crappieperchhunter

You got out and enjoyed the day and brought home a feed of fish. Sounds like a good day to me If you really enjoy site fishing the perch as I do...get yourself a portable hut. I sit in there and sight fish all day. The darkness of the hut with the windows closed is perfect for this. I was doing that yesterday at Port Bolster. 26FOW and you could see your lure on bottom as plain as day. It's much more comfortable then laying face down on the ice.

Good going FF We had the same results there yesterday. I came home with 33 quality fish... nothing under 10 inches. 50 would have been easy as I threw back quite a few good keepers. We where getting a real good bite when we came off at 2:30. Hated to leave but I had enough fish and had to get home. That walk was brutal on that busted up ice. I'm still feeling it this morning

The Oshawa store is nice. Not much in there I really need so I rarely go. Like Lew my wife got some cloths at a good discount the other day. The staff have always been helpful when either of us have went in. I got no problem having more options around here for when I wanna buy something.

Last one of those I had was at Western in the Elbow Room...circa 1981. My god that brings back memories.

4-5 inches here in Oshawa. That's enough for me. Relax around the fire Roy and wait for Wiarton Willie to tell you it's safe to come out.

Thank You Lew and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, your family and everyone here as well. All the best CPH

Looks good Brian. Debbe insists on Turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am with you on the ham though,but I've got the rest of the year to fit my ham and scalloped potatoes in.

IMHO....It's not about liking it better at xmas Roy..it's about something different to celebrate the season. I only eat shortbread cookies this time of the year too and my sister makes the best. But i would never think of having them in July.

You lucky dog...I couldn't resist.

That's what the rums for Wayne. Dummies down all that nasty stuff

That is 100% what I'm talking about. For future reference though...omit the foot pictures Nice marigolds though

Wormdunker if you love Ceasar's I have a suggestion for a garish that is way better then the standard celery stalk. Get a good dill pickle...vlasic's Zesty dill is my fav and slice it length wise almost all the way through...wooden cloth pin effect...and stick that mother over the edge of your rimmed glass. Now THAT is a Ceasar garnish.

X4. Craig have you tried the Silver spiced Captain Morgans. I have not., but I know many travelers who are very happy it is available in Canada now. I will wait to try it with my homegrown mint in Mojitos in the summer at the cottage. As far as the rum and eggnog goes...don't ever forget the nutmeg either

Sounds like you have already made up your mind Bernie. Flip hydro the bird and go have some fun tinkering around If I had the option at my cottage I'd love to explore going off the grid.

Some here are questioning this. Having worked 4 different 12 hour shift variations. I can tell you that this rotation is by far the best for your health in my opinion. Every time you walk out the door at work you come back in on the opposite shift after your days off. It sounds brutal but here is why it is better and has been proven to be better. The old standard is a static 2 week rotation of days and then a 2 week rotation of nights. It's all cookies and cream for your 2 weeks of days. Then you hit nights. Your body tries to adjust to nights for your 2 or 3 working shifts and then tries to adjust back to days on your days off in between then back to nights for your next 2 or 3 shifts then back to days etc etc until you get through your 2 weeks of that rotation. Switching it up means you tough it out for your 2 or 3 working nights and then your body is on days for a week. This was my 4 week rotation. Is yours anything similar G? S-off M-days T-days W-off Th-off F-nights Sat-nights S-nights M-off T-off W-days Th-days F-off Sat-off S-off M-nights T-nights W-off Th-off F-days Sat-days S-days M-off T-off W-nights Th-nights F-off Sat-off If you look at it and think about it you will notice the benefits. You work your nights shifts and then your body gets to go back on days for an entire WEEK. Then you work your nights and your body gets to go back on days again for an entire week. The only time your body is really on nights is while you are working. When our company proposed this rotation we ALL hated the idea. No one wanted to do it. The company was sure it was a better choice so they agreed that we could try it for 6 months and then vote on whether to continue with it or go back to the old 2 weeks days/nights rotation. After 6 months we voted and I was one of the workers on the floor who got to count the votes. Only 3 people wanted to go back to the old rotation. If your rotation is the same or something similar G..you have the best 12 hour rotation out there IMHO.

Worked 7-7 12 hour day and night shifts for 18 years G. Absolutely loved it. I would kill to have it back. Have been a Monday to Friday guy since 2003. Still can't stand working 5 days in a row after all those years of 2 or 3 days in a row. The sleeping part. Well here is what worked for me. Pitch black bedroom. I mean you can't see your hand in front of your face. I made up cardboard frames with foam around them to fit snugly in my window sills. No light was getting through those babies. I just threw them under the bed when I wasn't using them. I even stuffed towels under the bedroom door to block light.So now it's nice and dark. But the dang neighbor is cutting his lawn at 10AM...THE NERVE... just when your drifting off to la la land. Buy your self a fan. Test them out and pick a real noisy one. Turn it on when you go to bed. You will get used to the noise of the fan running in no time, it will become background noise you won't even notice. Plus it will move the air around in your bedroom which is a nice bonus in the summer if your dark airtight room gets a little stuffy. The main purpose of the fan is that it will drown out a lot of noises that will wake you up. The wife starts a load of laundry...you can't hear it. The TV is on... you can't hear it. A neighbour or your kids friends pop in..can't hear it. Your family is just having a chat...can't hear that either. Your $19.99 fan from Walmart will become your best bedtime buddy. Trust me on that. Our company was very proactive on sleep and shift work. Others have already mentioned coffee and booze. I have nothing to add there. Research they found somewhere was always being passed on to us. One trick they suggested seemed to work for me on the days I tried it. When you have a shower just before you go to bed turn the water temperature down as low as you can tolerate for the last part of your shower. The reasoning is that your body temperature actually drops a little while you are sleeping so by having a little bit of a cold shower just before you hit the hay you are actually tricking your body into thinking it really is bedtime. Another thing they mentioned wear dark sunglasses on the drive home in the morning when you are just going back to bed because you have to work again that night. The reasoning there is it will be brighter outside..in the summer time anyway...then it was in the workplace. So your body will want to stay awake. Sunglasses will lessen this effect. The swing days. When you work until 7AM in the morning but don't have to go in again that night. I handled them in 2 ways. If I had plans that evening..sons hockey game etc etc... I would come straight home from work have my cold shower and go right to bed and set my alarm for 1PM. You WILL feel like death when that alarm goes off but drag your butt out of bed. Have a coffee or do whatever to get your heart pumping. After awhile if you have not committed suicide you will feel fine and you will be wide awake for whatever your plans are for that evening, but you will still be tired enough to go to bed at your regular bedtime as if you had been on dayshift that day. The other swing day option is come home in the morning and just stay awake all day. It's not as hard as it sounds as long as you keep busy. These used to be my fav midweek fishing days. I'd have the car packed and head for the lake right from work. No weekend crowds just me and the fish. Fish as long as you want but don't stay out past the point where it would be unsafe for you to drive home. These days I would come home from fishing mentally and physically exhausted have supper with the family and then pack it in early and sleep right through until the next morning. Others mentioned some of the cons of working weekends when the rest of the world mostly works M_F. They are all true. But there are some positives there as well. You get invited to something you really don't wanna attend. So you just dust off the... Well I'd really like to go but I have to work that weekend It will come in handy Good luck with your new job and your new hours G. If you have any other questions about shift work feel free to shoot me a PM.

Christmas came early. Enjoy your CT card my friend :thumbsup_anim:

I live in Oshawa and seriously have no clue what your talking about??? Heading east of Oshawa in the morning is a piece of cake. Virtually no traffic at all. Now heading west towards Toronto...that's another story all together. Did it for 2 years and don't miss it one bit.

I ice fish pretty much every weekend all winter. I'm on my 3rd VW Golf and have never had snows on any of them. One year when I wasn't paying enough attention my treads got real low and when that winter started I lost control of the car once on a slippery snow covered road. Thankfully no injuries and no damage...well except for my underwear The next day I had new All seasons put on. That is all I have ever owned. I believe the snows would give you better traction, I would never dispute that. However I have never felt that they where necessary. Drive safe and maintain your tires and your gold. I do tons of winter driving on roads that have not been plowed and except for that one time when it clearly was my fault and not the tires... I have never even came close to having any problems. However I'm not a Government basher either. If the powers that be decide that it would be beneficial to mandate all of us to put them on...well I'm on board 100% with no complaints.

My old man too. Packed on a lot of weight and still gaining! From the outside looking in I'm not sure which is better. The before or after.

Sounds like a plan my friend

Your stash always looks good Bruce Thx for reminding me about festive season traditions. I will have to get out for our annual bottle of dark rum and a couple of cartons of eggnog...oh and I better check the spice rack for nutmeg too

49 and I've still never been given a scientific measurement for that. Just how cold are we actually talking? Can you ball park me a number for that

I hear what you are saying and I agree to a point. I also compare it to my veggie garden. In 87 I bought the top of the line rototiller to till my garden. I probably still have not recovered that expense. But I also highly doubt I would still be enjoying my garden if I was still just turning it over with a shovel. Fishing Hunting and Vegetable gardening are 3 of the few activities/past times we can do and get something substantial back in return. In these cases it is food. So I have always looked at spending $$$ on these endeavors as something free cause you get something substantial back. Not many pastimes can boast that. Electronics will make the experience more productive and also more fun. That is what I have found anyway. In the big picture it would probably be cheaper for most if not all of us to buy all are veggies/fish/meat from the grocery store. If I went that route I would be one grumpy miserable person to be around....but I'd probably be rich

Who pooped in your cornflakes this morning Shayne Just ribbing you buddy. I think you need an extended hunting or fishing intervention.