Fishing Rhino

In the event the grille is not available, the cockpit of an aluminum bass boat would make a nice size grille. A bit of expanded metal would make a good grilling top. I'm convinced. Long Mike is right. It's hard to beat an aluminum boat. They are very versatile.

We'll be there on Friday morning. The earlier the better, but likely between 6 and 9 a.m. We'll either find out where they are, or where they ain't.

Send me a pm with your phone number, and I'll give you a call later. Gotta run right now. A lot of things to consider such as do you have a metalflake finish? I'll make a list of the products I use.

If you have cable or satellite service, most if not all of their HD channels with the exception of the locals is in 720P. You will get 1080 input from Blue Ray players unless you play a standard DVD in them. You also get 1080 from your local stations with an off air antenna. There are three types of HD televisions, plasma, LCD and LED. Plasma used to be preferred because the LCD picture faded if viewed from an angle. The plasma is the most expensive to operate generates a lot of heat, and is significantly heavier. The LCDs have solved the side viewing problem, provide a picture comparable if not equal to the plasma. The LED is supposed to be a bit more vibrant than the LCD. They all have excellent picture quality. Go to the Best Buy web site and check out the consumer ratings for the various televisions. You can also read the customers' reviews for additional input. Keep in mind, when doing side by side comparisons in a store that any glaring difference in picture quality can be due to variations in the settings by whoever "adjusted" them for display. For brands, most of them are fine, but you cannot go wrong with (in no particular order), Samsung, Sony, Phillips, Panasonic, LG. The econo models such as Vizio are also fine. The lower prices are often because they have fewer features. Features you are not likely to use. One other plus is that high defs have a longer viewing life than the old cathode ray picture tubes. Blue Ray players can be had for less than a hundred bucks. The discs are ten to fifteen bucks more than a standard DVD. But, the player will "upconvert" the standard DVD to doggone near HD quality. Somehow it takes the info from the disc and increases the pixels to provide a sharper image. In some cases, these old eyes cannot see a clear difference between them. Now, I'll throw a monkey wrench into your decision making. There are also 3D high def televisions on the market. If we were buying today, I'd consider getting one. They are definitely more pricey for now. But the picture is amazing. Check out the display at a store like Best Buy where they will have a few on display. High def, when you first get it, is hypnotic because of the excellent picture quality. We have two of them. At first, I'd avoid the regular tvs we have in a couple of the bedrooms. Just had to watch everything in high def. Now, I'll watch either.

Almost all transoms that ive ever seen have small cracks. The cracks arent bad from what ive been told by mechanics unless they are vertical. if they are horizontal then they are fine. I may have it backwards on which direction is bad though. They are likely just stress cracks in the gel coat. The thicker the gel coat, the more likely it will crack when the composite flexes. Since the gel coat does not provide any structural strength to a hull, those cracks are harmless. However, the gel coat is waterproof. If polyester resin is used for laminating, the composite is not waterproof, and will absorb water. If that moisture is subjected to freezing temps, it will expand, causing damage to the composite. Any areas that have stress cracks should be sealed periodically with wax or some type of sealant to prevent water from getting to the composite. If vinylester resin is used, then there is no problem. It is waterproof. But vinylester is significantly more expensive than polyester resin. Because of that, many boatbuilders use the polyester. Were I to build a fiberglass boat for myself, or make repairs to a fiberglass boat, I'd use the vinylester and eliminate the possibility of water intrusion.

x2. We own one too. Get this, the bed is supposed to allow each side to set their own 'sleep #', but my wife insists my side is too stiff and changes it when I'm not around. Isn't married life great!! Oh my. This is supposed to be a G rated forum. Now you've made it a PG-13. I figured someone would go there!! I didn't set myself up intentionally. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D That's what makes it funny. Those unintentional slips of the tongue or typing fingers are the best.

That is truly amazing. Whooda thunk it.

We who have reached honorable age aren't whining. We are lamenting. We aren't young. We are not whining about having to live as a youth in this day and age. We are lamenting that the youth of today long for possessions, not life experiences, and happy memories of a simpler time. We heated with wood when I was a kid, and it was like Christmas when we recieved a couple of cord of stove length firewood. I loved splitting wood. At eleven years of age, I had the callouses of a ditch digger. Can't tell you why, but I got great satisfaction from doing that chore. It was like child's play. It was almost as good as goin' fishing.

x2. We own one too. Get this, the bed is supposed to allow each side to set their own 'sleep #', but my wife insists my side is too stiff and changes it when I'm not around. Isn't married life great!! Oh my. This is supposed to be a G rated forum. Now you've made it a PG-13.

How 'bout putting the Kentucky Lake, Bass Resource, Road Trip ( http://kentuckylake.bassresource.com/ in the Quick Links box. ) I believe it was done in past years. Would make it easier to find, than searching through this thead to find it. I've bookmarked it as a favorite for easy reference.

I agree. I think we had it better. Easier does not always equate to better. We (those I knew) never had a lot of things, but, I was able to walk the half mile or so to school in first grade. My parents did teach me not to talk to strangers. But I could walk by myself to school or to friends houses down the street. I could ride my bike alone or with friends anywhere we wanted to go, sometimes two or three miles away. We fished for perch and sunfish with cane poles, kite string, a cork for a bobber, a hook, and a can of worms. It was always a great adventure, and when the cork started bobbing up and down and finally pulled under, it was a thrill equal to hooking a big fish today. Cardboard boxes that appliances came in were among our favorite "toys" until the rain reduced them to a soggy heap. We played with baseballs until the cover came off. Then they got wrapped with friction tape, and we used them some more. Our baseball field really was a diamond, not a square. The first and third base lines formed an angle closer to sixty degrees than to ninety. The "basepaths" were worn down to dirt paths while the grass was of varying heights, until the local farmer cut it for hay. When winter brought cold and snow, it was ice skating on frozen puddles until the pond was safe for skating. Snow forts and snowball fights, building igloos and snowmen was what we did when there was sufficient snow. But that was only after we shoveled off the path to the doors where we lived. We made up games, called each other names, got into harmless scraps with each other and were playing outside until we were called to dinner. After dinner, we'd go out and play until dark. In the summer when it got dark we'd catch fireflies in bottles with nail holes punched in the caps. Cowboys and Indians, cap guns and plastic knives with a blade that would slide into the handle when we stabbed each other. We had our own IEDs. Two bolts, a nut, and the old wood matches with the two tone tip that you could light with a quick swipe along your jeans were the components. Catch one bolt by a thread. Cut the white tips off the matches and place them in the nut. Pack as many as you could while still leaving a thread or so for the second bolt to catch into the nut. Throw it against concrete or a stone so it hit on the bolt head. BANG!!!!! Flying kites. Taking the seed pods from sugar maples, splitting open the part that held the seed, then putting it on our noses to be a rhinocerous. Making long "ropes" by plucking dandelion flowers, then removing the blossom and insertin the narrow end of one into the larger end of another, and repeating the process until we had a segmented tube several feet long. Why? Simply because it was something to do. Staying indoors was anathema to "us kids" back then. It was punishment, literally and figuratively. Pushing the old reel type mowers was also great fun. They didn't cut the dandelions, buttercups and other plants that sprung up to a height of four or five inches in a few days. But we loved the whirring and clatter of the rotating reel, the grass shooting out the back covering our sneakers and our jeans almost to our knees. But the best was the aroma of fresh cut grass. Nope, it wasn't easier. But it was definitely better. Probably why my favorite Christmas movie is "A Christmas Story". And yes, I did have a Red Ryder BB gun.

A commercial for the sleep number bed was on, and this tidbit from it caught my attention. During the commercial aimed at those who have trouble sleeping, they state, "This bed gives you the deep nourishing sleep you've only dreamed of." Hmmmmmmm. What is odd about this assertion?

You're absolutely correct. The kids of each generation in the past hundred years, maybe longer, have had it easier than their parents. However, my heart and my head tell me that as adults, the kids of today will have it harder than their parents in the good ol' U.S. of A. Without getting into politics, the fact is that good jobs have been lost, and are harder to find than in the past. College graduates were eagerly recruited in the workplace. There were more jobs available than graduates to fill them. Today, economic conditions are such that college graduates remain at home simply because they cannot afford to strike out on their own, even with a college degree. Looking back on my life, I do believe that I was fortunate to grow up in the best of times. Today, the future looks to range from uncertain to ominous. Where prior generations viewed the future with optimism, it seems pessimism reigns today. Hopefully that pessimism will prove to be unfounded.

Keep in mind that wood products machined from solid wood have a tendency to crack or split. The orientation of the grain to the product is very important, particularly in pieces that would be hollowed out such as jewelry boxes. The tendency to crack varies with the various types of wood. That's why most wooden salad bowls are made of laminated wood. It is also why plywood is more stable than solid wood. Some wood products are better if they have an oil type of finish which can be "refreshed" periodically. It makes the wood less susceptible to changes in humidity, and less likely to crack. Again the salad bowl made from solid or laminated blocks of wood that has an oil finish will generally last longer. For ornamental wood products, you can use most any type of finish. For those which will be used in serving food some of the oil finishes are toxic. While vegetable oil isn't toxic, it can get rancid. I used to be a woodworker and have read a lot about wood. However, I have no experience working with the type of products you will likely make, so my recollection of the particular details is not reliable. I am confident in understanding the basic nature of working with wood. You should be able to Google most of the particulars, and I would think there are members on here who do woodworking as a hobby that can provide knowledgeable advice on the types of wood and finishes that are suitable for items you may want to make. Here's a brief article that will give you a quick insight to finishing food products. It also contains info that shows my recollection about the finishes for food products was not accurate. But, while about all finishes, with the obvious exception of lead paint, or finishes containing lead, are safe when fully cured, some are not practical for food handling wood products, simply because the finish on some products will need to be refreshed or repaired on a regular basis. Paraffin wax on the other hand can be applied, the excess removed, and it's good to go immediately. http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/is-your-finish-food-safe/ The best product I know of for cleaning and protecting wood products around the home such as furniture, stairs, floors, etc., is plain old lemon oil. A drop goes a long way, so use very sparingly, and make sure you wipe off any excess. It will penetrate into the wood, particularly any exposed end grain. Doing it a couple or three times a year not only helps preserve the wood, but also makes it much easier to wipe clean, be it dust or spills. As with any product be sure to read and understand the directions and cautions.

Nice. Too bad you have to deal with all those Jet Skis. Oh yeah. How 'bout some pics of the fish?

It's lock-n-haul. If you had problems searching for it using lock & haul, that's why. Here's the link. http://www.lock-n-haul.com/

After doing some searching on the matter of the "transom" saver, both pro and con I decided to go to the horse's mouth, not the boat manufacturer, but the outboard manufacturer, in my case the Mercury Owner's Manual. Here, word for word is their input on transom savers. It is in bold letters along with a sketch of a boat on a trailer and a transom saver installed between the trailer and a tilted motor. IMPORTANT: do not rely on the power trim system or tilt support lever to maintain proper ground clearance for trailering. The outboard tilt support lever is not intended to support the outboard for trailering. Which brings us to this important question. Does trailering the boat with the motor tilted, and no transom saver installed, void the warranty on the power tilt system? Another possibility for this disclaimer so to absolve them of liability for damage caused should the tilt system fail while being trailered. I do agree that the transom absorbs much more abuse during routine boat operation than it experiences while being trailered. But, these boat operating stresses cannot be avoided.

Did they tell you about the caffein levels? Can pose a problem, just like caffein in coffee for those with hypertension and heart problems. I get a kick out of the natural arguments. Poison ivy, oak and sumac leaves are natural, but I don't think I'd make a salad with them. Many natural things are harmful and even deadly. I'm not saying tea falls into this category, only that the natural argument doesn't carry much weight.

Nope, give 'em a bone when we get home, and put the rest in the freezer. Make sure they are fresh, though even old meat that we consider to be spoiled would be a part of their natural ancestral diet. Our dog loves to find cat poop and eat it. It is a typical dog behavior, and our vet assures us it is usually harmless. However, it is not good for his breath.

I suspect those who broke their lower units because they hit a pothole or whatever may have had too much tension in the transom saver. I've never been told the "proper" amount of tension to put into the transom saver, but here's what I do. First, secure the tie downs, then install the transom saver. I bring the motor down and get everything lined up. Then I bring the motor down until I notice the bolt in the trailer roller start to bend, then back it off until it is straight. There is flex in the bolt, the trailer roller, and the four rubber snubbers that grip the lower unit. I can see where too much pressure, or too much slop in the transom saver could cause serious problems. The ideal transom saver might be one that has either a coil spring or rubber donut to absorb shock while still reducing the forces on the transom. They call them torque absorbers in race cars and are used to reduce the shock transmitted to the contact patches of the tires during hard braking and acceleration, thus preventing the tires from breaking loose.

The local stations around here stayed with the Pats. In interleague play, I believe the network which carries the league of the visiting team gets to broadcast the game. Since the game was over, they switched to other AFC games.

I don't know about a dead person, but gangrene has a horrible stench. Boxers are notorious for their prodigious abilities to produce flatulence.

Most supermarkets sell butcher bones, or dog bones. They are cut from the femur of a steer. They are usually about three inches in diameter, and an inch and a half or more in thickness. Dogs love to get the marrow from the center, as well as chewing on the bone. Freezing them will make getting the marrow a longer process. One word of caution regarding marrow. It can cause diarrhea. Some dogs are more sensitive to it than others. We have not had a problem giving our dogs a butcher bone a couple of times a week. Another word of advice. It's preferable for them to have it outside, or in a room that is not carpeted, unless you want your floor covered with slobber and slime.

Cat urine, and it's not even close. We had a stray cat that used to find shelter in the wheel house of my lobsterboat. It had one corner it used for a litterbox. The smell was overpowering. We only saw the cat a couple of times. It would usually scram off the boat as we got on it long before daylight. We kept a jug of clorox to douse the corner it used as it's personal potty.

Never, ever give a dog cooked bones. They can, and will splinter. Rawhide chews are almost as bad. Though they don't splinter, if a dog swallows, or tries to swallow a piece that broke off, it will expand as it absorbs moisture in the throat or stomach and expand. It can cause blockage in the throat or digestive tract. One other thing dogs should never eat is grapes. The list of dangerous plants, and human foods is nearly endless. If you want to keep your dog's teeth white, and free from tarter, not to mention keeping their breath "sweet", brush their teeth. There are poultry and other flavored toothpastes on the market. After a few brushings, most dogs seem to enjoy it. A good quality dry kibble is better than canned food when it comes to doggie dental hygiene.