jayess

ya i'd give it another week. rotten ronnie's postponed their derby as well due to the poor ice.

If you come across a retailer with good shipping, let me know... most that i've find that are willing to ship to Canada choose UPS which in my experience always tacks on brokerage fees (even for items that aren't charged duties), that brings the price to about on-par with local retailers

ahh man, that stinks... What if you showed Salomon that, at least to you, these skis were only 2 years old? I mean surely most gear stores will have stock that is not the latest models and should still be considered new with respect to the manufacturer's warranty. If they don't respect that then wow, that's a shock! I never would've considered shelf life to affect warranty coverage. Haven't had a lot of experience with the SportChek folks in Oshawa, but can't say anything bad about them either! Good sales there from time to time, as well

done this many times... under 25, expect to pay a fee. i haven't heard of any of the big-player companies saying that they won't rent to under-25 at all. also, things may differ province-to-province, so keep that in mind... not sure when you're planning to go, but having a platinum visa is nice for the provided accident coverage. if you don't have an insurance policy that will insure you in this regard, you may want to look into a visa that has this feature. I *believe* there are some such visas that do not charge an annual fee, as well. lastly, never book anything online without checking for a coupon... retailmenot.com, or simply google-searching "avis coupon" should churn up some results. as an aside, this goes for any online purchase... you'd be surprised how much $ you can save just by taking that extra couple of minutes and searching up a 20% off coupon :-)

it's gotten to the point where no matter how legitimate the retailer, if they're insisting on shipping UPS then i'm not buying. too many times have i been dinged with fees that sum to near the item's worth. As a sender, I've had better service with USPS.

If i'm not mistaken, some splake that were stocked in a nearby lake were noted (somehow) to have migrated out of that lake and into Paudash. Never know if you'll hit one of them. Bon appetit if you do!!!

Check out MEC's website for an overview on layering, various materials, etc. I find it better to understand why everything works rather than being told what to use: http://www.mec.ca/Main/articles_main.jsp?F...D=1264039482578 (hopefully that link works) Personally, I dig merino wool as a base layer. I put a fleece over top of that, a down vest over that, and a goretex jacket on top.

It's not pointless if you don't own that expensive wicking material. We *did* manage to stay warm before smartwool and polypro... For stationary purposes, layering with non-breathables is what keeps you warm. But if you're active, then de-layering and maybe even changing your clothes will be necessary. All in all, we all do it in a way that works for us Nice fish by the way, Dr Sal. Trophy-size or not, it's an earned catch.

we're confusing two things here: layering and wicking. the purpose of layering is to take clothes off as you warm up so you actually don't sweat, or at least reduce the risk as much as possible. the benefit of layering with wicking material is that the sweat (hopefully) won't stick around. there will be no one set of layers that you can wear during the hike and after. you will ultimately have to de-layer or change clothes, as Dr. Sal indicated.

VERY nice! not familiar with your other work, but this is excellent.

dude, check for warranty on that knife (if it costs a pretty penny). i wouldn't be surprised if they honour it given that it looks like the blade came outta the handle. nice fish

beautiful fish

FYI: Snowshoes from Atlas and GV are on clearance at MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) right now. For the northerners or others unable to visit the store, they do ship and I believe if you spend over something like $150 the shipping is free.

Very cool! A direct link to those interested in the process: Bartlett's Towing Ice & Lake Recovery

Cool video, nice to see stastistics presented. I don't agree with the bit about how a student in a 4-year technical degree will have half of their lessons outdated by their third year. At least in university, it's the ideas that you take away from lessons, not the platforms, that determine your grade. Half of the time when you present solutions in an undergraduate algorithms class, the language you're using is fictitious and it's the underlying routine that can be implemented on _any_ platform. Another thing is the bit about computers having more computational power than humans. What do they define to be computational power? if it's speed of computation -- sure, that's been surpassed for a long time (can you think of anyone who can give you eight decimal places of 1/341 in less than a second?). One interesting thing to keep in mind is that computers can only do what we tell them to do. So really, who deserves the credit? Just critique, something I usually do when I see stastistics. It's easy to quote statistics, but it paints an interesting picture when you try to interpret or break them apart. Very cool video

so they let you dress your own coffee and you made it taste terrible? just sayin' I think a lot of people are disappointed when they have Tim's, Coffee Time, or similar coffee and then try "gourmet" coffee, for lack of a better term. i think starbucks is great for flavour and consistency -- you make your coffee to taste and even get a bit more choice in your blend. i think of it like i do beer: if someone hands me a Coors Light, Canadian, Bud, Blue, I have no preference either way. I don't think any of them are bursting with flavour. But go to some of the microbrewery brews and you start tasting a lot more distinguishing features in your beer, possibly paying a little extra and not getting a free t-shirt in your case. it's all preference really. i do agree that their (starbucks) prices have gotten out of hand the past couple of years, though. but so has much of the food industry for one reason or another

Thanks for the pics, irishfield. Those pictures remind me of a question I had in my mind. How do they hook up to lost vehicles/sleds? Take for instance the guy whose truck went into Nipissing (i think that was the lake) at 29 ft depth. I'd imagine they'd need divers or underwater cameras or something to hook on to the truck effectively and avoiding as much more damage to the truck as possible. Any ideas?

Good to hear, mate Cheers

when i saw the topic, i thought "I hope he's talking about the starbucks stuff..." that coffee is excellent. from what i understand, it is just very fine grinds. i wonder if one can make it themselves without having to drink "sludge". if I'm not mistaken, you pay ~$1.00/packet for the Starbucks instant... a little pricey, but it depends on how you value your coffee

Also one for talking it out, but it's a very subjective thing. Some people seem to get more offended by words than violence, and I think news broadcasts today can attest to some of that especially when the "R-word" is involved. That seems out of context here though... Fighting "dirty" doesn't always work. It's a romantic notion that someone will drop to the ground with a kick to the nards -- which undoubtedly is the case many times -- but I'd still be prepared for much more than a quick getaway. Given that the context seemed to warrant violence one at least on party, likelihood tells me you'll have a pissed off guy with sore nards after you. Some classes in self defence training, formal or not, may be ideal for someone who is not comfortable with physical defence.

nice! i'm sure you'll enjoy it, just in time for the season

i imagine that nothing feels better than hiking in and earning your catch. great job!

few people get to experience Ontario like you do. thanks for giving us a virtual sample

lots of Quinte talk around here... welcome aboard

only need the camcorder? if so, can't help ya. but if you're also interested in a great camera, i'd consider a Canon DSLR -- many of the new ones shoot HD video. I'm sure Nikon and other brands do as well, but personally not familiar with their lines...