Quote:
Originally Posted by Twolunger
I'm eating the crap. I'm eating so much lettuce that my ears are getting longer, like a rabbit's. I have a couple corn matings I want to try and it is a slow process, hatching some, growing them out to breeding size, getting eggs, and raising the new hatches. 5 years isn't long enough. LOL.
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You could live for an eternity and it still wouldn't be long enough. When I retired I had so many incomplete projects it wasn't funny. I had what appeared to be several new genes hatching out even that last year. Finally isolated what appeared to be a subtle hypo like modifier found in the original Motley gene pool. And heck, the results I was getting combining multiple genes together that each produced a hypomelanistic effect was startling. And I was only starting to combine them with other genetic color traits. That was after doing this for 30 years and I still felt like I was only scratching the surface. But all that was lost when I wound up having to sell the animals at wholesale prices to someone who really wasn't interested in the projects or the associated records. So yeah, a LOT of very interesting animals surely suddenly wound up in retail pet shop chains. But the projects themselves were dispersed and therefore the potentials lost, maybe forever.
When you sit down and plot out a course of producing gene combinations totaling four or more, and come to the realization that it might take you a decade to produce results, and then realize you can take THAT several steps forward too, it sort of boggles your mind and pretty much intimidates your aspirations. You will NEVER reach the point of thinking "I have taken this as far as it can go, and I have done everything that CAN be done with this."
I had potentially new genes popping out every year. But heck, just the amount of time and effort it was taking to prove it out as being a new gene got to be overwhelming. I'm not sure how much longer I could have retained what was left of my sanity had I not retired when I did.
Anyway, back to the "healthy foods" thing, heck, I drive Connie nuts with my diet (or lack thereof). I eat basically meat and potatoes. Throw in some corn, and I'm good. I eat what I like, and I don't like vegetables. Yet, when I go for my yearly physical (which I neglected to do for a very long time) the blood test results come out green across the board. The first time I did that, I had to bring a copy of the test results home to Connie because she was incredulous. She can't understand how I can have such poor eating habits (compared to what she thinks is reasonable), and not be the walking dead. Heck, she STILL thinks my doctor isn't testing me correctly...
But except for the occasional aches and pains a body that is almost 68 years old has, I'm fine. For instance recently I had both of my wrists killing me. Could hardly move my thumb on my left hand, and the wrist on my right hand felt like someone was jabbing an ice pick in it. But heck, I was out with my battery powered hedge trimmer, which I use as a hand held brush mower, cutting through our bike path. I normally only do a battery's worth of work at a time, but this time I went to two batteries, which was between 4 and 5 hours. So yeah, I pushed myself too hard, and that was the penalty I had to pay. But it is certainly good exercise, if I don't injure myself in the process.
Right now the yellow flies are starting to show up around here, so working outside is likely going to be curtailed for a month or more as a result. Mosquitoes, you can ignore their bites most of the time. But yellow flies? Not a chance. They bite HARD and relentlessly. They are not like some other flies that just like to harass you, these guys are out for blood, and will take ALL of it if you will let them.