Steer Swamp

Ice Out on Hawthorne Pond

Ice Out, Ducks in.

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I went down to check out the possiblities of catching some Bluegill or Goldfish from Hawthorne Pond which is off of West Shore Drive.
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Maybe they could be introduced to the Aquaponics operation this summer.

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We brought the kids down there when they were little and the pond was filled with overgrown Goldfish or Koi.

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It is alot more overgrown now.
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Tomorrow I'll hike through Steer Swamp at the Beacon Street entrance and see what Black Joe's Pond has to offer.  \\
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Between, Black Joe's, Hawthorne and Redd's Pond, the aquaponics fish component should be adequately stocked this summer.

Papal Poetry

No Matter how much we Hope,
If its Black Smoke that means Nope,
But you really shouldn't Mope,
None of the Cardinals is a Dope.
They will shortly scale this Slope.
And choose a Brand New Pope.

Vote for the Pope

Peeps.... so many of you keep asking me who I support for the next Pope.   It's a tough call since the Pontiff enjoys a status of infallibility, unlike that of the MOAM, who admittedly makes a mistake from time to time.
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As a young Catholic, I actually bought into that infallibility claim, until as a Freshman at UMASS with basically no money to buy food on the weekends, I took a course in European History and found that the Popes were rather political and given to stuff like fathering illegitimate children, murdering rivals, and a host of other rather worldly pursuits.
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And while I was taking this course, learning this historical perspective, the priests at the Newman Center were regaling me at Sunday Mass for donations, when I was basically waiting for Monday morning when the Dining Commons opened.
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Not a good combination for maintaining a kinship to the Catholic Church.  So I drifted away and rarely looked back.
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As God's representative of Earth, the Pope doesn't pull it off for me.  Plus the medieval rituals, funny hats, ostentatious surroundings, secrecy, etc. seems a bit out of step.
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I see where there are some CatholicsComeHome.org ads on the TV, so I checked out the website and found more of the same.   If I was not going to Church, they were willing to let be come back, and forgive me.  But what about me forgiving them????
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I believe in the divinity of  Christ and view myself as a Christian, although with a firm belief that this is only one path to God..... certainly not the only one and the one true way.
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But I would come back to the church on these conditions.

1.  Allow women to be Priests.  Does God really restrict leadership roles to men?

2.  Allow Priests to marry.  Enough of this stupid celibacy  which was only voted on because of church property inheritance  issues in medieval times.   Plus, it would attract people to the priesthood, who didn't need to prey on little boys and girls.

3.  End this Papal Infallibility Bullshit.  Il Papa is not infallible.   He's just the guy in charge of a huge international operation, and should be recognized as such.

4. Send Cardinal Bernard Law back to Massachusetts where he should stand trial for facilitating the abuse of  hundreds of Catholic children at the hands of perverted priests in his Archdiocese.

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That's all I need.   Then maybe I would drop a dollar in the collection basket every few Sundays or so.
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As for the new Pope.  I kind of like Cardinal Francis Arinze  of Nigeria.  
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I actually have no freaking idea who he is but the Irish bookies are taking odds on him, along with Cardinal O'Malley from Boston.   Really the only time you read about the Church in Boston these days is when they close a local parish church in complete disregard to the neighborhood communicants who have worshiped there.... so I don't know what O'Malley brings to the table.

But Seriously ....Who it is  doesn't affect me in the least, and I highly doubt that he will accept my conditions.  So I have no recommendations to the Papal Conclave at this time.

Growing the Middle Class

My old friend from UMASS, Jack Rabbitt, just gave me a great idea to help President Obama in his quest to build the Middle Class, and I've decided to lead the way in volunteering for the effort

Write a big check.... as much as you can.... made out to me.   I will selflessly redistribute this money to members of the lower classes, in an effort to elevate them to middle class status.   And all this for a small administrative charge on my part.

And please, don't shower me with praises for undertaking this effort.  It's just my patriotic duty, right Libs?

Affable for Affleck

Just watched "Argo", the Ben Affleck film that won the Academy Award.
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Nanepashemet doesn't give out awards for films... yet.... but if it did, Argo would definitely be in the running.
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I have the dubious distinction of being contemporaneously very aware of the events that took place in the film, and the Affleck effort was worthy of the Academy's distinction.

POTW Week 10 of 2013

I hate shoveling snow in March.  You know it will be gone in two days, but if the postman falls and breaks his leg within that time, you are screwed.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 10th Week of 2013

Brian Donovan
Brendan Ahern
Pat Piscatelli
Ethan Nestor
Elizabeth Hasselbeck
Lynda Murray

Freaking Snow.

Have to Catch Up, because of SketchUp.

Sorry for the lapse in Posts... Peeps.
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I kind of went on a binge trying to learn the SketchUp 3D CAD program.
( SketchUp Download www.sketchup.com  )

 My benchmark is that it takes about 40 hours to become proficient in a major program like Excel, Access or certainly a CAD program.  After that, you have to maintain practice, and you continue to learn.
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With Excel, which I am very comfortable with, after about twenty years or constant spreadsheet use, I still learn new stuff all of the time.  And I'm sure that I haven't scratched the surface.
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A couple of times, I have taken a stab at AutoCAD, because being able to design on the computer is a highly useful skill, but I always seemed to fall short since designing is not a central job function in my career path.  But the SketchUp program has really struck a chord.
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Except for building a boat, which requires strict attention to a set to tested plans, I usually design on the fly with my woodworking and home remodeling projects.  Tommy O' Shea's deck is an example.   But being able to lay out the design on paper, and making changes and modification before the work is actually implemented is a vastly better way to proceed.
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I like to plan out how the various project components will come together in my mind, and no CAD program has been intuitive enough to convince me to commit to paper first... until now, with this free SketchUp program.  That said, the learning curve is still substantial.

Blanket Chest/Toy Chest Design

This is a Blanket Chest or a Toy Chest along the lines of the one that I made for Grandson Will a few years ago.   Just tried to reproduce the design in Sketchup.   I have to make one for Ethan and will probably make a few more.

Aquaponics System Cost and Sales Price

Here is the materials takeoff for Vers. 2 of the Aquaponics design.  But don't get too excited.... this doesn't include Labor, Overhead and Profit.
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If I were to custom design and build this for you, it would go for the low discounted price of $9,899.00.

Aquaponics Version 2

After contemplating the initial design, I thought that the one plant tank was a little small. 

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This version uses the same one pump to send the fish water to a holding tank that sits atop the pump cabinet which waterfalls into two plant  tanks, each of which have a waterfall drain back into the fish tank which will be below grade.  The tanks will be trimed with 2x bench stock and slate stones as appropriate.

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Not a heck more work to double the planting space.  We are getting close to the final version

 

 

The SketchUp program that I designed this with is available free on-line and is really worth taking the time to download and learn.  My knowledge is rudimentary, but I plan to stick with it.

Aquaponics Design

This is the initial design that I produced with SketchUP.

The fish tank is on the left, and the fish poop and other effluent gravitates to the bottom of the tank where it is pumped to the plant tank. The plants, floating on styrofoam "rafts", absorb the organic fertilizer, and return clean, oxygenated water via a waterfall drain back to the fish tank.

The four foot deep fish tank will be three feet below grade with a foot above the ground. The two foot deep plant tank will sit on grade. Excavation will be the toughest part of the project and includes trenching to the house for the electrical conduits running to the water pump located at an enclosure at the end of the plant tank.

The tanks will be made of pressure treated plywood, reinforced with West System Epoxy and fiberglass fabric, and coated on the inside with a product called BrewCoat, which is designed to coat the inside of potable water tanks. The system will hold a combined 1,330 gallons and will be pumped with a 1000 gallon per hour water pump, that will be attached to a timer so that the water periodically circulates 24 hr/day.

The fish tank will be lined underground with polystyrene panels for insulation, and a grid floor with be set at the two foot level which will allow fish to go to the bottom of the tank to avoid cranes and raccoons, but will stop kids from sinking to the bottom of the tank if they fall in by accident (or on purpose).

Joanne wanted me to make some raised planting beds for vegetables, but we can have fish with our vegetables with this rig. I have the material budget at $1,100 and 11 man days will be required. And there is no particular credit to the man days even if a Mountain of a Man is doing the work.

The big contingency will be if I hit ledge when I dig the ditch for the fish tank.

If everything goes well, this system should be in place in the backyard by June, and we will stock it with Bluegill fingerlings and grow tomatoes and cukes. 
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I like the idea of the Bluegills because they are a hardy fish found in local ponds, and the kids may like to catch them for fun.  You could go with Koi or Goldfish if you wanted an ornamental fish tank, or you could stock with Tilapia or even Rainbow Trout if you wanted to raise the fish in the system specifically to harvest as food.
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Doug Maxfield, who used to have the second best Blog in cyberspace, northshorewaterman.com, before his last post some time ago, kept a largemouth bass, Bassford, in a tank in his living room for six years, so that is an option, although I would think that Bass could outgrow the aquaponics tank.