What I wished someone had told me during my first year

[benj]

Purge the pride and learn the patience of a python

[mjknapp]

Purge the pride, it doesnt take long for any of us to figure out we have to do that huh? Actually doing it is another story, as I still get aggravated when I hear the "are you back at work yet " comments

[tt3]

Sh!t does and will happen. (Goes along with pride and patience.)

[Remington]

I find that purging pride increases patience. It is pride that makes you grouchy and impatient.

[mjknapp]

I find that purging pride increases patience. It is pride that makes you grouchy and impatient.

Well my wife must have thought I was full of pride today, as when she seft for work, she told me that I was a grouch ass, and to go have another cup of coffee.

She doesnt realize the list of stuff I have to have done by tomorrow is nearly impossible, I just spent the last 3 hours cleaning my fish tank. That is the only downfall of having a tank this big.

Way to much to do, and not enough time. I have beer that I have to find time to rack into the secondary, was getting ready to do that, then realized I am out of sanitizer......aaargh :-#

[tt3]

If you got bleach, just use that... rinse really well is all

for your brewing, that is, not the fish tank.
we stocked ours really lightly so I don't have to clean it all the time... just water change weekly to biweekly...

[mjknapp]

That is what I did for the sanitizer, then spent about 5 minutes running water through it.

My tank is over 6 feet long, and from the stand up it is almost 5 feet. Cleaning it involves cleaning the sump, and I arranged the rocks a little different, gleaned all the glass, then pledged the base, I am prety anal about making sure this tank is completely spotless and perfectly clear.

[tt3]

Wow! Sounds like ours... except the clean part. :oops:
The tank stand was (and still is) salt and water stained, and the tank is scratched in a few places on the inside... I'll never win any awards with it, but it serves our purpose, and fish don't die. :D
Are you running salt water? As cool as ocean tanks look, I just don't think I could pull it off and keep things alive :cry:

Wow, I managed to derail yet another thread,
sorry benj!

[Remington]

If you got bleach, just use that... rinse really well is all

for your brewing, that is, not the fish tank.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[benj]

Struth T3...It doesn't matter which way the wind blows us as long as our sails are full and we keep this vessel moving...Argh me little hearties..Yo Ho!

[SAHF]

I find that purging pride increases patience. It is pride that makes you grouchy and impatient.

I find lack of sleep does the same thing!

[Remington]

Ah yes... sleep is a big one.

If I don't get enough sleep, I am not patient at all and I become very grouchy! Good call.

[Jackson's Dad]

I find that purging pride increases patience. It is pride that makes you grouchy and impatient.

Instead of pride, I'd say selfishness. It has been the little selfish acts that I have missed the most (watching a full movie on TV, going out to dinner whenever you want, etc), and I usually find that I am at my most grumpy and frustrated when I want to do some small selfish thing, and the baby "won't let me". Letting go of that ego... it's tough! I always thought I'd be a great dad, but the trial-by-fire of the first few weeks made me question myself many times.

Other things I wish I knew for the first three months:

-- this is the hardest job you'll ever do... but in many ways it is hard because it is soooo dang boring and monotonous. Be ready to often be bored, bleary eyes, and worn to a nub.

-- You know how the first few months are so uniquely hard, but that they also say you can't really spoil a child at this age? One person said that this was a built in training time for being a parent -- you get several "practice months" to make mistakes, learn patience, gain confidence. Made me feel much better!

-- There is nothing wrong with getting mad at the baby's crying. Just don't get mad at the baby.

Dan

[benj]

it is soooo dang boring and monotonous.

Dan...Oh how I struggled through those brain-dead days...I began to force myself out of the house even if for just a cuppa down at the local cafe...
It helped and soon became part of my daily routine...Only much later did I stumble across Dr. Ramey's enlightning words...

'Boredom results from a deficit of sensory responsiveness to the external world.'

[mjknapp]

Wow! Sounds like ours... except the clean part. :oops:
The tank stand was (and still is) salt and water stained, and the tank is scratched in a few places on the inside... I'll never win any awards with it, but it serves our purpose, and fish don't die. :D
Are you running salt water? As cool as ocean tanks look, I just don't think I could pull it off and keep things alive :cry:

Wow, I managed to derail yet another thread,
sorry benj!

No, I am going to turn it into a reef aquarium when we buy a new house, I am going to build it into the wall, and I have a smaller 75 gallon tank in our shore house in cape may, and if I can I am going to build it into the wall to. But we share the shore house with my sister-in-law, so I have to talk her into it first.

[tt3]

... I have a smaller 75 gallon tank ...

Only those of us who own a 150 or bigger would consider 55 or 75 gal tanks "small"
I don't know about your experience, but I remember thinking a 20 as huge
:lol:

[mjknapp]

yeah right, I remember my first tank 10 gallon, then upgraded to a 55 and thought it was huge, lol