Warthaug

Cyclists passing on the right is legally a grey area; if the road has a shoulder than it is absolutely legal. If it does not than it may be legal if certain conditions are met (i.e. if going around a left-turning vehicle, or if the laneway is a designated cycling lane (even if shared)). Cities may have bylaws altering the rules, those are just provincial ones.

B

Mine are to get out fishing more than twice. Yep, last year sucked!

remember, electricity has to come from a source...and many are not "clean". the cost to create electricity is not often cheap. As a result, some of this "green thinking" in these cars is just cloaking the truth.

 

if you pump electricity into a car that was created by a fossil fuel you're no further ahead than using gasoline.

 

the batteries aren't the cleanest for compost either. While we work to improve technology we are also finding better ways to generate more efficient green energy.

This is a common myth, but as the term "myth" suggests, it is untrue. The part that is missing from your statement is the concept of efficiency. Electric cars are very efficient - in current electric cars 2/3rds of the power in the battery actually makes it to the wheel. Electrical generators - be them coal, nuclear, gas or other, are also fairly efficient - 45% or so. Gas car engines are incredibly inefficient - average today is 18%; the maximum possible efficiency (determined by thermal efficiency) is 37%, so:

Electric, average-case: 66% * 45% = 30% total efficiency

That's near-double the efficiency of average automotive efficiency, and only modestly less than the absolute best physics would allow a car to operate at.

In other words, don't believe everything the automotive and oil industry lobbyists tell you too...

B

I've made a few of these:

http://www.instructables.com/id/8-Folding-Kayak/

Cheap, work well, can be stored in even the smallest of apartments. Add a rod holder or two and you're set...

Bryan

I was throwing a husky jerk for pike, and I caught a few pike (and a tiny tiger musky), a walleye, and quite a few bass, both LM and SM. I caught more bass than pike because, well, there's more of them. Does that mean I can't be throwing baits shallow among rocks/weeds because I could very likely catch a bass too?

This is one part of the regs I've never been clear on - I know you're not allowed to target out-of-season fish, but quite often methods for targeting one species of fish are identical to that for another (i.e. bass & pike). Assuming one species is in season, would MNR still nail me for "targeting" the off-season species? Hell, up at the in-laws cottage you'll catch pickerel, pike, smallies, lakers (if you're lucky) and even whitefish dragging a worm through the same damned channel...

Bryan

PS: thanx everyone who PM'd me about the carp. I'm super-excited now!

I have a 3 year card as well that says "3 years FISHING " on the back, but it does not indicate whether it is a conservation or sport licence. So are you guys sure you don't have to keep the yellow piece of paper?

Mine says "3 Years conservation", so perhaps the sport simply says "Fishing"?

Bryan

A bit of bread on a hook works fine for me. Throw on a split shot for weight and a bobber and you're good to go.

That sounds easy - I'll give it a go. I've been reading some older posts here and it sounds like a lot of people throw some corn onto the water around their line - corn + bread...if I don't catch fish, at least I'l have lunch!

Bryan

Offshore sailers keep eggs for more than a month. Must start uncooked.

 

Here's how.

I've used a similar process, but without the nastyness of having to shellac/oil the egg shell. Clean egg with a sanitising agent, dry, and seal using a vacuum sealer (like that used for meat), making sure that each egg is in its own "compartment" (otherwise, once opened, you must use all the eggs in the bag). I've not tried it for longer than a week, but even in hot temps it seems to work. I like the idea of cracking each egg into a cup beforehand, in case one has gone off. I've never had that problem, but it seems worth it, considering near-zero effort could literally save the bacon...

Bryan

My Dad was in the Navy for 5 years during the war and when they were at sea powdered eggs were all they had. He said they were the most foul (fowl) tasting thing he ever ate and still talked about them decades later

 

I'm sure the technology is somewhat better today.

In a word...no. Still nasty for anything other than mixing into breads/cakes/etc (and even then, not good).

Bryan

Hey Warthaug,

 

the pickeral and pike season opens up again on the London Thames on the second Saturday in May - that was last Saturday. There are resident walleye and pike throughout this part of the Thames. There should be silver bass coming up the Thames soon - you can nail them with silver Mepps.

 

WR

Oops, mis-read the regs; its bass that are still off-limits. I've got a few mepps-style spinners in my kit; we'll definitely give them a go. I'd still like to try carp though; sounds like they're a good fight..

Bryan

Finally wet a line this warm season with my 2 boys. We fished for carp in London and had a blast. We caught dozens in the 5-12 pound range. My youngest son (age 7) and I stayed upriver and caught 5 but lost at least 12 due to poor hookups. We had many hits only to see them steal my bait which was evident by the bare hook when I reeled in.

Sounds awesome - SWMBO'd and I were hoping to do a bit of fishing on Monday (the holiday) in London. We're new (to London), so we're not 100% what to try. I don't suppose you' care to share what you use to catch carp? I've never tried before, and have no clue as how to do it...I was planning on just dragging some spinners through the water, but considering pickerel are off-season (and apparently in the Thames - I never would have expected that), I'm thinking that may not be such a good idea...

Bryan

All she learned was next time, chase the moose off the road first...

I was pulling a scout canoe trailer, with 8 canoes (4 to a side; about 10' tall in total). Hit massive storm on the highway; trailer rolled in the wind and pulled the car into the ditch. If it wasn't for the damned safety chains the trailer would have simply popped off the ball and rolled into the field. Plastic (cheap) canoes were all fine, trailer was a write-off, and there was ~$5K damage to my car...

Bryan

We're insured through meloce monnex, and they've been pretty competitive. I do get an allumni discount from them, so YMMV. What the insurance company did is not all that unexpected, if the house was inspected by them after purchase. Your sisters first quote was based on what they asked/what she told them. The inspection may have raised issues that led to the price increase.

Or they may be screwing her around. Quotes are free, and it never hurts to look. My wife and I routinely (every 2-3 years) get a few other quotes, to see if its worth switching.

Bryan

Locktite permabond works great too. Also if you mess up, acetone will get rid of it.

Careful - Acetone + many plastics = goopy mess. Before applying glue or solvents to a plastic, its best to check compatibility ahead of time (google is great for this). I've ruined a lot of expensive things because I didn't check - ya'll might as well learn from my stupid moments.

Bryan

Realistically speaking, you're screwed. Most glues, even those for plastics, don't bond the plastic all that well. So in a high-stress area (like near your laptops hinges), glue will be at best a temporary solution. If you can figure out what kind of plastic your laptop is made of, it may be possible to chemically weld the crack shut. You simply add a small amount of a solvent that'll dissolve the plastic, then let it evaporate. This works for polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, ABS, PCV, and acrylic. This is the only really reliable way to repair most plastics. Google can tell you which solvent will work with your plastic, if its an option. If looks matter to you, than don't do this (the welds tend to be ugly and discoloured).

Cyanoacrylates are good for bonding unstressed plastics. Unfortunately, they are quite brittle (technically, have a low shear tolerance), so in areas that will flex (like the plastic near a hinge) they are a poor choice. A more flexible glue, like some of the silicone adhesives (adhesives, not caulking or sealants) may do the job, but I'd expect getting that into a crack would be a real PITA. If you're willing to open the case, a plastic strip glued over the crack on the inside of the case (cyanoacrylate would be fine for this) would provide the strongest fix. If looks really don't matter, you could put the strip on the outside instead.

Bryan

EDIT: just to add, the most common silicone adhesive is used for gluing hot bits together in car engines. Any canadian tire, princess auto, etc, will have dozens of brans of the stuff. Its ugly as sin (when dry looks like slightly transparent feces) but I have a old case for my SCUBA camera that's been held together for 10 years by that stuff without fail, and under tremendous stress.

seems to me it was the liberals and NDP that forced him into trying to spend their way out of a recession...

Harper was raising spending before the recession hit, which was clearly shown in the graph in the link I provided. Had he held spending steady, at pre-harper levels, we'd never have gone further into debt during the recession. I voted for Harper (literally, I lived in his riding at the time) when he rose to power. Since then he has done nothing but stab in the back those who supported his first election bid. Controlled spending - nope. Smaller gov - nope. No non-elected senators - nope. Set election dates - nope. Transparent government - nope. Instead we have one of the most costly and secretive governments since the 1970's, a senate stuffed with conservative fund-raisers and party faithful, and record deficits at a time when we should be saving money for the demographic tidal wave we can all see coming.

I.E. he became, within weeks, exactly the same as the people he campaigned against.

that money kept a lot of people working and built a lot of new buildings...it wasn't wasted

In all likelihood, it was wasted. Stimulus spending has a long history, in our own country and others, and yet, it has never once succeeded in its goals. There is no reason to expect this time will be any different. In the past, stimulus spending was too little, applied too late, to have any impact. This time around there is no evidence to suggest this changed - at the time when the recession was technically over less than half the stimulus money had actually been spent. Even assuming the full dedicated amount was spent, you're still talking an "investment" of ~0.8% to total economic loss Canada experienced during the recession. Too little, too late.

And those "new buildings" you're so excited about are, assuming history repeats itself, going to cause more long-term harm than short-term good. Stimulus spending like that used to build buildings creates a glut of temporary work, but at the same time depletes the "pool" of ongoing projects that are the bread-and-butter of construction companies. Long term effect, historically, has always been the same - post-recessionary woes in the construction industry, due to a lack of new projects to sustain the industry. Basically, this kind of stimulus steals from peter (i.e. the future) to sell paul (current voters) an illusion that something is being done. But building infrastructure does give politicians something to point at, come election time. And so long as people choose to ignore history and basic economics, those kinds of monuments to ignorance of history and basic economic theory will politicians votes.

As the saying goes, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.

Bryan

Historically, the left has had a spend first ask questions later approach, IMHO, with the right at least seemingly being more "conservative" (for lack of a better term) in it's spending habits.

You have your eyes closed the past few years?

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/economics/ChartImg.axd?i=chart_fb0ed703659244c1956e7e87e7af3903_146.png&g=4f1008164d22452a9068f14abfa82d0d

The conservatives have hardly been paragons of financial responsibility; billions in new spending, deficits despite collecting sufficient taxes to be in surplus had they kept spending at levels similar to before they took power. Not that our other options were all that great.

In a few years it isn't going to matter. Not counting promises made this election, over the next 20 years we have unfunded liabilities of ~2.1 trillion dollars. What that means is the predicted cost of health care, cpp, old-age, etc, are expected to exceed our ability to pay for it by 2.1 trillion dollars (assuming tax rates stay the same, equivalent per-capita age-corrected spending, etc). So no matter who gets in power, pretty soon they are going to be faced with a hard choice - they'll either need to cut somewhere between 16 an 19% in gov spending, or increase taxes by an equal amount. Not one party has policies in place to deal with this problem; every party ran on platform which will aggravate this issue.

But hey, what do they care. They'll all be retired when the feces hit the fan

Bryan

And that folks is precisely why we have a registry, the country is full of people with an opinion and no knowledge.

But fishNwire's point was valid - we register all sorts of things in this country: motor vehicles, aircraft, some types of industrial equipment, etc. These registries serve a variety of purposes, ranging from monitoring/controlling trade of the registered objects, to a mechanism of monitoring compliance with the law, to taxation, to tracking stolen equipement. The hand gun registry serves the first two aims admirably, and at a relatively small cost.

I'd have no problem with the LGR if it had been implemented for those kinds of purposes, and implemented in a way that it could be effectively used for those purposes. Unfortunately, it was sold as a crime-prevention tool, a purpose for which its utility is dubious at best. Meaning we have a costly, poorly designed registry which serves no practical purpose and has few if any measurable benefits.

I also never understood why the existing (and functional) hand gun registry wasn't simply expanded to cover long guns; why re-invent the wheel and double up on bureaucracy and equipment?

Bryan

I think your experience is normal. I've not tried selling, but I've bought a few things of kijiji and craigslist and almost every time I've shown up to pick something up I've gotten a response like "you actually came". A guy who I picked some scuba gear up from told me over a dozen replied, but I was the only one who showed up.

Bryan

Its nice to know I wasn't missing anything obvious. Many of the other forums I frequent maintain a list of the threads you've subscribed to in your profile. I've always used that to keep track of threads I want to come back to. I didn't realise that subscribing here was simply e-mail notifications...

Unfortunately, some of the threads I "bookmarked" via subscribing are unlikely to be replied to, as they're rather old. Guess my on-computer bookmark folders going to get a little bigger...

Thanx for the replies everyone

B

I feel stupid for asking, but I've subscribed to a few threads that I wanted to "bookmark" (i,e, the excellent how-to for T.O. pike fishing). But I cannot, for the life of me, find out how to list the threads I've subscribed to. It doesn't seem to appear under my profile or my private messages, nor anywhere else I've looked.

I'm sure its bloody obvious, but can someone please help...

Bryan

The best steelhead fishing is long over by the time the inland season opens in late April.

This year will be even worse on our so called "opener" because of the early spring.

 

To answer your question yes it's definitely worth it to try right now.

Based on your question and comments you'd be best hiring a guide for a day though.

While I'm replying to Solopaddlers comment, this is directed at everyone - thank you for your replies!

A guide would be nice, but I doubt the misses is willing to admit she needs help

Bryan

So I realise the official spring opening for fishing on the Credit, Humbler, etc, is about 1 month away. But to say the missus and I have the itch is an understatement - we've found ourselves wandering the isles of bass pro for no reason other than "it seems like a good idea". I know the lower reaches of many TO area rivers are open year 'round, but the question I have is if its worth it?

I know many here are doing real well fly fishing right now - prob is neither the wife nor I fly fish, and we don't have the gear. So we'd be casting spinners (or perhaps fake "roe") from shore.

Is it worth it? Do we have even the slightest chance?

Bryan

My wife and I were hoping to head out and do a bit around town - nothing yet though. Damned "real life" keeps getting in the way.

I was looking at some maps, and was wondering if anyone would be willing to answer a few Q's.

1) On google maps I see the humbler river has what looks to be a bunch of wiers or dams - is that right, or am I mis-interpreting a few bridges? If I'm right, do those wiers/dams ruin the salmon runs?

2) I see in the regs that the Don River has an extended season; anyone ever have luck there? I did a couple of days there last year and caught garbage - literally. Not one fish, lots of cans, pieces of rubber and whatnot.

3) If I've interpreted the regs correctly (please correct me if I'm wrong) upto Sept 30 you can keep some of the salmon. Does anyone actually do that - I know their migratory, but do you really want to eat a fish that's been in Toronto harbor?

Thanx

Bryan