Olebiker

Many years ago my Dad and I were at a local tournament on Melton Hill in Oak Ridge, Tenn. There was a guy there with a new Allison bass boat with a 225 Mariner bragging about how fast he could run. Dad gave him a serious loook and asked, "Don't those bass have a tough time catching up to that worm at that speed?"

There is an older "gentleman" who has twice run right in where I was bass fishing and informed me that I was on his bream hole and would I please move. The first time he was with his wife and the second time he was with his son. Sunday morning I was putting in at the same ramp where he was putting in. The son came over to me and apologized for his father and said that he could not seem the get his father to understand that he had to share the lake. I told the son that would be gone from that spot before he and his Dad got there.

You probably ought to put a smiley face next to that statement, otherwise folks might think you are serious. :

The gasoline companies are selling fuel to the customer by the gallon, not the BTU like natural gas. If a customer thinks that one retailer's gas is too warm, he has the choice to go to aother retailer. No one controls the retail price of gasoline. Retailers can sell it for whatever they want as long as the customer will pay it. If the government requires them to retrofit their pumps to adjust for temperature, that cost will just be passed on to all of us. Would they adjust the price up if the temperature goes below 60 degrees?

Baby Brush Hog, green pumpkin, 1 ounce weight, flippin' and pitchin' in the hydrilla on Lake Seminole. Carolina rigged on Lake Talquin.

I'm working in Tampa for a couple of days and these folks are pretty fired up about their Universit of South Florida Bulls.

Congrats to the Wildcats, Deb, and all of the Big Blue fans.

Even better than that is Hank Williams' response when told that he was being fired from the Grand Ol' Opry because of his drinking problem. "I don't have a drinking problem. I get drunk. I fall down. It ain't no problem."

In light of the drought and low water, I thought this was a great line from Ben Franklin: "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."

Resident freshwater license in Florida is $17. If you are fishing with live bait and a cane pole (or any other pole without a reel) you don't need a license.

The Rapala prayer commercial is one of the most brilliant things I have ever seen on television.

I really appreciate you guys posting this stuff. I was able to point out to SWMBO that I have about ten percent as much money invested in fishing tackle as most of you guys.

I keep trying to lose mine, but SWMBO keeps buying me new ones.

I was in WalMart last night when a couple of kids passed me. I did a quick double take and looked at one of the kids. He kinda rolled his eyes, grinned and said, "I know. I look just like the kid on Two and a Half Men." He really did, too.

One word: points! That's about all you need to know about Cumberland. See if you can get your hands on some Silver Buddies and jig them vertically off the points. Both the spots and the smallmouth love them.

I'm with you. Although I am not a big Jeff Gordon fan, I've never seen him do or say anything that would elicit so much hate. Robby Gordon now, that's another story. Every time that sucker opens his mouth I am amazed that he has any sponsorship at all.

Allegedly, a Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war."

I was getting ready to head back to the boat ramp Sunday afternoon when I lost my footing and sat on a brand new All Star rod and broke it in half. my mistake day was not offset by a good fish like yours, but it was still a good day catching dinks and learning more about Lake Talquin.

I stuck my head into the office of a coworker this morning and said, "How are you this morning, Ma'am?" She informed me rather loudly that she was offended by me calling her Ma'am and that I should know better than to use that term. It's insulting. I tried to explain to her that it was intended as a term of respect. She would have none of it. I am reminded of Hank Jr's line about "We say grace and we say Ma'am, and if you ain't into that, I don't give a...."

I 'spect things have been pretty busy in the engine shop at DEI this week. I was fishing most of Sunday and didn't get to see the race. I figured it might be politically incorrect to come in from fishing, get a shower and park it in the LaZBoy with a beer the rest of the day.

I think that CCA treated wood has been off the market for a couple of years now. Here is something about fasteners from the Wolmanized web site: *Aluminum can be used when a protective barrier prevents direct contact between the aluminum and the wood. Direct contact, in the presence of moisture, will create a galvanic corrosion cell between the materials. The barrier may be heavy plastic sheeting, rubber, vinyl, asphalt roofing paper, or even a good industrial coating. The barrier should provide complete separation and remain intact for the period of service of the aluminum.

We are also still waiting for the big rush. The last couple of weekends on Lake Talquin in Florida I have found a lot of small fish scattered everywhere and not in too big of a mood to eat.

Westerns on TV, that's what. When I was a kid we watched westerns just about every night. We watched Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Death Valley Days, Tales of Wells Fargo, Wanted Dead or Alive... Bonanza came on too late. There is almost nothing on broadcast TV that I care to watch any more. SWMBO complains that I don't spend enough time with her. I keep telling her that I would if she would turn off Dancing With the Stars and Big Brother.

Without a doubt, I Love Lucy. It looks dated these days, but it was groundbreaking in its day. My all time favorite, though, was the Beverly Hillbillies. I was born so far back in the woods in Kentucky that you had to go towards town to hunt and all of that humor hit pretty close to home.

That's why I am steering clear of her until about Monday. You know what they say, "If Momma ain't happy, noone's happy."