nboucher

You can never have enough of those old Stanleys. Brent, will he really miss them if one or two disappear???? Man, let me know if he ever wants to sell any of them. Biker, I've got two Lie-Nielsen block planes, and they're every bit as good as their reputation. That No. 7 sure is a fine specimen. Lately I've been lusting after one of their tenon saws . . .

I can't justify buying Festool either. Mostly I've got DeWalt & Bosch for hand tools, General or General International for the big machines. Lots of Craftsman wrenches and screwdrivers. If I had the money, I'd spring for a SawStop table saw. If you don't know SawStop, you have got to check out their famous "hot dog" demo in the left column here: http://www.sawstop.com/ Buying high-end used tools, if you can find them on craigslist and other places, is a great way to buy quality cheap. A good tool will last forever. My hand planes were made in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The metal and the manufacturing was so much better back then.

I'll wear ragged clothes and save on other things, but two things I don't skimp on are food and tools. Of course, it depends what kind of tools you're talking about, but especially for big power tools, cheap tools mean a lot of frustration. I think it's worth taking your time and saving up for quality, especially if you're doing any precision work such as furniture making or cabinetmaking. However, Fein and Festool are just ridiculous, telecaster. You gotta draw the line somwhere. :

Don't give up. There are reports posted of big fish caught over the weekend (check my fishing tournament or outing). I snagged a five-and-a-half pounder in SE Mass on Saturday on one of my favorite early spring baits, a Husky Jerk worked very slowly.

She's a beauty, all right. Love it when they've just eaten like that. Illustrates why they're called hawgs. By the way, I caught a five-and-a-half-pounder at a pond about a half hour north of you on Saturday, that unexpectedly warm day. The big girls are restless . . .

Hey, Carl, my wife hates it that I only get teary-eyed about baseball stuff. What can I say: I'm a sap for the sport. By the way, I wish they made a Yankees crankbait. The bass around here would hit it out of sheer aggression: imagine the hits at the end of your rod (so to speak)!

Muddy, I totally agree about Buckner. I thought it was a classy move by both him and the organization. I kinda got teary-eyed. I loved the guy in 86. I have one particularly vivid memory of him hitting an inside-the-park homer during a regular season game at Fenway I was attending. The guy could barely run; he had to spend a long long time before every game in the trainer's office getting his knees to work right. But, man, he could smell that inside-the-park job and he found a way to get himself around those bases. It wasn't pretty, but that's the kind of character he has. In a lot of ways, he was the kind of player Boston fans lovea real dirt dog who gave you everything he had every night. One mistake at a very bad timebelieve me, no one was more upset than I wasand it took fans 22 years to get over it. I hope now that he keeps coming back to Fenway. I'd buy him a beer anytime.

Sounds like a day to remember, Russ. Sorry Sunday was out for me. I went out for the first time here on Saturday for a couple of hours and had a miserable time: broke a rod tip and caught nothing. I can't even say it was for a good cause! Congrats to all who turned out.

Thanks, RW. I guess I could have googled it myself--you're going to turn me into a lazy man . . .

I don't want to divert Chris's thread, but I'm starting to check out buying a truck as well and am curious: can you fit a full sheet of plywood in the bed of a Tacoma? I need to haul a lot of plywood and lumber these days and wonder whether I need a full-size for this. Norman

I tried fishing from the bank, but there was no water near it, so I did a withdrawal and headed for a nearby lake. Sorry, couldn't resist :

Way to go, Mr. T! Do they have a website we can view them on?

They got a satellite down there? I am going to talk to Elaine i really would like her to come, then bassbus might be out, I guarentee the new Mets Stadium opens that week, I would rather be fishing with the fellas instead! THATS A FIRST : I agree! Fenway can wait. I'll just have to miss seeing the boys get their WS rings again. 8-)

They got a satellite down there?

Circumstances didn't allow me to make the trip this year, but I'm going to do everything I can to be there next year. I don't know next year's school schedule yet, but that week isn't school vacation is it? I owe the family a trip during school vacation, and I'm not sure Kentucky Lake is going to qualify . . . :-/

Fascinating stuff. Anybody want to recommend a good sniping tool?

That was great, Glenn! The key to a good interview is having the interviewer ask a good question and then get out of the way. Too many interviewers feel as if they have to keep talking, not realizing it's not about them. Your restraint was masterful, Glenn. I agree that not fishing your history was Mike's great lesson. As a northeasterner, I found his comments about starting off in New Jersey really interesting as well. And thanks to reelnmn for putting it into a wmv file that us non-geeks could handle.

Mom. When I was a boy and summer school vacation started, she said, "I don't want you in the house all summer. Get the hell out of here!" I talked her into giving me money for a Zebco rod-and-reel combo at Bradlees, the local department store, and spent the summer at the small pond across the street from our house. One day at Bradlees, I used my allowance to buy a bass plugI forget which oneand on this topwater I caught my first bass ever. I cooked up the fish for my mother. After that, she would say, "You're not hanging around the house all day. Go fishing!"

Hookem, you make it to Boston and I will gladly give you my two seats to a night game at Fenway. I have had night-game season tickets since 1987, which I split with two other partners. I go to about 20 games a year, not including playoffs. Am I getting ripped off? No way. Every year I set aside the money for my tickets; it's an entertainment expense, comparable to going to concerts or binging on fishing gear. I never pay for parkingI know the neighborhoods nearby where I can park for freeand I always have a coke and hot dog and maybe peanuts. I haven't bought a beer at Fenway in years. As for listening to games at home, I got an HD tv for father's day a couple of years ago explicitly to watch Sox games. I love Remy and Don. But it doesn't compare with being at the games. I have been going regularly to Fenway every year since 1969, when I sat in the bleachers for $1.75, as I recall. I will continue to go as long as I can, no matter what they charge. Why? The game you see on TV is focused almost entirely on the pitcher-batter duel, which is just one piece of what's going on in the field. When you're there, especially when you're scoring the game, you learn how subtle and complex the game is: where the outfielders are positioning themselves before every pitch, how the infielders are adjusting their position and movement depending on the situation, etc. The green field, the white uniforms, the summer breeze on your face, the look on the kids' faces, the women in summer dress (especially when I don't go with my wife): I really think that a lot of other sports are actually better appreciated when watched on TV, but baseball's the exception. You can't really learn the game by watching it on TV. Despite the greed, the drugs, etc., it's still the best game humans have ever invented, and it's meant to be watched live.

I'm in Sharon, and my pond is about one-third ice-free right now. It won't be long before I can get my kayak in there. You can catch LMB 12 months of the year. In fact, some of the largest ones are caught ice fishing around here. I caught one just under seven pounds on March 31 last year, which was about a week and half after ice outwhich was late. I agree with the angler who said take it slow. I usually start with jerkbaits and jigs worked super slowly.

Loved him in There's Something About Mary. Does he play football, too?

Russ, how about a Yankee BR trip for those of us too broke to get to fly to Alabama? Target: smallies. . .

62 at night; 66 during the day. Theoretically. I say theoretically, because sometimes when I get home from work the thermostat is at 66 but actual temperature is 70 or 71. I suspect when they hear the car pull up, someone races to the thermostat to turn it down before I open the door. . .

For some reason, I have a natural distaste for Kevin Costner, though Bull Durham is good movie. Maybe I'm just jealous. I thought The Rookie, with Dennis Quaid, gave a pretty realistic picture of the baseball life and the aspirations of so many guys trying to break into the game. I do enjoy The Natural, but then again I'm a big Redford fan. Don't be embarrassed at liking A League of Their Own. Tom Hanks is a riot in it. At softball camp one summer, my daughter met one of the women depicted in the movie. She was tough as nails, and we still have her autograph somewhere.