Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Time flies when you are having Fun. And especially fast when you are busy with life and other things. Such was the story of this spring which slow to get started but once it did it was soon gone while I was preoccupied with indoor projects. Mainly the restoration of the Florida Room that has absorbed many of my days off at the expense of other things. A terrible price to pay in the short run in the way of missing many seasonal milestones but potentially rewarding long term once this project and the pond and watercourse restorations mentioned in previous installments have been completed.

That has become my primary mission of the season and I have made significant progress on all fronts. Especially the Vivarium build using Chuck's old metal frame aquarium that was once the home of "Big Ben " a huge wild caught—possibly record sized Eastern Chain Kingsnake that occupied the center of Chuck's 10-inch x 10-inch snake room in the basement of a suburban Maryland house just inside the Beltway a hop skip and a jump from Andrews Air Force Base three decades ago.

A fitting tribute to the "Biggest Baddest Snake Collector in all of Maryland" at least back in those days much like the Turtle Table that is now nearly restored is a fitting tribute to its creator; another old friend from the reptile hobby—the late Robert L. Levendusky of Scottdale PA —AKA "Big Bob"!

I am calling this the Year of Renovation which at first sounds a lot like the Renaissance Summer a few seasons ago. In some ways this is a continuation of the same. The Renaissance Summer was the beginning of the build for the turtle pens on the upper perimeter of the pond site and more or less the expansion of the development in that area to its final limit. Yet it is also a tying up of loose ends from earlier projects begun through the years that stalled or to correct first thought mistakes or undo changes made since that I'm now unhappy with in favor of restoring more the original design and intent. Essentially I want to make these creations—the pond and turtle pen systems , greenhouse, and now the Florida Room into what they were really meant to be and generate a legacy that will inspire and motivate others to use their own passions and creativity for generations to come.

And so I begin with the first entry of the Late Spring edition that ought to be titled Forward into Summer because it's late June going on the 4th of July when I've finally gotten around to putting it together! On a Saturday as usual trying to beat the deadline and maybe still have time to do something else before a 3 to 11 shift. So we'll pick up again with the Norseman's saga at the end of March where Spring was trying and seemed to be having a hard time getting going on spite of Gorebull warming and the latest doomsday predictions of Crazy Lady Cortez.

3/30/19—10:50 PM

So much for best laid plans or the “Perfect Day ”. The weekend was not very well planned and my Saturday turned out rather shitful—beset by many issues and unpleasant discoveries.

First of all it took me forever to get out of C’ville.

Spent the morning working on an article that was a mediocre rush job at best—though it probably makes up for what it lacks in a more interesting or dramatic storyline and lots of photos in the way of fewer—if any of the typos and other mistakes typical of longer works that I spend an entire day putting together. By time I got home there was not much left of what was supposed to be a nice weekend where I catch up on things and enjoy a 70 degree day before it turns cold again overnight. Well at least I got to see the peak bloom of crocus and early daffodil varieties and said hello to the emerging Gulf Coasts and Chinese Box Turtles. Also the filtration system in the Florida Room tub started up on Friday managed to run unattended so far without any problems.

There was not much time left for anything outside other than cleaning out the pools and starting up the filtration system in the lower DD pen for the young Japanese Pond Turtles which I may hold off moving outside until later in the week when it warms up again. Hard to believe right now that the rains that held off all day will start soon and turn over to snow by morning. It’s still a balmy 60 degrees at a quarter to midnight.

As for the rest of my day—l figured after dark that I might order the two hydroponics trays and clay pebbles and bulkhead fittings to plumb the system. This is for growing area that will overhang a portion of the Turtle Table as described in the article sent earlier. To make a long story short, before I could finish my order the server apparently went MIA / “ cannot he found”! I thought I might go out for dinner at Applebee’s where maybe the cellular coverage might be better and pick up where I left off while waiting for food. However when I got there , I still could not restore the connection even though the email was working so the problem was on the other end and it’s still that way since I got back. I figured the hell with that place which looked really busy so I defaulted to the Chinese restaurant in the same plaza which was closing—so the drive through at McDonalds was the only other option remaining at 10PM.

I could have eaten at home but the fridge is empty because I only stock it with small amounts of perishables because I don’t stay there on a regular basis and decided it would not be worth it this time around since the weather is turning and I probably won’t care to stay very long on Sunday because I’ve got the thermostat set low to conserve the last of my fuel so I don’t have to deal with the issue of re-priming the line when I go to refill later this spring.

This night is turning out something like the spartan experience a few weeks ago with the electric heater running to keep my bedroom decently warm. Fell asleep for a while and woke going on 2 AM. I remembered that one of the female Gulfs—Olivia was out when I checked earlier this evening and was concerned she might not have made her way back to the corner where they are supposed to dig in—so I went out to check and moved her back and reburied her in the mulch. It was still at 60 and starting to rain but will be in the 30s by morning and will dip to low 20s the next couple nights!

But it’s almost April and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

3/31/19 10:27 AM

Survived the spartan night but so much for the idea of getting a big jump on my day starting out from home instead of C’ville. It’s 9ish going on 10 and I’m still in bed. The weather has a lot to do with that. It’s down to 34 degrees outside right now and the living room where the thermostat is set at 50 has slowly fallen overnight to 56—a degree below where I usually set it when I’m not staying here in the winter. In my upstairs bedroom it’s still comfortably warm but feels awfully chilly downstairs.

At some point I have to get moving.

Last night I started the DD system up and topped it off from the spring flow to compensate for the water loss from the lower pool that got shifted to top off the barrel at the head of the system where the level had dropped a little over winter. Then diverted the flow to top off the main pond overnight so I might be able to run the watercourse today and do a few other things like transfer water to the tubs to get them ready and maybe clean out the Turtle Lagoon. As of this morning that prospect looks far less inviting as they involve messing around with cold water on a raw dreary day. Maybe put those projects off until a warmer day. Will see.

Will get a few odd jobs done and make sure all the outside turtles are in safe positions for the coming weather. Also I better load up the 20L and the baby Gulfs so I can take them with me and wake them up. It’s time.

I was expecting to wake up to a landscape blanketed in white but that has not happened yet. Current forecast has the snowfall backed off until 11:00 AM and just for a very short duration: just an hour! It might not happen at all.

Oh darn! LOL.

12:53 PM

It’s nasty and miserable out there. At 38 degrees which is probably going to be the high for the day. And it was spitting snow a bit at times but nothing significant. Got the watercourse running and some nice pics of flowers and stuff. Then got the filling of the first tub started. I’ll have to check on that soon and the greenhouse and Gulf pens to make sure all is well. The male Euro Pond was on the female again in their Rubbermaid pool earlier.

Already have the 20 L loaded and the baby Gulfs in their containers ready to carry out when I go. Still uncertain about the Striped Muds. They are coming up now but the greenhouse is probably going to be too chilly for them this week and I’m going to be busy with Jury Duty. Still have to see what I have to wear.

Wardrobes are a lot like great fleets or the Florida Room. They often fall into disarray and disrepair over time when not used!

Up at the pond things were somewhat peachy in spite of the chill and gloom. The water was up to full capacity and the five goldfish were hanging out in a tight pod in front of the rock cover of the electrical vault. The fish are quite active in spite of the cold because the warmth that lingers in the water and probably in pre spawn mode. Last year I think they were actually spawning at this time because it was warmer and the winter overall.

Another project slated for this season is removal of the Rhyming Bamboo— Plioblastus distichus that is invading the strip by the inlet and spoiling the daffodil planting. I'm going to start on that sooner rather than later as in as soon as its comfortable to work outside because if I wait much longer it will become unstoppable if not already. I'll work around the daffodils and dig out the Camassia bulbs and start them in pots for replanting later. There is not much else left in that bed and I plan on keeping it more simple in the future. Will also be looking for adventitious bamboo rhizomes when I lift the liner later in the season to deepen the inlet a little more. In the near term I'm going to have to drain the pond and do a major cleaning and I'll get the leaves that are cluttering the plunge pool and channel down to the pond which someday I'm going to have to devise a means to cover that section in the fall.

Good old plunge pool on the upper end. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and don't plan on changing it much of at all in the coming renovation. If you look close, at the first rock on the right side of the falls you can see the stream of water from the spring flow I diverted in last night to top the pond so I could run the watercourse without dropping the level too much and to have plenty to spare for the tubs that I decided to fill today.

Nice panorama from the lower falls to the upper falls and rock garden.

View of the Rosyside Pool overlooking the Mock Rock I put in last spring to cover the splice on the underground electrical cable that may someday be converted to a plugin post. Looks a bit off color from the surrounding rocks. May eventually replace it with one that is sandstone color and repurpose this one elsewhere. Maybe a seasonal cover for an aeration pump or something.

Winter flowers have come later because the season was delayed and the display has been compressed into a shorter period with early bloomers like Crocus tommasinianus overlapping more with the early daffodils. Up under the globe arborvitae two kinds of giant snowdrops and Leucojum vernalis are fading. The common Snowdrops—Galanthis nivealis in the flowerbed by the house are just about shot too. They probably would have been long gone if it had gotten warm earlier.

3/31/19: 11:06 PM

Part 2 of the weekend from Hell.

I admit that may be a little melodramatic since it was not all bad. The picture of the flowers blooming by the gushing waterfalls kind of make my day. That was the best part of it—but did not see it that way until looking at it later this evening from the vantage of a warm and comfortable bed.

It felt awful out there with the temp not even getting above 40 and the persistent overcast and occasional snow squalls that didn't amount to anything. And on top of that a series of unpleasant discoveries that began on Friday when I went to move the two Blountstown Dwarf palmettos outside to their place in the Gulf Coast pen and found that one of them—the one that bore an abundant crop of seed last season was totally withered and looking dead! Hoping it is not a disease. I'm thinking I might have missed it more often when spraying with the hose because it's companion looks in the pink of condition. Hope it will bear fruit. I still have two seedlings started in the house and the seed stratifying in the fridge which is due to come out now. There is also possibility that the mother plant is not dead and may yet come back if there is some viable meristem left in the center of the crown. Sometimes palms that are planted outside bounce back from freeze damage that way.

Will keep it watered and put it out behind the greenhouse in the shade when it gets warmer and hope for the best.

Then there is the Son La Hitchhiker Elephant Ear that may be lost. It appears that the tubers I had in storage in the basement have rotted. I doubt it got cold enough to freeze them since the turts that were in that corner would have been in trouble also. Maybe the tubers suffered freeze damage before I brought them in—or the growing medium I stored them in was too wet and chilly. In previous years I had it in a hanging basket that I hung in the greenhouse where it dried out more.

Other bulbs and roots in cool storage look ok but I need to get them to the greenhouse and start them. Mexican Shell Flower is already starting to strike new roots. And I'd like to get some of these things like tuberous begonias and Voodoo Lilies growing earlier because last season was kind of a washout for those. They woke up really late and did not have much time to grow to their full potential. And I'm going to start keeping the Konjac Voodoo Lily in a big pot sunk in the ground where I plant it above the CBT pen so I can move it to the greenhouse so the foliage has more time to ripen and let the plant pull more of its substance back into the bulb instead of getting cut down by a killing frost resulting in premature death of the above ground tissue—stem and leaves that turned to a watery slimy mass and puny bulb instead of getting bigger than it was when put it in the ground last spring.

Then there's the deer that dented in the wire on the lids of some of the turtle pens and have been mowing down some of the Hart's Tounge Fern and an Emerald Spreader Yew.

Those will come back but I'm afraid that the deer might develop a habit of coming into that site even during the warmer weather and that will spell disaster for many other plants that will soon be putting up tender new growth. Going to have to get aggressive with deterrents. A couple free running dogs would be nice. I never had so many problems with wildlife when we had a dog here on the place. Maybe in the future but for now I'll have to be creative—maybe a radio tuned to a punk rock or talk radio station that can be triggered to come on—along with some lights by a motion sensor. Or just get the electric fence back online. They can jump that but maybe if they walk into it and get shocked that will be enough to encourage them to go elsewhere.

And here is the Lindsey Lohan Ginger on the bank below the CBT pen. It either got washed out , pushed up by frost heaving or partially uprooted by trampling deer. I think it will be ok. I need to but forgot to get some soil to fill in around the roots again.

I was concerned about the white lady slipper by the mouth of the inlet that was an apparent no show. But I did find some shoots when I scratched down into the soil. It is just running late like other things. But I'm worried about it because I lost the yellow one that had been doing well nearby and the Ulla Silkens reginae hybrid a year before that. Probably from getting flooded when the section of pond liner bordering that bed sagged down and was overflowing and saturating the root zone. I corrected that last summer and I'll probably have to dig up and improve the bed again.

On a brighter note I found a germinating seed of a Spider Lily— Hymenocallis liriosome floating in the pond that survived being frozen in the ice for several months. That's actually amazing considering that I was worried this species might not make it here back in the beginning when I got the first few from We Du nurseries who rated it Zone 6 with a question mark. And I had similar anxieties about other borderline hardy plants like the Coastal Leucothoe bushes from the same source that aggressively spread and took over much of the bank and area around the old Gulf Coast pens that later became the Cadillac CBT pen—and I had to clear a lot of it away to build that! And there was the Cape Fear Spatterdock that came with a similar questionable hardiness rating that also withstood the test of time. Since the 1990s. As for the spider lilies—these probably have the same constitution as Pickerel Weed. Most sources say that one is hardy as long as you keep the ice from reaching the crown. My guess the spider lilies that are native where does get below freezing in winter get protection by higher water levels or moving water in the ditches and rivers where they grow. I still have some of that Pygmy spider lily at the greenhouse site that winters over in the ground but is a shy bloomer.

I sent Ray a liriosome a few years back and I wonder if it made it. I remember he had another one that survived a Wisconsin winter in his river setup where there was current from a pump. That made me think that might be how the Shoal Spider—or Cahaba Lily survives the freak freezes in the Southland. I tried that one and it did terrible and the blooms it got once before it died look pretty much the same as all the others so why bother with it anymore?

4/1/19: 11:49 AM

Ordered my hardware for the hydroponic system this morning as referenced in the other thread. I also followed up on alternative sources of hydroton and find that maybe shipping might be weight based as I'm getting ridiculously high costs. Like as much or more than the cost of the product itself. That's like shipping chickens overnight express!

And there were issues with my browser crashing and slow loads and bullshit with a shipping calculator that I care not to detail for time sake. Some adds for what I want offer free shipping but those involve eBay or Amazon and that involves more password resets and again time is an issue.

Was going to run out early for some more groceries and new duds but ended up messing with turts instead. Went to feed the Florida Boxies some corn on the cob and found the male hooked up with the younger female so I just put the chunks of corncob I cut up in the feeding dish on the opposite end of the cage and left.

Brought the baby Gulf Coast out of their hibernation containers and washed them off to examine in detail for health problems and to determine the identity of specific cohorts. The ones I'm keeping , the ones that will be put up for sale and the most recent brood—last of Franklin & Olivia of which I plan to keep one and part with the remainder.

This was yesterday. I filled all three and now they're ready for summer tubbing. I can probably get fish out by next week. Will try to fill the ones at the greenhouse site tomorrow.

4/2/19: 11:47 AM

One day off before Jury Duty.

Going to go pay the taxes and maybe look into getting the plexiglass wall and mounting hardware for the table and then see what else can be done in the greenhouse and outside. Only time for a quick eyeballing of stuff on the way out and again to make sure the outdoor turts were safely dug in or hunkered down in the water.

When I checked the Chinese Box Turtles I moved to the Land Tub enclosure in the greenhouse on Sunday. They were still dug in the mulch yesterday afternoon even though it was sunny and the temp in there was pushing 80. That's good because it will be better if they wake up slowly like they would in the wild state. It's mild and spring like in Kunming—highs in the 70s. It is supposed to get to that outside by next week.

Last night was the last really cold one and now it looks like normal conditions for early April will prevail. Once I get past this busy week tied up with civic obligation and working all weekend I will be free to get going on spring plans. The Guerrero Wood Turtle duo should be coming then too. It's going to cost $75 to ship them—overnight I presume. That seems not so steep considering the $250 price each for the turts. If only I could have bought the whole batch and economize on the shipping. But my resources are limited and it is better to go slow and I would like to get animals from other sources for the sake of genetic diversity. Chances are high that the two I'm getting will be siblings or half siblings. That is the same concern I have with the new Gulf Coast pair—captive bred from the same breeder and they look very much alike in appearance. I'll have to inquire more into the parentage of what I'm getting and into the structure of the colony they are coming from when I reply back to set up shipment.

Was a very nice day yesterday. Spring is getting started outside with the tubs as in the pond where the goldfish are quite active. Also had the best blooms on the Clivia Lily in the greenhouse in a long time!

4/3/19: 12:46 AM

Good fortune smiles.

Got to the County Courthouse and found out they had no cases at all this week and I was excused. Evidently no one did anything bad or at least didn't get caught so my name goes back into the lottery and hopefully I won't get picked again for a while , if ever. Not likely on the latter because Grandma got picked when she was too old and frail on top of being demented (and got excused) and they were after Mike long after he pulled up stakes and moved to Denver! They were trying to get taxes from him too.

Maryland tried to collect state income taxes from me when I was stationed at Andrews. But I didn't have to pay because I wasn't a resident and I didn't have to pay anything unless I moonlighted at a civilian hospital because PA exempts income state residents on federal active duty outside the Commonwealth. Unlike California who goes after its residents wherever they go. The price of that free college tuition some military members are tempted by when stationed there. Better to just do correspondence courses through the Community College of the Air Force!

As for my day it was a windfall opportunity to get back my day off that would have been lost and get something done and not have to deal with the complication of loosing a day at work tomorrow. But I was not done yet with Uniontown yet because there was the matter of getting back out of the parking garage that has an arcane automated payment system that took several minutes to figure out. You have to get out of the car and walk around the other side of the gate control station and put your ticket into another machine and pay the fee and then go back around and put the ticket in the slot to open the gate. Sounds a lot like the description of the process for making a purchase in a Moscow department store during the communist era. Good way to get someone mugged late in the evening. On top of it all the voice of the machine is as pleasant as Charlie Brown's teacher after she was assimilated to become a speaker for the Borg!

That's your City Hall for the 21st Century.

Went to the local Lowe's to shop for hardware since it was nearby. While looking for thin strips of plywood that I might be able to fashion a track to set the plexiglas into I ended up buying two 8 foot dark brown plastic lattice caps and a box of small wood screws to attach it to the surface of the table bordering the edge. Tried and could not find some kind of bracket to cradle it against the side which was my original intent so I'm going with attaching to the top surface with screws through holes that I'll pre-drill through the bottom of the track. Looks like the most elegant solution of all but it will require another trip back to the hardware store to cut off a few inches of the barrier to keep the height same as planned.

Then I'll get the track mounted around the other three edges and get the remaining plexiglas needed next pay and put it all together. By then I'll have the drain fittings for the tray system. Got a reply back from the dealer and found out they are shipping from a different source. The only other serious obstacle to this make it up as I go along design is figuring out how to support the trays without taking up too much surface area on the table. Then I can get to the creative part with the spray foam and other ideas covered previously.

There is also the matter of the lights. The LED option is looking attractive again as I noticed since raising the elevation of the setup—it might be too close to the light source if I use Halides. Some of the specs recommend a 3 foot distance from source to canopy for plants. The higher tray on the side wall by the fish tank is close enough for a couple shop lights. And more can be added to increase the lumens. As for the 400 watt LED halide replacement vs maybe a smaller halide light to augment the shop lights—I'm going to attempt to consult with Bruce this afternoon if he is around and war game other projects and issues too. Good opportunity to visit the tax collector too since she lives just on the other side of the ridge from his place.

Now I got to get moving on water changes and feeding some critters before I go. Thought about running up to Latrobe to transfer to my checking but think I'll wait and get it tomorrow and save the mileage and gas. Creeping up to $2.80 some places already. At least I won't have to wait until Friday or worst case scenario ; get on a case that is extended for another day! You get the picture.

4/4/19:

Today would have been that perfect day outside were it not for being preoccupied with the project inside. When I got home first thing I did was cut off a piece of lattice cap to match my front wall and took off the short baffle on the edge between the nesting tray and tub. Took that with me to get it cut down to 8 inches high since I'm putting it in a track on the edge of the table surface instead of on the side and I wanted it a little lower so it is less of an impediment to get to the turts and deal with . I found that the caps also make a nice trim for the top edge to give the whole thing a professional look. Also bought

Back home I proceeded to assemble the first track and screwed it down. Screws went right through the material and anchored into the wood. However hit a major snafu with my short piece which I forgot at the hardware store—but now the plan has changed again as I used the 6-inch x 10-inch just to demonstrate the concept and liked it better.

Got this far and ran out of time and was getting tired so called it a day. Also brought the Stripped Muds and the Hellenic type Euro Pond juvie with me to wake up and spend a few weeks down here until they can go outside.

Going to purchase the Guerrero Woods tomorrow and aim for Monday delivery.

4/6/19 : 9:24 AM

The build is coming along.

Stopped by the hardware store again to get another cut of plexiglas for my short wall. 12 inches. It was a rushed day so I did not stop at home until late night on the way back. The package with my fittings for the hydroponic system that shipped separately were delivered and waiting.

Set the new short wall into place and this time it's a keeper. I've been tinkering with the setup and experimenting with some short waste pieces of lattice cap to fine the best way to cut it to join the corners. Also working out the best possible design for the support pillars that will hold up the trays. Will eventually find a thinner block to support the corner by the tank and free up space on the table surface.

Two ebb abs flow bulkhead kits. I took one with me to tinker with.

They come with a 1/2 for the inflow and 3/4 for the drain.

Plus 3 slip fittings to extend the drain / overflow a little higher so the bed fills up and overflows when the pump is on and then the whole thing drains out when the pump it off. This is the recommended method and I may use it rather than a continuous flow. I'm thinking it will be an easy matter to just turn it on and run it once a day when I'm there. A half inch or so of water will remain in the bed to keep it moist through the day and being in the basement instead of the greenhouse there is not the risk of drying out on an extreme hot day.

I like these bulkheads already and they're cheap. I think they are what I've been looking for to link all my rain barrels also! I'm tired of dealing with all those pieces of corrugated hose that have to be primed to get them started and keep developing pinholes that break the siphon and require replacement.

Now that will be in incremental improvement!

And with the hole saw installation will be fairly simple.

Another morning with no time for much. I got to get going and probably won't get to work on this project again until Monday.

Quite a day though I'm not sure where to begin.

Took all my pics on the phone so that was the source of my indecision; how to move the pics vs the awkward use of a smaller keyboard. But I figured it out.

It began with the Gulfs which I checked and photographed first thing on arrival this afternoon. If they were up at all since I eye balled them over the weekend before work—they dug right back in the same spots they were in. More likely they never moved and they did not move much during the course of my time outside. Just sat there looking around and hunkered back down at dusk. And that is not a bad thing. I came out there expecting I might have to feed them. But not quite yet.

Started on the long overdue weeding and cleanup around the front of the greenhouse working my way around to the door on the east end. And pruned the dead foliage off the palmettos and gave those a feeding of Epsom salts to get them going.

Moved the agaves outside to free up the Florida Boxie corner. The biggest of those got potted up to a bigger nursery container. Will have to be vigilant for freeze and frost warnings and move inside or cover as needed.

Started getting the Striped Muds' outside enclosure ready. Moved the two Wakula Dwarf palmettos and a potted rain lily back out and put down mulch. All that is needed now is to clean out the pool and bring back the filtration system which will be ready to go because it has been servicing the tub with the Bullheads down in C'ville all winter. Take a day to move those out to the 300 Rubbermaid and get two birds with one stone.

Did an eval on the barrels. Will need 22 bulkhead drains to link all of them. No mean feat if I'm able to just drill and insert fittings. A lot more work if I have to dig up and reposition. It's iffy.

Cleanup at the greenhouse site consumed most of my daylight. I got to the pond site late evening to attempt to fix the dented mesh on the DD so I can get those turts out there. But one of the screws is striped and I was almost out of light so I let it go for now.

And that was pretty much it for the day.

Spectacular sunset:

4/9/19 : 10:41 AM

Turts are here.

Probably the only good thing about today because last night I got very sick. Thought maybe food poisoning but Uncle Budd ate the same thing and is fine so it’s more it's something I picked up at work on Sunday. Seems like every other patient that day had the pukes or shits. The package arrived shortly after I did and it was very miserable ride out to my place and I’m not looking forward to going back.

I put the turts back in their box so the heat pack will keep them warm until I get up the energy to go.

Wanted to get them out and take more pictures but I’m not feeling up to it and don’t want to take a chance of giving whatever I got to them. Not likely but can’t afford to mess around with these babies—they are hard to come by and cost dearly!

Just from glimpses of parts of then showing through the sphagnum moss in the containers they are every bit as gorgeous as the one I got from Glades twenty some years ago.

Also—both are labeled as “females” so I’m guessing they were temperature sexed in the incubator. That was kind of what I was hoping for. Now all I need is a male.

9:51 PM

5 P going on 6 I was feeling much better. Had I stayed home I'd probably be good enough to sit in the sun and pull weeds in the 70 degree warmth. But I was pretty miserable still when I made the decision to bug out and head back to C'ville and I wanted to get the turts back where they would be safer until I felt well enough to work on getting them into their new and temporary setup. That didn't happen until a few hours later around the time I read the response from Amber Rodriguez to my response to her message to check up on the status of the box and its contents shortly after it arrived at 10 AM on the dot.

As for my new charges:

This is Female #1.
Hatched 7/21/18.

Female #2.
Hatched 8/24/18

As I said above—all I need is a male!

4/21/19

Today turned out a lot less enjoyable than it ought to have been for the beginning of vacation week. Technically it begins tomorrow but I was looking forward to maybe enjoying a few hours at my place once I put in my 4 hour 11 to 3 shift yesterday. However it was more or less clouded by a pessimistic mood stemming from the ongoing uncertainty with the situation in C'ville and the weather itself that turned stormy just as my day was winding down.

About halfway into the shift I noticed things had darkened noticibly in the courtyard outside the waiting room and so I checked the map on the computer at my desk. There was a little blob that had blown up on the radar just west of my place that looked kind of serious as time went on. And quite ominous on my way out the door after I tarried to eat a late lunch and kill a little time for my arrival home after the rains were projected to move out of there.

Killed a little more at Lowe’s looking at plants and hardware for projects. And finally got to home after it was over to do rounds and I fed the Euro Ponds and ran out of worms. Going to have to start keeping more of those on hand since everyone is pretty much up and feeding now.

Unsettled weather remained an issue with storms moving in and my unsettled mood and the need to rush off to C'ville because Uncle Budd was still lingering in his chair since the morning made it impossible for me to tarry too long. I made a hurried effort to remove the poison ivy vines off the rocks by the trailer hitch so those can be moved this season and it was now or never as those were starting to leaf out and become even more dangerous to deal with. That way the coming rains could wash away the sap by time I get around to rolling the rocks up to the site.

Even so the vines are always notorious for whipping around and exposing me. So I washed off at the house and then took a cool shower when I got to C'ville. Hopefully I won't get it and the rocks are mostly cleared off now. I'm going to spend Easter Sunday in C'ville and I have a dinner ready to prepare but I'm going to try to get away to my place later and again on Monday since I need to get away some and its my vacation.

4/21/1:18 PM

My "Errf Day" article published. Like most of my recent ones it came out way short of original intentions because of the time crunch and other issues sapping my creativity. At least it's on par with most of the other articles that appeared in the current issue.

Vacation Week 1 officially begins today.

Burnout is my major issue right now. Maybe if I can get to enjoy this time off work without any significant issues and get things done it might be the much needed recharge to get though life this season. I may have overreacted a little to events of the last couple days—although for a while this seemed like it might be something really major brewing. That on top of a growing anxiety over the skyrocketing odometer in the Honda was really making me feel overwhelmed. I'm closing in on 20,000 on a 30,000 / three year lease at around a year & a month later! Even if I'm leasing to own— I really am getting concerned about the mileage and its long term effect of the vehicle and the warrantee. I'd like it to hold up because I'm going to have it and be making payments for a long time. And I'd like to get along for a while without major issues.

At times my decision to lease seems foolish. But it did let me use some of my payoff from the insurance settlement to pay off the Lowe's Card which was the tipping point where I was able to get the other card refinanced and get to where I am now being able to make headway on paying down debt without squeezing and juggling and stalling bills.

As for recharging I plan on making a trip home later after Easter Dinner to try to catch up on things I didn't get to yesterday. Like I wanted to water house plants and feed fish. The 4 Blackbandeds can go outside anytime —as soon as I get more plants to provide cover in the half barrel. Then I will look into getting the 150 Rubbermaid at Rural King. This looks like the ideal tank for breeding those and probably other small species like Bantams. I will take some more Western Dollars—if Ray sends a lot of them ( he said 17!) I could select the most probable females and put the remainder into the main pond and let them grow out for replacement stock to recover later in the season. Or else try to pick out females or trios and send those. I'm pretty confident the bull of the cohort that I put in the first tank by itself and the one that killed all its tank mates to claim the second are males. In the future I'm seriously considering a plan to take a 50 gallon Rubbermaid with a good biofiltration system and put smaller containers in it to winter my breeders in separate compartments so they can't kill each other. If I could heat the garage a little I could keep that in there. And I'm thinking about moving one of the 300 Rubbermaids into the garage for the monster bullheads to keep the breeders going without tying up the greenhouse pond which was a good place for wintering the escambiae and Pteranotropis shiners. I saw one of the bullheads in there the other night moving around so those are ready to go outside.

But I digress.

Was referring to recharge. Want to spend a few nights at my place this week. Will probably scrub that plan for tonight and push it ahead to Monday night which is the evening of my B-Day which I plan to celebrate at Mrs G's with her eldest son who shares the same. And one of Ray's daughters too!

Today looks yucky like many an Easter from memories back in the 70s. And usually my expectations of Easter were fueled by the one that happened on my 11th Birthday in 73 which was so incredibly warm and sunny and all the spectacular spring flowers were in full bloom.

I just did a digression I won't detail too much here for time sake. Somehow I got obsessed about this dating of Easter and when it falls on my B-day which led me to research dates of the two and jog memories of significant things and events from childhood through graduation from high school in 1981. Like Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which grades I was in which years, Presidents from LBJ through Nixon, Carter & Reagan and when I was pulled out of school and moved here in the 6th grade in February of 74 only to move back to VA that summer and then a repeat of the same that became a permanent move almost exactly a year later.

Had a helluva time too. I've lost so much memory of those days that it is was hard to get some of the chronology of specific school grades to jive with the date of my 11th birthday which I kept thinking was when I was in third grade when it was the 5th! And that put the advent of hurricane Agnes's a year before.

Got to get going on that dinner. Fortunately I got two big slices of ham that can be fixed up quickly as opposed to a whole one that takes hours. Those days are behind us for now as I can't afford to waste time. Which I'm doing anyway. Could be adjustment reaction. That was a common psych diagnosis among patients traveling in the military aeromedical evacuation system. I never really researched the actual definition but I kind of assumed it is a sort of inhibition to act or perform because you are uncomfortable in a new or unpleasant situation. Could be anything from the dread of facing an ugly workplace to putting off doing your income taxes. Will have to look it up some time.

The Psquares also celebrated Easter.

They really loved the little pieces of ham and corn I gave them as a treat!

4/22/19—late evening.

Breakthrough on the Florida Room Project!

Found bed risers at the C'ville WalMart. I was looking for maybe some kind of small plastic crate that they didn’t have. Just a stroke of good luck or providence that I saw them and the idea clicked! These are the perfect solution. Plenty strong enough to hold up the weight of trays since even fully loaded with growing medium and irrigation water those will be lightweight in comparison to a bed with a couple people sleeping in it. Plus the risers themselves are lightweight in comparison to bricks or blocks and a lot less footprint too so there will be more space for the turts. Best of all it’s simple. Just two 5 inchers for the lower tray and two 7 inchers with the other two 5 inch risers on top of those for the upper tray. The upper one is still a little uneven but that can be solved with a piece of plywood cut to fit on top of the 2x12 to make up the half inch that will make it even with the rim of the lower tray.

Now that is an elegant solution. Way better than heavy bricks or wooden legs and a few other ideas. It is good to go and I’ll get fancier with the pillars later—maybe a cladding of spray foam with the Eco Earth or vivarium substrate mix siliconed on to make them look natural and a similar facade on the front edge of the boards and trays.

Other accomplishment for the day was working on the shoreline restoration at the main pond. Brought more rocks from Uncle Budd’s and dug out a small shelf to form the planting pocket. Also had to cut out a big tree root and part of the old PVC liner that was left in situ when I laid the EDPM in 1997. Got pics of that but they’re on my other device so I will send some of those when o get back to C’ville tomorrow evening.

The double birthday party at Geiger’s didn’t happen because her son decided to go fishing and didn’t want to have a big celebration. Kind of good anyway because with the renewed momentum on the two projects I’d rather spend the time getting those started and hopefully done ASAP. Will get back on it tomorrow when I’m rested and clear headed so I won’t make mistakes. Especially with the cutting out the holes for the bulkheads. Need to figure out which hole saw fitting I’ll need. The saw fitting from my last project is stuck on the drill fitting but have my vise to work with since I raised and leveled the work bench in the garage several months ago. And I can use the plug in drill since I don’t have to work away from the house. That way the expense of replacing the charger for the battery drills can wait.

Now I will break for a late dinner and then start brainstorming more ideas and put together a to do list and a shopping list of material and live goods I want to get this season.

4/25/19

Yesterday's endeavor was a success for the most part.

On the way home I got 7 feet of the reinforced tubing—same as I used for the DD system outside. It was the next best thing to black vinyl like the roll off 1/2-inch for the SmartPond pumps from Lowe's. used the wood burning pen to make a hole for it like I did with the pump tubing the day before. Bulkhead fittings would be more professional but maybe later on down the road in the incremental improvements area.

Put the thing under the table and connected both runs of tubing and ran the power cord through the same opening as the drain tubing. Then I set about getting the trays leveled. I moved the leg from the front left corner to the right left corner which corrected the tilt and leveled the whole thing in one fail swoop. As you recall I only put three legs on the table with one about midway along the front edge because of issues with the structure underneath that kept me from installing the slip brackets in those corners. There was still a bit of a tilt because the rim of the lower tray was higher than the 2x12 base that the upper one rests on. Fixed that by ripping some pieces of plywood to to the same dimensions as the 28-inch base.

I sourced my plywood from a couple 4' x 8' sheets that my bro left here years ago that were leftover from something he did and taking up space in my basement. One was 1/2-inch the other 1/4-inch. Ended up using a layer of both to shim up the upper tray and a layer of the 1/2-inch for the lower one. What I'm thinking now is maybe have the thin sheet extend out a few inches and cut undulating contours for a more naturalistic facade when I do the spray foam.

While I was at it I decided to cut up the remainder of the plywood to reduce the footprint in my basement with an eye toward using it later for shelving or to raise up tanks so I cut it mostly into 2' x 4' sheets which take up far less space than 8'x 4'! Was debating whether to do that or put it off so I could do stuff outside but glad now I got it out of the way— literally! And I remastered my circular saw too which was a pain starting out trying to figure out the safety fascist feature— AGAIN!

Remainder of the evening I started multitasking—redding up and feeding the fish while I continued working on the project. Then I found a bonus— some more food containers from Moe's along with the lids when I went to get a box with taco shells I had saved along with them to take back with me to C'ville. Good thing too because I was just about to consign the whole bag to the box of cardboard and junk mail being saved for the next burn pile! Had totally forgotten about the containers which had gotten put on the back burner.

There were two big containers and three smaller ones that just about fill up the lower tray and give me a start on the upper one. Or I may just use these as propagating trays because they have clear plastic lids thar fit them. That's sort of what I was thinking when I salvaged them. I put out the word at work for people to save them for me if I'm not around and I hope to get a lot more as I will have use for them in the greenhouse as well.

Then came the moment of truth when I flooded the trays to see if the system could handle the flow without backing up and spilling over. And test for other problems. I seems to be working flawlessly as I ran it for well over an hour and did not overflow. However just as I unplugged the pump I noticed a wet spot on the wood under the lower tray where it literally sprung a tiny leak right before my very eyes. I promptly drained out the system and head the tray up to the light and found a pinhole. Guessing it is manufacturing flaw and I should have done a thorough inspection when I first got them. Or at least before filling them. Will have to repair that one with a dab of silicone sealer because its on the corner of one of the bottom grooves and I don't think a pond patch will fit well there.

Thankfully I didn't perforate one of those on the other tray in the mishap with the hole saw the previous day!

So it's two steps forward and maybe a half step back. But I still got momentum. In the minutes leading up to bugging out I thought up a way to use Chuck's old metal frame as my frog tank which is probably the best possible use since I had the bottom hole drilled which makes repurposing it for a fish tank dubious at best.

I'm going to add another rung and whatever additional wood is necessary to fill the space to the top of the posts and then a thick sheet of plywood on top of that. Took some measurements and it looks doable. The front of the tank is 42 inches—coincidentally the same as the width of the Turtle Table. I'll have to shift the stand more to the right to clear the plexiglas walk of the table.

For the issue of the exposed glass edges inside that make me hesitant to use it for critters—I figured another elegant solution: I can fill the corners with spay foam—or better yet—build background inserts with insulation board and spray foam that fit flush and can be easily removed because I don't like burning my bridges behind me. I kept brainstorming these ideas when I got back to C'ville and had my taco dinner using up the meat I made on my weekend stay over. Tall about a day of repurposing and using up things that are cluttering up the place! It's sort of the slow evolutionary process that seems to be the best strategy for developing and improving things by trial and error. Getting rid of the plywood and repurposing a tank that for a while I feared might end up being left out of the plan. And that would be a shame too because the tank—Chuck's old one that used to be the home of his huge (possibly record sized Eastern Chain King) that once occupied the center of his little snake room—close to mine in the way of interior space. It has sentimental historic value like the Turtle Table crafted by Big Bob! It has more room than a 40B plus a hole for a bottom drain!

It will need a lid. Currently I'm looking to do a hinged plexiglas lid that can lay flat on the metal top. I can drill or melt holes on the back portion of that to run cords or tubing so I can even have a little waterfall and a misting system! Previously I had the tip of a piston syringe siliconed into the bottom hole for a bulkhead and I can do that again and run the overflow to the irrigation sump which is how I'd like to dispose of the drainage water.

Sierra Club for fish? Ray complained today in regard to the native fishes association we once belonged to. I like that one. Maybe even better than mine about the people who want to turn herpetology into the equivalent of bird watching.

4/26/19 3:00 PM

Vacation Week going fast.

Update Friday afternoon. Miserable. Between icky weather and feeling icky because of clogged ears which started this morning when I decided to clean the wax out with a Q-tip before showing so water wouldn’t get trapped in my ear like a few years ago when Geiger & Howie irrigated and removed the mother of all wax plugs.

Not as bad this time around. I think I just pushed some wax into my eardrum that I can eventually clean out with ear drops. But it took most of the fun out of the tech competency class. And the greatest irony was that Howie was one of the instructors!

Anyway that is over and done like my biometric screening. I came home to hang out and try to get stuff done between the raindrops. Got the Euro Ponds and JPTs at the pond site fed. Then tinkered a little with the spillway in the Florida Room because it was dribbling water back against the wall. Cut out the wall more to advance the lower part of it through more so I could tilt it forward some. Going to break that whole thing down soon. Would do it today but not feeling up to the task. Ditto for moving the fish. Don’t want to make any mistakes there so I’ll wait for it to warm up again.

Might do that early next week.

Cleaning out the pond I’m going to go slow with that too. Might try experimenting with siphoning out goop before going for the total drawdown. Seems like I keep scaling back my ambitions. Mainly because they are usually unrealistic with trying to get too many things done on too short a time scale. Best strategy is to keep plugging along with the improvements while I take care of the critters and the flora. For this vacation week the best I will probably do is finish the half of the Room I’ve been working on all winter. I’m thinking about moving the 40B to the bottom rung of the other stand to free up the one for the frog tank. Then I can work on building up the base for the metal frame. Get that done and the way to doing the tank build is clear.

Was going to do that and got diverted dealing with a slimy mess of water plant cuttings left in a cooler and neglected since I broke down the upper 40 B. Salvaged out some viable pieces of Lake Cress I sure don’t want to loose and need to propagate to get the numbers back up. Threw those into the tub with the Rosy Reds for the time being. Then picked out bits of the viviparous hair grass which were not many. This prompted a trip to the greenhouse to put those in the tub there to hopefully regenerate. Then I did a search for it and found one last good one in a fabric pot in the inside pond so I’ll be able to propagate that one back up pretty quickly. I actually found that one by wading the pond to do a search for remnants of Syngonium rayii on the back wall or even in the water which is what Monstera siltipecana sometimes does—and the Syngoniums do too. I did actually see a plantlet several years ago and should have taken the trouble to salvage it but didn’t since I took it for granted it wound be easy to replace when I got around to it. Then when the time came every single supplier in the trade cones up out of stock. And it’s that way for many things.

Ordered a Begonia bowereii through Etsy since it looked like another old mainstay on the verge of becoming a rarity. I used to have two varieties in the greenhouse one that got incredibly huge and the other a dainty little dwarf but lost both over time. Shame considering how easy they propagate from leaf cuttings like African violets.

Going to see what else I can do today and then call it a day. Warmed up the oven to do crabs. That might at least pick me up a little. Make me feel like I’m down in Apalachicola having lunch at the seafood grill after a morning of herping and fish collecting.

Uh oh—here come the Green Police !

Wooooooooohhhhhhhwooooooooohhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Or the French version : doooodoooodooodooodooodooodooo dooooooo!

Update: 8:25 PM

The pics from the drive home.

Crummy day. Yet managed to accomplish something significant before bugging out for C'ville. After lunch I went back down and scooped most of the Turface out of the 40B that was once home to the bullheads and Redbreasts and moved it to the lower rung of the the stand on the opposite side of the Rubbermaid.

Now the way is clear to go forward with the Frog Tank build. And also may get two 40Bs back in business if those don't leak and I solve the leveling issue. Started tinkering with the 2 foot long set of legs I swapped out from the table earlier on. Doubled them crossways on the inside against the leg posts and toyed with the idea of another 2x4 cut to fit inside longways to build up the stand. Need two 30.5-inch pieces for that which I'll get from Lowe's tomorrow. I could cut up the bigger ones but I want those to replace rotten boards in the lids of my pens.

Does not look bad and solved the problem for the most part in a very simplistic manner. There us maybe a half or quarter inch of the leg post protruding above the new wood but that can be trimmed off or just put a sheet of plywood to fill it in and then a big 1/2-inch thick sheet custom cut from the existing stockpile to make a platform for the tank to sit on. I measured the long dimension of the metal frame tank against the stand and it only goes out a few inches in either direction when centered so the prospect looks workable. Will need to leave or make an opening in the platform for the tubing from the bottom drain to run through the undercarriage to the sump for the hydroponic system.

I get that done tomorrow then I can start shopping for the material for the interior build. Like to get that dome quickly so the silicone and spray foam can have time to cure before the live goods go in. I do think it will go pretty quickly once I get the tank situated. Rig something below to hang an LED light on and get the Exo Terra up and running again for the newts. Get the live food cultures going again too.

Have to design a new drainage layer with egg crate something like what I had before. Instead of a nipple from the tip of a syringe I might try pushing a piece of tubing up through the drain hole and seat around with silicone and slide a stiff PVC pipe over that to create an overflow so I can have a few inches of water to allow for a naturalistic pool for the frogs to breed in.

This is every bit as exiting as the rebuild of the Table. I'm well on the way to making the frog tank everything it was meant to be too.

Makes up for the miserable day in a big way and made my stay at home worth it. I think I may be coming down with something that is a contributing factor to my stuffiness. May have picked up something at the class or while I was out yesterday. Hope it doesn't sink the remainder of my vacation.

5/22/19: 11:57 AM

Hit a milestone yesterday as the odometer passed 20,000 on the way to work. I've even dreading this moment but now that it's passed anything else seems less ominous. Was talking to someone about it and it was pretty much like your advice and others: to not worry about it. Now this may sound crazy but I'm contemplating a trip to Jersey again—maybe next month when I take second vacation week.

Was running on fumes going to work yesterday and filled up on the way out of town on the return leg. Gas down three cents to $3.06 / gal from $3.09 where is has been holding lately. Hoping it will go down more and not " necessarily skyrocket" because of wars, hurricanes or CLC—Crazy Lady Cortez!

There is a cute cartoon about her carrying a can of gas to refuel her green car that ran out of battery power or magic fairy dust or something.

An interesting surprise when I got home.

They installed a smart meter of all things! I was wondering when that was going to happen. At least like the 20,000 odometer it has come and gone without incident. For a while I was dreading they might have issues with my antique electrical system and force me to upgrade before I'm financially ready to do so on my own. Now I guess I'll have to see what my future bills look like. Hopefully they won't "necessarily skyrocket".

Maybe a good thing if I do go with the LED option!

I'm at a crossroads with the room. The timer gave out so I'm turning the lights on and off manually and forgot to do so in the morning so they're running through the night now and I'll have to leave them on when I get home to work in there. I'm thinking its time to move the living occupants out of there and put off replacing the timer until I'm ready to reboot agin with the LEDs and get the placement of everything finalized. Next major step looks like sealing the frog tank. I cleaned it out good the other night with a whisk broom and dust pan and meticulous removal of small pebbles out the the gaps between the bottom and side panes followed by wiping down with vinegar solution like I did the 40B on the laundry table. Will get silicone and maybe try this weekend.

I can't get all the dirt and grit that has gotten down in under the bottom pane unless maybe I get a powerful vacuum and that does not look to be in the cards yet. I'm thinking it will be ok because it's not much and I can fill the gap between the panes and get a good seal over the edges of the glass inside the tank. It will leave some detritus in the space between that and the original caulk bead that seals the bottom pane to the metal frame. The latter is probably a good seal on its own but I'd like a little more insurance plus to fill those gaps and seal over the sharp edges with silicone so critters won't cut themselves.

Looks like we may be lucky this spring. Closing on Memorial Day and no late frosts so far and none in the current near term forecast. It was very chilly last night when I left work and I was kind of astonished there was not a frost advisory. Much like an earlier chilly spell a few weeks ago. But a relief I didn't have to to cover or move anything.

If this is climate change it's change for the better. At least as far as things in my neck of the woods are concerned. We are heading back up into the 70s and 80s next several days so it looks like spring—what's left of it is here to stay and will soon transition into summer. That's good for the turts and its probably going to be safe now to put the Swordtails outside now.

Was looking forward to a message telling me that a package with fish and the worm culture was on its way yesterday which did not come. I'm guessing you are busy like me. I could hardly find time to put together a shipment this week either. The current project is consuming what time my regular things do not. But I can wait another week. I have 4 containers ready. Would like to start two of them right away and keep two more in reserve and eventually have 6 with 4 active bad two fallow containers waiting.

Got to get going. The day is getting away from me again as I write. So much for plans to be out f here a couple hours ago! At least there is not much to do here this morning. Fed the frogs and newts last night—the latter got a big harvest of daphnia to keep them happy a while. The young Gulfs are back in their outdoor setups now and everything else can wait until this evening.

Fed the "Squares" this morning already. Algae wafers and Zoo Med. will give them some greens before I leave.

Came up with a great idea for using a bulb syringe to start a small syphon to make cleaning their temporary enclosure easier that should also work for doing water changes for the daphnia tanks.

5/30/19—10:30 AM

Basic structure of the Turtle Table finished late night after a long day and evening at work. Was a very simple and easy fix left over from last night when I cut the top trim and then decided to sleep on it.

It’s amazing what a fresh start can do even when you’re not so fresh. Just made my cuts and siliconed the top trim to the panes and set them all back in place. Will hold off on sealing the back corners and bottom track because disassembly will be required in the near future.

Big Bob will be proud of what I've done with his creation!

5/31/19 6:30 PM

Dumpster diving at the Cemetery.

A possible solution for creating planting pockets in the vivarium background. Turned upside down the individual cells are a perfect fit for the small net pots I grow Bromeliads in. These can be cut apart and pegged into the insulation board and spray foamed around maybe easier than flower pots. I’m collecting those too.

5/31/19—7:44 PM

Ominous Sunset I

As I pull out from the gas station in Mt Pleasant heading for Greensburg to shop for supplies. One of those beautiful ominous sunsets worthy of a fear mongering Gorebull Warming documentary.

Ominous Sunset II

About 30 minutes later with “mean old nasty Walmart” and a parking lot full of greenhouse gas spewing cars. All that’s missing are billowing smokestacks from a coal burning power plant and the ominous background music.

I unfortunately lack the resources to do a production like Algore.

On the other hand you must ask yourself; would he have the talent to do what I do with words. "Word smithing" my mentor Bruce the Historian calls it.

7/12/19—midnight going on morning.

It's been a busy month and its spring going on midsummer. At least that's what if feels like with much of my time including my second vacation in June being pretty much consumed by this project that finally came to a finish a few nights ago. That was when I put the legs on the counter top that was previously supported by a duo of buckets—of all things. It took a lot of time and a lot of Jerry rigging to get it done and that would be as long a story and even more pictures if I were to tell it in a diary like format. And I'm up late trying to put together this so called spring edition well after the 4th of July which was one of the missed target dates.

To do the story justice—and so I can get this edition done I decided to end it here for now and do a little postscript with some more photos to highlight some of the more significant milestones and save the rest for a more specific article. I think both the readership and the story itself will be better served that way. Otherwise I might still be sitting on it come Labor Day!

Postscript—brief. I wish I had more time and energy as I'm ready to drop putting this article together late Friday going on Saturday morning.

A beautiful sight once the 40B stand was leveled and the tanks could be filled. Also a change of plans in configuring them so they were rotated out parallel with the stock tub rather than perpendicular to it against the wall.

The tap in to the Pex manifold system and a fill and drain system in room will revolutionize water changes and make them happen more frequently. It's part of best practice and pursuit of excellence in the reptile and fish hobby and all things in general.

Bruce who helped me put in the manifold system will be proud of my solo work.

The full Turtle Table and stock tub water feature combo is now better that it was before and there is still lots of room for improvement.

Nice to have planted aquariums starting back up

View over the 40 B overlooking the tub.

Shelving for cages on opposite side of room.

Male Florida Boxie in improved Vision Cage setup. Best practice in action!

Yunnan newts back in the Exo Terra setup

Will do a more detailed account of the vivarium build and recent renovation of the room in an upcoming Adventures in Herpetology that will also cover the philosophical values of interdisciplinary conservation and Herpetoculture.