Major changes in the near future, happy and sad

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 06:47 PM

First of all, this is not a for sale thread!

However there will be an upcoming for sale thread I will post, most likely tomorrow and certainly by the weekend at the latest.

It has been a pretty interesting year for me. I haven't spoken but to a couple people in close to but I came to some real big conclusions and decisions which I'll now tell all of you about.

I've been a hairstylist for almost 40 years and I've accomplished a great deal, made many friends and earned a good living. It's been very good to me. However, I'm tired and I'm sore. Believe it or not my body has taken a beating and I've had numerous ailments and surgeries because of it, most notably my shoulders. Both have been completely reconstructed and I still work in pain daily from one of them. Additionally as I've gotten older so has my clientele and many that have been with me for 20 or more years have retired in recent times and moved out of California, transferred out of California and some sadly have passed. I lost two in one month this year from passing away unexpectedly. It's been like losing family members. Over the last couple years my business has been realistically declining. Since I haven't been as responsible as I should have as an independent contractor I've been a poor planner and retirement is not something I can look forward to anytime soon.

So, since the summer of 2017 I've been thinking and researching what the next challenge in my life would be and since the spring of this year I've been bringing this journey from idea to reality and now it is a reality! I've become a franchisee of a new concept in frozen yogurt and ice cream and I'm quite excited by it. It will allow me to slowly phase out of one career while my next career builds itself into the expectation of success I plan on it becoming. It's been quite a journey thus far.

Where does this all take me and what's this leading up to? Changes in what occupies my time. What occupies a great deal of my time? My tank. Will I get out? No way. Can I modify the hobby to make it not be such a user of time out of my life and make my life less stressful? Yes I can. What would I need to do? Eliminate the majority if not all of my sps and keep less time intrusive types of coral. This has been a really hard decision to even think about (you all know my addiction and love for Acros) let alone decide but through lots of thought and even prayer I've decided it what's best for me.

I'm very space limited and can't move my tank nor upgrade it and to really get what I want out of it I need to add equipment that I've bought but haven't set up because I don't have the room. With the addition of the new business to my life and still managing my current business the time I used to devote to it is 1) not there and/or 2) I'm just to tired and want to relax and not deal with it. With the decline in husbandry I can see the effect on the tank and its inhabitants. It isn't fair to me or the living animals. So I'm going to stay with my fish, my LPS and softies and maybe revisit SPS at a later time.

So I will be making a list of all my acros from frags to mini colonies to colonies and I will be selling them. Many of them will be sold in groups meaning if they're encrusted on the same rock then I'll sell the rock. I'd rather not break them off. Many of the acros are on Alternative Reef magnetic frag stations and I'll try to sell them the same way, untouched and unharmed. I have quite a bit of high end equipment, for instance I have a brand new newer edition Apex I've never even taken out of the box with a bnib kindle display. I have a complete calcium reactor setup with dual chambers, tank, carbondoser reg and brushless masterflex (the silent kind

). There's more but this isn't the thread for it and it'll all be explained and priced in the actual forthcoming for sale thread. This thread is about letting you, my friends, know of my upcoming journey and plans. Talk to you all soon!

pga7602 · 12/12/2018, 07:19 PM

Wow! Congratulations Rik.

Glad you are not quiting. Softies can be just as addicting and I've got what you need to feed it

DivingTheWorld · 12/12/2018, 07:28 PM

Sounds like an exciting change Rik. I foresee a huge reef tank in a yogurt shop!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pga7602

Wow! Congratulations Rik.

Glad you are not quiting. Softies can be just as addicting and I've got what you need to feed it

What do you have to feed it?

five.five-six · 12/12/2018, 07:35 PM

I'm really excited for you Rick

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DivingTheWorld

Sounds like an exciting change Rik. I foresee a huge reef tank in a yogurt shop!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope. No yogurt shop. This concept is not brick and mortar. They are robotic vending machines. Half dozen flavor choices and a half dozen topping choices. Very cool concept. No employees and the best part, no employees

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:38 PM

Thank you Mark. Hopefully I can work and yet retire at the same time and make more money in retirement then I would have if I'd put more money away.

five.five-six · 12/12/2018, 07:44 PM

You're going to have to learn the one thing that's hardest for me to do in business and that is delegate work. Have other people do the work while you do the thinking.

KWoo008 · 12/12/2018, 07:46 PM

Congrats on the new chapter, Rik!!

CRookSkee · 12/12/2018, 07:47 PM

Congrats on your new journey and looking forward to that fs thread

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

pga7602 · 12/12/2018, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgerblew

What do you have to feed it?

Rare and slow growing toads of course!

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by five.five-six

You're going to have to learn the one thing that's hardest for me to do in business and that is delegate work. Have other people do the work while you do the thinking.

only thing I need to do is service machines, approximately three hours per week per machine.

sberman · 12/12/2018, 07:51 PM

Good luck to you rik it's a tuff decision to make but one I'm sure you have thought long and hard on .

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pga7602

Rare and slow growing toads of course!

Ahh, I get it. That'll be cool and vertical growth!

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KWoo008

Congrats on the new chapter, Rik!!

Thanks Kelly

Quote:

Originally Posted by sberman

Good luck to you rik it's a tuff decision to make but one I'm sure you have thought long and hard on .

Scott, I know you know how hard the decision is and it was agonizing. I know you had to make it before as well. Now that I've publicized it I actually feel better...at least until they're gone

sberman · 12/12/2018, 07:57 PM

One thing u know u have enough friends to help you get things back ��

m0nkie · 12/12/2018, 08:07 PM

Congrats Rik! Looking forward to see your machines. Let us know where they are.

When you come back to SPS ill have pieces for you

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 08:28 PM

One will be going in Lockheed Martin up here in Palmdale. Still working on other locations. Possible locations are the Air Force Base, mall, college, hospital, locations with high foot traffic. The headquarters scout and secure locations. They'll be up here. Franchisees already signed for LA and OC. Thanks Tony

ChefZilla · 12/12/2018, 08:50 PM

Awesome news. You can add a vending machine to my house hehe jk

wishntoboutside · 12/12/2018, 10:27 PM

congrads and very happy for you Rik!

I will give you a call soon and would love to hear more.

moondoggy4 · 12/12/2018, 10:45 PM

Congrats Rik I am bummed that i never got to meet you, maybe sometime in the future.

dodgerblew · 12/12/2018, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moondoggy4

Congrats Rik I am bummed that i never got to meet you, maybe sometime in the future.

I'm not going anywhere just making changes to what I'm keeping

minus9 · 12/12/2018, 11:04 PM

Congrats on the new adventure! When I moved to socal over sixteen years ago, both my wife and I changed are careers and started from scratch. It was tough, but also exciting. I was without a tank for nearly 14 years, but managed to find my way back.
I think you'll be ok and it sounds like the community has your back, in case you want to jump back into sps in the future. I see a euphyllia and zoa garden in your future.

Best of luck and continued success!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

vanbro1 · 12/12/2018, 11:58 PM

Good luck Rik! Always nice to get excited over a new adventure.

vuqchu · 12/13/2018, 12:21 AM

Very exciting. Congrats on the new venture Rik. Hope it works out amazingly for you.

12/12/2018, 06:47 PM	#1
dodgerblew Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Palmdale, Ca Posts: 12,413	Major changes in the near future, happy and sad First of all, this is not a for sale thread! However there will be an upcoming for sale thread I will post, most likely tomorrow and certainly by the weekend at the latest. It has been a pretty interesting year for me. I haven't spoken but to a couple people in close to but I came to some real big conclusions and decisions which I'll now tell all of you about. I've been a hairstylist for almost 40 years and I've accomplished a great deal, made many friends and earned a good living. It's been very good to me. However, I'm tired and I'm sore. Believe it or not my body has taken a beating and I've had numerous ailments and surgeries because of it, most notably my shoulders. Both have been completely reconstructed and I still work in pain daily from one of them. Additionally as I've gotten older so has my clientele and many that have been with me for 20 or more years have retired in recent times and moved out of California, transferred out of California and some sadly have passed. I lost two in one month this year from passing away unexpectedly. It's been like losing family members. Over the last couple years my business has been realistically declining. Since I haven't been as responsible as I should have as an independent contractor I've been a poor planner and retirement is not something I can look forward to anytime soon. So, since the summer of 2017 I've been thinking and researching what the next challenge in my life would be and since the spring of this year I've been bringing this journey from idea to reality and now it is a reality! I've become a franchisee of a new concept in frozen yogurt and ice cream and I'm quite excited by it. It will allow me to slowly phase out of one career while my next career builds itself into the expectation of success I plan on it becoming. It's been quite a journey thus far. Where does this all take me and what's this leading up to? Changes in what occupies my time. What occupies a great deal of my time? My tank. Will I get out? No way. Can I modify the hobby to make it not be such a user of time out of my life and make my life less stressful? Yes I can. What would I need to do? Eliminate the majority if not all of my sps and keep less time intrusive types of coral. This has been a really hard decision to even think about (you all know my addiction and love for Acros) let alone decide but through lots of thought and even prayer I've decided it what's best for me. I'm very space limited and can't move my tank nor upgrade it and to really get what I want out of it I need to add equipment that I've bought but haven't set up because I don't have the room. With the addition of the new business to my life and still managing my current business the time I used to devote to it is 1) not there and/or 2) I'm just to tired and want to relax and not deal with it. With the decline in husbandry I can see the effect on the tank and its inhabitants. It isn't fair to me or the living animals. So I'm going to stay with my fish, my LPS and softies and maybe revisit SPS at a later time. So I will be making a list of all my acros from frags to mini colonies to colonies and I will be selling them. Many of them will be sold in groups meaning if they're encrusted on the same rock then I'll sell the rock. I'd rather not break them off. Many of the acros are on Alternative Reef magnetic frag stations and I'll try to sell them the same way, untouched and unharmed. I have quite a bit of high end equipment, for instance I have a brand new newer edition Apex I've never even taken out of the box with a bnib kindle display. I have a complete calcium reactor setup with dual chambers, tank, carbondoser reg and brushless masterflex (the silent kind ). There's more but this isn't the thread for it and it'll all be explained and priced in the actual forthcoming for sale thread. This thread is about letting you, my friends, know of my upcoming journey and plans. Talk to you all soon! __________________ Rik Obladi Oblada, life goes on Brah! Current Tank Info: Tankless in TX and watching from the sidelines

12/12/2018, 07:28 PM	#3
DivingTheWorld Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: San Ramon, CA Posts: 1,963	Sounds like an exciting change Rik. I foresee a huge reef tank in a yogurt shop! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ Current Tank Info: LeeMar Rimless (40x24x22), ATI 8x39 Dimmable w/Reefbrite XHO, 2x Vortech MP40w QD w/ Battery Backup, Apex Gold, Trigger Systems Ruby30S, Reef Octopus POV-DC1 w/Auto Waste Collector

12/12/2018, 07:35 PM	#5
five.five-six Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Corona Posts: 7,827 Blog Entries: 6	I'm really excited for you Rick __________________ Originally posted by yellowslayer13: "I hate that hole" Current Tank Info: SCMAS Member 225 peninsula euroreef RS180 Apex 400W X 3 20k radiums / Spectra mixed SPS

12/12/2018, 07:38 PM	#7
dodgerblew Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Palmdale, Ca Posts: 12,413	Thank you Mark. Hopefully I can work and yet retire at the same time and make more money in retirement then I would have if I'd put more money away. __________________ Rik Obladi Oblada, life goes on Brah! Current Tank Info: Tankless in TX and watching from the sidelines

12/12/2018, 07:44 PM	#8
five.five-six Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Corona Posts: 7,827 Blog Entries: 6	You're going to have to learn the one thing that's hardest for me to do in business and that is delegate work. Have other people do the work while you do the thinking. __________________ Originally posted by yellowslayer13: "I hate that hole" Current Tank Info: SCMAS Member 225 peninsula euroreef RS180 Apex 400W X 3 20k radiums / Spectra mixed SPS

12/12/2018, 07:19 PM	#2
pga7602 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3,488	Wow! Congratulations Rik. Glad you are not quiting. Softies can be just as addicting and I've got what you need to feed it

12/12/2018, 07:46 PM	#9
KWoo008 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lake Balboa, CA Posts: 2,526	Congrats on the new chapter, Rik!! __________________ Kelly

12/12/2018, 07:47 PM	#10
CRookSkee Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Southgate CA Posts: 870	Congrats on your new journey and looking forward to that fs thread Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/12/2018, 07:51 PM	#13
sberman Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: thousand oaks,ca Posts: 4,264	Good luck to you rik it's a tuff decision to make but one I'm sure you have thought long and hard on . __________________ it gets easier each time you do it !!!!! Current Tank Info: 45gallon jbj aio

12/12/2018, 07:57 PM	#16
sberman Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: thousand oaks,ca Posts: 4,264	One thing u know u have enough friends to help you get things back �� __________________ it gets easier each time you do it !!!!! Current Tank Info: 45gallon jbj aio

12/12/2018, 08:07 PM	#17
m0nkie Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: LA Posts: 6,264	Congrats Rik! Looking forward to see your machines. Let us know where they are. When you come back to SPS ill have pieces for you __________________ 560gal in the making

12/12/2018, 08:28 PM	#18
dodgerblew Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Palmdale, Ca Posts: 12,413	One will be going in Lockheed Martin up here in Palmdale. Still working on other locations. Possible locations are the Air Force Base, mall, college, hospital, locations with high foot traffic. The headquarters scout and secure locations. They'll be up here. Franchisees already signed for LA and OC. Thanks Tony __________________ Rik Obladi Oblada, life goes on Brah! Current Tank Info: Tankless in TX and watching from the sidelines

12/12/2018, 08:50 PM	#19
ChefZilla Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: San Fernando valley Posts: 3,045	Awesome news. You can add a vending machine to my house hehe jk __________________ Brent Cooking is an interpretation of ones self.. MASLAC President, Club Chef. SCMAS, SCRK member... future member MASVC & LARS 48"x 25"x 24" Sidebraced, Mixed reef SPS dominant on the way 48"x18" Current Tank Info: 125 gallon mixed reef, 55 gallon sump/refugium w/ macros

12/12/2018, 10:27 PM	#20
wishntoboutside professional snow flake Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Riverside, Cali Posts: 5,962	congrads and very happy for you Rik! I will give you a call soon and would love to hear more. __________________ Richard Current Tank Info: 450 gallon peninsula tank 724830 filled with a bunch of frags and trying to grow them out.

12/12/2018, 10:45 PM	#21
moondoggy4 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: menifee So cal Posts: 11,042	Congrats Rik I am bummed that i never got to meet you, maybe sometime in the future.

12/12/2018, 11:04 PM	#23
minus9 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: I'm in the Valley, Dude! Posts: 1,349	Congrats on the new adventure! When I moved to socal over sixteen years ago, both my wife and I changed are careers and started from scratch. It was tough, but also exciting. I was without a tank for nearly 14 years, but managed to find my way back. I think you'll be ok and it sounds like the community has your back, in case you want to jump back into sps in the future. I see a euphyllia and zoa garden in your future. Best of luck and continued success! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/12/2018, 11:58 PM	#24
vanbro1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 995	Good luck Rik! Always nice to get excited over a new adventure.

12/13/2018, 12:21 AM	#25
vuqchu Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 1,885	Very exciting. Congrats on the new venture Rik. Hope it works out amazingly for you.