Big Cliff

Ahhh, thanks for all the kind and encouraging replies! It means a lot! I don't know about Lacair, I see the surgeon on Monday afternoon and he will let me know then what I can or can't do. Right now just getting in and out of a car is quite uncomfortable, I have no idea what a 4+ hour drive would be like for me. I guess I'll just have to play that one by ear. As for the fishing.... well, as long as I don't try to bend over to net anything I should be OK, I may give it a try tonight.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about trying Berkley's new Fluorocarbon line Transitions. I wasn't very happy with it, especially the castability of it. I had also sent berkley an email telling them of my findings and my impression of the product. I thought the concept was good but was disapointed in the quality of the product. I put a fair amount of time and effort into providing them with product codes and everything and explaining in detail what I had experienced. Berkley US did respond to my email with some very helpfull information but that information also confirmed the problems I had been having with the product weren't uncommon. Berkley US then refered me to their Canadian Distributor who kindly emailed me and asked me to call them at their toll free number. Well, I did try many times but when I could never get through to the person I was supposed to speak to I finally gave up and just sent him an email explaning that I had tried on many occasions to no avail. The other day I received a package by courier, it contained a replacement spool of line, Vanish, not the Transitions, no note or anything else, just a spool of line. I guess I shouldn't complain but I really feel that someone wasn't listening. I didn't like the product, they didn't send me a replacement for what I bought, incase I just got a bad spool or old stock, just a different product. I will give this spool a try but if it is no better than the previous one I won't be using Berkely fluorocarbons again.

Last Friday evening I started to have a bit of pain in my stomach, nothing serious but I noticed a lump protruding from my stomach about the size of a walnut and I wondered if it was a cist or abscess. Not to worry, I am Big Cliff; I am tough nothing a good night sleep won’t cure. By Saturday morning the pain had increased to the point where any pressure in the area hurt quite a bit. Oh well, life must go on and I had things to do so I did them. I did however stop in at the walk in clinic and a nice Dr. there looked at it, decided it was some sort of an infection and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. Saturday evening we were out for dinner at friends but by now the pain was getting really bad, we called it an early evening I dropped Sue off at home and I and I decided to drop in to emergency at the hospital and get a second opinion. Turned out to be a wise move! By 10:30 pm the first Dr. had been in to see me and they had me hooked up to IV. By 11:00 pm they had a second Dr. in to see me and confirm the diagnosis, and by 11:30 pm the surgeon had been in to see me and tell me that they were going to prep me for surgery. Turned out I had a “strangulated hernia” (the abdominal tissue and possibly the bowl had breached the mussel and twisted; it was trapped there and could soon start to die if not relieved quickly). Now you should understand that at 61, I have never had any sort of operation other than little things where a local anaesthetic was needed, and I had never had a general anaesthetic, I have to admit I was kind of scared but the people around me were doing everything they could to help me relax. By 12:00 am I was parked on a stretcher outside the operating room while they waited for the last of the surgical team to arrive (Lindsay is a small town they were all in bed sleeping when they got the call). Since I had only eaten supper a few hours before they were concerned that I might have a problem with the anaesthetic and they decided to freeze my throat in case they had to install an airway during the surgery. To do this, they had to sit me up on the stretcher so I had one lovely nurse standing behind me supporting me and talking to me, she kept rubbing my back (I didn’t get your name but thank you so much, it was a little thing that brought so much comfort when I really just needed someone there to hold my hand so to speak) The stuff to freeze your throat is awful tasting stuff, it was making me gag, and I was having trouble swallowing, at one point I remember gasping “I can’t swallow”! and I think I might have started to panic. The anaesthesiologist looked at me and smiled and said “it’s OK; I’m going to give you something to help you relax”. I remember seeing him insert the hypodermic into the IV tube and that was it (whatever happened to count backwards LOL) until I woke up in the recovery room somewhere around 2:30 am. By about 3:00 am they were moving me to a room on the surgical floor, the nurses were fantastic, morphine if and when I wanted it, anything at all, just ask (as if they hadn’t done enough already). There was another younger man already in the room, Scott, who kindly offered to get me water and even managed to find me a cup of coffee long before the cafeteria was opened. What a nice young man, never met him before but he treated me like I was family, offered to let me use his cell phone to let Sue know where I was (she knew I had gone to the hospital but I hadn’t let the nurses tell her about the surgery) She would have only spent the night sitting at the hospital worrying. Anyway, by Sunday evening I was home, a cute smiley face under my belly button with 11 shinny silver teeth, a little sore, can’t do any lifting for a while but I’m well on the road to recovery thanks to the wonder people at Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay!

Brian, that is sad news! Perhaps it is an opportunity for you to step up to the plate now and help your aunt and your father. There are some really good resources available at American Cancer Society and also at Canadian Cancer Society There is a lot of information that will help you to help them. In the meantime, prayers are sent. be strong!

Got me grinning ear to ear Dustin, Nice looking family tou have there! Congrats to you all!

You have PM.

A very well thought out and well written response. I owned my own business for many years and know how important good customer service is but I also realize that crap happens and you can't please everyone all the time. By the same token, I can understand how someone who has saved all year to get away for a week could be frustrated or disheartened when the week doesn't go quite the way they had hoped regardless of who's fault it is. Guess it just proves that there are usually two sides to every story.

Don't you people ever sleep?

CTC has cedar planks on this week @ 2/$5.99.

Ah, I am a man of many tallents LOL!

I can only imagine the heart ache you are feeling right now. Good luck on finding that good home for him!

Nice report, glad you tied into a few!

I'm not sure where I got this one from (some cooking show most likely) Hope this helps. 1 cedar plank (6 by 14 inches) 2 salmon fillets (1 1/2 pounds total) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 tablespoons Dijon mustard 6 tablespoons brown sugar Soak cedar plank in salted water for 2 hours, then drain. Remove skin from salmon fillet. Remove any remaining bones. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Generously season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Lay the salmon (on what was skin-side down) on the cedar plank and carefully spread the mustard over the top and sides. Place the brown sugar in a bowl and crumble between your fingers, then sprinkle over the mustard. Set grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Place the cedar plank in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook until cooked through, around 20 to 30 minutes. The internal temperature should read 135 degrees F. Transfer the salmon and plank to a platter and serve right off the plank. Cook's Note: A direct method to grill the salmon may be used. Soak the cedar plank well. Spread the mustard and brown sugar on the salmon, but do not place the fish on the plank. Set up the grill for direct grilling on medium-high. When ready to cook, place the plank on the hot grate and leave it until there is a smell of smoke, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the plank over and place the fish on top. Cover the grill and cook until the fish is cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. Check the plank occasionally. If the edges start to catch fire, mist with water, or move the plank to a cooler part of the grill.

Glad you got it figured out. You are quite welcome, always glad to help when I can! There are no strangers here, just some OFNr's that you haven't met yet and we all help each other. Your turn will come LOL. keep my number handy. Big Cliff

Don't spend too much time on it, I can probably have it fixed in about 20 minutes, I've had lots of practice. Hwy. 36 from Lindsay to Bobcaygeon. About 5 minutes out of Lindsay turn left onto Snug Harbour Rd. our address is 313 Snug Harbour Rd. Call and let me know if you are coming and about what time so I'll be sure to be here. 705-328-0750 Cell 705-879-1765

The light in the switch works independent of the switch function itself but you are probably right, no power to the back of the boat or, check to see if there is an inline fuse (often located near the pump itself).

Were you thinking of coming up to Lindsay to do some fishing in the near future? If so, drop by and I'll fix it for you for the cost of the parts.

Well Moe, I'm not sure an old dogs tricks are a good thing to teach a young chick. I'll have to give that one some thought LOL.

Kevin, if you are going to invest in a GPS, go with a Garmin. I have been using them for years and have no complaints. On the odd occasion that I have needed service, they were very prompt and helpful.

You'll learn really quickly that you'll get out of it what you put into it with interest! We're a family!

I just wanted to thank Tom and Greg both of which took some time to give me some pointers on producing walleye in the Kawarthas. Now, I've been fishing since I was old enough to hold a rod (a lot of years) and when I lived up in French River, I could get walleye almost any time of the year and under almost any conditions but when I moved to the Kawarthas 5 years ago I brought my old tactics with me. Now don't get me wrong, I have probably caught more than my fair share of walleye in the last 5 years but only when the conditions were right for my style of fishing. I knew I was missing something after seeing reports from Greg and Tom and their results and I was having limited success. Both of them have very kindly given me some excellent information and advice and tonight I decided to try putting some of it into practice. I'm pleased to say I put a couple of nice walleye into the boat. None of them were 6lb fish but they were nice size fish anyway. Guess it just goes to prove "you can teach an old dog new tricks". Thanks guys!

Thanks Greg! Much appreciated. Guess this old dog has some new tricks to learn!

HH where are you? If you aren't happy then it's time to move on, just make sure you have somewhere to go before you walk away. Good Luck!

Good for you. Some people dream for ever, some make their dreams come true.

Funny how rewarding fishing can be even when you aren't successful!