I'm scheduled to deliver bluegills to a high school Wednesday morning for an RAS I set up for them. I knew it was getting late to deliver fish but...

Oh poohie!


SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

...ACCUMULATING SNOW POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT...

A DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO TRACK NORTHWARD
THROUGH CENTRAL OHIO TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH RAIN LIKELY
CHANGING OVER TO SNOW TUESDAY EVENING AS COLDER AIR WORKS IN ON
THE WESTERN FRINGE OF THIS STORM. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR AT
LEAST MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...BEST CHANCES BEING ACROSS
NORTHERN INDIANA INTO SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN. A COMBINATION OF
REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND SNOW ACCUMULATING ON AREA ROADWAYS MAY
CREATE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND
MORE DETAILED INFORMATION AS DETAILS SUCH AS EXACT TRACK...TIMING
AND INTENSITY BECOME CLEARER.

It all blew from the south to the east of here.

Nice, but cool breeze coming off of Lake Michigan right now.

Lake Michigan usually keeps things a bit warmer for a longer period of time, but that depends on how the currents, from shore to shore are working. WI to MI and back. (According to the guy on local TV)

Windows are still open a bit, but the fresh clean air is great! I usually leave them open year round if on the Lake Shore.

Be safe on your delivery tomorrow.

Still snowing here with about 5 inches of heavy wet snow on the ground. The wife had a scary ride home from school and what would normally take 20 minutes took over an hour. She had trouble getting up a hill near the house. I kept telling her we need to get new tires for her SUV before winter sets in. She might listen now.

The Inverter kicked over to DC once when the lights blinked. I just put it all together about 1/2 hour earlier. The threat of power outages put me in anxiety mode to get the job done.

I noticed one of the GFIC's had tripped and it apparently left the Inverter on DC mode as that is what the light was indicating (yellow). I found the GFIC plug-in that tripped, reset it and it's now back on AC mode. (Green light).It could have something to do with the dimmer light I use in that room. I keep it on dim all night, and before I come into my shop at 6 A.M. I slowy make it brighter as not to spook them when I turn on the taxidermy shop light next door.

I've heard dimmer lights can cause problems. I'm leaving the dimmer light off in the near future and blocking off the room with shade cloth and letting natural light in from then on. The dimmer light is a PITA anyway.

I don't think I'll be delivering fish tomorrow. Definite two hour delay and possibly no school.

GFIC tripped again.

I probably need to find out what isn't on the GFIC circuit down there and plug the inverter into it. I hope it's not the main surge protector running into the house that's messing with the inverter.

Some day I can really be a great help to anyone that wants to raise fish. I'm learning everything that can possibly go wrong!

I drilled a hole through an unfinished wall (just masonite in the basement) and ran the plug in 3 feet up to a non GFIC outlet. I'm hoping that will take care of the problem.

Some people think I'm silly having 2 sets of tires for the car - one for summer and one for winter. I don't care, I can drive thru things that others can't, and I'm safer doing it. (another reason why I put a Peloquin Torque Sensing Differential in the car) BUT, I think the company that makes the snows that I use is having problems here in the states - I can't find those tires and their Colorado Wholesaler said they were going out of business.

Cecil, you got a new set of shoes for the trailer, at least that won't be sliding around.

Braking in slippery stuff with something trying to push you gets interesting....... Another reason why I have electric brakes on my trailer. If you can wait a day or so the roads should be clear enough, it'll probably be all melted by Monday. No snow/rain here, but they did record 60ish mph wind gusts from that storm here.

We have around 3 inches of a heavy wet snow here in east central Indiana early this morning and my dog Dolly loves it. First snow she's seen in her young life. The ponds been filling nicely with all the rain and now the snow and sleet. My favorite snow tire was the now illegal ones that had carbide studs in them. Great on ice but tore up the roads.

Dogs are like kids in many ways and one of them is they love snow. Both my last dog and the present one when they first stepped and step out into a fresh snowfall they are in wonder of what the heck happened outside. May last one would rump around in it like a little kid.

Routing the Inverter over to the non GFI plug seems to have done the trick. So far by early this morning both green lights are on which means not only is it still on AC mode but the batteries are charged back up to 100 percent. I still can't believe I didn't wake up the wife when I drilled through the wall. Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

A picture of the set up is forthcoming.

I heard they got 9 inches of snow just 100 miles away. Slightly to the south, but mostly east of here. YUCK!!!

The inverter I have settled on: UT750UL

Nice Inverter.

I had problems again this morning even on the non GFIC outlet. GFIC kept tripping even though I was not on that circuit and the lights kept blinking several times and once the power even went out briefly. This was long after the storm was over. I was concerned that somehow the inverter was at fault but after a call to the neighbor she told me her kitchen GFIC tripped too and she also had lights flicker. Apparently low or high voltage coming through the lines perhaps due to fixing area power outages?

I sure am relieved I can depend on the Inverter now! Now if the other one will work at the school's greenhouse is nothing but GFIC we will be in business!

I'll be breaking ice today to get the fish out of the cage for the school's RAS I set up. Deja Vu.


It's 15 F. out there this morning and of course the pond is frozen over. At least it's not very thick. But with the snow I won't be able to drive the fish hauling trailer or vehicle to the pond's edge, so I'll be walking them out by hand to the trailer in a five gallon bucket. Water for the hauling tank will come from the back pond that I will pump down a hill with a sump pump to the tank. As cold as the water is I could bring them in a cooler but that wouldn't leave much water to acclimate them in or carry them into the greenhouse with buckets. Water would warm up to quickly.

If I set up the other high school next year I will make sure we I get the infrastructure in during the summer! Having to strip and refinish the tanks, some serious work deadlines, cycling the tanks, refinishing the exterior of my log home, working around the teacher's schedule, and lack of capital at times all contributed to taking this long to finally move the fish. Never again!

At least now it will just be a matter of moving fish in the future if we keep the biofilter going permanently which I plan to do.

Make sure you keep your boots on your feet this time!!

I hope this is legible. I left my glasses at home and I'm on the wife's computer in her classroom while she's at a meeting. Trouble is the print is really small.

Fish are now swimming in the tank and survived the night allicmating to the fish tank temperature in a temporaty tank with an agitator. No morts so so far so goo. Inverter hooked up without a hitch.

The bluegills are smaller than I thought. 103 bluegills that only weighted 10 plus pounds. I think if the air went out they'd live for days. LOL Oh well at least they have a safety net for a first time experience. I just hope they get a good feeding response at such a low density.

It sucks having to wear crazy doctor prescribed glasses. That's why I got an Internet TV.

Sounds like everything is working well, so far!

Cecil, I wonder if we caught something at an early PB gathering. I'm having exactly the same problem with my eyes....

Must be something in the water, unless it goes beyond that!

We've probably ruined our eyesight prematurely by spending a lot fo time on the water on bright sunny days without sunglasses. I know I have!

That and the paint fumes I've inhaled painting fish for 30 years and I am going to be one blind ol guy walking around with an oxygen tank raising hell on Pond Boss some day!

You have not burned your eyes yet from welding!

The worst burn I had was from the Sun reflecting back thru my helmet while building a structural assembly, which was the top room of a guard tower for one of our state prison's.

Talk about some serious pain! It was Hellishly Brutal! Nothing you want to experience!

My lungs are probably coated with Epoxy.

Back then, they did not tell you about this stuff.

Before they retired, my folks owned a concrete delivery company. The drum on a concrete truck contains flights, or fins, to enable it to mix the concrete and auger it out to discharge, or unload it.

Wet concrete being extremely abrasive, those fins would wear out after a period of time. The fix involved climbing into the drum with a cutting torch and welder, trimming out the damaged sections, and welding in new patch panels.

While concrete would build up in areas behind the fins, requiring an extended stay in the drum with a jackhammer for company,(a story in itself), other areas would be polished to a near mirror finish. Striking an arc down inside there must surely have provided me with a glimpse into the underworld.

After a long day down inside the drum, you would emerge cut and bleeding, with any exposed skin sporting a heck of a welder's tan, and your eyes felt like someone had held them open and poured handfulls of sand into them. I don't miss those days.

I hear you!!!

It really sucked welding inside of Hot Dipped Galvanized Tanks, even with the OSHA Approved Gear. Puking was the norm!

What do they call that Psychological Disease that Models have???

Anorexia?

""That and the paint fumes I've inhaled painting fish for 30 years and I am going to be one blind ol guy walking around with an oxygen tank raising hell on Pond Boss some day!"" Part of that statement has already come to fruition. Many appreciate your posts.

Y’all just pulled my string .... another story you probably won't believe ..... I know.... I was welding galvanized stuff in shipyards when I was seventeen - got galvanize poisoning … wonder if that caused cancer .... naw .... learned as a welder's helper on pipeline gang ... burned my eyes there … breathed artillery smoke ... cigarettes smoke ... fly tyin' cement solvent fumes ..... can't see, hear or walk a straight line .... yeah … that stuff will kill you sooner or later …


ps: Welders have a special place in my heart!
Went into service with a tech rating - kept me out of the Battle of the Bulge WWII

When I was 11 or 12, Dad pressed me into service to help him gas weld a self-designed boat hoist made out of 2" galvanized pipe. We used coathangers for welding rods, and welded it together in the heated garage one winter's night.

Ventilation? What, and let the cold air in??

We were both sick the next day, except that it was his work day (fireman - on 24 off 48) and he went in to work.

It wasn't until about 15 years ago that I learned that we had zinc poisoning from the fumes. Where I worked then, we ground magnesium, calcium metal and mixed a product that was used by the steel industry and aluminum industry to remove impurities when they made the billets. We had a couple of ka-booms and the biggest one took over 12 hrs to get under control (17,000# of magnesium, calcium carbide, powdered rubber, etc. were being mixed). I was one of a couple that had to babysit that mess after we got it under control to make sure it didn't re-kindle. We fought the fires using internal personell becaues the local fire department only knew how to put water on fires to put them out. Drinking milk helped nutralize the poisoning.

Mig, TiG and arc welding all gives you an appreciation (respect) for spatter, bright lights and hot pieces of metal.


Shorty, any sign of any morts?

Nope! The pond is iced over now, we had 5" of snow yesterday so even if there were some morts you wouldn't see them.

In terms of low morts and easy transport, I like stocking fish in the colder weather....the getting wet part...not so much.

Rex, you need to get a set of hip boots and a long waterproof overcoat.

Not very profound but I find wearing thermal underwear really makes as difference. I'm trying out a pear of gloves I bought at Ace today. They are warm and also rubberized to be water proof.

My first visit to the eye doc was about 25 years ago.

He told me that the time comes when the steaks get tougher, the print gets smaller and folks don't seem to talk as loud as they used to.