Fishing Rhino

Mine stay in the boat.

I don't unhook until the trailer wheels are in the water. When loading the hook is connected and winched up tight before pulling up the ramp. Doesn't matter if I'm alone, or with a buddy. The guys I fish with do the same.

Long arse drive indeed. With six drivers? Give this ol' guy a break. I've driven the 1200 miles from our home in MA to our younger daughter's home in GA in 18 hours with just two dogs to keep me company. Left here at one in the morning, and arrived at her house at seven that evening. Did it without coffee or any of the so called energy drinks. But there is only one way I can do it. I cannot do it if I have to drive into the night. If I strart driving in the afternoon, I hit the wall around ten at night, and that's as much as I can do. Let me get three or four hours of sleep before midnight or one, and I'm good to go. Just before dawn, I'll start to feel drowsy, so I'll stop for fuel, use the facilities and if there is an open Mickey Ds, I'll get a couple of breakfast sandwiches and an OJ. and continue. Once dawn breaks, it perks me up. When I get out at her home, I'm stiff as a board. I say hello, take a shower, say good night, and I'm dead to the world.

Acetylene will burn in the atmosphere without additional oxygen. But, it consumes oxygen faster than the surrounding air can provide it, thus it burns yellow/orange, and it smokes, indicating incomplete combustion of the "fuel". Thus additional oxygen must be provided for acetylene to produce the maximum heat of which it is capable. Too much oxygen at the torch will produce a "gap" between the flame, and the tip of the torch. You still have complete combustion, but it is not as hot because the excess oxygen acts to cool it as well as "drawing" surrounding air to the flame, cooling it further. Which brings us to another question. If the above is true, why doesn't the extra oxygen introduced cool the flame rather than making it capable of cutting the metal. Simple answer. The extra jet of oxygen can cut metal only when the metal is heated to a combustible temperature by the heating flame. The extra oxygen then literally allows the heated metal to burn. At least, that's how I understand it.

Sometimes the funniest things are unintentional. What does a "rocket" scientist know about "jet" propulsion? In the spirit of full disclosure, before I posted this, I did a search on jet and rocket propulsion, just in case, and here's what I found. I know. I know. I'm nitpicking. How is rocket propulsion different from jet propulsion? The main difference between jet propulsion and rocket propulsion is that in rocket propulsion the oxidizer is carried with the vehicle, but jet propulsion the oxidizer is the oxygen in the air sucked into the engine of the plane. Because there is no oxidizer in space, rockets need to carry their own oxidizers with them. The obvious question here is, why do fuels need an oxidizer to burn? Can't they just burn by themselves? The answer is no. Most fuels cannot burn by themselves because burning is really a rapid chemical reaction. The burning that is seen and felt is the heat and the gases released from a rapid chemical reaction. The oxidizer makes that possible.

The Giants were lucky to beat the Pats in the '08 Superbowl.. The Giants were lucky to beat the Pats in the regular season last year. The Giants were lucky to beat the Pats in this year's Superbowl. Manning and the Giants were lucky to be three and one in their last four games against the Pats. They had to be lucky. Everyone knows the Pats were the better team everywhere but where it counted, on the scoreboard. What was Denver's record when Tebow took over last year?

Don't let this out. I steal tablecloths from Italian restaurants.

Is that a New Year's resolution?

I'm the biggest dummy I know. But, I'm hoping it's because I'm the only person I'm with 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365.25 days per year.

I'd like to suspend the pleasure boaters who take up spaces at state ramps specifically designated for vehicles with trailers. For the most part, fishermen, since it is the license fees we pay that build these ramps.

I'm at the stage of life when my eyebrows grow, sprouting little horns of hair here and there. When she says sit down with scissors in her hand, I know they've grown beyond acceptable bounds. I protest just on principle, but it never reaches the level of the drama of the post that starts this thread.

Here in Massachusetts that wouldn't bother me too much. Down south with alligators.................................................................................................

That's right, a Frenchman! Also known as a frog, and don't you forget it! Since I had nothing to do with it, I am neither proud of, nor ashamed of my heritage. As Popeye says, "I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam."

Oh for crying out loud, lighten up. From the time I was able to understand, I learned that sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. When did we become a nation of thin skinned whiners? If offending someone is used to measure any individual, then all politicians should resign. They are all found to be offensive by some segment of our society. Being of French heritage I had to put up with jokes such as, How do you make a Frenchman disappear? Put odor eaters in their shoes." My Italian buddies had to endure the smallest book in the world is a book of Italian war heroes. Also told about the French. Most Irish jokes involved excessive drinking. The Polish and Portuguese jokes were about being dumb (kinda like blonde jokes). The English were referred to as Limeys or Jickies. My best friend through our school years was Syrian/Lebanese. He was referred to as a rug merchant or camel jockey, and on very rare occasions a towel head. We all laughed at ourselves and each other. I don't know how we made it to adulthood without grief counsellors, having our self esteem savaged by teachers disciplining us and correcting our papers with red pencils, marking a large "X" at each wrong answer. Take yourself too seriously and no one will take you seriously at all.

It's a mistake to equate size/weight with safety. Granted the old dinosaurs give that impression. The problem is, they were not designed with crush zones/panels which absorbed energy. You run an old dinosaur into a wall at thirty mph and the car will be distorted from one end to the other. In newer vehicles, the passenger compartments will remain intact. Older, heavier cars fare even worse in side impacts. Construction plays a major role in protecting passengers. The bodies of the old cars based on frames are actually quite feeble. Unibody vehicles, by their nature provide better protection against "intrusion" in accidents. Every component, including seats are anchored better in new vehicles. Restraint systems are better. Toss in airbags, and it's a no brainer.

1966. A brand new Pontiac GTO convertible with tri-power, four on the floor, positraction rear end, am/fm radio and a few other options stickered out at 3300 dollars. A new Cadillac or Lincoln could be had for around five grand. 1949. My parents took delivery of a new Mercury for 1200 dollars. So yeah, I can remember.

RNF, that's funny considering your avatar. Woooooooooo, wooooooooo.

Why make the drive? A telephone call should yield the answer you seek.

Check with a Mercury dealer. They should be able to provide the answer.

I'll bring a cooler with spring water and a variety of sodas, and juices. I will also bring some hot dogs, rolls and condiments if needed.

The skeg protects the prop. I've been on a boat and seen this happen. No damage to the prop because the motor tripped up before the skeg broke off. If the prop took the hit it would have been damaged and likely caused damage to the prop shaft and the innards of the lower unit.

OK guys, we are less than four weeks out from the April 15th get together. We need to know who's in, boater or non-boater, where to meet up (the commuter parking lot just off route 25 in Wareham worked fine last year), and what time. How long are we going to fish? Are we going to be grilling afterward, and who's bringing what for grub if we do grille? Time to get the details ironed out.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and its sequel, Dr. Phibes returns. It's campy, funny, gory, and a love story, all rolled into one. Victims get sandblasted to a skeleton (sequel), frozen, eaten by insects, and have their blood slowly drained from their bodies, via reverse transfusion, with their blood being "stored" in bottles, while they were conscious. All were revenge killings for those he blamed for his wife's death. Those are just a few of the many methods of killing that Phibe employed. Here's a bit more: Plot In 1925, Anton Phibes, a horribly disfigured genius supposedly killed in a car crash, is convinced that his beloved wife died a victim of incompetent doctors, and begins elaborate plans to kill them. Inspector Trout suspects Phibes, but finds little support from Scotland Yard. Eventually Dr. Vesalius, head of the team of doctors that operated on Phibes's wife, begins to believe Trout and aids him in the hunt for Phibes. Using various highly imaginative methods based on the Ten Plagues that befell Egypt in the Old Testament, Dr. Phibes kills seven doctors and a nurse with the help of his beautiful and silent female assistant Vulnavia (played by actress Virginia North). He has reserved the final punishment for Dr. Vesalius. He kidnaps the doctor's son and places him on a table on which a container full of acid is waiting to destroy the boy's face. A small key implanted near the boy's heart will free him, but Vesalius must perform the surgery within six minutes to get the key before the acid falls. Vesalius succeeds and instead Vulnavia is sprayed with the acid as the police arrivies. Convinced he has accomplished his vendetta, Phibes retreats to a stone sarcophagus beside the embalmed body of his wife. As he drains out his own blood and replaces it with embalming fluid the coffin's inlaid stone lid slides into place, concealing them both in darkness. Trout and the police arrive and discover that Phibes has mysteriously disappeared. Trout and Vesalius recall that the "final curse" was darkness and they speculate that they will encounter Phibes again. The Ten Plagues of Egypt Dr. Phibes takes his inspiration for the murders from the Old Testament, the Ten plagues of Egypt: Boils: Prof. Thornton is stung to death by bees (not shown, only referred to during the film) Bats: Dr. Dunwoody is mauled to death by bats Frogs: Dr. Hargreaves's (who is not really a surgeon; just a psychiatrist) head is crushed by a mechanical mask of a frog Blood: Dr. Longstreet has all the blood drained out of his body Hail: Dr. Hedgepath is frozen to death by a machine spewing ice Rats: Dr. Kitaj crashes his plane when attacked by rats Beasts: Dr. Whitcombe is impaled by a brass unicorn head Locusts: Nurse Allen is eaten by locusts Death of the first born: Phibes kidnaps and attempts to kill Dr. Vesalius's son Lem Darkness: At the ambiguous ending of the film, Phibes drains the blood from his own body while injecting embalming fluid, apparently joining his wife in death.

I was wondering where you had vanished to, or to be proper (are you paying attention Long Mike?), to where you had vanished. If I recall you had recently bought a home. Good to see you are still alive and kicking, pun intended.

Some of his sayings: 1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. 2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. 3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works. 4. Never miss a good chance to shut up. 5. Always drink upstream from the herd. 6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. 7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket. 8. There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. 9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. 10. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there. 11. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back. 12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ABOUT GROWING OLDER... First ~Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved. Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top. Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it's such a nice change from being young. Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been. Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable. Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf. And, finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old.