Bernie

I keep seeing people with a concern about double clicking on the Club skin. I use club because it's easy to look at as Lew says. But never had an issue having to double click. Perhaps it's because I use Firefox?

I will second Carl's concern over rusted internal engine components. If the engine wasn't properly stored there could be rusted crankshaft bearings and crank surface which will rapidly deteriorate and sieze. Also make SURE the carburator jets are spotless clean. Be cautious here, but if the price is right make the deal. It may pay off to have the engine disassembled to make sure it is OK before starting it.

Thank you again for the kind replies everyone. It really does mean a lot. Snag, thank you for the smile. It just may be true.

Ya TB I got it on an E-mail as you may have guessed. Just threw it in there for fun.

Become a cub or a scout leader. Volunteering your time is probably one of the most important things you could do for them. Often kids involved in scouting can't afford anything else. As a former leader myself it's a great thing for kids. It's a great excuse to get to the great outdoors too.

INTERESTING HISTORY LESSON Railroad tracks. This is fascinating. Be sure to read the final paragraph; your understanding of it will depend on the earlier part of the content. The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they use d for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Romebuilt the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with it?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the r ear ends of two war horses. (Two horse's asses.) Now, the twist to the story: When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRB's would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRB's had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything... and CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling everything else.

Our country was built on the premise that your business worked or it didn't. In the past if your company failed that was it. Our history has a past of many failed corporations. Why bail them out now??????????? Seriously!! They don't want to make concessions on the part of the unions or the big cheeses. Ridiculous! Put the money into a business that wants to succeed if they feel it is necessary to stimulate the economy. Power by the big corporation called GM still has a lot of pull. ........................Time to end it.

Here's a few more from tonights bunch. This is the way it was done before the $199 CT augers Skinning up a days catch. Showing off a couple of Pickerel. My Dad front and center and his long time friends. Sawing logs at the Powassan fall fair around 1956 The guy with the Ski-doo was a friend of dads. I am on the sled in front of mom and my brother on the toboggan.

Thank you everyone. When we got Hobbes I was against getting a dog. But this being a democratic household I relented. He turned out to be a great dog. Our youngest son Alex has disabilities and Hobbes knew it. If Alex was upset Hobbes would go and try to calm him by nuzzling or rubbing his body on Alex. Through the open water months I pretty much live at the cottage and commute. Hobbes was always ready to go no matter to or fro. If somebody even mentioned "boat" he was in it. If someone was in the water swimming so was he. Mostly because he was worried for them and tried to herd people to shore. Such was his nature. He was very rarely tied. He knew the borders of our house in town and would not leave them unless permission was granted. My parents live 4 houses away and Hobbes loved my mom. "Go see Grandma" and he was gone to see her (she made him cookies). Our cottage is on an island and he had complete freedom to roam but rarely did. He was always within calling distance (Possibly just in case it was suppertime). Although last night he could barely walk anymore he still made the effort to "go" outside. He maintained his dignity until the end. Thank you again for letting me write his epitaph here. It makes me sad but he deserves it.

I use wheel weights Cliff. But I have this never ending supply of them. The only thing you may get is a sore back carrying them to the scrap yard.

My faithful friend of the last 12 years had to be put to rest this morning. A very sad day in our household. He was a great dog. He went everywhere with me. I think the thing I will miss the most is when I go home after work and he won't be there to greet me. My buddy Hobbes.

Still scanning slides and finding a few treasures. I posted in the photo section last time but only a few folks commented. So I'm not sure if no one is interested in this stuff or no one looks in the photography section. For those that don't look around the whole site here you could be missing out on some good information too. Anyway here's a selection of a couple from todays scan. The hunt camp my grandpa bought many moons ago. Can't even find where it was now. It's rotted away to nothing. The guys unloading their soda pop for the two weeks hunt. I can just barely remember this truck. We still play for penny's, no hard feelings that way. This fellow is from Ohio. Len Uher was his name. Great guy. Him, his brother Louis and dad would spend a few days ice fishing each year. The original Motley Crew I love this shot. Think I may frame it. Tough going that time of the year in the bush. That's all for now. If you would like to see more in the future let me know.

Good report Cliff. Sorry about your luck. Blame it on Joe.

Yep and even then you need to be careful. I drove my truck on known safe travel areas today but a sled came in on Saturday that was a few feet under. You have to know what you are doing.

There are a few things that can happen to create a misfire when replacing spark plugs. First thing is when removing the boot from the spark plug is to be firm but gentle with them. Twist the boot until it loosens it's grip on the porcelain on the plug, then twist and pull on the boot only-never the wire. If you damaged the boots it will misfire. You got the old spark plugs out OK so we wont go there. Remove the spark plugs from the boxes and inspect them to make sure they are not cracked and the electrodes are all in properly. I do see a few defective ones. Look up the proper gap, best to make sure on line or your parts supplier as the specifications can change from the sticker on your vehicle. I add a little touch of anti sieze compound but not too much as the anti sieze can interfere with the heat transfer from the spark plug. Keep the porcelain clean! Anything on there can act as a conductor and will follow that instead of jumping the gap and misfire. I add a touch of di-electric grease to the inside of the plug boot to help prevent arcing down the porcelain and allow for easy removal of the boots the next time plugs are removed. If all is good it may be a bad ignition coil or two. This is where a scan tool makes it easy as it will identify which cylinder is misfiring. PS. One of the biggest problems I see with guys doing their own plugs is poor tools. If the socket you use isn't proper it is easy to crack the plug going in.

Well done again Ben. This is a pretty good trend you are setting. You going to mention this one in your article in Outdoor Canada? My wife always gets the big one too! .

Snow isn't as bad as freezing rain Jacques. We have been putting up with a sheet of ice everywhere since a quick melt a week ago. It's been so cold that the sand just blows off it in the shade. A thaw will be welcomed here to get rid of it. I wanted to get my family out this weekend fishing but it will end up too wet and sloppy out there.

Seeing the odd lightning flash to the north of me. Still at 0 right now but it's coming up.

Way cool. This is the first one I have seen that shows my boathouse- in good detail too. Can't see the cottage for trees.

Kawi and Yamaha makes a good bike Joe. Had a couple myself. You going to ride that up here this summer. Stop by and we will head out on a tour.

You can't EC. You are right. Had a couple late 70's Z's too. A set of cylinder heads, an intake, camshaft plus a few other fun items....Wahoo we have a car.

Hop in a Subaru WRX and push the throttle down. 4 wheel peel is an apt description. Love the car! There are others out there too but I really would like one of those.

In 84 all they had was a 305 HO 4 barrel carb. No 350. And they were notoriously gutless wonders. A paltry 190 hp@4800 rpm with somewhat respectable torque 240lb/ft@3200. Somebody put a 350 in yours by mistake -right? Here's my whistle

Mom's 1995 Roadmaster excites me more than that one. junk they were !

Wow Wayne thats friggen incredible. I wanna hang out with you for a day like that.