The Ear Phone??

Ok let me first defend the earpiece before I go to ripping on morons. I use an earpiece while driving but its plugged into my phone its not wireless. I use it because I truly believe that it makes me a better driver. I have to talk on the phone while driving and at work. I'm sure wireless is that much better but that’s not what bothers me. What is up with the middle aged man that thinks that having a phone stuck in their ear is cool. They look like some sort of Data from Star Trek Volcanoid or something. And there's more than just one brand. I saw one this weekend at a small little pizza joint on a Sunday of all days. This guy was with his wife and baby and couldn't stay off of it. And you never know when he's off because it never leaves his ear. Are we that sick and dependent on the cell phone? Believe me when I'm not at work I can't stand the phone and will only answer it for friends. Ok to another subject but first...if you have one of those wireless ear phones don't be surprised one day if I run up behind you and slam your head in one big clapping motion. I'll just be doing product testing!
Trash days are Mondays and Thursdays. So the tird neighbour decides to start putting out small pieces of trash at the end of our shared rear driveway one piece at a time. I swear when brains were given out they tried but somehow they slipped and his head hit the concrete. The trash guys have had it and won't pick up his pieces anymore so I've had an empty large Ozarka jug at the end of my driveway for two weeks now. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do because this isn't the first time I've picked up his crap. One day the birds got into his trash that was out there 3 days early. He didn't pick anything up! When I finally asked him about it 3 days later he did a half ass job. Typical for lazy people. I think I may just throw it in his back yard. This is the same guy that calls me when my dog barks because he and Miss Piggy can't sleep. And the same Miss Piggy that approaches me about how my dogs get excited at 8:00 or so when I leave them in the kennel...somebody can't sleep..well the rest of the world goes to work. Then he tries to tell me "oh we are going to fix this place up real nice"...Great I say!! Start by mowing the lawn more than once a month!
Can you tell I miss my sane neighbours that have been in Montana for the past couple of months? Bill hurry home there's a cold beer waiting on you!

Shoot Your Own Limit!!!!

I haven't really written anything of any substance in a while. There have been lots of happenings going on and plenty of things to keep me busy. I continue on my no-TV ban that I began trekking on a couple of years ago before the idiot roommate lived with me for six months. His mush mind couldn't get by without it. I guess the difficult part is when something significant happens in the news I don't hear about it or really get it until a few days after most. I check the computer almost everyday (at work of course). Lately the Hurricane stuff is dominating the news and for good reason. I couldn't believe the picture of the city of New Orleans. It looks like somewhere in northern Canada. Lakes forming between buildings! I guess the media just hypes every hurricane and we become accustomed to them hitting nowhere near as powerful as they were projected. Well this one did. And the damage it’s causing is crazy. I've lived in Tejas (where we are now the minority) for almost 13 years and until about the last 5 I can't seem to remember there being this many hurricanes? Maybe they just weren't publicized. Or maybe like the JW's (Jehovah witnesses) said on my front door about the end coming? Maybe they are onto something...and about that time I decided to argue religion with them. Not a good idea to send your little one's door-to-door if you are trying to convince people about your beliefs. Especially when someone as crusty as I comes to the door. That was frustrating..asking two teenaged girls why they don't believe in Jesus.
Ok back on track...I looked into the new hockey season for the first time last night and was curious as to the happenings. For a more detailed outlook go to Bryan's blog. I am shocked at just how low the salaries are and I'm real impressed by it. I wish the other sports could follow lead. I'm sure some would argue that foozeball started this trend but I would bet without even looking up numbers that the hockey guys are paid far less. So look out affordability! I'm sure all the boob jobs and cokeheads in Dallas have already bought up all the tickets so they have a place to socialize. Just my opinion.
The eldest dog definitely senses something. I swear that dog is smarter than most people. She knows when I start digging around for certain items. I think I'm more excited for her because that’s what she lives for. The opportunity to chase down fowl and bring them too me. And she's damn good at it too!
Been spending a little time at the tying bench lately trying to come up with my version of the purple haze. Many that you find in the fly shops have a floss type body...not natural enough for me..I managed to find some purple rabbit hare dubbing. Plus I think it adds buoyancy to the fly. I know this is where many of you tune out so I'm moving on.
"Castroville was founded in 1842 by Henri Castro, for whom it is named." That is where I'll be located this weekend for the big opener! Hope all you boys in Moody have fun and remember the main reason why Wayne even invites you. So he can shoot your limit for you then run behind some cedars and clean the birds in his bag...run over to the cooler...grab a couple of beers and go back to shooting your limits. Come thru for me boys keep him to one limit a day! It all starts with getting your guns off of the shoulder mount position...gear up and shoot! And when he gets real drunk and starts spattering about game wardens in helicopters he is telling the truth! Every morning there are at least 6 fat dove sitting on a wire above my house. I look and I say, "Just you wait..my day is coming" Coo coo all you want I'll have the last word. Go get em!

Finger Twitchin' Time

IT'S SO THAT TIME

Weekend

Yes it is Friday. I kind of prefer the Friday's with a big fat check attached to it but this works just fine. Went out last night for the first time in a while and it was fun. Firewater bar and grill...it has a very nice outdoor area which I think any good bar has to have these days. Nice stage area and the sound was pretty good. Overall cool place!
I do believe the days of going out all the time are over though. I don't know if I've become cheap or something but saving money seems to be much more important. I think it may have something to do with getting old. Imagine that?
So lets see today I'm going to have lunch with Tiff and one of her co-workers..Johnny. Then tonight my bro and sister-in-law and, my little niece are all coming over to join Tiff and I for dinner. That should be fun...haven't seen the little one in a while. Then Saturday we are heading over to Steph's cajun festival..not really sure what all that entails but I'm sure there will be some good eats going on.Enjoy your weekends!!

The license plate of choice

Whitefish Montana...noted by most in the state to be in and around the most beautiful part of the state.

The golfing authority...My uncle John

Mr. Bull Moose...ahh yeah I'll be leaving now

The swimmin' sistas

This was supposed to be a 3 dog sitting photo. Hmm only one dog listens!!!

Roxy and Sunny's buddy Waverly enjoying the 106 degree day in the dog pool...

Everybody say hello to Napoleon!!!

Seatbelt Extensions

As I sit here awaiting our office meet and greet luncheon. Can you feel the excitement flowing from my veins? I'm reminded that something’s must eventually come to an end. Certain chapters must close and to that there are many more to come.

I think I may have a new hobby. Or at least interest again. Went to Nac this past weekend with Tiff and went shooting skeet with her pops. I've shot trap before and just messed around with the clay targets but never tried skeet. It was a blast and very challenging. I feel as though the heavy slug gun of a benelli 12 ga. didn't really help matters. Give me a light 20 ga. and I think I may be ok at it. I did fairly well for the first time also considering I haven't shot since February. Have I managed to include all of my excuses yet? Oh and it was blazing HOT.

Its now 12:15 think I may just be considered the snob. Oh well I'm not hungry anyhow.

I also managed to work with the youngest dog this weekend and fired a gun over her for the first time. I was surprisingly amazed at how well she did. She still has the short attention span, which is a difficult thing when working with a pup. Getting rather excited about the opening weekend of dove season. I actually like the taste of dove but I think the significance of the opener is the fact that it signifies the beginning of the hunting season. Time to sharpen up and re-load those shells..clean the guns..buy a license etc.
Should airlines charge an overweight person for two seats? I say YES. Especially after traveling next to a person tilting in at or around 350. She spilled over into my space or my comfortable area that I supposedly paid for. Not to mention at that poundage you don't exactly contain body odor very well. She came fully prepared though with a nice sack lunch that appeared to be low carb. So picture this...a three seater with her in between two guys. The guy on the end didn't seem to mind he was so elated to have hiked with his family. He seemed to have possibly caught a slight gay bug at some point in his life but forgot to mention that to his wife. Anyhow I know this all sounds bitter but until you have traveled 2 hours next to jabba then hang in there with me please. And I know I shouldn't make fun of someone like this...but when you ask for a seat belt extension I think you should be required to pay for two seats.

The Master 

A Madison Sunset 

Ahhh...THE Madison River 

Lake Lavons "Other" Uses besides wakeboarding 

Lori's Wedding 

This just in...

The perpetual update as I know it:
1. The song that I noted a couple of month’s back that I found rather disturbing (Paul might like it). About the truckin queen from OKC. Well yeah its a Dale Watson song and I have come to find out its a true song about a guy who's handle is "Trukin' Queen" and he gets on the cb and actually talks like the guy in the song. Very weird.
2. If your breath stinketh brush your teeth
3. Looking forward to spending some time in Montana again this Friday..probably more of a golf oriented trip.
4. Going to miss a great Canadian Peter Jennings!
5. Quote of the week "I never intentionally used steroids"
6. My neighbour across the street passed on this week. He was a very successful businessman and mowed his lawn very regularly. Mac Jameson you will be missed.7. "Ropel" for digging dogs may be the ticket
7. 84 degrees in Texas on August the 10th!!!

Gulp This

Saturday July 23rd, 2005
Fishing Journal- We packed up the heavyweight rods and went over to Hepgen Lake for some infamous Gulper Fishing. Gulper Fishing has become a very popular treat amongst fly fishermen. The name is derived from the noise these large "lake fish" make when they gulp up whatever the fly may be on the surface. For the most part they are taking Calebaeitis in the Dun form which is just a pretty fly with its wings upright. The fish gulp in complete lines just gorging themselves on the flies. This only happens into late July, August and parts of September. Usually lake fish have an abundance of food in the deeper water and never really venture too far inward but with incredibly easy eating this time of year it sure is fun. All you have to do is first off spot the fish (average size 20") and predict which way its going...make a good cast and watch the fish eat it. There are Browns and Rainbows that perform well. There is nothing like having a 20" trout on a fly rod. They fight to the end and in some cases take 20 minutes to land. But this particular morning the fish were very inconsistent lining out for us. An occasional feed every now and again makes the fishing spotty. They just weren't behaving right. We then fought the wind all morning looking for fish and glassy water. When the wind picks up you might as well pack up because the Gulper Fishing is over. It usually really doesn't start to blow until around 11 or 12:00. I fished with Bill of course and one of his good friends Dr. Bruce Kohn. Got to hear some interesting stories about what type of patients are in a prison medical facility in the middle of BFE Montana and what ugly things the Meth problem has turned into. He basically said if you want to fry your head all you have to do is get near this stuff. So around 10:30 the fishing experts determine that the large damsel fly's flying around everywhere is what the fish are eating. Nothing quite like fishing the wrong fly for 2 hours! Damsel Fly Nymphs to be exact and you couldn't find one of those in my box that particular day. I think between the three of us we may have landed one fish. Got to see a few golden eye ducks and that was very cool.

Lessons in Etiquite

Friday July 22nd, 2005
The flight arrived with no hang ups. Bill had the beers waiting with the river calling. We headed over to the Madison River to fish the evening away. The main affilation with this section of river is the famous 3 Dollar Bridge. And to all those from Colorado reading this get lost. You don't know how to find this spot so don't ask!! The fishing was a little slow but we gave it our best. There was plenty of cloud cover, and on a plentiful rock bottom river this tends to stunt any evening caddis from hatching. There were plenty of people parked at the bridge area. We actually go further downstream to escape all the madness. I swear if I ever pull up to a fishing hole and there are more than 5 cars I'm going to find another spot to fish. The fish are everywhere but idiots think that if you go where that guy is you are going to catch more fish. Trust me it doesn't work that way. Escape the crowds and enjoy the solitude.
It won't be long and the damn place is going to turn into Colorado. Too many people that don't know what they are doing. Colorado has its solitude you just have to know where to find it. Ahh. There should be a fishing etiqute class designed specifically for the same idiots that don't think anything through in regular day to day affairs. When you spot a gentleman fishing a hole or a seam or a rising fish...stay as far away as possible. Don't approach him and say"how are the fish biting?" Or the redneck response of "What kinda fishin' pole you got?" First of all you sound like an idiot and secondly nobody wants to shoot the shit. Shoot the shit occurs over a beer while you are scouting a river ..or awaiting the heat of the day to pass or finishing up on a long day. Not on the river. Walk well enough around the guy so you don't spook the fish. This past trip I had the a-typical fly shop special walking the bank. I thought without putting a large bill board above the fish next to the bank that I'm fishing too, I would throw a few casts in the general direction and hope he can figure it out. NOPE. Just keeper coming...why don't you just walk in the hole and see if you can step on its head. I don't want to come across as some kind of fishing a-fishianto(spelt wrong for humor) but, its no different then the very same guy on the cell phone that just cuts on over without even looking...or Courtney's famed frustrations with the mini van moms and their A student stickers. If people would just pay a little more attention and respect others we could be so much better off. Courtesy really does pay. People notice it. I go out of my way to address people who pay some attention. The slimey guys appeared to be taking emergers and were exposing anything but dorsal fins(backs) and Tails. This is a clear indicator that the fishing is going to be tough. Its almost imposible in may people's minds. You are literaly trying to immitate an insect that has left the bottom of the river and is shooting straight for the surface. Nothing you dangle or drift can immatate that. There is one theory by a german feller that makes some sense but just adds to the difficulty category. It somewhat makes sense if you have a consistent fish rising in a given feeding lane. You either cast directly over him or directly below him and at the last second slowly raise the rod tip to illude the fish into thinking its an emerging fly. Obvioulsy you have to have some sort of a nymph on for this to work. The other way to approach emergers is to have a dry fly that sits real low in the film of the water. Sometimes not greasing a fly can help this happen a little easier. And now days with all the synthetic materials used for tying it doesn't help your cause. Fly tying commercially is going to poop. They are actually doing it overseas like freaking running shoes in sweatshops. Cheap ass materials and they look pretty. People buy them because some fly shop owner tells them...these will work. The next time the fly shop guy tells you to buy something...politley ask for a look into his personal fly box. I bet he says he doesn't have it. Even though he's about to run to the river in one hour after he gets off. The truth of the matter is he wouldn't be caught dead with most of the garbage that he sells. Old School I am and I know it works. So go on your merry ways and remember ettically speaking pay some attention.

Sisters 

Say hello to Sunny!! 

Earthquake Survival Tales

Now that you have read the story in the above link you can follow along. Most of you I'm sure heard about the 5.6 earthquake that rocked Southwestern Montana late this past week. Well I'm here to give my account. Thats right folks I survived an earthquake. Actually I was a little intoxicated and couldn't really put two and two together. It had been a typical all day fishing experience and we hadn't got back to the cabin until 9:00 or so. We were well into the hefty Moose Drool beer and had switched over to Mr. Beam. So as you can imagine I was very relaxed. When all of a sudden Bill gets up to go use the facilities and everything starts shaking. I remember looking up and thinking to myself "why is he in the attic"? Then I realized there is no attic. "So why is he on the roof?" All this time I was looking at a mouted moose head on the wall shaking and a main 16" main beam log shaking at least a foot. Then it quit. Bill said he didn't feel a thing probably becuase he was a little numb. But he told me that I had probably just experienced a minor earthquake. I thought hmm? Whatever I'm just drunk. So the next morning we heard on the national news which is a big thing in an area seculeded from everything. That a 5.6 had happened near Dilon MT. Kind of a wierd deal to go through but different. To all those Madsen and Knippers Associates out there take note because Montana may be your next visit. Look for an upcoming update of the whole trip here in a couple of days. I've got about 6 pages written so far but its mostly boreing fishing stuff to most. I will probably post it in the angling journal. Wierd being back in an Air Conditioned room. Wierd waking up and not having to put on a polar flece because it's only 31 degrees. Glad to be back though! Went by Bryans blog to see what appears to be a kegerator of some sort with a bar. Great to see inovation in progress!!