Fishy, fishy in the brook

I loves me the way you take that hook! Well, at least it was barbless and the damage was minimal.


Nope, not going to divulge the location; wouldn't be prudent... it's a place I've gone to for over 40 years for peace and quiet and to periodically re-center myself. Over the span of 4 days, I caught and released over 70 trout here this year, all on flies I tied myself and half of them on patterns no one has seen before.

I guess when I have these moments, I understand the concept that "life IS good".

One of the Most Beautiful Places in the WORLD!!

Doesn't matter how many times I've been here, it never ceases to amaze me.



Tough to believe this happened because of earthquakes, glaciers and water



But whatever the cause, I'm glad I live only a few hours away from it




And I can go back as often as I want and be totally BLOWN AWAY again



And again



And again!!

The Saga of Old Faithful

Well, it actually took place a year or so ago, but I'm finally at a point where I can write about it...

This is something I forwarded on to my daughter, decided to "share" with y'all.

We had ribs and CHICKEN LEGS last night. I had a bbq accident =( Last week, y'know, first bbq of the "new season", I had to burn all the yucky stuff off the grates, so like always, I started some coals, added some cut up pieces of wood, made a fire and spread it across the coal grid so I could put the grates over it to burn everything off, then brush them and re-coat them with oil to season them so nothing would stick... same old routine, do it very year and have been for 20+ years.

Well, for SOME REASON, much different results this year, and notsomuchfun... The fire got sorta out of control, caught some grease on the inside sides of the bbq on fire and started burning over the edge of the hood.... it caught the handle on fire (because it got so hot. it started it on fire from the inside!) and when I opened it up to put out the fire, it burned the hair off my hand and wrist!!!!

Worst thing was, no handle left on the BBQ and the meat grates got so hot they turned pink and lost all of their "seasoning" (which is what keeps meat from sticking). I spent the past week searching for possible replacements and it looks like anywhere between $280-400 to get one like what we have (mine was $180 10 years ago!) because almost all they sell anymore is gas "grills", which as you might like to know, I think are like patio stoves

So, I started a reclamation project on Saturday and think I MAY HAVE BEEN ABLE to bring my bbq "back from the dead".... scraped off all of the char and blistering on the inside of the box and hood (so it wouldn't drop on the food) and steel wooled the grates, then gave them a coat of oil and brushed it into them... started a SMALL coal fire (operative word here is SMALL!!!) and put smoker chips on it to try and slow cook the seasoning back into the grates, and repeated the oil, brush, fire, smoke routine 3 times... then it was on to the handle issue. Had a few branches I had saved from the alder I cut down last year and was looking through those and found one that had some possibilities... measured it up, cut it to size, drilled it out and used some steel concrete screw anchors for spacers between it and the bbq hood, and VOILA! Back in business!!



Still need to finish cleaning up the box (as you can see) and might consider giving it a coat of high-heat black paint (if I can get all the grease off the outside first), but then again, IT IS a bbq, right?? So maybe I'll just leave it looking MANLY.... ribs sure were good!!

BBQ, Yum Yum

Slow offset smoker cooking?








How about pork shoulder that ends up as pulled pork for sandwiches??








Ribs?














Brisket?








Yeah, me too =)

FINALLY got my knee brace!

After almost two months of BITCHING at the insurance and arguing the need for the brace, between the Doctor and me, we were able to finally convince Blue Cross that there was no way around this. They were more in favor of performing the surgery on the spot than approving this, but the Dr. had to convince them that my knee is 'not ready for prime time' yet.

This thing is NOT exactly comfortable, but it DOES relieve the pain a lot, I guess how it works is because it straps on above and below the knee (and had a super-structure that surrounds the knee) it essentially pulls the knee apart and holds it there while you walk, with the structure supporting the weight. And it's light... cast aluminum, carbon fiber, nylon construction.

Only bad thing is I have to wear M.C. Hammer parachute pants to fit over the brace. I can barely get a pair of Dockers over it, and that's if I buy them a size too large in the waist to get a larger leg size. Looks like I'm in shorts for awhile, glad I live on the West as opposed to the East Coast!!

Ouch... well, can't keep ignoring it

So here we are a few days away from Xmas and I've finally got to admit it, I need a knee replacement. Pain has been pretty constant since April, much worse than ever before. Seems the bad ligament tear I got from slipping on the exterior concrete stairs at work in January that injured my RIGHT ankle caused a serious 'altered gait' which put undue pressure on my left knee. Now, the x-rays indicate I've got severe osteoarthritis, coupled with the joint being bone-on-bone and with the cartilage having been removed (in 1975) there's no alternatives.



Getting fitted for an "unloading brace" in a month or so, which is supposed to relieve the stress and also help re-align the bones in my leg to help make replacement surgery have a greater chance of success.... but truth be known, it's what they call "15 year surgery", because even if it's 100% successful, in another 15 years, it will likely need to be done again =(



Wish me luck

Word fun

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA:
When you rearrange the letters
(With no letters left over and using each letter only once):
TO COPULATE HE FINDS INTERNS