• Health & Fitness,  Ramblings

    ‘Cause I Love the Adrenaline in My Veins

    The treadmill arrived on Wednesday, the 19th. It’s an impressive machine. It took a while to set it up. It also took a while to get the beast inside the house. It’s massive. The weight on the delivery notice was 462 pounds. Assuming the pallet is part of that weight, let’s say the machine itself is 400 pounds. It’s 76.5 inches long and 40 inches wide. For reference, an average coffin is 84 inches long and 28 inches wide. The empty weight of a coffin can vary greatly, but let’s say you have one that happens to also be 400 pounds. Now, imagine trying to move this 400 pound box with…

  • Creatures,  Hobbies,  Ramblings

    Place Your Bets on the Limits of a Beast’s Appetite

    It started with Esme, one little female betta. Now we have Esme, two loaches, four green tetras, four ember tetras, five shrimp, two gold mystery snails, a greenish-purple mystery snail, three purple mystery snails, a baby mystery snail who hitched a ride home on a plant we purchased, an unknown snail who is growing at an astonishing pace who also hitched a ride home on a plant, aaaaaaand 9,320,473,324 pest snails who must have been hiding on the plants we purchased for the plant tank. It’s just overrun with itty bitty snail babies. I can’t say with any certainty, because they’re still a little too small, but they’re looking a…

  • Health & Fitness,  Ramblings

    Better Run, Better Run

    Over a year ago, I mentioned developing an interest in running, and that we didn’t have room for a treadmill, which is why I was sticking to the elliptical as my go-to exercise. I also mentioned using Zombies! Run, which I still recommend for anyone looking for a fun story to move them along during walks, jogs, or runs, so long as you don’t suffer from any level of misophonia. One of the sounds that enrages me to listen to is sloppy kissing noises, as well as licking; they’re kind of the same sticky wet sound, and they infuriate me. Annoyingly, the app had two or three instances of kissing, and…

  • Hobbies,  Ramblings

    Waterbound Nowhere to Go

    So many posts in the same month! A little update on the blackwater tank and other aquarium happenings. Firstly, yeesh. The plants have just taken off in Esme’s tank. The rotala? is now reaching the surface, the frogbit roots have extended, on average, about 1.5-2 inches. This is all since it was done on Thursday. I noticed the growth last night, but photographing this tank is anger-inducing. Speaking of… sorry about the glare. #@! Nevermind that browning on the sword. It’s been going on since we purchased it – you can see bits of it in the last post. I’m not concerned, since it was one of the sickly looking…

  • Hobbies,  Ramblings

    I Will Be Rocks, I Will Be Water

    I cannot take pictures of this tank without a glare. That’s why every photo is of the back right section only. Anyway, the miniature blackwater tank has been made. Esmeralda seems to enjoy it. I don’t know about the snail. He was doing okay this morning, but finding him amongst the new gravel is impossibly difficult. I’m sure he’s fine. I don’t recall what everything is, but here’s what I can remember as far as what’s used for the aquascaping: Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum – You probably shouldn’t use this if you’re going for a blackwater tank as it states, “Will not discolor water and helps control organic discoloration…