A good day today

[Ron Sower]

Today was interesting.  Around 9am, as I was having coffee with Linda, aka Lucy, I got a call from the manager of our mfr home community telling me that the men were here to tear down the fence in back of my backyard fence and that mine was attached to it and she just wanted me to know so I could stabilize it if I needed to.  There was some leaning.  We've only been in this house 3 months and most of these days are rainy...the drizzly, grey kind... and I haven't really started any outside projects yet this year, so I was kinda peeved that I didn't get any notice.  What the heck do I know about shoring up fences?  She knew I was not a happy camper...and BTW, she lives next door to me!

So I went into the house grumbling like a madman about the situation, trying to figure out who I was going to call for the work that wouldn't charge me my left leg and one or two organs, and realized I was going to have to move some stuff that was in the way.  While I was back out there doing that a fellow comes up on the carport introducing himself as the guy from the fence company.  I wasn't very friendly and said that I wish he'd caught me on a better day and that I was P.O.'d and not very happy.  That's when he said well I thought i'd come by and see how I can help you...!  He began to size up what was needed and where and said he would weld the brackets I needed and only charge me for the materials and his men would install them for me at no labor cost..!

So the day just began to turn around!  And it just got better all along. 

I finally switched the doors on the extra fridge in the  utility room.  So much easier to get into now.  I set up an AquaClear on one end of the 12 gallon Mr. Aqua that we are converting to a showy guppy tank.    I set up this really neat old Hagen TropiQuarium that I got at our mini-auction months ago.   It is now clearing and I put some albino Kribs and floated some plants in it. It is going to be a little plant farm tank, with only a few small fish in it.  Then I trimmed some plants to take over to an elementary school to set up the 100g we put in last week.

Then wifey, who'd been out to help a friend most of the afternoon, called to see if I wanted to go Starbucks with them and the friend's husband.  So that was good.  Then they dropped me back at the house while the gals went to Hobby Lobby, and I just putzed around til they go home and we had the second portion of the Olive Garden special - Buy one to eat here and take another one home.  DEEE-licious.!  Now she and the friend have gone to our daughter's house to visit and I'm here with the fish and the laziest dog in the world! 

Aron just called.  He's taken a job with a new company in town.  I'm hoping he's getting in on the ground floor.

Life was really good today!

[Mugwump]

nice, it's funny how life just rolls on.....things just seem to work out no matter how much we get in the way..... .....

[Ron Sower]

yeah....ain't it grand!?!?!?!

[shatanka]

Glad your day turned out to be a good day. We need those good ones in there to help keep us on an even keel! lol 

[Ron Sower]

Today was pretty good too.  One of the GSAS members (Justin) and I are putting a 100 gallon tank in a second grade classroom.  It's part of our philanthropy program.  Last week while the kids were on Spring Break, we took it into the classroom and cleaned it all up.

Today the kids were back and totally excited. The teacher set aside the whole time from 10:30 til they left school for them to watch and help us!  IT was great!  They had a bunch of questions, and tons of enthusiasm!  Justin is the 'Champion' for this class.  He's getting to set the aquarium up any way he wants, and he'll be the go-to person for the classroom.

Another good day!

[Mugwump]

Kudos to you both ....that's a great project and some of those young kids will become our hobbyists of tomorrow.....

[Ron Sower]

The ''our hobbyists of tomorrow'' statement describes why I do this.  I got bit by the bug when I was 10.  So I'm concentrating on the elementary schools for our tank placements.

[shatanka]

Not only could your good deeds like this promote possible future hobbyist, but it also promotes something greater...an interest in learning and an interest in biology and science!
This interest can not only enhance their learning in school, by learning about fish, the ecology of the aquarium's system. Even in second grade a teacher can promote this by teaching a simple form of the nitrogen cycle with pictures; the biology aspect of the fish themselves- their anatomy, and if live bearers were used in the aquarium it would sprout interest in the breeding part of underwater life.
They can also learn about the different water systems in our world that the fish in their aquarium come from, and that could involve geography! 
You can even involve math with learning about water changes and the percent of water to remove from a tank , and could also incorporate adding and subtracting with the second grade level with the amount of fish per gallon the tank  habitat could allow.
Heck they could even involve reading in this aquarium project if the teacher would be able choose books that involve interesting facts that teach about aquarium keeping, or story-line books like "Finding Nemo". There were some cute books I found that were about a Manatee baby in FL that traveled all the way up the eastern coast and back to FL.
I love to enhance each line of study with another.   Hands on activities which get the children involved in their own learning creates intrinsic learners too...they want to learn for the sake of just gaining more knowledge!
I think this is a great project!! It promotes learning and in a more interesting fun way instead of just workbook pages and drill sets etc.  Future biologist and ecologist, and Marine biologist possibly? This is where it all starts.
KUDOS to you for doing all of this. I think it is wonderful!

[PaulineMi]

Great response Shatanka.

[Ron Sower]

Shatanka, you?ve hit several nails right smack dab on the head.  I?ve had a few very influential teachers in my life.  I was always enthralled with learning all I could about living things.  The high school biology teacher and my advanced biology teacher were great supporters of my efforts.  When I went to college I had a prof who was a plant ecologist.  He was always bringing in other disciplines of science and geography into our studies.  Even some sociology. When I taught for my first 7 years in a community college, I attempted to do the same. 

Now I get that same opportunity to inspire teachers and kid to run with all kinds of ideas.  While Justin and I were setting up a tank in a middle school, the teacher took some time at her desk on her computer to Google-map their school?s location and then zoomed across the globe to Lake Malawi where the fish we were putting in came from.  She showed all this on the big screen above the whiteboard. They learned a little bit about their culture, the fishes? habitat and things like that.  I love the modern internet!

We had a spelling lesson with the word plecostomus?vowels, consonants, syllables and all that.  This group has a chart on the wall beside the tank and the kids have daily responsibilities with the tank.  The teacher changes their duties periodically so that each of them learns different responsibilities.

While we were setting up the tank in the 2nd grade last week, the teacher had the kids grouped around watching and we answered question after question!  After a while she had them gather in an opposite corner and read to them an illustrated book about a fish.   She had them write about what they learned about fish.  It was fantastic!   These teachers are really using our program to enhance the kids? education.

Oh yeah?.!  I always explain how the filtration system is their form of a sewage treatment plant!   If you want to have some fun sometime, ask a 2nd grade class what happens to their poop after they flush the toilet..!!!!

Enough rambling for this morning!

[BallAquatics]

It's a very good thing you are doing Ron!   

Several years back, I helped out Dr. Robert Rice with the "Native Fish Conservancy" WEB site.  They had quite a few people in their group doing the same things you have been talking about here.

Dennis

[Mugwump]

Excellent folks, I've had about 7-8 of the g'kids down in the fish room...they're always asking questions..and I love it.....Keegan was even so kind as to write my name, with crayon, on all the tanks that he could reach..... .......

[shatanka]

Wow Ron, you taught in community college! Oh my, I just realized all the sentence fragments I had in my response! Did I get a bad grade for that? lol  (just kidding..I did make a lot of sentence errors though, oh well..it was the point that I was trying to get across! lol)

That is awesome that you were inspired by teachers and are now passing along that same inspiration! Keep it moving on!

Jon, I am loving your story about your grandkids asking all the questions about your fish room..but especially loved ( and pictured it in my mind) of them writing your name with crayons on your tanks! HA HA! OMG, that is so adorable!  And you actually braved having 7-8 of them down there in your fish room...at the same time? YEOW! lol  funny ! and BRAVE! lol

[Mugwump]

Wow Ron, you taught in community college! Oh my, I just realized all the sentence fragments I had in my response! Did I get a bad grade for that? lol  (just kidding..I did make a lot of sentence errors though, oh well..it was the point that I was trying to get across! lol)

That is awesome that you were inspired by teachers and are now passing along that same inspiration! Keep it moving on!

Jon, I am loving your story about your grandkids asking all the questions about your fish room..but especially loved ( and pictured it in my mind) of them writing your name with crayons on your tanks! HA HA! OMG, that is so adorable!  And you actually braved having 7-8 of them down there in your fish room...at the same time? YEOW! lol  funny ! and BRAVE! lol

LOL...I think some of the tanks had 'his' name..... .....Our annual 4th of July picnic is great, and most all will want to go and 'see the fish'....I'm not really sure about all the same time tho....but it seems like thousands of g'kids sometimes.... ..even when there's just a few.....they're everywhere......I get nervous when they all start grabbing nets....yikes!!!!!....

[shatanka]

I'm sorry, but I am cracking up with that last comment! LOL  I can imagine you get nervous when they start grabbing nets! OMG!!! ( I am still laughing! lol)  It's so nice that you have so much of your family by you like that to share those "good times" with!