aplumma

If a company is not going to take care of the mental health (vacations) of their employees willingly why would you want to work for them? To have the goverment require them to do the right thing is to invite more goverment into your life. Art

very nice car, I am glad the VW was retired it was not in the best of health. Art

Thank you Joanna and Paul for spearheading the effort I knew it was a good idea from the start. Pam as always your talent is great and the uses you put it to are a tribute to your soul. Lew I know what a powerful force 2 brothers can generate between each other to have a picture that shows that is a rare and precious thing. I am sure that a place of honor will be found and the memories will last for many years to come. Art

We had a local guy try the same thing Gerritt. The developer was putting in 1.5 million dollar houses and he wanted a good chunk of coin for his the last lot in the middle of the development. They told him he was being silly with his price but he countered that while the land and his house was not worth the price he wanted the lack of a pig farm in the middle of the new devopment was........ Yup he won he got his price and retired off the gains. Art

a battery that has been charging ( called surface charge)should read in the 13 volt range for a few minutes after. A battery that has settled should read 12.65 +- .2. The true measure of the battery is when it under load and then you can see if all of the cells are functioning. I usually turn on the blower, high beams and read the battery and see how fast it is dropping. A healthy battery will support the above for 2 minutes and not drop below 12.30 volts. Once you shut off the load and start the car you should see 14 to 14.5 volts at the battery terminals. Remember in the newer cars 1990 or better you need to have the battery hooked up while it is running or it will cook the alternator if you try the old method of "see if it can run off the alternator test." Art

Being 6"3" should have be good enough to keep the Cops from pinchin your tail Joe. You don't need to be 6'6" unless something happened that you ain't sharing. We might need a few shots of Glens White Lightin to release this repressed memory.... Art

While this is not a color it might help you decide some of your patterns and contrast. The light color of a fishes belly is to help it hide in the lighted back round of the sky and the upper surface of the water when viewed from below. The darker back does the opposite and helps it blend when viewed from above. The breaking of the solid patterns by the lines or color changes on the sides breaks up the edges of the fish to make it seem to not be a fish shape on the changing back round. At this point you need to decide if you have a deep diving lure or a shallow diving lure. Then factor in are you trying to mimic the forage or going for a reaction bite. The mimic is just as it sounds it is a close pattern using natural colors to match what the fish eat. Most of the time it is good for non aggressive or neutral feeding fish. The shallow version can be fish ( shad, walleye and perch) or frog which ever you like to paint. The deeper lures can be fish ( Perch,Walleye,chubs, carp and other bottom feeders) and crawfish which live more towards the bottom. The action of the bait should also be considered and the more life like it is the more of a natural fishing pattern is needed The second type of bite is the reaction bite and that keys on fast I. D. of the lure and something that says food. The choice of colors can be very bright and should contrast the mimic like dark belly's and light backs. The appearance of a focus point on the bait is required something like red gills. big eyes, tail spot or flashing metal or sparkles in the paint. These baits should have some resemblance of the forage in the patterns or the shape to start the process of the fish thinking it is food and not some kind of a hood ornament. These baits are fished fast or erratic to make the fish make a quick choice to either bite it or not. Most things in nature have 2 main colors that blend into each other and other colors are just accents. The colors that are naturally in the body of water you fish are the first colors to blend out if the bait is the same shade. A green lure in the weeds is only using the attractant of vibration if it is the same color. The Tanic stain of Nippissing makes browns a less than perfect color unless it is a few shades off and your bait has contrast again. Since Red is easily absorbed by water and blue hangs in the longest consider using a mixture of color that blends from red to blue for the basic pattern to maximize a lure that floats but has a big diving lip. Once your lure gets deep below the level that natural light is abundant you are dealing more with contrast than with the actually color. You can put a white lure down deep and it will not matter if it is white or yellow or any other light color because without light to reflect off of it it becomes just a matter of contrast between it and the environment around it. The final thought is that the first thing that any lure catches is the Fisherman. The lure that you believe in is usually the lure you will catch the most fish with. It usually gets the most swim time and you tend to give it the benefit of the doubt. Many times I have cut the lure off my line and given it to someone else who saw me catch a fish on it and they will also start to catch fish with the proven lure. Art

I am sure they are all coming to see me and find out my latest thoughts on life....... or not...... Congrates to the fearless leader and all of the owner/moderators for their selfless time and effort. Art

Without back round how can you all call his boss an A hole. He really may be an A hole but it is only one side of the story we see. Most employees won't cut themselves to get off of work but a few have taken sick days because their company takes them away if they are not used. The bosses reasons could be that a certain deadline had to be met ....An example is my wife had a deadline that unmet would cost the company 2.3 million dollar so she worked Sat and Sunday with 4 others to get it done. While the boss should not of said he could not go he should have required a doctors note that explained the ailment so he could justify any overtime the other employees had to spend catching up the days labor. I agree with HeadHunter that you should document the incident since the Boss did not ask for a note.Rest assured getting into a peeing contest or aggrivating the boss by going over his head will not help you climb the ladder to sucess. Next time you have a disagreement after you have talked to the boss then schedule an appointment with him and request a joint meeting with him and his supervisor if you feel he is in the wrong. You did win the battle and got home to help you feel better it is best not to turn this into a war.......unless you are looking for a new job. Art

I am not sure that jug fishing should be thought of as strange. It is actually a popular way to catch fish down here in the states. Art

While it might look good on the surface. The plug assy and the foot controller for a 15 year old unit is going to be hard to find and more than what it will be worth. After 15 years the technology has improved so much that it will be heavier and slower than you want. Added all together you will have about half the amount of money into the antique as a new nice basic model that will give you many years of life. Art

One of the local Catfishin guides here in the states has joined the fishing community down here and he writes articles and reports on the areas around were we fish. He has a banner ad that he advertises on the site with but due to the input and the contributions he makes he is one of the first guides people call on for a great trip. It is a combonation that is tough to beat and it will cost less money but alittle more time on the internet. The good news is the people that charter him will feel like they know him and most will have some experiance in the fishing world. Besides you all are read here in the States and sometimes we don't have time to do a long trip so we charter while we are in the area on business. It is your call but talking to TJ wont cost you a dime and you might be suprised as to how many hits some of his other clients get. Art

The Captain of the boat is paid thru the fees he charges so he knows what he need to make a profit so I exclude him from the tip. The first mate is usually working the boat for minimum wage and relies on the tips to make up for getting $45.00 from the Captain for an 8 hour day. The Mate that works hard to get lines out, works the baits effectively, cleans and bags the catch and tells stories to make the fishless times easier to bare is the one that gets a decent tip. The tip is usually 10 % of the chartered trip if he has done a good job and you might be back next year. If you know you want to be back the next year and the mate has made a good impression and you want a trip during prime time then up to 20% is not unusual. On the charters that I have been on over the years the first mate and the Captain have both been happy with the people I bring and every year try to give us better service than the previous year. On a return trip to the Captain we usually bring a small gift like a bottle of wine or a talisman for the boat. One Captain we have been fishing with still charges us 2003 prices because he enjoys the fishing trip with our group and his Mate (son) takes off work to be the Mate on the boat. Art

Rick Aplumma is running Macafee and getting on the site but Daplumma is using the same and still off the site. We have disabled it with no luck so far and have placed it on the trusted list. The strange thing is his computer tries to take him to the redirect page that you put up when we switched from the old site to the new one it then will not forward him to the new site even if you click the manual override. Got any ideas yet??? Thanks Art

If you are a safe boater then you take into consideration the hazards of the waterway you are going to be boating on. I would not take a 28ft boat into shallow body of water or an area that is not the correct enviroment for it to be operated in in a safe manner. The same applies to taking a smaller boat out into the area that large boats with a few stupid drivers frequent. Just because your pride and joy is a boat does not make it right for all bodies of water. A 12ft tinny with 2 kids on a large body of water can easily be a person that by law is allowed on any body of water but why would you want to be DEAD RIGHT to prove it. If you will change your plans for bad weather then you know the boat has its limitations so think of the type of boats that are around you and factor in the stupidy index and act accordingly. Art

Please do not continue to use the battery if you can prove it is malfunctioning it can short out and start a fire. Alls it will take is some rough water to jar it into a internal short and you will have a boat in flames while you are on the water. Art

It happened to me Minn Kota sent out a redesigned switch and speed pot assemble. While they will send you a new one they will charge you if it is out of warrentee. I gave them enough grief that they did reduce the price by 25% though. The older version of the switch is not a micro switch it is a regular click switch if you have the older version ask them why they redesigned a perfectly good set up if they were not having any problems with it. My answer was" I am not qualified to answer that question Sir we are always redesigning the product to make it better." This said I still really like Minn Kota products. Art

While it is not an answer this might help. Remove the nut and wire loops and inspect the loop to make sure it is not corroded in two. Clean the loop with sand paper and wire brush the terminals. Reassemble them and test. If they are OK then spray with a corrosion spray for batteries. If the above fails then loosen till it works and move the wire aroundto see if you have a bad wire. If that fails tighten it down till it stops running and using a volt meter go from the positive to the negative and read the posts it might be the post has sheared inside of the battery but it is not often you see that........ Art

If you drill a hole into the boats metal seat then make a slot thru the hole ( -o- )and off to the side you can install fenderwasher (oversized washer) thru the slotted size with a bolt that is threads up. then put the seat in place and tighten the nut in place and hold the bolt ( use 2 nuts that you tighten against each other near the end)if it starts to spin. Cut off the excess of the bolt if it interferes with the seat movement. Art

As some of you all know I own lots of ways to get around on the water that include Canoes, jet boats, jet skis and a big cabin cruiser. Each boat is made for a specific type of water way and it is up to ME to decide which one is safe for the place I will be fishing. Running a big boat is not all about a lot of chest thumping "look at me you poor people in the little boats that you are painting the drivers as." Some are saying the big boat operators don't know what it is like to be in a smaller boat well it is also true the smaller boats don't know what it is like to be in a BIG boat. Most people know about never overloading their boats and having the correct safety equipment on board when they go out on the water. You will even get a weather report on the body of water you want to fish so you don't go out into a storm but you ignore the fact that you will have large boats on big water and they produce wakes. When you are moving a boat that weighs over 5,000 lbs and drafts 2 or 3 foot you can't change course as easily due to the fact they are large and they have to stay in the Chanel to keep from grounding. When you take a large boat off of plane it is still pushing a lot of water and it sits deeper in the water both do not help the wake they produce and will only add to the height of water that is heading towards you. The above insight does not excuse poor boating or the careless way some people are on the water those issues are known but you can't cure stupidity. It will take a combination of both groups the big boats and the smaller ones to exercise caution and give and take as you can and to accept the limitations of the craft you use on the water. Art

Any of the larger marina stores have them bud. I have one on the big boat that controls about 20 circuits with fuses and switches for all of the electrics. Art

Funny how this subject came up just as I finished finding a nest of ground hornets over by the Goats watering tub. I was washing out the tub getting rid of the leaves and stuff when the water I dumped out ran across the ground and rattled the little buggers up. I am now have 5 stings with sting eze on them and 2 benadril to keep the puffyness down. It is a shame they did not build their nest alittle deeper into the woods because they are in the area the dogs can get to. I guess I have a little project to do this evening with the garden hose. Art

tennis shoes or sandles but have no issues with barefoot in my boat. I keep it really clean and even vacuum the carpet if it gets dirty. Art

While I am not sure who the nice people are in the picture...... but why would they admit to knowing the likes of you???? B.Y.L.H. Art

Rick is the answer he will be able to guide you to the correct place. Art