We do not have the latest and greatest TV, so when some kid’s TV channels started disappearing, I called Rogers, here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They said that I needed a box between my analog tv and the input cable, and that I could pick one up, no charge, from a local Rogers store, and they told me the address. I went to that local Rogers store today and they were out of stock, a box was not reserved for me and I should call back to the store to get one because they do not know when these boxes come in. Thanks a lot Rogers. My experience with your company was decidedly negative.
Feeder goldfish, after quarantine, make excellent fish. Seen here eating Chinese veggies. Photo by Don Tai
Not having money and wanting to keep fish had me researching all the possibilities. On one hand, I knew nothing about raising fish, so the possibility of killing a few would be a near certainty. On the other hand fish can be $3-4 each. Since I do not like to waste money that I do not have, I turned to feeder goldfish, sold for $0.18CAD each, here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Feeder goldfish, as I read on the internet, are full of diseases and will quickly die, so do not bother. On the other hand there were others who said they raised feeders to become large fish that were strong and healthy. I am decidedly in the latter camp. Feeder goldfish are goldfish, just that they have been badly treated. Overall feeder goldfish can be beautiful, graceful and easy to care for.
Tropical Tetra Tank with a neon tetra, 3 cardinal tetras, a white tipped tetra and a Gold Pristella tetra on the left rear of the tank. Note the neon tetra in the middle has his red stripe from mid-body to tail while the cardinal tetra on the bottom has a more complete red stripe. Photo by Don Tai
My friend Peter gave me his tropical aquarium, which includes tetras, cory (corydoras) catfish and a clown loach. All these fish I am unfamiliar with but with my recent goldfish experience on water quality (I was soundly schooled), we should have no difficulties having these fish flourish. They will be housed in Little Weed’s room.
Sometimes there are certain situations where a direct teaching approach is not possible. I found this out with newborns and fish. Firstly I am unsure if they are capable and secondly there is no direct feedback to tell you if they received the message. You then use the trial and error method: Try something and see if you receive a satisfactory result. Small goldfish are very skittish. This is reasonable because they are so small and have been largely mistreated. Here is how to teach them to eat vegetables.
Seachem’s Prime water conditioner will make City of Toronto water safe for your fish. It will remove chlorine, cloramine and ammonia.
Live and learn, unfortunately. Little Weed has taken up the hobby of raising goldfish. I, as the dutiful and enabling parent, need to work out all the little details of how to do this. He has agreed to dutifully do water changes, feed the fish and arrange the tank, so he does have enthusiasm. I have not raised fish since I was a kid about his age. So down we go to buy feeder goldfish. We already had a 10G tank, we bought him a filter, so what else could go wrong? It turns out, a lot, especially the water from the City of Toronto, Canada. Here is what I found out, the hard way.
You need to fit in, somewhat, to live in harmony with society. This is true. Even those that are anti-social will form groups, of which there will be rules that govern who is part of the group and what constitutes acceptable bahaviour. I believe all societal systems run this way. It is part of who we are.
This is not to say that conformity is a bad thing. Without conformity there would be no way to drive down the street and not get hit by a car. Drivers, pedestrians and other users of the road need to conform to the road usage system, namely the Highway Traffic Act. We have laws that govern these things. Those that scofflaw the rules can hurt other people and get punished for their behaviour. In the name of safety this is good.
Little Weed has decided to raise goldfish, and has dragged me in for technical support. I have not kept fish since I was his age, so know almost nothing. It has been an interesting learning experience, delving into a subject matter that is completely foreign to me. Still, as a quick study in anything, I am learning fast. Research has always been my strong point, and keeping an aquarium is no exception. Here are some hints and tips. Once set up an aquarium is really not much work to maintain and it really does a good job of humidifying your house!
Automonous Bot: Arduino, Ardumoto board, and the Dagu Magician Chassis
Late am I with this posting, but life gets in the way and takes over. The Little Weed wanted to delve into robotics, so we bought an Arduino Uno and the Dagu Magician Chassis. This chassis is a robot platform for a three wheeled vehicle, complete with two wheels and two motors, a single ball caster, and all the nuts and bolts to put it together. Programming of the robot is done with the Arduino IDE or in Eclipse. This posting steps you through our experience putting together this robot platform.
Disbelief is what I felt when I first saw two pedestrian texters walk straight into each other, head to head. So engrossed with their lives that they could not spend the time to watch where they are going? As a technologist I am always interested in the social effects of technology on society. Distracted walking shows that the vast majority of people cannot do two things at the same time, that multi-tasking is really not feasible for most people, and that this behaviour can be potentially dangerous to the person and those around them.
