Sheepshead

This one scared the crap outta me. He was about 2 feet long with a mouthful of intimidating looking teeth. I didn't see him until he was a few feet from me. All I noticed at first were the teeth. He swam toward me and just kept coming until he got real close. He looked at me, got bored, and swam away. Shew!

The Sidekick

This little Mr. was in love with people. Once you were found, he never wanted to leave. Curious little guy. He never tried to bite or anything else rude, but he was adamant about staying near. I think it is a juvenile grouper of some sort.

Beautimous

I am standing on the jetty looking at my favorite swimming hole. I spend many hours here. Behind me is the channel where the big dudes are. Actually, there was a fisherman behind me, but you get the idea.

Flying Blue Gurnard

This is one of the neatest fish out there. They are not shy at all so are easy to catch with a net. I touched him at the rear of his fin and he proved that he was a flying gurnard by shooting out of the water and sailing back down about five feet away. Those little side fins double as wings.

Jumpers

These little darlings were jumping all the time. This is where I swam the most and I think, it must be a favorite place of theirs too. They were there every day I was. As, you can see, they were none too shy about jumping right up in your face. I only got hit once, so I guess that's not bad. (It was on the back of my arm, not my face). I never did find out why they were jumping out of the water all the time. Maybe they're Flying Fish. ;)

Another Reason to Hate Alabama

Ok, hate may be too strong a word in this case. Never the less, it is a reason to avoid it at all costs. I am driving through Montgomery, Alabama. I pull up to a light - one of many - and what do I see? This charming old lady pulls up next to me in the other turn lane. Please look at what is hanging from her sun visor. That's right...it's a magnifying strip that people use to read with. She was using it TO DRIVE. Yes, to drive. Now, I don't know how the rest of you would feel to see her next to you, but it freaked me out a little. I let her have plenty of space and then got the heck away from her. Can you imagine that no one - like the police - has put a stop to this? Insanity!

Trip

I went on a trip to Florida this last week. As always, the trip was exciting. Alabama proved yet again they have the best drivers ever. I have pictoral proof of it this time. I am getting my pictures developed and then I will finish the trip story with cute little pictures for all to see.

I love going to the dentist...not!

I went to the dentist today. Turns out the cracked tooth is now abcessed because I waited too long to go to the dentist. Fantastic. Really explains the extreme pain, though, doesn't it? So now I have to take a series of penicillin. Ten days for round one and then another seven days for round two. I was given darvecet for the pain. You all know what painkillers do to me, so I am stuck taking Aleve until the antibiotic kicks in. *Sigh* Then I get to go back for the "extraction". They can pretty it up all they want but I know that means yanking a tooth out with a pair of pliers. Thank God it's a back tooth since I have clearly done a number on it. Poor little fella. Now we have to part ways.

CD's

I got some new CD's for my birthday. I also bought some the other day. I have found that I really like all of these CD's. I got a couple from Laurie. Shockingly enough, they were Tommy James and the Shondells. (One of the jobs I had as a child was to drive her crazy by playing a few of their songs over and over.) Crimson and Clover is her favorite. ;) Ask her if she's in the Mood for a Melody sometime. Robert Plant's best tune. (You better duck) lol. The others I received or bought are all great. I like the majority of the songs. They include Disturbed, Mudvayne, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Lifehouse, Nickelback, Rob Thomas, and the two of TJ. So, many thanks to everyone for getting me some great music that I love. The deer and I have been rocking. :)

The Horseshoe Crab

Well, here it is finally. Sorry for taking so darn long. By the way, he/she is upside down.

What a Suck Day

Today was one of the worst days ever at work. One of the big coral tanks split open and poured water everywhere. (Especially in my freakin shoes) The corner split open, so there I was trying to hold the stupid thing together while the others scrambled around looking for pumps and hoses and such to drain the water into a huge tub. That's where the corals still were when I left today. They couldn't find a replacement tank any where near here. So we are rigging up a temperary tank until the new ones arrive. It took forever to clean up the mess. Then more of forever to clean up the tank. Scraping all the sand out of it was disgusting. So now the rock is everywhere, the sand is in a 44g trash can, the water and corals are on a tub on the floor. Looks like tomorrow will be another exciting day.

Starfish Stomach

The stomach of my starfish. All the yellowish goo toward the middle of it and out by the legs is its stomach. It is eating the algae on the glass. I let the algae grow all over the front of the glass hoping for such a photo opportunity.

*Raspberry*

A couple of pictures of the back yard over the weekend.

New Parents

The proud new parents. Daddy on the right, Mamma on the left. He is staring me down. Ready to kick ass if necessary. He knows I'm about to steal the eggs.















A better picture of the eggs. Probably around 600 there.

New Creature

Here's my new starfish. I love it when people buy things they shouldn't. Rumor has it they were told by another pet store that this guy was reef safe. Yeah, I think not. So I got him super cheap. :) He's a hungry fella. He ate half a sand eel in about two hours. (That's quick for a starfish!)

Crab News

My crab shed his exoskeleton the other day. I got some pictures of it 'cause I think it's kinda neat. He's quite a bit larger after the shed although this picture doesn't show it very well. I really had to look to find the hole in the shed. He did a great job crawling out of there and leaving it whole.

Thanks Drew

A thanks to Drew for finding the ClustrMap so I could snatch the idea and put it on my Blog too. :) It is really neat. I have had visitors from Australia and New Zealand. Who knew?

Tagged!

My good quirks:

I drink coffee every morning before speaking to anyone.
I take off my shoes the second I get into the house.
I collect dolphins.
I have many saltwater aquariums.

My bad quirks:

I have NO patience for idiots.
Some of the nicest people grind my nerves.
I throw up when stressed or nervous.
Heights freak me out.


My food quirks:

I can't get through the day without






or


















I eat all of one item before moving to the next. Typically, the least favorite item to the most favored. :)
I never eat "brothy" soup without crackers.
I hate tomatoes, but love tomato soup.
I don't like most beef, pork, or chicken.
Beets are not for me.


My sleep quirks:

I can't sleep unless I read for awhile.
I will sleep for nine days unless I set the alarm clock.
I can drink coffee one minute before going to sleep.
I must have a completely dark room to sleep well.
I must have something in the room making noise to drowned out all the other noises.
The cats have parties on my bed and it doesn't wake me.


Quirky people I tag (who haven't already been tagged):

Allison Quirk (this was meant for you!)
Leisa (Get a Blog!)

Poetic Justice

Spammer Must Pay 11.2 Billion

Associated Press

An Midwest internet service provider was awarded an $11.2 billion judgment against a Florida man for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services.

The lawsuit, filed in 2003 by Iowa's CIS Internet Services, also prompted earlier judgments against companies in Florida and Arizona worth more than $1 billion.

"This ruling sets a new standard," said CIS owner Robert Kramer III. "Gross abusers of e-mail risk exposure to public ridicule as well as the economic death penalty."

The most recent judgment was issued Dec. 23 against James McCalla of Florida, who is also barred from accessing the internet for three years.

The lawsuit claimed that McCalla sent more than 280 million illegal spam e-mails into CIS's network, which provides internet connections in Eastern Iowa and parts of Illinois.

Kramer's lawsuit initially named numerous defendants, many of whom were dropped from the lawsuit in the last couple of years. In 2004, judgments totaling more than $1 billion were issued against Cash Link Systems and the TEI Marketing Group, both of Florida, and AMP Dollar Savings of Arizona.

The lawsuit said the defendants used the cis.net domain in the e-mails as part of a false return address to disguise their source and deflect complaints to CIS.

Kramer claimed that under state law he was entitled to $10 per illegal e-mail but didn't expect to receive any of the judgment money.

According to the website for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, large numbers of junk e-mails have knocked out or disrupted internet provider systems belonging to large companies such as AT&T, as well as systems belonging to smaller rural providers such as CIS. Additionally, the massive numbers of spam e-mails cost businesses and individuals millions of dollars annually.

John Mozena, co-founder and vice president of CAUCE, said Kramer's lawsuit will likely not solve the spamming problem.

"There have been regulatory actions and even criminal actions against spammers, but it has not made much of a dent in the total volume of spam we see," he said. "Spam is still roughly two-thirds of all e-mail on the internet."

He said sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is not illegal in the United States. It is only illegal to send dishonest spam, which includes forging a company's domain name onto the e-mail or having a misleading subject line.

"What we need is a federal anti-spam law, such as some countries such as Australia have," he said. "Spamming is illegal in Australia."

Mother Nature and I have split up

Yes, I am breaking up with Mother Nature. Today I had to drive home with sleet pelting my Jeep. A real balmy 34 degrees at that. Wind chill below freezing. It's supposed to get colder and the sleet will turn to snow. I am not pleased. :( So, we are done, Mother Nature and I. Broke up. It's over. Don't try to change my mind. We're through. *raspberry*