maybe

Uhm...Glen...you might wanna apologize to bassmaster4 for callin him a girl. As for reports from me, don't hold your breath. Jeff's been picking the spots, and his internal radar seems to be stuck on "OOS bass and 6 inch perch." Can you really call it a mutiny if there's only 2 of you on the boat?

Well I guess we all know who just had a fight with his wife.

The vendor requirements aren't unusual. It's the shockingly long list of other excuses attached to them. Glad to hear you finally got a reel (and some other toys), ecmilley.

To clarify, I never said they had an approved vendor list. I pointed to Glen's copy & paste of the policy, which spells out conditions vendors must meet in order to be eligible for price matching (subject to whatever other loopholes). 1) vendor must advertise the quoted price nationally 2) stores advertising online must also operate a physical retail store location 3) vendor must not be a manufacturer 4) vendor must not sell products wholesale

Considering what we learned about BPS policy in GCD's thread, I can't agree with that. Only national advertisers will be considered. That knocked out more than 90% of the retailers on Aile Goby's list. If someone wanted to be sticky, I could see that definition being interpreted as "LeBarons and Canadian Tire only." If you're lucky enough to be quoting one of the rare approved vendors, you've still got to worry about getting rejected by 1 of the 25 more restrictions, conditions, and loopholes. Chances of making it past all that are ridiculously low. When I see Bass Pro demanding $60 over and above the ~$200 MSRP for an item, the cost of gas definitely comes to mind. For $60, Jeff & I can enjoy spending 2 days exploring Bass Pro's competitors. One of them is bound to be happy to sell me the same item at fair retail value.

Yes! Thanks! I likely screwed up and used the OFC search for tackle instead of bait. I know I used both terms on Google, and using the word bait didn't work. Surprising, since Google seems to find everything else here.

Yes, I've tried the site's search function, and a Google search limited to ofncommunity.com. Might've had better luck if I could remember who posted it, or the names of any of the little shops that were mentioned, but I'm drawing a blank.

Neither of my parents can swim. I taught myself with a lifejacket when I was 6 or 7. It may look goofy, but I think there's something to be said for learning which movements are effective before you have to worry about keeping yourself afloat. A kickboard may not be that helpful - sure, you won't sink...but you won't learn arm movements when you're hanging onto a chunk of foam. If your leg's bothering you, you don't HAVE to kick - it's not Riverdance. You'll be a little slower getting from A to B, but you'll get there. Likewise, you can "tread" water with just your arms if you need to.

If you're trying to visualize 500x75, here's an example:

Having read GCD's copy/paste, I'm not sure the guy who told Lew they don't price match was wrong. Anyone with any debating skill at all could make that huge list of "not"s cover anything they wanted to. Why not just cut to the chase and say "we may price match Cabelas (US locations only) and LeBarons (Canadian locations only), if there are no extra conditions/limitations/rewards in their sale, and you have notorized nationally-published hard copy documentation of the sale price, and the paperwork is delivered by a purple hula-dancing moose." After reading all that stuff, I don't have any questions. I'll pass on the parking lot burgers, but a restaurant swill sounds great. If everyone's doing a Q&A beforehand, I'd tag along and listen.

Wired...ohyes. Very, very rare that I'm unreachable for more than an hour and a half, at any hour of the day. Cell phone 24x7. Runs Gmail, Google Maps, and has net access. A laptop comes with me on calls, connects back to the main machine. Main computer only shuts down for power failures and equipment changes. I can log in and do anything on it from any computer with net access. Email software redirects important messages to the phone's Gmail, and sends me a text alert. I tend to keep a laptop in the kitchen now. Lets me sneak in some time with friends if I chat while I'm cooking dinner. My own e-leashes don't bother me, but it's a little surreal when Jeff brings his 4 little squawkers on the boat. 2 people, 2 pagers & 3 cells...in the middle of a lake?

Hmmm....this sounds like a great excuse to buy more rods. Thanks!

Thanks, Snag! Next time the Scarab-driving :asshat:s on our lake hurtle past at mach IV & 5,000db, I'll appreciate knowing that it could in fact be worse.

Seeing this little guy & his mom on our neighbor's Lund gave me a whole new respect for duckling power. Totally calm day, no way he hitched a ride up there on a wave.

Nice fish! Is there a pic of that 38.75 with an OFC tourney sign in it?

First and foremost, don't push the wrist until it's healed. If you think you're miserable now, think how upset you'll be if you do permanent damage by being bullheaded for a few weeks. Don't get stuck thinking that only the rod technique you used to use will work. You may have to change your physical motions a bit while you heal, but this is ok. If you can't figure out an alternate motion to use, sit down with a physiotherapist and your rod. They'll be able to help you find another way that's safe right now. In 20 years, you'll thank yourself. There's a lot of people on the water right now in worse shape than you. I'm sure the wrist hurts, and you'll look like a goober til you get comfy using another method, but you'll get there. You're a determined guy - it'll be ok.

Good camo for the pike head. How many people are going to look layers down in a pile of carnage like that?

hahahaha! That was cute...thanks!

I don't know what Beans is worrying about - I thought my burger was excellent! Cliff & Sue are stellar hosts. They managed to take a group of people who were mostly strangers offline, and put them completely at ease. I've never seen such an unfamiliar group seem so totally comfortable together. JeffBornFishin & I really enjoyed ourselves, and we're looking forward to next time! I'm still a little fuzzy on which name/handle goes with a couple of the men, but I'm always terrible with names. Please don't take it personally.

Kudos for asking!!!! We're on a big lake, and don't participate in tournaments or other high-pressure high-density events. We're out there first and foremost to unwind and enjoy the peace and quiet. It's hard to unwind when it sounds like you're sharing your boat with a bunch of hooting & hollering teenagers, or a pontoon full of squealing 4 year olds. Oddly enough, those are the 2 types of boats that seem to lurrrrve sitting right on top of us. Call me anti-social, but I'd ballpark my minimum comfort zone at about 300'. Farther is better. I don't mind our friends anchoring alongside us to visit, but anyone else...please go find your own chunk of wilderness. There's literally miles of it to choose from. If an anchored boat full of strangers could hear you scream - you're too close.

You could also try to Freecycle it. It's a mailing list type format, with individual lists for each city/region. Use the website to find the group(s) near you, and send an email "offer" saying it's up for grabs, free for the removal. After it's gone, you send another email saying "taken" and you're done. I'd be shocked if it wasn't spoken for within 24 hours. You wouldn't believe the junk I see people happily adopting on our local group.

I look after basic level computer users all day long. Reading between the lines is second nature. It was obvious that the request wasn't really about conversion software. It was about watching downloaded AVI video with the least possible strain on an older laptop. Common newbie question from someone who doesn't understand the differences in the 2 formats, and what goes into shifting between them. (No offence intended, dsn - there's no shame in being new & trying to learn!)

AVI files are downright microscopic in comparison to full-blown DVD. A big movie with lots of extras can push upwards of what, 8 gigs? A standard movie in high quality AVI usually runs 700 megs or so. The only way you're going to get 6 movie-length files onto one disc is to leave them as AVI, and play them in a DivX-enabled machine. Converting AVI to DVD isn't going to make the picture look any better. It just ties up your computer for ages, makes it work much harder than necessary, and wastes $$$$ on extra discs. If you happen to record your kid on the 6 o'clock news as an AVI, and you need to send it to a grandparent without a computer....by all means, that's a good time to convert. Something small, once in 3 blue moons. Converting isn't the solution to saving your laptop from ongoing downloads. A DivX-enabled player will make your life much easier, and save you money. Good luck with the refund!

Why not just buy a DivX-enabled DVD player? Easier than converting, and much cheaper than wasting a DVD-R for every single AVI. Philips has been making nice (if slightly cranky) models for $60-$80 for 4-5 years now. Last year, I upgraded to a beautifully stable Panasonic machine from Futureshop for about $90. You can pick them up at places like XS-Cargo or Factory Direct sometimes for about $50. Just make sure the box says certified for DivX-ULTRA to get the latest version. With these machines, you just burn the AVI files straight off to DVD (or CD) media like you would any other data file. Whack the disk into the player, and pick the video you want from an onscreen directory listing. Easy as all get out, and cheaper too - you can fit 6-7 standard movies onto one DVD-R if you leave them in AVI, and it doesn't hurt image quality. You can also use these units as MP3 players.

I've got to chime in to back up Rick & Garry. They've hit the nail on the head - this woman needs to learn about how dogs communicate. They want to cooperate, and don't just yap for the sake of being noisy. My chosen guru is Dr Stanley Coren, from the show "Good Dog!," companion site "Good Dog Zone," and several books. Not only has he done a wealth of research into dog behaviour, and proven to be a very gentle & successful trainer, but he's also a Dr & professor of human psychology. I think that puts him in an excellent position to understand the animal, and translate its world into human terms. Coren's book "How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication" is absolutely brilliant. I've always gotten along well with furballs, but the difference was night and day once I read this. It's not unusual for me now to walk into a house with an "uncontrollable" dog, and have it behave politely. FWIW, dogs tell their pups to pipe down by using one soft, low-pitched bark. I use the word "enough" in a low voice without much punch in it. Amazes me how many people start yelling at the dog - to the animal, it looks like the human's barking its head off, so they must be doing the right thing by barking themselves.