Old Ironmaker

The list of items that I have not lost down a hole or overboard would be shorter. The worst thing I have seen lost down a hole was my buddy's breakfast the morning after he thought he should try a sample of every shooter in the bar the night before. Watching a guy heave his guts out leaning over a hole is hilarious until you realize puke don't sink, now that's what I call chumming. The best thing that went overboard. Out on the boat with a free spirited young women 35 years ago. She decided she should sun bathe and didn't want tan lines. She put her stuffin a beach bag, all her clothes, and when she wasn't looking I put the bag in a dry livewell and told her the bag must have blown overboard the last time we moved the boat. She didn't even get mad at me when I gave her the bag back she was so happy.

My family has a place in Mesa, they are all long term rentals there. I think you are leaving it a bit late for a 1 month rental. Most places rent for 3 months or more. Good luck. Scottsdale is a richy rich area.

When I was due for a new snow blower 6 years ago I crunched the numbers and saw that hiring the landscaping guy that does our right of way would actually save me money. The best thing about that is I no longer do the driveways and walkways.

Now that the smoke has cleared the thinking behind he call was that Lynch had 5 previous attempts from inside the 1 during the season, he was stopped 4 times. Not one QB had thrown a pick from the 1 yard line during the entire season including playoffs. So the odds were in coaches favor. Muddler, if everyone thought the way that you do there would be no reason to pay all the talking heads out there. And by the way while I have this keyboard this Monday AM, this armchair QB must admit you are right as far as second guessing, that's were the fun is.

Mike and Drifter you are both bang on. We, my wife and I, have survival totes in each vehicle. Complete dry under and outer garments, thermal bib overalls, scarves, Yukon hats, Balaclava, Glazier glasses, dry socks, spare boots. Candles, candy bars and a box of carbs like crackers, water (ice) bottles, crank flashlight, crank radio, many lighters, toilet paper, compass, blanket and sleeping bag. Then the standard emergency stuff like highway flares and I stick my flare gun from the boat in my wife's emergency tote(that just doesn't sound right). And a good book. Those kids from Niagara Universities Women's Basketball team were stuck on the I-90 west of Buffalo for 30 hours in that dumping a few months ago. All this is kept neatly in a large tote in the back seats, it's all useless locked in a trunk that is buried in snow. Did I miss anything? When I go into Hamilton I'm asked what's with the tote and sleeping bag? They laugh when I tell them. We were pretty close to a real disaster after the game last night. We all gathered down the lakeshore at friends. If you did not, and 2 couples did not, have 4 wheel drive, the real deal with 4 low, you were not going anywhere after the game. I wake this AM and now that it's daybreak I see 6 foot drifts or more here. I ended up being designated driver and planned on shuttling folks down the lakeshore 5 miles or so and back. 5 at a time for 2 runs. After the first run with the 2 couples and myself I called where the party was held and told them I would not be back for the second load. No way I was making that run again, no way and no way should anyone of them should drive, I find out 1 idiot did. There's always 1. Buddy called at 7AM to say he has been plowing the 600 meter laneway with the 8N and his neighbor on the Davy Brown since 06:00 and they have maybe 100 meters done. My wife stayed there with the other 10 overnight guests. It sounds like she's back now. Yep safe and sound, maybe with a bit of a headache I bet!!! Those kids today.

M2B2, I will need to talk to you about the BBQ pit. We just got hammered by a lake effect storm and are buried here. No one is going anywhere around here tomorrow, 10 foot drifts on Lakeshore Rd. PM me in the AM and we will talk about doing it right. JD

Don't spill any it may burn a hole in the floor .

All the talking heads are calling Uncle Petes call the worst call in the 49 years of Super Bowl play. If that was a seasoned QB back there, Rogers, Manning, I can make a long list he would have changed the call to 41 fire. Simple 4 back pounds it through 1 hole. Done, game over, size your ring, go to Disney land. NFL network reports Seattle players screaming at the top of their lungs coming off the field various disparages with Carols name attached. Too bad, no way to lose with the highest scoring RB in the league blocking on a pass play from inside the 5. Stupid is all I can say. Absolutely insane. Coach choked.

You can build a great BBQ pit that will last many lifetimes out of stone/rock as long as the base and sides are made of firebrick and the proper motar. Stone is added to the exterior to make it look nice. If you have the hearth and mantle, also referred to as the bosh of 100% stone the heat will spall the stone, crack it and with the constant cycle of rain/snow then heat then moisture and reheat constantly it will eventually crumble. It can be done without firebrick but and may last a few years but I guarantee it won't last as long as you would hope it to. I can go into a long explanation of the science but don't need to unless you want me to. There are many sites out there that may help. Don't forget if it's on the Internet it has to be true.

There is a point even where the Liberals will actually choose not to waste money. That probably has more to do to not being able to partner with a 2nd party like Samsung that isn't willing to go into bankruptcy protection with the province. Wind generated power goes back 1000's of years . Generation of electrical power is nothing new either. I remember being a kid and my Nono drawing me a picture of how a 40 gallon drum can be turned into a windmill to generate electricity when I asked him how the light on my bike works without a battery. There is a reason I pay almost 6K in property taxes for a thousand square foot shack with no water, sewer, garbage pick up, side walk, no real services from the county at all really. It may have something to do with the view. I want my view, don't mess with my view.

I don't smoke much meat but my BBQ did come with a smoke box and it works fine. I wish it was a bit bigger though. I just add more wet chips in a pie plate covered with foil and a few slits. I can do a good size shoulder or butt. To do anything larger a dedicated smoker would be best. M2B2, I have built a few open fire pits for friends as I have a bricklaying background. Dad was a bricky and I've been mixing mortar since Kinder Garden. Do you intend on building a chimney for the pit? If so it can get tricky if the mantle is at the wrong angle sometimes. Of course everyone besides me has one that I built. I figure I can get too much meat on it and then would have to invite everyone over to share it! Actually the Italian in me insists on cooking for more than a dozen guests an I love having those get togethers with the 2 sheets of plywood put together and piled with 6 courses of food on it and several jugs of wine. Dean Martin and Al Martino on the record player in the background of course. I guess it would be an IPod now. I love those summer feasts. The old days are the things we do today that we will talk about tomorrow.

A tackle shop could never afford the marketing cost for this much exposure. I know it isn't the case here but I wonder how many small businesses manipulate the press and social media to get exposure. Look at that Dragon's Den show, even the businesses that don't get a deal report booming sales once they get on there and get national attention. Can you imagine how much a 20 minute national infommercial in prime time with the CBC that is repeated would cost? Millions for certain.

John I guess you don't live on the Lake Erie shoreline. It's bad enough having 3 of them behind us and close enough I can hear the whoosh, whoosh in the Winter when the leaves on the trees don't block the sound. Now someone wants to spoil my view by putting them in my back yard too. Come on man, please don't give them anymore insane ideas. The sad thing is if it was economically feasible to do so the Liberals would have already done it. The cost to put one on farmland is in excess of a million, imagine the cost to build in the middle of the lake just for the cable alone to tie into the land grid. A friend had a trucking contract to haul stone and build the laneways, $200,000 to $300,000 for each laneway depending how long it was, and that's before they drive a single pylon. Storing Natural Gas in the lake is nothing new. They currently store NG in spent wells on Erie and have for several years now.

It's finally arrived Hyper Bowl Sunday. I just bet a grand on Seattle and I got 7 points too boot. The bet is with my wife. I know she isn't going to pay up anyway, I know I would. I told her the spread was 14 points so she negotiated for 7, I'm going to Hell someday.

I guess if Microsoft spellcheck doesn't recognize Ironmaker I don't exist. Is spellcheck a real word? Now as far as ice here goes it's only a few miles to open water now behind our place, pic is right. Oh yea he is working at the Coke Ovens in the USSC Ironmaking division at the Lake Erie Works. I missed the ice breaker, cool to watch with a telescope. I have not seen a single hut out on the lake here between Dunnville and Port Dover. There are a few huts out on The Grand River in front of Fishmasters. Steve isn't there because he is busting his butt off in Costa Rica chartering for Billfish, the poor guy.

Crappyperchhunter, agree to disagree. But you are right, there are a few people out there that choose to be just downright miserable and mean and act unhappy and they like it. I actually have a friend that comes across like that but it's his defense mechanism to keep people from getting too close to him so he can't be hurt again, some of the most insensitive to others are the most sensitive when it comes to them, sad really. I have another "associate" that is just downright a miserable bas&a*d to everyone. He is the don't tell me what you did for me yesterday tell me what you can do for me today kind of non friend. He thinks he has friends and what he has is many people that are afraid he is going to go off on them. He's a bully. Reel Man said, Mental illness can be an invisible burden and the stigma attached to it in today's society holds so many back from seeking the help they so desperately need. Please, if you are suffering from depression, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, social phobias please talk to someone! There is help out there if you ask for it. There are people who understand what you are dealing with and will not judge you. Telling a person suffering with depression to "Think positive" is like telling a diabetic that happy thoughts will bring their blood sugar level down. It is a medical condition and should be treated as such. Just thought I'd throw my rant in the ring too! Very well said. I actually have a real friend that is into holistic healing big time. No matter what Marisa I can't will my Pancreas to produce Insulin. Then we get to healing by prayer and I will not touch that with a1000 foot pole. I have found myself on my knees in a Chapel Hospital, it can't hurt can it?

Yea guys I don't get it, he is Sean Spehar according to someone on Facelessbook. The owner knows him. Hopefully she has called the police. Come to think of it he problem is about all that will be done is to take a report over the phone for petty theft. The cops everywhere seem to be busy these days chasing someone down for a pair of sunglasses isn't going to happen. He would have to walk into the cop shop and even then they won't waste the time on a mug shot.

dave524, they still make those truck campers. A friend in Waterford still has his 80's era and another camping nutbar pal just got one for his late model Toyota . I think the motel I went to was a 50K drive from the campsite on Mt. Washington. I needed a TV anyway the Olympics were on.

I was commenting on your statement that one chooses to be happy or not. Way off base, Educate yourself. I hope I'm not coming off as an A hole, but it gets my ire up.

Sorry guys, nice build but I have too many projects here to spend money and time on a tool pull out. They sell them you know. I have a " Bed in a Bag" that I paid about 50 bucks for a Queen size bed including pillows in case I ever had he insane thought of going camping, actually I have no idea why I bought it besides I thought it was neat. To me camping is staying at a Holiday Inn Express. But it sure looks like some very well done work. Just a waste of time and $$$$. My Grand Father came to this country so they didn't have to sleep on the ground and burn wood to cook a meal. I have to admit I went camping once when I was 18. Left in the middle of the night and checked into a motel. 110% true story. How can someone pull into a campsite driving a Benz? Yes I'm a citiot even though we live in the country. The Benz got traded in for a Silverado. I'm trying.

Crappieperchhunter said "Happiness or unhappiness is a choice". I can't agree with you there sir or madam. You are off base. I have met thousands of people throughout my life and have seen some very unhappy people that had it all, or should I say a lot of stuff to try and make them happy. The trophy 2nd wife, the big house not home, the cars, the boats, the beach house, the Miami condo, the perfect family. Too many I have known that had appeared to be happy and have taken their own lives, too many. Depression is something that no matter how one tries to will themselves to be happy it just aint happening. With counseling and medication it can get one to a better place but it's not as simple as willing one to happiness, that can not be done. I can admit I had suffered from depression before that word was even known to the public. If anyone does suffer from this you must seek help now. It's nothing to be ashamed of. If I said I broke my leg everyone would send their best wishes. Tell someone you are having panic attacks and are depressed watch them run away.

We all have our own idiosyncrasies, if they can't deal with them they were never friends to begin with. I had some friends, or people I thought were friends that took me 30 or more years to understand they were users the entire time. When I got divorced many years ago some would cross the street to avoid me like I had some decease or something. I always say it's not like I have a line up of people that want to be my friends but can get rid of a few and still have plenty. Same thing if you go bankrupt, no pool, no boat, no friends. Those that call you to see how you are and invite you for a boat ride or dip are the real deal. Don't get me going. Contract Cancer, you find out who your real friends are quickly, eh Irish?

I don't enjoy the wind plus the cold, this past week we have had a few sunny days with no wind and around -10. Those are winter days I can enjoy. Heck if we didn't have bad winters those sunny spring days on the water wouldn't be as wonderful. One reason I don't live in SoCal.

Actually M2B2 I have to say south FLA's 28C is even damper than our 28C. It's Hell in a Hot Tub. My sis and brother in law live there and I nearly died one August a few years back when they were building a McMansion. Crews only worked from day break to around 10 or maybe 11AM, and I didn't blame them. I got the place done by splitting the crews up and we got a full 8 hours in by putting on a night crew on from 11 PM to 7 AM. Everyone wanted to be on nights after they tried it. Sorry, call 911 there has been a hijacking.

Dry cold at -50C is freeking cold dry or wet. I said the wrong thing to the wrong person at a meeting once and was given the task of organizing the winterization program, I was also given a airline ticket to Oulu Finland to investigate why they never shut down their plant due to freeze conditions some 45K south of the Artic circle. Of course it was in December. I have never felt cold like that -50C before in my life or since, Dry shmy, that's cold dry or not. If you are caught out in the wind and can't get shelter you die. Why anyone would choose to live in God forsaken places like that is beyond comprehension to me, but I know many, including some here on OFC that do, I just don't get it and I'm happy for someone that is happy too. No one I met in Finland that I asked if they really would rather live elsewhere only admitted they would after several hot Vodka and tar shooters. A frozen drunk never lies. I discovered in 1 minute why nothing freezes in their plant at Rauuturuki Steel. Their entire systems are enclosed and meticulously kept from 18C to 20C, simple as that. I presented a paper on this at a Iron and Steelmaking convention way back when. I spoke for hours explaining how they did it and still made a profit, we can learn a few things from some very ingenious people around the world but don't.