Dave Bailey

As the title says, has there been much of a negative impact on boat rentals due to the boater card requirement? I am looking at getting out a few times this summer, and I would suspect that there are deals to be had, but I hope the marina operators aren't taking too much of a hit.

A buddy of mine, Chuck O'Dale, was in town the other night to give a talk at our local science group. He's a member of the Ottawa chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and an explorer of meteor craters. He's got a page about Skeleton Lake, apparently it's the remnants of a crater, approximately 800 million years old, give or take a few years. You can find his page here.

Local beaver down at Frenchman's Bay in Pickering. He's having a tough time maintaining a lodge because some of the shore 'fishermen' (I use that term loosely ) steal wood from it to build fires in the wintertime: And a little explorer near the beaver lodge, mama wasn't around but I'm sure she found him later:

What we need for this board is a Fish Fight!

Now THAT was funny!

I understand that the Leafs are soon going to unveil new uniforms. Here's a different idea - keep the old uniforms and fill them with hockey players. Just a thought. Actually I think that four things are more likely to happen in the world of sport before Toronto wins another Stanley Cup: 1) Soccer fans will collectively be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2) Cleveland will erect a statue honouring Art Modell 3) The Washington Generals will be crowned NBA champions 4) Brooklyn will declare a Walter O'Malley appreciation day Thank you and good night.

Haven't fished it myself, but we used to hold a tournament on there a few years ago and the verdict was that while the fishing was good the lake was also a real prop buster, so take it gently.

Another vote for Irfanview, excellent program.

Yup, cowbird. Don't know what's wrong with that dove, tumors or cysts or something.

Okay, here's the relevant law: 111. (1) Every vehicle carrying a load which overhangs the rear of the vehicle to the extent of 1.5 metres or more while on a highway shall display upon the overhanging load at the extreme rear end thereof at any time from one-half hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunrise, or at any other time when there is insufficient light or unfavourable atmospheric conditions, a red light, and at all other times a red flag or a red marker sufficient to indicate the projection of the load. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 111 (1).

Hoooooo boy, with a post title like that you're really calling out all the jokers. But seriously folks, if I recall correctly the Highway Traffic Act says you have to red flag anything that protrudes more than 2 metres, but it's been a while since I've read one. You can find the HTA on-line here.

Although there's no need to change your plans for them, you might get a better idea if you check SpaceWeather.com before you go. It will let you know if there are is upcoming solar activity that will affect the show.

Quoted for truthiness.

Not possible. Opossums are marsupials, otters are placentals, two entirely different classes. You would have a better chance of mating a deer with a dog, which is still impossible.

A quick check of the dentition should clear it up.

Yeah, that's definitely the bigger of the two. Oh well, try again.

C'mon guys, quit ripping the HST, the government is actually being very magnanimous here. It's being foisted on us by a provincial liberal government because they were being heavily pressured to do so by a federal conservative government. So now instead of just grumbling about one level/party we get four gripes for the price of one, a super-bargain any way you look at it!

You know you're getting old when you reach around to wipe your butt and get a debilitating cramp in your back. Been there, done that.

Can we say BLOODY BRILLIANT?!

Take this for what it's worth because I don't own a boat, but I'm thinking that the best coating for a trailer might be the same stuff that is used as a spray-in bed liner for pick-up trucks. It's about as tough as you can get.

A lot of people don't know that the kid you mentioned was a born salesman. Before working at that store he worked in a drug store back in Saskatchewan, and an elderly customer came in one day complaining of a bad cough. They were an exceptionally small store in an exceptionally small town and had run out of their meager supply, so the manager offered to drive to a larger town and procure some. When he returned he asked the lad where the customer had gone. "Oh, I fixed him up boss, he said he couldn't wait so I sold him an ex-lax chocolate bar." The manager looked puzzled and said "ex-lax isn't meant for coughs!" The kid smiled and replied "Well I made him eat the whole bar boss, now take a look at him. He's over the road there hanging on to that lamp post and he's too afraid to cough!"

As far as I know Zone 20 also includes inlets such as Frenchmans Bay in Pickering. Might walk down and wet a line there this weekend, maybe get the canoe in if the weather is nice.

The best one I've found for me is Aerius, it helps my eye-itch so much I've been toying with the idea of going back to contact lenses. This year it's not working so good, but it's supposed to be an especially bad season so I'll cut it some slack. They're in the same family, so no surprise there. But get this - my daughter is allergic to allergy medicine! She had a reaction to an insect bite last year and the staff at the archeology camp she was at gave her some Benadryl. Within a couple of hours she was unable to speak properly, it started out as a slur and became more like aphasia. Had some mobility issues too. Turns out she now has to avoid 'first generation' allergy medicine. When she tried Aerius, a second generation medication, she had some tingling on her tongue and we started to worry again. We'll have to try a few different ones to discover which ones are safe.

What I want to know is this - who the hell takes smoke bombs to a parliament meeting? Oh, Ukrainian politicians obviously.

Wikipedia is a pretty good resource (as long the topic isn't too controversial and therefore prone to abuse), but someone really wasn't thinking too clearly when they wrote this: Well DUH! Ya mean they don't SHRINK as they grow?! Usually I edit mistakes I see on pages, but I'll leave this one for now.