Tank birthday, 47+ years

Elegance Coral · Dec 22, 2018

Paul, you should move down here to Florida where all the other old electricians retire. That bionic knee ain't gonna feel so good up there in all that cold weather. I'd even help you out with the tank. I'd probably clean something and crash the whole system though. LOL
Hope you get to feeling better.
Peace
EC

Paul B · Dec 22, 2018

norfolkgarden said:
Thanks for that mental picture.

Your welcome.

Elegance Coral said:
Paul, you should move down here to Florida where all the other old electricians retire.

Thats one reason I don't want to retire down there.

Paul B · Dec 22, 2018

A little Viet Nam I learned about this morning.

This morning I called my old Captain from Viet Nam who is now a retired General. We stayed friends after the war but he lives in DC. He has a great memory and I barely remember why I started to write this. I remember almost nothing from my time in Nam. I have PTSD which may have something to do with that. I also have two Bronze Stars for Valor that I have no idea what I got them for. It must have been for my winning attitude or great smile.

I stayed on LZs or landing zones for helocopters all over the Jungle mostly on the Cambodian border. Thats the way that war was fought, from those small clearings.
Anyway I had a duck there. I have pictures of the duck but I remember little of my duck except he was the best pet I ever had.
My General friend told me that one day we were going on a raid. It was me and him in a Jeep, a Duster, which is a lightly armored, tracked anti aircraft vehicle, a few trucks and 3 Howitzers.
About 20 infantry were also with us. Bill, my Captain told the Duster driver to lead the way.

The guy says: "I am not a bomb detector so I am not leading the way" (big sissy) So Bill says "No Problem, me and Sgt. Baldassano (me) will lead the way in a Jeep." (lucky me)
It was raining so hard and it was so muddy that the rain would kick up the mud all over you so we had to wear goggles. Army Jeeps had no windshields or roofs. He told the "convoy" to keep going and not to stop no matter what.

After a while I looked back and there was no one behind us. With the roar of the monsoon rain we couldn't hear anything. The Captain called them on the radio and they took some fire so they all stopped and started firing into the trees. It was probably one NVA or Viet Cong with nothing to do.
Now we were so far ahead and it was raining so hard we couldn't find them. We also had to keep emptying our goggles of mud. Bill told them to fire one red shot straight up in the air so we could see their location. They did that and eventually we found them.

This was supposed to be a one day raid but it took five days.
We get to the village where we were supposed to be and set up the three Howitzers. The infantry set up a perimeter. There was something happening a few hundred yards away so I said (stupidly) I will go and see what it is.
He said I was gone for half an hour and he sees me coming back with this duck. I don't remember what else happened there, but I got a duck. He was my best friend for the rest of my time and he would not leave my side.
But my Captain said he got into a lot of trouble for that duck.

We were loading a Schnook Helocopter with ammo and the Colonel was there.
Me and Doc, the Medic were carrying a stretcher into the helocopter and tied to the stretcher was our dog "Ratsass", on the stretcher we had Judy the monkey and Pete the other monkey and my duck.
The Colonel was furious and yelled at Bill.
Then another time the Colonel came to visit us on an LZ and I had my duck in an enclosure made out of artillery shells with a roof for shade and a pond. He again went nuts. But Bill told him "Just leave Sgt. Baldassano alone, He will do anything or build anything I ask out of bamboo or crashed helocopters".
He also told me I made chop sticks and cups for everyone from bamboo. Another memory I lost.

My fiend DukDuk

NY_Caveman · Dec 22, 2018

Paul B said:

That is quacking awesome.

Victoria M · Dec 23, 2018

XXOO Paul. I rather enjoyed reading that.

seaplane · Dec 23, 2018

Paul, I think I recognize that picture . Wasn't it December 1970 of the Farm Boy Hunks calendar?

Paul B · Dec 23, 2018

No Seaplane, That was the September 1970 Farm Boy Hunk of the year. This was the December one.

Fudsey · Dec 23, 2018

@Paul B Love reading your stories

Paul B · Dec 24, 2018

Thanks Fudsey.

In about 2 weeks I would like to collect some water about 2 miles from my house. (if I can walk) I back up to the water on a boat ramp and throw in a bilge pump connected to a hose that fills vats in my Jeep. I am not exactly sure when I will go as it depends on my pain level and how I walk but I need water as my tank has been taken care of by different people and the food has not been rinsed. I don't measure parameters but I also don't want it to become tar.

If anyone wants to come let me know. I can fit 3 people in my Jeep but anyone else can ride in their own car and you can also use my pump to collect your own water if you want.
The surf may be high and we may get wet but it's water and not toxic waste.
I then back my car into my garage and pump the water into a larger container to warm up and I may filter it if it has chopped up seaweed, bikini tops or Ford Fairlane power steering pumps in it.

This is also not written in stone and I may not be able to get there exactly when I want. It also depends on the tide. I will go even if I go alone so it is not that important. Sometimes Christie Brinkley comes along to look for amphipods, (but there are none there)

I live on the North Fork of Long Island NY near Riverhead.

atoll · Dec 24, 2018

Paul what did you name your duck? Not Donald? [emoji848]

Fin · Dec 24, 2018

I hope you can find some help. That boat launch looks a little steep for a 2 week old knee.

Be careful out there.

Paul B · Dec 24, 2018

DukDuk, What else!

DukDuk would stay at my side no matter what. If I got up and took three steps he ran after me with those cute little Duck legs and sit down right in front of me. If someone got to close to me, DukDuk would bite them.
He slept every night with his head on my chest and all night he would sort of snore. He would go, very quietly quack, quack, . Then at sun up he would very loudly go in my ear Quack,Quack. until I got up to feed him some C Rations. He was the best pet I could imagine, and he was a duck.

I used to go up in a helicopter every few days and he would sit on my lap. There were no doors on the helicopters and he would flap his wings so I had to hold them down until he got comfortable.

Paul B · Dec 24, 2018

Fin my knee will be about 5 weeks old then so I should be fine.

Fin · Dec 24, 2018

Paul B said:
Fin my knee will be about 5 weeks old then so I should be fine.

Gotcha. I didn't do so great in math. You said in 2 weeks from now. My wife is two years out and I honestly don't think she should do that. Just take it easy.

408Dartfish · Dec 24, 2018

Thanks for the Vietnam story Paul that was great.

Crabby48 · Dec 24, 2018

Thanks for the great story Paul I always like to read them.

Do you know where I can get white worms to start my own?
Everywhere seems to not sell them anymore.

Have a Merry Christmas and feel better

Paul B · Dec 25, 2018

I am not sure but I need to start a new culture also. Mine is many years old and needs renewing.

Paul B · Dec 25, 2018

I looked close at my tank last night and I still have a load of those flatworms but they are darker. That usually means they are on their way out (or they got a tan) They did not hurt anything and are welcome back. I don't know what is in Flatworm Exit but I doubt it exists in the sea. Almost all "pests" will leave on their own and I have never in my life dipped a coral in anything. Maybe I am very lucky or just stupid.

I also don't fresh water dip my fish or ever had to de-worm anything. I am not sure why. I never remember losing a fish to worms or flukes. Maybe the naturalness of my tank somehow alleviates those concerns. I find that a natural tank with natural methods and foods, with no Alien chemicals equals success in this hobby.

I consider quarantine an Alien method that short circuits my entire method and, to me anyway, almost guarantees disaster "eventually". A tank can not be self maintaining for an extended amount of time using that method unless you continue to use un-natural methods because by short circuiting the natural life style of the fish you are dooming them to a much shorter lifespan.
All of our fish should only die from jumping out or old age. Anything else is a total failure. If a clownfish dies of something at 15 years old, that is a failure as that fish can live 30 years.

But for a fish, any fish to complete it's presumed lifespan, it needs to be a complete fish, eating it's normal complete food which means parasites and bacteria. A complete fish has a complete, working immune system that is used constantly for what it was designed for. Quarantined fish lack that ability and IMO, not a complete fish but a fish artificially being kept alive by extra ordinary means in an un natural, quizi sterilized system.

Of course there is bacteria in every system, but disease bacteria is needed along with good bacteria, viruses and parasites as they all work together to keep each of them in check.
I know I am beating a dead horse with this and that horse is beginning to stink, but just look at the disease threads on any forum. Look at all the medications used. See how many fish are dying un needlessly.

It is all due to un natural conditions that people invented through out the history of this hobby to try to fix a situation that we ourselves created.

Quarantine "causes" disease, not the other way around. Of course if you get a fish in the process of getting last rites, you need to do something, but you should not have gotten that fish in the first place.

Most threads start out with . I bought such and such a fish, it was eating well then in 4 days it developed spots. I dipped him, treated with Prizapro and watched him deteriorate for a week until it died so I blame the store.

Isn't it odd that that never happens to me. Am I that good an aquarist? No, I am not. I do have experience and common sense that came from killing many many fish.
Unfortunately these methods have been rumored into us for decades and we will never be successful in this hobby until we turn to a more natural approach which is also much cheaper and easier.
Just my pain induced, drug related opinion of course.
I am also a year older today so that makes me more senile. I am old, senile, in pain and crotchety so if you don't agree with any of this. Forget about it and plant some tomatoes.