Gary George

Look at it this way; When you work for someone else your future security is in thier hands. When you work for yourself you make your own security. I have been self employed since the late eighties, my business is small. Primarily just me and a helper occasionally. I carry no debt on the business so have no exposure in that way. I earn a fair living that supports my lifestyle. I don't expect to become wealthy however I don't work outrageous hours either. The level of stress is also in your control, if you over promise there will be stress. If you remain objective and keep your personal well being as a goal as opposed to wealth you'll be good. In other words you run your business, don't let it run you!!!

Unionism was born out of communism. We all know how successful that experiment was. Ethics are the root of the problem overall. Niether management nor unions apply quality ethics to the inustry. That is the biggest thing that sets the successful companies apart in this. President of Toyota, when told that his company was about to surpass GM replied with something to the effect of; that is not our goal, our goal is to make quality vehicles. Being the biggest means nothing, being the best does and that is the glaring difference, the big 3 are far to focused on being the biggest.

Two comments on this; If you live in a 1 horse town, don't complain when that horse dies. I grew up in St. Catharines (a one horse town back then) every time GM farted we all got covered in poop! They have slowly faded into mediocraty in St. Catharines as well as the rest of North America. St. Catharines has been able to develop a more dynamic, less "one horse" dependant economy. Thats the reality of Global Economics, just try to stop that. The philosophy of most unions, particularily the Auto Workers has been to create the most average demand possible on the worker. This can only lead to average or below average results. Think about it, "Shoot for the stars and hope for the moon" as the Japanese have done or the North American approach "Shoot for the moon and hope you don't miss". No plan B!!!!!! I have always thought it was a huge economic mistake to allow unskilled workers to earn well above the skilled workers of our economy. That is what the unions have created throughout much of the Auto Industry. I have no idea what the starting wage on the floor in these plants is these days but I do know that trades people building our most important product and investment, the family home, are making considerably lower wages with little or no benefits. That isn't balanced or sustainable the result of that is what we're seeing now. In real estate they call it a "Market Correction"!!!!!!!! People who want to work and prosper will be fine, the lazy and indifferent will remain just that. I guess thats more than 2 comments, tough to say less on this. I drive a Cherokee and a Tacoma.

Biologically there is no difference. Internally and externally they are identical in every way. Visually the various strains of either look different in colour and spotting, overall body shapes vary but in the end they are all still the same creature. Before man got involved with moving them around they all resided on the western slope of this and the South American continent. Some were landlocked, some were freshwater migrarory and others were salt water migratory. Before the most recent serious biological indentification was completed they were thought to be in the same genus as Atlantic Salmon. It is now believed they are closer to Pacific Salmon but unique enough to be a genus of they're own. Serious Steelheaders will resent this, ultimately they are all rainbows first. If they migrate they get the nickname "steelhead".

My favourite and most under rated band is The Band. No one compares to these guy's for diversity, talent and just plain raw imagination. Canadian boys all, but Levon, he is a good ole boy from Tennesee. Bob Dylan thought they were good enough to be his back up band, they proved to be better than him at times. Ronnie Hawkins might be the daddy of all thats got country and rock roots, he also figured they made a pretty good back up band. Look at who showed up to play with them when did The Last Waltz. Genre: toss up between Rock a Billy and Blues. I was raised on the classics like Floyd, Goddo, whatever happened in the late 60's thru 70's. All positive stuff. Don't have much use for fluff like disco or canned pop or negative stuff like thug rap. Music ought to inspire us to better things. If it doesn't then it probably isn't really music

My rodbuilding came of the need for quality steelhead fishing rods. You couldn't buy anything at all when I got started into river fishing for Steelhead. It's still tough to find quality float rods. Lorne Green of LG was the surest reliable source of float and fly gear for rod builders, he set a tough standard, John Collina gets Lorne's referal and mine. Definately check out Rodbuiding.org, serious experts will answer any and all questions. I'm not in agreement with the build a cheap one to avoid regretting mistakes approach. Look at it this way, your learning to build rods, this means you can repair / re-build rods. So if you don't get it right the first time, just cut your wraps off or shave the cork off and do it again. I have re-built most of my early rods in order to improve or adjust. The other thing to keep in mind is that your building for yourself, looks are secondary to quality of function. Lots of trollers are building rods with a twist in the guides. In other words the stripper guide is on top of the blank and the following guides spiral off in a clock wise direction until they are under the blank. This allows the rod to run hour after hour in a rod holder, bent under the strain of a down rigger without the blank being twisted by the torque of all the guides being on top. These rods look very odd at first but function much more smoothly and last longer than rods built in the traditional fashion. Moral of the story is build something you'll like for more than just appearances, function is the primary reason for doing something custom. Remember lots of thread = lots of epoxy finish = weight. Same goes for wood parts added for cosmetic reasons. I'm not saying don't do the fancy stuff or add personal cosmetic touches. Just keep in mind that the goal is to build a better, more functional, specialized rod. Bells and whistles don't neccesarily improve performance. Check out the style of builders who post their finished products on the web. Check out how sparse the highest quality Sage fly rods are. Just the things needed to make the rod work, nothing more. Of course a lot of this is just my opinion but I figure the mark of a true craftsmen and a high quality custom rod is to make a thing of beauty that feels like no other in your hand with as few parts as humanly possible.

LG Custom Tackle is long gone and yes they were the best. No exceptions. There is a Loomis blank provider named John Collina. He has the recomendation of Lorne Green of LG Custom. Check out Dan Craft rods out west, I taught a freind to build rods on a Dan Craft blank and components, good stuff. I occasionally browse a website called Rodbuilding.org, if you can't get straight answers from this site I'd be surprised. Lots of product links, mostly American. Building rods isn't what it used to be, almost anything you can build can also be bought ready made. The only reason to build is if it's not on the pre-fab market. So if you guys are thinking of doing something unique then it's totally worth it. If your just building St. Croix jigging rods in the same component layout as they already offer, whats the point? Let me know if your interested in some sort of lessons, I have a number of years experience and could get you off to a smoother start. Sage is thought to be the best, I think it may be a bit over priced. Loomis has lost it's rep since being bought out by Shimano. LamiGlass has remained solid over the years. St Croix has a solid reputation but hasn't managed to get the attention of serious builders. Check into Rainshadow and Forcast, they are sound products at fair prices. There are hundreds of suppliers in the US, most are highly specialized. Good Luck, once you have fished well built custom rods you'll be hard pressed to fish anything else.

I'm in agreement with the point that Salmon shouldn't be in the Great Lakes. They grow so fast that natural baitfish cannot keep up. Ultimately sustained stocking of Pacific Salmon depletes a lake of it's other species as well leading to the crash of the stocked salmon. Great Lakes tributaries are mostly unsuitable for Pacific Salmon spawning due to siltation, water temperatures and incompatible species. There are a few rivers that reproduce Pacific Salmon but not on a sustainable level, they require the supplement of stocking to maintain levels. Bottomline is they die at the end of a spawn that is primarily a waisted effort. I say rip them all out, the sooner the better!