JohnF

The Scotties, the Briar & PGA golf are about the only tv time my wife and I can enjoy together. She's not that interested in hockey and I can't stand figure skating (or Survivor). JF

Do a bit on gov't regulation when discussing mitigating factors - i.e. nutrient management requirementss for ag ops. JF

A definite improvement. Did a few of those makeovers myself back in the day (the day when my wife would still let me play). JF

Burke's been around for a while now and may have something up his sleeve. A losing season was a foregone conclusion anyway, made more obvious by some of the Wilson's moves (Cujo in Shootout cold, Stapleton put in the cleanup spot in Shootout, etc). I'm not sure what their cap situation is but it just got a little better I assume. Also, we now have it confirmed that Toskala was playing hurt despite suggestions to the contrary. After some body work who can tell how good he might be? JF

Sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious to some. JF

1. Should we all think twice before sending posts that offer nothing but another notch on our post count? 2. Should we start paying something for this? JF

Wouldn't that inhibit the vibrations? Seems to me adding anything is gonna alter the flow of water over/past the lure. A twist in the wire would be less disruptive. JF

Oh yeah, and the curling was great. Nowhere near as many wrecks. JF

The drivers need to drive more carefully. All those yellows are slowing up the action. Don't they have a training school for 'em? JF

Jeez. I had no idea what a sensitive bunch y'all were. Put those lyrics together and let Cliff lay down some music for 'em. I can sure relate to that "moments gone" thang. Had lots of those in my squandered youth. JF

Friend of mine used to have a beagle. He just assumed that whenever he took the beasty into the bush on a bird hunt he wasn't gonna see him for a few days. They hunted a lot at the back of our farm and the little guy would just show up at my door one morning, looking pretty exhausted, ready to go home. We could actually hear him sometimes, chasing rabbits or whatever he was doing, making a helluva racket back there. His name was Rammy. Great name for his personality. JF

You wouldn't get along with my wife then. JF

Thanks. I'm looking forward to the search. JF

I tried Norton years ago and quickly became disenchanted with so many things about it. So I gave McAfee a try and liked it less. I forget exactly why after all these years. So I went back to Norton. The company did itself in by giving me a ridiculously hard time over a little mail in rebate. The only reason I pursued it was the principle, and by the time I was doen I had sworn never to use Norton again. One thing I do remember clearly is the futility of trying to uninstall Norton from a computer. AVG leaves as gently as it installs and I've had no problems that I'm aware of with it. If I switched now I'd perhaps try the Kaspersky software. Heard good things about it. JF

I think you already argued against your own point pretty darned well. Did enuf of that stuff when I was young. It was fun then. Now it's a pita. I haven't kept up with modern auto technology and even my tools are out of date. I've got a big box full of Snap-On stuff that I started buying back before I went to university. At best it comes out occasionally to deal with a minor emergency on one of the lawn mowers or snowblowers. Nowadays you've got about as much chance of getting it right on your modern car as you do on your computer. Fugedabodit. I like to spend my spare time playing, not up to my elbows in greasy parts and strange looking computers trying to figger out what's what. I'm happy to leave that stuff to the guys like Bernie who know what they're doing. JF

Excellent timing for this thread. My plan for next summer is to start hauling my good wife to some of these towns in hopes she'll be smitten and agree to buying a modest little place for us to use in the summer. We're close enough to retired now and we both have retirement work that we can do from pretty much anywhere in Ontario with a bit of planning. I'm less excited about a sandy beach than a nice rocky shore, preferably lots of different ones, and a few bass, pike, and pickerel would be fine. I might even get her interested in fishing again. Keep the suggestions coming. JF

Go back to the skill set and training thang. What's she trained for? What kind of people skills does she have, organizational abilities, time management, self motivating, etc. If she has most of those maybe she should park the cash and look at something like real estate sales. I've been in it for 33 years and it ain't a bad gig. You've gotta be able to work independently, and be able to live with sporadic pay cheques, but it can generate nice living and afford you the luxury of plenty of time off when you want it. Later on, when she gets established, then she uses the golden parachute to leverage some income property buys. JF

I knew wasabi came from someplace disgusting. JF

I'm with you. It's just never occurred to me to look closely at chicken poop. For those who do, what's the attraction? JF

Good point. There's nothing like a small business startup to screw up the leisure time. But don't let all the negative talk dissuade you before you even explore the options. If no one took a chance there'd be no more entrepreneurs. JF

Huge question, even bigger answer. 70 grand will disappear pretty fast in a lot of businesses tat involve inventory or special equipment, and won't make a dent in many profitable franchises. I'll be interested to read the suggestions you get. JF

Does it count if the furnace goes out? JF

A lot of you here already have a very marketable skill, or perhaps I should say barterable. Yer not too squeamish to gut a fish or butcher an animal. Lotsa folks out there would be a long time getting hungry enuf fer that and it should make you a valuable person in a subsistance community. But heaven help us if it ever actually comes to that. I think the only order of the day would be anarchy and devil take the hindmost. There'd be very high attrition until we'd culled the herd pretty thoroughly. The safest place would probably be way way out in the boonies. JF

The ones I've seen on yer roads are pre-shucked. JF

Even better than fishing. JF