Groan......

[Drewby07]

ooh...I like bamboo! See, the stars are aligning!

 

[Rich Z]

ooh...I like bamboo! See, the stars are aligning!

Well then, good luck with that lottery ticket......... Seems like we could BOTH win. :cheers:

 

[psychoprimate84]

Bill has a HUGE book collection. It is nice to have...but...it certainly isn't anything we actually use much. It mostly just looks nice on the shelves. Most of the info we need is in just a few of the books. Or online. And someday (maybe not that far away), we are going to want to move out of the boonies and closer into town, into a smaller place. We probably won't have room for all of the books, animals, and other assorted stuff collected over the decades. So we have also been thinking about the future.

I remember my grandma not wanting to drive at night when she was in her late 60s, and am thinking about all of the driving we have to do to get ANYWHERE from here, lol! You live out in the boonies, too, Rich, and are about my age, so...I understand where you are coming from, for sure! I know you said earlier that you don't want to sell your property when / if you sell your business. But there might come a time when you don't want to have to drive a half hour to an hour just to go shopping, or I suppose, doctor's appointments, as you get older.

Wow, we sound like such old foggies!!

If you ever need help getting rid of some of those books/animals, let me know

 

[Rich Z]

Aw hell..... Breeding activity has started already. This is even earlier than last year...... Guess it's MY fault, though, for throwing some boys and girls together. What the heck was I thinking? oke:

 

[Drewby07]

you were thinking yo just couldn't WAIT to start producing some awesome babies!

 

[Rich Z]

Man, breeding activity is really kicking in early this year. Even earlier than last year. Got a bunch of females who have had their third breeding already.

This is definitely going to be a crazy year..........

Hope I don't run out of steam before I get to that younger new batch of breeders. Some pretty interesting possibilities there... But when the eggs begin to be dropped, it takes away from the time needed to actually throw more paids together. I just don't have the stamina to put in 18 hour days any longer. I've noticed that my legs get real tired lately. That's before the back pain even kicks in. Connie had surgery on one of her legs a couple of weeks ago because of all the standing she has to do around here. This business is going to kill us for certain. Whoever called old age "the golden years" must be cracked in the head.

 

[Caryl]

It's a shame we can't work things out so that our non-working years are when we're young, feel great and and can fully enjoy them. Who wants to retire when they feel too bad to do anything? Gah!

 

[Drewby07]

Rich - I'll be happy to fly down and lend a hand!!

 

[Shiari]

I swear that if it was at all feasible I'd fly across the country just to have a chance to learn from you and see your incredibly collection. Stupid school/work/pets/debt! *shakes her fist*

 

[Caryl]

I swear that if it was at all feasible I'd fly across the country just to have a chance to learn from you and see your incredibly collection. Stupid school/work/pets/debt! *shakes her fist*

I totally agree!

 

[Rich Z]

Thanks for the offers of help, gang, but unless you were planning on being here for the entire season, just a week or two here and there really wouldn't help much. By the time you got the hang of the way things need to be done here, you would be gone and we would have to start training someone else to step in. Actually help is the biggest headache of all. If we could find people who could really do the job without a lot of prodding, then maybe things wouldn't be so gruesome. For instance, when you ask someone to clean the cages as they go, wouldn't you think that would mean the inside of the lid as well? Of if you ask someone to check for web cages every day, should you have to ask them EVERY DAY to do that?

We've got two guys helping out now. One has been with us for seven years, and the other going on his second season. I wanted to get a third person in, but with all the interviews, we didn't get a comfortable feel about any of them. So we're going to try to run with just the two and hope neither one craps out during the busy season, as has happened the last several years.

Oh yeah, ever heard of "repetitive strain injury"? Don't believe that only applies to your wrists. I'm feeling that in my hips and ankles from simply walking back and forth to the sink hundreds of times each day for the last couple of decades. Now I know why old people walk the way they do. Things will HURT unless you walk certain ways....

 

[wade]

Rich, you're killing me. You have got to find something good to think about.

 

[Caryl]

If I could swing a way to get out of classes, I'd be thrilled to be there all season. Chin up, Rich. You've done so much amazing work for so many over the years. I doubt that you can appreciate what the efforts of those amazing folks who really kicked off captive breeding of corn snakes mean to those of us who are just discovering this challenging, annoying, wonderful, rewarding hobby/addiction/job/lifestyle/you-choose-the-noun. We appreciate you and your work more than I can say. I haven't yet had the privilege of meeting you and/or Connie (I hope to do so this year in Daytona) but I'm so grateful for all you've done.

Physical challenges, help that creates work rather than being helpful....Don't let the hard things keep you down.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

Rich, if it wasn't a 4 hour drive, I'd come and help you out. Not to mention I don't think my school schedule would agree with it.

 

[Rich Z]

Rich, you're killing me. You have got to find something good to think about.

Heck, that's an easy one to do........

I'm thinking of this -> RETIREMENT

Now that is REALLY good to think about.....

 

[ratsncorns]

I only live 10 minutes away from Rich, and I wish I could help out! I would be willing to volunteer if I could! But darn the new job that takes up all my time

 

[Susan]

You mean to say that with the current unemployment rate in Florida you can't find ONE person willing to steadily give you an honest day's work? Or is this state just chock full of people that would rather sit on their arse and collect unemployment? It's a crying shame! I meet people every day that are complaining because they can't find work. All used to work doing something related to construction, but cleaning snake tubs isn't any harder than putting up drywall. :shrugs:

 

[Rich Z]

You mean to say that with the current unemployment rate in Florida you can't find ONE person willing to steadily give you an honest day's work? Or is this state just chock full of people that would rather sit on their arse and collect unemployment? It's a crying shame! I meet people every day that are complaining because they can't find work. All used to work doing something related to construction, but cleaning snake tubs isn't any harder than putting up drywall. :shrugs:

You would think so, now wouldn't you?

But perhaps we are just being too picky. Like asking that the people actually DO the work. I've had people ask if they would actually have to TOUCH the snakes. :crazy01: And yes, you WILL get bitten once in a while. And yes, you DO have to kill those mice before feeding them to the snakes.

We had one guy come in for an interview so we let him do a hands on. First I did a few snakes so he could see what is needed to be done, then had him take over and try one. First thing he whined when he opened up the cage was "Please don't BITE me!!", with obvious terror in his voice. Outta there! We thanked him for stopping by...

Yeah, we had a lot of construction workers apply. None seemed to realize that whacking your thumb with a hammer is a WHOLE lot worse than getting bitten by a corn snake.

 

[Rich Z]

Breeding is moving right along this year. Around 75 percent of the introductions result in a successful mating. I'm doing things differently this year by making sure that each female that breeds gets three matings before I move on to the next batch for the first introductions. Hope I don't run out of time to hit them all. But I'm hoping this will increase the fertility rate per clutch, so I guess it may work out, regardless. I figure I've got close to 500 eligible females this year since I didn't move out some surplus adults as I had planned to. Let's see, 500 times an average of 16 babies, is uh.... :crazy01:

 

[Drewby07]

a million dollars??

I need to come down and help you move out some surplus adults ...:duck: