Jump to content

47 year old tank


sen5241b

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

So I was working on my workshop and I installed a door on a closet.  It is very damp here so the thing swelled, sort of like my feet. 
I got out my trusty Craftsman belt sander that I think I got when I got out of the army in about 1970 or so.   I have used this thing dozens of times for probably hundreds of hours so it was "tired" and it served me wekk.
Anyway, after about 5 seconds, it croaked. 
 
No noise, no sparks, no smells, no flames, nothing.
Usually when an electrical thing doesn't work it's the wire, plug or switch.  So I took the thing apart and checked those things.  They were all OK meaning it is in the motor.
 
I figured the windings just shorted out as it is so old so I figured I would just let it die and buy another one.  I am sure this one was a couple of hundred dollars in the 70s but I need it so I want to buy a new one.
 
I go on Amazon and they have a lot of them so I started reading about them and they are very cheap, like the same as a grilled cheese sandwich in a small greasy spoon.  You can get them for like $35.00
Unfortunately I couldn't find one built in any country that I could even pronounce much less America.  The wire alone on a good tool costs more than that and I want something good, and American.
 
The only way that could happen is if I just repaired my old American one.  :rolleyes:
It turns out the wire that was soldered to the carbon brush came loose and needed to be soldered.  An easy fix (after you take the entire thing apart of course)
 
So Now I still have my good old USA Craftsman belt sander which proudly sits on my shelf with the rest of my (Mostly) American tools.  I am so happy. 
I would rather have a good American tool than something made in China probably by an 8 year old wearing shoes made out of old Toyota tires.  I won't take those tools for free. :cool:
 
IMG_2588_zpsnp7splc8.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today we are going boating in this new lagoon I discovered here where the water is very shallow, just about to shallow to get my boat in but if it is not dead low tide, we will get in.  Last week there was so many fiddler crabs that the noise was driving me crazy, it was like being in the middle of "Fiddler on the Roof" but they  were on the sand because there were no roofs. :cool:
 
The last place I lived we also had fiddler crabs but here there are so many that in about 100 yards of sand/mud shore, you couldn't even see the sand, just crabs.  And almost all of them were males.  Like 99%.  Once in a while you can see a female, but she must have been, (I probably can't say it here), but no one wanted to mate with them.  Maybe they had a social disease , psoriasis, foot odor or were Liberals. :eek:  I really don't know. 
 
Normally fiddler crabs live in holes and as you approach, they go in them, but here there were so many of them that if they had holes, the earth would collapse.  It was totally unbelievable.  I am going to bring my camera today but I bet it will be high tide and we won't see any crabs.
 
It is also hard to walk there as your feet sink in to the muck almost up to my Speedo  :confused:.  The crabs don't have that problem.  Well, maybe the fat ones do.  (Is it PC to call "fiddler crabs" fat or even mention that some of them are males and some females that look differently and live differently.  If that's not PC, report me to the crab ethics socity)  :rolleyes:
 
Anyway, the hoards of crabs were trying to move away from us but there were so many of them that they were practically pushing each other out of the way and some were running over their "cousins".  They were running through thick patches of mussels and sea grass to get to the other side where the holes were.  The ones in the holes were waving with their big claw to attract the very few females who were I assume returning from Pilates class,  having foot massages or seaweed wraps to remove cellulite. ;Wideyed 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love the fireplace tv console combo!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This morning about 5:15 I took  my bike out for a ride.  I like to go before the sun rises so I can see all the deer, rabbits, frogs, and Muskrat Sally's.   We have loads of them.
 
Then I came home and made a nice batch of blueberry corn muffins from fresh blueberries that grow up the block and local corn. 
 
It is almost ready, but no one is up.  I like to cook for us and my neighbors who are our lifelong friends. 
muffins_zpsc4hnboii.jpg
 
On another subject, I read these forums in the mornings, (after bicycle riding and baking :rolleyes:) and it really Irks me the amount of fish we are losing and the number of fish we allow to get sick.  It's like the Holocaust of fish and it bothers me.  There is no reason to let our fish get sick. :why:
We are killing them with kindness and quarantining.  Fish come to us already immune.  AAAAAAhhhhhoooooo.  I am fed up to here (my hand is under my chin) with so many fish dying.  But what do I know?  It just sickens me because I really love fish.  Not like I love my wife, Christie Brinkley or linguini and clams, but you know what I mean.
Just keep the fish healthy or throw them back into the sea.  Just my opinion of course. :cool::smokin:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was looking for Patriotic songs to play today at our Fourth of July party with the neighbors in front of my house and I came across this
 
 
It is not really a Fourth of July song but I keep watching it and I can't stop crying.  Mostly Veterans will get this.  Millennials may not get it as much.  But I hope they do.
Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday America.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, paul b said:
I was looking for Patriotic songs to play today at our Fourth of July party with the neighbors in front of my house and I came across this
 
 
It is not really a Fourth of July song but I keep watching it and I can't stop crying.  Mostly Veterans will get this.  Millennials may not get it as much.  But I hope they do.
Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday America.

 

Thanks for this, Paul. It's not hard to remember the lesson that our country and our freedom was born from blood and battle. And, while we're often gently reminded of the personal sacrifice it entails by the words, "Thank you for your service," we don't always visualize what that sacrifice entails. This video helps us to remember the reality of military service and, today, it's connection to our freedom.

 

As the son of a Vietnam (Navy) veteran, I'm often personally touched by those videos that you see of tearful reunions between kids and their servicemember mom or dad returning from a their overseas deployment. I was on the kid-end of many of those reunions and it still makes my heart swell and brings tears to my eyes because I know exactly the overwhelming emotion those kids feel when they come home, and the hard-reality, resignation and empty feeling that comes from watching them go again when re-deployed. On days like this, remember our service members' sacrifice and the price paid by them and their families across this great nation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a great Fourth.  And I hope everyone else did also.  We had a big party in our driveway and invited all the neighbors. :D

I did my "fireworks" that I make every year myself out of steel wool. :D

Steel%20Wool_zpse4furuxr.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife is always nagging me to trim my eyebrows.  When you get to a certain age, I guess gravity prevents your hair from growing on the top of your head.  It can't quite make it there so it grows out of your nose, ears and your eyebrows.  So I have this thing that I use to buzz my hair (it doesn't have to work very hard) and there is an attachment for leaving the hair longer.  I was to lazy to change the attachment on it so I used it on my eyebrow.
Big mistake.  It's a good thing I only trimmed half of one eyebrow because I buzzed it right off and now I could audition for the Twilight Zone as I look like a big Jiboni. :eek:
 
Anyway, that reminds me of a story. 
I used to work with a guy named Mike.  Wait a minute, that's his real name so I will call him Guy to protect his identity.
He looked just like this old time comedian named Jerry Colona.
 
I mean exactly like him.  So I told him and he said he never heard of him.
The next day he comes in with a picture of Jerry Colona with his arm around his "Mother".
 
He said, what a coincidence, my Mother told me she was "good" friends with Jerry Colona. 
 
I said, And you brought in a picture to show me!  He said, yeah, whats wrong.
I said oh Nothing.
 
You can't make this stuff up, but he doesn't look anything like his "Father".  Just saying :rolleyes:
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tie some wire around about 4 or 5 pads of steel wool (no soap)  Tie the wire on a string so the string doesn't burn.  Light it with a propane torch and immediately spin it around very fast.

Wear a hat and something that doesn't burn as you may burn holes in your clothes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I acquired this Steamer trunk from the 1890s (about the same year I was born) ans I am restoring it.  I completely took it apart and it has over 400 nails in it.  The nails are to long and in these trunks they hammered in the nails with a steel weight on the other side so the nails would get bent inside the wood.  It is very strong in spite of the thin pine it is built out of.
I ordered new canvas from the period as well as the handles but I will use all the existing steel, and there is a lot of it.
 
I will also line the inside with cedar but I am not sure what my wife wants to put in there.  Probably me. :eek:
These trunks held everything people owned when they came here from Europe and were quite common.  Sort of like Tangs. :D
 
IMG_2590_zpsmv7vtejs.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just got back from bike riding and have to say, the roads here in farm/sea/ wine country are loaded with wildlife.  About a mile or less away we have a horse rescue farm that takes horses that were either abused or are sick or near the end of their life and allows them to live out their days in relative "Horse Paradise".  As I approach them the first thing you smell is "wet horse".  I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens and didn't get much of that aroma.
There is also a Miniature rescue horse farm where the horses were either pets or in petting zoos.
We also have a Buffalo "ranch". No, really, this guy keeps a few hundred head of buffalo, the rest of the buffalo are attached to the heads. 
http://eastridinginc.com/Buffalo.aspx

There is a some kind of farm I pass right near my house and the amount of life in there boggles my mind and there isn't a lot of space to boggle.   We have deer up the Kazoo, all the way up.  Birds, forgetaboutit.  Bluejays, red wing blackbirds, ospreys, swans, geese, egrets, Quail, ducks, chickens, turkeys (which are as big as Emu's) Humming birds and birds that know the words, Cardinals and I think I saw a Pope.

Rabbits are like, well, rabbits, foxes (no, I am not talking about the Lady's, they don't get up at that time).
And bugs,  I have never seen this many types of bugs since I was in Viet Nam.  Of course in  Viet Nam the bugs were bigger and would carry you home to feed their nephews. 

I know a lot of people on here live in farm country and this is normal to you.  It is relatively new to me.

On the way to my Grand Daughters we encountered this little Fella walking across the road.
IMG_26001_zps0ffpbkua.jpg

I love turtles and stopped to make sure he wouldn't become turtle sushi.   He wasn't walking fast enough for me so I helped him across the street.
I have been encountering a lot of turtles lately and some people here call me "Turtle Man" which I kind of like. 

I am taking out the "Girls" today for Girls Night out and have to get to the boat to make sure it is in great shape and light all the girly smelling candles. 
Still cleaning up from the Fourth of July, but almost done.  
My Main Squeeze looks good. 

IMG_03521_zps3bex3lox.jpg

 


 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loved the Jerry Colona story! Tell Mike (oops, I mean Guy) to stay away from 23&me DNA analysis. He may get "surprised." (No kidding on that one. I have an old friend who discovered that his "dad" was not really his dad and, in the process, discovered that he's got a lot of half-siblings. He's even met a few.

 

And the hair story... funny how it migrates to places it wasn't and away from places it was as we get older. I keep waiting to see if it shows up on the back of my feet after which I can go to costume parties as a Hobbit.

 

My folks have a steamer trunk just like that up in their attic. It came to us from my great grandmother (born in the 1870s or 80's). The trunk probably dates back to the late 19th or early 20th century.

 

I live in a rural area (on 10 acres but with much larger farms/ranches surroundng us) and we get a ton of wildlife - deer, turkey, bears, fox, rabbits, racoons, possum, turtles (I have to be on the lookout to make sure I don't run over them with the tractor when mowing), chimpunk, squirrels (I have a trap set out for one right now, in fact), a few species of snakes, toads, frogs, salamanders, crayfish (we have a few springs on our property) and a variety of birds. And bugs of all kinds. I like taking pictures of the notable bugs especially (like that big beetle that you posted, or large/colorful moths (e.g. luna moths)). It's like Wild Kingdom out here but I've yet to see Marlin Perkins or his sidekick Bill Hanna.

 

It looks like you and Dale enjoyed Independence Day. Tell her hi for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were at your house, weren't we?   Anyway, we have a variety of these here in different colors and they vary in the amount of weight they can carry.  This one can pick up a school bus. :biggrin:

IMG_2593_zpsvcgib8cv.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The girls had a great time on the boat and didn't want to come home.  
My wife had an accident though getting off the boat at the restaurant.  We docked at the gas dock but it wasn't a floating dock so my wife had to step up about 2' from the boat to the dock.  Her leg didn't make it and good thing I was holding her.  She almost went into the water but I had a grip on her and managed to hoist her up to the dock.  Her shin was all cut up and she bled all over her shoes.  I had a first aid kit on the boat and patched her up with a 6' gauze bandage.  It didn't ruin her night, just her shoes. :(

I have the entire steamer trunk taken apart and I removed all the hardware along with hundreds of nails and metal.  I sanded the entire thing smooth which was easier than scraping to remove the old canvas. 

I ordered new canvas, leather handles and hand made nails.  Today I also found a source right near my home for cedar which I will line the thing with as the paper in the inside is all rotted off.  I will use all of the existing metal and I won't re-finish it too much as I want the age to show.  I still have to sand all the oak slats that were all over the top and sides. 

IMG_2605_zpsvdnanlaj.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great to see you keeping busy! Sorry to hear about Dale's leg. I'll bet it's still sore. Wishing her a speedy recovery!

 

I'll have to share some bug closeups of mine, too. Here's a favorite that I took a couple of summer's back while on my tractor, mowing. He was hard to miss because he was so big. I stopped, pulled out my phone, and swear it posed for the shot.

 

Mantis-800x600.jpg.b1652340ad5b8056f13e166cadb56712.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The inside of the chest smelled like "Old people.":confused::biggrin:
I sprayed it a few times with bleach and water, now it smells like Lotus Blossoms in the wind, with bleach.
That belt sander is very old. It died last week and I had to re-condition it and solder a wire on to the brushes.  I would never throw out an old American tool as I would have to replace it with something from China and that can't happen.  It is as good as new now but I have to get the belts on line as they don't make that size any more.  It's a Craftsman but Sears is going out of business and now just carry snowflake shoes and shirts. :cool: :why:
 
The sander does have a vacuum built in to catch the dust but sanding the old canvas off just made too much dust.  The canvas turned into cement and they used flour and water for glue so I can collect the dust from that and bake a cake with it if I like.  Maybe I will invite you over to sample that. :beer:
I held my Re-designed vacuum next to the sander to take off the excess dust. 
I bought nails, canvas and handles for that trunk and I got them yesterday.  The "hand made" nails come from an ancient machine that used to make the nails when that trunk was made.  It makes one at a time. :rolleyes::eek:
 
They are special nails that are very soft and designed to be bent over inside the wood.  I don't have to do that as I am putting 5/8ths cedar inside the trunk so the nails can go into that.  Bending each of about 400 nails over is too time consuming at my age. :agree:
I also have stuff to "age" the shiny nails.
The sheet metal that goes on the sides, corners, bottom and a lot of other places is rusty.  I will reuse it and just blacken some of the rust as I don't want the thing looking brand new.

If I get time today, I will work on it. I still have to sand the wood slats. I thought they were oak but I think they are maple.
IMG_2588_zpsnp7splc8.jpg
My restored drill.

IMG_2320_zpspev2gpqf.jpg
My vacuum is very cool.  Virtually all the dust gets collected in that top bucket and none of it goes into the lower vacuum container where the filter is so the filter "never" gets clogged.  Nothing goes on to the filter so I never have to clean it and it never loses suction.
The top part of the bucket with that vortex thing on it just twists off and I lift out the bucket to empty.
I connect it to my radial arm saw when I use it .
 
IMG_2199_zpsjpdyoqgj.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today we went to Nikola Tesla's birthday party.  Right near my house.  No Really!  they still have his workshop/laboratory and the pad where he had his huge Tesla coil that was supposed to give everyone in the world free electricity.
Of course thats why they stopped funding him.  Free is not a great thing for businessmen. 
Anyway he is the reason we have AC electricity today as well as Radio, TV, cell phones, dosers, electric eels, Facebook, controllers, etc.
 
I was totally disgusted with the event.  The guy was one of the greatest minds in the history of the world right behind Justin Beaber and in almost 80 years since he died they did absolutely nothing with his workshop.  It is still boarded up and no one is allowed in.  Next month they said they were going to do a little work on the chimney.  The Chimney! after 80 years thats all they are getting to repair.  
Supposedly under the shop there is tunnels and a shaft that goes down 120' so he could anchor the tower so it could "shake the earth".
But all you can see is the outside.  
 
The entire event was a big waste of money and they could have done so much better.  Near the gate where you pay $25.00 they were selling half wraps with a small container of potato salad which we bought for ten bucks,  But they had no napkins or forks to eat the potato salad so I assumed you were supposed to eat it like an Aardvark and suck it out with your tongue.  Luckily we are smart enough to cut a piece of the container off and make forks but people who don't know how to do that had to use a stick or credit card I guess. :eek::rolleyes:
 
Then they had this big truck selling cookies and grilled cheese sandwiches, which is an odd combination.  Now we were like the fifth people in there as we got there when it opened and I went to buy a cookie.
The guy tells me they ran out.  I said, how many did you bring?  Six!  
 
They they had Port O Sans and next to them they had a portable sink which I thought was nice.  There was a paper towel holder next to the sink to dry your hands but no garbage cans in the event so I assumed they wanted you to put the wet paper in your pocket and take it home. :confused::why:
 
I don't know what people think when they put on these events.  They could make so much more money and have more people come back the next year but they just don't get it.
It was like 90 degrees and they had lots of chairs out in the sun for the "Scientific Presentation" about Tesla that I wanted to hear.  It's the only reason I went, but the entire thing was to thank the volunteers who put the thing together.  No science, nothing about grilled cheese, no discussion about ich, nothing.  
 
There was a 40' replica of Tesla's tower that was supposed to make a display, which was a spark.  But after that titillating speech in the sun we forgoed that and went home.   Total waste of time. 
 
The best thing there was a Lady selling tick repellent which didn't have much to do with Tesla.  But she had some ticks stuck to Scotch tape and she was a tick expert.
 
She also told us that they were not allowed to spray to kill ticks any longer on Long Island where ticks are very prevalent.  We asked why and she said the jewelers complained and sued the state.   I said "The Jewelers".
Why would Jewelers care if they kill ticks.  She said because if they eliminate the ticks, clocks would just go "Tock, Tock, Tock.  :rolleyes::lol:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday I looked at my tank, I have been so busy that I rarely look at the thing unless I hear the crabs banging on the glass to get my attention.  One "arm" on one of my SPS bleached.  I figured I would test the water.  The Alk was like 4 and the calcium was so low I couldn't make an Alka Seltzer tablet out of the entire tank.  So I dumped a load of alk in until it went up to 7.
Don't worry, I did it over about 5 minutes. :eek:
I don't believe in Old Wives tales unless it is my wife about doing this stuff slowly. :wacko:
 
If you were dying because you had no food, water, or internet, would you rather take a small sip and maybe an M&M, or would you want a full Gourmet meal right away?
Thats the way corals think about it.  If you don't agree.  Write me a letter and send it snail mail with a self addressed envelope.  I won't read it but I could use the scrap paper. :cool:
 
Anyway, I looked at the tank today and all seems well.  That piece of coral didn't miraculously re grow but nothing else bleached. :)
I really need to change some water, but it is not in the cards for a while.  My workshop is so full of projects that I have no room for water buckets. :cool::why:
 
But besides that, today I am very happy.  After living here a year I found a fish market, (not a LFS) that is supposed to be the best on Long Island.   It's right on the docks and you buy the fish still jumping, you can't get fresher than that.  They have every kind of fish caught in the North Atlantic and the prices are pretty good.  My wife and I are "foodies" and we need good food.  :lol2:
 
The stuff you get in a supermarket marked "Fresh Fish" is code for Cat food.  :eek:
Fresh fish is so much better, it's like comparing a gold fish to a moorish Idol.
My Dad had a fish market and I grew up in it so I know what fresh fish is supposed to smell like.  The aroma brought back so many memories.
 
We got some fresh tuna and scrod that they were cleaning when we got there.  They even fill the bag with ice for you.
But they had squid, octopus, MahiMahi, porgies, fluke, flounder, striped bass, and almost every fish and crustacean that I can name including soft shell blue claw crabs which is amazing now because they are not even in season.  
 
I can't wait to go back.
I made the scrod tonight and was in Heaven.  What a difference.  Fish after it is a day or two old, is not the same animal.  As I said, it turns into cat food. :D :laugh:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just finished restoring this 160 Year old Steamer Chest.  I think it came out pretty good.  I used all the existing metal, wood, hinges, lock, latches etc but Had to buy some more cut nails.   The entire thing was put together with about a thousand nails that were purposely to long and were bent over for strength.  I lined the inside with cedar so i was able to get longer nails that went into the cedar.  I found nails that were made individually on a machine from the same time period so the thing is pretty authentic.  I also replaced the handles and the OD green canvas with a light brown one also from the same period that I got from a place that sells authentic chest parts.  I added wheels because now it is real heavy.

 

This is the old chest as I got it.

IMG_2590_zpsmv7vtejs.jpg

 

IMG_2605_zpsvdnanlaj.jpg

 

IMG_2628_zpsmqsbkd33.jpg

 

IMG_2626_zpsemlmqagp.jpg

 

IMG_2631_zpsgjiqjxh2.jpg

 

I also have a "Victor Talking Box" record player from about 1910.  That was before RCA merged with Victor making RCA Victor.  It is on top of my Ice Box from the same time period. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This morning I felt really energized, probably because I only had one Grand Marnier last night before bed.
So I figured I would do more exercise this morning. I felt like going to the beach, down and up those 165 steps but I also wanted to bike ride. Actually, like most people I hate to exercise. But my wife gets after me about staying in shape. 
No, not the shape I am in, more like Brad Pitts shape but although they sell live pigs near here, I haven't seen any of them flying yet.

So I get on my bicycle and head to the beach. The beach isn't far but it's up hill both ways. :rolleyes:

It must have been early because I didn't see anyone walking dogs or going to work. Then I remembered it's Sunday.
I get to the beach door. Yes we lock our beach so no one steals it. I left the bike there and stared at the steps and the beautiful ocean at the bottom, below the clouds. ;Meh

I start walking down the stairs and this time I don't count them as I normally do just to pass the time and see if I can still count. I pass a few deer and rabbits which I always say good morning to. I don't know if they are the same deer all the time as they don't seem to recognize me and probably just think "Oh great, here comes that bald Geezer messing up the serineness. 

There is huge vegetation on both sides of the stairs which are elevated above the cliff. 
I was thinking today, who was the guy who had to cut through this thick stuff to mark out where to put these stairs and did he have tick insurance. You can't even get down this cliff without having mountain climbing gear because it is so steep that if you step away from the stairs, the mountain starts to fall down into the sea. ;Woot 

I get to the bottom and sit on a bench there. They should put one of those CPR things there for Geezers like me but I stay a while and look out at the Sound searching for sharks.
Last week they saw a huge fin sticking out of the water. I don't know if it was a fin connected to a shark or a Catalina gobi but I saw video's of it. I used to SCUBA dive here and never saw anything.

Walking up was hard, I think because I had so many ticks on me they were weighing me down. ;Shifty
I had to stop a few times, to say good bye to the deer and rabbits but also t catch my breath that I lost 30 years ago. 

I got to the top and found my bicycle. In my old neighborhood I just would have found a note thanking me for the bike.
I got on the bike and headed home, uphill again.

But I didn't go home, I don't know why but I rode past my house at an unbelievable rate, OK, it wasn't that fast but there was a young Lady running with one of those running carriages pushing a baby and I didn't want her to think she was in better shape than I was in, but she was. Even the baby was. :rolleyes:

I kept going, farther and farther all the way (about a mile, OK 3/4s of a mile) to where I couldn't go any more without getting flattened by a tractor trailer. I felt like Bruce Jenner. Well, not "Exactly". I am still a man and will remain that way. Mostly because I don't know what dress size I am. ;)

Then I came back home, passing the baby again who was shaking his fists at me (it could have been a pacifier) and I am ready to go out for breakfast.

I still can't get in more than a third of these stairs, you need to be in a hot air balloon for that.

IMG_2648_zpsu8qpkoqj.jpg

IMG_26341_zpsj5wywbdl.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have my car all packed up with empty containers to collect water in the morning, maybe do a little porgy fishing.  I have enough storage in my Jeep to collect about 40 gallons (If I don't break a spring)

My nitrates creeped up to about 30 and I would like to lower them to like 29.   :rolleyes:

Of course after I get it home I may need to diatom filter it depending on how murky it is and how much mud is in it as I am taking it from a boat ramp about 6" deep.

I also will need to strain out any trailer axles, tires or broken back lights.

Hypodermic needles, bikini tops, oil cans and Nancy Pelosi Pez dispensers will go right in my tank just for interest and I am trying to get National Geographic to come over and do a story on my tank.  Or just me, but so far they have not contacted me. :cool:

I am not sure why. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last night there was a huge threat of thunder storms. As a matter of fact, my phone kept giving me this annoying noise with an announcement of the storm, flooding, lightning, meteorites, brimstone and everything else they could warn you about. I couldn't listen to the radio because it was all warnings, I thought we were being attacked by Bayone New Jersey.

So I decided to go to the beach and collect water. image.gif.c864dc952e36532aae02be494e0a2072.gif
It was very dark but wasn't raining yet. I backed up near the sea but I couldn't get to close because the waves were breaking like the "Perfect Storm" where George Cloony was in that boat that sunk with all the swordfish and I just waxed my car and didn't want it getting dirty.

(I am not speaking to Mr. Clooney but that is another story and I can't tell it here)

There were quite a few people on the beach watching the lightning as it was getting closer but I think most of them were watching us. (My friend came with me)

I had the back of my Jeep open and I reeled out the 70' of hose and threw the end with the pump on it into the angry Sea. 

This wasn't as easy as it seems because the water was so rough, and it was so windy that the pump kept flying back at me and this was a boat ramp lined with huge rocks that the pump kept banging on the rocks and it was hard to get it into deep enough water to pump.

As the waves came crashing in there was water, but when they went out, the pump was dry and just sucking in sand fleas and cigarette butts. I even had to pull in the pump once to bang it on a rock to get the thing going as it was clogged with gravel and probably terrified amphipods. image.gif.cb1ed7c03b47465f5f7eb3e9d1bce91d.gif

I had to walk out on the rocks into the water, luckily I had the foresight to wear my bathing suit. Not just because I knew I would get wet, but I wanted to Bring Sexy back.image.gif.8bab850c25fc4dd8fa64f785953dfda2.gif

I turned on the pump and it started to suck water from the sea, it also sucked in loads of seaweed and sand. The water didn't look to good but my fish are not Sissys so they will have to deal with it.
After all, I am doing all the work, they just have to live in it and like it. image.gif.2beb5eab57aff9891fdc0770ae53efe8.gif

We noticed the few people still on the beach looking at us and two of them started to walk over. I tried to think up a witty story to tell them, but I had nothing. One was a girl.

He said "We on the beach are curious. What the H-ell are you doing?"
I said, we are getting water for a fish tank.
He said "Oh, we thought you were testing something like those storm chasers who drive into tornadoes." 

I could tell the girl thought I looked Sexy. ;Smuggrin (Oh, get over it)
Now our containers were getting full and we had the capacity to take 40 gallons and I was determined to do that unless the lightning came right into my Jeep and hit the radio changing the station from vintage Linda Ronstadt to Justin Beiber which would immediately end the moment.
Nothing like collecting water in a storm while blasting Blue Bayou.;Joyful

I couldn't keep my hat on and we could barely keep the jeep from sliding sideways on the sand due to the wind (and Linda Ronstadt, actually, not that the wind picked up, I think In a Godda Divida was playing)

The wind was picking up, Linda was singing louder, the lightning was getting closer and I looked Sexier as now I was all wet from the splashing. The on lookers were starting to move to their cars as they seemed like Girly, Sissy Mary people.
But we persevered and still needed more water.

We looked out to sea and there was this smallish boat trying to head into the wind. Now that was a Real Man. A very stupid real Man, but a man none the less. He took shelter behind an oil tanker unloading from a platform about a mile out.

Now it started to rain, not much at first, just enough to make it interesting. The lightning was hitting the water all over the place and coming in sideways lighting up the sky like the last creshendo of a
Bochelli concert.
I thought I saw a guy who looked a little like Benjamin Franklin flying a kite. 

We still had more capacity and continued pumping as the waves grew larger. 
I was surprised the pump didn't clog again as the water was raging so much. 
Now we were all filled up just as the rain hit, and by "hit" I mean a deluge. Noah's flood was just a pond compared to this. I have seen Monsoons and this was a monsoon.

I quickly dragged the pump back over the rocks trying to keep standing upright while I impressed the people in the cars filming us for National Geographic. 
I wanted to look like Lloyd Bridges in "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" where he fights the giant squid with a scizzors and a cell phone. I think I captured the moment.

We got in the car and tried to go, but the windshield wipers wouldn't go fast enough and the wheels were slipping on the sand. Fiddler crabs were running in circles with a completely horrified look on their faces. 
Finally we got off the ramp and headed home through knee deep water.

I got to my garage and closed the door. Then I pumped the water into vats and it is now being diatom filtered to remove the seaweed and sand as it looks like Miso soup.
I will change it today and see if anything lives.
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...