Dave Bailey

I was thinking of adding a Scugog date to the Gals 'n' Pals tournament, but even though I've sent two e-mails to the township about using the Port Perry dock I've received no reply. Anyone got an 'in', or any ideas about who to get in touch with? I'd like to find out before printing up brochures for the spring fishing show.

Plenty of hemp beers for sale here, think I've tried them all. THC content is somewhere between none and zero.

Quite true, the shakes don't set in until the work is done.

Okay, didn't know that. This one's probably close to 20 years old, so I'm still guessing 2-stroke. Of course, I could just ask him...

Thank you gentlemen! I'm certain that it's a 2-stroke, can you even get a 4-stroke that small?

Now that my father-in-law is giving up his sailboat it looks as if we are about to take over his dinghy, a 10ft Zodiac, which means that we can now start covering more water than we could in the canoe. But I need some advice from all you more experienced boaters about what to do on a couple of points. First of all, is it okay to lay down the outboard (8hp Mercury) for transport in the back of my station wagon? Or am I going to have a big oily mess on the floor? Second, I have thought about getting a small trailer so that I don't need to inflate/deflate it constantly and stuff it in the back of the car. But it suddenly struck me that it may be possible to transport it on the roof. It's light enough to lift up and down, certainly easier than the canoe, and it's got about 75 zillion places on it to attach tie-down ropes. Thing is, I don't think I've ever seen anyone transport an inflatable on their roof, so maybe I'm missing something obvious (not unlikely I assure you! )

Common misconception that bears hibernate. They go into a very deep sleep, but it isn't true hibernation. They can rouse during warm spells, but I doubt that the recent few days would have any effect.

U.S. to step up fight against Asian carp

Take a little bit of glam, little bit of punk, little bit of techno, and a whole lot of kick ass weird, and you wind up with Sigue Sigue Sputnik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk30a0qsVIk

Sandy Horne has to be the most drop-dead gorgeous bassist ever to lay down a beat:

About time for drug references:

It's possible, but as yet it's not as bad as some think. Snopes has a piece on it here.

FACT: A ladder is the cheapest and most useless piece of equipment in any contractor's arsenal. EVIDENCE: Every couple of days the traffic reports are warning of a ladder in the road, usually on an expressway. THEREFORE: Obviously if they lose one they can pick another up at the nearest dollar store, if they can be bothered. Q.E.D.

Yep, realised I screwed up on the Soo. Buffalo and the Niagara peninsula get basically the same thing, and if we get a weather pattern coming from the east we get whacked pretty good too. But it holds for most other places in the north.

I think it's the French River, at least that was always the point at which license fees went down.

I thought alcohol was integral to understanding it?

And THAT is one of the things that northerners don't have to face. A streamer coming off Hudson Bay will never make it far enough to affect Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, etc. They aren't very predictable, and when they do occur they snake around like a whip, the tail end could be dumping snow on Brampton at 2pm and then move to Markham by 3, and back again by 4. Another truism. There aren't many people in Sudbury who work in North Bay, nor many in Timmins who work in Cochrane. In most northern communities the work is where you live, down here your company might move around a few times for various reasons, and if you want to keep your job, benefits, and pension, you either move house or face a different and sometimes longer commute. There's also the whole 'used to it' factor to consider. I don't laugh at Floridians when they get a rare belt of winter, they shouldn't be 'used to it', and instead I sympathize with their plight. Nor should they laugh at us when we get a stifling heat wave or the odd hurricane - we're not set up to handle it, and it would be uneconomical to be prepared for them all the time. Should we laugh at northerners when they come down here and get lost in a maze of Toronto traffic in a rush hour? I don't, and I've helped out quite a few with directions, advice, and even sometimes a 'follow me', even if it takes me out of my way. You can have a quiet chuckle among your fellows, but to throw it in the face of those who are genuinely inconvenienced is a bully tactic that is only done to make yourself feel superior. Next time a northern community is staring down a forest fire I can guarantee that southerners will not be laughing, instead we'll be sending aid.

I have to constantly correct my northern friends when they chuckle and say "You people down there just don't know how to drive in the snow!" Wrong, the problem is that most of them don't know how to drive anyway, anytime, anyhow, throw snow at them and it just compounds the felony.

The Leafs and Habs game on Saturday was broadcast in 3D, and apparently a group of people(?) turned up wearing 3D glasses, and then quite seriously complained to staff that things didn't look any different. If true then I wouldn't even let them be blood donors, that level of stupidity is probably contagious.

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! THAT'S FUNNY!!! Could they ever put a positive spin on anything?

Okay, it's on the list now!

To be fair, there are a few extra problems here that the rest of the province doesn't have to face. One is the amount of traffic, nobody else has the density we have here, and rush hours are hell on even a sunny August afternoon. Rush hour in a place like Sudbury only gets delays if someone is trying to join the drive-thru lineup at Timmies. The other is the type of snow we get. Toronto creates a heat bubble, we're a bit warmer than surrounding areas, and as a result we don't often get the fluffy, easily moved snow that areas even close by enjoy. We get a heavy wet crap that isn't easy to live with. I spent many years working at Pearson with airfield maintenance, clearing snow from runways, taxiways, aprons, and roads. Not fun. I've also spent time in places like Ottawa in winter, they're colder and they get stuff that's so light that all you need to do to clear your front steps is give a good sneeze. But I admit that I was profoundly embarrassed a few years ago when an Argos rally at city hall was canceled due to cold weather. That makes Torontonians look like ultra-wimps.

The contact page says "JIM VAN RYN - OWNER/USA RETAILER SALES" Are you sure they're Canadian? I guess I could contact Dave Chong and ask him.

At this link you'll find a post I started a while back listing lots of Canadian suppliers, most with links. There are some listed who are on the board.

Bumpin' it up...