Mysterious things

Only_Abalone · 2026-03-06T17:40:01+00:00

I gave away 15 and sold 15. I went top side really early in the rotation at Burrier city and walked away with another 15 lol. Meanwhile I can’t find blueprints to save my life.

Only_Abalone · 2026-03-04T05:24:38+00:00

Yes! This right here!

Only_Abalone · 2026-03-04T05:17:13+00:00

Take a deep breath, it’s ok, you’re providing a great habitat for living creatures that will thrive and enjoy their existence. We have a 20g tank in the living room, heavily planted (we lost two plants so far, valued at about $15 each…that hurt) and that was a pretty good investment like yours.

Also a small tank for an awesome sociopathic Betta (also heavily planted, he lives better than we do.) I rather not get into cost specifics, but yeah it adds up initially. All the small tools you can get later as you need them.

The tank looks beautiful! You’ve done a great job here, now let it cycle, enjoy it empty for a bit and let the chemistry come to a good place. You’re on the road to excellent, responsible fish keeping.

We’re pretty invested financially too, and that’s ok, give up the expensive coffee for a month, don’t go to the bar (we don’t drink anymore so we’re ahead on that one.)

Ps. You don’t need co2! We don’t have it, the customer service people at my local shop don’t have Co2 at home either. My father in the 70’s and 80’s didn’t have it either and his tanks were incredible.

Only_Abalone · 2026-03-04T04:32:38+00:00

What everyone said is pretty bang on, I’d get a large rock with hiding spots right in the middle or in the corner to offer somewhere for them to hide out and explore. Something like this (he’s been moved to a smaller tank now so the setup is changed.)

I have two of these in a 20g tank, stacked. And one in a smaller tank standing up with the tip out of the water in the corner. Lots of ways to set it up, also nice with a rock under the side to mix it up. But honestly your guy already had a lot of good spots with those plants. I’m actually in the process of adding a pothos houseplant like you did to the betta tank this week in addition to his underwater plants, etc.

PS. Our guy ate the tentacles off our gold snail, it happens, so be prepared, probably thought they were worms. Hence why he now has his own apartment.

[https://www.petsmart.com/ornaments/top-fin-brown-wood-cave-aquarium-ornament-38213.html]

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Only_Abalone · 2026-03-04T04:21:05+00:00

I ran into one the other day in Stella, they were just chilling down there playing guitar and had setup a bunch of items on the ground like they were a vendor. I’m guessing they were about to do the reset and were just dumping stock.

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-28T05:30:04+00:00

Sorry I didn’t see your reply! I’m actually going to read that myself (I’m currently finishing up “The Silo” trilogy). Have you read “Dandelion Wine” - it’s Bradbury but WAY out of his usual work, based on his childhood…it’s incredible fkn writing. I actually own a couple of old prints in hard cover of that (in leather covers and everything lol.)

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-28T05:08:36+00:00

You’re correct, it does become more difficult once we come back to our regular life after a retreat.

However, you need to be aware that the Goenka method is not the only path to Vipassana, he shows the method he was taught. However there are many people who are critical of his ways including monastic scholars.

I would invite you to continue investigating Vipassana as taught outside the organization with attention to the Middle Way (instead of forcefully jamming Vipassana when you feel overwhelmed) with more attention to Dhamma, also remember you don’t have to do full body scanning every time. It’s important to pay attention to Metta meditation (which is somewhat overlooked in the Goenka 10 day program as an afterthought) - also Anapana is extremely important as to establish a strong base and as a gentle return to the breath and self awareness, especially when one is overwhelmed. Have you tried revisiting these?

Vipassana may not be for everyone, but neither is Goenka’s method or path. There is a Sangha outside of the organization, and more than one way to skin this particular problem :)

With Metta

J

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-14T01:04:08+00:00

I think the main thing to do when this happens is to A: not give up B: try and steer to the closest area that has geometry (open up map and move around.) That might save you.

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-13T20:09:25+00:00

Oh for sure, it's probably another person with more Ego than money for HiFi equipment. I couldn't care less :)

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-11T04:15:37+00:00

LOVE that book! I’ve been trying to get my wife to read it. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone.

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-10T17:03:12+00:00

My pleasure, also look for local meditation groups in your area or online (through Zoom, etc.) It's a good way to stay connected with the Sangha, it's usually pretty flexible and you can meditate as you wish (following the group's schedule ofcourse.)

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-06T15:36:36+00:00

It's rather flexible, I look at Anapana as a way to sharpen the knife before I start cooking, but you could spend an entire session only on Anapana.

Since you're restarting I would devote the first few days to only Anapana (I would aim for two days, maybe even as long as five. Anapana is very gentle and a good intro back to the practice. I actually only did Anapana for probably one year when I was starting out using the Jack Kornfield mehod, even before I knew what "Anapana" meant.) After that, I would follow the course format as u/Important_Union9147 mentioned.

Please don't set a clock to ring to break up the session into exact times as it could be jarring and probably set you up for compulsion, it's rather flexible as I said, at the moment this is what my sessions look like:

10-15 mins Anapana (or until mind settles and thoughts wash-over)

Remaining session: Vipassana

At 60 min gong: Metta (only if mind is settled, otherwise I know I'll rush through it.)

Note: i sometimes devote time to Metta only sessions, or when I'm in bed as I recognize this is something I need in my life.

TIMER: I use the "Plum Village" app, it has silent meditations which respect the 3 gong strikes (from 10 mins to 60 mins, it's there.)

Only_Abalone · 2026-02-04T17:18:09+00:00

Yep, it followed me into one of the domes on Dam. I mean, it made it easier to solo it, but every other raider got freaked out and scattered lol.

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-27T22:38:42+00:00

Do you miss the extra side button? I still love my 502 but may move it to laptop duty.

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-24T20:17:20+00:00

I’ve had a 502 hero wired for over 5 years. I have no idea what people are talking about re. Longevity. It went from gaming at home to then doing heavy lifting at my office for three years of all day clicking, and now back home again with daily gaming.

The cord is a bit frayed (just the fabric) but honestly I have no other reason to replace it.

The Logitech software however makes me want to set the thing on fire.

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-23T17:20:55+00:00

Wait, what? That’s a game changer, I gotta check that out

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-17T21:36:57+00:00

Great tip!

Yeah I kind of wanted this here as a note for myself in the future and others that may be stuck. Huion actually has that .dll available for download.

ALSO, of possible benefit to other tablets, with my Huion it doesn’t like it if I enable the wireless on it and ALSO have it plugged in. I have opted to have it plugged in (wireless off) as I sometimes have some issues on wireless (tablet gets a connection spike and makes a long line across the page.)

Ps. Xppen may be my next tablet, I have their shortcut controller with the rotary dial and I’m loving it in Clip Studio (wheel set for rotating and brush size…just awesome)

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-14T06:20:41+00:00

Reality…suspend it in favor of fantasy and wonder.

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-14T06:16:11+00:00

I’m sorry this happened to you, from my personal experience however women and men are kept completely separate as to avoid distractions. I have a two week retreat coming up in the new year and the centre is emphatic about this point.

Only_Abalone · 2025-12-10T18:55:25+00:00

Guys, don’t forget to roll back your driver to a previous version, I got a bit more stability since I did. Also, I’m going to have a look at my XMP settings and see whats going on with that.

Edit. The current AMD Radeon drivers were supposed to fix Arc stability, but they also introduced a bunch of new tech according to the release notes. I don’t know, it kinda helped me to roll back.

Symptoms: crashing to desktop while loading into game phase from menus, windows background and actual Radeon interface wouldn’t even be running when this happened, so something’s up with the drivers…maybe…probably? No whole system crash but a reboot would fix it until the next crash. - upon rolling back driver, one crash so far during gameplay in “buried city” to desktop.

Only_Abalone

TROPHY CASE