What are you doing today?

[jaylach]

@jaylach
You should wear this t shirt when riding your trike.
View attachment 345323

Probably won't get but I like the play on Hell's Angels.

 

[Alice B]

What's the context? What books?

Nothing fancy. I wrote "Keeping Murphy Out of Your Aquarium" in 1996, it's about 74 pages, simple, covers biological filtration, pH, fish temperament choices, a good beginner's book according to the pet store that was using it to train her employees. There are a lot of very advanced aquarists on this site, but that is not a common phenomenon anymore. I was going to sell my hex tank, which has an established biological filter. The lady buying it did not have a clue what a biological filter was. I decided to keep the tank, told her I'd send a copy of Murphy via pdf just for the inspiration.

I let Murphy go out of print in about 1999 when enteric septicemia was running thru my tanks, it seems that southeast asia cleared it up on their end since but for many years I have not bought fish if I could avoid it. I couldn't figure out whether to update Murphy's disease section (including changing recommended meds as many are no longer available and/or ich is immune to them), or what to do, so I let it go out of print, and I had a busy aquarium and pond service to run. Fish books do not stay in print with major publishers. I did a rewrite for a british publisher in 2001 and a few years ago I scooped up enough copies off amazon for all of my grandchildren. It's not a great book, I lost copyright on anything in it, but I wanted the kids to see it.

The other book I would like to put out is a children's book, illustrated with water colors, about a pet store visit. It's called "All About My Day". Maybe 25 pages. When I painted those water colors color copy machines had just gotten into office supply stores. So I have copies of the paintings in a home bound copy here, the originals are in my safe deposit box.

I just want to do things I enjoy to make money. I have zero desire to be fully retired. Boring. I like to fiddle at a lot of things, i do web design, some graphics, used to do animated graphics but quit buying software and I have no time for it. I fix sewing machines, I grow plants for the native plant sale, I propagate succulents. And about anything else that will propagate easily.

And I have zero interest in a reverse mortgage. I am probably not as old as your parents, and I still make my living climbing and fixing waterfalls young man. My grammar has really deteriorated, lol.

 

[Alice B]

As far as pdf or calibre, i have to look at where i am marketing and see what they support. I don't feel like printing and shipping books anymore. When etsy gets going for art and restored machines it will be quite enough trouble

 

[GaryE]

To me, retirement isn't stopping working, if you have a pension. It's being able to choose your work, after the basic survival chores are done. I can go out to the fishroom and work on projects. I have a garden. I teach English as a language to recent immigrants. I read a lot on science and history, trying to catch up on what I should have learned years ago.

Fish and people are unpredictable, so fish breeding and teaching adults keep you fresh and regularly surprised, which we need. We also need money, so both help there. I still can't imagine watching TV. The negatives in retirement are mostly about having to be old to do it - things start to break down and you can't do a lot of what you want to do. I spend more time on this forum than I'd like to, but it's fun. I can still go for long walks and call them hikes, and can still hoist kayaks onto the car. For as long as that lasts, I'll do it.

Today, I have some work to do out back. My daphnia tubs became watering holes for a raccoon and a groundhog. They were knocking the screened covers off to drink, and that was allowing mosquitoes in. Now, I like mosquito larvae, but I also like my neighbours talking to me. The fish were eating the netted larvae and there was no major population of biters coming from the cultures, but it looked like it. I took a couple of retired fishracks and the old screens from before the windows on the house were changes, and built a screened box to hold 2 20 gallon tubs. I stuck it under trees where it is easily accessed for feeding and harvesting, but not as obvious. Today, I have to go tighten up the structure, build in some defences against small mammals, and see if the cannibalized racks are sturdy enough. The whole structure cost me $3 as I needed new staples.

 

[Alice B]

I do not have a pension. I will be fully vested in social security in 2 years, at which point i will start to draw on it. And at that point outside earnings won't affect my benefits as i understand it. I am repairing the house now while i can afford the extra expenses

 

[GaryE]

I was lucky to be in a trade where I could eventually get into a pension system. I changed jobs in my mid thirties because I wasn't in a system with a future for me. I always worked two, and sometimes three or more jobs, and scrambled around doing this and that in my free time. But having a small but okay pension from a unionized job beside my regular government pension is a great thing when you get older. I know I can no longer sustain the energy I needed for the work weeks I used to have.
I had to move out of the city - no choice there. You have to pay to stay in cities, and that forces compromises. But if you can get solid housing, you have a base. I paid into socialized medicine without using it for most of my working life, but I was glad others got to use it, and now, it's my turn to have wheels falling off.
If I want new fish or plants, I work a contract or sell some work.
A big thing to me is engaging and using my brain. I see too many people my age sitting into front of the TV and ranting about whichever hates are sold to them. I wish they'd paint, crochet, fishkeep, walk, volunteer in their community, and break out of the boxes somehow. I know one guy who's a skilled woodworker who loves the work. You see him with his tools and he's a happy man. But he gets around to it less and less because he's addicted to his hate week TV. I do my best to stay away from that, even though I'm a news junkie. A lot of old men seem to fall into that world. I even try to convince my fish to calm down.

 

[gwand]

I started a partial news blackout in 2010. Commuting to work was a forty minute chore each way. I spent the time listening to National Public Radio. By the time I entered the parking garage I was depressed. What a world we live in. It was near perfect until Homo sapien arrived. So instead of news I began listening to books on tape and eventually signed on to Amazon’s Audible. My commute became a classroom since my interests were mostly in the non-fiction realm. It was a life changer. Now in retirement besides volunteer work, exercising, fish keeping and grandkids I down loaded 175 hours of music courses from Audible. I am slowly working my way through this material. Maybe Audible will award me a degree when I am finished.

 

[Alice B]

I was married and had children, did 20 years total. Ex has been drawing SS since he was 62, he was trying to drag us into bankruptcy when I divorced and bought myself a house in 2001, I didn't have enough paid in to draw when I divorced but I do now, and I will hold off until I am fully vested. I'm not a tv fan at all. well except Rizzoli and Isles, but ya know everyone has a weakness - I never saw the show when it was in prime time. I see very little tv during spring and fall. the only way I could escape was going self employed and that has worked out well for me. it gives me the freedom to explore new things, I did bee removals during the summer for about 6 years - now that's an adventure, didn't make a huge amount of money, but as young beekeepers started doing them for free I gave that up. I still keep bees. Learning new things is the best way to outrun alzheimers, in my opinion

 

[emeraldking]

Sitting on the terrace at the hospital... Pretty relaxed...

 

[Oldspartan]

Pond building took a couple of weeks longer than it should have due to Death Valley style heat. Will be pulling wire this week and Chris will come next week to do the hook up. It will be nice to eliminate the lead cords running the pond pumps.

We have put wicker furniture as well as a bar table with stools inside. I am also going to build a horizontal shutter with window for each screened opening. These will be hinged.

The need for shutters became apparent Tuesday when we had a massive storm. The rain was literally horizontal and we might as well have been outside.

 

[jaylach]

Had a change of mind as to keeping my new trike in the apartment lobby. Just does not seem right to keep it inside when all other bikes and trikes are outside. I still will if the weather is going to be quite bad but will normally keep outside. For this I just ordered a cover that looks decent. The bottom is elastic to cinch around the tires so that helps for wind.

Amazon.com

 

[Alice B]

I went to dig up a pond pipe that runs about 30 feet from a pond to an old and very well built gravity filter box, because there was water sort of along its path and the sprinkler guy swore it was the pond. the pond never lost water. so we dig it up, and it's a sprinkler line leak at a bushing dropping down to half inch to angle off to an old sprinkler head that probably predated that sprinkler company. Left the hole open for him.
Moved an old pond pump out of its hardshell to the curb, it was a failed one, and put another old but good pond pump in the hard shell.
Finished the New Home, of course it wasn't picking up thread, you move the wheel backward on those. Tension adjusted, case could stand some decoration over the beat up corners and it's ready for a buyer. Can't date this one, but that finish is also on my kenmore from around 1941, so probably about the same age, straight stitch, no belt. will probably sew leather

 

[GaryE]

There are so many things other forum members know a lot about, and that I know nothing of. Sewing machines. I wish I could say I was going to spend my day learning about them, but it appears I'll be rinsing sand instead.

Then I'm going to remove the front panels from two leaky, unreliable home made tanks I was given, and use them to make two bog tanks. They'll be false walls for two tanks that I will place directly in front of a west facing window. They should allow me to grow bog plants. I put the glass in, siliconed, then fill the space created behind it with sand and peat. The tank water will be about 3 or 4 cm over the bog section, and deep in front of it. I have a tank with Chromaphyosemion poliaki, a critically endangered species I got before they were known to be at risk thriving in it. It's been running for 2 and a half years now, and is my favourite set up. It's time to expand the idea.

I'll have to make a 2x4 stand as well. It's a beautiful, cool sunny day here - perfect summer. Building stuff beats sitting around watching the sunflowers grow.

 

[Oldspartan]

Did all the drilling in the pond building yesterday for electrical wires and set the boxes in place. This weekend we will dig a 16 inch deep by 8-inch-wide trench from house to building and run some 12/2 UG wire inside a PVC pipe. We can then pull wire throughout the building Monday in preparation for Chris coming by on Wednesday or Thursday. We will also try to catch up on some yard maintenance that we have neglected. Linda is near apoplectic over her flower gardens.

Took yesterday afternoon completely off and did some reading in the new room to a background of water falling a spouting. It was very peaceful and relaxing. I just reward for some hot and heavy work.

 

[Alice B]

I get bored easily. In the past I have learned clay, from the molecule up, and sculpted. I'm a terrible potter. I paint, I sew, I've done leather work, I mess around with carpentry and finishes, I keep bees, and not just have bees, treat for diseases etc. i do research and fiddle with things.