Just started an Ich (white spot) treatment cycle on my 20g long office tank aquarium using Aquari-Sol.  Instructions seem easy enough, increase temp to 85F and add 12 drops per 10 gallons until fish are cured. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I am blaming the ICK on the black neon tetras I picked up from the local PetSmart! I guess I will not be buying fish there anymore. Will stick with my local tried and true PetLand. To each their own as establishments differ from locale to locale.

Do you want a new cell phone, yet not quite ready to pull the trigger on the purchase? Well, if so, you can do what I did and just remove the protective case from your existing cell phone to provide the “New Phone Feeling” again.

I am currently in the position where my contract is about to expire so I can get a discount on a phone purchase with another 2 yr extension.  Initially I was leaning towards the Blackberry Bold until I realized the price for it is roughly $299!! Personally, I do not like to spend more than $150 on a phone. I almost made the jump and got a refurbished 8g 3G iPhone for $99, but didn’t want to fit the bill on a $30 monthly data plan. I’m just a frugal person and want to keep my expenses as low as possible.

So, right now, I am basically leaning towards getting the “new to AT&T” Blackberry Curve 8320 that includes wifi. This way, I can use my phone to hop on the information superhighway when I’m out and about if I’m near a hotspot like StarBucks or Burger King, etc.  Soon, it will be time to say goodbye to my first generation Samsung Blackjack. The journey has been interesting and I’m ready for new beginnings

Recently saw a John Roy comic stand up with my wife and we HAD A BLAST! He was great! I highly suggest anyone that has access to one of his venues to check him out!  He’s a hoot and has a lot of great material. I especially liked the stuff about being broke and living on ramen and his thoughts on video gamers!

A couple of days ago, I noticed one of the male kribensis (krib) in my 20g long office tank was attacking the 2 other males pretty regularly.  This got so bad that the other kribs basically hung out in the corner of the tank.

Realizing I would soon have a problem on my hands if I didn’t act fact, I purchased another piece of driftwood and a cave like structure to add more line of sight breaks to the tank.

Additionally, after the rescape, the 2 of the kribs mostly hung out in the caves while the third one swam aimlessly. In order to entice some of these guys in the open, as kribs are shy, I decided on adding 6 black neon tetras as dither fish.  I have never really kept any tetras in the past as I have a fondness for barbs, but so far, I have to admit they look rather nice in the tank. Their neon line is like a blue/black shimmer based on viewing angle.

I definitely need to try to find some type of floating plant to create a more subdued lighting effect to enhance the coloration of the tetras and kribs. Initially my goal to to make the 20g long a grow out tank but so far, I like having kribs, even though I have them in my main tank too.  Perhaps when the day comes that my local fish store gets in a shipment of bolivian rams, I may reconsider.  They currently have some german blue rams in stock, but I had bad luck with them in the past and their delicateness worries me as I only do a 15% water change every other week.

Below is a pic of the rescape with the black neon tetras:

I took a simple little quiz this morning and found out my GTD IQ is:

===

Perspective: 4

Control: 4

Quadrant: Captain And Commander / Autocrat

Interpreting Your Results

Your "perspective" score was 4 and your "control" score was 4. This means you have scored in the "Captain And Commander / Autocrat" quadrant.

Your answers indicate that you have a healthy balance of perspective and control. You are "on your game"!

On the positive side, you are Captain and Commander. Your focus gives you effectiveness and your implementation and follow-through give you efficiency. By managing to keep your world collected, processed, organized and reviewed, you maneuver with agility and flexibility

On the developmental side, you could be something of an Autocrat – simply because the power that comes from mastering the control/perspective game could make you vulnerable to a sense of complacency; you might think it will always be this way.  That may to some degree be true, but somehow your world will still manage to be a consistent source of surprise. And those tend to get bigger, as you take on more responsibility.

The challenge that you face is more about fine-tuning the practices that you already (at least to some degree) have in place. Your improvement opportunity is to pay attention to the more subtle aspects of your work and life. Once you pay attention to what has your attention, you’ll discover what really has your attention. As long as there is anything pulling or pushing on your consciousness “ no matter how subtle “ there will be an opportunity to practice and refine your facility with perspective and control. Are there things you should be doing to stretch "out of the box?" Are there things you ought to be learning, to keep yourself fresh and on your game?

Remember, it is not about what quadrant you are in – it’s about knowing how to move from where you are to where you want to be. GTD can help.

===

While this sounds all good and dandy, I still feel like I could be doing more. I have many areas for improvement that I would like to tackle in 2009.  My home workspace is still in disarray and I have some major projects and goals that I need to follow-up on. However, the good part is that I *KNOW* what I am not doing

On a side note, today is the launch of 2 new productivity books:

• Making it All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life by David Allen
• Power of Less, The: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life by Leo Babuata

Even better, Leo is offering FREE GIVEAWAYS to BOOK BUYERS, but act fast as the promotion ends Jan 1, 2009. Basically, buy “Power of Less” and get a free eBook!  As for me, I will be placing my order to both books tonight when I get home from work!  I already own the Zen To Done eBook, so I will be opting for the Zen Habits Handbook for Life.  Yeah!!

So, my recommendations:

1. Test your GTD IQ [via Lifehacker]
2. Order the Power of Less and Making it All Work

May you experience the peaceful places,

the tranquil moments, and quiet thoughts

that nourish the soul.

– Hallmark Christmas Card

I came into work this morning surprised to see a Christmas card on my desk from a coworker. The front picture of the card was a black and white image of a forest in the winter. The day looks peaceful, the snowing stopped and the trees look peacefully content covered in snow.

I must admit, this is one of the better cards I have seen and better yet, have received. This year has been a bit hectic with lots of changes in life.  There are times when I long for that peaceful place, only to be confronted by boiling waters of the heart.  There are times when I try to induce tranquil moments and quiet thoughts, only to be jarred awake by the not-so-peaceful images in my mind.

“All the best in the new year!” is hand written into the card. I look forward to the new year. It will be a time of new beginnings, a time to let go of the past, like water under the bridge. 

While driving into work this morning, I was listening to the Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk

Quarter-Life Crisis [wikipedia]:

term applied to the period of life immediately following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the early twenties to the early thirties. The term is named by analogy with mid-life crisis. It is now recognized by many therapists and professionals in the mental health field.

I must admit, I was surprised there was even such a term and even more surprised at some of the emotional aspects.  The following paragraph sums things up nicely:

These emotions and insecurities are not uncommon at this age, nor at any age in adult life. In the context of the quarter-life crisis, however, they occur shortly after a young person – usually an educated professional, in this context – enters the "real world".[1] After entering adult life and coming to terms with its responsibilities, some individuals find themselves experiencing career stagnation or extreme insecurity. The individual often realizes the real world is tougher, more competitive and less forgiving than they imagined. Furthermore, the qualifications they have spent so much time and money earning are not likely to prepare them for this disillusionment.

I must admit, that I recently hit the big three-O (aka 30 yrs old) and don’t really feel that much different nor do I have many doubts or regrets about my current stage. I used to have quite a bit of nostalgic memories of college and remembering how things were care-free then, but those are times of the past. What I can do today, however, is to try and reforge some of my old relationships that I have let slide.  This has mostly been achieved by becoming a bit more active on Facebook.

I never really used Facebook much in the past, but after noticing more and more of my family members sharing photos and thoughts via Facebook, I decided to take the plunge after seeing my wife become more active in trying to reconnect with her old classmates and friends.  I have to admit that it has been rather fun and I do see the allure in using Facebook.

It’s not what we have in our life, but who we have in our life that counts.

- J.M  Laurence via Sage Advice from David Allen

In no particular order:

1. “Condemnation” by Depeche Mode
2. “Letter of Fate” by Goldie
3. “Only You” by Portishead
4. “Mad World” by Michael Andrews
5. “Glasgow Love Theme” on Love Actually Soundtrack

Last week, I stopped by the local Best Buy to pick up Call of Duty: World at War (CoDWaW) for the PC.  The latest installment in the Call of Duty (CoD) franchise takes us back into the war-filled years of World War II (WWII).  Personally, I am a fan of the WWII timeframe, so I had to pick this up.

Don’t get me wrong, this is nothing inherently bad about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (CoDMW), I just relate better to the “good ol’ days of war”.  I think it has a lot to do with fond memories of playing Call of Duty 2, or Return to Castle Wolfenstein from my college years.

Anyhoo, one of the main draws of getting CoDWaW was the ability to do a multiplayer co-op campaign.  However, this was short lived as my wife and I tried to do a campaign through our Local Area Network (LAN), it was unbearable. Our framerates were like under 20 frames per second (fps) and mine dropped down to <10 fps, since I was hosting the game. Oh well.

The other big draw to the game was engaging in the RPG-like (role playing) element of character customization. Basically, you earn experience points (xp) from completing challenges or taking out enemy foes. Some of the in-game challenges involve things like plunging to your demise from a 30ft cliff, to taking out 2 foes with a single grenade, etc. As you earn xp, you level up and unlock additional weapons and perks, and other fun abilities.

However, after playing this weekend for maybe 4-5 hours, I hit the max level cap of 65!  This is very strange as in the previous CoDMW, it could takes weeks to hit the level cap. At first, I thought the increased leveling was due to playing on a highly populated free-for-all server, but then I noticed the xp reward for each kill was roughly 1,000 xp, very different from the normal 5-10 xp!  I guess some servers are setup for extremely fast power leveling.

While I was a bit put-off by this revelation, I continued to play on the server anyways until I hit max level. Oops… Anyhoo, I soon noticed being max level didn’t really detract much from the enjoyment of the game. Sure, with max level you can have more perks or nifty scopes added to your gun, a headshot from a level 1 newbie will still take you in one shot. Plus, you still need to unlock gun features via completing challenges, so there is still some form of progress on that front.

One of the most fun activities in the game is stabbing someone with your knife. I know, it sound very gruesome and violent, but the sound it makes and knowing you were able to sneak up behind someone to slice them down is just too much fun. I must admit, my wife has taken me out more than a couple of times through this method. She has much more patience than I do, as I just tend to mow people down with my gun.

Overall, it’s a fun game and both my wife and I are having a blast playing online. One of the hardest things about the game is finding that right server to play on, so be sure to add good servers to your favorites.