Far from the home I remember

Video

So I wanted to upload the video directly to here and link off of it from here but the video is to big so I hosted it on youtube and ran it as a link only video.

I grew up in that house, I grew up riding my big wheel down the sidewalk, I grew up learning to shoot a bb gun in that back yard, I grew up catching toads that seemed to be plentiful back in the day, I grew up picking out enough earthworms out of the front yard when my grandpa re-sodded it to supply my entire grade school for dissection, I may not have spent my entire childhood here but I spent every single weekend for 10+ years and the first few years of my life growing up here, learning here.

Granted it is in a shitty part of town that hasn't gotten any better in recent years but now it is shambles, beyond repair, burned out, broken into, over grown and just trashed. I have been lucky or unlucky depending on your view of having a job that allows me to be outside and travel around the area so I have watched this place go from lived in and run down to vacant but okay to now just abandoned and forgotten except by me.

I remember the meticulous manor in which the yard was maintained, the trees and hedges were painstakingly manicured, all the things still vivid in my mind but drowned out by this disgrace that I am forced to look at.

It came up for tax auction a few years ago and continues to be on the list, if we ever get overtime back I will buy the place and demolish it just so it isn't an eyesore that I have so many fond memories of. A vacant lot is better than what it is now, I can throw wild flower seeds out there every spring or something...accumulated trash blowing in the wind caught in the weeds would be better than this.

Sometimes the past is better to remain in the past.

Busy season

I started the blog just to see what it was going to be like, then things got busy...kids softball, eggs in the incubator, then hatchlings started. Could never seem to get ahead far enough to collect my thoughts beyond the normal ramblings that I put so many of you though.

The auction to benefit USARK is up and coming along

http://www.reptileradio.com/

Had some interesting clutches so far this year, some bad to but it goes with the territory...

First ever twins for me happened this season, 9 egg clutch of het genetic stripes gave me 10 beautiful babies...

The leopard gene is turning out to be a really outstanding gene, strong to...4 egg clutch, 1 egg died a few weeks into incubation and one baby died shortly after pipping but the other 2 are outstanding...

I will try to keep this updated with something, even if it is stupid youtube videos people send me or funny stories of any thing...

2nd Clutch

Got my second ball python clutch from a spider morph sire to a normal dam, 7 BIG beautiful eggs. The season is rolling right along, a little earlier than I expected but not to bad so far. I am a little disappointed in the quantity of the eggs, this girl come from big stock in her linage that lays big clutches...she laid 7 eggs last year at 18 months but those were about half the size of these so it isn't all bad. Just wanted to see some more out of her, I kept all her daughters from last season and will do the same again this year. Slowly growing my collection with females that I feel are the best of the best, hopefully I will see some results of this linage next season when her daughters are ready to go and maybe even get a better count from her also...
Jeff

Brinka Cross Gardens

We took a nice family outing today to a place less than 5 minutes away that none of us knew of, a little hidden gem botanic garden that has a nice array of spring plants and trees to look at. Guess from what I read online they have tons of other plants that I will have to go back to make images of later this spring and all of summer, not to mention heading out in the fall to see how the trees here look.

Smug Mug Photo Album of the gardens

Went to a 4 hour talent show for the exchange club this evening and I have to say even with no ear for music I think shows like American Idol have caused more people to think they have talent for singing that they don't have...some excellent other talent, instruments, magic, dancing, readings but the singing was not so hot.

It was a good time, alot of talented kids out there coming up in the world and gives me a good hope about the future. Support the local clubs like this if you get the chance, it might surprise you and really a nice night out.
Jeff

Fairy Tales

I have often wondered what exactly would have sparked a writers mind to write so many scary things about the woods and creatures within, today I think I found what would have inspired me...
Jeff

Branding and Reptiles

Here is my true take on the subject...

When you have a business or just sell animals from time to time you have to have a 'brand' which to most is our name, but what people don't realize is that when you refer to yourself as a company for branding purposes to your peers you don't get the effect that you want, the desired effect is the look what we created but not look what WE at blahblah.com can do mere mortals, bow to us and WE at blahblah.com can show you how...okay maybe not that extreme but you get the idea....

To me this is ultimately why alot of folks use their names in their business, once you have established yourself you can link it with the business side....people go entirely way over the top in my eyes.

Business side of things, unless you are doing this as a business turning a profit and paying your bills with this then don't think you need to act like a business, what you need to act like is a fellow herper with the same intentions and treat them the same way that you want to be treated. Don't change who you are and become some overly formal machine and don't count your chickens before they hatch....

On the otherside of the coin if you are doing this as a business ON THE INTERNET then treat it like one, don't have a webpage with ads if you don't check your email but 2 times a week...that drives me freaking nuts, you advertise on the web, want the benefits of the web but treat the common form of communication as an inconvenience that you can't be bothered with.

All in all I want to see people act like people, this is a live animal business no matter what fashion we are involved....I shop the animal first and the person second, both have to be right for me to pull the trigger...this goes both ways and I am sure I have lost a sale here or there due to my overly opinionated stance on things but I would rather be able to speak open and honest to people and treat them as people not buyers.
Jeff