What are you doing today?

[GaryE]

The clocks have changed, so I woke up at my old time, thought I could go back to sleep and then heard a raccoon attacking the compost bin. I lay there, thinking it was secured and the thing couldn't get in, and that I could turn off my inner dog and snooze. But alas, I had to get up and chase it off, just because.
So now, it's below freezing, there's a scarlet line in the sky as the sun is appearing, the dog is snoring and the coffee is oh so good.
Today, I water change in preparation for leaving town for a week and a half midweek - the fish will be fine but conditions should be optimal to ensure that. I'll set up all the live food cultures, which are more fragile than the fish) and then relax and pack.
All the flights involved are daytime ones - I find red eye flights kill me as I'm too tall to sleep on planes. The tops of the seats only come up to the base of my neck, and the leg room just isn't. It's only 5 hours to London from here - a small price to pay. I'll have a good stretch on another continent.
I can understand the resentment to tourists in many European cities. I know I'm special and different, but people there just see another piece of the herd. We used to get inconvenienced by tourists in summer in Montreal, and here, the traffic can be mad in the warm months. I don't mind but I could see locals in Spain dealing with hordes of people who made no attempt to learn the basics of their language and treated them like zoo animals. So another part of my day will be trying to learn rudimentary Italian, so I can show some respect. I should have been doing this for 6 months, but it's only been a few weeks.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The clocks have changed, so I woke up at my old time, thought I could go back to sleep and then heard a raccoon attacking the compost bin. I lay there, thinking it was secured and the thing couldn't get in, and that I could turn off my inner dog and snooze. But alas, I had to get up and chase it off, just because.
So now, it's below freezing, there's a scarlet line in the sky as the sun is appearing, the dog is snoring and the coffee is oh so good.
Today, I water change in preparation for leaving town for a week and a half midweek - the fish will be fine but conditions should be optimal to ensure that. I'll set up all the live food cultures, which are more fragile than the fish) and then relax and pack.
All the flights involved are daytime ones - I find red eye flights kill me as I'm too tall to sleep on planes. The tops of the seats only come up to the base of my neck, and the leg room just isn't. It's only 5 hours to London from here - a small price to pay. I'll have a good stretch on another continent.
I can understand the resentment to tourists in many European cities. I know I'm special and different, but people there just see another piece of the herd. We used to get inconvenienced by tourists in summer in Montreal, and here, the traffic can be mad in the warm months. I don't mind but I could see locals in Spain dealing with hordes of people who made no attempt to learn the basics of their language and treated them like zoo animals. So another part of my day will be trying to learn rudimentary Italian, so I can show some respect. I should have been doing this for 6 months, but it's only been a few weeks.

Have a fun trip.

Ah, Tourism, that wonderful institution that destroys the things it claims to appreciate. We all want their money, and we all want them to go away. American tourists are generally awful. (We get them here, too, being on the best route to Yellowstone) The only ones who compare, in my experience, are Germans and Japanese.

When I travel overseas I generally try to avoid the crowds, blend in as well as possible (easier in Scotland than in Haiti, me being 6'1" and blond), and when people ask, I tell them I'm from Wyoming rather than American. Not that I'm ashamed of my country--I'm quite grateful to be part of the USA, for all its problems. But when people in other countries hear "American," they tend to make certain assumptions, based on what they see on TV, on the way US foreign policy affects them, and on American tourists they've had the misfortune to interact with. There are, of course, lots and lots of nice American (and German and Japanese) people, but something about modern tourism brings out the worst. And of course, the rude, clueless, entitled helpless ones draw all the attention. The ones like me (and I suspect like you, Gary), who try to keep a low profile and respect the local scene, simply don't get noticed as much. So I tell people I'm from Wyoming because I don't like having assumptions made about me.

Besides, telling a European or South American that I'm from Wyoming starts much more interesting conversations. Say "American" and people assume they know all about it because they've seen movies about New York, Chicago, LA, and Florida. "Wyoming" tends to arouse some curiosity, and one can get down to the business of making friends.

Good on you for learning the rudiments of the local language, too. It's amazing how that can put people at ease, even if you speak slowly and terribly. People appreciate the simple fact that you were humble enough to try, instead of just expecting everyone to accommodate you. It's a nice thing to do.

 

[Back in the fold]

@WhistlingBadger I tell people I’m from Billings . The tourists and out of state transplants have made Montana a thing of the past . Whatever Montana once was is gone now . I’m from Billings .

 

[GaryE]

Billings is the name of a tough High School I went to.

I'm a lousy tourist, in that I'm a frugal cheapskate wherever I go. I spend like a local, and I walk usually 10-15 km minimum a day. I walk and people watch, though I can't pass an art museum or a fish store. I like very old cities, just to wander in. I have this idea that no one can invent science fiction stranger than the lives of people in the past.

I also like to speculate on other lives I won't get to live. What if I lived in that apartment? What if I did that job?

I ramble about adapting with fishtanks, but it's the same with cultures. If you try the local language, and people speak English, they will generally help. If you don't try and impose your language on them from the get go, they resent you.

I watch videos to see what locals are wearing, and try to blend in as much as a very pale 6"3 white haired Canadian can. In Central Africa, I kind of stuck out. There were no other non Africans, outside of 2 or 3 sketchy Russian "businessmen" and a group of Gorilla researchers at the airport, in almost 2 weeks of travel. But in Europe, I'd rather try to blend in a little.

Yesterday, walking the dog on a path by the sea, we met a couple dressed from head to toe in Buffalo Bills NFL regalia, and after they asked if they could pet the dog, they told me they were from Buffalo NY. Like, no kidding. I'm glad they came here and they were more than welcome. But I wonder why people need others to know where they're from, when they're somewhere else?

 

[Lanpenn]

Talking about tourism, recently Japan waived the visa requirement for Brazilians, after a recent treaty. This was probably possible because most Brazilians who emigrate to Japan are Japanese-Brazilians, that is, far from the numbers of Brazilians who go to countries such as the United States. This visa reciprocity may work for this situation. Still, there is no reason for the United States to waive tourist visas for Brazilians just because Brazil now requires visas for Americans (although it was postponed once again for April 2025). Also, Brazil requires far more tourists than the United States, so this is a little rational.

This seems a kind of tariff war, without any practical effect other than for political demagogy. Some nationalists who think of Getúlio Vargas as a great statesman may like this.

Currently, the largest community of Japanese people is in Brazil. I must study in-depth this, but one of the reasons is that this was a public policy from the Empire of Japan. It is extremely common to see Japanese-Brazilians across the country, even in smaller towns.

Chile, one of the most developed countries in the Americas, is one of the few countries in South America where there is a visa waiver.

 

[Alice B]

it's raining. researching sewing machine parts.

 

[Oldspartan]

An unexpected rainstorm as I type. It is supposed to clear up and then our Indian Summer begins. Mid 60's to high 70's for the rest of the week.

Today's plan is to cover the RV for the winter and put the leaf net over the pond. The net will be temporary and will be removed after the leaves stop raining on my parade. Afterwards Linda and I will make Christmas gift lists in front of the firepit in preparation for a road trip into the darkest reaches of Vermont, New Hampshire and Northern NY. A lot of small shops and crafters in those off the beaten path places. Just a two- or three-day tour. We hope to find some off the wall gifts that will offer a touch of the personal during the soon to come crazy season of commercial me too.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Cold and clear here today. I think I'll walk to work. The fresh air helps me get my head on straight for the day.

Badgerling had a choir concert last night. It was very enjoyable. The next two weeks promise to be absolutely crazy, with activities nearly every evening. This is what it's like being the parents of a teenager. But at least she's a lovely person who is enjoyable to be around. I just wish we got to see more of her.

I have been putting in some time trying to figure out what life will look like when I retire. Teaching public school music is fun, and I think I have a few good years left in me. But once I'm done with that, I would really like to do something with teaching adults. "Beginning Band for Grownups" or "Music Appreciation for Adults" would be so much fun, for me and the "students." But as yet I haven't figured out a way to make a living doing that, especially in a small town.

 

[GaryE]

The music teaching thing is interesting. My experience with teaching adults could be discouraging. They don't show up.

I think we become so used to putting the demands of others first that we become very inept at self care. Selfish people, no, but they rarely want to learn. They know it all already. But people with families get stuck with overtime, their kids get sick, they get run into the ground by work, and if something has to give, it's usually the thing that's fun, but work.

@WhistlingBadger - you've expressed religious ideas, so could you focus on church music? Having to perform regularly for your peers can be a real motivator. No one wants to look bad.

I'm taking a break from adult teaching in my retirement, as the group organizing the courses didn't get its act together. My wife and I use our experience in the area to help out a few individuals, but we aren't connected enough with the various communities to organize classes. The administrative side for our past courses was done by a community group, and we just designed and applied the programs on a volunteer basis.

I'm putting a little retirement energy into pulling together the fishkeeping community in this small city of around 40,000. That's entertaining. I think a lot of retirement is deciding you aren't going to sit and watch TV, and then reacting to openings to do interesting things as they appear. Or, if they don't, pushing things along, like this fish club here.

 

[Marc Pozz]

I’m wondering how/if I’m going to fix the leaking tap in the shower before my wife gets home……..

 

[Back in the fold]

I'm putting a little retirement energy into pulling together the fishkeeping community in this small city of around 40,000.

That is a very worthwhile pursuit . Are you thinking a club or aquarium society ? I would like to know how that turns out .

 

[Lanpenn]

One other thing I'm doing today is suffering due to assembling a neighbor's electric bicycle yesterday. I just don't have the legs I had when I was much younger and doing multiple sets of leg presses with 530 pounds which was a bit over triple my body weight. Now, at 70, my legs are just not the same. One would not think that putting together a bicycle would be stressful for the legs but these electric units are heavy. Shoot, my electric trike weighs in at 110 pounds. Trying to hold the thing up-side-down while mounting wheels tore up my legs. It was actually a LOT easier with my trike as the dual rear wheels held it upright without effort from myself. I had to quit before totally done as my legs got so bad that my hands were shaking. At least I got him far enough done to where he just had to mount the front and back lights.

As an aside he got a bad bike in my opinion.
1) Rear light is not integrated with the bike's electronics but is just a cheap battery operated unit with no intensity increase when brakes are used. With my trike, if either brake handle is used, the back light (interrogated in the main electronics) doubles in intensity. Also he can not even turn on the rear light while riding. He has to stop and flip a switch on the light to turn it on.

2) they didn't even send him a charged battery. Put the thing together and then the manual tells you the battery is not charged and it takes ~6 hours to charge. At least say that first so you can be charging while doing the assembly. With my trike the battery was received with about a 80% charge. When we got to the battery aspect I could see the disappointment on his face as, when I quit, the bike was ready to ride without lights but he could not even try the thing as yhe battery had zero charge.

I have been thinking about buying an electric bicycle, in case I live in Florida. I used a basic bicycle, but the commute distances were extremely long and I know that the summer sun is powerful, maybe more powerful than the city where I was born in Brazil. However, I do not know if it is a good option.

Today, I did another thing in my Artemia franciscana culture. I basically did a kind of reset, based on instructions from "Manual on Artemia production and use" (2024), washing soap the equipment and something else (except the filter, because the soap could get stuck on pores), later I put the equipment and other items on the water with sodium hypochlorite, while turning on the air pump (10 milligrams per liter). I used the double dose for my aquarium conditioner (20 drops for 10 liters). Then I put about one teaspoon of brine shrimp cysts. Yesterday, I already tried to do the siphoning, but it seems I caused some bacterial bloom for some reason... the shrimps were not good, anyway. Maybe they were with Leucothrix, besides some of them with black-spot disease.

Besides this, since my minicourse still did not get sales, I intend to create a website (it will be in English language) where I will write paid content relating to brine shrimp cultivation and other subjects from Biology and Aquaculture. It is still a project, however.

 

[GaryE]

We're calling it an aquarium club. We've collected a couple of sponsors, and have had 2 good turnouts. We have 3 speakers who've volunteered so far, and hope for more. slowly but steadily. You start with 2, and get to 20. After that, you keep trying.

 

[MattW]

I've managed to get my old JVC nonsmart TV working for 6 channels today only using a twist-tie (no aerial connection in my room). I sheared off the plastic cover to bare metal wire and managed to get it in a decent enough position in the RF socket for a 78% connection strength, which isn't too bad for a twist tie. The only issue is that 5 out of 6 channels are all showing the same thing atm..

 

[Fishmanic]

Using an antenna, I get about 60 channels on my TV, although about half of those aren't worth watching.