slonezp

You wouldn't last 1 minute in that neighborhood nowadays. I did plenty of work down there 20-30 years ago. Wouldn't step foot down there now. When I was a teenager we would cruise Marquette Park(just west of you) looking for girls. Marquette Park is a craphole now.

It's never too late. I steered my son away from the trades. He went to college while I dropped out of high school. He's making 6 figures at 31 years old after following in my fathers and sisters footsteps. I had just left my truck driving career to get into the trades at 30 and was making $15 an hour at his age. My crippled dummy was fixing his air conditioner this week and I didn't even charge him... I Jerry rigged the A/C until I could get a new control board. He made a comment "How do you know all that stuff... Well I guess there's a lot of stuff I do that you don't know?" We're going fishing on his lake tomorrow morning. I'll unload some whoopass on him. Will be plenty of payback.

Lost my aunt a few years ago. She probably smoked every day from the time she was born until she passed at 83. Had a serious case of COPD and we think emphysema, but she would never admit it. The day before she passed, my father and I were at the hospital interviewing with the hospice people. My aunt wanted to make sure she was able to smoke at the hospice facility and requested and oxygen machine rather than a tank because...oxygen is flammable and she didn't want to blow the place up. When I left the hospital that night I asked her if there was anything she needed. She said she wanted a cigarette and a strawberry margarita. Told her I would bring her a margarita but I couldn't help with the cigarette. She told me to forget about it and I could get her a margarita when she moved into the hospice facility. I came back the following morning and the tides had turned overnight. She was unable to expel CO2 from her lungs. Watched her basically suffocate for an hour or so until the doctor showed up to examine her and give orders for the pain meds. Scary stuff. She passed that evening.

Never went to the lakefront to fish for perch or smelt?

This guy...my dad

Talk about expedient Illinois DNR just emailed me that they finally transferred the boat registration to my name and I will get my sticker in 2 weeks. I filed the paperwork in March...

Doesn't matter to me.

You should have my email...is yours the same? sno......@gmail.... I'll vouch all over the pictures if I have to.

Pics or it didn't happen

Since you're a knuckle dragger, you should be more concerned about the callouses on your baby soft skin.

@Jigfishn10 As you know I'm out of the field but still 100% committed to the trade. It's what I know. After bouncing around for a number of years after I got injured, I settled in with a company that respects my knowledge of the trade. When I say respect, I mean respect. I'm not just "a guy with experience" like I was with my 2 previous employers. The respect goes both ways. I deal with tradesmen every day. Tradesmen who live up to their premadonna attitudes and tradesmen who have no business turning a wrench. Apprentices come into the supply house with their journeymen and most sit and play on their phones but there are a few that listen to the chatter and once in awhile even participate in conversation. In my trade, I think some of the "kids" don't understand how good they will eventually have it. A journeyman union pipefitter working 40 hours a week is a $100k a year job in Chicago. Add the employer 401K contributions and OT and you're at $150K a year and that doesn't include the pension benefits. Not too shabby if you ask me. I think the main difference with the the trades today versus 30 or more years ago is there are more career options today where one doesn't have to destroy their body to make a decent buck. My trade is hurting for help. Kudos to Mike Rowe for promoting the trades as a way to make a living and avoid college debt. Here is one of my favorite "millennial" videos

Guilty as charged. Speaking of amazing to watch. A couple weeks ago I was at the bait shop waiting for my daughter to drop off my grandson for a day of fishing. There was a guy in the parking lot who, if I had to guess was pushing 70 years old, carving tree stumps into lawn statues with a chainsaw. He had a bear already completed and was working on an eagle. Unfreakingbelievable!

Smokes were $3.75 a pack when I quit in 1999. I was going thru 3 packs a day. Smokes in Chicago are $13 a pack. I'd be at $39 a day or $14K a year if I still smoked.

Chit Show is good for follies at a Miami boat ramp.

That's it? You want to see money? Look up Miami River on youtube. Bunch of different "youtubers" filming boats and broads in bikinis.

Quit 22 years ago

The real number is close. I've been getting mailers and text messages for weeks, from the dealer I bought my Ford from telling me they'll give me $39k for my truck. I stopped in earlier this week and the used car manager says the computer says $35k but he thinks he can do better, to give him a few days to put feelers out. I paid $37k for it. If I can get $40k or close, there is no reason for me to keep it. I can get into a Ford Explorer with under 50k miles and wipe out my car note. The Explorer is enough to tow my pond hopper and with gas pushing $4.00 a gallon here, I'll save on my commuting costs.

I don't have a power center. Just a battery in a box

I like the Garmin except I need to get a dedicated battery for it. I have it connected to the TM battery and it's getting interference, even with a choke installed.

My SuperDuty is worth equal to or more as a trade in, with 52,000mi, than I paid for it. I'm tempted to trade it in for a SUV since I don't have the Lund anymore. When I upgrade boats in a year or two, I can upgrade trucks as well. It's like playing the stock market and finding the best ROI

We've been in drought conditions all year. High water bills from watering the garden but at least I have fresh veggies to ease my pain.

Droughty....IS that a word?

Maybe you'll like this one a tad better

Here's something a little different