Final Details

The final details of a long trip take a lot out of a person. Especially when unplanned stuff happens.
 Dad and I tore the trailer apart and repacked all the bearings, replaced a broken wheel stud, and put on a spare tire. Better safe then sorry.

 My folks gave Katie and I a chest freezer for our wedding. How cool is that (I love that pun). Problem though. The one end is all smashed in. It took 7 different Walmarts before I found the same freezer to exchange it with. The new freezer works great!

 Found a dresser on freecycle. The closet worked for one person, but two isn’t going to fly. This dresser fits in it’s spot perfectly, and doubles as a nightstand for that side of the bed. Brother had never seen a tall dresser before. He was curious.

 A friend of mine gave me 2 aquariums. So, they needed to be moved out of a basement, and into the apartment. I even asked permission first. 🙂 Isn’t she wonderful to let me have these fish tanks?

I am all packed. Cat & Fish sitter is understanding his duties. No, Brother, he is NOT a scratching post.

So, with this blog post, I am powering off the computer for two weeks. Follow me on Twiiter for updates.

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Troubles with my wedding RSVP site.

I got a report last night that the wedding RSVP page is being dumb. From a very reliable source! I am marrying this particular source in less then 2 weeks.

By the time I got home to check it last night, it was working OK for me.

If anybody is having troubles with it, can you send me a screenshot? Maybe that will help me fix it.

Anyway…
I do have a bunch of RSVPs. I used Google Doc’s Forms to deal with the RSVP stuff.
Using that, I can create fancy spreadsheets and such.

From this, I can deduce that about 30 people aren’t hungry. Actually, they signed up before I had the meal option on the RSVP page. So, a few phone calls are in order.

Feel free to email us at wedding (at) creuzer dot com if you are having troubles with the RSVP page. Or call either of us.

Moving aquariums

I picked up an aquarium from a friend this week. I wanted to put it in the corner of the ‘office’ as I call the 2nd bedroom. I have my 29 gallon live plant tank there now, which I asked permission to move into the bedroom. I got the best answer ever. ‘Whatever you want’. Hopefully that doesn’t mean I have to move the tank again in a few weeks.

 I needed to drain down the 29 to a low enough level that I can move it. That tanks is over 250 pounds when full. I can’t lift that much, so it takes me a bit longer to move it. This particular tote seems to have become my water tote. Anything water related, I grab this particular tote. Funny how humans are creatures of habit like that.

 
I siphoned half the water out of the tank into the tub. This made the tank light enough that I could slide the tank off of it’s stand, onto a bar stool standing on a furntiture dolly. I got the stool from FreeCycle for dad’s shop. Nice that I got to use it too.

 
I pushed the half full tank into the bedroom. I set the stand up, and walked in and out a few times, making sure I didn’t kick it, stub my toe on it, or find that it was otherwise in the way. Brother is inspecting my tank transportation system. Maybe we can get him a job with OSHA?

 
I slid the tank off the bar stool, back onto the stand. I wheeled my 18 gallon chair into the bedroom, and used the canister filter to pump the water back into tank. No need to try to get that tote high enough that I can siphon water back into the tank. I ended up breaking the handle on the Eheim filter. It doesn’t want to stay closed now. So, if I can’t fix it, or rig up something, it’s now a parts filter. Rather annoyed with myself on that one. They aren’t exactly cheap.

 
I set up the freshly cleaned and painted stand for the 48 gallon tank in the corner where the 29 was. It looks really nice there. I can put the filter I will eventually get for the tank in the corner, and put some shelves or a cabinet in the stand, and make it look nice. It really occupies that corner well.

 
The tank had been let to go dry, so it kinda looks an icky, nasty mess. But, fill the tank back up, a bit of time with the algae brush, and it will look good as new!

 
I used my Python brand siphon filter to fill the tank up. I love these things. The best money I ever spent on a tank accessory. They hook up to the faucet and you can siphon or fill the tank with them. If you get one, get one long enough to reach anywhere in the house you will have a tank. Mine can just reach!

 
DOH! The tank leaks. It looks like it didn’t like being moved. I kinda suspected it would have issues. I could see where water had worked it’s way under the sealant on the sides. Set up a bucket to catch the drips. Water dripping off the corner followed the aluminum bar into the bucket.

When I get back from the wedding, I get to fix a fish tank. The glass is whole, so it’s just going to be a $10 and 5 hour fix.

Ramen noodles for lunch…

Saving money for the wedding, right? So, ramen noodles for lunch.

I like my ramen noodles. 🙂

Toss the little sodium packet that comes with the ramen noodles away (actually, I don’t throw anything away, it was kept for later use). Mushrooms and Broccoli that I dehydrated. A bit of steak left over from this weekend. Oh, soo goood.
Ramen Noodle Soup 
Ramen Noodle Soup 

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Walk in the park

Sunday, I went to a primitive skills meetup in Peterson Park north of Chicago. The meetup was quite interesting, we explored some excersizes that focused on increasing our awareness. It was a wet, rainy day, so most people didn’t want to go outside.

After the meetup, I took a little walk in the fenced in ‘park’ they have there.

I took some photos and video of the quite tame wildlife they have there.

Deer in Peterson Park outside of Chicago 
Deer in Peterson Park outside of Chicago 
Deer in Peterson Park outside of Chicago 
Canadian Goose in Peterson Park outside of Chicago 

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