reevesr1

Not only that, did you look at the temps? Way warmer than here. -12 at Louise, -8 at Pano. Castle got 17 cm, but is a brisk -19. My sister in law is on her way to Pano now. 20 cm so far last 24 hrs, more to come. Oh well, have to satisfy myself with a Louise trip on Saturday. Sure wish I could go tomorrow.........

You say something? Darrin, Ridgeline was great.

Well there you go, learned something new today. I saw the tape, but did not think of them actually raising the wipers. I just figured with the snow as deep as it was it pulled the wipers up as the cars were engulfed in snow.

While the fence certainly guarantees major car damage if you hit it, I personally like it. It keeps people from coming into my lane from the other side of the highway. These fences go a long way toward eliminating head on collisions on the highway, which are quite likely to be fatal. If someone damages their car hitting the fence (or even if I damage my car hitting the fence), so be it. I think it is an acceptable price to pay for avoiding potentially deadly accidents.

Due to the quality of the roads, my wife and I decided to not let my son drive back to U of A yesterday. While they were marginally better today, we decided the best thing to do was for me to lead him up convoy style. While he is a pretty good driver, he is 17, and mom was just too worried about him. There was evidence everywhere of the carnage of Sunday. Still plenty of cars in the ditches, up on the cables on the median, and you could see many, many places where cars had been drug out. Once you got to just before Leduc, the real fun started. Roads there were still pretty crappy, and I have no way to guess how many cars had gone off the road. And the snow was deep! Every car that was still in the ditch had it's windshield wipers sticking up where the snow must have come up over the hood and pulled them up or ripped them off. That and many cars had obvious axle issues, with tires sticking in odd directions. Scary stuff, but we made it no issue. Just kept the speed down, gave everyone lots of room and no issues at all. Really, other than the Leduc to Edmonton corridor, around Lacombe, and between Airdrie and Crossfield, the roads were ok. So with all this carnage evident, you would think everyone would take the hint and slow down, particularly in the icy/snowy sections. Well, in fairness, many, or maybe even most, did. But I was absolutely amazed at the number of people just flying down the highway. One memorable time is when a 18 wheeler flew into a 50 KM/hr zone, established due to the 5 or 6 emergency vehicles pulling another 18 wheeler out of a ditch. And I don't want to just blame the big trucks. The pickup truck crowd seems to ignore bad roads as well. I used to have a big pickup. I didn't really notice that they were all that super stable on ice. But I guess I was wrong judging by the speed. One of the things I've always heard about is how southerners can't drive on ice. Well, that's true. We don't have any practice, and are not experienced enough to drive to conditions. But here? What is the excuse? Everyone knows what ice is like. Slippery! I guess many think it just doesn't apply to them. A couple of hundred cars and trucks in the ditch on the QEII this yesterday would tend to disprove that. Amazing.

Firefrog: I just noticed you sig: "David Byrne once said 'There is water at the bottom of the ocean'. And he was absolutely right!" Couldn't help myself, but had to look up "Once in a Lifetime" on YouTube. Forgot how much I loved the Talking Heads back in the day. Ridiculous video. Sorry for the total hijack. I think the birds just got tired from killing all the fish. Google is mapping it: Google Animal Deaths In Texas, every couple of years there would be a big fish kill in the middle of the summer when water in low flow areas would go hypoxic. Looked awful, but it was totally natural. I have no idea what is going on with the fish and birds, but it certainly could just be a case of media attention being paid to every natural event, and the sum makes everything look ominous. At least I hope it is natural. Same as it ever was.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Catch a big BC lake rainbow instead of watching others do it More dry fly fishing More remote fishing Teach a whole bunch of my relatives to fly fish during a 1 week family reunion in the Kootenay's. Look out, the Texan's are coming.

Thought better of it.

We had a family business when I was 15-17, a marina. I worked the store from 5 am till 9 or 10, then ran the shrimp boat until late afternoon. My wife has owned a couple of Antique stores/booths, and I've certainly helped with that. In the first store we bought a 40 foot container of furniture from France that took up all our savings. We had no idea if we would actually sell it all, but we did. Lots of haggling was involved in that! I also work in sales for a service company. Other than that, not much experience. It's not a game. It can be fun. I try to treat everyone the same, and hope I succeeded. But as the seller, it is up to me to decide whether I can afford to sell at the price being offered. If I decide I can, then it is a bit disingenuous to blame the buyer for being "cheap". And while I'm on the subject, why is it only the affluent who are tight asses? I don't know about you, but I've met tons of non-affluent tight asses as well. Is it just somehow more offensive if the tight ass has money? Is that fair?

Because everyone knows that prices are set at the chain stores, and none of the staff have the authority to haggle. But that is not the case in the small, owner operated store. There is an assumption (and not always wrong), that prices in the smaller shops are softer. If your shop will not haggle over price, that's fine. State it, and either the person will buy or they will not. But to compare selling practices of Walmart to a small owner operated shop is a bit apples to watermelons. I have a condo I rent. People always haggle price. Sometimes I will haggle, sometimes not. But I don't resent the person for trying.

I think you will find that a person's attitudes towards "deals" has almost nothing to do with his income level. I've never really haggled over price when I was a starving student or young enlisted military guy, nor do I today. My wife haggles over most everything, and has since I've known her, from a very young nursing student up to the successful woman she is today. Some people just want to think they are getting the best bargain, regardless of income level. Also, my suspicion is as people age, they become less apprehensive about trying to haggle, and there is certainly correlation between age and affluence. But my personal experience is that as our income levels or professional status climb, our predisposition to haggle does not change at all. I think that any assignment of motives or airs of superiority on the part of the haggler based on apparent "affluence" says more about the hagglee (hey, new word!) than the haggler.

How does this work? Once you make over a certain amount you are not supposed to try to get deals? Good luck with that!

A fly fishing site with no fishing reports for over a week.

I got a call from a very good friend who knows I'm in my 50s as well and fish in Mackenzie fairly often. He called to check in after he heard the story. Prayers to the fellow's family. Very sad.

Nice job Murray!

Newton was a bit of an ass. I've always been a Lebniz guy myself.

Pretty good year overall. Some really fun cuttie fishing this year in some remote locations, with bigger, pickier fish. Got my first Pike on the Bow in the spring. Some unreal dry fly fishing, particularly early season caddis fishing for big browns and a memorable day down south for big, super picky late season rainbows. I didn't spend nearly as much time on the Bow this year, but I did get my biggest brown to date, just over 27", in dirty water. Hell, looking back I guess it was a great year overall!

Only fair. I buy shitty vehicles from your city!

That first one is a bit on the scrawny side isn't it? Awesome fish!!

I dislike pet peeve lists. And many fly fishermen.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! Looks like the weather will allow many of us to enjoy whatever outdoor activity we choose. Everyone be safe, particularly if traveling the autobahn between Edmonton and Calgary! And thanks to all the mods, except BBT of course.

Signed.

Sure is nicer in the city though, where 95% of my driving is done. Thanks for the tip Don. Don't plan on taking it anywhere too rough. And yeah BBT, same rocket. Man up a little, I didn't kill anyone.

I will say that I am not one prone to panic in truly high stress situations. I used to work on nuclear reactors on submarines, and I was the guy who operated the plant during emergencies. But being stuck on the Deerfoot, in the middle of the only freely moving lane during rush hour was the highest stress situation I have ever been under (this includes thinking I was going to die a couple of times on the sub and in the oilpatch). A little bit of panic, and quite a bit of stress induced swearing was taking place. The truck is AWESOME. We'll plan a trip to break it in properly. I know this road in the deep south of Alberta.......