done

Going to what I know...if you can pull together all the features and such. The personalization, meta data for your various data points, search ability, I think you could utilize the capability in some common portal products like WSS or MOSS (once again I live in the MS world), and come up with something really slick. Their are probably more than a few portal technologies out there that would fit the bill, the real differentiators would be in the features you are starting to put together there.

LOL, really healthy debate guys. Personally, I think would consider it cheap to plant MY own brush pile on a lake. But that is me. I feel you should play and win by fishing naturally occurring structure in a lake. To seed a lake with my own pile would be a short cut compared to scouting and finding the natural structure that holds the fish. As for fishing someone elses' spot. It is a public lake. there are only so many spots, nobody owns them. If nobody is fishing there, then fish it. If someone is there move on. My natural reaction when someone is on MY spot is to get ticked. But then I stop and think, "Who the heck am I to lay claim to some spot in a lake!?" I have also see folks fish the heck out of a spot for a while catch nothing have someone else come in and throw in and nail a Bass in 2 minutes. I do want to point out the "MY" and "ME" here. If there are no explicit rules against certain things, then you are not breaking the rules. At that point, if YOUR conscience dictates something is wrong, then do not do it, if it doesn't then don't. Personally, in a tournament these guys have no claim to any part of the lake. They put up the brush pile, it is public domain, fish it. Just my .02.

There's a huuuge difference between working with your body and working with your head. Not many people can physically be a plumber from 18 to 55. Also take in to account that tradesmen don't get benefits provided. That will make you think twice. I would have to see how he defines "manage money correctly". Is he assuming a certain lifestyle, etc. Like Davis said too. I have an uncle who has done custom building his whole life (27 years so far). Physically, the mans body has taken a beating. Yeah he is strong as an ox, but his back and knees have not appreciated the beating. I would also say, with my bachelors, I have gotten to the point that I currently earn 3-4 times more a year than I paid for my education. Granted I went to a VERY reasonable school as far as tuition went. I am sure your friends math is certain, but specifically when it comes to stats on a subject that has a TON of data points (life style, college they go to, major, work ethic, region they live in, natural talent, etc), IMO, there is too much variation to really lock into such a broad hypothesis.

Well if you and I ever get our schedules in sync I can help you out there...LOL

I would bet fatbass. Any specific points over there you would be able to share? I could go on for hours on stories my grandfather gave me on WWII (He was with Pattons corp in Europe), some of which made scenes from 'Saving Private Ryan' seem tame. Gives me great appreciation for how simple my fears are in contrast as well as an EXTREME amount of respect and gratitude for those people who choose to serve this country. In retrospect I think that is part of the reason the WWII generation was such a revered generation. At home they sacrificed with rationing. At the battlefield they saw real risk on a daily basis. When they came back...what were you really gonna scare them with?

x2 though i have to admit, with a title like this one....the urge for sarcastic comments is way too tempting. LOL

Couple threads on here got me thinking. Can you guys think of a few points in your life that really stood out as big time wierd/scary? For me: 1. Introducing my wife as my wife for the first month or so. Seemed wierd, really wierd. 2. The first time I signed on the "Parent/Guardian" line on a form. Just did not seem right. LOL. 3. My first mortgage. Someone going $100,000 into depth was a VERY scary thought. My father in law used to say "You aint a man until you are at least 40k in debt." My wife called him the night we signed the mortgage and closed on the house, and told him "Well dad I am more of a man than you are now." 4. On our second child after the first ultrasound they had a tick list of half a dozen SERIOUS things they saw in her brain. It all pointed to severe downs syndrome. This was on a Friday and we did not get the follow-up sonogram till Monday afternoon. At which time they eliminated everything and told us we were going to have a perfectly healthy little girl (We could not get the sex from the first sonogram). It all worked out good but that weekend will forever stick in my mind as one of the worst and scariest of my entire life to date. 5. Lastly, my first business trip. Went to Boston. I could not get used to the fact that I was spending thousands of my company $$$. I remember I ate at McD's and BK all week so I did not spend too much.

....and take good care of that lady carrying him/her. Pregnancy is one of the myriad of things that make me extremely happy I am a guy. I have no idea how my wife did it 4 times. I think after 1 12 hour labor I would have been "have a kid!! Are you NUTS!!". Good times though man. Very exciting news.

man, I am sick to my stomach just thinking about that. Glad you were not hurt.

That might be true....but then again,if they are losing money and going bankrupt no bonuses should have been given out at this time. If they can change automakers contract they can change AIG's contracts.Handing out millions of dollars of bonuses for a corporation like AIG on taxpayers money is just "unacceptable". grimlin, I hear ya on the bonuses but I do not think they can be that black and white. Not all the people who got bonuses were from that group. I know with my job, I get a bonus based on personal performance. It is part of my compensation package that I and my employer sign each year. Some of the folks at AIG took huge salary cuts and instead opted for performance based bonuses IF they met their personal goals. They met their goals and earned their bonuses. While I do not think any company should be frivolous with cash, especially one taking public money, I think the demonization of bonuses has been way overdone with AIG and all of them have been lumped in as some example of greed that just is not always the case. I realize I am treading awfully close to the restriction on politics and this is a discussion that could go explosive rapidly so I will cut myself off here and end with this, Try not to be too scared, this will pass like every other depression/recession. Even the great depression ended eventually. Things will get better, the labor market will improve (hopefully sooner rather than later). For those of you already unemployed, I pray daily for you and I hope you will find work soon. That being said, anyone in the Charlotte, NC area working in IT looking for work PM me. I can plug you into some of my headhunter and client contacts and see of we cannot lower those unemployment figures a bit.

Yeah executive pay is nuts. I remember when I worked at HP. Carly was there, failed in almost every way imaginable, got fired, and got 40 million in severance. How a company makes that kind of employment contract with someone I will never understand. IMO, a CEO who is real good at their job is work 7 figures for a large company like HP, GM, Microsoft, etc. The job requires such a high level of skill, intelligence, and experience. However, how they still get paid for sucking....that blows me away. Don't the average auto worker makes 76 some dollar an hour? That should translate to 150k a year just screwing in bolts. I heard a news report they made that much. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I saw on CNN. While the non-union workers make around 40.00 an hour here in the south working for other auto makers. I blame both the management and the union. Neither one of 'em were flexible in money management nor adjusting to trends. They should have made the "fuel efficiency" cars years ago not just the last year. Should have predicted gas was not going to be 1.50 for rest of our lives. We saw it in the 70s and now we see it again. Alias, I would expect them to slow productions and keep strictly to a guarantee demand. They over calculated the demand on some vehicles. That why there was such a build up in inventory which help drives them under. You cannot produce 50,000 cars and sell barely half of 'em then end up cutting the other half price and expect to continue to operate in the long run.

Eating at home, driving less, buying non-name brand foods, cutting out most live bait (with my jon I can fish for almost nothing), shopping sales (we have a good position now with retailers, they NEED us, take advantage when you can). We have also brought our utilities down a good chunk by lowering the thermostat 3 degrees and being anal about leaving lights and electronic devices on. Beyond that, look at the nice to haves like your cell plan. You may be able to get a cheaper one. Downgrade your Cable/Satellite plan, cut back on beer/wine/cigarettes. My wife has made it an art form. She actually reuses bags. Like the zip lock ones cheese comes in, or cereal bags, all sort of them. I rolled my eyes when she started doing it, but between that, bottles, and other stuff she has saved us TONS of cash and it makes her happy so it is a win/win. That being said, At least for us, we got enough saved up to cover us for a while if we have employment issues. Once you hit that point, you can really afford to spend more, take more advantage of some of the killer sales out there, etc.

This should sound familiar. Just remembered last year, was fishing from the bank. 2 guys maybe in their 19-21 come up with their daddies lexus SUV and 2 jet skis. They back the SUV into the water so far they just about sink it. They "launch" the jet skis, tie them to the dock. One of the guys whips out a wrench and starts working on his. The other guy kicks off and THEN realizes his motor won't start. While this is going on the dude working on his jet ski (AT the DOCK), loses a sandal. He starts swearing, yelling out loud how expensive they were and how mad he is about it. 2 big wakes fill the back of Daddies SUV with some water. After 25 minutes of yelling about his sandal, his friend is drifting half way across the lake, 3 or 4 wakes have gone into the SUV, this dude puts his jet ski back together, and goes out to get his friend. he brings him back to the dock. His Daddies SUV, is trashed. I mean the back of this thing has been swamped, there are sticks and some seaweedish stuff in there. It is soaked. He finally pulls the thing up to the parking lot (50 minutes after they got there) and they proceed to work on their jet skis for 15 more minutes at the dock. There are a dozen bass fishman who want to launch giving these guys looks that I thought would have them burst into flames. The whole time sandal boy is whining about losing his "really expensive" sandal. The are oblivious. Nearly 2 hours after the got there, they finally, actually launch. As soo as they leave along with a slew of profanity from the folks around the ramp (which I will not soil this board repeating), one old timer yells out, "Alright everyone start diving, apparently there is a solid gold sandal down there somewhere." So, I know the stereotype you are talking about. It definitely is a parents prerogative to dote in their kids if they like, but it they end up snooty and spoiled as a result they really are not doing their kid any favors IMO. If we did not have 4 docks to launch from, someone would have ended their lives with how much time they were taking.

I am torn on the automakers. Let's be honest, their horrendous management and the greedy unions created this long ago. They new they had an unsustainable business model years ago. The UAW was unwilling to adjust then and now instead of years of small adjustments, the entire company is going to get hit with HUGE shifts or go extinct. I know pay cuts are real bad, as it is to lose bene's. However, the rest of us non-union folks have been having this happen us plenty og the last few decades. Pensions gave way to 401K's. We started paying more and more for health coverage. it was slow, and it was over many years and union folks laughed at us all that time. Well, now the chickens have come home to roost. All those years when those adjustments should have been made they weren't. GM is now in the hole. Chrysler doubly so. If the workers want to continue to have jobs, they will be making HUGE sacrifices that will make their lives extremely difficult. And guys, please do not think me cold. Even with the chickens come home to roost talk, I do not find any pleasure in the situation the employees at GM an Chrysler find themselves in. "It sucks" just does not do it justice.

Oh yeah you would do well in RTP or Charlotte. The coolest thing I like about NC is the varied climate. You have the mountains. If for some reason you want snow, it is up there in the winter, you can get some skiiing in. It is about 1.5 -2 hours from Gastonia. I can get to the coast in 3 hours. Within a decent drive you got lakes all across the Catawba river chain. You got those mountain streams. You got a ton of stuff out in east NC. Then SC is full of productive lakes. Being originally from Buffalo, NY I can totally relate to the snow issue. I have never regretted moving south,

Actually that does NOT sound like a bad idea. Think of how many guys go to a local boat or outdoors show. You could find yourself a smaller vendor who could print up some catalogs and have at it. Any of the BR advertisers want to weigh in on if they think that would be something worth investigating or would you think it would be something y ou could not leverage to make some sales?

Hey JRod. I live in the Charlotte area. Here we have Wylie, and Norman, Mountain Island Lake. I fish mainly Wylie. I also hit the mountain streams a bit near Jefferson and Lenoir. Wylie has some awesome fishing and a good deal of pros cut their teeth on Wylie. In my experience, you can't go wrong on the Catawba river chain anywhere. If you can, plan a trip to the coast and find a charter boat with a few guys to take you deep. Did that a couple years ago, went 60 miles out, had a frikkin' ball. Lake James I hear is also supposed to be awesome for trout, that is one of the spots I want to hit soon.

Depends what you do for a living. You can get good fishing year round anywhere south. In the Charlotte area or Triad, we have a lot of decent jobs in some markets, lots of awesome fishing right here, then we are close to some clutch spots in SC, GA, TN, and such. We got bass fishing in the lakes, trout fishing in the mountains, and deep sea at the coast. We actually have seasons, but winter is short and our lakes do not freeze.

LOL. I have been tempted to buy one. Just can't get myself to care enough. I guess maybe if I fished tourneys on a regular basis I might.

Congrats!!!! I still remember when we found out about our first. So exciting, and scary at the same time. Best wishes for a safe and uneventful pregnancy and delivery!!!

Good to hear. yeah every job has them. When I worked in a hospital cafeteria way back, we raised all prices 1%. Now nobody liked it, but guess who complained the LOUDEST. The doctors, of course. The folks to whom the cost was nothing, went beserk. A couple threatened to leave the hospital over it. Now the nurses and orderlies to whom it actually made a difference, they just knew, it was what it was. Used to tick me off. Go home, get yourself a cold one, and shrug 'em off. Also, I will be looking for some good pics of the fish too.

I try not to take offense from it. My clients will nickle and dime us. I give them the honest price, if they can't handle, I tell them they will need to go elsewhere for that price. Some do, some don't, the ones that do usually come back to get it done right. It is your job to do the job for as much as you can, it is high job to try to get you to do it for as little as possible. Take it personal, and you will end up going postal sooner or later. I will say this...I an VERY thankful I no longer deal with the general public. I used to when I was a McD's (4.5 years) and a dealership (2 yrs), and there were many times I wanted to go on a killing spree. Just vent, and do not take it personal, unless they make it personal. Enjoy Kentucky though man, I am jealous I will not be out there with you all. How's the boat BTW?

What kind of TM you got? My Minn Kota explicitly recommended their 60 amp circuit breaker. Which is what I got. Figure if it dies they cannot argue that point on the warranty.

Bottom width is definitely the key but before you buy get the specs on the weight. I know the tracker boats jons for example on their site they list the official CG ratings which have weight limits. I have a Tracker topper 1446 and a casting deck I built on it. My rear one works great for me. The front one 50/50 on whether someone can use it. My buds usually can, my grandfather has to sit his just cannot balance on it. So if you got 2 big guys I would not recommend a 1446. Look at the tracker site and get an idea of what their CG ratings are for various sizes then call around and ask dealers in your area about the ratings for various sizes. As these guys say though, do not exceed to CG limits, yeah it may work, but it may not be safe.

I have heard a lot of the same. I have had high school ex girlfriends contact me through FB. I still adhere to the same rules in RL, I would never meet them alone anywhere. Also, I am listed as married and I tell me wife about any contact I have had with them online (which is deliberately very little). Through our social grapevine though, there have been a LOT of marriage issues created by it. Besides the usual "get off the computer and spend time with your family." speech , I cannot say BR has created any family issues.