jwcarlson

@Darktower805I'm listening to Doctor Sleep right now, but I've never read The Shining (but have seen the movie). The Shining wasn't on Scribd, or I would have listened to that first. I think it's interesting how different people experience things differently. I didn't particularly like Rose Madder, but I actually chuckled that it was too dark for you, but IT wasn't. 🙂I thought IT was brutal, BUT it's a lot deeper and so there's a lot of additional 'stuff' to dice it up a bit. Plus, we are all different, of course! I almost hesitate to suggest King because of how different tastes are... there's some really heavy stuff and I think that I become blind to it after awhile and worry that what I consider a "light" King novel could actually be a pretty rough. I have a friend who started reading The Dark Tower series and really... struggled... with certain scenes with demons with some of the main characters. Scenes that weren't particularly impactful to me as a teenage boy or as a 20 or 30-something on re-reads.

I have the first three, but haven't started them yet. I have read the first Mistborn Trilogy and The Rithmatist by him and enjoyed those. Stormlight... They sure are massive books and I will eventually get to them. Sanderson is one prolific fella. I need to decide if I'm going to finish Wheel of Time before I think about starting another big series. His "coming clean" announcement awhile back was absolutely hilarious:

@Brandon pI lost one after dumping in Fritz Zyme 7 early on. No clue what happened, but they were in very rough shape. Then the other one was just a non-eater from the get-go and finally died after about four months. If I would have been more observant (it would eat, but would always spit it out in the beginning), I probably would have done some treatment sooner. But that's learning for ya! I never kept them 20 years ago, so I can't agree or disagree, but these Stendkers have been around for awhile and they seem to do just fine in my extremely hard and high pH water. The perception certainly was that they were hard to keep, which is what turned me away from them at the time. Sometimes I think that as information becomes more readily available things appear "easier". For example, I'm pretty comfortable tearing pretty deeply into our vehicles because I can go find step-by-step guides or detailed videos on YouTube about my exact make/model in most cases. That's a pretty new phenomenon. ~20 years ago there were some forums and websites, but it was very much lacking consensus as I recall. The internet in general is still very much like that. However, with so many more people involved and trusted/knowledgeable people as fixtures, it's easier to root out bad information if you're willing to do the work to find out. For example if I hear Cory say something that agrees with advice I heard on a Facebook group which lead me to do some digging and find an old thread on on a fish forum from 2008... I can be pretty darn sure that's good advice. That's one of the reasons I think being (tactfully) critical on forums/social media/whatever is important. I've learned a lot over the years by someone being "mean" to me on an online forum which lead me to do more research and learning. Which led me to the decision to NOT get discus 20 years ago, but also led me to be a much better fish-keeper at the time. Maybe I'm just pretty good at vetting information for the most part. I also keep about 40 honey bee colonies and rear all my own queen bees. I'm not sure there's a hobby more rife with disinformation and charlatans than beekeeping.

I feel both sides of the discussion. In a very real sense I just have a glass box that I put food in and keep the water very clean in. That is not remotely difficult. But I am quite good at monkey-see-monkey-do. That said, I have still lost 20% of my discus in five months. One to something I did and one to what I think was something that could have been treated had I dealt with what I think was hexamita sooner. The treatment (12 days of metro) turned around the one "runt", but the other didn't get so lucky. They do seem pretty finicky and of course there's a lot of time and effort and some money tied up in them. But they sure are pretty. I keep thinking about getting a school of rummynose to out in with them, but an "old timer" says he has abandoned rummys for lemon tetras for hardiness. But man I sure love rummynose. Just need to set up the QT and probably give them six weeks in it for my own sanity. I am still quite concerned that I am going to collapse them! I do appreciate the kind comments, though I want to make sure everyone understands a caveman could do what I am doing as long as you're willing to change a bunch of water daily. Though I do have a pretty nice setup that gets my water changes done with maybe 15 minutes of hand time every night.

I waited 20 years haha

Few days late, but here's a five month update. Biggest ones are a bit over 5". I don't measure them all and I don't try to get super accurate, they're over five. But not 5.5" yet. The solid turquoise (or Flachen) is growing quite nicely now. I think I've got pictures of all of them though they didn't all turn out.

I'm not breeding them at all. Just growing out some juvenile ones. I wouldn't want to do water changes like this on anything more than one tank, I don't think. As they get older and slow/stop growing, the changes will be less frequent. And they'll be (hopefully) some plants in the tank attached to some driftwood to help eat up some of the waste products. Right now it's pretty plain (ugly?) with three big double-stacked sponge filters from AC. Link below for some fish pics ---\/

Python just gravity fed down into basement utility sink, but it's semi-permanently plumbed in through the wall down through the floor with standard garden hose so all I do is pick up the siphon and start it. It's bare bottom so I can clean most of the stuff up with a quick vac of the bottom then I just let it sit in there and slurp down while I do some other thing. I let it drain down to approximately an inch above the bottom trim on the 75 gallon. I have an aging/pre-heating setup that's semi automated. Once it's drained I walk downstairs and and hook the same hose up to the submersible pump. Takes about 15 minutes to refill the tank. I just set a timer on my phone for 12 minutes so that I don't overfill it. So I pump in the aged and preheated water. When it's done I shut the pump off (everything is controllable though a 'smart' Kasa power strip, which works amazingly). Then I walk back down, disconnect the pump, and put the hose back into the drain position in the sink so that I don't have to take a trip down to start a water change. It takes about 20 minutes for the water barrel to refill (using Python pump between sink and my setup with an always-connected 10 foot piece of hose). I set a timer for 18 minutes to shut the water off and put the hose back on its hanger. The whole process probably takes an hour. But as long as the tank isn't horribly dirty I don't spend more than 10-15 minutes of interaction time. It dovetails alright with my other chores like feeding the pets (cats get fed downstairs), cleaning litter boxes, and laundry. Most nights I start the change while we're eating dinner. And I'm doing the other chore stuff whenever I go down to move hoses. I have the parts/valves in order to more permanently install everything. And also to put a float switch on the barrel so that it will shut off when it's full. But the timing just works out and it's not a particular big issue at all. I have python hose to run through the house that I hook up for the tank in my daughter's room. And it has it's separate aging/preheating barrel and control. We don't change water much in that one, so I just fill and use that as needed. In case you're wondering, I age my water because the pH swings from 7 out of the tap to 8.2 or maybe 8.3-4 when aged/aerated. Apparently it's got a decent amount of CO2 in it. I will occasionally use my hose and just drain it into the front yard and have the kids haul the water around to water plants in the landscape if it's been really dry. That's very very slow compared to going to the basement, so I only do it when things need watered. I do hate just shipping it down the drain, though. I have considered pumping it out, which would make the draining really quick. I might do that just so that I have a spare pump to get it back up out of the basement. The day that my pump dies is the day I have to make like 20 trips downstairs and then back up with buckets full of water. That's going to be unpleasant. But the kids, honestly, would really like the watering task. So I think I might do that. At least seasonally it would be a good idea. In case you're getting the idea that this is something really elaborate (it is not)... here's the setup:

Yep, for the time being at least. I've had them five months and they're still growing out.

Interesting regarding the nitrate connection possibility. My discus tank is usually <5 with the daily 90% changes. Plus some pothos and philodendron just in case any nitrate sneaks by the water changes. 😄

I got a really long siphon so that my hands/arms aren't in the tank too much. I do discus water every night, but (other than starting the siphon) my hands/arms stay pretty dry. On full wipe down and filter squeeze water changes every week for wipe and every month or so for filter squeezes - I get more wet. I wash with dish soap after doing WCs. Have gotten some arm itchiness in the past, but none of note.

Kind of depends on your personal tastes, I'd say. King is obviously mostly "horror" though typically not extremely gory. Certainly "adult" themes with words I don't necessarily want to plop on here. I particularly like his characters as they are usually quite well developed. I am not old enough to have lived through the life of "Richard Bachman", but I think they are pretty good books as a rule (though I have not read them all, by any means). I like Thinner, The Long Walk, Running Man, and Road Work. The Long Walk is the best in that batch IMO. And they're all relatively short. If you like a good exploration of grief - Pet Sematary. This book is usually dislike by a lot of people, but I thought Lisey's Story was a pretty good book. Coming of age - The Talisman is solid and Later is also quite good. King does a pretty good job of writing as a younger person in spite of not having been particularly young for about half a century. Different Seasons is four short (?) stories that give quite a bit of flavor. Shawshank Redemption is among them. If you like westerns, I think The Gunslinger is a good book. It is the first (and most say the weakest, though I don't think I agree) of his The Dark Tower series. More recently published stuff - The Institute and Elevation (more of a short story or maybe novella) are pretty good. Elevation isn't particularly highly rated, but like Lisey's Story... it isn't quite typical King and so I think that might turn off some of the Constant Readers. I don't mind rolling with the punches and can appreciate seeing some range. If you'd like to just hear more about his writing technique and/or style his On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is pretty entertaining and personal. Hitman with a conscience? Billy Summers is your book. All that said, if Misery wasn't for you then maybe King just isn't for you. I'd be curious to know if there's a lot of King fans who hated Misery, but still liked most all of his other stuff. Some of the shorter stuff won't be a huge time investment if you still find it not to your liking. If horror and psychological elements aren't your jam, then you're not likely to enjoy much of King's writing. His plots can be meandering and not particularly well paced, but I am a character reader first and foremost. I really think King could write a novel about someone watching paint dry and make it incredible. Edited to add: I might be important to note that pretty much all King's books are interconnected in some way or another. The Dark Tower is kind that underlying connective tissue, but in almost all cases - you don't need to have read any other books to get the vast majority "out" of any standalone. Additionally - The Eyes of the Dragon (discussed a bit ago by a few of us) is a great King novel that's probably well connected to his other works, but a very good standalone story. King has narrated a decent number of his own books (including On Writing). I greatly enjoy his narrations. If you happen to have a Scribd subscription or want to sign up for a free trial, you could listen to the vast majority of his collection on that platform. I think I pay $10-12 per month and probably listen to about that 8+ books each month while working, keeping bees, walking dogs, water changes, etc. I grew up reading King at a pretty young age, including The Dark Tower in my early teens - the final two books were published the year I graduated HS or perhaps the year after.

Vinland Saga book one was a quick read and quite good. Started reading T. Kingfisher's Nettle & Bone:

Finished We Hunt the Flame - it was... Ok. The Eyes of the Dragon - finished as well, fantastic story for sure. Thanks for the recommendation. Started Vinland Saga - my first manga ever.

Thankee-sai.

One thing I never get tired of is the soft letdowns I have when King straight-up tells you what is going to happen, but then somehow continues to draw you into and through the narrative. There's not much of anything I have disliked at this point. I snuck off to do a quick honey bee task this evening just so I could keep listening for a little longer and then a little longer while doing the discus nightly water change after that.

@Darktower805 Not finished yet, but am loving The Eyes of the Dragon, King seems purpose built to tell stories I love to hear. I am never tired of King. Also, the narrator is fantastic. Flagg's voice!

I've got to say... this was a big miss for me. In fact, I'm not even done listening to it yet. I won't continue the series for a number of reasons. I can get behind quite a bit of Young Adult, this this is a hard pass. Curious what you think when you get done with it. 🙂 Even as I'm typing this the story is making me dislike it more! haha I do like the narrator, though. I should finish We Hunt the Flame tonight or tomorrow - I'm not loving that one, but it's OK. Part of my dislike for Caraval might be the fact that I'm reading another YA story with 'romance' in WHtF. Back to big kid books after this. Trying to decide if I'm going to read The Hod King (The Books of Babel #3) or Upgrade (released a couple days ago by Blake Crouch) next. Not sure when I will return to WoT for #5. Putting a LOT of books between 4 and 5 for sure, hoping that helps me enjoy it a little more.

I have not. One thing that I always find remarkable is how many Stephen King books there are that I have never even heard of. 😄 I'll be listening to it soon, though. All of King's books are linked back to The Tower in some way or another. Even this Gwendy's Button Box series has Tet Corp and the Tower tied in. 🙂

Yep, I've already "read" four books in the last week, but haven't opened a single one of them. I audiobook books that I want the flavor of, but am otherwise not really that excited about. I have a Scribd subscription, so I can burn through a ton of them. Stephen King is my favorite author and they have a ton of his books on there. If there's one that really gets me listening then I mentally mark it for a possible physical re-read at some point. But for some series that I want to know how they end, I might read the first book or two, but not be in love with it... then I'll listen to the rest of it. I also like audiobook re-reads. When I already know the story it's easier to listen to and get more out of it. I audiobook daily and physical read daily - always have two books going, though one is being read to me. 🙃

I'm going to listen to this after I finish the Gwendy's Button Box series in audiobook (which will happen today).

For such a small tank you can easily change 50% of water per day (or even twice a day) for quite some time before it becomes a major pain. Additionally, Fritz Zyme 7 does a pretty good job of jump starting cycles (in my experience). It won't prevent the nitrite spike, but the bacteria eating ammonia colonizes pretty quick comparatively. I did a fish-in cycle with my discus tank in February, changing 55 gallons in the 75 gallon tank every night (with a big bottle of Fritz Zyme at the beginning). Using Prime to dechlorinate (and maybe help with whatever might still be in the water). Changing water will slow the cycle down, but it will eventually cycle. The discus tank took about 5-6 weeks to totally cycle, I think. No noticeable problems with the fish (related to cycling), they grew 1/2" a month during that time. Edit to add that I also did the recommended dose of Seachem Stability after every water change on the discus tank. This method was suggested by some old-timey discus keepers and it worked really well. Big daily changes + Prime + Stability. Did the same with a 10 gallon at the end of last year (but didn't use Stability). The 10 gallon took about two weeks or so. In a pinch, the Tetra starting bacteria also seems to do pretty well on the 10 gallon. It might at least get you over the ammonia hump. 50% water change in a 10 gallon tank takes almost no time, I just set up a bucket next to the tank and filled it after the change. Used a spare heater to heat it and an air stone to offgas my CO2 and age the water (mine goes from a pH of 7 to 8.2 or 8.3 when aged).

Does duckweed have another state? 🤣

It's not a buffalo problem, it's a people problem. 😉 Meaning Yellowstone isn't a petting zoo. The last one that happened... yesterday, I think? The people were within 10 feet of a wild animal that weighs almost as much as their car. And the buffalo are EVERYWHERE out there, or at least they were when we were out there. Just imagine if we had a free-range dinosaur park. 🤣

I'm glad you took my post the way it was intended, thank you! 🙂 Hopefully you have many years of rose-tinged glasses moments together, it's good to dream a little. Just yesterday I saw advertisement for a small cabin along the Mississippi River with a little dock and a bit of land, would be a cool place to own. I sent the listing to my wife and she immediately spun into "we need to buy it" mode. She even called the realtor, but it is pending closing now. Last piece of advice: If you end up in Yellowstone, don't approach the buffalo. Apparently that needs to be said as they're currently averaging about one buffalo goring per day recently in a park that's "closed" (I thought?)!