Snakes and Stones Pr. 2

[Homebody]

This is what 30 minutes of my sledge and chisel method (+sore arms) gets me on just one piece of Jade:

That is one tough mineral.

[Lord Sorril]

That is one tough mineral.

Sure is! The forged steel on my Wal-mart sledge hammer started to deform and chip off as I was trying to break the jade. Thankfully my large stone chisel (made in the USA) is much more durable...

Photo #525

BP = Pastel/Het Gravel or YB
The stone is nice piece of jasper from the Mid-West USA. The guy I bought this material off of years ago offered me several hundred lbs. of this rough rock for $1/lb. (shipped) and I turned him down---just because my garage was full...I kinda wish I had just paid the money and left the stones outside lol...

Breeders note: My Clutch #9 is in the process of hatching. I was really expecting half of them to be Enchi (based on the Albino mothers patterning), but what I see hatching out so far would indicate that she was not Enchi-she just had a very clean banded pattern reduction (doh-again!).

I'm also having a terrible time trying to ID my banana ball python morphs. I may have to alter my breeding schemes for the future so that there is less possibility for variation in offspring-my banana morphs are not valuable enough for me to bother genotyping them at this point. This season I'm just going to pick my favorite colors/patterns and hold them back...I will proof breed them at a later date.

[Homebody]

Sure is! The forged steel on my Wal-mart sledge hammer started to deform and chip off as I was trying to break the jade.

You gotta be careful with those chips. When I was a lad, my brother and I were splitting some gum tree logs with a wedge and sledgehammer. The hammer started to chip. One of those chips embedded itself in my chest. It stayed there for almost 40 years. Recently, I had to have an MRI done, so I had it removed.

[Bogertophis]

You gotta be careful with those chips. When I was a lad, my brother and I were splitting some gum tree logs with a wedge and sledgehammer. The hammer started to chip. One of those chips embedded itself in my chest. It stayed there for almost 40 years. Recently, I had to have an MRI done, so I had it removed.

That's awful & obviously could have been worse.

[Lord Sorril]

You gotta be careful with those chips. When I was a lad, my brother and I were splitting some gum tree logs with a wedge and sledgehammer. The hammer started to chip. One of those chips embedded itself in my chest. It stayed there for almost 40 years. Recently, I had to have an MRI done, so I had it removed.

Wow! 40 years! Did the metal splinter bother you?

You are right about safety though, a piece of the metal sledge broke off and struck my safety glasses. If I kept up my efforts to break the Jade then I was going to be taking more damage than the stone...

A while back I broke a big piece of Leland Blue slag glass (for Photo #132) and the piece exploded violently and the glass shards went through my leather gloves like tissue paper-it was a bloody mess. I thought I pulled all the glass out of my hands, but, I missed one and it is still in the joint of my finger. I have a circular scar nodule that formed around it-and it does not bother me, even when weightlifting.

[Lord Sorril]

And some good news: I spotted a newly hatched Enchi in my Clutch #9 (confirming the mother as an Albino Enchi). I was doubting my ID there for a while...

[Homebody]

Wow! 40 years! Did the metal splinter bother you?

Nah. I actually was sad that I had to have it removed. I'm what you might charitably call risk averse. So, I don't have many scars to boast about. It was my one boast.

[Bogertophis]

Nah. I actually was sad that I had to have it removed. I'm what you might charitably call risk averse. So, I don't have many scars to boast about. It was my one boast.

Don't care if anyone calls me "chicken" or "risk averse"- it's just way less trouble to avoid injury. I'm always wearing safety goggles when using tools, hey, even when frying food too.

[Lord Sorril]

Nah. I actually was sad that I had to have it removed. I'm what you might charitably call risk averse. So, I don't have many scars to boast about. It was my one boast.

I consider myself 'risk averse' as well and yet I still end up with a lot of scars.

Photo #526

Banana/Pastel/Het Hypo with a tumbled piece of Chalcocite from Morenci, AZ, USA.