JohnF

I'm with you. I'd be interested in hearing opinions on the high and low values suggested here. Then look at the spread, consider the condition of the rig and then decide if it's worth the few dollars difference to keep looking for a better buy. I doubt most will even remember if they overpaid a bit in a few years. Even what seems to be a great buy now might turn into a real stinker with a few breakdowns etc. If it's in extra good condition then the likelihood of the motor etc standing up longer (and cheaper) is reasonably good. IOW if this would be a great deal at $7,500 and a tad expensive on average at $9k, go for it if it's what you want. You've probably frittered away $1,500 on dumber things in the past. Reminds me of a mint '57 Chevy 2 door I passed on (late 60's) cuz the old lady who owned it wouldn't take a cent less than $750 for it. JF

Sniff, sniff about the future great times ... going faster. JF

One of the things I like about Canon is the lens element quality. I'd make sure they haven't given anything up in that department with this camera. I like to carry an inexpensive river/boat cam just in case it takes a bath. The current one was a freeby with an HP printer. It shoots 8 megs and something like 10-1 optical zoom, but is a throwaway all the same. Back when I was doing a lot of diving I tried UW photography and it came with a big price tag. I flooded a flash unit once at 80' in Grand Cayman (a relatively cheap one) and it cost me $400 US to replace it on site. Water is hell on batteries and high tech circuitry. Salt water is instant death. I'm wondering whether the waterproof feature has a lot of tradeoffs in image quality. But that being said, the technological advances in digital photography are great. JF

You should go out fishing with him. It's like a 6 hour tutorial. His fuzzy little head is a huge repository of fishing info. JF

Google Earth gives lat/long JF

Think I saw them in TSC. Or a co-op might have 'em. JF

You do good wife imitation. JF

Congratulations to all of you. JF

As Mo has said, simply sign up for Gmail. I've been using it for years and it's great. It's a Google product and has lots of useful tools available. I have built my own mail groups with it. It allows large file transfers. The spam filters are good. About the only thing it stops is exe file transfers. The best part about it is that it is available to you on any computer as long as you know your own pw. A friend of mine steered me to it when it was relatively new and I've been happy with it ever since. If you need a link to it pm me and I'll send the connection. It's free and very dependable. JF

I may be stretching the role of municipal planning & the OMB too much here, but it seems to me that your licence was granted under the local zoning bylaw, which is an extension of the Official Plan and the Planning Act, and if they're now pulling it under the same bylaw everyone has a right of appeal to the OMB for any planning issues. On the other hand your lawyer may tell you this licence is granted under some other municipal ordinance and therefore the OMB has no involvement. Presumably the letter will identify the applicable ordinance and the justification for the reversal under that ordinance. Unless you misrepresented the facts on your application, or your business activities are causing a disturbance, I doubt there's any provision in the ordinance for after the fact changes due to discomfited local merchants, and if the municipality has made a mistake under the zoning bylaw then you should have a right of appeal to the OMB (if you want to pay the costs of it). Good luck JF

Ask your lawyer if this is a planning issue and if so, why can't it be appealed to the OMB. I'm not suggesting that's a practical solution but it may raise some eyebrows as a credible threat. JF

Isn't that why the little beggars have wings? JF

Unless my teaching assignment is cancelled I won't be attending. I'm in front of a class until 4, then packing up materials etc and will be an hour away from home. Guess I'll have to make other plans to collect my jigs from Dawg. Probably someone from close by will be attending (like Slowpoke). Mebbe I can twist his arm to play courier. He only lives an hour away and if I play it right I might even get out on his boat. JF

Okay. Here's my stupid question of the day - Is there any reason why a solid piece of plastic type stuff wouldn't work? I'm thinking the same density of material as they use for dasher boards at rinks etc. Is the problem cost, weight or rigidity? JF

Spear fishing and bug hunting is a hoot. And I've actually been within a couple of feet of several sizeable Muskies in the St.Lawrence (down 25'). I also swam shoulder to shoulder with a whole herd of 4' Tarpon in Grand Cayman, petted a shark in Mexico, stared down a huge Barracuda in Florida, etc. Diving is a wonderful way to see fish when they're relaxed just doin' what fish do, even in our cold northern waters. JF

Scuba gear. JF

That canoe looks good on the SUV. Nice catch. Looking forward to a good read when you get back. JF

Perhaps it has something to do with navigable waterways. Marinas are typically not what I would consider a waterway so much as a man-made or at least maintained boat haven. I don't think the law actually means the surface of any water is accessible to the public, but I've been wrong before. JF

This is probably a reach, but is there any chance that adding that little bit of plastic (surgical tubing) might disrupt the water flow or the lure weight enuf to change the performance of the lure? Some of the poorer quality brands it might not be so noticeable, but with the better quality (tuned) units I would always be wondering if the dynamics have been affected. We're told that the knot is so important with certain lures (the loop with rapalas) so why shouldn't this get the same kind of consideration? That being said those open loop lures are sure a pita to use sometimes. JF

He meant it tasted good. Boil up a mess of it in fresh lake water and top with wild garlic and panfish in a concentrated milk white sauce. JF

Have it on a small spinning reel and like it except for the fraying. I just cut off a few yards yesterday to clean it up for this year. I have other reels with Stren braid with no fraying at all. JF

I would think a business called Rotten Ronnie's Bait & Tackle would have bigger customer relations issues than a bit of competition in the neighbourhood. "Didja wanna little worm slime on that weeny, ma'am, or some boraxed salmon roe spread?" I for one am always tempted to buy my food at places that also sell live bait. It's all about the freshness I guess. JF

I suspect the odds are extremely high against you contracting anything, particularly in Cancun. From personal experience I can tell you that the Hotel Zone is a very clean and safe place and a long long way geographically from Mexico City with the Gulf of Mexico as a natural barrier. But that being said, when attention turns to talk of a "pandemic" involving an airborne virus I wonder if there's any trip worth getting on a plane full of humanity for. JF

I thought you had to tune in the channel with the satellite decoder. I believe I've heard of dedicated satellite digital recorders that can be set to record something other than what you're watching but never a dedicated vhs unit. JF