JohnF

I agree on the Ariens. I sold and repaired them while attending university in the early 70's and bought one for myself as soon as I bought my own house. It served me well for over 25 hrs with only minor service needed. Of course, I probably took service for granted having done so much for other people. After more than 25 years of service it finally starting sending retirement signals. I ended up giving it to a repairman friend of mine to scavenge parts. He told me later virtually every little bit was worn out but I had no complaints. I disagree mildly with you on the Yardman machines. I bought a large one first (big engine, big cut, etc) but decided that since I often wanted to help my family out I gave the big one to our son and bought a little bitty 5 hp unit that I could lift into the back of the Pilot (carefulliy) to take to Mom's or my brothers. It sure didn't have big blowing power but if I went slow it worked fine. I have since given it to my bro as we moved into a condo apt. The big machine has at least 8 yes on it now and the small one has about 4, perhaps 5, and both are working fine. The only breakdown was the electric starter on the big one and it was fairly cheap to fix. Neither my bro nor my son have a greasy finger between them and they've had no trouble so I would say they're safe for almost anyone to use. The trick is to remember the machine's limitations and to check the lubricants regularly which I do once a year for them. Too many people insist on ramming their snowblower into heavy or frozen snow and expecting it to claw it's way through. Let the machine set the pace and it will probably stay safe. Watch the snow chute and as long as the snow isn't just dribbling out then you're not pushing too hard. Hope that helps.

If you've never been there before don't be alarmed by how rough it looks along the highway going south from the airport. The resorts are excellent and the service is exemplary at all the places we've been. We always stay in Cancun but we take a lot of day trips to Playa etc and out to Coz and not always for the diving. The people are almost always friendly and good humoured about the language thing. Don't worry about swamp gas exploding. I think that claim is a crock. I've dived under some of those places, almost literally. A friend of mine actually entered a cenote in Puerto Aventuras when a resort parking lot collapsed to expose the water below. His dive shop was at the time just across the street. It was easy to see from his pics of the collapse that there's not much but limestone under everything. Typically there's about 18 -20' of solid limestone between the jungle and the caves which are usually water filled that close to the salt water as they all join the Caribbean somewhere along the coast. You can even see some of them bubbling up just off shore in a few spots if you know ehere to look. The jungle floor covering is pretty thin and in my experience of hiking back to jungle cenotes I can't say I remember places where there was enough sediment under the jungle growth to trap swamp gas. The most common gas is probably the monkey farts. I'd bet anything that explosion was a mechanical problem. Recent coverage seems to bear that out. I'm sure you'll enjoy the holiday. If you have a free day and like old stuff do the day trip to Coba. It's a recently uncovered Mayan site with lots of buildings and a 325' pyramid you can still climb if you don't mind heights. Chichen Itza is farther to travel and they don't let you climb the pyramid any more. The tour companies like Thomas (whatever) have beautiful modern air conditioned buses and you're really quite close where you'll be staying so the bus trip is probably less than 30-45 minutes each way. If you want to visit Cancun for anything you can ride nice modern highway buses cheap. Forget cabs for that. Be careful with renting cars. I've heard horror stories about damage charges and the roads tend to be very pot holey in places. Also the local highway cops love tourists in rentals. A friend of mine spent $20 on each of two roadside bribes to drive his rental about 15 miles to play golf one morning. On the plus side there's really only one road so you can't get lost until you get into Cancun city. JF

Wind is always an issue this time of the year down there. I'm not sure when it neds but I'm told there are seasons when the water is dead calm off shore. We go in January every year and it's not uncommon for the ports to be closed at least once a week for a few days. It sure makes for interesting open water diving. You miss a lot of days and when you do get out the waves are pretty intimidating for the inexperienced. It's not just the seasickness which generally clears up s soon as you hit the water but getting out of the boat in big rollers is exciting enuf, climbing back aboard the dive platform is really a thrill, waiting in the trough for the deck to slap down in your face and you grab at the ladder and hang on for the upride while the tough little Mexican feller grabs at the reg on your tank to haul you up. The waves are sometimes creating 10-12' troughs so the live boat looms huge and high with the captain holding the boat into the waves just waiting for the perfect moment to ease off on the props as you grab for a hold on the water level deck right above the props. It's even more fun with the outboard driven 6 packs trying to get a ladder hold or climbing up the motor if it's off. On the fishing charters you hopefully don't have to climb aboard but you'll have constant motion to contend with. Stay out of the cabin and watch the shore as much as possible. If you gotta puke just hang your head outboard and downwind and let her fly. You won't usually be alone. I've seen guys hardly miss a word in a conversation as they turned and hurled and came straight back to the conversation while wiping their lips. One thing you'll find is that generally the Mayan locals who work the boats are great. They're little bitty guys, tough and strong as all get out and probably won't speak much english, but they know exactly what they're doing and they'll help you a lot, just grinning and smiling the whole time. Treat them with respect and tip them when you're done. They earn it. The companies make the money and these guys aren't overpaid. I've gotten to know a lot of locals through my diving and some of them work for the same companies and I hear stories from them. You'll probably find more private operators down the coast from Cancun, places like Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Akumal and even farther south but that's as far as I've had to travel for my diving. Sorry I don't have too much info on the offshore guys but when in Mexico diving is my thing. JF

That's what Bruce (my buddy) wants for his tricked out flathead with the three deuces on top. He just sold the other rod that would have been perfect but for the too cool tricked up Olds engine already resident in the open air. It was a classic Ford bucket from the 50's that some American feller offered way too much money for. Bruce had too many cars in the garage and really wanted some space. I'm surprised that he sold that one though. He'd hung on to it for at least 40 years. Kinda like the '28 Chev sheet metal I kept around for years thinking I'd get a frame for it one day (and a drive train, and an interior, and a lot of body filler, etc etc). I always ended up spending my time helping friends build cars for themselves. I guess it was cheaper fun. The rest of the fun was that invariably they wanted to test their new rods against other guys on the street but for the most part these guys couldn't drive for beans. Driving meaning shifting. I could shift. It was easy in OPC (other people's cars) because you just kept your foot to the floor and listened or felt the revs and when it felt right you hammered a shift. I never missed but I'm not sure I'd have been as cocky about it in a hot car with all my own money invested. I drove my own cars hard but the fun ones didn't have the same power, or when they did it was usually in front of an autoshifter and it was more about top end than 1/4 miles. I'm amazed looking back that I kept my license. Speaking of the old days. I bought and built a few well-used (two out of parts boxes) motorcycles and got interested in Enduro riding so my first new bike was a Yammy DT1b in 1968 for $850 all set up new from the dealer. Nifty bike that had all my Triumph and Harley riding friends laffing at me for this wimp toy. They stopped laffing the first day we took the bikes out to a farmer's gravel farm. He had some nice sod/dirt hills for climbing and the big iron boys often met there on Sunday afternoons to rip and snort up the hill on their street tires and street gearing. I showed up one day with my little Yammy with a new set of gears and a big nasty motocross tire on the back and walked up their easy hill. Before long they were all lining up to give my bike a try and they loved it. It kinda spoiled their big bike fun after that though. At least after that they allowed me to ride with them unless we were going to some place cool like Grand Bend. They didn't want to be seen with me on the Yammy but I had my own old 650 Triumph with the peanut tank, rail, front end extensions, megaphone pipes and dogbone bars that I could roll out for those rides. But I loved to ride that Yammy the rest of the time. Sure miss those days but my bike riding days kinda came to a halt on orders from SWMBO shortly after I brought my 12 year old son home on the back of the new used Kawi Ninja and before I could warn him to keep his mouth shut he blabbed that we were going some speed slightly in excess of the legal but it was on a perfect road freshly paved with excellent forward visibility and absolutely no traffic in sight. The bike didn't so much as quiver, not like the old Triumphs for sure, and Matt just kept hollering in my ear to go faster. I only got to keep that bike for the summer and was under orders never to take the boys on it again. Actually the 13 year old made that easy. He refused after hearing his brother babble. I succumbed to the pressure from the wife front finally and gave up bikes for golf and other boring grown up stuff. I'm suffering the pangs lately though. I really am missing riding. Problem is I wouldn't settle for a cruiser, only a crotch rocket and I'm not sure how my aging hips would take to that riding posture any more. It was tough enough in my 40's. I ended up standing on the pegs a lot even then. I'd also be very happy to find another Yammy Enduro for an around town ride but they're kinda rare now and while we're living in the condo parking is an issue. If you guys keep this thread running I'm gonna be back to talk about what it was like riding in the horse drawn milk wagon to save some walking on my paper route at age 11/12, working in a grocery store as a bagger/carryout and doing phone in orders and home deliveries with my boss(remember those days) Friday nites and Sats and then daily in the summer for something 50 cents per hour, two summers in a meat packing plant (seems to me the pay cheque was something like $60/wk) when summer students had to figure out how to avoid the sweet (not!) jobs on the kill floors or the stock barns (got great stories about those two summers, and I still eat meat including bologna that I mixed and chopped and hung), on the CNR spare gang lifting track and chucking escutcheon plates up and over the side of a high gondola car till the pain in your shoulders had you hanging by an elbow off the ladder and letting the train drag you along the roadbed as your free arm got torn out from the heavy little plates, on road construction trying to keep my little (we were physically about as dissimilar as two brothers could be) brother out of fights with big nasty impatient drivers who generally were pretty quick to chill when they realized they didn't just have a 125# toothpick to deal with (truth is I was never a fighter but size works too), and finally joining the ranks of employed adultery in 1965 as a teacher at a rich-making contract of $3,400/annum with benefits. I'll stop typing now. JF

You sound like a friend of mine who's been babysitting a Ford flathead with a bunch of trick heads and pistons stuff done plus a 3 deuce setup on top. He's had it since he was a teen and is still hoping to find a vintage rod for it. He had the right rod but the big ole Olds engine was too cool to change. JF

Back in 1963 when I was still in high school I bought my first car. Actually it was a share of a car. Four of us anteed up and bought a '53 Dodge/Plymouth (I forget) with a Red Ram hemi in it. Not quite the same hemi the new Chrysler cars used but we thought it sounded cool. As I recollect we paid $25 for this thing running with plates on it. I don't think we ever transferred the registration because we figgered we'd bust it before we got a month or so out of it. Of course we had no insurance. It was missing a front seat so we fastened wooden coke cases to the floor boards somehow. The muffler was totally shot so we just punched a bunch of holes in a quart oil can and wired it to the pipe where the muffler should have been. As long as you were light on the gas the noise was manageable when the cops were nearby. We lost a lot of cans but they were easy to replace. The car was a 4 door model and the centre pillars were rusted out at the bottom so that when we cornered it looked like it was sprouting a wing on the out side as the doors did the centrifugal force thing. We got used to it but it concerned those who weren't expecting it. We didn't want our parents to know about it so we just kept it parked in an alleyway and someone picked it up each morning and got the rest of the guys on the way to school. We always went to a local drivein for lunch together in it. We'd put a gallon or two of gas in it as required but any more than that and the tank leaked. I recollect that the oil it burned cost about as much as the gas did. Seems to me gas was 25 or 35 cents/gallon (not liter) then but I may have that confused with a year or two later. Imagine getting away with that today. Oh, and we were right about the expected life. I think it ran for about 6 weeks before it totally died and nothing we could do short of spending money could revive it. We towed it to the dump one day and dropped it. A few years later I bought a very clean and good running Ford Vic for $60. I don't think I had to spend a penny on it to make it a driver. I forget why but i didn't keep it long. Shame really. I'd sure like to be able to have it today for the same price. Then in 1965 I turned down a one owner '57 V8 Chevy 4 door that was immaculate. It had belonged to some old guy who garaged it every night and babied it. After he died his wife advertised it for sale for $750. I was tempted but I really wanted a 2 door. She offered to drop the price but I wasn't buying. Another missed opportunity. Times sure are different today, huh? Imagine what that Vic or the Chevy would sell for today? And imagine trying to run that Dodge today. JF

Not as salty. JF

Congratulations to all of you. Soon we'll have to take up a collection for junior sized fishing gear for your growing herd of mini-fisherpersons. JF

My wife laffs at me when I park at the empty far end of the parking but every time we get a new car I agonize waiting for the first damage to appear. I'm actually getting so that I look forward to getting it out of the way so I can stop obsessing. My last new car (the Flex) I dinged myself (by accident). I was hauling a borrowed trailer and didn't realize how square it was and barely touched the rear quarter with the trailer corner. At first I thought there was just a tiny scratch in the plastic bumper end but later realized it had actually collapsed a nice clean smooth dent in the quarter. $500 later it was good as new except for the 1/2' scratch which I kept as insurance so would be dingers would realize the vehicle was already wounded and they would go off to find a nice pristine one to hurt. JF

Good choice. I got the 46 incher (same model) a year ago and love it. Had a warrantee issue with a screen component (a small flaw in the image) but they did a great job of dealing with it. At first I was a little ticked when the dealer told me I had to contact a special warrantee department but he gave me an email to use and I almost immediately got a phone call from a pleasant and knowledgable feller. The guy asked me to send digipics of the screen problem if I could. I got a message back within 24 hours saying the parts had been shipped and repairs were arranged and the local service rep would be contacting me to do an in house fix. All done within 48 hours. I was impressed. Worked flawlessly since. JF

One of the announcers made what might be an important observation last night about Versteeg. He averaged 5 minutes less per game with Chicago. Factor that in with the increased presssure on him to play to first line expectations and it might help to explain why he's struggling. Or maybe it's just another lame excuse. I dunno. JF

There's no question that certain brands have built up better reputations than others for dependability etc. Generally the common factor is a strong dealer network and great parts support. One thing to keep in mind with all these rec type machines is having a great service/parts dealer close by unless you're a mechanical type who does all his own service work and doesn't mind waiting for parts from afar. After that it often comes down to how hard you are on the machine and how well you understand the mechanicals involved. Some guys could never figger out why I didn't have more mech problems with my toys. It was because I understood what was happening inside and treated the machine accordingly. Listen to Nascar guys talking. The crews will say the winning drivers just know what going on in the power train, and in the suspension, and the tires, etc etc. Get the lowdown on any local dealers and then make that at least a part of your decision. I've always contended that most of the big brands are actually pretty good. A lot of the after sale dependability really depends on how well the dealer does the pre-delivery. I used to strip my sleds and biked down to the basics and then reassemble them proplery. I found lots of little things I didn't like but by fixing or replacing them ahead of time like a good dealer should I avoided breakdowns on the trail. I used to feel a little bit sorry for those guys who went far afield to get the best deal or on a brand recommendation alone who later found themselves with a busted toy and a long wait for parts and service. My mean side also got a small kick out of seeing them suffer because they thought they were beating the system by not buying locally (from me, for instance). Ask the guys who give the strongest product recommendations if they have great dealer support. That's my 2 cents worth. JF

I think that was a matter of Burke choosing to do it, not having to. How many years before Boston can say whether or not they came out ahead (with reason)? Toronto can honestly say they have a very good producer already producing. Unless Boston's picks turn out to be head and shoulders better than Kessel it will be years before they can claim hey won the trade. It will all depend on each players longevity. In any case, what are the chances that the draft picks will still be with Boston when Kessel is gone from hockey. The long and short of it is that Toronto has got what they need now. Maybe Boston's plans allow for a few years of development. That's nice for them. JF

I watch because I get a kick out of seeing what they dream up as a way to test the premise. I liked the lead balloon they built recently. The whole premise kinda silly from the gitgo but the cosntruction was fun. My first thought when the young guys were testing how long you could hang from a ledge by your fingertips was "Why drop past an open window?" Was anyone surprised when the guy ripped his shin on the ledge? But the show's kinda fun, if a little silly at times. JF

I laffed when I saw that. I wonder how many guys (and girls) from the business sector have that book on a shelf somewhere. I picked it up years ago because of the title and how perfectly it described my mgmt role. JF

You beat me. manifold was the first thing that occurred to me. As for where the sound seems to be coming from I've decided that if it sounds like a rear end noise, then it's for sure from the front, and if it sounds left, it's for sure right. JF

I was dragged back reluctantly to fishing by an old friend. We had fished together as kids on the Thames & Trout Creek but I got away from it by the time I was about 15. After a hiatus of about 45 years Rob talked me into going wading with him one evening. I had no gear of any lind so I went to CTC and picked up a $29.95 combo and away we went. Did I mention I was a reluctant returnee? Well, the reluctance quickly disappeared and it wasn't long before I was the one initiating the trips to the creek. And being the gearpig I am naturally I began to acquire everything. It wasn't long before I realized that Rob was only interested in fishing with cheap whippy rods, 4# test mono, and grey Rapala minnows. My gearpigginess of course had already led to a huge conglomeration of stuff which I had no idea how to use, and Rob was no help there. Having had a great experience with internet groups when I took up scuba diving I naturally went hunting for kindred spirits on the 'net. I lucked out when I discovered OFC almost immediately. I had already checked out a few others but it was immediately apparent that OFC was the place for me. For one thing it was all about Ontario fishing and there seemed to be a great bunch of people. I've learned an incredible amount of stuff about fishing since I joined up. I've also gotten to know some exceptional people who've helped me out IRL. Pretty much the same experience as I had with my diving. I met people from all over N.A. and ended up with invitations to dive with some of the best (literally). I feel the same way about OFC. I have such a backlog of invitations to join them to try pretty much every kind of fishing Ontario offers that I don't know if I'll ever catch up, but it's sure fun trying. It's interesting to note the ebb and flow of membership as very active people appear and generate lots of activity for a while, then they fade a little or even completely. That's fairly common with these affinity groups I've discovered. Sometimes people just need a little break to rev up the enthusiasm again. Other times they simply don't come back. Perhaps they figure they have nothing more to learn or perhaps their fishing interest was a fleeting thing. I've gotta give a special thank you to Garry2r's for letting me bunk at his place so often and ride on his nifty bassboat. As well as hosting and feeding me, fishing with Garry is like a non-stop fishing tutorial on fish and gear. It's made me realize how invaluable a great guide can be when you want to learn how to do it right. If you haven't tried that style of fishing wangle an invitation to join someone on their BB, especially if you like going fast on the water like I do. But remember that speed means gas and gas means expensive, so don't be shy about offering to share the operating costs to a generous host. It's well worth it for the fun you'll have going zoomy all over the lake. So that's my story. Nothing but good has come out of this association in the 4 or 5 years I've belonged to OFC. Thanks to everyone involved, particularly the folks who keep the site running. Also big thanks to the many who have taken the trouble to invite me out with them. I wish I had the time to keep up. This summer's medical setback sure hasn't helped but hopefully next summer I can make up for the time I missed this year. JF

I'm not disappointed they lost. As several have already said they even lost their first game well, by getting a point. They showed more comeback heart than we've seen in a long time too. But it was inevitable that they'd lose eventually. Any kind of streak always ends up being a monkey on the streaker's back. The longer the Leafs went undefeated the more media and fan pressure there would be to extend it and that just isn't usually reasonable except in a cup run. No team has ever gone a season undefeated, have they? Now our Leafs can settle down to just playing for as many wins as possible without any unreasonable expectation to win 'em all. The final neat thing is that it takes away one more thing for the naysayers to take cheap shots at. Now the Leafs are just another team with a win/loss record. As far as I'm concerned they've got the makings for a decent run. I don't think anyone should expect a Cup final out of them but I suppose it's not beyond the realm of possibility. I'll be satisfied with a consistent season with a positive win/loss record and a little adventure into the cup run, a round or two would be nice. More than that would be wonderfully unexpected and a great precursor of what next season might bring. As for the power play, it looks to me like #3 is trying to hard to involve the other guys and not shooting enuf himself. I like the way he goes to the net but some more shots from the line wouldn't be bad either. it's like he's too aware that he has some accomplished scorers up front and is trying to feed them, or mebbe he's taking the C too seriously. Regardless, the fact remains that we're 4 & 1 for the season and we're getting goal production from some surprise people. Even the much maligned Kaberle is producing from the line, both rushing and shooting. I wonder is Gunnerson's job is in jeopardy. He sure hasn't lived up to last year's preview and the leaf are definitely deep at the Dee end. Okay, that's end of my Leaf babbling for now. I couldn't stay out forever. Way to go, Leafs. JF

DAYUM!!!!!!!! Very nice. I'm not even going to try to tell you how impressed I am. Especially considering all the negative feedback you got at the beginning. I'm thinking that other than the motor it really didn't matter what shape everything was in, you would have gutted it anyway. Great result. I wish I'd contributed ssomething but mayhap you'll still let me on it. JF

Thanks for the best wishes, all. Solo - you have no idea what real aging is like, you young punk. But yer turn will come. Truly, I've been totally immobilized due to the leg swelling and I'm shocked at how fast the muscle (what there was) has turned to blubber. Feels like my chest/waist measurements have just reversed themselves and my arms and legs look like they belong on a little old man. Hopefully, now that I'm loosening up a bit I can start to at least get some walking in. At least I've gotten past walking like a bowlegged old rodeo reject. Rick - Thanks for the offer of help when you're in town but I've got lots of family all pestering me for things to do. Other than not being allowed to drive because of the meds I'm quite independent now. It's mostly just a case of getting my body back in some semblance of shape (not that it has ever been that great since my sports days) while we wait for the meds to finish working their magic. Doc warned me to be patient. As for fishing, not likely gonna happen the rest of this season. I barely have my carpet legs let alone river legs. 'Nuff for now. Later JF

Thought I should check in to explain my absence in case it matters to anyone. A while back I was having trouble with my leg and realized it was treatment time when it swelled up like a sausage and I could bend it any more. Well, that led to 2 weeks in the hospital, mostly cuz they were convinced I had a heart issue which turned out to be nothing. In fact, they decided my heart was in exceedingly great shape after a week of monitoring and ecg's etc. So that left treatment for the large blood clot in my leg which caused swelling right up into my hip which kept me flat on my back until a week or so back. I'm awash in blood thinner and painkillers (which got me orders from the doc not to drive). At first I was stuck flat on my back due to the leg swelling but recently I've been able to sit up for brief periods to respond to emails. My backlog of business and personal stuff of course took precedence so y'all have been left on the back burner cuz I knew once I started I'd get caught up in the banter and fun again. But don't count on much just yet. I'm still limited in how long I can sit up. Bending the hip is problematic. I'm more comfortable standing up than sitting. My apologies to those of you I left hanging with real estate questions. If I can still help send away. I'll try to follow up this time. So that's it for now. My doc says she's happy with the response in my leg and is cutting back the meds but says I won't be out jogging for a few more weeks. Later JF

Why me? I last worked on sleds in 1975. I don't even know what brand you're working on. Back in my day I think all engines were configured so you couldn't mix up the cylinders. Stands to reason the hot cylinder is the one away from the fan assuming the fan is a pusher nd the near one if the fan is pulling the air.. JF

I won't put less than 15# braid on spinning reels. Anything less is a pita. JF

It sure ain't for her fishing skill. It's more about the belly button I suspect. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. JF

She could be the next Maryko Izumi, except she'll know how to fish. JF