JohnF

No fishing gear, but frankly, I buy what I want when I want it. And I'd rather pick out my own stuff than pretend to be thrilled with what other people pick out. On the other hand I was thrilled with the Pro 5 Kitchenaid stand mixer I got. With it were a pasta roller/cutter, a sausage stuffer, a meat grinder and a slicer/dicer attachment all driven off the main unit. Pretty cool. I actually picked it all out thinking I was doing it for a gift for our son who has recently, with his gf/partner, gotten into cooking. They were very pleased with theirs as well. I also got a beautiful glazed cast iron casserole that I've been wanting for a while. I think it's very nifty to be able to use one pot to sear or precook stuff on the stove top and then just transfer to the oven to finish cooking. Besides, good cast iron is the way to go for cooking many things, and it's great exercise lifting those heavy pots and pans. The other notable gift is a plastic moose that lifts his tail and poops out brown jelly beans when you press down on his back. For some reason my wife doesn't think it looks nice on the coffee table in a grove of stained glass evergreen trees that our son made years ago with a little guidance from my sister. JF

I'm guessing Boxfish but I'm no expert. The mouth doesn't seem quite right but the fin positions and shape are pretty much right on. The pale colour may be something to do with shock or just being out of the water. I'll see if I can find my tropical fish ID book at home. I have no idea where it might be though since we moved. JF

No way! I'm not a big fan of teasing sharks. I was buddied up with some clown from the west coast on one dive and he thought it was great fun to sneak up on Nurse sharks and grab them byt the tail. Then he'd hang on while the shark flailed around. I told him later he was an idiot. He was offended. I couldn't abandon himas we were dive buddies but I made sure to keep my distance from him and not get in front of the sharks he was annoying. I've petter nurse sharks that we came across laying down in the swimthroughs and troughs in the coral, but very very gently. JF

Further proof that doing the right thing isn't always synonymous with doing things cheap. I guess it's like buying quality. Good for you though. JF

We came face to face with a smaller hammerhead (8/9') while diving off Boynton Beach Fla a few years ago. We were just drifting on the gulf stream being very still (lazy) and I guess we caught the hh off guard. We were only about 20' from him when he did an amazing double take and hightailed it for deep water. That's been my experience with most sharks I've met in the Fla/Caribbean waters. They're usually pretty timid except for the Nurse sharks that are like lazy dogs. They seldom run until you try to touch them. I've been told that Bull sharks are inclined to be more aggressive along with most of the Requiem family. Fortunately we don't see as many Bulls but when we do we keep our distance. I think most divers will tell you that sharks aren't nearly as scary once you get accustomed to their presence. They aren't all the man killers they're made out to be although most (all?) of them are capable of inflicting serious damage if provoked. JF

#6 - our eldest son's. I had more fun watching him play than all the pro's I ever watched. He wore that number thru all the years and all the myriad sports he played save for baseball when for a reason I can't remember he was #15 so I guess that would be my second choice. If any of the great pro's happened to share his choices they were probably copying him. 8) JF

Good on ya, BB. Both for feeding the guys who can't get home and for the Merry Christmas. I get sick of being told it's not pc to wish folks a Merry Christmas. If they don't like it then ignore it but don't try to make me toe someone else's beliefs line. Merry Christmas to you, too. JF

Dude, keep it clean, eh. JF

No kidding. Not everybody gets the attraction of a snarling exhaust. There's a great video on youtube of a guy in Europe gunning a red Ferrari around early morning highways. He's got a trick exhaust system on it and it sounds awesome. To this day I remember the first time I heard a Honda Four on the highway. I was tooling along in my MGB with the top down and heard a sweet exhaust growl behind me. Thought it was a Ferrari or somesuch and realized it was a bike. I slowed down a tad and the guy ripped by me. My wife didn't get it at all when I started babbling about the sound. The sound was half the fun of bikes and tricked up cars. The problem was enjoying the sound while keeping one's license. I had a beautifully tuned straight pipe on a bugeye Sprite one time. As long as I kept my foot out of it the sound was just barely legal in town, but when I stuck my foot in it the thing sounded like a race car (until you saw how slow it really was). JF

I saw that. He left a huge tire mark. It must have been the end of the line for that car. I don't suppose there's a big market for used gymkana cars that are totally baffed out. That one actually sounded pretty ragged at times. It's hard to tell if it was just over the top tuning or an end of the line engine. JF

Thanks Bernie. I've been curious about the constellations for years but could never get them sorted out with static maps and diagrams. This really works. JF

I was once a staunch defender of the Buy Canadian movement but over the years it's become evident that there are few Canadian businesses, just businesses located in Canada. The big box stores use a part timer only strategy so really aren't paying much better than poor wages and the companies are owned out of country. I'm no longer sure that I'm helping the Candian economy by paying extra to buy locally. Case in point - I was commended and criticized for driving a Honda and a GM minivan. Guess which vehicle they commended me for? The van, of course, which was American built. The Honda was the cause of my castigation. It was built in Alliston. Clearly most folks who preach this stuff are blowing smoke. Another reason for me to shop elsewhere is that I live in a small Ontario town which for more than half the year is overrun by tourists, many of them from the States here to enjoy the theatre. This means specialized boutique type retail stores with high prices and snooty restaurants which serve excellent food but the prices are outasight (read high). Since I'm in the Cleveland area so much it's just easier to shop there. In the course of exploring that area I've discovered certain stores that offer great deals for the stuff I buy. Kohl's department has a fairly good selection of brand name clothes although I'm not impressed with the house brand products so I buy a lot of clothes there. Gander Mtn, although generally not full of bargains for me, occasionally has a plum to offer. Last New Years Day I picked up a small Calcutta for $95 and could have had a Quantum Energy spinning reel for the same price. The trick is to drop in occasionally and see what's available. Sam's Club often has deals on common household items in the grocery department and soap and toothpaste type stuff. Groceries are a great deal but generally it isn't practical to take advantage of much of that stuff. Gas is a great price, even when it's way up there. We always visit a large outlet mall (Aurora Farms) just outside of Solon and I can generally find good shoe deals at Bass, shirts & pants at Van Heusen, underwear at a Hanes store, pants at Haggar, sweaters at Eddy Bauer and a variety of other things. Once in a while I spot a great sweater at Nautica or Polo. The trick is to know the stores and where to shop. I suppose if I hung out in the GTA enough I'd learn where to shop there too. For instance I discovered a very out of the way manufacturers outlet in an industrial mall near the airport where I can get great deals on track suits & Stormtech jackets etc. The problem is that I almost need a map to find the place it's so hidden away. I wouldn't go to the States just for the shopping. We visit back and forth with relatives from Solon at least once every 3 months and over the years have come to feel pretty comfortable in the Solon area. I think the other thing is that I never think to just go shopping around here unless I need something and I just want to get it done. I relax in Solon and just wander around the stores and malls for entertainment. I buy stuff when I spot outstanding deals on things I need or just can't resist because of the great price. JF

Don't hold yer breath. Whatever happens in that department will gradually show up over the first 5 years but the difference if any will be buried in inflationary increases. I do believe it will happen but we'll be hard-pressed to recognize it when it happens. JF

I know people from Cleveland who go there to shop. They swear by it. JF

We used to imagine we could drive like that and wished we had cars like that, but 650 hp in a little peanut is awesome. I wonder how much that cost in engine wear and wheels/tires. The tires alone were probably hundreds of bucks each plus 2 rims at who knows how much, and engine and drive train damage would be hard to measure. But it sure was fun to watch. Imagine riding with him. I wouldn't even dare to think I could make the car perform like that but it sure would be a hoot to try. Suppose you could bump your Pilot's hp by about 150%. Do you think the stock drive train would hold together for more than a few minutes? I can only imagine how much money was spent to build that car. It sure ain't yer average street legal Fiesta. JF

You called? Home inspectors have been around for a long time but for the most part they used to be real pros like Carson & Dunlap in Toronto. If our buyers weren't willing to pay the relatively high fees the pros commanded then we suggested that a reputable contractor might be a satisfactory substitute. Of late though it's turned into a kind of cottage industry for folks looking for a new income source and perhaps with a construction related background. I've seen house painters, computer repairmen, real estate salespeople and kids just out of school jump on the bandwagon. Some were better than others. Many bought credibility by operating under a franchise name but I've found that for the most part the colour of their sign has little to do with the quality of the work. For my own part when our son was buying his first house he asked if he should get a home inspection. I told him not to waste his money, that we could do as well ourselves. Of the 4 houses he's bought so far there have been no nasty surprises. That being said I may be a tad more qualified than the average person with the experience I've had with house problems with many many buyers over my 35 years in the business and more recently my son has learned a lot himself with the extensive renovating he's done to each of his properties. The average person is probably not qualified to recognize problems and potential problems with structures. As has been said already most home inspectors today include a disclaimer which on the surface gets them off the hook for errors and omissions (screwups and missed problems) but no amount of disclaiming can save them from gross negligence. Unfortunately I've heard that some simply have no kind of insurance for this kind of problem. Of course pursuing them for anything means lawyers and courts and that scares most folks away. The other thing they do is often refuse to even look at appliances including furnaces so they can't be held responsible. Some even refuse to look at electrical systems and limit their inspection to structural issues only. Read the fine print in the contract you sign. Within their industry there's a move to raise the bar for members (inspectors) but who knows how long that will take or if they'll succeed at all? A client of my son's pays a particular inspector (4 times now in as many years) to drive 60 kms to do their inspections and pays him a premium price as well. I had a good talk with him one day and was impressed with his ethics and high standards. He's one of the members pushing for a raised bar for home inspectors. Of course this is like a lot of service businesses - raise the training standards and up goes the cost of the service. Consumers are determined to get a bargain on everything so naturally they're attracted to the lowest priced service providers which means they'll be getting the lowest quality inspector in most cases. Hopefully one day soon there will be a higher training standard and expectation of competence from the inspectors with a regulated licensing system like that for the insurance and real estate industries. It isn't a perfect solution but it's a start towards consumer protection. Yes, it raises the cost to the consumer but as long as it remains an optional service each has the right to decide for themselves. There has been over the years talk of making a home inspection a requirement for each residential property sale, not unlike the recent brouhaha over a mandatory Energy Audit, but so far that hasn't happened. Cudoes to the regulators for recognizing that it's easy for them to pass consumer protection regs but the attendant costs are often too much of a burden to the average consumer. So, what did I just say here? Essentially the value of the home inspector is a crap shoot. Some are better than others. If you are determined to get an inspection done then ask around amongst your friends for references and recommendations. For major home systems like furnaces and electrical I would still rely on professionals for an inspection. My advice is to not rely on recommendatons from realtors. We get too many boxes of chocolates and pretty plants dropped off at our offices not to have certain inspectors on our minds. Personally I refuse to recommend a home inspector. At best I'll give a list of a number in the area and suggest that they check out a few of them quickly before they choose one. Of course, certain names will never appear on my lists. What I've noticed lately is that some home inspectors are now adding other billable services to their repertoire like Energy Audits and mold testing. They do their inspection, mention mold or energy conservation issues and then offer their other services for an additional fee. I object to using one paid service to promote others but that's their own little ethical dilemma to ponder. Sorry I don't have a cut and dried answer but there isn't one. If you want a quality inspection then be prepared to pay for it. Otherwise it's a matter of whether or not you're lucky enough to get one of the new crop of home inspectors who's actually competent. Even then don't expect him/her to cover all the bases or to offer good E&O insurance without a disclaimer for a number of items. That's my 2 cents worth. JF

Dating must have been easy for you. JF

Does Stihl still offer that utility version power head? The one that will drive the cutter wheel and I think there were other optional attachments available. The pro woodcutters in our area seemed to like that unit back in my service days ('70-'73). As I remember it might have been a little heavy for a convenience saw but it was a durable bugger that was easy to service fast. We usually had plenty of parts for alomost any repair on hand. I'm impressed that 40 years later Stihl is still leading the way. Not many products can say the same. Even Ariens blowers aren't quite what they once were although I understand they're still pretty good. It was a shame the way the quality of products like Lawnboy went in the crapper once the big box stores got them to sell. JF

Odd. Here in Stratford right between London and Kitchener we've had only a hint of snow in the aril. The grass is still showing thru. JF

Mink are vicious and stinky. The town where I grew up was big into mink and fox ranching. As kids we made a bit of cash live trapping escaped mink and selling them to the ranchers. We used those old heavy gauge plastic fertilizer bags to hold them when we took them out of the box traps. The mink were not in the least cooperative. If you spend any time wading the Thames near St.Marys you'll see lots of wild mink today. They're interesting to watch. They're pretty animals that don't show the attitude till you mess with them. JF

We used to come across them when we were playing on the river as kids. They made me squirm. They looked too lizardy and yes, they would bite. I'm ashamed to admit that we often crushed them with big rocks. JF

My neighbour inherited a Toro blower from his dad and in total I think it ran for close to 25 years before it went the way of my Ariens. Everything was worn out but it owed him nothing at that point. Would that all our machines gave that kind of service. JF

8) Love it. I'm one proud Canuck who likes lots of things American. That's not to say I'd be in a hurry to leave my quiet little northern town to live in the US but there are certainly lots of places I enjoy visiting south of the border. I probably cross the border close to every month or two, seldom on business. I admit that on occasion I may have even been heard to mutter "I could live here." It's pretty hard to completely ignore the influence of next door neighbours (there's a spellchecker freeby for y'all) who as individuals are virtually indistinguishable from us save for regional accents. After all, Americans outnumber us 10 to 1 so there's bound to be influence. Again, no intent to offend JF

Obveeuslee frooishun. 8) Good catch. JF

How would you feel if the safety instructions for your airplane already sinking were written this way? Or how would you view a job application for a secretarial position if the applicant spelled this way? What if your oncologist took the casual approach to spelling as he set up your chemo orders for all those wild and crazy meds they mix? The chemical names look misspelled even when they're correct. I hate spell checkers that insist on changing my words from proper Canadian to American style spelling. Not that there's anything wrong with spelling the words that way when you're American but when in Canada .... Etc. The problem is the slippery slope syndrome. When does letting poor spelling skills slide in school extend to poor math skills, or science skills, etc. As you've probably figured out I'm a tad obsessive about spelling. I wouldn't hire the secretarial job applicant who showed me she/he couldn't or wouldn't take the trouble to be accurate with his/her word work. The product is how people judge my whole company and I'd rather we weren't seen as only marginally literate. Call it snotty or obsessive, whatever you want, but I know I don't stand alone. And yes, I know the odd one sneaks through on me, partly because I often turn off spellcheckers, and sometimes because I don't. Respectfully JF