10 Things About Yourself

[Tank]

Keeping a goldfish for 12 years is very, very impressive!

[Brayton.l]

Keeping a goldfish for 12 years is very, very impressive!

I know, right?
As much as I would like to take credit, alas, I cannot.
My daughter and I adopted him from her step sisters when no one in their home could be bothered to care for him anymore.
He is a very cool fish though. Tough as nails.

[MariaEvri]

I had no idea goldfish lived for that long!

[Brayton.l]

I had no idea goldfish lived for that long!

Me either. and he is huge.
About 8" long.
They originally got him at one of those game booths at a fair.
I'll post a pic later.

[Claireliontamer]

I had no idea goldfish lived for that long!

Me either. and he is huge.
About 8" long.
They originally got him at one of those game booths at a fair.
I'll post a pic later.

I remember as a kid I won two goldfish at a fair by throwing a ping pong ball into a jar, my Grandpa (who I lived with) grumbled as we didn't have a fish tank so he moaned about buying one as he thought the damned fish wouldn't live very long but I'd already named them 'Sharky' and 'George' so I had to keep them.  George lasted about two days before floating upside down but Sharky lived till he outgrew the tank and my Grandpa being the true Yorkshire man refused to buy a bigger one so threw him in the pond outside not expecting him to live.  Sharky was still alive when my grandparents died and the farmhouse was sold over 15 years later. He could be still going strong for all I know!

[Pasta Chick]

Most fish live much, much longer than people assume.  The problem is they're considered disposable, so there is no standard of care and absolutely no attempt to educate.  "Easy to keep" fish are the ones that will survive a year or so in almost any conditions, regardless of care.  "Difficult" fish aren't so much difficult as they have a specific need(s) that must be met for them to survive (my glass catfish MUST be kept in groups of 4+ in strong current with caves).

For example, I unknowingly starved my first 3 "easy" plecos to death.  The store sold them to me as appropriate for a 10gal community tank, and said they'd live quite fine eating the algae that grew naturally in the tank.  After a few months, when they would start swimming upside down, attempting to eat the tetras flake food, I would go back to the store inquiring about the odd behavior.  I even said they just seemed hungry.  The store employees would insist they had swim bladder disease and send me on my way, instead of, you know, showing me pleco food.  A couple months later, the pleco would die. 

Three times before I found someone who told me I had to feed them pellets on top of what grew naturally in my tank, and that - oh yeah - they grow to be over a foot long and need a bare minimum of 50gal with real wood in the tank. 

It's infuriating.  /rant.

In any case, I'm glad to hear yours is doing so well.  Old fish stories make me happy.

[Brayton.l]

I had no idea goldfish lived for that long!

Me either. and he is huge.
About 8" long.
They originally got him at one of those game booths at a fair.
I'll post a pic later.

I remember as a kid I won two goldfish at a fair by throwing a ping pong ball into a jar, my Grandpa (who I lived with) grumbled as we didn't have a fish tank so he moaned about buying one as he thought the damned fish wouldn't live very long but I'd already named them 'Sharky' and 'George' so I had to keep them.  George lasted about two days before floating upside down but Sharky lived till he outgrew the tank and my Grandpa being the true Yorkshire man refused to buy a bigger one so threw him in the pond outside not expecting him to live.  Sharky was still alive when my grandparents died and the farmhouse was sold over 15 years later. He could be still going strong for all I know!

That's seriously cool!

[Skeptik]

1.  I didn't go to college until I was 28 years old.  (better late than never I guess)
2.  I was raised Pentecostal, and it took way too long to start thinking for myself.  (again, better late than never)
3.  I've lived in Alabama, where I was born, Mississippi and Arkansas, where I currently reside.
4.  I am an NRA member and a strong 2nd Amendment supporter.  (However, I don't want to debate the topic here.  I'm a member of another forum for that.  lol)
5.  My hobbies are shooting sports, hunting, fishing and just about anything else you can do outdoors.
6.  I would be a lot healthier if I lost 30-40 pounds.
7.  I've been married for 10 years and am more in love now than I was 10 years ago.
8.  I have a 9 year old daughter who is likely going to put me in an early grave.
9.  I have not come out of the closet regarding my unbelief.  Very few people have the slightest idea about it.
10.  I HATE religion.

[ReadAndConsider]

1) I'm roughly 30 and I've never touched another person under their clothing or taken their clothes off.
2) Almost all of my relationships have been long-term (several months or more) and long-distance.
3) Two women have considered marrying me.
4) I've written highly popular fiction - including erotic fiction that left commenters convinced that I had a lot of sexual experience. (Though I have next to none.)
5) I have multiple undergraduate degrees - all of which were earned within a four year period.
6) As an undergraduate, I presented my research along with graduate students, and was invited to take part in graduate classes.
7) I've done amateur translation work (Japanese).
I have written diceless roleplaying game system guides.
9) I once hosted a political talk radio show.
10) I've always been underweight because of my high metabolism and lean diet. (I'm not anorexic.)

[Bluenose]

4) I've written highly popular fiction - including erotic fiction that left commenters convinced that I had a lot of sexual experience. (Though I have next to none.)

Funny how other people can view your level of experience.  When I was in the Royal Australian Navy, we called into Freemantle for a week or so on one deployment.  I looked up an old friend who had been living in Perth for a number of years with her parents and brothers.  I took a few days leave and stayed at her parents' house.  On the last evening before I had to return to the ship my friend and I decided to go and listen to some live jazz - there were a few venues in that night and we started at a piano bar.  We didn't really like the music there, so we decided to go to the next venue on our list.  As we were walking out of the bar a number of my fellow officers from my squadron entered and saw me with the tall, statuesque and strikingly good looking red-headed young lady that my friend had grown up into.  I said hello, this is Max, the friend I've been staying with and we left.  The next morning back on the ship I was on the receiving end of all sorts of comments and the more I told the truth - that nothing had "happened" and that our friendship went back to childhood and we more like brother and sister than anything else - the more they all assumed I was lying.  It did my reputation no end of good!