lew

Absolutely Dave. I'm heading into town shortly, guess I better go look for my license

I guess this can be spun any way a person wants, but there's a BIG difference between intentionally breaking laws and simply forgetting to put your drivers license & insurance papers in your pocket when you run down to the corner store for a loaf of bread. Not blaming the coppers at all Dave cause your just following orders, but an expensive ticket for forgetfullness is nothing more than a HUGE $$$$ grab. Run a red light, gimme a ticket.... Forget my wallet, gimme a break.... Anyways, that's how I feel about it.

Dave, the man said he went thru a yellow light, not a red one, but whether he did or not isn't really the point as far as I'm concerned. Either give him a ticket for running the light, or don't give him a ticket, it doesn't really matter, but the fact he got nailed for no papers is still a crock. Like I said before, a man isn't a criminal because he forgets his wallet and he sure as heck doesn't deserve a ticket for being forgetful. I've done it, you've done it and no doubt every copper in town has done it.

Can't comment on the Pflueger reel as I've never used one but you've definetely made a great choice on the rod. Compre's are a excellent reel that you'll be very happy with for a long time.

Personally I think it's totally disgusting that you got any ticket at all for not having your papers with you. There's not a person alive who hasn't forgotten their papers at one time or another and it sure as heck doesn't make you a criminal and most definetely doesn't deserve a fine. There was a time not so long ago where if you were stopped and couldn't produce your license the copper simply wrote it up and gave you 24 hours to stop in any police station and produce it, and then the ticket was cancelled. Simply forget your wallet at home these days and you can be out a couple hundred dollars....that's pretty damned sad if you ask me.

All the good thoughts I can muster up are coming your way Ryan. And just so you know, talking about your worries is a good thing, even if you've never met many of the folks you're talking to, just like your doing here. Things will be OK

Yup

I went with the Uniden Solara and it works fine for me. I have a knockout on the dash so installation was a breeze but they also come with a bracket if you want to mount it elsewhere on the boat. I have side rails on my boat which made a good place to mount the Shakespeare antenna. I took my course & exam last fall thru the Peterboro Power Squadron and it was very interesting. They supplied books & a video a month before hand which gives you lotsa time to study, then we all met on a Saturday morning where they go over everything for a couple hours, then you write a multiple choice exam. Cost for the books, video, refresher course and exam was, if I remember correctly, $85

Not many things in this world I hate more than a stinkin thief. Good to hear the didn't steal anything valuable or damage your vehicle Harry. Lousy useless punks.

Life used to be so simple when we only had 4 channels and you changed them by turning a little dial on the front of the TV set

Great video, I luv that kinda stuff. Now I gotta go throw a mat on the back deck

Good hearing from you Todd, it's been a long time.

The TV's are on Bell satellite Norm. I would have stayed with Rogers for that too but it's not available here. The house already had an HD dish and the rooms were already wired for TV's so it was easy. So far I've been very happy with the Bell service, although it seems like many are not.

And lets not forget the additional 8% Mr. McLiar jammed us with recentely, but I believe he said something about that being for our own good ??

I was watching the Toronto news this morning and they mentioned that because of the recent troubles in the Middle East, gas prices have risen about 6 cents a litre in Toronto in the last couple days . That's about 27 cents a gallon. I then switched to an American channel and they said that because of the same troubles in the Middle East gas prices in the States have risen, on average, about 8 cents per gallon. 27 cents per gallon increase here... 8 cents per gallon increase in the States... A Canadian gallon is only about 20% bigger than an American gallon but our increase is about 3 1/2 times more. I just found that rather interesting.

Don't know if it's of any interest to you Cliff but we use a Rogers Rocket Hub over here for both the hi-speed and phone service and it's excellent without a single problem since we installed it a year ago. Hi-speed is $35 per month and the phones are an additional $15 if you want them. Initial cost for the Hub was $150 and you simply plug it in and then plug your computer and phone into it and your set to go. Every bit as fast as my Rogers hook-up when I was in the city.

You'll be more than happy with the Fortrex, it's an excellent motor.

When I bought my new boat from Hastings Marine 2 years ago I had them install the 62" Fortrex, but unfortunately I don't know where they got it from. I'm sure any good MinnKota dealer could order you one though without any problems.

The price of stuff rises all the time and probably always will and there's not much we can do about it. My dad bought a brand new Chevy pick-up in 1961 and payed $1800 for it. Today we pay nearly that for a set of tires In 1954 my folks built a beautiful new home in Don Mills at Leslie & Lawrence for $12000. It's worth slightly more than that today. When I joined the Fire Dept in Toronto 43 years ago I was earning the grand total of $5200 a year and that was considered pretty decent money. Got my 1st home the same year and it cost $16,000 I still remember paying 39 cents for my 1st pack of cigarettes back in 1961. Now there what, something like $9 Crazy stuff

My wife used to shop at the Scarboro store when we lived down there and I went with her one time and never again. After we paid for our purchases and were leaving the store we were stopped by a couple guys at the door who wanted to check the stuff in the box to make sure it was the same as what was on my bill, basically calling me a thief as far as I was concerned. I told him to stuff it and he wasn't checking anything and kept right on going and never shopped at that store again. My wife said that was normal practice but isn't something I'd ever put up with. Another time my daughter went in the same Scarboro store for something but they didn't have it so she left. When she got to the door, the "goon squad" asked where her purchases were and when she said she didn't buy anything, they told her to open her purse so they could be sure she wasn't stealing anything. My daughter went ballistic and called for the manager. He came down and ordered the morons to apologise to her in front of everyone. I've been in the Peterboro store recentely and it's a totally different ballgame. Very friendly folks who actually seem to enjoy helping the customers and don't treat them like thieves. Only good thing about my wife having a membership with the Scarboro store was when I bought a new F-150 last year I got $1000 discount for it.

Good yakkin with you as always Phil. BTW, I'll be getting that picture out to Maureen either today or tomorrow.

Just my opinion but I'd stay away from any of the big box store reels that have so-call celebrity names attached to them. I'd go with a Shimano set-up and know that your buying a quality product from a company that stands behind their stuff. Again though, just my opinion.

Great news John, congratulations & and best wishes to the entire family, but specially for the little guy !!

Just curious Mike, but did you take it back to wherever you bought it for either a replacement or refund ??

Hey Dann, I was in Sea Cadets about a million years ago, but the only trips we ever took back then were to row a boat around Toronto Harbour. Boy, have times ever changed