Rain or No Rain

you've heard our story , plenty of rain
in the Niagara region , grape growers are saying enough already , let  us dry out

The grass here in Ohio is yellow and shades of brown and green is where you watered
Full sun and haven't seen a patch of white < this view from my window >
We shall see said the Zen Master

We did. There was cool / warm
drops of rain / no rain
damp and dry
full sun and dim

We watched ' Jack Ryan : Shadow Agent '. An unanimous success
which is rare for 4 people to agree , whole heartedly

Zero success at the pond in 2 tries - I'm better to stick to the river where I'm accustomed to less fruitfulness

Good Morning

OHIO to you

A little Japanese humour there
Only some of you will get it

Temperatures are moderate and so liveable , right now.

The second day of pond fishing - I've got none and watched 3 largemouth get caught
Sound familar ? Does to me

On the positive side , the re - configured or repurposed rod ( the bastard ) casts efficiently. Long casts are normal and overall a smooth action.
Unfortunately , no fish to test the backbone of the rod
We shall see said the Zen Master !

In the Mountains

of S. NY

A pleasant morning

LLWS

... the Little League World Series
basically ,the U.S. against the rest of the world

Obviously , a lot of hype from TV coverage but refreshing to see corporate America do the LLWS big even for one or two days

If you needed hope for the world , this was it
and I think , hope is in pretty short supply for 60 % of the world
The players care - to wit the 13 yr olds were asked ' if you won the lottery what would you do w/the winnings ? '
Answer : give the money to our little league team
Really , they think like that
Yes. Beautiful

" Fiery the Angels

rose and as they rose thunder rolled "

William Blake - America , a Prophecy

He even mentions Canada and a serpent in the Preludium. And the wilds of Canada.
I don't think that he was a camper.
Cda has only one poisonous snake , the Massassauga rattlesnake

Good Morning , to you

to the fiery Angels of the world

Cool

in the house

My imagination ?
It feels cool in here. I'm wearing shorts and a long sleeve top as per usual but............ cool in here
BTW its about 55 F out there

Dell the computer company built this laptop that I'm using. This laptop is a Dell Studio model 17 ". The Studio is 7 plus yrs old , now.
For the last 4 years , the Studio has been our home computer - plugged in 24 / 7 and the main interface to the internet etc.
There was a time approx a year and half ago when I thought the Studio was on its last legs. 
I switched to Widows 10 w/ some trepidation , however , willing to write off the Studio if things went from mediocre ( at the time ) to worse
The upside has been a 40 % improvement in speed etc. The downside , is the stuff that comes embedded w/ W10. To wit , old documents cannot be re - jigged w/out paying for the retrieval or new formatting

' Somebody hears you 
you know that , you know that
its true '
from Song of Acxion , by Vienna Teng

I was stood up

a tentative fishing date

I was supposed to fish to - day. Great day weather wise as well.
But didn't get a phone call

Sad , not so much , I'm tired
Grateful really
I'll regret this when November winds are blowing frost down from the Arctic
What am I talking about , I regret everything when those arctic blasts come down

Medical update :
After yesterday's massive snooze fest at physio , the arm / shoulder problem was a minor irritant this morning.

And I Googled my problem. The physio lady called it an ' impingement '. The article that I found described the ' cuff ' or shoulder apparatus and how the top ligament can press down on the muscle assembly underneath.
Really though , I'm not sure how much the knowledge will help
Heat , massage and stretch - seems to be the key for me.

The day as advertised , fantabulous out there.
trimmed our ' tulip ' tree trying to get it back to balanced b/c it really is lop sided now.

Bastard-ization

or re - jigging a fishing rod

The re - jigged fishing rod is done. 
Step 1 : cut off about 11 " of the butt end.
Step 2: configure a wine cork to be the new reel seat but still using the top of the old reel seat. I needed to shim the back support for the reel
Step 3; add extra weight in the open butt end for counter balance
Testing 1: OK but balance of rod was way too high or favoured the front end , a lot.
Back to the shop and remove the wine cork and reel

Step 4: cut the old butt ( the 11 " ) into a length for a reel seat. Took the piece that I cut approx 7 " and split the piece like a submarine roll.
Step 5: tape the two halves onto the rod - Surprise ! the pieces snapped to - gether and taping was a breeze. Taped the reel onto the new reel seat
Balance is perfect.
Rod looks like someone took apart a fishing rod and tried to put it back to - gether
Which is true
However , I got an usable rod out of one that was sitting ( maybe 10 yrs ? ) and as reported , basically worthless if sold.

Weather : we begin 5 - 6 glorious days , sun , cool and breezes
very dry

BTW the new rod goes travelling next week to Ohio for pond fishing.
BTW - II - I've got a second rod exactly the same 

Whats the big deal ? Well, I like rods w/ a fast tip ( bendy ) but w/ backbone as you move down the rod. Many fishing companions have noticed how my fishing rods have those qualities.
FYI , I've priced out rods and my favs all start at $ 250 and go up from there.
If this bastard rod works , well , good

BTW - III I'm in love w/ the physio lady. She was busy to - day , she had a back log for early morning. She left me w/ a heating towel thingy on my shoulder for 20 minutes while she helped another guy. Then she did ultra sound for 10 minutes , rubbed in physio gel for 5 minutes and then she massaged the shoulder and stretched the arm. Taped me up and sent me out the door
Wow ! true love

Who else

can run up / launch a bassboat

fish for 3 - 4 hrs and then come home

Me

Thats what I did. however , also managed to check out the boat trailer since it hasn't been used in 7 yrs ( ??? ).
I scraped off the moss and lichen and found an automotive place that can check out the tires and hubs on the trailer.
and the place needs to be close b/c who knows how far the trailer can make it.

Caught  , nothing. Pleasant day , not too hot , 70 high but good breeze. Actually ,too much. I spent the morning hiding in a windbreak out the gusts.

Another item that got checked off , was a trial of my new fishing rod. Really ,old fishing rod , never been used. I bought the 8' 6" rod to use fishing in the river. Cost $ 70. But 8'6" is too long for boat fishing. I cut the rod down by 10 - 11 ". Problem is that the surgery destroys the balance of the rod. Solution is to add lead weight in the butt end - to counter balance. Field testing is needed to find the balance point. that was part of to - days , check list.
The rod was still off balance. Back to the drawing board or surgical ward.
You see , I could never buy the rod that i want for $ 70 , to - day.
Thus the surgery 
and besides , I'm cheap. The rod still had the price tag on but at best I'd get $30 ( ? )

Across America

time stood still for a while

A total eclipse of the sun traced a path from Oregon to S.Carolina.

The weather will continue H/H for a day longer
Things will cool off and rain ( of course ) happens to - morrow.

Medical report.
Finger - in grown , improved , minor irritation

Upper arm / Shoulder - quiescent , right now , the physio lady suspects an impingement where collar bone and shoulder bone meet. The tendons may be getting squeezed in there
Ultrasound and stretching type exercises are suggested. Naturally , leaving the parking lot at physio , I went to shift gears and had the upper arm freeze w/ pain.
I managed for the next 2 hrs but the pain was there.
I'm grateful , that she didn't find a neural causation for the pain.

I didn't split the atom or somesuch. I went for a haircut. My regular chappie had guys waiting even when I went back after shopping. I was driving home and saw in the next strip plaza ' Suzies Shears '.
I went in to ask if they do men's hair but I young lad was in the front chair.
I stayed. I waited about 5 minutes and a lady on a cellphone motioned me over. She kept talking ....... and talking. She was the owner. Turns out , my barber goes there. She offered the same price and since I couldn't remember , didn't say anything.
She kept talking w/out the phone. She was fast and sure.
Towards the end , she said ' fifteen , right ' and 
I said ' yes '
I tipped her big

the day was as advertised H/H and sprinkles of rain w/ one downpour which I don't remember

A Total Eclipse of

the heart "  Bonnie Tyler

or
The great American Experience - totality across the U.S.

We saw one in England ( 92 ? ) , visiting the Lake Country
Nothing like our lakes , the water was brown , mostly

Weather , going to be hot and humid
rain , natch 

Plastic

everywhere but

The hose shut off that I was using was metal w/ a plastic turn switch for off. The metal spray tip was hard to turn off that was hard to use. Thus, I put in a shut off before the tip.
Yesterday , I dropped the hose and went to use the shut off and the plastic turn valve had snapped.
Plastic crap , to the rescue - NOT

Weather should be hot and humid ,then stay that way for 2 - 3 days.

Health wise , I'm getting chunk - ier , finger is barely sore , knee is relatively un - hurting and shoulder / upper arm is quiescent.
A good day , so far
We shall see said the Zen Master

Well , health is continuing as reported earlier. w/the exception of applying emugel to the upper arm ( as a precaution )

Gravy Train

not the dog food

Aha , got your attention !

Lately , say the last 6 months , I've basically stopped using the gas barbecue.
To wit , I watch the food shows such as ' Diners , Drive Ins and Dives ' and the Cdn version ' You Gotta Eat Here '. Mostly , its comfort food type cooking or how we normally cook at home.
Burgers are always done on a flat top not over open flame.
The tendency is to go for full fat or as in the standard hamburger recipe 60 / 40 beef to pork ( and that has fat galore ).
My point is that the chefs / cooks are going for keeping the fat in the pan.
Well , M buys low fat meat , thus we ask , ' why am I cooking open flame where the juice drips onto the coals ' 
Good question
So , I don't.
As well , I saute onions and other veg as sides
Plus , I make gravy for the hamburgers
What ? Gravy ! I eat open face hamburgers at home or 1 / 2 bun ( no , actually 1 / 3 bun b/c I cut the hamburger bun in 3.

Weather is full sun and heat and humidity to build through the day

My in grown finger nail problem is curing and hurting way less and of course it matches the increase in upper arm pain that started Thur.

All Healed Up

but sleepy

The day is sunny but for sure there is humidity coming.

The guys are away this coming week , so , I guess I could take the week off form fishing
Nope , don't think so.

I lied big time. I've got a shoulder cramp
don't know what else to call it
started happening on Thurs in the afternoon
now its occurring all the time at home

Physio on Mon
Is he falling apart ????

I managed to exercise w/out too much pain

As well , we left the Q on Thurs at 4PM
One of the owners of the nu Q ( ? ) sent me a photo of an ' island ' that showed up right against the shore , ( taken at 8P )
as long as my boat and twice as wide

Old Men

fish , real easy. They young guys took it easy on me.

Got to the 'bee about 8:30 A and fished til just after noon. Came in for lunch and a nap. I had to soak and dress my in grown fingernail.
We started to launch and stopped b/c it rained.
We waited 15 min and went out. Approx an 1/2 to 45 m later we came in as the rain arrived.
Packed up and headed home. A nice day and I'm not dead , tired but not dead

Overall , the wind was gusting all morning , a little hard to maneuver but we managed. Fishing was slow and got better.
We finished the morning w/ a 3 # smallmouth ( picture to follow ). The bass went under the boat , wherein the guys are laughing so hard as I tried to lift the rod tip out of the water. They both checked to see if the fish was on a log or hooked on the engine. Finally , the bass popped out from under the boat and I netted him.

Worst thing is the fish under the boat , there is no rod control. We couldn't help this happening due to the wind pushing us upriver.

Peace Has Returned

to our computer world

Another kufuffle dealt w/ 
waiting on the next

BTW , in all this reportage , I hope you got that there were dozens of complaints from Google browser users about changes to plugins and components brought about by decisions at Google.

Weather will be fine w/ threat of rain

I tried the on line answering machine message retrieval for our VoIP - all systems go

Thus, hit the play button and THEN hit the < run all plugins > option under the icon ' plugins blocked '

Tell the world !!

Good Morning , to whoever

Blog readership has stayed a steady 3
or so

How is the world treating you ?

Rain overnight and sun , now. Temperatures predicted for mid 70 s

From a previous post re: accessing voice mail from VoIP on the computer :

<<<<  We have VoIP and can access voice messages from the phone on our computer

Sometimes. Its broke right now
Something about the latest FlashPlayer download

Well , sort of found a way to get messages from TekTalk via the computer.

In settings , privacy - content , I ' removed ' Tektalk website from the list. restarted and then relisted , TekTalk , again.

Now , a window appears w/ TekTalk portal that says ' you need to download latest FlashPlayer '

BUT my computer won't download , FlashPlayer - see below

However , the other option in the window is to play the voice message as a media file

So , I kinda have TekTalk messaging

When I tried to download FlashPlayer  , 2 days ago , McAfee came w/ it plus True Key ( or some **** like that )

I deleted McAf and True Key but there was no new FlashPlayer either

P.S. this has been an all day adventure

I've been to HELP on every program on the computer and Google , too!

Crap , I need a beer ! >>>>

And to - day :

I'm bursting happy and bursting frustrated

My problem : when trying to access TekTalk messaging , 

A) the warning ' new Flash Player needs to be installed or send message to voice mail and play through your computer '

or B) plugins blocked at this time

A )  only happens some time   B) is more likely

When the ' plugin ' blocked ' icon appears to the right of the address bar , there is choice to  < manage or run all plugins >

Everytime that I try the ' run plugins ' the message won't play and the window is dark , no white shows.

To - day , I hit play message , window was dark - then I went to ' blocked plugins ' icon and hit < run all plugins >

Yes , the message player works

Only the bloody order was different !!!!!

Crap , I need 2 beers

Did I say ' I hate computers , really hate them

if hate were people , I'd be China

( from ' City Slickers )

Went Fishing

old man style

I drove to the Q ( it probably has a new name by now ) and launched the boat.
First time launching by myself and first time fishing alone this year. Betcha last year , I fished about 80 % by myself.
I'm becoming more social , or something.

I got there about 9 and fished til 1 PM
Fishing was slow ( kinda getting used to that phrase , aren't you ? )

At the second run , not one of my favourites, the bass were there and hungry or angry , see above.

I stopped for a bit to eat and then said " Enough " and packed up and headed home

Not a marathon day , E- Z peasy

The temperature stayed around 70 , low and it was comfortable.
The weather girl said to night and here comes that hot weather that you love !
Not me

Computer Power

the power to drive you nuts

Way back at work , my computer was not accessing a site that was needed. I played around for days w/ that bloody thing. Finally , a colleague took pity and came over to try. 
He looks at the list of sites , yes the site was there.
Then he goes to programs and finds that the site access was not turned on.
Oh yeah , available BUT you need to turn it on

Aarggh !!!!!!

Sunny and not hot  , haven't been out to -day 
We shall see said the Zen Master

Aarrgh !

and thats not the pirate call

We have VoIP and can access voice messages from the phone on our computer

Sometimes. Its broke right now
Something about the latest FlashPlayer download

Well ,sort of found a way to get messages from TekTalk via the computer.

In settings , privacy - content , I ' removed ' Tektalk website from the list. restarted and then relisted , TekTalk , again.

Now , a window appears w/ TekTalk portal that says ' you need to download latest FlashPlayer '

BUT my computer won't download , FlashPlayer - see below

However , the other option in the window is to play the voice message as a media file

So , I kinda have TekTalk messaging

When I tried to download FlashPlayer  , 2 days ago , McAfee came w/ it plus True Key ( or some **** like that )

I deleted McAf and True Key but there was no new FlashPlayer either

P.S. this has been an all day adventure

I've been to HELP on every program on the computer and Google , too!

Crap , I need a beer !

The Day After

fishing

I'm tired and out of sorts
Up at 6 and home at 10:30 P

We fished from 9 to 2 , rested and went out at 5:30 coming in at 8:30.
The guys ( both younger , the whole world is younger ) seem to feel that this is normal.
Me , not so much
But I could be spoiled a little.
Knowing that I can always get up there for a couple of hours.

We went fishing Again

at the old ' Q '

Best of weather , so - so fishing. We caught about 7 lm bass but basically ,  a slow day. One of the guys brought lunch - we dined like kings ( at least Chinese kings )

Partly cloudy all day w/ a freshening breeze all day until approx 6:30 P when the breeze fell away. Overall , extremely tolerable conditions.
Lets face it , I'm getting mega sun. I wear a hat and long sleeves but - yeah , a lot of sun

One Comment

several years ago

" Oh , he never cleans the boat. "
Got me upset

Yesterday , we took the time to do just that. A trip to primarily clean the boat. As well , a good lunch ( halibut and chips ) and a wee bit of fishing.
The boat.  We emptied the boat of gear. We detached the storage bins and removed them for cleaning, We vacuumed the rug decks.
We sprayed rug spot cleaner all over and brushed the goop in.
We wiped down the whole top of the boat w/ degreaser and cleaner.

This job takes me all day by myself. We did lunch and fishing.

Along the way , we found where the mice nest in winter , the buggers eat into the foam flotation to nest.

Fishing was relaxing but not fruitful or fishful.

We drove home early w/ a feeling of real accomplishment. 

My day.

Sun is out and happy. Rain ??? who knows

Wild Ireland

no , not the pubs

There was a 2h documentary on the Wild Irish Coast. The format was a single guy rowing his little dory around the coast of Ireland. More or less going East to West and North.
Almost every scene was him alone and the birds , whatever. In the height of summer , no tourists etc , only him.
He praises the peace and quiet , return of indigenous animal life.
And I kept thinking , yeah and the cameraman in the plane and on the cliffs filming you.  Quite pretty

Weather is gloomy. Gray and cool. And Rain
And the Brett Anderson Long Range - wetter , what else

BRETT ANDERSON

Long-range update through August

By Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

7/28/2017, 2:39:59 PM

Below is my latest interpretation of the ECMWF forecast model, while factoring in current conditions and teleconnections.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or 

' Its money they have ....

but its peace they lack "

from Field of Dreams , as spoken by James Earl Jones

A cool morning , w/ sun

Hello to you

Lid Time

what !  Lid ?

My baby truck has a lid. The cargo bed is covered.
5 weeks ago , I placed an order for a tonneau cover or cover for the bed of the truck. I got the call Wed that the item was in.
We arranged for Fri night install date.The rain postponed the outdoor install ( all the bays inside were full ).
Thus , Saturday was the new option date.
I even got to help ( one guy was going to do it alone ). I mostly , watched but every now and then , actually came in handy.
All done in under 2 h.
Sharp look and I'm happy.
The company is called ' Undercover ', thus I have an Undercover cover.

The pluses are complete shelter ( no rain gaps ) and very strong. In fact the top surface is rated at 14oo #. The lid locks and overlaps the tail gate to fundamentally make it hard to open the tailgate w/ the lid down.
The baby truck is gray and the accents black ( plastic trim ) and now the bed tonneau is black.
Minuses are cargo space b/c the lid doesn't fold but cantilevers up on a hinge. Thus , tall things need the tonneau removed and the tonneau stored somewhere.
And cost ! The cheaper covers can be had for $ 900 but some leak in more than a few places and are not as strong

Weather : everything , cool , damp sunny and sprinkles of rain. The high so far is 70 F but the sun is showing , way more now.

The day stayed cool w/ sun , and a breeze

Trimmed the bushes to make it seem like someone cared.

Went Fishing

on Thurs

There we are floating around the channel. I said at least we had a fun boat ride. We had caught 1 bass and lost 2.
Actually , we did some grass cutting around the boathouse , filled the bassboat w/ gas and had a fantastic , el cheapo lunch. took a nap and got to fish in cool still air.
We had a fun boat ride

Weather is warm to hot and humid

Toronto Type

weather , but not a heat wave or troublesome conditions

I like to think of this part of summer as hibernation time for our house. As in , we do not sit out on the deck.

A new age is upon us ( meaning here ) , we deposited our first check by e-deposit. Yepper , photo of cheque and the app sends the check for deposit.
In 5 days , we'll see if the process worked

the Frog or Mouse

caught your attention !

We went fishing , yesterday , not the royal we. The next door neighbour and I ventured up to the ' Q ' or whatever its called these days. Really mixed weather , w/ patchy sky and humidity but a breeze , changing to ominous cloud and noise , a downpour and sound show and brief spats of rain that went right by us. We broke for lunch through all the  bad bits. Beer and schnitzel. 
Returned to the fray and met cool , almost dry conditions. The wind was patchy too. Gusts followed by lulls and the wind got cold almost.
The fish. Very little response , everywhere we tried. We struggled on.
The afternoon portion seemed the same. Then about 7 PM , the mouse ( plastic and weedless ) paid off. In approx , 15 mintues , 2 largemouth bass inhaled the mouse and dove down.
Success ! for mousie 
the frog had an early miss that would have been the catch of the day , however , just a big splash

I'm dead to-day , tired and I'm stiff.