pics

Dave, the other guys noticed it.. I hope the big bosses do too...

I put an Unauthorized Canadian flag on my hardhat at work. My foreman would never say anything to me but I'm waiting for HIS boss to tell me to remove it ... I would refuse still...

Personal days? , N days, what are those?. We are allowed to take one week of our vacation as singles so a monday, Tuesday gives us a week.. the only problem with that is our vacation weeks start on Sunday and finish Saturday.. nothing like having to work the Saturday before you go away or the Sunday after you come back..it all depends how it falls into your schedule.. the 2 weeks around Christmas and new years come with the threat of an extra suspension if you don't have an approved doctors note.. not any old note will do..

Gerrit, I work the same shifts. While I like them it is getting tougher as I get older... And yes the day and a half turn around is tough.. we get overtime for working on the holiday plus 8 hours stat holiday pay. Good money but when you have small kids it's hard to miss Christmas, easter etc..

I can tell you that my schedule does not include any of those perks.lol.. I'm in tonight but off for the weekend. When I get home tomorrow I will sleep for a couple of hours in the morning before I start my day. This will leave me with a hangover Saturday. It all depends on how your body responds to the lack of sleep. As you get older it gets much tougher to cope and if you aren't the type that sleeps all that well it only gets worse from there. You have to turn down a lot of social gatherings on work days/ weekends. It's just too tough when you get home at 7:30 pm and leave at 5:30 the next day to go back. We have to work part of every long weekend as well as Christmas, new years etc.. there are no days off in lieu of a holiday when it's a 365 day operation...

Nathan was with his best buddy doing a ceremonial guarding of the war memorial. It's a great honour to get to do this.. the shooter was a coward who shot him from an angle that he wouldn't have seen him from..even if he had a loaded rifle there was no chance to defend himself. The people who stepped in to help not even thinking of their own safety need to be commended as well. There were a lot of real Canadian heros that I saw in action yesterday and I'm glad to live in a country where people aren't afraid to step up to help.. there is a huge outpouring of support for the families involved in both tragedies.. Nathans son hangs around the gym where my daughter has gymnastics due to the fact that his mom is a coach there. Every time I see him it will remind me to be vigilant in protecting Canadian values.. Nathan' s buddy who was with him when he died learned about serving others from his father who worked at stelco... the community and the country will stand beside anyone who makes the ultimate sacrifice.... a group from the mosque in Hamilton came to lay flowers at the armory and to condemn the attack along with hundreds of others. Mt Albion falls will be lit up with red lights Friday night in his honor starting at 7.. The Canadian heros website and Facebook page has info on how to donate to the soldiers who lost their lives this week...

I'm on a schedule that has me working every other weekend with nights and days alternating... 12 hour shifts.. our plant runs 365 days a year... I'm always tired on my days off.... the benefit is that you can fish during the week when it's quiet..

The gps you have is a good unit too

I bought the topo version 4.. while I would have liked to get the backroads mapbook I decided too late on which to get.. not a lot of stores carry the backroads maps and I need it this week for the moose hunt.. ibycus seems like a huge pain to download but you can order the dvd for $25 I believe.. load it to your computer and then pick the maps you want on the gps..

Lureme, the lake water isn't as bad as you want people to believe. The guide for eating sportfish says you can eat crappie 4 times a month,similar to many northern lakes... We know what mercury does to our body but there isn't really much out there about pfos. These chemicals are everywhere in our daily lives and in much higher concentrations than in the water at lake Niapenco. Very little manure flows into the lake because there are very few farms in the watershed that spread it. The majority of farms now grow beans and corn and they use pellet fertilizers... The beach rarely closes and when it does it's because the park guys aren't chasing the geese off the beach.....

When I owned a cottage on the Irondale river outside of Kinmount we found that the locals would do the same thing. Every year we would see guts from Muskies at the base of 3 brothers falls. We were told the same thing. They eat all the walleye.....

We all pay the fuel bill for that in one way or the other...lol

sadly two young men from the reserve died last night in a car accident in Caledonia. They were speeding in a stolen truck and blew through a stop sign hitting a transport truck....

The native approach to justice is a little different than what we are used to. The 6 nations police face a lot of community pressure if they arrest certain people who have connections. You just don't make waves when you don't have to.. their ideas about justice focus more on forgiveness and healing than on actual punishment itself. We may not like it but it won't change. Most residents know where the chop shops are and who does the crimes but why would they snitch? It would make their life miserable.. Since reserve land can't be owned and land is granted to members by the band, they are apt to ignore "petty" crime around them because moving isn't an option... The policing around Caledonia was a joke when the town was held hostage. Gunshots at night, home invasions, atvs on the streets at all hours and never any arrests...

It can be a lawless place out there. I had a truck stolen and recovered on the edge of the reserve..burned out of course.. The only place in Canada where you can carry a loaded firearm and shoot from a vehicle and get away with it. The police out there know where the chop shops are but it's too risky to bust them up.

I was catching flounder off the wharf just last week in meteghan on the fundy side. Watch where you dig clams as it is illegal in a lot of areas... we also found a nice mussel bed but they were full of stones which are actually pearls.. kind of neat but no fun if you eat them..

Leaving Friday.. maybe I might even have a report when I come back...

While at work I had remarked how Burlington was getting hammered. Little did I know how bad it was...

I only wish I had time to fish... working 12 hours tonight ( Friday) , then again Monday and Tuesday.. tomorrow and Sunday I have a long list of things at home... heading east to nova Scotia next weekend! maybe then I can get into some flounder off the wharf or smallmouth bass and pike at my uncles place...

80,000 cars a day cross it..

If you are heading through on Saturday morning then you are better off staying on the QEW maybe. You will be diverted across the lift bridge.. either that or take the Redhill up to the linc, then on to the 403.. if its before 8 on a Saturday you shouldn't have too much trouble.. finding a good traffic report on the weekend can be difficult... try 680 news or 900 chml

we are doing what we can... it's been nothing but downhill since the toaster ban....

your buddy Murray knows that river..

I'm at Hamilton works. I worked with Dave in steelmaking but now I'm in the coke ovens....