Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

[patrick richard]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Dave, I appreciate the kind words. You all were very helpful, and you made sure that Ashay and myself had a great time. Thanks to everyone that came, and hope to see a big turnout this summer at Marks house. Dave your fish were amazing. let us know how the cobalt spawn went.

Good luck with all the pairs.

See you again soon buddy.

Patrick

[dpt8]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Before this thread is put away I would once again like to thank EVERYONE !! Was a treat and honor to host this meeting. I got a chance to show my fish to people who really know and understand discus. Also show Al how much I love discus !! hehe

Patrick, you are one heck of a class act as Mark had said. You took every bit of hardship as one heck of a mature person who can really deal with adversity. I wish you better luck in the future with your truck. I didn't mention the troubles with your truck earlier because I knew Ashay is the better story teller, plus he had the show and tell pics !! :9) I hope everybody plus more people attend the next meeting.. Its hasn't been a week yet since that meeting and I miss the interaction already. Kenny, maybe you COULD come out here this Summer for Mark's huge get together.. Al, I can't wait until the Springtime meeting.. Thanks to all, David T

[Kenny's Discus]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

I really enjoyed reading all of the participants' reports evening though I wasn't there...definitely seems like everyone had a great time together! I love AL's presentation part it must have been fun to hear the discus master lecture. I look forward to seeing the next one!

Kenny

[brewmaster15]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Tentatively , The next meeting will be back in CT at my house (New haven/hartford area) in the spring...then to a large summer get together at Marks in CT (on the RI state line area) and then down to Steve Colleys House (westport area...close drive from NewYork).. Details to follow.

Glad we had this get together at Davids, he's one classic discus Nut...Tanks fit into every nook and cranny in that apartment... I tried to convince him to lose some additional furniture and maybe add a few tanks in the middle of the living room...but I think he's maxed out there

Thanks again David, and also Celeste for the hospitality...You were both first rate hosts!

Take care,
al

[patrick richard]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

I would like to say thank you to David first, for a wonderful and adventurist trip up to Mass. Al deserves a big thank you for his very informative presentation on discus medications. I am very lucky to live so close to Al. I know I can get some great advice from him in a pinch.

Well, as you al heard Ashay and myself had a few problems on the way up to the meeting. After driving all the way up to Mass, we got to about 10 miles from where the meeting was being held. this is when my truck started to heat up, and within seconds we were stuck on the side of the road. At first glance it looked like I blew a coolant hose, but that was not the case. My water pump was dead, and so was the truck. All I can say is thank god for some great new friends. these great people helped Ashay and myself have a great weekend, dispite all the bad luck We were having.

David, thank yo for inviting us to your home. You have some beautiful fish. keep up the good work. also tell Celest "THANK YOU" for the desserts.It was great to meet some new faces(Jeff, Mike,Fred, and Martha). Mark, great seeing you again as always. Till the next get together.

Well, I think you heard enough on this subject. I hope At our next get together, we have alot more new faces. happy discus keeping everyone.

Patrick

[GrillMaster]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

I would like to thank Dave for invitin us lot over to his place! Had a great time! Dave you have an awsome collection of Discus my friend! Celeste is a great baker as well...

My hats off to Patrick and Ashay for making the best of a bad situation. You would have never known that they were stuck in Mass. overnight due to unforseen vehicle problems. Then again Ashay always has a grin on his face.

It was great meetin Mike, Fred and Martha. I hope to see alot more of ya this year with the up coming meetings as well.

Al, Patrick and Ashay...Sorry about the stomach bug! Hope you guys dodge that bullet!! Wasn't much fun.

Looking forward to spring everyone!! Cya soon...

[Ed13]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Cool Ashay! I enjoyed your detailed report as if I was there!

[Carolina discus]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

All,
Looks like a great meeting!!! Dave, the pic of the exit brought back memories as I used to take that for college at SMU..now UMASS Dartmouth!!!!!!

Plese post more pics when they come available......

Regards,

eric

[subcooler]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Ashay,
Thanks for the detailed report on the meeting-Sounds the you enjoyed even the inconvenient parts of your day!
Good Friends/Good Fun/Discus-Does it get any better than this?

Sorry I missed the meeting-See you in the spring!
Peace,
Rob

[ashaysathe]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

More.. Ride of a lifetime ..

[ashaysathe]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Oh Boy. what an amazing time. I have to give a complete account of the entire sequence of events to get the entire appreciation, feel, humor, luck whatever you choose to call it. But eventualy being a strong bond of friendship.

Patrick Richard and I started from his house in Hamden, CT in his huge Dodge RAM 1500 V8 pickup truck. I was all charged up for my first ride in an automobile of that kind. We started on the road talking discus, talking about our experiences, Patrick giving an account of his latest on-going fish room building project .. in short having a great time.
We went thru Providence and I-195 East bound GPS says ETA 12:52 pm for scheduled meeting time of 1 pm - on the money.

All of a sudden lull prevailed as Patrick noticed engine temp rising and the next moment heared a "roar" from the engine. We pulled over and Patrick looked under hood to see fluid all over the engine. He said the hose bursted and we cannot proceed. We called Al and Mark and said the car broke down and we cannot proceed. We will call back when we know more.

Now Patrick calls AAA. He gets a message for wait time of 12 mins. Finally got connected to the operator. She asks us where we are. Logical question. We say I-195 East bound in MA and can see exit 10 about 100 yards from us. She refused to accept this. She says give me the exact location. Oh come on lady (Remember Rambo - 46 deg North 56.5 deg South). She then says call 911, get the location from them and call us back. Yeah right..

So now I call, I get connected in 3 secs, talk to the operator and tell her exact same thing and she says "No problem, be safe in the car and we will send a tow truck in less than 30 mins" Nice..

Now we are in the truck, smiling, jocking, chatting around until we saw a car approching us at 90 miles an hr atleast, half in the pull over lane half in the rightmost lane. We were stunned.. about 100 feet from us the car pulled in the rightmost lane and zoomed passed us.. HELLLOOOO THERE IS A TRUCK HERE....

The tow truck comes over. There are already 2 people in the truck and so can take only one more. Patrick sat in the truck and for me began the adventure of the life time. The guy towed the truck with me inside the truck. COOOLLL.. Imagine.. I am in the RAM 1500 truck on top of a tow truck.. I was calling everybody wife, friends, taking pictures.. a true adventure.

We were towed practically next door to the restaurant we were suppose to meet into Midas. This was something we did not expect to hear in our wildest imagination... "Water pump is down, there is no way this will be done till Monday" WHAAAT..

Now began calls and negotiations with wife.. man it was tough. Dave picked us up and we went to the restaurant. This was 2 pm Saturday. Al began his very informative talk and something a hobbyist should take time to understand but disease and medication is not easy. Its not purely as simple as disease A - treat with so and so etc etc.
But for me I was rewinding and replaying "my joyride" All I knew was when I need to medicate I am gonna call Al. No more no less.

In the mean time, Patrick and I went back and forth negotiating with wife. I could tell. But Al even without asking said he can give us a ride back home tomorrow as he and Mark were staying here for the night. He also made a great suggestion that Patrick should come with us home as there was nothing he could do till the truck is fixed with no gaurantee it was going to be fixed first thing Monday.

After lunch and wrapping our session at the restaurant, around 4.30 pm we checked in the hotel and went to Dave's house. Excellent collected of fish especially the Red Turks. Camera's weren't allowed and more so posting pictures on the forum was "strictly prohibited" .. so no pictures guys.. only kidding..
Dave and Celleste had made all the the top class arrangement at home with coffee, coctails, snacks, cake and amazing brownie's. Those were good. We called it a day at 9.30 pm (from Dave's house). It was nice meeting Jeff, Mikel and Fred. See you for the next meeting.

Al, Mark, Martha, Patrick and I went to "Texas Steak House" for dinner. The grilled items hit the spot after a great adventurous day. We checked in the hotel at around 11:45 pm. This was not it.. were watching "Outlaw Josey Wales" the old time western Clint Eastwood classic remember "I don't want to hear Wales dead, I want to see Wales dead " finally shutting off 1.30- 1:45 AM.

Time well spent, Time will not be forgotten and shall be remembered for a long time in my books.. "That was a Discus meeting"

We had a little breakfast at started at around 9:30 AM. Al dropped Mark, then we went to Patrick's house to see his fish and his in progress fish room (its too good cant wait to be up and running) to be home by 1 PM. After strick "QT procedures" I am here remembering my most recent past and enjoying every bit of it.

Thanks to Dave to have hosted this meeting, Many Thanks to Patrick for taking all of this in the right spirit and keeping he humor up, Thanks Al for the ride back home, Thanks Mark for the stomach bug at farewell (only kidding here. I wish you and your family a speedy recovery), Thanks Martha for the gr8 discus talks we had and I will always carry a backup with extra clothes now and Thank God for giving such a hobby to have made friends like these.. totally NICE.

Al's presentation:



Patrick's investigation:



Ashay's "Joyride"

[mmorris]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

LOL Not really. I enjoyed meeting all of you and I look forward to the next one!

[mikel]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

Al "drives like Martha's grandmother"????? I would never have guessed that!!! Hahahah!!!

[mmorris]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

It was a wonderful time! Great company, great information, great food. The discus cake was to die for!!! I can say the same for Dave's fish!

Al drives like my grandmother.

Really, Ashay, bring a change of clothes next time!

[Ed13]

Re: Northeast Discus meeting for January 24th !!

I have to thank my girl friend Celeste also for making our discus cake, brownies and two kinds of party mix. She is the behind the scenes person that works so hard for me.. It was also great to have MikeL, Fred22 and mmorris attend our meeting.. I hope they become regular attendies.

There are more great plans for future meetings so I hope more people can attend.. Thanks to all.

Celeste does mean heavens

Glad to hear it was a success, now, where are our pics?!