Paul B's thread

[Paul B]

Problem is solved with the Red Waspfish. Sometimes they eat and sometimes, or most of the time, they seem to be in a coma. But earthworms wakes them right up and they suck down as much as I give them.


It rained hard last night and on my morning walk I picked up a few earthworms. I cut them up into bite size pieces and the wiggling sends the fish over the top. My only problem is the 6 line wrasses will eat the worms as fast as I can cut them so I have to feed him first on the other side of the tank. For fish with such a small mouth, 6 line wrasses can eat some large pieces of food.

 

[Paul B]

Computer Geeks, I will have to replace this 18 year old Windows 7 computer soon and was thinking of this one on the left. What do you think?
I already have a laptop and another desktop. I am just concerned it will be to complicated as I love my Windows 7 but it has problems running my 3 D Printer and some other things.

I am told, it has a setting where I can "sort of" set it so it works kind of like a Windows 7 with the bar on top with my favorites. If not, I don't want it and will just get a new spiral notebook.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Favorites as in what Paul, application/programs or websites. If the latter of the two, just sign into Google chrome, edge, duck duck go or whatever and use your bookmarks bar at the top.

 

[MrX]

I am told, it has a setting where I can "sort of" set it so it works kind of like a Windows 7 with the bar on top with my favorites. If not, I don't want it and will just get a new spiral notebook.

That desktop isn't too bad for the price (referring to the one on the left). Just over $100 cheaper than buying it direct from Dell. Depending on what you're doing with it I might suggest upgrading the memory to 16GB, but you should be able to do that after.

Not enough detail provided on the ticket for the one on the right. Looking it up, it's a Core i7 (like Cpage101 mentions below), but there are a bunch of options on the Dell site for that one, and without seeing more I can't judge it.

In regard to the bar on top, are you talking about the Favorites Bar in Explorer/Edge/Chrome, or the Task Bar on the main desktop?

In Windows 11, you can have the task bar centered on the bottom of the screen or aligned to the left on the bottom of the screen. Without 3rd Party software you can't really move it around to other locations.

As far as favorites in your browser, they are usually at the top (by default) in most browsers. Edge is the latest Microsoft browser (Explorer is gone). You can always install Chrome or any other browser you choose.

You're a smart guy, you'll figure out Windows 11 in no time. It's not really all that different than Windows 7.


ETA: I bought my wife a Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Tiny Gen 2, it's a small form factor desktop that fits behind your monitor or under the edge of your desk (with the right mounts). I upgraded the storage and memory. She likes that it's out of the way, and I like that I get a discount through my Brother-in-law working there.

 

[Cpage101]

Computer Geeks, I will have to replace this 18 year old Windows 7 computer soon and was thinking of this one on the left. What do you think?
I already have a laptop and another desktop. I am just concerned it will be to complicated as I love my Windows 7 but it has problems running my 3 D Printer and some other things.

I am told, it has a setting where I can "sort of" set it so it works kind of like a Windows 7 with the bar on top with my favorites. If not, I don't want it and will just get a new spiral notebook.

@Paul B I think the I3020 on the right has a better i7 processor. Not sure what it has for memory and SSD but if similar a better unit than the one on the right which has an i5 Processor.

 

[Paul B]

If the latter of the two, just sign into Google chrome, edge, duck duck go or whatever and use your bookmarks bar at the top.

Paul, I already have those things on my laptop. My windows 7 would probably burst into flames if I tried to install that. I have Chrome on it and it keeps saying it doesn't work.

I like the days when I had chrome bumpers on my cars.

 

[Paul B]

Right now I am sitting in front of my tank with the pumps off. I love to do this occasionally because in about 10 minutes, I can see at the surface all sorts of really cool creatures who seem to only come out when it is calm. I have no idea what they do the rest of the time but with the pumps off, they are skittering on the surface.

Many times I see fry of something be they tiny shrimp, new born crabs or new born fish fry. There are usually some type of tiny worm looking things that go by the fastest and of course normal pods. It's just so cool.

The amount of spaghetti worms is amazing as they cover most of the rocks and the corals stretch to their full length seemingly trying to figure out who turned off the tide. It is just really cool and one of the things that fascinates me in this hobby. I know most of us want to see the colorful fish or corals, but those things are very common and we rarely notice or pay attention to the vast amount of unseen life in our reefs.

Of course if you set up your tank last Tuesday, you won't see anything and if you are looking at a quarantined or medicated tank, you will also not see anything.

I just took these pictures looking up at the surface of the water so the top of the pictures is a reflection of the top of my reef looking down.

 

[Paul B]

Nothing exciting happened on my morning walk and I didn't find any worms so my Red Waspfish ate the last worm I had so they had to share it. It is a supposed to rain tonight so I assume I will find some.

I use my morning walks alone to do my thinking and inventing. Unfortunately my old brain doesn't have an off switch so I can't stop it, even when I am trying to sleep which is annoying. (The VA tells me that is due to PTSD, I think it's because I was born the year after TV was invented.

If I don't take something to sleep, (and I have a variety of things to take) I am virtually wasting my time closing my eyes in bed because invariably some stupid creation will jump into my head which will take up 98% of my mental acuity causing me to wake up like 12:00 midnight, then 2:00 am, then 3:30 then 4:30 when I get up anyway.

Not that I want to, it just happens. It is also an old thing as I believe many older "Gentlemen" have this issue.

If I remember,25 years ago, I used to be able to sleep. I am working on a very cool kitchen cabinet creation now and my prototype, which is almost completed is working flawlessly. If it works well I will pursue another patent which is also why I can't disclose it.

I already have two patents and they don't give them to you for free. My last creation didn't qualify for a patent but I thought an insulated Bikini for cold water was a good idea.

 

[Paul B]

It is a beautiful day so I think I am going to rotate the tires on my car. The only problem is I can't lift these tires any more. Between my screwed up spine, new left shoulder and a right shoulder I can't raise, it will be a challenge.

All my life I could easily lift two tires at once and throw them over my head, but age creeps up on you....That or they are making tires much heavier. I hope it's the latter.

 

[Paul B]

I walked this morning with a mission. I need some earthworms because that is my 3 Waspfish favorite food I now have a hard time giving them anything else. That is fine because earthworms are plentiful and one worm can feed all 3 fish.

It only rained a little last night so there weren't worms all over the street like I see after a heavy rain. I couldn't find one worm. Then I came upon a damp bunch of muddy leaves about 30' long at the side of the road.

I found a stick and moved some leaves out of the way and happily found 5 worms. So my fish are good for 5 days at which time it will probably rain heavy and I can get a bunch of them

 

[Paul B]

This morning my wife and I have appointments at a Pain Mgt. doctors office. We both have back issues so she fills us up with Prizapro, I mean cortisone.

You can only get these shots I think 3 times a year or your bones turn into something akin to leather corals or red tip anemones and no one wants that.

I am going for a shoulder issue. My left shoulder is titanium so a little WD-40 is all it needs but when I had my left shoulder replaced due to arthritis and the rotator cuff tore completely off as did my bicep and some other, probably needed things with long names. The Doc told me he rarely sees that much arthritis in a shoulder so my right shoulder is probably worse.

If your shoulder or knee hurts more when you are not using it than when you are, your arthritis is probably pretty severe and you can see a Pain Mgt Doc or fortune teller because if you are going to croak soon, why bother?


He took a picture of the arthritis on my left shoulder when he removed it and it looks like the surface of the moon. It's all holes, cracks and woodchuck burrows.
So I have quite a bit of pain in my right shoulder which makes it hard to feed earthworms to my red waspfish and that annoys them as they don't seem to care what my pain level is.

My wife has much bigger problems because of her MS. Her back is in acute pain, she can't really walk anyway so she really doesn't need this so I hope the Pain Mgt Doc. can help her.
She had a very bad day yesterday.

It's a lot of fun getting old, I can't wait for a lot of you people to find out.

Of course if you are an entomologist, guitar teacher or own an LFS, you will be fine.

 

[ChrisPchef]

This morning my wife and I have appointments at a Pain Mgt. doctors office. We both have back issues so she fills us up with Prizapro, I mean cortisone.

You can only get these shots I think 3 times a year or your bones turn into something akin to leather corals or red tip anemones and no one wants that.

I am going for a shoulder issue. My left shoulder is titanium so a little WD-40 is all it needs but when I had my left shoulder replaced due to arthritis and the rotator cuff tore completely off as did my bicep and some other, probably needed things with long names. The Doc told me he rarely sees that much arthritis in a shoulder so my right shoulder is probably worse.

If your shoulder or knee hurts more when you are not using it than when you are, your arthritis is probably pretty severe and you can see a Pain Mgt Doc or fortune teller because if you are going to croak soon, why bother?


He took a picture of the arthritis on my left shoulder when he removed it and it looks like the surface of the moon. It's all holes, cracks and woodchuck burrows.
So I have quite a bit of pain in my right shoulder which makes it hard to feed earthworms to my red waspfish and that annoys them as they don't seem to care what my pain level is.

My wife has much bigger problems because of her MS. Her back is in acute pain, she can't really walk anyway so she really doesn't need this so I hope the Pain Mgt Doc. can help her.
She had a very bad day yesterday.

It's a lot of fun getting old, I can't wait for a lot of you people to find out.

Of course if you are an entomologist, guitar teacher or own an LFS, you will be fine.

Sorry to hear about what you and your wife are going through Paul.

Dont forget the life of a Chef, where you get no break working 12 hours days. The only exception is picking up a habit like smoking cigarettes. Then you’re provided the luxury to step outside every so often to smoke a cig I began smoking cigarettes just to be allowed to take 5 minutes for a smoke. 15 minute/lunch break, what’s that?

 

[Paul B]

Chris, I quit smoking in Vietnam where cigarettes were free. All you wanted. I had so many cigarettes I used to fill sand bags with them. No wonder I am filled with shrapnel

Anyway, where I was, in the middle of the jungle on a small LZ, a small helicopter landed outside our perimeter which was a double layer of sandbags so about 12" high. The pilot was my friend so I went out to get the mail from him and probably have 2 or 3 cigarettes. The tree line was about 75 yards away and someone, Probably not a friendly person walking a cute dog started firing at me. He hit the chopper a couple of times but missed me.

My friend took off and I ran with the mailbag on my back.. The mailbag was very big and heavy and I was afraid to drop it because I figured maybe the bullets wouldn't get through the bag.

I ran as fast as I could and made it to our perimeter without getting hit and dove over those sandbags. Even though I was 20 years old I started chocking and spitting up all this black tar which tasted horrible.

I never smoked again.

Here I am in that very helicopter. You can see how close the tree line is.

 

[ChrisPchef]

Chris, I quit smoking in Vietnam where cigarettes were free. All you wanted. I had so many cigarettes I used to fill sand bags with them. No wonder I am filled with shrapnel

Anyway, where I was, in the middle of the jungle on a small LZ, a small helicopter landed outside our perimeter which was a double layer of sandbags so about 12" high. The pilot was my friend so I went out to get the mail from him and probably have 2 or 3 cigarettes. The tree line was about 75 yards away and someone, Probably not a friendly person walking a cute dog started firing at me. He hit the chopper a couple of times but missed me.

My friend took off and I ran with the mailbag on my bag. The mailbag was very big and heavy and I was afraid to drop it because I figured maybe the bullets wouldn't get through the bag.

I ran as fast as I could and made it to our perimeter without getting hit and dove over those sandbags. Even though I was 20 years old I started chocking and spitting up all this black tar which tasted horrible.

I never smoked again.

Here I am in that very helicopter. You can see how close the tree line is.

Great story and picture Paul, thank you for your service.

Although they didn’t talk about it much both my grandfathers fought in World War II. One for Benito Mussolini and one for America.

 

[Paul B]

Chris, they were Patriots. My wife's Dad was wounded in the Pacific and spent a year in the hospital in Hawaii.

 

[ChrisPchef]

Chris, they were Patriots. My wife's Dad was wounded in the Pacific and spent a year in the hospital in Hawaii.

Oh yes they were, a whole different breed of person than what you see today. I remember my grandfather yelling at me for pouring out some spoiled, coagulated milk. Saying to put it back in the fridge, that he was going to use it for coffee.

 

[Paul B]

The younger generation has absolutely nothing in common with those in the Greatest Generation.

If there was a draft today, probably 3 people would go, the vast majority of everyone would come up with some sort of excuse, like they are in the middle of quarantining their Percula Clownfish or it;s a little cloudy out and they are afraid to drive in the fog.

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it. The people in this country have gotten very soft.

 

[ChrisPchef]

The younger generation has absolutely nothing in common with those in the Greatest Generation.

If there was a draft today, probably 3 people would go, the vast majority of everyone would come up with some sort of excuse, like they are in the middle of quarantining their Percula Clownfish or it;s a little cloudy out and they are afraid to drive in the fog.

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it. The people in this country have gotten very soft.

Nah, unfortunately that sounds pretty accurate!

 

[mandarin]

Hard times create strong men.

Strong men create good times.

Good times create weak men.

And, weak men create hard times.

G. Michael Hopf,

 

[Paul B]

I have been out of commission for a couple of days due to a Sissy Stomach Virus. They are a lot of fun. I woke up 2 days ago and puked my brains out and I am not a puker. I think the last time I puked was in the 80s.

Of course stomach Viruses causes "stuff" to come out of all your orifices.

I haven't eaten anything in 4 days and lost 8 pounds. I already lost almost 30 lbs so I don't want to lose any more.

I went to a "Doc In The Box" today and he gave me a few pills that of course won't work but it makes you feel like you are doing something positive.

I haven't fed my fish in 2 days so they must be mad at me. I just can't get down to them right now.

I would eat some worms for gut bacteria but it is Lent so I can't eat meat.

I also ran out of fish food.

To update this. I feel much better today and will eat solid food for the first time since I got this. I want to gain back those 8 lbs so I see Ice Cream for dinner.