robert

Not sure if I'm allowed to use retailers names but I finally managed to drop into Bass Pro north of Calgary for the first time. Wow, what a nice store, so much put into it. But another wow? Not one employee approached me to ask if I needed help. Went to the fishing section first, wanted a new fly reel - I didn't see the fly section so I stood next to the two employees talking about bait casters, one of them looked at me but carried on his conversation. I shook my head and walked on. Into the fly fishing section, i find the reels - the guy that was working there looked at me, just wandered around, nobody else in there and I stood there looking like an idiot by the counter. Ok, I need a new tent and sleeping bag, upstairs to the camping section. 5 employees standing there yapping as I waited next to them - too polite to butt in on the conversation. Again, totally ignored. I browsed all over that store for the better part of an hour, seen many employees (it wasn't very busy) and as I was on the way out a lady stopped me and explained nicely that I had to exit behind the registers. I said to her that after an hour of browsing that she was the first employee that has opened her mouth to me and to have a good evening as I left. I'm not one for calling stores to tell them of their issues but I couldn't let it go. I had a talk to the manager on duty and told her exactly what happened - first impressions are a lasting impression. Apparently I wasn't the first one to complain today, I really hope they get their act together. That said, what other fly fishing shops do people frequent? Some customer service and a good selection? I also need a new tent, one that doesn't have built in vents, near froze my arse off camping in the banff mountains cause the icy wind was blowing on through from under the fly.

Lynn, i'll definitely try that. Kipper, thanks for the reminder. My chiro gave me hell about it too, keep forgetting about the 1 1/2" wedge in my ass pocket. Long drives are killer when I forget to take it out, immediate relief when I do. Most of this is my own fault anyhow, need to get the body into better shape.

After people deal with immense pain for so long, their tolerance for pain goes up. I've broken toes over the years, tape it up and walk it off - no other pain i've suffered over the years compares to sciatica. Guess cured was the wrong word, I wound up with conditions called Spondylolisthesis, spondylolysis and lumbar stenosis - there is no cure but in my case it's manageable. Many with these conditions end up in wheelchairs, i'm still walking strong. Keep the back muscles strong, see a chiro once in a while and i'm as good as i get. Dragging my arse out of bed in the morning is sometimes a chore, few stretches and i'm ready for work. I am one of the lucky ones. I haven't taken any kinds of prescription meds in 20 years, refuse to. I don't do voodoo, nor herbal - but I do believe in a good chiro. There's alot of bad ones out there and they can do some damage - been there, done that. But there's others that will work magic - and again, I got lucky with meeting the chiro that I did. If he was a crap chiro, i'd be in the same pain as I was when I was 15 and probably swinging from a rafter by now. I started this thread looking for ideas that may help, not looking for a miracle here but just something that works for others when i'm out flyfishing. Some kind of a stretch or something. Sitting on my arse flicking a fly works but it's hardly a great way to fish

Sounds similar to my story -- skiing accident at 15, broke the pars holding together L4 and L5, undiagnosed for 10 years. Between the muscle spasms and sciatica (didn't know it was sciatica, just pain) I couldn't walk for the better part of a yaer. Docs back in newfie told me the pain was all in my head and my mother should take me to a shrink. Docs on the mainland over the years offered to replace my hip thinking the problem was there, others wanted to open me up for a look. A chiro in Toronto 10 years later sent me for x-rays and measured 11 millimeters of slippage (big pain and couldn't walk at the time) between the vertebrae. I sat down and bawled when he told me that in 2 weeks i'd be walking tall and pain free again - he was right. Dr. David Gryfe, i'll never forget that name and last year (14 years later) I called him just to say thanks again, the man saved my life. I've been very lucky since then, quick adjustments here and there when things get out of line and i'm good to go til the next time. For anyone that continues to suffer with back pain, I sympathize. I'm not 100% but i'm damn lucky.

Don't mind the hurt if it helps... can you share that stretch with me? either explain it or if you have a diag. hoping it's something i haven't tried cause i've been putting myself into pretzel shape trying to be rid of this. Just laying down in the wrong position causes it to flare up. The sciatic pain i'm feeling now is nothing compared to what it used to be when it was caused from my back, I never want to experience that pain ever again. Ass cheek sciatica? annoying is a good word for it, not debilitating but hindering.

I feel your pain and I wouldn't wish full blown sciatica on my worst enemy - used to feel like my whole leg was held in a fire - there is no med that'll help it, i've been to the point where i've gone to the hospital and asked to be put out with morphine or demerol just so I could get a night of sleep. That was when the source of my sciatica was in my lower back. This is different and nowhere near as bad as i've had. The pain is manageable but just a royal pain in the arse (pardon the pun) and pain shows up in weird spots down my leg. Maybe a big toe, knee, shin, no rhyme or reason. Hard to flyfish when i'm on my knees, drives me insane but it's the only way to alleviate sometimes. Thank god it's not constant anymore.

Broke my back in my teens, just a stupid kid took a dare when downhill skiing. Undiagnosed for 10 years if you can believe that and suffered for those 10 years. Anyhow, suffered big time with sciatica for years but when I started seeing a chiro, it became manageable. Suffer pain, go see the chiro. However, this last round doesn't stem from my back at all, it's an aggravated sciatic nerve deep in my left ass cheek under the hip bone and there's nothing that can really be done with it according to the chiro. Hits hard and heavy when i'm out flyfishing - spent most of my 2 weeks in banff last year flyfishing from my knees cause it was less painful... If there's anyone else dealing with this sort of sciatica, is there anything that helps? I was going to hit the bow today but my left glut was telling me no.

Nothing like the barbell eyes on a streamer slamming ya in the head eh? Always feels like i'm casting a sledgehammer... I was chucking for pike one time, this big beestard chased the streamer for a good 20 feet before he made the run for it. I got so excited, went to set the hook and missed. Still got the scar from that one on the side of my head lol.

Always been mine when chucking for pike. I've taken the flies in the face too many times on the backcast and now make sure I have a good pair of safety sunglasses before casting. God I can't wait til spring!!

What kind of donations are you looking for?

There's coffee all over my laptop, thanks taco!!!

I was hit head on by a young feller back in Newfoundland and they totalled my ford - thank god for seatbelts is all I can say. If I recall, the buyback was 10% of the value that the insurance company was offering you - i'm going back 10 years here but i fixed the car and re-insured it no questions asked. They didn't even ask for an inspection but I imagine that's changed now. The vehicle isn't really changing hands, it's yours and you're buying it back so I think the rules are a little different than someone buying a salvage title. just be aware that many scrap yards have a cap on car parts, anything more than 6 years old and they don't carry parts for it. Make sure you can get all the parts you need before buying back. You have to ask yourself is the vehicle really worth it - there was alot more damage done to my car than I really expected.

Stupid question but is police a stocked lake or natural? Just curious.

sweet mudder, some nice pics. Wow. You fellers have no idea how much i've been drooling over the fish porn you've posted over the years while I lived in Edmonton. Hoping to change that this year and start posting some of my own.

I learned my lesson with cameras a few years ago, and my good camera is now at the bottom of devil's lake west of Edmonton. Now I take my old 3.2 MP kodak with me, if i lose it then what odds. Not the greatest for the distance shots but overall, it works great. That kodak has taken a beating over the years and it's still going strong.

Or if you really want to cheap out, you can grab an older wireless linksys router - one of the ones with the two antennas is best. Load the tomato firmware found here: http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato What this allows you to do is put the older linksys into client mode and you can link to your network with this router just like you can any wireless laptop or network device. The thoroughput is much greater and it works. I have it done right now, laptop is plugged into the router running tomato - the dlink wireless is two rooms over and I noticed a huge difference in surfing and downloading as compared to my laptop linked directly to the dlink.

Too easy, you plug the main into the power next to your router, you plug a cable from router to AC adapter - you plug the other end into any AC source in your home and plug your network cable into it. hard to blow up a house that way. Yep, apparently you can use external USB drives with your xbox. http://llamma.com/xbox360/mods/USB%20Hard%20Drive%20Mod.htm Pretty simple. Hard to believe that after so many years of microsoft pushing ntfs, that their xbox systems use fat32.

Rereading your post, do you have a shaw connection? for anyone running cable internet, here's a few things to check out. most older homes have what's called RG58 cabling (or lower) - the newer and better standard is RG-6, and when shaw upgrades the cabling it's generally RG6 that's brought into play. That said, RG58 in your home will give you decent signal BUT... I've found that many times people will use cheap cabling for their TV's or dvr's or whatever. Signal losses will occur with these cheapie cables. As well, cheap dollar store cable splitters will wreak havoc with shaw. The best thing to do with shaw cable internet is to isolate it from your home TV's and the RG58 network of your home. An easy way to test if you're having issues with internet due to cabling is to connect the shaw internet modem directly to the incoming line into your home -- and disconnect the rest. Leave it like that for a while and try some downloading and speed tests. I've been bitten by this in the past, and know many others that have as well. One other big issue is that many shaw techs can't make a proper patch cable - this is the cable they supply that goes from your modem to your router. Most times I see this cable terminated wrong and it causes grief - if it looks home made then it probably is - buy one to replace it.

yep, hard wire the console to the router is the way to go for sure sundance. to buy the premade cat5 patch cables isn't cheap but to make them is. You can buy the premade patch cables at any computer store like memory express. Another option is powerline - like this http://homestore.cisco.com/en-us/adapters/...9VVviewprod.htm. It turns your home electrical wiring into a network, pretty cool stuff. I've installed it and it does work, most computer stores carry them.

That video is just a torment

thanks, i'll have to look around this weekend. Worse comes to worse, i'll use the martin for a bit. BBT, I really appreciate the offer but I'm not one for borrowing gear. Now, how warm does it have to be for people to flyfish? I noticed last weekend that nobody was wading the river around fish creek? Everyone was on the shore...

So I missed my chance last weekend to hit fish creek with the flyrod, went down for a peek and there were a half dozen people fishing. Couldn't find my flies and reel. In all the moving lately, i've managed to misplace my one reel and line - yeah, I know, need more gear. My 9 wt is currently in Edmonton packed away but i have my 6 wt tfo 4 piece. What's a good bang for the buck reel and line that i can pick up? Nothing that's going to break the bank at this point. I just started my new job last week and the only reel/line I have to work with is a martin creek, not good. Once I catch up on my bills, i'll be going nuts buying gear :oD

$5.50 inspection fee by air or by land, no charge if you drive apparently. Still another cash grab.

you did the right thing, he did assault you and you never know - you may have helped someone else avoid this idiot.

My 2 cents? It's the managers job to know what's going on in the store - if people aren't getting served, guess what, the manager should already know. It's not my job as a customer to inform any store management that their staff sucks, or that they are out of something - that's why they are called managers... I have no problem with walking out of a store and not letting them know why - if more people did, then hey, maybe someone will stand up and take notice. Bad news travels faster than good. Yeah, customer service is out the window these days.