Re: [APD] Other hobbies ? -- or - I myth the old days

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Multiple hobbies is one thing; mixing them yet another.

I found that mixing aquaria and automobiles tended to make
for some rather wet upholstery and the need to repeatedly
refill the aquaria. The solution, of course, was bolt-on
lids, although this made feeding more difficult. And the
fatal flaw, for me, was that I could never find the ratchet
when I wanted it -- when I needed it out on the road, it
always seemed to be in the "junk" drawer in the kitchen,
which is the place from which the screwdriver always
escapes without hint of its departure nor any forwarding
address.

There is a ponder's version of aquaria-to-go, which
involves sealing the back seat compartment with acrylic
panels, fiberglass and epoxy resin. (The acrylic and resin
was not necessary in the old VW beetles, which would hold
water indefinitely with occasional refilling, but you had
to learn to not mind being wet from the waist down while
driving.) Nipping fish would be bad choices for the VWWW
(VolksWagonWaterWorld). This was written up in a quaint
article in Better Hoses and Gardens back in 1967. I forget
the author's name but I remember that Axel Rodney, who
subsidized the pond-conversion, was quite put out when
VolksWagon refused to give him credit for inventing the
car. An event that I credit with quelling this
adventuresome hobby in it's nascent period.

Perhaps the biggest problem with a coupe-de-pond is the
distraction of swooping hungry gulls while in stop-and-go
traffic.

There was an April Fool's day myth going around a few years
ago that George Booth, having gone "Germanic" and built a
VWWW of his own (he apparently liked the substrate heating
that the VW provided), was killed by it. So the story went,
there was a flaw in the electrical waterproofing of the
car's circuitry and when making a sudden stop, George
flooded the dashboard and became an unwilling path to
ground.  We were all surprised but terribly relieved to
soon learn that the electrocution part of the story was
concocted from whole cloth.

Have plants, have fun,
Scott H.
--- Terry Barber <terbarb at alltel_net> wrote:

> Raj,
> 
> Great observation.....people with active, curious minds
> like to stay busy!!
> 
> Terry
> 
> . The hobby puts that spark in us.. that's what
> > keeps the sanity!
> > 
> >          Its good to see that spirit in this group.

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