Tom S

This video popped up on my feed this morning, thought it was one of the better videos I have seen in while and thought I would share. Well filmed, good commentary. Love the scene at 1:50 where the fly just disappears into this massive mouth. Wish I could cast a heavy fly that smoothly.

I feel like this would be 10 times better if it gave intermittent twitches and spasms rather than a steady beat. That steady beat while the bait doesn't move forward or backwards is odd as heck, you might as well troll with a lipped swimbait at that point in my opinion. A random twitch would really make that bait look like it's in distress and dying.

That one is an easy pattern. Find a tern and tie to to the hook.

For any of the HVAC / Refrigeration guys: I once spent an entire morning trying to figure out where a system I had added a flow meter to was plugged - swapped the TXV, swapped the drier, swapped the solenoid and still no flow. Took the flow meter out and connected some hoses to it and blew some nitrogen through, no plug there. Installed it again and still no flow. Getting really frustrated now. Pulled the flow meter again, and then realized that I had not removed the valve cores from the 1/4" flare fittings on the meter. Felt like an idiot. Took out the valve cores, put everything back together, and it worked just fine after that.

FYI Doge Caravans are known for having this issue.

Did one turkey on the BBQ yesterday. Another meal tomorrow. Very much blessed and thankful.

My two cents on this - closed cell is nice and is in many was a superior insulating product, but it's insulating and sealing properties can actually be detrimental at times. Building envelopes become so tight that heat recovery ventilators are required to be installed because the building is unable to breathe. At a certain point any energy savings gained by the use of foam is lost through the ventilators, which can run anywhere from 50-90% efficient (depending on models and design). I believe that spray foam is excellent for use in places such as basements where a tight seal and mold resistance is a great property, but not so much on the main levels of buildings. R24 batting between studs with an R5 sheathing is plenty good enough for the rest of the building and may reduce the need for whole house ventilation compared to sprayed foam. PS. Love watching this build progress thread.

I have fly fished from a kayak, but didn't find it to be overly great. Stability was no issue, but you sit really close to the waterline which can affect your casting room. Also any small projections or hardware on the kayak tend to grab fly lines.

I've got the 5/6 in the 8' length, and with 7WF line it can punch out bass bugs and streamers without much trouble. Love that combo. I think it was $25 for the rod, $20 for a used Shakespeare Beaulite reel, and I had the line already. And you don't want and Aetos. You want a Fenglass.

I am going to recommend that before you put any money into equipment that you either hook up with an experienced fly caster or take some lessons through a reputable teacher. Let them know that you're just starting and ask them to bring a few rods for you to test cast. That will let you get a feel for different rods and figure out what feels best for you. The second thing I'm going to recommend is looking for some decent used equipment. There are more than enough fellows out there with money to burn who upgrade every year or two, and if you can get a line on some of that equipment you can get some top-quality equipment for a great price. As recommended, put money into the rod. For trout and bass you won't be putting them on the reel anyhow. Lines are debatable - to get a quality line you don't always need to break the bank. I would stay away from any lines you can purchase at Crappie Tire and look instead at either purchasing either an overrun line from flylines.ca or something like a Barrio line that won't break the bank. That leads me to my biggest beef with the fly fishing industry. The markup and the hype around the 'newest' equipment and lines can be ridiculous. A Rio line may be top class and may help you cast a bit farther, but practice and good form are more important than expensive lines. For the $60-$90 a Rio line will cost you can purchase 3-4 overrun lines to try out and see what balances your outfit and casting style better. Maybe even step up a line weight from the rod's rating for the first while to make loading the rod a bit easier, then buy a line matching the rod weight to feel the difference. Get an intermediate line for stillwater. If you're really looking for the cheapest, funnest setup out there I'm going to recommend an Eagle Claw Featherlight. The rod is indestructible, costs about $25, and has quite the following among fiberglass admirers. Just be aware that you'll probably need to go up a line weight or two in order to get it casting correctly, they are rated a bit strangely.

Very much doubt that they would be Atlantics. There may be the occasional Atlantic returning, but the majority of the fish are Pacific salmon.

Still lots of water for an inflatable pontoon. Put in at Fanshawe, pull out at Komoka. See the city by water.

Interesting, this popped up on a blog I follow this morning. http://digital.vpr.net/post/restore-healthy-rivers-conservationists-find-success-removing-small-dams#stream/0

Let it flow! Dams cause way more problems in the long run than they end up fixing. The only reason we need flood control is because we're building to close to the river and not respecting the high-water flows that are needed at certain points of the year. Putting in a dam may 'fix' flooding problems, but you now have another piece of infrastructure that needs to be maintained, and people think they can safely build tight to the water because it's 'controlled'. The dam allows silt to accumulate, destroying fish habitat and eventually causing safety issues if not maintained. On large rivers damming the river prevents the silt from travelling to the outlet of the river, where it is needed to form barrier islands (ask New Orleans how that works after Katrina). The Dutch have started an interesting project called 'Room for the River'. They don't view the river as something to be conquered or subdued, but rather have begun designating and creating flood plains to deal with the highest expected flows of the river. This does not prevent floods, but gives them somewhere to go. Plus the flood plains become green space the rest of the year for all to enjoy. In the US there have been some interesting dam removal projects (the Elwha river is a notable one) and the return to natural landscape and the return of native wildlife has been much faster than was expected.

I remember the Hamilton air shows from years past, my grandparents lived in line with the end of the runway so we could sit there and watch everything come over. I can remember seeing the Stealth Bomber one year, paratrooper shows, wing walkers, and snowbirds. It's unfortunate that it's been downsized so much these days, but still great to see them flying the museum aircraft quite often. Watched the Harvard take off this morning and the Cornell was up later on in the day. I think the plane that made the biggest impression on me was the year they had an A-10 Warthog come up for the show - you know, the one with the massive gattling gun sticking out the nose. My grandparent's place was surrounded by sod fields, but they had a border of mature trees around the property. We knew the A-10 was in the air and could hear it flying around the property, but could not see it. This pilot was having fun flying just over treetop level and was circling around just out of sight. We could hear him coming around for another pass and figured he would once again loop around out of sight when BAM the warthog blasted over the border of mature trees and came right over top of us. He was gone in seconds, but it really gave me the impression of the terror that one must feel when they're being hunted by an A-10. Lancaster is also a favorite. They used to follow a route down the Grand River to Erie quite often, and I know from personal experience that when those 4 Merlin engines are turning you can in fact hear it over the noise of the diesel tractor you're driving. I can only imagine what a squadron of them would have sounded like.

The investment in equipment and materials to make rod blanks is substantial, even more so with longer and more technical blanks. The mandrels need to be made on a centerless grinder, the rolling tables are not cheap, and the oven needs to be custom made. Quality pre-preg graphite is sold in large quantities, got to carry lots of inventory. On a high-volume rod these costs can be spread out over a lot of rods, with a low-volume rod such as a centerpin rod the markup needs to be much higher to recoup those costs and make some money. Agreed about the busy designs. I see some of the saltwater rods being made and it's like they're trying to compete with NASCAR. I feel that a bigger statement is made by one or two classy accents rather than a rod covered in statement pieces.

Keeping my eyes to the horizon waiting for a tire fire to be lit.

Totally separate issue. This is not about land claims, this is not about native rights. It's about who is the legitimate government on the reservation, and Caledonia is being held hostage by one group as a way to show their legitimacy.

Because if you purchased it from the refinery you would be paying tax on it. Every company that the gas goes through pays some tax, unless they are able to avoid it through special regulations (native status and sold on the reservation).

Problem is that this stems from in internal Six Nations issue, which nobody in Caledonia can do anything about. They are literally being used as a bargaining chip in a power struggle.

Piss on that

Had to fill up both the car and the van today. Gulp. $1.19 this morning when I filled up the car. $1.25 this evening when I filled up the van. At least the car should last a couple weeks of commuting to work.

Condolences. Saw the article in the news and knew it had to be a bad one.