angle perpendicular to the water flow so the sand and silt will wash over the spillway rather than accumulate right on the intake and clog it up. That got the flow restored to the pond and set the stage for the other big project of the day: refilling the Rubbermaids at that site. That took the water level in the pond down a good bit; but it will replenish overnight. I also put the Hurricane back in place in the main pond after the job was done and hooked it up to the big pipe going to the head of the watercourse. May run that later today if I feel up to it when I get back home to check on things. In sharp contrast to yesterday which was delightfully decent outside —the weather has turned downright dreary. It is looking like it might get partly sunny and in the upper 40s later so I might do something after Easter dinner.

Was thinking how this reminds me of some of the chilly Easters in my childhood days—or chilly springs in general. Things really have changed. In the early 90s —growing palmettos outside in the ground was unthinkable. I am reminded again as I look at the burnt foliage of the hardier Texas and Oklahoma specimens and one of my needle palms at the other site that appears to be dying because it probably took a big hit when the cover blew off during a windy spell that preceded one of the early winter cold snaps. Will have to roll with the punches and see what happens. Maybe I’ll find a way to devise an effective protective shield -if I can find the time—or just let nature take its course and see how long they can last without any measures taken and just shift to using the less hardy but more dwarf varieties that can be put in the ground in their pots and taken into the greenhouse for the winter. And maybe replace the Needle Palms with the dwarf Trachycarpus from China that I could grow and protect in similar fashion.

Looking at my DD pen back home I have a simple solution for resolving the splash and water loss issue that came to me after a winter of thinking it out. It will involve digging out the area between the filter barrel and upper end of the pen complex and remove and flip the end piece so the notch where the pipe comes through will be at the bottom. Then I might have to cut that a little deeper so the pipe can come out a little higher and rest on the rim of the first tub rather than using a bulkhead. Anything to avoid more work and another splice that might leak at some point. Based on the first Ishigame pen and the drop from the upper tub to the 50 Rubbermaid pool—a short drop is not problematic even in hot dry weather—though some water loss is to be expected anyway in those circumstances. At some point I would like to dig another retention pond—this time in the adjoining hollow right below the catch basin where I had a small liner pond in the past. Then I’d have a pretty good source for topping off ponds and watering gardens in the summer. Then I would put a gate right below the DD and have a path across the breast that would make for a nice shortcut to the greenhouse!

Life must still be worth living because I still have dreams and visions.

4/4/18

Alive and well. This was the day the box with half dozen young Marbled Bullheads arrived. Luckily they were fairly decent size and compatible with the Redbreasted Sunfishes so they were able to go into the 40B with them. That saved me having to mess around with setting up something else and having the fish on hold in a bucket or cooler. Did the acclimation fast too. Floated them in a plastic container while I tended other things and gradually mixed tank water into the water they were in. Then I dumped them before leaving for work and checked on them when I got back later this evening.

They were still doing fine. I got these to start over with in the event the adults which I moved to the greenhouse pond don’t make it. The verdict is still out on those as I have not seen them all winter but their chances are still much better than had they been left in the pond outside. Will know in a few weeks when it gets warm enough to move them back.

4/9/18

Guess this is the best place to pick up again.

No sun and it was spitting snowflakes all day today. I was off to another late start too having spent the morning into the afternoon indoors. Would probably have stayed inside all day were it not for a call regarding my claim. I met the agent from Geico at the body shop in Mt Pleasant to fill out some paperwork and get my check. $4,807.10. Would have gotten almost twice that if the loan had been paid off and it only had about 87,000 miles on it when hit.

After banking I went for some more groceries and considered swinging by home. Because of the weather I would have put off going home until tomorrow when it might be a little warmer. Ended up not going at all. My energy and enthusiasm is so easily sapped between working long hours and being stretched so thin between three places. Over the weekend I was mulling the idea of trying to spend a night at my place and return to C’ville for dinner the following day as a test for maybe shifting back to some semblance of what I did before moving down here last fall. Uncle Budd is getting pretty good at getting around and his health is even better than it was when he got out of the nursing home. The main problem is that without continued supervision he will slip again. There is also the matter of getting some additional support from other family members. If I could just get someone else to stop by on a regular basis just to talk to him for a while and make sure he’s taking his pills. I would like to be able to alternate that with bringing him out to stay with me a few days at a time once the weather gets better. Then I can have a long stretch to take care of things without having to keep running back and forth and racking up the miles.

Looking ahead—we will be a little warmer—in the 40s tomorrow and break 50 by Wed and get back toward more seasonable and even some above normal—70s by the weekend. Yet I see a snowflake icon for next Tuesday! This extended winter has got me thinking more and more about the possibilities of another Little Ice Age or Dalton Minimum —but these conditions are hardly unprecedented in our time as we had the same back in the 70s and I’ll bet Wisconsin was even more shitful at times then. The pattern is almost the same. We had the terrible winters and in California; droughts and fires followed by rains and mudslides. Before that was a rash of hurricanes in the 50s that crashed the real estate boom in Florida for a while. Very much like the one in the early 2000s that gave us Katrina and Ivan and Algore’s "Inconvenient Truth". You would have thought for a while that the eastern half of the nation was going to turn into Hurricane Alley the likes of Pliocene times! But it didn’t happen anymore than the oceans dying or mass starvation predicted by 1980 or 2000. And we’ll probably survive this current decadal cool down or even another Dalton Minimum if it turns into that.

Will be looking forward to the weekend. If it gets warmer it will be a great finale to the Norseman’s article I’ve been sitting on. Maybe finally I can have that long awaited great day out at the pond and in the greenhouse. Will need to visit home tomorrow and then I can do a little more on my outward bound trips the next several days. Especially Thursday and Friday when I work 3 to 11—which will give me the opportunity to travel without making a special trip out and back. Will consider moving the Florida Boxies back depending on how the forecast looks. And I’m going to have to start waking the other turts up. The JPTs and Euro Ponds are usually ready to go outside by now. And I might bring the striped muds down here for a short while until it is safe for them to go outside. That won’t be until May —but I might also be able to get their corner in the greenhouse up and running by the time I start vacation on the 22nd!

4/10/18

Today was an altogether different from yesterday. Dramatically improved in the way of sun and some warmth—though it still fell short of normal with a high in the 40s. Was good enough for greenhouse work. And even late afternoon when I arrived it was still pleasantly warm inside.

Took out the single piece ladder I used to hang the vortex fan up last week and brought in the stand up ladder that was the safer option for taking down the C-Fogger to go to Bruce for repair. It got clogged last season and probably just needs the channels in propeller blades blown out with the air compressor like last time. My hope is to get it working again this spring along with other things. Also contemplating replacing the folding ladder that got messed up because I left it out in the weather. I need it for scaffolding to work up high in the greenhouse.

The other project in need of finishing is to mount the Vortex fan up high. I can probably do that with the prop up ladder and I need to find some cinderblocks to go under the feet so I don’t have to keep borrowing blocks from the inside steps by the Florida Boxie pen. I measured the 2x4 that the C-Fogger hangs on and it’s about 15 inches. Should be able to spice a couple more shorter pieces that will butt up against the bottom of the center beam on which the thing will be nailed onto. The L bracket that holds the fan can be mounted on the bottom end and that should do it. Will have to hang it beside the Modine and probably devise some kind of baffle to deflect the rain away from it when the vent is open.

Took care of a few more back burner items that day. Actually a few. First after feeding the cats I got the tub ponds into position in their respective corners on the patio. It’s time to get those filling up so I can move the lilies back in. Then I checked the turts in the garage to make sure they were ok. After that I tacked the project of replacing the gravel in the frog tank with the lighter expanded clay pellets so I can get that ready for occupation when the weather gets a little warmer. I took out all the plants and carried the gravel down to the tub in the flower bed where the other half that I was planning to rotate it with on a 6 month basis —but never got around to doing. The plan now is to just use the expanded clay as a drainage layer and put a substrate barrier and pockets of soil and moss on top of that and try to set up an eco-cycle with springtails and pill bugs like most frog keepers do. The Anthurium that has started to bloom again got repotted in one of those 6 x 4 inch bonsai containers so it can sit lower in the tank as it was previously grazing the lid. Replanted the Pepperomia and mini philodendron in pockets of sphagnum moss as a temporary fix and saved two of the better pieces of Monstera vine that I planted in the clay pellets for the time being. I also put back in the faux rock pool and driftwood. To keep the substrate moist I turned off the valve in the sump bucket to allow water to fill up the drainage layer half way like I have in the setup down here at Uncle Budd’s. Now to read up some more on terrariums and start working on the final design. Would like to have that ready by late spring which is usually the time the Marsupial Frogs breed. They’ve been chirping a bit down here and that is a good sign. I may leave one of the males and a female here to get the males separated so they spend more time on the females and not wrestling each other as they are territorial. That will also keep Uncle Budd entertained because he likes hearing them call!

Looked over the ponds but did not get into the much needed cleanup of leaves on the remaining stretch of paths and beds. Will try to get that underway in the coming days. Also did a partial water change for the Bullheads and Redbreasts. Can probably get those out by May. Hoping to get the adults out sooner—into a tub first —which should warm up faster than the pond. Need to look into how catfish farmers breed their stocks and see if I can devise some kind of nesting structures to increase the likelihood of success. I’d like to get a nice swarm of baby Marbleds swimming in the pond like the native Brown Bullheads in the past —and them maybe I’ll have a better chance of harvesting larger babies that will be easier to raise in a tank.

Finally found the missing part of the submersible filter that serves as the pump and pre-filter for the lower DD system. That was the part containing the sponge that snaps over the impeller. It had fallen off in situ and was right there in the water but I assumed I had taken it out and stored it somewhere; which led to a wild goose chase. Maybe I’ll work on that this weekend. It should be a simple project to take off the upper end and flip it and reconfigure the pipe from the bio-filter and get that system going again. The Rosy Red minnows survived in there even without running the pump this winter. I really ought to devote a Rubbermaid to them and see if I can produce them en mass for feeder fish —for the turts and to stock in the pond to provide forage for the catfishes!

Looking forward to spring projects. I’m actually thinking about things like gravel for the lane and other material I need delivered such as a big pile of pea gravel for my perimeter path like I used to get in days of old. And sand and more 2B modified. I need that to continue building up the areas outside my fence and a French drain on the upper side of the Gulf pens plus base to set the tubs at that site out from under the trees before I fill them up. Might even build a temporary pen for the Euro Ponds by the Gulf pens to get them into a more optimal setup until I can build the one that I really want for them elsewhere. Then that one will become another Gulf Coast pen just like the upper pen in the DD became the upper end of the stream complex for the JPTs after the CBTs moved on to their final setup. This new one was originally planned to give the replacement male for Franklin a place of his own since the two males were in conflict with each other but ironically both are now gone. But someday my friend in town may want to downsize again part with his flock and I’ll need the space. I’m thinking also of building a large open air pen nearby that will accommodate a larger flock. The adults are less vulnerable to raccoons than wood turtles and they can use the extra room.

4/13/18

It turned out a nice day but would have been nicer if I could have gotten out of here sooner. But at least the Floridas are back in the greenhouse and I got the female Gulf back in her home enclosure and the Euro Pond pair into theirs and tomorrow the plan is to get the CBTs out to spend the weekend in their home enclosure.

Other project was getting the first JPT pen up and running. Might do an additional breakdown of the upper pool and wash out the gravel and filter mats. And then there is the pond in the adjoining pen and Turtle Lagoon that need cleaned out and sections of paths and remaining beds to be cleared of leaves. I diverted the spring flow agin to top off the pond so I can run the pumps while I’m there which makes working all the more enjoyable.

And the day was very enjoyable with near 80 degree warmth and daffodils in bloom. On Thursday I saw the last Crocus and today the first Bloodroots so spring is coming along. Hoping tomorrow will be that perfect day at the pond with the cleanup projects and enjoying the flowers and the turts.

Everything looked good when I got back that evening. I spotted the Euro Ponds and they looked ok. Both of them had some buoyancy issues during hibernation which appeared to have resolved. They sank right to the bottom when I put them in the pool earlier and swam around when I shined the flashlight on them during my spot check. The female Gulf Coast was dug in and all else was well. Hopefully the next two days will be the same.

4/14/18 08:00 AM

Headline: Xanto Hammers Minnesota. That’s what they’re calling the bane of Ray’s latest complaints. It’s bearing knocking on the door of Wisconsin too and will be here by Monday to bring the possibility of snow flurries by Tuesday and another chilly week that slowly recovers toward seasonal norms in the 60s by the end. But a nice weekend on tap for here. Another sunny near 80 degree day and Sunday does not look too bad before the storms move in late day. I’m looking forward to maybe that perfect spring day that I will cover as it happens as time permits.

04/15/18 06:29 AM

Saturday would have been that perfect spring day were it not for all the things in need of doing on the home front. I started off with opening up the greenhouse and propping both doors open for the day. The Florida Boxies were already settled back into their old routine. Also the Giant Calla that I set into the corner by the west door is in bloom and I will have to try to get a pic tomorrow before I head back.

Next I released the Chinese Box Turtles in their pen. The two smaller ones rode in the same crate as the older trio but I moved them up to their own pen where they were last season just in case the bigger ones get aggressive and bite them. Will keep the two cohorts separated until the smaller ones catch up a little more in size. They seemed to enjoy their first day in the sun in many months. They went to the greenhouse in October and then into hibernation shortly after that and spent the latter part of winter from February on in the Land Tub. Probably by next week when I go on vacation I’ll bring their indoor setup here and put it in the greenhouse so they can have a warmer refuge during cooler spring weather which I’m kind of anticipating this season.

Though that felt quite remote today with hazy sun and 80s. It was the perfect day to wade the pond and fetch the lilies and pots of Sagittaria to put back in the Rubbermaids. I’m pondering whether to move the Bullheads from the greenhouse to one of those or just go directly to the pond since it is probably warmer than the greenhouse pond now and it might be better if they just get settled into there and start spawning rather than having to move them twice and risk another aborted nesting like when they dug out a Sagittaria planter all for nought last season. Also it will free a tub for the younger cohort and the Redbreasts can go into sooner. I’m thinking of putting those in the middle tub and the Blackbandeds on the end and have the one on the opposite side reserved for Dollar Suns and chubsuckers. I’m hoping to get more of those along with Bantams this summer.

Some bad news. Found the big goldfish that survived the winter in the lower pond dead today. It had just expired by the looks of it. I guess it was just a delayed casualty of winter stress. Meanwhile the ones in the main pond are still alive and well and are chasing each other around. I’m guessing they’re in the mood for spawning and that means it is probably ok to bring the Bullheads out to join them.

Been running the spring flow to keep the pond topped off so I can run the waterfalls. And I had those going for a while as I cleaned up the the leaf accumulation in the inlet and on the upper perimeter. I wanted dry leaves first then wet ones cleaned out of the Turtle Lagoon. That was a helluva mess as always every spring. Yet the mudminnows still survive in there. The plan is to remove the hammocks and iris clumps and make it more like the way it was in the beginning with more open water. With less clutter it will be easier to clean and easier to gather up the turts to go back to their lidded enclosures.

The finale was the upper pond in the paddock enclosure. Drew it down and picked up the leaves and refilled with a diversion of the Hurricane pump discharge. It is a shame that it took all day to just clean the smaller ponds and I still have to do the satellite tub and greenhouse pond. Tomorrow I’ll be able to run and enjoy the milestone fountain a little.

The day ended with a cacophony of Spring Peepers at dusk that was almost deafening at times. I remember the wooing an hooing about the Puerto Rican Coqui frogs as an invasive species in Hawaii where they counted its ear damaging decibels among the environmental impacts. I would rate Peepers similarly. You wouldn’t want one of these little fellows singing outside your bedroom window on a warm night!

Needless to say I didn’t have time to finish the article which I had decided on even before I got out of C’ville. It’s a matter of wasting the best day outdoors in ages to compose a half assed rush job and there is still another day left before it all goes south again. It might also be worth including in the upcoming version.

Slept pretty good. First time in my own bed since whenever. A bit chilly since I left the windows open overnight and the heat is turned off. Has been for a few days now but I will have to turn it back on because after the day the bottom drops out and snow is on tap for Tuesday and then again on Friday. But strangely it’s only on the roving window that fluxes to my current location and not on the permanent one I saved because I get tired of waiting for it to reload. Regardless it may be just a few flakes mixed into rain and the highs for those days are high 40s or low 50s.

In comparison to the current regime the rest of the week looks kind of shitful. Hope the following one will be better. I’m not sure what to do with the Bullheads now. It might be ok since the pond is getting warmer than the one in the greenhouse and will be more thermally stable than a tub above ground. So I will do it.

And so many things I want to do but know I can’t get done this visit. And time is running out.

04/15/18 05:10 PM

Spent much of the day clearing the remaining leaves off the perimeter path and the piles removed from the Turtle Lagoon and pond in the old Wood Turtle paddock. And I did get to enjoy the sight of the fountain while I worked. It was beginning to spit a fine drizzle by the time I was ready to go after the bullheads in the greenhouse pond. That process involved transferring the water to a 300 gallon Rubbermaid outside to get the level down enough so the catfish can be more easily netted as they are capable of astonishing bursts of speed when spooked and very difficult to catch even in a small space with ankle deep water.

The three breeders I put in there late last fall made it!

Now acclimating to the pond water before I dump them in. Looks like the greenhouse pond is going to be the place where I winter my big fish that are marginally hardy in this climate as it does not serve well as a habitat for smaller fish which do better moving between the Rubbermaids and aquariums. If only I had put the Chubsuckers in there too! This will be the place to put larger sunfishes too. I should give it a little upgrade by installing a waterfall bio filter to ensure good water quality and I’ll have my big fish problem solved.

4/19/19: Snowpocalypse Wisconsin!

Word from Ray: the snowpocalypse is underway in Wisconsin! He sent me a picture of his place buried under several inches of snow. Nothing quite like that here , though we came close to this on 4/18/1928 and I suppose if the storm track and other factors had been different, history might have repeated itself. The week has been manic—more like March weather with alternating days that are sunny and fair but on the chilly side and days with rain or snow with the later blanketing the ground a few times but melting off quickly. Probably because the residual heat in the ground from the weekend just won’t let it last.

Been kind of in a funk the week between the weather and personal issues. There was the issue of the people from First Commonwealth calling about the loan on the old Honda. Don’t have time to get into great detail but that started last Friday and it was a cluster that was driving me crazy until they finally got their books strait. They needed me to go to the branch office on New Stanton to give them written permission to release the title to Geico so they could cash their portion of the settlement check. That resolved the issue. I ran some numbers adding up the remaining payments and it was close to what they got so I was confident to go ahead with my plan to pay off the Lowe’s card.

Did that on my way to work yesterday. It was $3,663.51. Having looked at my latest Chase card balance which has crept back up again I decided it was now or never and it was definitely a smart decision as I was barely making headway on the smaller account with slightly higher than minimum payments and according to the minimum payment warning on the statement it would have taken 17 years and I would have ended up paying more than 3 times the current balance—and that was without making any additional purchases!

Back on the weather—it is another shitful day after a nice sunny one yesterday that I worked. Have one more and then a long vacation week ahead starting Friday. Weather outlook is somewhat better but still mediocre for this time of year. Noteworthy that everything is happening so late this year when you consider the seasonal norms. Still hoping to move more turts and fish outside by next week.

4/21/18 08:51 AM

Last entry for what as become essentially the extended winter edition—literally. It has been a rough one at times and in addition to the losses it is hanging on very late. Much like the winters of my younger days which were often accompanied by cooler drier summers. Already I’m hearing that areas in the west are behind on rain and suffering the onslaught of wildfires because of the influence of entrenched Canadian air masses. In the 1970s we were often plagued by similar conditions which resulted in a lot of dry frontal boundaries with scattered hit or miss storms or no rain at all. So far we’ve gotten a good bit of rain this winter and some snow and the springs on my property are flowing vigorously. Will have to see what the summer brings. A few more years may tell whether for sure we are going into another decadal cooling cycle: if global warming continues to take a holiday.

After another week of weather that was more like March than April I’m day two into my spring vacation as the isobars slowly rebound to the north and I’m looking forward to finally getting started on more projects outside.

I’m also celebrating my birthday on Sunday—which is also Earth Day and I probably would have been writing a special edition for the occasion were it not for a host of snarls and snafus that delayed the writing and publication of this edition of the diaries. Yet in a way worked out because the significant unseasonal weather phenomenon of the last couple weeks was included. So I can say like Jim Quinn —the local talk radio host —with his sarcastic parody of a New Jersey accent: Eh! Got your global warming right here!

Would have been nice if we were getting more weather like what we had last weekend but about the best it will do is going to be highs in the 50s this afternoon and to 64 on Sunday and a mix of 50s and 60s through the week. Mediocre spring weather at best but at least it is spring and with some fair weather I will be able to get stuff done outside and the greenhouse will be nice to work in.

Maybe I will see that perfect spring day (for March) today. If so—I’ll include some more photos and commentary in a post script.