done

I work for a small company of < 20 people. Like many other companies we have been hit hard by the recession but are holding on. I was given the opportunity to see what kind of leadership we have this quarter. we get monthly bonuses on top of what i would call a good base salary based on the revenue we pull in. This quarter our owners cut their own bonuses, completely and their cut their base salary by +20% so that their employees would not get cuts in their pay or benefits. I have heard many bosses tell ya you take one for the team, do whats best for the company but have seen few willing to do the same. Our owners are really good guys, both with young kids to take care of. Anyway, with all the bad news on company leadership, I wanted to raise these guys up. They will never receive an award for it, or get put in the press, but everyone who works at my company knows where they stand.

Around me, you just drive down the main drag and see a dozen or so for sale by owner.

Alright, am i just being an old fashioned boob? I saw where Fox was planning a new reality show where they have a contestant sign up, his/her family looks examines a number of suitors and picks one for them. They then get married (on the show), and they follow them to the honeymoon and some follow ups months later. I don't know but this concept just really ticks me off. Seems like a recipe for disaster and a lot of painful times for some folks. If they have kids as a result of this, then even more pain. I mean marriage is sometimes tough enough without adding MORE drama. Maybe I am just taking it too seriously, but it just seems like reality TV is really going too far. I am waiting for the real "Running Man" game anytime now.

Was reading the other thread and though of a lot of weird and funny stuff I have had in my marriage. My wife and I can both laugh at ourselves and each other so that helps with some of these. 1. Woke up one morning and she was ticked at me as soon as she opened her eyes. Spent a few minutes contemplating what I could have done wrong. Finally, I asked..."Did I do something? You seem a bit perturbed at me.". The answer, she had a bad dream where I was being a real jerk (one of those dreams that seems really real) and just could not shake the feeling from the dream. She laughed at it eventually, but man...that one threw me. 2. Ever get in an argument without talking? I see this all the time. My wife will say something, then, before I say a word, follow it up with a "well i guess you just think....". then argue against that (keep in mind I still have not said anything), I have seen these go on and on, until I will say "I am going to get a beer, give me a holler when I am done arguing, will ya?". Now I would post the weird stuff I have done if I ever did anything ( her list would be a few hundred items long LOL). I think one of the strengths of our marriage has been our ability to recognize and laugh at this type insanity, even as it comes out of our own mouths. Anyone else have similar things like that?

I would be extra careful about their family members and friends. With family and friends like theirs who needs enemies. I can tell you, if my friends or families marriage was having issues the last place I would go to talk would be a friggin' camera. She is a witch but in her defense, he comes off as a passive little boy that is only half involved with his kids. Generally, as a rule I do not comment on someone else s family but then again generally none of us throw our lives on TV as everyone else s business. Personally, I think this is a good example of be careful what you wish for. Yeah, you get all your crap paid for, and get cash and fame. You also get cameras there for every bowel movement, get to have one of the most public marriage meltdowns in history, and throw your personal privacy into a paper shredder.

Women are simple for women! For men, well that is a canyon we just cannot see across. LOL. I have known my wife since she was 15 and I still have not figured her out. Love her more than life itself, but I will be darned if I will ever totally figure her out. Love the challenge though of trying. Best advice on here man: "With wives, you can either be right, or you can be happy.". The first casualty of my marriage was my pride. Tough to say exactly what is going on. The only person who can determine that is you. When she comes home in such a fit, sit her down, and ask her straight out "Is everything alright <insert pet name here>? ". Who knows could have been you, could have been something bad that happened while she was away, could have been any number of things. But when she came home ticked, it likely became you because you did not acknowledge her feelings. That is a blind guess. Like I said, I have not and will not ever know everything there is to know when it comes to relationships and even experts will tell you that.

See I am a Trekkie. Not the dress up as a klingon and go to a convention type, but I really liked the original series, and to varying degrees the other series. I know Roddenberry would have HATED this show. Had it been called anything but "Star trek" to me it would have been an awesome movie. The original series IMO did so well because Roddenberry did not go for the cheap thrill. He had very well developed characters, storyline and while futuristic, he and his staff did VERY well keeping the storyline consistent throughout all the series and movies. Folks had to work HARD to find all the inconsistencies and the major ones I could count on one hand. I could write a book on the things I thought were wrong with the movie but the basics was it turned Star Trek from a series with well developed characters, socially relevant storyline, and futuristic but plausible technology, to another brainless blow it up, flash boom, special effect scifi movie.

I was reading i guess naked protests are their thing now. Apparently they caught on that folks would not listen to their endless babble so they figure stripped will talking will at least get them a crowd and unlike throwing red paint on folks, it won't get them a raving mad crowd looking to put a hurt on them. I did like the response of the Lowe's guys though. They basically said, they had more important things to do at their board meeting than care about PETA outside. Of course PETA bought Lowes shares Ahead of the board meeting so they could get in and speak, so in the future they can protest their own houses and offices as they now are Lowes shareholders. LOL.

She can buy her own, or kill me off for mine. She is the oldest of 4 girls all staggered 1.5-2 yrs apart, so in about 10 yrs I will have 4 teenage girls in my house. I reckon that will be about the time of my first heart attack. LOL.

You see that in NC too. On Wylie I consistently see folks skirting the law. There are a set of ski boats that I have seen on there for 2 years, a bunch of kids (18-25 tops) in there, who enjoy trying to run over or swamp fishing boats. No hull numbers on the craft at all for the last 2 years. Have called the cops, NOTHING is done, nobody follows up. They fly full throttle < 20 ft from docks and boat houses with boats tied up to them. They think it is funny as heck. On one occasion I hit their hull with a large sinker when they were trying to swamp me and my daughter in a 1446 jon. Last time they nearly capsized us, my bud brought a 9 mm along and pulled it after we warned them. The tend to avoid our boat(s) now. I loathe the thought of it going that far but these dudes endangered our lives and I cannot gave that. As far as game wardens go on Wylie, never seen one. Given the state budget though that does not surprise me. We are cutting teachers from school so enforcing environmental laws, not up there on priorities.

LOL http://www.news14.com/content/top_stories/609915/peta-acts-out-concerns-over-glue-traps/Default.aspx. They did this in Charlotte the other day. Before you ask, she was wearing a bikini. All in all, one of their better protests.

Good idea man. There are too many good folks getting killed by not wearing a vest.

We have a tradition at my house. With my girls, The first time they catch any fish on their own (with minimal help from me) they win their big girl pole (usually a pink Ugly Stick combo). After that, when they hook, and land a single large fish (large at the discretion of myself, or 3 small ones) without a single but of help from me, they get a tackle box (pink of course) with a starter tackle set. So we were out memorial day, my oldest not only got her big fish but landed two LMB the same size and 2 large sunfish. She was a fishing machine. And did it all in girly style, pink dress and barefoot. LOL

I agree with Matt. You need to move on. If you go behind your quarterbacks back, you're subversive behavior reflects on you. If the girl likes to flirt and tease, she'll likely do the same with you even if she does move your way. My guess (strictly a guess) is she likes to bolster her ego with lots of attention and flattery. Anyway, there are a lot of women out there and the more you respect yourself and conduct yourself accordingly, the healthier the woman you will attract, in turn. This isn't to say you couldn't go out with her at some future date (should she formally break it off with the other guy) but don't hold your breath. Ditto to these guys man. Character goes a long way in this world. It can take you far. Take the higher road. Not to mention, how much could you really trust her if she leaves the current boyfriend that way? I dated a girl like that my junior year. It ended badly and guess what, she ran off with another guy. Worse than that though, the girl I dated RIGHT after her, I just could not get rid of her, that was 15 yrs ago, and she is in the next room with the kids, LOL. Believe it or not, some of the decisions you make in High School, can impact your entire life. If she ain't single, move on. Even if her current boyfriend "does not care", you should. Plenty of other fish in the sea man and she ain't dead, she may come your way after her relation with theother dude is over...

One thing I miss about when I lived in WNY. You car may rust out from under you, your toes may freeze to your shoes, your taxes may be high but nothing in that area was poisonous, except the air, water and ground, but it wasn't creepy. Since I have been in NC (10 years), I have found and killed more black widows than I can count, dealt with poisonous snakes, and such WAY to much. For those of you in the remodeling business, my hats off to ya. My uncle did that for 25 yrs. He can tell me about times being under a house in a crawl space so small he had to crawl back out to roll over and running into snakes, and such. You want to see a grown man scream like a girl and jump through 2x10 floor joist, just put me in that situation.

Sounds like a good deal to me. heck a 1446 tracker riveted Jon hull will cost more than that. As long as it does not have a portal to hell on board (maybe in the rod locker), I would say you go yourself a good deal. If it does, well you go yourself a tourist attraction.

I would ask first what your limiting factors were. What exactly are the most important things you are looking for? Give me 20 k I would grab a Tracker 175tx (I think someone mentioned it already) and take whatever i had left and invest. That is because, I need something that can carry at least 2 of my girls with me. Can easily fit in my driveway. Can be easily towed with both my vehicles. Gets less than insane gas mileage. Does not have to win a race but I would like a little speed out of her and I really like aluminum hulls. Oh and there are 3 tracker dealers within easy drive of my home. When I got my Jon, I just had them fight it out for cheapest price.

Even scarier is what we do to each other when drugs get involved and we get really creative. I just can't stop thinking about that poor kid. The mother and father look like total trash but this kid did not get the choice in parents and he is just having a tough life already.

yeah...I would remove the boat from his shop. If complaints are too much when he gives crappy service, then hew does not need to be doing business with you. I would also look it over for damage when you do get it back. If he is a member of BBB call them and file a complaint. I would consider filing a complain with the AG too. What will restrict you is how much have you documented? I have learned through similar garbage that 1. I will never pay someone to do something I can do myself. 2. Get a written quote and ask them to put a warning on there about what they consider a reasonable deviation from that quote (5%, 10%, 20%). It will help you know if they are pulling garbage out of their backsides are actually doing a quote. The guy that did my shed (20'x12') gave me a detailed quote and stated a potential for 10% deviation. It really protects you AND them as they state what they agree to do and how much will be paid. 3. Document everything. write down when you talked, what was discussed, collect documentation you are given. Like you said hindsight is 20/20. For now though I would get my boat back, do what I could myself, and find a new guy end get a quote. Life is too short to get such frustration and it sound like you have already had enough.

Alright, took me a while to refind this post. My grandfather went out and bought a normal 11" post from BPS. He cut it down to 5 inches and it works great. Couple of thoughts. He said you need to cut around the outer skim not straight through. Said there is some type of bar/thread or something in the middle that you will hose if you just cut right through. So he would cut on side, turn it, cut that side, turn it and so on until he got all the way around. He then popped out the plastic fitting the seat goes into and pounded it into the new shorter pole with a rubber mallet (and added some marine adhesive for good measure). Took him all of about an hour. We took it out today and it worked like a charm. So YES you can shorten these just be careful on the cutting part.

You will look less like a nut with a full livewell. Give me a log with a TM and lawn chair, and some tackle I will fish out of it. A true fisherman may laugh at ya, but we will admire your spirit.

If you can get near the Catawba chain, check out http://www.duke-energy.com/lakes/facts-and-maps.asp pick your lake and it will list out maps with all launching and access points on that particular lake. Good luck man!

I have a Tracker topper 1446, put a casting deck on it as well as lower decking in the back. I will tell you you need to plan out your deck, specifically the elevation you put it at. If you have a 1446 and were to try to put it at the top of the boat, you will have a relatively unstable boat. The wider the boat, the more stability you will have. I take mine out on Lake Wylie, NC which is a pretty good sized lake and it can get pretty choppy out there. It takes it well, but 40+ mph winds and you will be getting wet. The other cool thing about my jon, it can take on Wylie most days, but I can easily pull off the 8 HP outboard and take it out in small ponds, and electric only water and launch it with 2 guys picking it up off the trailer and dropping it in. So the versatility rocks. I love my 1446, it is a nice little boat and I have customized it to the point that it does exactly what i want it to and is as easy as me to fish out of as anything. That being said, if I was to do it all again, I would probably buy something a little wider and I would look for an all welded hull. Also, you would do yourself well to locate the nearest welder in your area that can work on the aluminum hulls. No matter how careful you are, chances are sooner or later you will need his/her services.

From some of the stuff I would see, I would change that to "...MOST ANYONE...". LOL.

I went aluminum, but it is because when I weighed all the pros/cons that these guys here are listing, Aluminum weighed out better for my situation. Compare to shore fishing in NC, I would take a hollowed out old log and a paddle so aluminum/Fiberglass it is all good from that perspective. I needed something light that I could easily tow and manage with my TrailBlazer and/or Van, something that used less gas, had to be <= 18 ft in length to fit in my driveway. I was looking for LOW maintenance and being a bass fishing boat noob (which is a lot different than the big water trolling boats I have experience with) something I could run into a couple logs/sandbars/rocks without killing it. Aluminum made sense.