Discus Meeting in Maryland-Discus Hans and Dick Au double header weekend...Photos up.

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,

A few months ago , the Northeast Discus Group had a great meet and greet type meeting at my home in CT....

http://www.forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=63753

We had a lot of fun at that meeting, got to put some faces to names, and made some plans for the future.. Discus Hans drove up for the meeting and invited us down some time to tour his hatchery.

As they say Timing is everything...and we have a chance to really put together a nice informal Meeting down in the Baltimore, Maryland area.. After talking with Hans...We are looking at Sept 13-14 for the get together...all are welcome....
What makes this such a great opportunity is that not only will we be able to check out Discus Han's Hatchery, but we have gotten permission to attend a nearby Fish club meeting where Dick Au is speaking at (Sept 13Th 2:00PM)

What we were thinking of was getting together for the DicK Au Talk, Then touring Hans Hatchery..and either fitting in dinner before the tour or after. I'll be heading down and Staying overnight, so would also be around in the Am to shoot the breeze if anyone else does.

If theres enough interest we could try to secure a meeting room in a hotel..or at least pick a hotel that we could all stay at.

This is a bit short notice for planning purposes so please let me know in this thread asap if you can definetly attend so we can finalize the form this event will take.

This is a great opportunity for Simply's North and South Members to meet up if you can make it...It'd be great to talk with you face to face.

Thanks everyone,
al

[seanyuki]

Hi Al,

That's great news....met Dick Au at his house very long time ago in San Francisco
even offered me some of his collections...Great guy...read both of his books...Back to Nature and Trophy Discus ...good reading...highly recommended
Wish I could tour Han's DISCUS DREAM WAREHOUSE

Cheers
Francis:)

[ShinShin]

Sounds great, Al. Events and happenings like this is the only thing that I miss about not living in the Northeast anymore. There was always something happening in NYC/Long Island area, New Jersey, Philly, and Baltimore involving the aquarium hobby. Out here we have the Portland Aquarium Society's annual show, and Seattle has a nice program once a year. That leaves alot of weekends with nothing else happening.

Mat

[subcooler]

Al,
I'm definately planning on attending.
I'll confirm the date with the wife.
Keep me posted on hotel info.
Rob

[April]

sounds cool.if only i had my passport..id consider flying down there. not sure enough notice to get a passport togeather. id like to meet the famous al the brewmaster for one..lol.
and of course hans..and other simplymembers..and last but not least dick Au.

[Esquire]

April,
Is there anything not to like about Vancouver? I have only spent about a week there.

I have considered moving there to live out my days for many years after living in Many places....St Louis Mo, NYC, LA Calif, Paris France, Munich Germany Milan Italy.
Thanks for any insight.

[April]

Esquire..well no..best place on earth. lol. we are always in the top few for most liveable cities in the world. we have the mountains, trees, ocean, skiing, etc etc.i would say only thing i dont like is the rain in the winter. come on over ...to live. youd love it. all i know is most people who move here never leave.
tons of work..and tons of new houses etc being built..and the olympics are coming so economy is strong . people are spreading money around like no tomorrow. but..housing is more costly here . but..more jobs .
ok..back ot hans' party. if you or brew do it again..and more notice.and i have my passport..id fly there for it. thats the one other thing..seems to be more discus happenings on the east coast. : (

[Moon]

Great idea Al. Please let me know the nearest airport so that I can figure out flight costs.
Joe

[Discus-Hans]

Joe,

BWI in Baltimore if you have your flight info (if you come) I will take care you're picked up in style lol lol from the airport.

Okay those are the plans.

Between 11am and noon: Get together at our house for those who come from the North.

12:30pm we will drive together to: http://www.capitalcichlids.org/ see directions.

For people coming from the South we will meet there, around 2pm, no sense to drive up and down again to the talk.

The people from the club know we are coming with a "few", let us know please in advance if you come. We will make arrangements with Pat the President of the club to make sure we've enough drinks and food (all free). The club is famous for their super chicken wings at the meetings (again we've to get a +/- number to make sure there is enough of everything)

After Dick's talk +/- 4 - 4:30pm we drive back to Baltimore for a look at the fish house, we will make sure we've a "few" Discus in stock and for those who need some Discus, we will make some special deals.

From there if time allows every one is welcome at our house.

Questions or other idea's all WELCOME,

Joanne & Hans

[Discus-Hans]

sounds cool.if only i had my passport..id consider flying down there. not sure enough notice to get a passport together. id like to meet the famous al the brewmaster for one..lol.
and of course hans..and other simplymembers..and last but not least dick Au.

April how many years do I know you now?? Let me see, 10 - 12 years????? Maybe almost 15 ????

Every time when there is something going on, ACA, Meeting here or there, etc. you've NO time to get that freaking passport.

Now get that *&&^%$##*&$ thing so for the next thing going on you CAN BE THERE :angel::angel::angel:

Hans

[April]

ok boss. i will..but getting time off is almost impossible..the boss wont let me have a day off..lol. shes a mean one. theres fish..and dogs..and birds..and customers banging my door down. but dont feel bad..i didnt even get to my own family gathering. and when i go to the island to see my daughter and grandaughter..we take the ferry for over 3 hours each way with travel time..and we stay 2 hours and head home.
but im gonna..get it cause i wanna go to singsing for the aquarama or at least somewhere..at least yours or als get togeather. aca cant do..busiest time of year. mAybe one of these times i can be the surprise guest instead of you. lol. you always get to be the surprise guest. : )

[RichT]

Hans,

Sounds like a great day! I would like to attend. I'm thinking of taking Amtrack down there. Just wondering how far are you from the station.

Thanks,
Rich

[Discus-Hans]

Rich,

the station is down town Baltimore, about only a half an hour from my house.

Would be great if you join us,

Hans

[Finman57]

Hello all,

My name is Pat Kelly and I am the President of the Capital Cichlid Association located here in Maryland. It would be our honor to have you guys attend our meeting while you visit Hans.

This months meeting will have great refreshments, raffles, mini-auction and of course
Mr Au.

Hope to see a bunch of you there

Pat

[subcooler]

Hello all,

My name is Pat Kelly and I am the President of the Capital Cichlid Association located here in Maryland. It would our honor to have you guys attend our meeting while you visit Hans.

This months meeting will have great refreshments, raffles, mini-auction and of course
Mr Au.

Hope to see a bunch of you there

Pat

Pat,
Thanks for the hospitality.
We are all looking forward to the trip & hearing Mr.Au
See you in September...
Rob

[brewmaster15]

Hi Pat!

Welcome to SimplyDiscus!:) Thanks for inviting us all down for the talk and hospitality...I'm looking foreward to attending and meeting everyone there..:)

Thanks again!
-al

[Finman57]

Okay, looks like so far
RichT
Subcooler
Brewmaster15

We need 10-100 more people. Come on now. lol:thumbsup:

Just kidding. the more the merrier.
You never know how many club members will show up. In the last year I have had a low of 24 people and a high of 70 show for a meeting. I want to break that record so you guys come on down. lol

[Discus-Hans]

BUMP

I talked with a few who didn't even SEE the post lol

Hans

[April]

i stickied it for you hans so everyone will find it. come on guys..chance of a lifetime. more discus than you'll ever see in one spot..filtration systems etc..you can learn all hans' secrets. : )
and..you get to listen to and meet dick au. and..the famous brewmaster!!
so..get down there and report back with pics and details for all of us who couldnt go.

[patrick richard]

Pat and Hans

Thank you so much for inviting us to join you at your meeting and hatchery. This is so nice of you guys to spend some time with us and spread your wealth of knowledge. I will be coming in September.

Thanks,
Patrick Richard

[Discus-Hans]

No problem Patrick,

I think the hobby needs more of this kinds of meetings.

Not only for the Discus but also to meet the face behind the key board,

Hans

[2075turner]

Okay, I will try to make arrangements to attend. My house closing is that weekend so I will have to see what's going on and if I can get a babysitter for the boys. House will be there after the weekend I figure, LOL.

Evelyn:)

[seanyuki]

Hi Evelyn,

Get the books from Dick Au and ask him to sign it....I got both of his books:p

Cheers
Francis:p




Okay, I will try to make arrangements to attend. My house closing is that weekend so I will have to see what's going on and if I can get a babysitter for the boys. House will be there after the weekend I figure, LOL.

Evelyn:)

[Finman57]

Okay, looks like this is going to be a great time.

[GrillMaster]

Ok....The timing on this whole trip sucks!! I gotta move that weekend! As I am typing my wife is sayin why dont ya go down on the 13th and come back on the 15th....There is a problem with a 24' Uhaul I booked to empty out the house on the 13th.

Anyways, I hope to see everyone at the next meeting!

Have fun you guys!! :)

[ashaysathe]

Thanks Al; Hans and Patrick Kelly for arranging this gr8 meeting surely encouraging the hobby. I have PM'ed several people to arrange the logistics as I would like to come and so is my family.
As it turns out I will be missing the noon talk from Mr. David Au and the activities very generously hosted by Capital Cichlid @ Maryland. I know I will miss meeting a gr8 group of people but hope we can together probably if we manage to host something in CT and have you guys come over.
But.. I will be able to join our group @ Hans - can't wait.. Go Yippee !!! There is no question this visit will take the hobby to the next level.
As per the itenerary stated here; the plan is for the group to return to Hans facility by 4 pm right? So shall I..
I have the address from Hans and have Al Sabetta's and Patrick Richards' cell number. Just in case.
Hans - incase you folks get delayed in Maryland; would there be anybody @ the facility otherwise my kids and I will be playing cricket in your parking lot :)

[Discus-Hans]

Ashay,

the meeting/talk at the CCA will be till 4-4:30pm. the drive back from there to the fish house is aprox. 1 hour so it will be around 5pm that we will be at the fish house.
Joanne is coming to the talk too, so there will be nobody at the fish house before that time.

Do you've the address from the fish house, because that's were we will meet after the talk, not at my house,

Hans

[ashaysathe]

Thanks Hans. If anything otherwise, I will plan on being @ ur facility by 5 pm'ish. Yes I do have your address so will see you soon.

Cheers
Ashay

[Finman57]

We usually finish between 430 and 5. It will depend on the length of the talk and the amoumt of fish in the auction. I will try to make sure it runs at a decent speed.

[RichT]

Hans,

Looks like I'm gonna drive after all. I'll be driving from Long Island, could you please PM me with your address and I'll mapquest it. I'm going to take a mini-vac. and return on Sunday. Where's everybody staying ?

Thanks A Lot,
RichT

[patrick richard]

Hello,

I was planning on coming down to spend some time with everyone, and to see Hans hatchery. I just received some bad news from work. One of the guys that I work with is going on vacation, and I have to cover his shift:mad::mad::mad:. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. I wish everyone has alot of fun, and enjoy your weekend. Thank you for the invite and I will see you all at the next get together.

Thanks,
Patrick

[Discus-Hans]

Sorry to hear Patrick, next time better.

Rich, contact Al (The Boss) not sure what hotel he's staying,

Hans

[Organic Farmer]

As long as Subcooler doesnt mind being stuck in a car with me for 3 hours,it will be an honor to meet everyone.

[ashaysathe]

As a quick round.. how many are we ?
I will be @ Hans between 4.30 and 5. Its going to be a gr8 time looking at the hatchery and amazing fish .. Hans you said you got 1500 new last week .. man thats awesome.

[subcooler]

The question really is can Tom put up with my music selections for 3hr.'s down then again back home?
Just kidding I'll try to diversify and bring something other than Good Old Grateful Dead (like Jerry Garcia Band):D
-Just kidding if you wanna hear it , better bring it!
Hoping others in the area will decide to come along-sounds like we only got about 10 members going!
I'm sure we'll all have a great time in Baltimore.

Rob
As long as Subcooler doesnt mind being stuck in a car with me for 3 hours,it will be an honor to meet everyone.

[DiscusOnly]

Rob,

I may join the group at Hans' fish house afterward. I am going to be in York, PA that day and it's only a 35 minutes drive.

[brewmaster15]

I'll be there ....I'm really looking forward to seeing Han's hatchery and maybe pick up a tip or two on the set up for use here!:) Meeting Dick Au will also make for a memorable trip for me.

It'll be great to meet up with anyone from the forum there.Hopefully a few more can join us... Hard to travel these days for so many of us...but I think this ones a great chance for a little Discus'ing :D:D

-al

[subcooler]

Rob,

I may join the group at Hans' fish house afterward. I am going to be in York, PA that day and it's only a 35 minutes drive.

Hope to run into you there-you gotta make the trip if your gonna be that close!
It was very nice meeting you(and your family)last time in NJ-hope all is well with you guys.
Keep in touch,
Rob

[Finman57]

Well at least fuel prices are down from what they were a few months back.
I think we are running about $3.35 to 3.40 in my area so the trip will not be as bad as it could have been.

Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you at the meeting.
I will be the goofy looking guy in the front of the room trying to pronounce the latin names on some of the bags. (and not doing a very good job) LOL
Thats the part of the meeting I don't like. lol But someone has to try.

[subcooler]

[QUOTE=Finman57;470619][SIZE="4"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Well at least fuel prices are down from what they were a few months back.
I think we are running about $3.35 to 3.40 in my area so the trip will not be as bad as it could have been.

I'll fill up with gas here-$3.20 g. in south jersey.
Price had to drop(election is getting close)! I expect to see $2.99 in Nov.:D
Just so they can say see gas under $3 again-economy is good:confused:
Enough about politics-Let's talk fish!

See you on Sat.,
Rob

[ashaysathe]

Hey Hans,

Any recommendations for crab cakes?

[korbi_doc]

:(:( Sure hope y'all do it again later, Al, Hans, et al, I hate missing this one...

Dottie :waaa:

[MostlyDiscus]

Hi Al,


I have to coach a football game at noon on Sat. Game should be done around 2 though so I plan on meeting in Silver Spring at the meeting. I think some of my fellow members from PVAS are comming as well. I would like to take the trip to Hans fish house as well. Patrick, can non members sell fish in the auction? I have a few hundred fancy yellow tail guppies I will donate to the society. Thx Ed Most 703 932 1348 cell

[Finman57]

Non members can sell at the auction. It is a 1/3- 2/3 split on non donated items for non-members. With the minimum of $1.00
Course if you want to donate that would is also great.
I am not sure if a "few hundred" would bring much each at a meeting. Sort of flooding the market lol
Thats a lot of guppies.

A lot of us belong to PVAS also. Including me. lol
We have a lot of shared people. lol.

[MostlyDiscus]

*smiles* ok then on bringing 10 pair or so. Layhill Rd in SS then. That off Conneticut Ave? or Viers Mill Rd? Ed

[Finman57]

Its off Georgia. I come from North of Baltimore.
Here is the direction link.
http://capitalcichlids.org/directions.html

[brewmaster15]

I'll be heading down there latter today for the weekend....:)

-al

ps... Pat...dropped you a quick pm...:):)

[subcooler]

Hope everyone going to Baltimore has a safe trip-See you tommorow.
Rob

[Organic Farmer]

Got my spice girls cd Im ready to roll

[Finman57]

Got my spice girls cd Im ready to roll

Lol
:singer::smash::singer::smash::singer::smash::sing er::smash:

There were 4 of them right? lol

[brewmaster15]

Tom,

Got my spice girls cd Im ready to roll
LOl....:) I'll probably be listening to Alabama if my Daughter allows me too take a break from Hanna Montana.:(:confused:


see you there!

-al

[subcooler]

I like to think I'm open minded, but Spice Girls CD will never make it out of NJ!
We will though!
Catch you in the Morning Tom,
Rob

Hope everyone going to Baltimore has a safe trip-See you tommorow.
Rob

[Discus-Hans]

See you all tomorrow.

I had a HELL of a week.
My heating systems needed to be replaced.
I'm working on this for months with my landlord, finaly last Monday they started, would be done in 4 days.
Whole week I had 6-7 guys running in my fish houses, OVER my racks, tarps over the tanks, all Discus in stress, me in stress.
There were days that I said, here's the key, I don't want to (can't) see this and walked out.

They did a great job but.......didn't make the 4 days, or 5, they have to finish it next week.
Tonight is going to be a longggggg night to get every thing ready for tomorrow.

But it's all for the fun, everybody have a safe trip and those from up states, see you between 11 and noon tomorrow morning,

Hans

[GrillMaster]

Hey all...Have fun an someone take a butt load a pics! :)

Wish I coulda joined in on the festivities!! :(

[subcooler]

Looks like I'm the first to post after Balt. meeting:balloon:
We all met @ Han's house-had a nice chat until around 1pm & headed to meeting.
Very impressive fish club meeting-around 40-50 people in attendance.
Dick Au gave a informative talk with a great overview on discus(suitable for beginners) which all of us picked up info from,whether currently raising 1-25 tanks of discus.Dick encouraged questions after his talk ended.
After meeting, club held nice auction with various aquarium product & livestock available (cheap).
After fish club ,tour of Han's fish house was incredible. Very impressive discus & set up.
Han's is a great guy-he spent plenty of time going over rack&wet/dry filter construction etc...
Han's & Dick had informal talk @ fish house for hours-answering any & all questions.
Evening ended with food & Han's house.
It was great to see members from meeting in CT. again & meet new members also!
Thank you Dick Au for the autogragh in your book & all your time answering questions:balloon:
I'll end with a big THANK YOU to Han's & Joanne for opening thier home & fish house to us all.Your hospitality is greatly appreciated!
Pics of event to follow.

[Finman57]

LOL
Actually we had 84 people in that room.
Heck of a meeting.

Thanks for coming by.

[Discus-Hans]

Some pictures, taken by Frank outside the fish house with a part of the group.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-talkingatHans_006_resize.jpg

Dick telling stories, that man can talk lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-talkingatHans_001_resize.jpg

Frank and Dick

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-meeting_040_resize.jpg

Some criminals sneaked in with Dick.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-meeting_041_resize.jpg

Frank, Dick & me

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-meeting_043_resize.jpg

A very nice shot from Frank of one of the pairs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-Hansbreedingpairs_012_resi.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/chemjab/CCA%20Sept/Sept-CCA-Hansbreedingpairs_011_resi.jpg

That's it for now,

Hans

[dpt8]

Hans, Great pics. I see my fish in tank #35 and I'll take tank #42 also. Oh heck, I'll take em all. Wish I could have made the meeting. Glad you all had a good time !! David T

[Darren's Discus]

Looks like another great meeting ! thank's for the pics.


cheers

[April]

great pics. thanks for the update. as good as being there almost. : )

[subcooler]

Thank you & your club for extending the invite to all of us members @ Simply Discus.A great time was had by all both @ meeting & Han's fish house.
Hope to still see you around Simply!,
Rob

LOL
Actually we had 84 people in that room.
Heck of a meeting.

Thanks for coming by.

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Well the drive down for me was a bit long.... should have been 5 hours...with traffic was more like 8 hours with CT/NY traffic.:( Got in the hotel around 1:00 am with two very tired tots.... but the trip was well worth it...Kids got to play in the hotel pool all day...I got to talk fish and see fish.:D:D:D

I'll get some photos up latter today as well that I took... Had a great time... Met alot of great people and saw a massive amount of Discus in Han's fishroom...

So many to thank here for this weekend's fun... Big thanks to Hans and Joanne for their generous and warm Hospitality thru the day... They took us to the meeting , their fishhouse , and then back to their home for a great social time!:) Few people I know could have dealt with all they had going on that weekend as well as they did.....Can't thank you enough!!:):):):)

Special thanks to Capitalcichlids.org and their president...Pat Kelly. What a great group of people...Friendly and engaging in conversations.....I had a blast meeting everyone and talking fish... Thanks for the warm welcome to our SimplyDiscus entourage!:)

And to Dick Au, The speaker for the meeting... Thank you for the time you spent talking with us as a group...and Thanks for the one on one conversations we had.. It was a pleasure meeting you at last, and an occasion that I will remember for years to come....Thank you very much!

Simply guys...Rob, Tom, Rich... Great hanging around with you guys all day and I really enjoyed the car talk!:) Thanks again Rich for driving us all around baltimore Sat... Ashay, good to see you at the fishhouse too, wished you had been able to attend the rest of the meeting.. and same for you Ed ... But it glad I got to meet you briefly...we'll have to talk more soon.

I guess thats it for now...I'll get some photos up shortly.

Thanks again!

-al

[ashaysathe]

This was a gr8 meeting. Its truely impressive hard work put in by Hans to keep the place up and functioning.
Thanks Hans for allowing us to come and have a "sneak peak" and Al for putting this together - I guess the timing was critical.
We will soon meet @ my house end of Oct for the NE Discus meeting. Now I am scared.. first one was at Al, then we met @ Hans.. and now its my house and I have even less fish than the number of tanks we saw plus the quality of fish... I really have spice up my Indian cooking to make people not concentrate on fish :D:D

[brewmaster15]

Ashay,
I'm sure that the meeting at your home will go fine my friend, the offer to host it is very generous....the number of discus you have does not really matter..:) and should anyone need a Discus fix... My fishroom is not that far away..,..maybe 20 min... Same for Blackwater Aquaria's.

Should be a great get together ..then...date to be announced.

-al

[Finman57]

You guys are welcome.

The CCA was happy to have you all at our meeting.
Had a lot of Discus knowledge in that room with all of you being there, Hans, Dick and then Peter showing up.
Lots of excitement, fish talk, pictures, raffle and some food.

It was fun and I hope we can arrange something again at some point.

Pat

[Discus-n00b]

LOL i laughed at the Criminals sneaking in.

Looks like a great time that a lot of us missed!

[RichT]

Hi All,

Let me start off by extending a BIG THANK YOU to Joanne and Hans for opening up their beautiful home and extending a warm welcome to a total stranger namely me. I really do appreciate it. I had a fantastic time.

Al,
On the way back to the motels I,m sorry I didn't have a chance to formally say thanks. It was a pleasure to meet you. You turned left, I turned right and by that time of night the fog was rolling into my brain. All I was thinking about was the bed that was waiting.

Pat and the CCA,
Thanks for opening your doors to the members of Simply. It was a great time.
Having Dick as a guest speaker was fantastic. The best part for me was all the time he spent back at the Fish House talking Discus and again at Hans's
house. He sure has some great stories and wonderful insight into the hobby
and business.

Speaking of the fish house. I have never seen soooo....... many beautiful discus. Just eyeopening and jaw dropping. Don't think I'll ever see so many in one place like that again, at least not here in the U.S. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to see it. Thanks Hans.

Rob, Tom and Ashay,
It was great to meet and talk to you all. It's great to put faces to the names. We'll get together again.

Have a Great Day Everyone,
Rich

[brewmaster15]

No Problem Rich,
I was Beat too...it was a busy day...just glad my van made it back okay!

okay all,
heres some photos.......I leaned heavy towards the adult fish pics...as there was just way too many discus there to take pics of and some of the adults were really beefy creatures.....amazing size to them... The pair rack just had pair after pair and went up 3 levels...

If anyone is the area...see if you can set up a visit to hand pick some discus .. finding something you like won't be an issue if you do!!:)

some pics now...

[brewmaster15]

more..

[brewmaster15]

and more..

[brewmaster15]

and more...

[brewmaster15]

moreeeeee...

[brewmaster15]

moooorrrrrreeee....

[brewmaster15]

and morreee...

[brewmaster15]

okay...thats all for me here on the pics...hope you liked them...

-al

[Finman57]

I hope its okay to post a link on here.

A few more pictures of the meeting and Han's place.

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=2871&st=75

[brewmaster15]

Thanks for the link Pat!!:)
-al

[ashaysathe]

Excellent photos Al. They do justice to what we saw.
Imagine a grocery store with racks loaded with chips and bread.. same here.. except discus.. oh man.. 3 racks high .. from ground to just a feet below the ceiling.
If for any reason Hans you need rainwater - pure from sky above.. it possible with minimum overheads.
Sorry I couldn't come to your home to enjoy the rest of the event, kids got really cranky and more after they realized their fingures are at stake .. :D:D
(For benefit of others Hans had a global announcement - no fingures in the filter system, fish like fingures .. :D:D)

[Discus-Hans]

haha ha ha ha the saying was:

My tanks are closed, keep them that way, no fingers in the filters, we cut fingers and put them trough the meat grinder. My Discus LOVE fingers,

Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Okay Joanne was busy that evening but still made a few pictures:


http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0015.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0018.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0019.jpg


Hans

[Discus-Hans]

Some other pics of that day.

We just left the house to go to the meeting, +/- 2 miles from the house an 88 year old man tried to make a U turn, didn't see my car and crashed full in the left front side of my car, pushed us over the curve just next a big steal pole.

Nobody was hurt, little shaky, Tom turned my cars engine off, put it in park and had to get me out of the car, I was more or less in a kind of shock, Joanne had (thank God) nothing. Rich, Al, Tom and Rob were driving behind us.

Saturday and Sunday I had no problem at all, Sunday evening a little back problem and Monday morning.............. couldn't walk anymore, my lower back was total "frozen".
Today the doctor, X-rays and he gave me some pills, I'm ready to play a soccer match again (hope I feel the same way tomorrow morning lol)

Car is on the edge of total loss, we will hear that in a few days. Joanne was 1/2 the day on the phone with insurance companies (glad I've a secretary lol)

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0006.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0007.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/meeting%20Corvette%20Joanne%20first%20pics/DSC_0009.jpg

Rich drove with Joanne back to the house and picked up one of our other cars, while I waited till they towed away my "baby"

Good thing was we were still in time for Dick's talk,

Hans

[dpt8]

Hans Sorry to see your car was in an accident. I know how much you love your baby vet.. It will get fixed like new and all are safe.. David T

[subcooler]

Han's,
Glad to hear your feeling better!
Lucky guy to have Joanne handling the Insurance co. jazz for you!
Just play soccer video game for now-till your sure your over accident impact.
Take it easy buddy,
Rob

[MostlyDiscus]

Al,

Great pics my friend, Thx for taking the time to share. Ed

[seanyuki]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for sharing the pics and glad that yourself and Joanne are safe after the accident.


Cheers
Francis:)

[Kenny's Discus]

Hans, sry to hear about the accident and I hope your little back problem gpes away in no time. I'll come carry your boxes of fish for you if needed!:) Great that you guys have a great time all of you look as handsome as ever in those pictures! Thanks for sharing I really enjoying looking at them!

Kenny

[korbi_doc]

Wow, Hans, hadn't heard 'bout the accident you had...sooo glad you & Joanne are ok...be sure to treat that back right so you heal properly, maybe some good physical therapy for awhile....it'll help!.......

Must've been a fun mtg, & thanks to all for the great pics....sure feel bad to have missed, hope to make it up later; who knows?, maybe I'll be traveling thru to NJ at some point, lol....still owe you & Joanne a dinner, lol.....

Dottie ;)

[Ryan]

It looks like everyone had a great time. Thanks for all the reports and pictures.

Al, why didn't you kidnap (or, fishnap, I guess) some of those white pigeon adults for us? Or that beautiful blue fish in your first picture? Some of those fish are amazing!

[brewmaster15]

Ryan,

Al, why didn't you kidnap (or, fishnap, I guess) some of those white pigeon adults for us? Or that beautiful blue fish in your first picture? Some of those fish are amazing! I tried....but Everytime I Looked over my shoulder to see if the coast was Clear...Either Hans or his assistant was watching me.... I also messed up..The "large" bags I brought were too small.....:):):):):)

-al

[GrillMaster]

Looks like fun was had by all...

Ouch on the vet Hans! :( Al told me ya just shrugged it off an kept on truckin. Like you had bigger fish to fry or something. ;) :D :D

Looks like you could replace the quarter panel, door and headlight. Yes? No? Or just buy another one? :D

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks everybody.

Mark, believe me that was only the outside.

Most important was that Joanne, the old man (as far as we could see) and I (at that moment) were okay

For me it was also important that I had friends with me who came from far to have a good day.

How hard I tried to get them on the road to go to the meeting, Joanne and I would come later, they didn't want to hear anything about it, they stayed with us till we were ready to go, that meant a lot to Joanne & me.

All together we were 10-15 minutes late for the meeting, I called Pat and he slowed everything down there, so all together we didn't miss Dick's talk.

As good as I felt yesterday evening, this morning was terrible again. I'm lucky to have my friend Dan who's taking care of the Discus (and the cats) at the moment.

For the Vet, we don't know anything yet, it's not only the outside, it was pushed on that +/- 6" inch high curve with a speed of 40-45 miles an hour, although I loved that thing, those things are replaceable. :cry::cry::cry::cry::waaa::waaa::waaa:

Only thing I want at the moment is as fast as possible get back to work, I've (as I showed the Simply People) some filter systems to change :p :p :p

Hans

[subcooler]

Most important was that Joanne, the old man (as far as we could see) and I (at that moment) were okay

For me it was also important that I had friends with me who came from far to have a good day.

How hard I tried to get them on the road to go to the meeting, Joanne and I would come later, they didn't want to hear anything about it, they stayed with us till we were ready to go, that meant a lot to Joanne & me.

All together we were 10-15 minutes late for the meeting, I called Pat and he slowed everything down there, so all together we didn't miss Dick's talk.

As good as I felt yesterday evening, this morning was terrible again. I'm lucky to have my friend Dan who's taking care of the Discus (and the cats) at the moment.


Only thing I want at the moment is as fast as possible get back to work, I've (as I showed the Simply People) some filter systems to change :p :p :p

Hans

Han's,
We had to stay on scene till everything got resolved-Joanne & you were doing alright, but the old gent. needed a keeper(enough said)!
We certainally were not going to just assume your transportation to meeting was going smooth-until we were all moving forward.
We all appreciate your efforts to ensure we had a great time in Balt. -I doubt anyone would have wanted to spend day with me if I had my Vette knocked out of intersection early in day:argue:
Dan is a great kid(and we all know good help is hard to find)-hang on to him!
Filter upgrade will get done & current one works fine-Take it easy for a little while!
Hoping your recovery is speedy & complete,
Rob

[Organic Farmer]

Hope your feeling better soon Hans,it was a pleasure meeting you as well as everyone else involved with the get together.Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make that day such a good time.With respect Tom

[brewmaster15]

Hans,
Sad as I am about your vet... When we saw the car turning into you and Joanne... I thought things were going to be far worse..:( I'm just glad everyone is okay... Hopefully the neck and back pain will go away soon...if not...be sure to get medical care for it and document everything....You took a pretty hard knock.

Take care, al

[GrillMaster]

I didn't realize it was that big of a hit. Fiberglass just seems to disintegrate pretty easy. I am glad both you an Joanne are ok! Take care of those aches an pains there bud! You aint gettin any younger! ;) :D :D

[Discus-Hans]

The Vette is totaled :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa:

We hoped we could save it but there is no sense in rebuilding it again after a total, off course you never get what you paid and invest in it, I feel $crewed.

Hans

[brewmaster15]

Thats a Royal Bummer Hans!:(:(:(

But more importantly...How are you feeling?

-al

[subcooler]

Sorry to hear about the loss of the Vette!

Hope you & Joanne are not in pain from the accident.

Rob