Tank birthday, 47+ years

[Paul B]

Triggerfish are not elaborate enough and don't have a big enough mouth to fit in the electronics.

 

[Paul B]

As we age we normally gets aches and pains which are good because they let us know we are still alive. If we didn't feel anything that is because we are dead and no one wants that, or at least no dead people ever complained so we don't know how that experience will be, but most of us will find out in due time.

I have had this backache for about six months. Most people have backaches because we were designed wrong, kind of like seahorses.
I just figured my back ache was a muscle thing, but I am retired and it's not like I have been throwing Supermodels up on my shoulders to impress them. I actually never did that and Supermodels don't weigh enough to hurt your back anyway.
So after the 6 months my back is getting worse and I went to a lung doctor to see if it was a lung thing because it is higher on my back than normal, run of the mill backaches. Luckily, it is not my lungs. The lung guy, (or pulmonologist) said I have so much asbestos in my lungs that I could probably run through a burning house and nothing would happen to me. The asbestos is not affecting me right now because all the Agent Orange in there has it encapsulated which is fine.
He says I need to go to a muscular/skeleton guy.
I need an MRI.

I get an appointment with this Doctor and I like him very much. I bring the MRI and he says, OMG all the nerves in your lumbar region are inflamed and your disks are bulging. That is fairly normal for a guy who worked construction for forty years. I am sure accountants, lawyers, and people who make those little things on the ends of your shoelaces also get this, but I am only talking about me right now, let them write their own story.

(By the way, This story is going to be very anticlimactic as nothing exciting is going to happen. I figured I would mention that in case you don't want to read any more.)

He says he thinks he can fix this, temporarily anyway, but I will have it for the rest of my life. At my age, that will probably not be that long anyway so I am not worried.
He wants to stick needles in my spine and inject me with Grand Marnier. Or something that sounds very much like that. If that doesn't work, he will stick me with a larger dose and if that doesn't work, a larger dose. I said, why not stick me with the whole bottle of the stuff right away and forget about all the Sissy stuff in between. Maybe you can force it in there with a funnel and a plunger.
He didn't like that idea because I would imagine, this way he can charge my insurance three or four times. I also don't think he knew what a plunger was.
Anyway, if that doesn't work, he will give me an epidural, like they give pregnant ladies. I don't feel pregnant and I thought that was only a temporary pain thing for the Mother but what do I know!
I will let you know how it goes, I may enjoy the journey.
(I told you it was anticlimactic)

 

[SpartaReef]

Lol

 

[mcarroll]

I know from comments that you eat pretty dang healty (I'm working on it), but have you ever figured out what your main sources of sugar intake are by any chance?

If you haven't you should....and try to eliminate any big ones like soda or sweet coffee. Digesting sugar is a big source of inflammation and other mostly-bad stuff....and drinking sugar is how most folks get their biggest daily chunk of sugar.

Processed wheat (flour) is another baddie.

Low to moderate sugar-sweetened beverage consumption impairs glucose and lipid metabolism and promotes inflammation in healthy young men: a randomized controlled trial
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/94/2/479.long

This is the first study to show adverse effects of low to moderate consumption of fructose- glucose-, and sucrose-containing beverages over a period of only 3 wk on LDL size and other parameters of lipid and glucose metabolism as well as on inflammatory response in healthy young men.

Even young folks are affected and even at moderate consumption rates....

 

[mcarroll]

The above article was from 2011.

Here's another slightly more recent (and more readable):
The toxic truth about sugar (2012)

 

[scriptmonkey]

I get an appointment with this Doctor and I like him very much. I bring the MRI and he says, OMG all the nerves in your lumbar region are inflamed and your disks are bulging. That is fairly normal for a guy who worked construction for forty years. I am sure accountants, lawyers, and people who make those little things on the ends of your shoelaces also get this, but I am only talking about me right now, let them write their own story.

I did research and I found no increased incidents of inflammation in aglet manufacturing nor aglet attachment technicians. I believe Lawyers would just litigate the inflammation away (wait did i just slander them? Great another thing to worry about besides stray snails in my tank).

 

[pattyxlynn]

I'm working backwards on this thread so have only just seen what is on this page... your angler, etc. LOVE it! I can't wait to read backwards and see what else you've got. It's not marine-related, but I'll post a pic of a sort of steam-punk piece I did. I didn't think of it that way but that term has been used a few times. It was for a show with a theme called "It's About Time". Anything time-related. So I found an old clock and turned it into a WWII bi-plane with a sculpted pilot in his leathers. The time-related part of that? We all know that "Time Flies"! The whole thing is only the clock. In the image to the right, you can see a pic of what the original clock looked like. And before I get any grief, the clock did not work and was actually missing a few pieces. I had to put in that bit because I can't tell you how many times I heard "you're ruining a beautiful clock"! Actually, when looking for one, it was hard to find because a lot of people had taken out the super cool gears and such and put in batteries so they would work. ;Jawdrop

This stuff keeps me up at night. I used to think about Supermodels, now I think about Supermodels swimming with Steam Punk fish. I guess its an aging process.
If I build another fish I will make it with more Pizazz.
The Supermodel counselor at the VA told me that building stuff and staying awake is probably part of my PTSD. Who knew!
If I didn't have to sleep I could do this kind of stuff all night. It's kind of a curse. Sort of like reefing.

I do middle of the night stuff too. Sleep about three hours and then wide awake. Almost every time. So now I just go with the flow and get up and work on an art project.... or surf the net.

I don't have a handy picture of the back of the support for the plane but it was my favorite part because it's got all of the gears on the back. I'll have to dig for it.

 

[Paul B]

Low to moderate sugar-sweetened beverage consumption impairs glucose and lipid metabolism and promotes inflammation in healthy young men: a randomized controlled trial

Ed, SUGAR and WHITE FLOUR, seriously. Do you think I would put that in this temple that is my body?

We have a few cans of soda here for some of my friends who don't know any better and there is no white flour in my house. I have not had a soda since Nixon was President. Our Daughter didn't taste a soda until she was about 5 and that is because in Disney World they didn't have anything else. She thought she died and went to heaven. But after that one soda, she never got it again in my house.
We use multi grain un processed flour. I bake with it a few times a week and I add oatmeal and other grains to it.
We also have no sugar in my house except for those same people who don't know any better.
We are very nutrition and health conscious.

Our close friend who eats nothing but processed foods, drinks soda a few times a day and has no idea about nutrition looks like he is 85 years old, Had 50 kidney stones, and has Parkinson's disease. It takes a while but eating that stuff has consequences.

I did research and I found no increased incidents of inflammation in aglet manufacturing nor aglet attachment technicians. I believe Lawyers would just litigate the inflammation away (wait did i just slander them? Great another thing to worry about besides stray snails in my tank).

I did no research on aglet manufacturers and just used dramatic license to make my point. Sometimes I get dramatic so I can do that but I often get in trouble for it.

Patty, If I were not already married, I would marry you. I absolutely love the Steam Punk clock/biplane. Maybe I will convert to Mormanism so I can have a few wives. (Christie Brinkley already expressed a desire to be married to me, but I digress)

Patty, while you are reading backwards, here is some more of my Steam Punk stuff.
Love, love love the clock.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/steampunk-lamp.277500/

 

[scriptmonkey]

I know... was just playing along.

 

[Stolireef]

Speaking for all the hard working people who put the things on the end of the shoe laces, I feel highly disrespected. If it weren't for us, you'd all constantly be dealing with getting frayed laces through the shoe lace holes in your shoes. It's bad enough that kids today don't know how to tie a bow knot since they all grew up with velcro sneakers. My 15 year old still uses the bunny rabbit approach and it's pathetic.

I'm about to embark on the same journey for my back. Your lucky they just want to stick you with needles. My doctor has ordered me to attend the Marquee de Sade Physical Therapy Center first. All of the people who work there are sadists. I swear, they have one machine that continuously electrocutes you supposedly to stimulate your muscles (I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their break room while they are having a good belly laugh at my stupidity). Another machine hangs you upside down. This forces all of the blood to run into your brain thus making it impossible for you to comprehend that the only thing that should be hung upside down is a recently slaughtered free range chicken. Finally, they make you do exercises that, I'm certain, are designed for maximum humiliation. No human should be forced to tie a rubber band around his knees and duckwalk sideways across an entire gym in front of other people.

 

[Paul B]

Stolireef. It was hard for me to read your post for even as we speak I am hanging up side down from the aglets on my shoe laces and there are two bowling balls suspended under my arms for extra weight. But thank you for your post as I feel much better now.
I can't complain to my wife because last year she was in so much back pain I had to call 911 for an ambulance. I thought she was kidding but they had to fuse part of her spine and put in steel, or rather titanium rods. I asked if they had any extra titanium so I could use it to tie rock together but I digress.
Most adults have some sort of back pain. If you don't you are probably in great shape, a Sissy, intoxicated or spineless like a jellyfish.
I am not sure if Supermodels get back pain because I know a few and they are so tall they could eat spaghetti off the top of my head, but they rarely do that.

 

[Paul B]

If there is anybody reading this thread I am sorry it has been lacking in fish stuff so I will add some.
My clingfish seems to have disappeared. My other yellow wrasse jumped out so I now have none of those. 3 of my new purple queen anthias went missing and are either on the floor or in my algae trough hanging on the back of my tank. Fish have jumped in there and the thing is filled with, among other things, large bristle worms that make short work out of anything that gets in there.
Fish in my tank normally live forever but sometimes the fish don't agree with that and feel the need to jump someplace. Of course they could have just died but that doesn't ever seem to happen.
With all the stuff I have been adding from the sea, there could be a 7" blue claw crab in there that I have not located yet.

Is this bad?

 

[mcarroll]

Ed, SUGAR and WHITE FLOUR, seriously. Do you think I would put that in this temple that is my body?

We have a few cans of soda here for some of my friends who don't know any better and there is no white flour in my house. I have not had a soda since Nixon was President. Our Daughter didn't taste a soda until she was about 5 and that is because in Disney World they didn't have anything else. She thought she died and went to heaven. But after that one soda, she never got it again in my house.
We use multi grain un processed flour. I bake with it a few times a week and I add oatmeal and other grains to it.
We also have no sugar in my house except for those same people who don't know any better.
We are very nutrition and health conscious.

Our close friend who eats nothing but processed foods, drinks soda a few times a day and has no idea about nutrition looks like he is 85 years old, Had 50 kidney stones, and has Parkinson's disease. It takes a while but eating that stuff has consequences.

I had a feeling you'd have a good answer but that was a really good link I couldn't not post.

There's only so much you can do....especially if there's an old injury at the core of the problem.

@Stolireef ask them about the Graston Technique. Hurts good!

 

[mcarroll]

If there is anybody reading this thread I am sorry it has been lacking in fish stuff so I will add some.
My clingfish seems to have disappeared. My other yellow wrasse jumped out so I now have none of those. 3 of my new purple queen anthias went missing and are either on the floor or in my algae trough hanging on the back of my tank. Fish have jumped in there and the thing is filled with, among other things, large bristle worms that make short work out of anything that gets in there.
Fish in my tank normally live forever but sometimes the fish don't agree with that and feel the need to jump someplace. Of course they could have just died but that doesn't ever seem to happen.
With all the stuff I have been adding from the sea, there could be a 7" blue claw crab in there that I have not located yet.

Is this bad?

What do you think about screen tops or any other "jump proofing" solution folks use?

(I keep an open top on both my tanks currently.)

 

[Chasmodes]

Maybe your clingfish? By the way, have you seen him lately? Is he doing OK?

If not the clingfish, then maybe a blenny (of course, I'm extremely biased).

 

[Brew12]

If there is anybody reading this thread I am sorry it has been lacking in fish stuff so I will add some.
My clingfish seems to have disappeared. My other yellow wrasse jumped out so I now have none of those. 3 of my new purple queen anthias went missing and are either on the floor or in my algae trough hanging on the back of my tank. Fish have jumped in there and the thing is filled with, among other things, large bristle worms that make short work out of anything that gets in there.
Fish in my tank normally live forever but sometimes the fish don't agree with that and feel the need to jump someplace. Of course they could have just died but that doesn't ever seem to happen.
With all the stuff I have been adding from the sea, there could be a 7" blue claw crab in there that I have not located yet.

Is this bad?

Yes, this is bad. I am not a fan of crab sushi. I prefer mine cooked.

 

[Stolireef]

Gaston Technique. Wasn't that in Beauty and the Beast when Gaston hits his little sidekick over the head? Sounds better than the description I just read online.

I think I'd rather grab a lit MH bulb.

 

[Paul B]

What do you think about screen tops or any other "jump proofing" solution folks use?

(I keep an open top on both my tanks currently.)

Screen tops are for Sissies and Girly men.

Maybe your clingfish? By the way, have you seen him lately? Is he doing OK?

If not the clingfish, then maybe a blenny (of course, I'm extremely biased).

My clingfish may be clinging on the back of the glass someplace. I rarely saw him anyway but I want more anyway.
I have a bunch of bleenies, very cool fish.

Gaston Technique. Wasn't that in Beauty and the Beast when Gaston hits his little sidekick over the head? Sounds better than the description I just read online.

I think I'd rather grab a lit MH bulb.

I frown on grabbing lit MH bulbs.

Speaking of MH bulbs. Here I am on the roof of the Plaza Hotel above snow covered Central Park on a day it was 17 degrees installing MH fixtures. I was probably sitting on a fixture to keep warm.

The lower picture I am CAD welding in a New York City garbage incinerator. I was doing that to keep the ankle deep maggots off my boots.

The thing says that 140,000 people viewed this thread. Why are all you people looking at this stuff, There is very little fish stuff going on here. Mostly nonsense

 

[Brew12]

The lower picture I am CAD welding in a New York City garbage incinerator.

Cad welds were great until the people who actually knew how to do it retired. I have a ton of broken cad welds here because of poorly trained people. I don't allow them anymore. :mad:

 

[Paul B]

If you CAD weld correctly, you have to tear the building down to take them apart.
I retired.
I CAD welded many of the ground cables on the biggest buildings in Manhattan.