Sleepin with the fishes: A shortie

Alright so another week down and our tank is doing well! Oh what? You don't believe me? FINE! I will prove it!



The tank is much more bright and beautiful than depicted here. Honest. So far our mushroom corals are doing great, they are growing and seem to be happy and healthy. Our bright fish addition to the tank is taking great care to protect the corals and if I even so much as go near the tank the little bugger takes his stand in between the corals. They are his, so back off!

Shrooms - a beginers journey

So, our new reef tank has begun to take shape. We got our tank up and running, and because we threw in some old substrate and used natural saltwater it took less than the normal amount of time to cycle (meaning: the Ph is the right level, our salinity has been worked out and our nitrate/nitrite levels are good)and we were ready to get some live critters for our tank this weekend.

We researched and researched to see if it was better to put coral in the tank first or if it was better to put fish in the tank first and we came to one firm conclusion. In the fish world everyone has a different idea of what is best, and everyone is right. What works for some people wont necessarily work for everyone.

We went for a clean up crew first and they have been in our tank for a few days. I adore this snail and it's sweet little mouth.


And today we got our first corals. We bought Two mushrooms and two came along for a ride, the fish store was kind enough not to charge us for our hitchhikers.




Our only problem thus far to tackle is that we are having a hard time regulating the temperature in our tank and we don't want to stress out the life inside. Our nano cube is so small and our house is so hot that the water inside the tank with out a heater hovers around 90 degrees. So, we have been leaving the feeding lid open and using a fan to blow hair across the surface which keeps the water at ~78-79 degrees. The only problem is keeping the tank at a stable temp with out constantly baby sitting it. Any fish/nano people out there who have and tips on regulating the temp with a fan?

I am looking forward to the winter months!

Sweaty? Don't worry, that is how I like em!

It is hot, okay it is really god damn hot. I am not going to sugar coat it because my sugar coating has melted off. Southern California is experiencing a bit of a heat wave and the filthy construction worker of a husband and I escaped this weekend to the "wine cellar" here in town and picked up some new things to try and I am going to try to pass it off as an attempt to escape from the heat and then you won't know that we just really like trying new beers.

The lot:


















The porters and the stouts are mine, the pale ales are his an the smoked ale was ours.

Snake Dog IPA: eh, Pretty good, but skipable. Go for the dogfish head imperial IPA
Sinebrychoff Porter: Try it! DELICIOUS. When we were checking out and the cashier was mulling over our choices she mentioned that this beer was one of her favorites. I assumed she just kind of picked one out and was being a good saleswoman. But I don't think so. This porter was delicious.
Fuel Cafe Stout: Try it! Filthy husband pointed this one out to me in the huge fridge, because in our last trip I picked up an espresso stout and loved it. This was another good one. I am really liking the stouts with coffee.
Marin Brewing company stout: eh, skipable. Nothing special, not to say I didn't enjoy it but I just didn't find it that exciting.
Hop Juice Double IPA: Try it! Very hoppy, but not in a bad way. Very bitter, but not in a bad way. You just need to be into those two things. I am not. The filthy husband? VERY into those two things.

Our pick together?














Skip it, we had high hopes, mostly because I like smokey beers, filthy husband likes ales and juniper berries never hurt anyone. We waited all weekend to try this, we made the perfect meal to compliment it aaaannnddd it was a huge let down. It was fine but not worth the price tag.

Done, did it, finished, check!

Awhile back I mentioned something about needing a change in my life, and about how getting rid of the dingy, beat up, maltreated fish tank and getting a bookcase was going to be my catalyst for change. So, the fish tank is gone. We have yet to sell it, it is still hanging around for now but it is broken down into it's parts and ready to be sold on craigslist.

But have I made any changes?


Um, I would say so!

1)Like I said our huge takes-up-half-the-living-room-fish-tank is gone. Our bookcase is filled with books that were once banished to our dark dingy spare closet. Our small living room actually has room for me to breathe in now and speaking of breathing, we got something to breathe a bit of life into the room. A nano cube.

It is a small 12g Saltwater system that will be used for a fish or two and beautiful corals. I said I needed a hobby, well there it is! I have a feeling it is going to be a time consuming process, with a large learning curve and only a small margin of error allowed due to the life inside. Lots of research has gone into making sure that we are doing this right, and lots more will go in to ensure we keep doing it right. It will be a fun, beautiful, manageable journey.

2) On a much bigger scale, I quit my job and decided not to take the test for my Series 7 license. Okay, I didn't quit-quit. But I have started looking for another job and because my current employer gave me an amazing learning opportunity I felt it was only fair to be 100% honest and inform him that I was looking and give him more than 2 weeks notice. I felt like the series 7 test was the turning point for me. If I was going to remain in the financial industry the test would be my step forward but if I wasn't going to remain in this industry I needed to back out and move on and that is what I did.

Emotionally I am torn between thinking this is an amazingly exciting time in my life and tearing my hair out over the worry that I won't find a job. Whatever comes though, I am thrilled that I have chosen to make this change and very thankful that I have a large support network behind me rooting me on and I really believe that it is for the best.

I just hope I am right....

Bleeding heart

Dear family whose house I am looking after,

I look good on paper. Responsible, honest, trustworthy, timely and compassionate. All characteristics that you want in someone who takes care of your house while you are away on vacation for a week.

I will water your houseplants, bring in the mail, feed your fish, make sure everything is safe and care for your small garden. You don't have a thing to worry about.....

.....Unless you have neglected your small garden to the point where caterpillars have not only moved in and brought their entire family including their great aunt Helga but they have also all grown to be as big as a filthy construction worker's middle finger...and then some.

Here is the thing, I am not going to touch those things. Am I scared of bugs? Maybe, but not caterpillars, these ones are beautiful, soft and I would invite them to an afternoon tea. Why won't I rescue your garden from the attack? Well, to be quite honest, I won't rescue your garden because it is pointless. I am no detective, but my thinking is, if these caterpillars and their great aunt Helga have had time to grow this big...this is just a guess now, so bear with me, but I am thinking that you might not have even cared about your garden that much in the first place. The weeds up to my waist told me so. The caterpillars though? Oh man, the caterpillars, they care. They care about your garden a great deal and they seem to be very comfortable living amongst your tomato plant and *ahem* looking after it. So you know what? They win, they get to stay. I refuse to remove them. I will water it, feed it, stake it (because you failed to) but those caterpillars? Those suckers stay.

Nature: 1
You: 0

Love,
Your compassionate house sitter

Oh, and in case you never venture down to see your small garden. Here are your new tenants


and don't be a smart alec, I know that isn't a filthy construction workers middle finger. I made him switch to his thumb so you wouldn't be offended when it looked like he was threatening you with vulgar sign language.

Change baby, It's all about change baby

I need some change in my little life. I need to be more organized, I need to spend my time more wisely, I need to be able to find things that are long lost in the closet, I need to step up my game, I need....well..okay, I need a lot. Most importantly I need to start doing something about it.

What it the one thing that can facilitate all this change? What is the key that unlocks my ability to be productive? I think it is the salt water fish tank sitting in our living room. We want to get rid of this massive mess, we need to get rid of this massive mess, we just don't know how to get rid of the mess. And to further complicate things there is a living creature in the tank. A single hermit crab. We don't know what to do with him, but I think it is time to figure it out and get this ball rolling. So, here is my plan of action

1) Try to get rid of the tank on craigslist w/a hermit crab
2) If that does not work, try to get rid of the tank. Period. And take the hermit crab back to the fish store that we bought him at a year and a half ago
3)If that does not work, weep, get frustrated, gnash teeth until it scares someone into taking the blasted tank.
4)Once tank is gone, get a book shelf which in turn gets all the stacks and stacks and stacks of books out of the boxes in our closet that take up a huge amount of space. And if you give a mouse a cookie...
5)...she is going to want to get rid of a bunch of clutter that is just hanging (not literally) around in our closets and this clutter serves no purpose. This clutter needs to go, it is the first step in change.

I believe the fish tank is the key, I think it is the key, it might be the key, there is a possibility it is the key...

I hope it is the key. Because I need some change.

Another curious blog stat

Dear google searcher,

I am here to offer an apology. Again. To the person who searched "poop my pants" in google and came across my blog, I doubt my blog fullfilled you in your pursuit for pants pooping. I do not know what you were looking for when you were searching for "poop my pants". I don't know if you wanted to find something hilarious, kinky, down right filthy or information on a medical condition but my site is only one of those things. I will let you decide which.

I hope your quest is able to provide you poop, in your pants in a way that my site could not. I hope you stink stick around and I hope you come back.

Love,
The stink