Rattletrap2

Youngone, You pretty much have the fishing stores pegged. I'd take Bass Pro and Gander Mountain over Cabela's these days. The last two times I have been to Cabelas, I was disapointed. They seem to let their stock run low on a lot of stuff. The Wife and Daughter enjoyed Birch Run Outlet mall, but I could easily pass that one up! I think Cabelas is closer to Detroit than Auburn Hills is. Dundee is almost Ann Arbor. At least it is a straight drive South. I wanted to hit the Janns Netcraft store like Paul suggested, but didn't quite make it last time. Have fun!

Well John....I for one.....would like to put a motion on the table....that you immediately stop posting these offensive and disgusting photos of places that I am not able to visit! If this is how you choose to fritter your own life away.....while we good Canadians stay here and freeze our arses off....then at least have the decency to take us along with you next time! Looks like a nice place! Enjoy!

Great news Dave! Let's hope they get the cause sorted out soon so it can be prevented from happening again!

Dave, My thoughts are with your little Izzy and the whole family! I can't imagine what you are all going through right now. Stay strong and let's hope they get a handle on this very soon!

My condolences on your loss as well Steve. Sounds like he was pretty special.

Nice trip and pictures Wayne! That really sucks about the truck! Especially when they advertise about "Factory Trained" service!!! They would be the first ones yacking about the need to torque....if it was anyone else doing the work.

PM sent as well Cliff! Thanks

Cliff, We lost our power at 7:58 am on Sunday morning....and it finally came back on at about 6:30 pm Sunday night. I went out for coffee and saw the tree down across the wires on Highway 10. Called in the location and all, but they said the outage only affected (1) customer!!! Arghhhhh... the fellow across the road was away and I guess none of my neighbours called in! Fortunately after the flood last January 8th, I had installed a 12 volt back-up sump pump...otherwise we would have certainly been underwater in the basement. The thing was pumping out every couple of minutes all day and all day Monday when back on the 120 volt pump. The river behind my home was up higher than anyone has ever seen it. We had about 6 inches to go before we would have been in major trouble! Fortunatel it is back down tonight. The winds yesterday night sure had me worried! The high winds on Sunday caused me lots of damage and the BBQ went flying right off my deck! I guess the 4 inches of snow today don't seem too bad compared to the winds we were seeing. I managed to find a small rental generator in Brampton on Sunday when we thought we would have to go through the night without power. Of course the power came back on 5 minutes after I wired up the Generator and fired it up! A portable generator is on my list of things to purchase if anyone hears of any good deals!!

Sad news indeed Tom. Sorry for your loss, and you have my deepest condolences as well.

Radnine, OT = Off topic I have an Ariens 11.5 h.p. with a 24" width. Unit is built like a tank, but here in "the land of the ice and snow", it was a good investment! It is also the weight of a tank though and is not easy to lug around. That is discouraging news to see Tecumseh is gone. The SnowKing engine was always a main engine on many, many machines! I use the snow blower as a back-up to my ATV with a 60" plow blade. It is also used around the house to clean up close. I looked at many brands when I bought mine, and almost bought the Murray machine from HD. I tried a buddies Ariens and noticed a huge difference in the quality and construction compared to the others I had looked at including Craftsman. I'm sure I also paid more, but I bought mine from HD in the month of August and saved $400 by buying a leftover floor model. It just happened to be the exact model that I was going to buy from a dealer and the new years models were actually going up in price, so I could not pass up the deal. I also have an Ariens walk behind grass trimmer that does a great job. I try to purchase most of my stuff from local dealers whenever I can. The HD deal was just too good in the case of the snowblower!

My condolences as well Mr. B. Sorry to hear of this happening at any time, but especially this time of year is tough. Brian

Rob, We have never met to my knowledge, but I do recall your earlier posts last year regarding Chris's illness. I am terribly sorry for your loss and you have my deepest condolences. Please remain strong. Brian

Rick, I have not been on the board much lately, but was concerned to read about your illness last night! Glad to hear things are getting sorted out and they have a plan to treat this for you. Take good care of yourself and get well! Brian

If DTSam signs in, he will know. Lot's of folks around that area should be able to help.

Cliff, We is as old as dirt! That's why we remember and enjoy these memories! douG, Hard to believe that Junior Forest Rangers and Adventures in Rainbow country were actually filmed in Boyd Conservation lands around Woodbridge, ON. A few shots of Northern Ontario thrown in for effect.

Wow, lots of reading here! First off, I have worked for Unionized employers all of my adult life. I spent the first three working for an aircraft company that was CAW/UAW. It was a totally screwed up mess on all sides! The union and the company were to blame. I don't think you can make blanket statements about all unions. The Trade Unions (construction trades)are a completely different thing than the unions in the manufacturing sector. I also worked for a "Family" business that was also unionized for over 22 years. This company could be one of the most ruthless outfits out there! Office staff who were not unionized were extremely poorly treated. In this case, the union was important to set standards for the unionized workers. Although I was always treated well ( and worked very hard for this treatment), I can honestly say that I felt for sorry for a lot of people who were abused, and this was one of the reasons I gave it up. I am now employed by the Union and am proud of this. I can tell you that no one is lazy, protected for the wrong reasons, or overpaid! We all work long hours and give it everything we have! I think you will find this in most Trade Unions. I would think that DanC for example works damn hard for his money and deserves every penny of it. He is trained and highly skilled. Working conditions would make some people cringe! People in our industry who can't cut it, are unemployed! Let's just be careful of using too wide of a brush when painting some of these pictures!

Is that an "add-on" snorkel on the Honda?

We stopped ALL classes and ALL students and staff took part in a short assembly this morning. We played the video of "A Pittance of Time" by Terry Kelly and stood for our two minutes of silence. I have seen this many times now, but it always moves me the same. There really is no way we can ever repay these men, women, and children (many were not even old enough to be there) for their courage, valour, and in some cases, the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we all enjoy today. For those still fighting for the cause, wherever that may be, I am truly thankful and wish them a speedy and safe return home. Godspeed

Yikes, Some mighty fine reading as always. Enjoyed that!

I got mine and enjoyed it even more than the premier issue......even though the bikinis were missing! We signed up for a contest, but they decided to send these sample issues out to a large group of people from this site instead of just the winners. So far, so good.

Great report as always Justin! Interesting choice of lures as well. I noticed the Cicada in the fourth photo is something I don't see two often. The hair jig looks like a nice bait as well. Is that a BPS jig? All those photos of beautiful Bass are hard to take when some of us have to put the boats away early, but I'm glad someone is out there enjoying themselves!

Gerritt, I remember that day all too well. It is hard to believe that it has been six years already. I was absolutely floored to read your post that evening when I got home from work. I recall meeting You and Spiel at the funeral and recall how painful that time was for you. I can't imagine going through anything like that myself. Little Terence is in my thoughts quite often. Take care. Brian

Thanks Glen! You have a good week-end too....and I guess in this case, She really is the better half? LOL

Clamp-it, We do understand your very rational approach to all of this, but who said we were talking about rational people or processes? LOL I try to buy the majority of my gas from a small independent station on my way to and from work. I do this because he always charges a cent or two less than the others around him. Since i am in there on a regular basis, we always discuss the prices while my credit card purchase goes through. On many occasions, he has shown me the paperwork that he receives from his fuel supplier (Sunoco) that gives him what price he will pay for the gas sold each day. This price sheet is for a month in advance and details each day of the week or month. For instance, he showed me that his cost would go down 2.7 cents per liter plus GST at midnight tonight. So, he receives his regular fillings from the tanker to keep his underground tanks full, but the price he will pay for the actual liters sold on a given day will cost him a pre-determined amount per liter. It has nothing to do with the price of a barrel of crude or the hurricanes in the south. It is all a game that they are forced to play. He decides how many pennies per liter he wants to make. He always stays slightly lower than his neighbouring stations and his volume is always higher for a given day. The profit for the station is only a couple of cents per liter. Another station I go to for boat gas up north told me that their volume is very low for any given day. They are on a lesser travelled road and only have so much traffic to deal with. She told me that if even one customer drives off without paying for their gas, that their entire profit for the day is lost. I would think She is telling the truth. They have to operate a store as well to pay their bills. I also used to service Petro Canada stations for a few years. Their Management told me that the profit to the station from gasoline sales was peanuts. The real profits come from their car washes first, and then their convenience store sales second.

Nice Bass! I've driven past Bellwood and live fairly close. Do they allow outboards on that lake?