nick76

What a great illustration. Shows the variance in "identical" lures.

I think that with any family business that is successful, there comes a time when the adults all want a piece of the pie and feel as though they are each individually responsible for it's success. There are multiple adults in this case......too many chiefs and not enough indians. Paul Sr. knew the day would come when the show would end and the money would slow down. He was trying to get it while the getting was good. Paul Jr. knew the same thing. I think he seen the end coming so he has ventured off the payroll at OCC and into his own custom design business. He was trying to make the next move with the cash he had made and make it work into something else. Then there was Mikey. Just got out of rehab and is full of personal issues with his family. Fame went to his head and he had no clear path for what he was going to do when this all ended. From what I have read the lawsuit between Sr. and Jr. is over stock options. Sr. has stated that in Jr.'s contract he was supposed to sell all his stock with OCC back to him in the event he left the company. Who know's??? When the company goes belly up that stock will not be worth the paper it is printed on. Also, Sr. seems to have issues with all his kids, not just the ones on TV.

Man, those beavers can really scare the crap out of ya. I had a night last fall where I was out fishing by myself when two beavers came up on the boat and started to slap their tails in the water. Scared the lving crap out of me at first, then it was a came of fun as I was trying to plunk them with some lead sinkers. We went back and forth for about 30 minutes......then it was too dark and I headed in. I have no doubt the could move a small boat or canoe with ease.

And all three teams from the Big Ten that lost had an opportunity to win those games. MSU was the worst loss and they played without 14 of their players. Not too bad for league that went 1-6 the previous year. If Northwestern had won instead of that stupid fake punt thing and Minnesota would have won that is now a 6-1 record. I know speculation is worth nothing, but a great improvement from a conference nobody had any repsect for. I would say the SEC took a step back this year looking at their record and the Big 12 held about the same.

If you have not read the chapter in the book "The Complete Book of Tackle Making" on making wired baits such as you are trying, I would suggest to start there. They describe how to use wood and nails as a wire former. They also discuss how to pick wire and spoons for such tackle. I was amazed at what little it would actually take to get started. There are a ton of chapters in this book and can be overwhelming, but they break it down by style of tackle. After reading it you might find that you spent better money on this than on a tackle forming device. Just a word of advice.

what are you using to shape this material. Are you still just using a bandsaw or scroll saw and some sandpaper or something else?

I can say that while I am not that old (33), the only christmas gift that I still have from my childhood is a photo album that my mom made for my brother and I. Dad had just lost his job, mom could not find work other than as a cashier at the local supermarket, and we were flat broke while mom and dad had to file bankruptcy. I wanted the coolest transformers money ccould buy, and all I got for x-mas that year was a photo album and a cassette tape of my mom apologizing for messing x-mas up. The tape has long since been broken, but I have that album in my drawer here at the office. It seems sad, and yes I was ticked when that was all I got, but looking back it was the best gift I ever got. I have shared this gift with my children hoping one day they understand that all those toys will be worthless and broken.

Thanks for sharing that. What a great video.

I can understand the reluctance on the part of the buyer, but is this really the case if they were to pay in full 1 or 2 weeks before the wedding? Most businesses are not going to go bankrupt within that short frame of time. Maybe you need to look at how things are charged out.....make it a "package" deal where there is no line item for the video portion. This way they never know about the cost to be paid later. I am not trying to tell you how to run your business, jsut giving some ideas. I have several friends who are photographers. I know each place is a little different, and I live in the unemployment capital of the US (michigan) so we have felt the pinch too. I am a deadline person and I always make sure to be in before the dealine.....this keeps the customer happy. I am with you about chasing them down for the bad check. Each state is different and the ending is different by state. Here you could file in small claims court and go that route, but expect it to drag out 3-6 months and you will get paid only after garnishing wages/ income tax returns unless they really are good people who pay it when they show up to make it right, Or you can go to the local police and they have a bad check recovery program. I have just recently used this for the first time and it took about 6 weeks, but I had my money in full with all fees associate with it. t was slick and the county prosecutor took care of everything. Either way, best of luck and you did the right thing. Go with your gut, cause that is where you will feel it first.

Looks like you had better change your business cards to state that you "exclude" Puerto Rican's. This way there won't be future problems. Just kidding. This is part of owning a business. There are plenty of good people in this world and they would be fine to accept a personal check from, but there are also those who would scam you in a hearbeat. I have found in my business that those who scream the loudest are often the ones who would have taken advantage of you. The ones who you would want to deal with are those who would apologize and try to make it right even before offering an alternative. Sounds like this couple knew what they were doing and my gut instinct would have been the same. FYI.....going with the industry standard does not always mean the standard is right. Sometimes a change is good, if you approach it a different way. You could always approach it by giving references for the people to check and say that you charge it all up front due before the date so that there is nothing extra after the fact. Make it sound like you are doing them a favor by not asking for more money after an alraedy expensive wedding package. Then give them a deadline that you can meet for the video to be ready.....it never hurts to make the deadline with a little extra cushion for eiher that last minute change or so that they get it "early". I have never seen anyone get mad for getting it early, but alway upset for getting it late. Just my 2 cents.

What a great thread. I wish I could get my step-son as interested in fishing as I am. This kid will sit in the woods for hours hunting, but won't enjoy a nice day on the lake. He says it is too boring. Maybe some day.

I agree with you Matt Fly when you talk about tradition rich schools. I believe that ND is one of them, I am just not sure how a series of really bad hires helps . When it is public knowledge that your first two guys you would like to hire are Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops you set the bar very high. Each of them would be fools (or at least insane) to leave what they have achieved and try to start again at such early points in their careers. If they were pushing 70 and had multiple years of success.......why not run the risk. Not to mention the very large contracts they have both just signed. This now leaves you at the 3rd or 4th guys on your list. This automatically fails the bar already set and thus puts a coach in a bad position when they are expected to achieve unrealistic goals. This is a bad situation anyway you have it. They would have been better off to stick with Wies, let him try to earn some of that money and pray for the best outcome. He can recruit.......he jsut needed to find his niche when coaching. As for the BCS.......just because a program has a storied history does not make them the best. The BCS is set up to allow two teams from the big six conferences to compete for the national title. If this were not the case there would have already been at-large teams competing. I truly believe that the BCS discrimates against smaller schools outside of the big six conferences and thus ND would also be put at a disadvantage. Would I like to see them return to their glory....for sure, but the BCS does not foster that relationship.

Here is my 2 cents........they cannot afford to feed Mark Magino so they will not hire him. Charlie duped them into believing that his surgery decreased his food intake.....they will not make that mistake again. As for who is next......it has to be someone who hates coaching. Here is the reason why. 1) Tough academic standards (if this is really true) will decrease the amount of potential recruits they have to choose from. They had better make sure they get the cream of the reduced crop....and this is getting harder. 2) There is a lack of "good 'ol catholic boys" in this country. If you were one of the good 'ol boys ND was the mecca for you. There seems to be a trend that this is no longer the case. (not starting a religious war here...it is just my opinion) The pull to ND for religious/ historical reasons seems to be decreasing. 3) Who wants to play in the cold snowy state of Indiana when most of the recruits they are looking at can choose a nice warm coastal state. Weather has affected where recruits are going, along with many other factors. 4) ND does not belong to a conference and has no guarantee for an automatic BCS birth by winning a conference title. They are guaranteed an at-large birth if they finish within the top 8 in the BCS standings, but this would turn the BCS upside down. If they put a school who does not belong to the big 6 conferences into the National Title game all the other at-large bids would have a legitimate complaint for being excluded. This would preclude them from playing for the "Title" game. So with all this said....who wants this job. It is a coach killer and the next person who takes it would be a fool. This is no longer a bog time job. Just my 2 cents.

OK, let me give you some advice that I got when I first started my venture into the fish tank hobby. I got some great info from some young guys at the place where I bought all my fish from. They had been doing this for years and it worked for me. I was able to move up in tanks from a small 10 gallon tank to a bunch of 50, 100, and even 200 gallon tanks. Hope this helps. 1) Goldfish are nice to look at, cheap to buy, and difficult to keep alive un the conditions that you have. As it was explained to me, goldfish will eat until their bellies blow (just like a fat kid in a candy store). Thus they do not make good use of the food they consume. A goldfish will create twice the waste of a normal fish, they are not great for tank living unless you are set up for them. Goldfish are great however if you want to "Cycle" a tank to get it ready for other fish. 2) You tank really is too small. With three fish in that little tank you are pushing the limits.....and when you take into account that those fish are goldfish, you have just exceeded the limit by about 3 fish. Seriously, that small of a tank cannot hold enough "good" water when competing with a "dirty" goldfish. If you add in the fact that you are not running a filter you are doomed before you even start. Those three fish produce the equivilent waste to 6 fish. It was put to me in fishing terms so that is how I will explain it. A large lake takes longer to see a temperature change than a small pond. This is due to an increase in mass within the lake ie. water, rocks, plants, fish etc. So with a small tank you will see changes sooner and this goes not just for the temperature but also the ammonia levels produced from waste. 3) I am not sure how often you are feeding the fish, but it is not uncommon for twice daily feedings. One of the first mistakes is to follow that rule. Most fish will live healthy on a single feeding a day and no more than they can eat in about 30 seconds. Most fish cannot handle large amounts of food and will either waste it (causing ammonia spikes) or not get the full nutritional value from it (causing ammonia spikes). Either way, cut back on food. 4) If you are serious about keeping the kids happy with fish and are in a position to invest a little buy a bigger tank. More importantly buy something in the 10-20 gallon range and buy a filter that is too big for it. I have always run filters that are 1-2 sizes too big for my tanks and have never had an issue with ammonia (If you cannot tell, I think that you problem is with your ammonia levels in the tank). The larger filter will help if you get a day or two behind on water changes, over feed on accident, go away on vacation, etc...... 5) Stay away from all those additives you can buy for your tank. Those little drops do not work. They are expensive and not a fix for doing it right. I have tried them all, and unless you fish get ick or some other parasite avoid them like the plague. 6) See if you can find a real "fish store". Buying fish from wal-mart or something like that is not usually a great investment. Those places do not have the personell to effectively manage these things. Often they have no advice, only do what is told of them, and could really care less if the fish live or die. Seriously, would you buy a dog at Wal-mart? Most of all have fun. It is an experience of trial and error. Each fish species is unique and fun. If you want to keep what you got right now without much investment then you need to do more frequent water changes, maybe add an air stone, and pray. Those little buggers are not environmentally friendly!!! Hope this helps.

If that is the case, then by all means charge for both your labor and materials. I would start in the $8-$10 range and then you will know where you stand for the next craft show.

Had fish for a lot of years until we had more kids. This could be lots of things. A couple of questions that probably need to be asked before a remedy may be found. 1) How big is the tank? 2) How many fish are in the tank? 3) What type of filter are you using? 4) When is the last time you did a water change? There may be more, but this is a start.

I guess the question depends on what you are wanting to do. Are you looking to make money from this (cash in the pocket) or are you looking to unload some baits you have painted and maybe recoup your costs? If you are looking to make money then you should be charging for your time and materials, if you are looking to get rid of some baits and maybe be able to get a few supplies for the next go around then you can probably afford to charge solely for materials. Either way, I know around here it would depend on the day the ladies are having who would be your primary audience. If they are in a spending mood then they will pay $8-$10 for a bait, but if they are holding tight to the purse then maybe $5. This is a great gift idea......you better get some cheap business cards made to go along with the baits so their husbands can call for more if they like them.

Good things happen to good people. Being a business owner I have tried to never burn a bridge. You never know when you might need to get back across that bridge. I have also tried to explain to my wife many times that Karma is a real thing, and sometimes doing something nice for someone will come back 10 fold. She doesn't get it, but one day she will.

Sounds like you had some fun restoring the old girl. Nothing says mine like when you restore it how you want to.

People often confuse the difference between fiberglassing and using Thompson's waterseal. Fiberglassing will provide a barrier overtop of the plywood that will essentially seal it from the outside. Unless the resin is broken in some fashion you will never get water to penetrate that barrier. Thompson's on the other hand is a water repellent (i.e. a water resistant). It will form a film over the plywood that will eventually breakdown after repeated exposure and need to be treated. You really are looking at the difference between being water proof vs being water resistant. If you are planning on having the boat for a while and only want to do this job once then do it right with the fiberglass and resin, if you are only keeping it a short time and you don't care what happens to it after you have sold it then by all means go the cheap route. Remember this the next time you buy a used boat, did the guy do it right or did he go cheap? FYI......it is recommended that the plywood be dried before you place any fiberglass resin on it. If you have been to a lumber yard lately where there is much turnover in product you will notice that most of the treated lumber is very wet. Give it time to dry and you will get a better outcome with the resin.

Glad to hear that the first bait held up nicely. That clear sure gives the baits some depth. Now you need to put down the airbrush, stand back from the table, and go get your poles so you can beat the tar out of them. Then let us know how they are withstanding the punishment. I will keep my eye on what you think of it. It get's addicting doesn't it!!!!

If I remember correctly you are using an automotive top coat. How is it holding up? Or have you gottten bit by the painting bug with no time for fishing?

Been a rough year here too. The weather has been unusually cool and the biting has slowed to a crawl. Last weekend though it lit up. The bass seem to be heading into a fall pattern. My favorite time of year for catching bass. They are feeding like crazy and the coold nights bring them back. Went out sunday witha buddy and caught 12 bass only one of which was less than 14 inches. Largest was 22 inches and just a touch under 6lbs. They were hitting the shallow weeds and the light cover of the pads. Soft plastics rigged to just go across the top of the cover and it was on. Did I mention I love fall bass the best.

In this situation there are really only three types of people you are dealing with. The first is the guy who is really apologetic and knows that he overstepped his bounds. He will try to make this right however he can. The second is the guy who will deny everything at all costs. You will now because he often will trip himself up in a lie and once confronted will still deny it ever happened and it is usually someone elses fault. The last type of person is the on who doesn't care about much other than themselves. They often do things for their benefit and with little to no regard for anyone else. This includes anyone who is in power above them. You already have a gut feeling who this guy really is. If you thought he was sincerely apologetic you would not have had to ask. If you knew he was the lying type and you had caught him dead in it, you would not have to ask. Yet you know he is the last type of guy and are somehow trying to convince yourself he will change. Don't waste your time. Have the conversation. He either accepts the punishment (prohbation) or he gets to moving on. You may find that he has turned off potential members with his shinnanigans. As a business man I have seen this happen too many times to count. An honest man will accept his punishment and wait to make it right. Any arguments will say he wants to do otherwise.

Welcome, this is a pretty nice place. Enjoy.