What are you doing today?

[WhistlingBadger]

Sure wish I could be there, Juice. Praying for you and Daniel daily. Sounds like you need it.

Oh, the devotional: We decided to heck with the weather; there's a covered pavilion at the campground and we're Wyoming people. Not gonna let a little adverse weather ruin our plans. Got about 3/4 of the way up to the canyon and suddenly the road was 4" deep in hail, with torrential rain coming down on top of it. Got to the pavilion and found that the hail had made a dam of sorts, catching all the rain, and the floor of the thing was about three inches deep in ice water, with more rapidly flowing in.

Fortunately, Badger Manor has a nice den. And currently it contains no rushing ice water. Had to cook the hot dogs in the oven broiler instead of over coals, but it was still a good time.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Actually, for some unknown reason, I'd like to be there but not gonna happen as I need to get my car in the shop. I know that you were just kidding anyway.

I mean I’d have you if you wanted to come haha, I invited the badgers!

 

[jaylach]

I mean I’d have you if you wanted to come haha, I invited the badgers!

LOL! I could just see me driving down the road with my cockatiel on the dash. Actually he really likes watching motion and loves to watch U.S. football so he would probably like it. Not that he understands what football is but he likes the motion. Shoot, if I play the movie Avatar his eyes will never leave the screen. When he does this it is kind of funny as he will perch facing away with his head turned like 180 degrees to watch. I really think that he likes the motion but faces away in case he needs to get out of Dodge. I remember a few years ago we were watching a football game and during halftime there was a guy with a rescue eagle that did events. The eagle let out a screech and my poor bird went haywire and was flopping around on the bottom of his cage. It was like he was having a seizure. I don't actually understand the response but guess it must be some obscure defense mechanism.

Actually that reminded me of a guy I knew before I left Ohio. As with myself he rode a motorcycle but with a bit of a twist. He had a cockatoo (distant cousin to a cockatiel) that would ride on his handle bars. If a club would allow he would often bring it in which automatically made him popular with the ladies as this bird was as affectionate and playful as a black lap puppy. Also the bird often stayed outside on the bike. In this situation the beastie was totally different as to personality. It went to watch-bird mode and would attack if you got too close to the bike. LOL! He actually had food and water bowls mounted on the handlebars. This bird was a bit freaky. The guy actually had a set of goggles made to fit the bird's eyes and the critter happily wore the things.

 

[Magnos]

Got discharged from the hospital after 3 days and came home to find my 75g cycled and algae under control! And a new batch of blue velvet shrimp

 

[jaylach]

Since I talked birds above and know that there are at least a few bird lovers here I thought I'd throw out the following link. It is mostly about a cockatiel's eyesight but applies to many species.

Cockatiel Vision Explained - How Do Cockatiels See?

Many cockatiel owners do not understand how good or bad their bird is at seeing things. I am sharing below some insights into the amazing ways in which

beautyofbirds.com

Some birds also have amazing hearing. Ever watch a robin hunting worms and wondered why they tend to turn their head sideways? They can actually hear a worm moving through the dirt if close to the surface. Their eyesight is also so acute that they can even see the minute up and down movement of grass as a worm moves near the surface.

Amazing beasties! Funny thing about a cockatiel's sight is that they actually have about a 350 degree field of vision which is cool but the missing 10 degrees is directly in front over their beak. This may explain why they are rather clumsy fliers and much prefer to use their beaks and talons to climb and only tend to fly if it is the only option. LOL! I open my cockatiels penthouse from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. He will often climb around the outside of the cage and will even walk around on the floor. They travel around just fine in this manner but will take flight if startled. When flight it taken it is often kind of funny as, since they can't see directly in front, he tends to fly into things like walls.

Still they see things that we, as human, can't. We have 3 color photo receptors as in red, blue and green. Cockatiels have two more as in yellow and ultra violet Yes, I know that we can see yellow but it is not a primary color for us, it is for a cockatiel. Ya, I know that your printer has a yellow ink cartridge but it is still not a primary color for the human eye.

The rather funny thing is that the only critter that is known that can see the most colors is a manta shrimp with 16 photo receptors. Humans have three and my bird five. I would LOVE to see how this shrimp sees the world. Ya, I've mentioned manta shrimp a few times; I'll never have unless I set up a very thick acrylic tank as they are well known for busting glass tanks. but they fascinate me. They have thingies in their front that are used for killing prey. These things put out about the same force as a .22 bullet.

 

[Magnos]

Since I talked birds above and know that there are at least a few bird lovers here I thought I'd throw out the following link. It is mostly about a cockatiel's eyesight but applies to many species.

Cockatiel Vision Explained - How Do Cockatiels See?

Many cockatiel owners do not understand how good or bad their bird is at seeing things. I am sharing below some insights into the amazing ways in which

beautyofbirds.com

Some birds also have amazing hearing. Ever watch a robin hunting worms and wondered why they tend to turn their head sideways? They can actually hear a worm moving through the dirt if close to the surface. Their eyesight is also so acute that they can even see the minute up and down movement of grass as a worm moves near the surface.

Amazing beasties! Funny thing about a cockatiel's sight is that they actually have about a 350 degree field of vision which is cool but the missing 10 degrees is directly in front over their beak. This may explain why they are rather clumsy fliers and much prefer to use their beaks and talons to climb and only tend to fly if it is the only option. LOL! I open my cockatiels penthouse from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. He will often climb around the outside of the cage and will even walk around on the floor. They travel around just fine in this manner but will take flight if startled. When flight it taken it is often kind of funny as, since they can't see directly in front, he tends to fly into things like walls.

Still they see things that we, as human, can't. We have 3 color photo receptors as in red, blue and green. Cockatiels have two more as in yellow and ultra violet Yes, I know that we can see yellow but it is not a primary color for us, it is for a cockatiel. Ya, I know that your printer has a yellow ink cartridge but it is still not a primary color for the human eye.

The rather funny thing is that the only critter that is known that can see the most colors is a manta shrimp with 16 photo receptors. Humans have three and my bird five. I would LOVE to see how this shrimp sees the world. Ya, I've mentioned manta shrimp a few times; I'll never have unless I set up a very thick acrylic tank as they are well known for busting glass tanks. but they fascinate me. They have thingies in their front that are used for killing prey. These things put out about the same force as a .22 bullet.

Ever considered hawking? To me it's like the ultimate bird keeping. I've read the requirements and it's quite a hefty list

 

[Magnos]

Since I talked birds above and know that there are at least a few bird lovers here I thought I'd throw out the following link. It is mostly about a cockatiel's eyesight but applies to many species.

Cockatiel Vision Explained - How Do Cockatiels See?

Many cockatiel owners do not understand how good or bad their bird is at seeing things. I am sharing below some insights into the amazing ways in which

beautyofbirds.com

Some birds also have amazing hearing. Ever watch a robin hunting worms and wondered why they tend to turn their head sideways? They can actually hear a worm moving through the dirt if close to the surface. Their eyesight is also so acute that they can even see the minute up and down movement of grass as a worm moves near the surface.

Amazing beasties! Funny thing about a cockatiel's sight is that they actually have about a 350 degree field of vision which is cool but the missing 10 degrees is directly in front over their beak. This may explain why they are rather clumsy fliers and much prefer to use their beaks and talons to climb and only tend to fly if it is the only option. LOL! I open my cockatiels penthouse from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. He will often climb around the outside of the cage and will even walk around on the floor. They travel around just fine in this manner but will take flight if startled. When flight it taken it is often kind of funny as, since they can't see directly in front, he tends to fly into things like walls.

Still they see things that we, as human, can't. We have 3 color photo receptors as in red, blue and green. Cockatiels have two more as in yellow and ultra violet Yes, I know that we can see yellow but it is not a primary color for us, it is for a cockatiel. Ya, I know that your printer has a yellow ink cartridge but it is still not a primary color for the human eye.

The rather funny thing is that the only critter that is known that can see the most colors is a manta shrimp with 16 photo receptors. Humans have three and my bird five. I would LOVE to see how this shrimp sees the world. Ya, I've mentioned manta shrimp a few times; I'll never have unless I set up a very thick acrylic tank as they are well known for busting glass tanks. but they fascinate me. They have thingies in their front that are used for killing prey. These things put out about the same force as a .22 bullet.

Also there are a few species of mantis that are 3" max that can't punch thru glass

 

[jaylach]

Ever considered hawking? To me it's like the ultimate bird keeping. I've read the requirements and it's quite a hefty list

It is intriguing but not practical for me as I live next t a nature reserve which is where a hawk would naturally hunt as there are many critters. Being a nature reserve having a personal beasty hunting would not actually be legal. Regardless I DO happen to have a soft spot for red tails...

Then there is my cockatiel which has an open cage to come and go during the day. Let's see.... a cockatiel and a hawk both loose to flitter about. Most likely the cockatiel just becomes hawk food.

 

[jaylach]

Also there are a few species of mantis that are 3" max that can't punch thru glass

Ya there are but I'd still go acrylic if I were to ever keep such beasties. Since I live in a third floor apartment it will probably never happen. Shoot, I just have a 20 gallon cube now but would love to have at least a 55 gallon. I just worry about the weight load of a larger tank.

 

[jaylach]

Sigh, just had another chat session with Spectrum Cable. With my being a sports person and their conflict their Disney costing me the loss of all ESPN channels and others they offered me a one time $15.00 discount which is not even close to acceptable. Time to seriously figure out what I need as to streaming networks and go with DSL via Century link. My base download speed would drop from ~100 Mb/sec to ~60 Mb/sec but, in real time, the difference would not even be noticeable except for cases of really large downloads.

 

[Fishmanic]

Got discharged from the hospital after 3 days and came home to find my 75g cycled and algae under control! And a new batch of blue velvet shrimpView attachment 326918View attachment 326920

Awesome tanks. Would like to see one of them entered in our Tank of the Month contest. In November, TOTM will feature tanks sized at 31 gallons and larger.

 

[Back in the fold]

Autumn draws nigh . Nice and brisk this morning . The first cool days feel nice .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Got discharged from the hospital after 3 days and came home to find my 75g cycled and algae under control! And a new batch of blue velvet shrimpView attachment 326918View attachment 326920

What is the large, black fish in the center of the top photo?

 

[Back in the fold]

What is the large, black fish in the center of the top photo?

A mystery to me too and I really looked at that picture . Some cichlid I think .

 

[Lanpenn]

Nothing new. I first noticed when containers of ice cream went from a half gallon to 1.5 quarts for the same price many years ago.

The shrinkflation is even worse here in Brazil. Interestingly, this phenomenon doesn't affect all items equally (for any economy you can imagine). I even thought about doing research about this applied to the Brazilian economy, although I'm not an economist (and I don't intend to, I find).

There are items that I simply stopped to buy. The worst is when the ingredients used are of lesser quality than before, this is more problematic than the downsizing itself. On my birthday, I went to a pizzeria and I found out that the pizza lost its quality. For now, I do the pizzas for myself and, besides being less expensive, are better by far. The only issue is that I don't have a wood stove, which usually gives a fantastic flavor to the pizza. This is one of the reasons I don't accept seeing people saying inflation as a good thing.

The good news is that my betta's fins are recovering fast.