Do it yourself

Quote: Face

It needs to be actually big for the big fish I intend to keep.

You and Cap'n Ahab, damned by your obsession.

: )

I was miserable when I had an aquarium. They
kept dying, I had to clean it and mess with it
all the time. I finally gave the whole mess away
to a young guy and he loved it.

Made me LOL at least once.

Quote: rxwine

You and Cap'n Ahab, damned by your obsession.

Aye, though I wouldn't use "damned" =)

EB is right, it IS a lot of work. I miss a bit by having usable tap water as well as using native fish (and therefore native food, all of which only costs time), but every so often it does require a full day's work to tend.

But I just dig it. It's a passion that trumps guns and competes with motorsports. I enjoy almost every time I'm "forced" to the crick for food. It gets me out of the house, there's a sense of accomplishment. And I'm still just as enthralled now as I was when I got the first tank 5 or so years ago. It's a nice place to be, my fish room. Has the sounds of running water, it even smells of the crick. Sort of the wet detritus smell of springtime. It smells of fertility, of life.

It's very Zen. When Ash was here, I'd often find her doing homework there, or just sitting and watching. It's the essence of peace. And if I want excitement instead, I feed em. It's all just very cool.

And my kid, gods. He's 7 and already has a passion. He's in there all the time. We've had so many teaching moments, so many quality hours. He's even right now playing Fishing Planet on Steam, referencing the tank, wondering when we can get out again, wondering what we can bring home this time.

It's a huge positive in my life all the way around.

Quote: Face

It's a huge positive in my life all the way around.

One of the best days of my life when
I gave it away. Shrug..

Quote: Face

Aye, though I wouldn't use "damned" =)

EB is right, it IS a lot of work. I miss a bit by having usable tap water as well as using native fish (and therefore native food, all of which only costs time), but every so often it does require a full day's work to tend.

But I just dig it. It's a passion that trumps guns and competes with motorsports. I enjoy almost every time I'm "forced" to the crick for food. It gets me out of the house, there's a sense of accomplishment. And I'm still just as enthralled now as I was when I got the first tank 5 or so years ago. It's a nice place to be, my fish room. Has the sounds of running water, it even smells of the crick. Sort of the wet detritus smell of springtime. It smells of fertility, of life.

It's very Zen. When Ash was here, I'd often find her doing homework there, or just sitting and watching. It's the essence of peace. And if I want excitement instead, I feed em. It's all just very cool.

And my kid, gods. He's 7 and already has a passion. He's in there all the time. We've had so many teaching moments, so many quality hours. He's even right now playing Fishing Planet on Steam, referencing the tank, wondering when we can get out again, wondering what we can bring home this time.

It's a huge positive in my life all the way around.

We had an aquarium growing up. Salt water, Maybe 30 gallons (sorry, no feel for estimating volume). Kissing goramis, angelfish, occasionally a tetra, some others. Very watchable for an hour at a time, and we were just casual about it. It's definitely more than just the look; the motion, the smell, the sound of the aerator. I do get it.

I am not sure if I mentioned it or not, but we are still driving that 1998 saturn that was giving us problems.

I took it to an oil change place and got an engine cleaning (level 3?) not much to lose at that point. It didn't run much better, so I also had the fuel filter, spark plugs, and wires replaced. They were all really really old.

It drives much better now. It burns some oil, but it doesn't seem to be consuming coolant like I thought.

My next do-it-myself attempt will be to replace an instrument cluster light on my 1998 toyota sienna minivan.

Quote: Dalex64

I am not sure if I mentioned it or not, but we are still driving that 1998 saturn that was giving us problems.

Good for you. I'd have bet it was a goner, though it doesn't really seem like it's doing all that well ;)

Quote: Dalex

My next do-it-myself attempt will be to replace an instrument cluster light on my 1998 toyota sienna minivan.

Ugh, why bother? I have a few out on my Silverado. I know what the dash says, I don't need no light =p

I wish you luck. The last time I did dash work I opened it with a reciprocating saw. I have no patience in that area XD

Google is your friend. Dollars to donuts you'll never open it yourself using intuition. Hopefully it's a tab and panel job and you won't be here in a few days asking for tips on how to reinstall the windshield you had to remove =p

Well, it isn't going to be as easy as the first video I found. The "easy" video had two screws holding in a small trim piece immediately in front of the instrument cluster, then 4 screws on the instrument cluster itself. Google sent me to that video, and it wasn't for a mini-van, but google sent me there, so I thought it might be similar across the line for that year....

But no My van has no such trim piece, and the entire front fascia is one piece, from the instrument panel over to the heater controls. :(

It looks like 1 light out of 4 is out. It bugs me.

I found this video

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi3zPPK8onLAhWFax4KHauwD1EQtwIIKzAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNI9-tYa2VA0&usg=AFQjCNFoMzYnoXtzHhH7nFS-wXiQ6rWOUw&sig2=PnOHxV-Pn9lbE9x9qowgiQ&bvm=bv.114733917,d.dmo

basically 3 screws and a bunch of clips.

plus a handful of connectors.

and several trim pieces to remove first.

THEN I can remove the 4 screws for the instrument cluster...

I hate those little clips. There are several different kinds, they all behave a little differently, and they are too easy to break - either the clip or the plastic around the clip.