Last Updated: 7/4/24

1. On 6/1/24, when I walked around to the big pond, water was fountaining up in the air from the auxiliary pump. I unplugged the pump and came back to it a few hours later. I had to get in and jam the tube back on. Because the tubing was spiral, a hose clamp wouldn't work so well so I didn't use one. 2. On 6/2/24, I did pond work. It was 74 degrees F outside at 11:01 am. The 1800 gallon pond was at 68 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 66 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials, put in additives, and added water to all the ponds. The purple flag iris are blooming.

3. The morning of 6/7/24, the auxiliary pump was fountaining again! It was a work day so I had to be late to get the hip waders and get in and reattach it. I put a hose clamp over it but the tubing is ribbed so it really doesn't do anything.

4. At 1:30 pm on 6/9/24, the air temperature was 77 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 74 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 71 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials and the bags of bioballs and lava rock in the main biofilter. There was a two-lined salamander in the bottom of the main filter basket. They are hard to catch! I lost the diaper pin that holds the filter floss on around the auxiliary pump. After I lost one a few years ago, I started always closing the sharp part when I set it on the rock because a lost diaper pin with the pin out could puncture the liner. I put fertilizer in two of the waterlily pots (not the one I just set up a few weeks ago). There are only a few lily leaves, and they no longer bloom due to lack of light.

5. On 6/16/24 at 11:11 am, the air temperature was already 76 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 72 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 68 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials, put in additives, and topped the ponds off with water.

6. I did pond work on Monday, 6/24/24, as I went on my first daycation in over two years on Sunday to Hershey Gardens, Hershey Story Museum, and Hershey Chocolate World. It was great except for it was about 95 degrees F! Hershey Gardens normally has a Japanese garden with a koi pond but the cement pond was empty for repairs. Their larger pond is chemically treated and devoid of life.

Anyway, the next day I did pond work. At 3:04 pm, the air temperature was 85 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 82 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 80 degrees F. So, in one week, the pond temperature went up 10 degrees F! It's been in the 90's basically every day. I hate the heat. I changed the PondMaster filters. I squirted off the Biosteps Matala. I changed the oyster shell in the biofilter. I squirted all the filter materials, put in additives, and added lots of water.

7. My life as I knew it ended on 6/27/24 at 4:30 am. I had gone to the bathroom and was walking across the tile floor. My left leg went limp, and I had no ability to put up my arms or hands and went down on the tile bashing in the left upper side of my head. I felt like I was going to die right then. From that point on, I had severe vertigo, confusion, brain fog, weakness, exhaustion, and so on. I managed to get to the phone and in an ambulance to the hospital, spending a day in the ER and a day admitted. They did a MRI, CT, CT with contrast, x-rays, etc. and all were normal. So, my symptoms match acute vestibular neuritis perfectly except I did not vomit (I also went 22 hours without any food or even sugar) nor have nystagmus (where your eyes swirl in your head). As such, I have no diagnosis or treatment as of 7/4/24. I was supposed to get in-home health care (social worker, nurse, PT, OT) but I was denied. My brother stepped up and moved into my house for a week to keep the animals alive but it was hard for him to adjust to doing even just the feeding chores/work that I do.

8. I noticed the big pond water level was super low on 6/29/24 and got my brother to add water but it would get worse (see July blog).

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