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Oops, guess you misunderstood me, sorry bout that. The folks who won the money lived in Toronto and it was called the Irish Sweepstakes

Speaking of Irish..... Waaaay back in 1953 some good friends of my folks won $56000 on the Irish Sweepstakes which was an absolute fortune back then. I don't know what it would convert to in todays dollar but it would probably still be huge. They were just newly married & it set them up really nice as they bought a new house, furniture, car and whatever else they needed. Bad part though, was after they won the loot, they abandoned all their old "poor" friends.

I did enjoy firefighting, very much, but I enjoy retirement MUCH more

They say things happen in 3's Dann but hopefully it gets extended for her

Awhile back my daughter bought a lottery ticket & won $500 Last month she won a trip to the Bahamas. All expenses paid, all inclusive with airfare, transportation, hotel, food, drinks and even gratuities, for 2 people and she's going in February. Yesterday she bought a lottery ticket & won $75 I think I'll give her some $$$$ to invest for me

And sadly, we're at the time of year when we'll starting reading stories where folks have gone through the ice on their snowmobiles. People get antsy to be on the ice in the early season and unfortunately too often they head out before the ice is ready.

Like all little girls, my daughter enjoyed fishing for perch and sunfish but grew away from it and never touched a fishing rod again for another 20 odd years. About 6 years ago she decided to take up the sport again and has now become a very avid musky angler and fishes with me on a regular basis. Something I look forward to every chance we can get out together.

You have to work your butt off for ALL of them, I probably just have more time off than you

Sadly Dan, the pigs that we share our fishing holes with are turning alot of beautiful areas into garbage dumps. And they ruin both hard & soft water spots.

The quality of your pictures is never short of outstanding Drew !! Simply amazing infact

I no longer do it but for quite a few years I kept a fairly detailed log of all the muskies I caught. It was just for my own personal use but I found it interesting to be able to look back and see the details. My best year ever was 2005 when I boated 115 muskies over the course of the season. Funny part is though, not only do I no longer keep a written record of my fish, I almost never measure them anymore and very seldom even take a picture. Normally their just unclipped in the water and sent on their way with a "thank you" After close to 40 years of musky fish'n they all sorta look alike these days and I can't see harrassing them anymore than I already do when I hook them. I did however take some pictures of 3 nice muskies I caught on the West Arm of Nippissing this past summer simply because my wife and daughter were both in the boat with me. We were up there on our annual 2 week trip. I posted a story about these fish and think it was my 1st fishing report in about 3 years. Not much sense in telling a story with no pictures or measurements

I'm just finishing my 2nd year with my 2010 F-150 and so far it's been a fantastic truck. I've got the Supercrew and the space in the back seat is unbelievable, specially with the rear seat folded up and it would be fine for your dogs. It's very comfortable, even the seats that Drifter doesn't seem to like Mines got the 5.4 V-8 and it's more than enough power to haul my 3500 pound boat around. Mileage isn't all the great but I knew that going in and if I was concerned about gas mileage, I woulda bought a Honda Civic.

Your neighbor just lost his home and probably all his possessions only 2 weeks before Christmas. He's got an awful lot on his plate right about now and a bit of glass in your driveway may be the last thing on his mind. If it were me, I'd probably borrow DanC's broom and clean it up myself. Then I'd maybe go over and ask my neighbor if there was anything I could do to help HIM But that's just me.

Newer style fire hydrants are self draining but older models weren't and when they were used some of the water remains inside and in cold weather they freeze solid and can't be opened when needed by the Fire Department in an emergency. After being used the remaining water can be pumped out but if not, serious problems can arise. I've been to more than a few fires where hydrants are frozen solid and unusable and very valuable time is lost trying to find one that is operable. If the hydrant in this story is an old model and nobody is notified to drain it, there could be problems thru the cold months if it's needed in a hurry. Sometimes it's good to know both sides of a story. And FWIW, if you have a hydrant on your property, keep the snow shovelled away from it and also dig a path out to the road to make it more easily accessible when needed fast.

This entire post has been great from beginning till now. Always interesting to follow along on these building projects. Thanks for letting us tag along during the process fishNwire

That's lousy news about Peanut Bruce but hopefully everything will work out well for the little guy. Thanks for the update.

We celebrated our 45th anniversay 2 months ago Bob, and last Christmas I bought my bride a new set of wedding rings, so I think I'm good now for a few more decades

Here's a different but somewhat similar scenario The Canadian version of Antiques Roadshow was filming an episode in Toronto a few years back and my next door neighbor took an old painting of his down for an appraisal. I forget exactly but it was said to be worth something like $10,000 After the show he put it in the trunk of his car but when he got home it was pouring rain so he left the painting in the trunk so it wouldn't get wet. He woke in the morning to find the trunk open and the painting gone and figures someone from the show followed him home and stole it when he went in the house.

Keep up the good fight Richard and all the best to you & your family in the New Year

Nice one Roger and it's certainly bigger than any fish I caught yesterday from my couch

Atta boy Roger, hope you beat the biggun from your last trip.

I've heard a couple times recentely that we're sposed to be having a cold, snowy winter so maybe this is just the "calm before the storm"

Yup, I just got the same message. Hope it's not gone for good, that's a nice forum over there.

Jeeez, I'm 1/2 way between Selwyn and the landing zone, maybe I better go out & check for holes in my roof