Living in the Scoot Utopia

I have an established 30-gallon freshwater tank at home... it's been up and running fine for 5 years now.

About 10 days ago I added 4 platies to the tank. The next day one died, but everyone else seemed fine.

Yesterday one of my older fish died, but everyone else seemed fine.

Then, last night, every single fish in my tank died! This includes the 3 remaining new fish plus the 2 remaining old fish.

There were no signs of anything wrong with any of them yesterday, and today they are all dead. The temperature is right, aeration and filtration are good.

All of the dead fish were covered in white fuzz this morning, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it or if that's just natural decomposition. There was nothing on any of the fish yesterday.

Anyone have any ideas what could kill so many fish so quickly without any symptoms beforehand?

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

See my previous post if you don't know what this is about. :)

After their camp was pretty much trashed by last night's storms, the Longest Walk walkers got a very delayed start this morning. But they finally reached the City Market around 11:10 and after several speeches and a welcome by the Mayor, they continued south through downtown KC before turning east towards Independence.

Tomorrow they will continue east along 40 Hwy through Independence, Blue Springs, and Grain Valley.

Here's a few pictures from today (click any to see larger):

(Click the "continue reading" link below for more photos...)

Continue reading "Pictures from The Longest Walk in Downtown KC" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Longest Walk 2 is a 30th-anniversary commemorative walk from San Francisco to Washington, DC to raise awareness of environmental and human rights issues of concern to Native Americans. There are two groups of walkers, one following a southern route and the other following a northern route. The northern route crosses through the Kansas City area this weekend.

Continued....

Continue reading "Kansas City Welcomes "The Longest Walk" This Weekend" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have information from two reliable sources that there is a hidden surprise embedded in KC's plan to raise the cost of parking meters to a dollar an hour.

After the paragraph in the ordinance authorizing the rate increase, there is another paragraph that makes a vague reference to extending enforcement. It goes into no detail, and this paragraph has been ignored by the media and not openly discussed by the city.

Continued...

Continue reading "City Hall to Downtown Small Businesses: "Time Expired"" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This post is a final reminder of the free wilderness hike I am leading this Saturday at Monkey Mountain Nature Preserve in Grain Valley. It begins at 10am and should last about 2 to 2-1/2 hours. It will cover a distance of about 5 miles.

(If you're not familiar with the area, Grain Valley is KC's easternmost suburb... just east of Blue Springs on I-70.)

The hike is free and while moderately challenging, isn't too difficult. This is a beautiful natural area and the weather on Saturday is expected to be nearly perfect. This week's rain does mean there will be some muddy spots, but it also means the intermittent waterfall in the park should be flowing nicely.

I'm expecting a small turnout on this hike as many people seem to be afraid of nature, so if you're interested please sign up!

All of the details and the sign-up form are found here: http://www.kctourwalk.com/walk4.html

Wondering where the park got its name? So does everyone! This area has gone by that name for over a hundred years and no one knows why. A few years ago the Examiner looked at the question:

Local historians in Grain Valley and Oak Grove chuckle when reciting the legend of a circus train wreck about 100 years ago that resulted in a band of monkeys taking refuge in the trees on the hill.

"That¹s the prevailing story I got from the older people I talked to years ago," said Ken Reeder of Grain Valley. "The prevailing story was the circus train, but after talking about it, people used to grin and say, 'That¹s where the kids used to go to monkey around.'"

...

Archivists are stumped. They can¹t produce any documentation of a train wreck, and they say if there was a train wreck in Grain Valley, it would have made the newspapers.

Full Article

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The flag above the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City is currently flying upside-down. Are they under attack? Sinking? Revolting?

If you want to see it look quickly, one of my co-workers just called over there to let them know.

UPDATE: They're fixing it now.

Posted by ScooterJ at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congratulations, Kansas City! By a very narrow margin you have chosen to put the rights of big business (casinos, sports complex, Cordish) over small-time family owned KC businesses by passing Proposition 3.

To commemorate this event I have prepared the following list of long-time small family owned businesses that I believe will be the first to fail or at least scale back operation because a bunch of goody-two-shoes felt that it was their business to stick their noses in other people's business. And as these businesses suffer, there goes KC's desperately-needed tax dollars!

Continue reading "Proposition 3 Death Watch" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

I am voting NO on Proposition 3 and I urge you to do the same. Read on to find out why...

Continue reading "Why I'm Voting No on Proposition 3 (and you should too)" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Continue reading "Longest Walk 2 is coming to Kansas City" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the past 2 years I have known that the Zoo Bar at 1220 McGee is the best dive bar in town, but for me personally it's now better than ever :) ...

Continue reading "Bully For Me!" »

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)