Feb 2016: First

A Monday and the first day of the new month. Great weekend here as is usually the case. The first week of the new month will be busy so don’t be shocked if reports are sporadic. I’ll get what I can in here for an update before duty calls.

The weather was simply and in a word delightful. I got in the spa twice and for a fleeting moment Sunday afternoon I contemplated taking a quick dip & plunge into the cement pond.

However, alcohol was involved & I had enough wits about me not to do so. I reasoned (?) that a severe thermal shock to my system could cause a mild temporary paralysis and being by myself, I could conceivably have gone under & not resurfaced before the paramedics & divers got here. I mean how would that be ? Ruin a perfectly good weekend. Who would find the body floating ? Not what I would want to wish on anyone.

I got a lot of work done on a number of projects. I made necessary repair to cosmic reef for the fourth (4th) time & rehung that in the island room. There was a piece of faux coral/lightning bolt that I super (stupid) glued (2x), I tried an epoxy I had, and a hot glue none of which were ‘permanent’. I ground down both ends to bare wood & glued with Elmer’s yellow carpenter glue. Old reliable.

I had to order more Vegemite. When I ordered the tape from Amazon, I was going to order a single (1) 200 gm jar but they had a special two-pack so I jumped on that deal. Someone apparently loaded me or my account an Amazon gift card. I had like $60 on it totally shocking to me. Get this. Free shipping AND it is scheduled to arrive here at the cloud between 25 February & 6 March !!! Good thing I can live without it. I’ll be licking the last from the this jar.

I did a bunch of work on two (2) tropical fish. An angelfish & a butterfly fish. The genus & species of each is still tbd. I did some extensive research on ‘rare’ species over the weekend while looking for another common tri-color tropical yet to be identified. So frustrated was I Friday that I called the Dallas World Aquarium and got a call back very late Friday afternoon. We swapped voice mails & my plan is to re-ring the the DWA later today with more questions. In fact, I have literally a TON of questions to ax. I MAY even do a day trip/visit later in the week if she is amenable to an appointment or sit down. I can see putting a fish or two in the gift shop there for HUGE (INSANE) $$$. Wouldn't THAT be nice ?

One rare species in particular caught my interest. The pepperment angelfish. I want to do one. A single Paracentropyge boylei was bought by the Waikiki Aquarium for $30,000. I kid you not. The habitat is deep water & remote therefore hard to obtain. They are 7 cm in length which is fairly small. I have an angelfish pattern cut out I have been working on & was going to paint but the pattern is 11 cm in length. Besides the obvious 4 cm delta (about 1.5 inches), all the pictures show a slightly different arrangement for dorsal, caudal and anal fin shapes. Question for the DWA icthyologist. Is it just the pictures or do they change ?

Brilliant red/orange body with five white stripes, a yellow face with a vertical white mask. Just stunning.

Finished another faux Mondrian.

WHAT ? ANOTHER ONE ??

Yep. You heard me.

I got the better masking tape Saturday and this PROVES I can knock one out in LESS THAN three (3) hours. Mostly drying time for the paint.

The NHL All-Star game was really good & worth watching for sure. It really made me want to play again. I am going to start tomorrow lifting weights & begin training seriously.

And John Scott and his story was the stuff of fairytales.

Scott was elected by popular vote when fans of the Arizona Coyotes wrote his name in on that many all-star ballots.

For the record, Scott is 6’8 and known as ‘an enforcer.’ Some call his role a ‘goon’ but not so.

With the Bladerunners, Br7, Brian ‘the House’ Housley was our John Scott or Marty McSorely. House watched out for me & Br12 (Son 1). He told me to let him know if anyone on the other team was ‘f***ing’ with me. Yeah, I still miss not playing.

Jonesy, tv analyst Keith Jones, put it so well after the game it brought a tear to the eye of many. ‘Not the most skilled (player) out there but a good team player. He protects his teammates and sticks up for them. Everyone on the team has a role and everyone has to pull together. That’s what makes hockey unique among team sports. Teammates are almost like family the way they look out for one another.’

John Scott jerseys sold out first. He won the MVP award which was a new car. The Coyotes traded him and the league tried to discourage him NOT to play. After the trade, he got sent to the AHL (minor league). But he played regardless, scored two goals & was a fan fav. He is a big, fun-loving and good natured guy. Everyone spoke very highly of him at every opportunity. EVERYONE.

His wife was there, very pregnant. With TWINS. They interviewed her as well. She was huge, nearly in tears. They have two little girls already and they were there in little Coyote jerseys. He lifted them up & skated them around, Nashville fans standing, cheering & going nuts. This just happens to be todays image.

It was really nice.

I got to go.

Tearing up.

And work to do.