Motor of the World

I try to keep up on the clean and green movements, reading articles about new advances in smart grid, renewable energy, carbon capture, climategate peak oil, etc. As you might imagine, there are opposite ends of the spectrum ranging from the Drill Baby Drill crowd to the absolute zero carbon footprint crowd.

The other day I read a really inspiring article, published in Science Daily. A group of scientists at UCLA are working on a way to process carbon dioxide emitted from coal burning electric plants and liquid fuel that can be used to power vehicles or other machinery. The scientists were able to prove the process in the lab. Clearly, it will take years, millions of dollars, and a shift in the way utilities do business to turn this into a viable product. But that's not the point or what makes it inspiring. The inspiring part is that there are people out there who are thinking outside the box, to come up with real solutions. Rather than following the old pattern of just burying the waste, CO2 along with the sulfides and other nasty stuff being churned out the smokestacks by the ton, these guys are trying to find a way to take that waste and turn it into fuel. Whether this particular process succeeds along the evolutionary product path and clears all the hurdles along the way is almost beside the point.

In Atlas Shrugged, which I read about 20 years ago, a key story line was the "motor of the world", that would take static electricity and turn it into energy, representing a fundamental shift in the harnessing of energy. It is the ingenuity of scientists like those at UCLA that will create the next paradigm shift in the world's energy consumption model. I'm glad that people smarter than myself are working on it, and pushing the envelope to find solutions that don't involve planting virtual time bombs in the ground for the next generation to figure out how to disposition them.

Tight Lines,

Dave

One too many...

Some things just speak for themselves. Thanks to law enforcement's embrace of audio and video, there is an endless supply of user generated entertainment.

I'd post a fly of the day, but I'd have to stop laughing.

Tight Lines,

Dave

CallFerret

Here is an other episode of, Hey everybody, these guys Rock! I received an email to our homeowners association from one of the neighbors, saying that she had received a fairly sketchy phone call from someone trying to sell her something. She did some research, based on the CallerID at this site called CallFerret. This one on a short list of social media applications that I find to be of significant social value. Readers can upload stories of their experiences, based on the incoming number, so that others can research potential scams. In this case, the 'vendor' offers to send free gifts that come with a $50 shipping an handling charge.

The state of the economy seems to be a challenge for ethics and good decision making. It's nice to see that technology is being used to help combat those who need to have their compass re-calibrated.

The fly of the day is the Barr Slumpbuster, courtesy of Charlie's FlyBox

Tight Lines,

Dave

First Steps from the Shadows

Remember the days when big brother tried to pretend that he didn't exist, for fear that there would be a public uprising? With all the sharing of personal information that people do through the 500+ social media channels, it seems that people don't care, so why should anyone try to hide what they are doing. With the Google Dashboard coming out, it shows something that everyone should have implicitly known. If you have to sign in, somebody knows who you are and what you are doing. The dashboard makes available your Google related activities.

I've heard it said in office conversations that the magnitude of the information collected would make it impossible for any entity to build a profile with actionable data. Don't believe it. In a post today on GigaOM, it is pretty clear that crunching capacity is not going to be a constraint. While browsing history certainly is innocuous enough, I have to imagine that additional information is stored and indexed in an actionable format. Like any other tool, the positive or negative outcome is largely determined by the intent and proficiency of the individual with the access to the tool.

The fly of the day is provided by the Redneck Peacock Nymph, created by Jay Zimmerman, and posted by Larry Jurgens.

Tight Lines,

Dave

Single Serving Containers

Last night, I was tying some flies while my wife was watching a recorded episode of The Biggest Loser. I had never seen or heard the show before for more than the 5 seconds it would take me to do a drive-by and let loose some sarcastic remark about the participants and/or the audience... which was always popular in the Ferro house. One guy has lost 100 pounds, and easily has another 100 to go. I can't imagine what it would be like to have that much weight to lose. These people obviously are in need of some assistance to tackle their weight issues, and more power to them. I guess we all have our limits at which point we decide that a change needs to be made.

About a year ago, after injuring my shoulder in a rugby match, I went into one of those bad cycles of no exercise, holiday cheer, lots of holiday sweets, and big meals. Needless to say, the scale started inching northward until I hit the magical number of 220 lbs. For some reason, 220 is a psychological trigger that forces me to take corrective measures. Playing weight has always been 205 lbs. but let's face it, playing the occasional Olde Boys and B-side match does not constitute active participation in the sport of rugby, so I should probably aim a bit lower.

As a quasi competitive athlete, you go through periodic fluctuations in weight. One thing I have noticed, is that as my old ass continues to get older, the downward part of the fluctuation seems to be getting more difficult. Into my early 30's, I'd skip a couple of lunches, and I'd lose 10 pounds in about a week. Burgers, pasta, beers, steaks, chips, dip, biscuits and gravy were all acceptable dietary inputs in this rigorous regimen. Though, these days that does not seem to work. I started out on my trek back to playing weight with the usual two instruments, don't eat sweets, and start running. Fairly easily, I got back down to 212 lbs. But then hit a wall. I was stuck at 210-212 lbs for a good while. Really didn't matter how much I ran, and I had cut out all the sweets. It was about to get desperate, I was going to have to seriously consider giving up beer...:)

At about this time, I heard about people I knew employing several different motivational tools and methods, including:

• the bodybugg, some thing you attach to your arm that monitors the calories you take in and those that you burn
• bets with friends, the most disturbing coming from the Southern California contingent of my associates where the loser was going to have to walk down the Venice boardwalk in a thong
• publicized personal goals, where the person would donate money to some cause that he detested

All of this seemed too complicated for something that is pretty straight forward. Somewhere around February, a study was published that said the key to weight loss was burning more calories that one consumed. Wow, no sh*t. Eventually, I started looking at the between meal snacks available in the corporate kitchen. By cutting down the trips to the cupboard, I started seeing the scale trend toward the 207 number, pretty darn close to the goal. Now that I've been out of the corporate world for about 3 months, 201 & 202 are numbers that I have been seeing for over a month now. The one thing that is strange is that I don't think I eat any less than I did before. If anything, I'm probably eating more.

My non-scientific, limited data analysis of these facts leads me to another obvious point. It's not how much, so much as what you eat. My rule of thumb is that if something comes in a pre-packaged, single serving container, it's probably not good for you. Bags of chips, string cheese, M&M's and candy of any form, power bars, and all that rapid reward stuff that you can open and eat is a clear path to the next larger hole in your belt.

(I have another theory about the correlation between the arrival of the 32 ounce Big Gulp and the rise of child and adult obesity, but I'll save that for another post.)

It's a good thing beer comes in 6-packs, or I would have to revise my new rule of thumb.

The fly of the day is the brassie, courtesy of the folks at Maine Fly Fishing:



Tight Lines,

Dave

Truth in Satire

I came across this satirical interview by John Bird and John Fortune on Paul Kedrosky's blog. As much as I try to stay away from re-posting, this one is so spot-on that I will make an exception. Every so often, comedic efforts are more accurate than anyone wants to admit, and certainly more accurate than anything said from behind a podium.

The fly of the day is the Royal Wulff, courtesy of the Harry Mason, found on Fly Tier's Page.

Tight Lines,

Dave

The Worst Team... (cont.)

When you become the object of an article in the Onion, you have reached the status of cultural icon, that is only marginally less than that of being on Saturday Night Live. The Raiders have now reached that status.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/raiders_achieve_first_down

There will be no fly of the day today.

Tight lines,

Dave

Worst Team in the Bay Area

This week, I have seen two articles about how pathetic two of the bay area teams have become: The first is about the Raiders and the second diagnoses the current disaster that is the Warriors.

I'm a San Francisco Bay Area kid, born and raised. During my time there, I have been fortunate enough to watch the Raiders win two Super Bowls (plus one when they were on loan to L.A.), the Warriors win a World Championship (1975 was a long time ago), and the A's win 4 World Series (though it easily could have been 6 if not for Canseco's 'roid meltdown). This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Once one of your childhood favorite teams wins a championship, you are scr*wed. You can move 3 time zones away, and no matter what, no matter how much your teams s*ck for how many years, you are stuck rooting for them for the rest of your life. My wife just cannot understand why I don't give up on the Raiders and start rooting for a good midwest team like the Bears. (Note, I left the Bay Area before the Sharks came to town, so I am free to support the Avs.)

The fate of a professional franchise, much like the fate of any corporation, usually rests on crucial decisions that are made by the management team. For example, the hiring of Bill Walsh put the 49ers, who had been the worst team in football for a decade, on the path to one of the best stretch runs in the history of the NFL. Likewise, the hiring of John Madden got the Raiders to their first Lombardi Trophy. The Raiders and the Warriors since the mid-'80's have had terrible records, with brief periods of hope, largely due to successions of poor decisions.

At Golden State, the demise started in 1976, when they traded Jamaal Wilkes to the Lakers for Bob Abernathy, nice shooter, couldn't block out my grandmother. They followed that move up with:

- Trading two hall of famers, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll

- Drafting Russell Cross

- Drafting Chris Washburn

- Trading World B. Free to Cleveland for Ron Brewer

- Trading Bernard King to New York for that coke-head Michael Ray Richardson

- Trading Penny Hardaway and 3 #1 draft choices for Chris Webber (massive head case with a dope arrest in DC, and couldn't figure out why the cop was arresting him)

- Siding with Don Nelson over Webber and losing both by the end of the season.

- Trading Webber for Tom Gugliotta (jumps like a brother shoots like your mother)

- Trading Gugliotta for some idiot who I think is still soaking up a paycheck from somebody

- Trading Vince Carter (10 time all-star) and cash for Antawn (pronounced Antoinne) Jamison (2 time All-Star)

- Giving A. Jamison a max deal then having to dump him for peanuts

- Firing Chris Mullen to hand the reigns back to that megalomaniac Nelson (Nelson is kind of like the General Santana of Mexican history, he just keeps coming back.)

- Letting Baron Davis go free agent because he knew Nelson was an megalomaniac slacker

In the middle of all that, there were the Run TMC years, like 3, but a single round in the playoffs for a couple of years is really not that impressive. Somewhere in there they had the ability to draft Kobe Bryant, but Todd Fuller looked like he had a much better future...???

On the Raider side of things, the list is almost too long. The benching of Marcus Allen because he told Al Davis to kiss his ass, about sums up the mindset in Oakland. Marcus Allen then went on to Kansas City where he resumed his Hall of Fame career. The latest tragedies include:

- Firing Art Shell

- Letting go of Charles Woodson (Now Making Pro Bowls in Green Bay)

- Running out John Gruden (Beat the Raiders like a drum in the Super Bowl.)

- Drafting and paying Off the JaMarcus Russell

- Drafting the bleeder Darren McFadden

- Drafting and paying some offensive line stiff, Robert Gallery who is now an average guard

- Re-hiring Art Shell

- Making an inn keeper your offensive coordinator

- Passing on Matt Leinart because Andrew Water looked like he could throw

- Drafting and overpaying Darius Whothehellisthat Bay

- Keeping a coach who threatens to kill his assistant coach

Now the questions are: Who is the worst team in the Bay Area, and what is the likelihood that under current ownership there is any chance of there being a return to competitive play? There are certainly votes and arguments for both sides. Depending on the day of the week, I could sway one way or another. It is clearly apparent that ego and personal relationships are more important to both controlling entities that winning. Barring the introduction of adult supervision that can make rational decisions instead of gut decisions, the downward spiral will continue.

The only thing I know for sure is that I'm glad I got the Setanta package so that I can watch the Heineken Cup, Six Nations, Super 14, and Guinness Premiership rugby, instead of the two sports that these clubs supposedly play.

Enough frustration, if you got this far, thanks for listening to the vent. There is always standing in a cold stream...

The fly of the day is the Zebra Midge, put up on the Fly Tier's Page by Charlie Craven, Charlie's Fly Box in Arvada, CO

Tight Lines,

Dave

Black Squirrel

About a week ago on the way down the hill from a good day on the river, my buddy and I saw a black squirrel. Maybe it is just farmer's lore, but when you see a black squirrel, I have been told that means we are in for one nasty cold winter. Living in Colorado, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. You get used to snow on Tuesday, followed by 65 degrees and sunny on Friday. One thing I have not seen since moving here is snow that comes before the leaves fall off the trees. On Saturday, we woke up to 6-8 inches of snow on our decks. After shoveling off the bulk of the weight, I turned around to see that the little burst of wind, had taken the leaves off of our maple and oak trees, creating a bit of frozen potpourri.

Another interesting shot from the weekend is one that is more reminiscent of Mt. Tam than it is of Left Hand Canyon.

We've had a bit of the fog/haze hanging over Boulder, since Saturday. It'll go away, unfortunately, so has dry fly season. Cold hands, cold water, waders with sweats on underneath, midges, leaches, eggs, and bright yellow strike indicators may be all that is left for the angler in these parts until the Mother's Day next year.

The fly of the day is the Bunny Leach, courtesy of Mike Mora at the San Juan River Fly Fishing Site

Tight Lines,

Dave

It's a lot easier than it looks

I read somewhere that fly tying is more about capturing the general than mastering the specific. I have also found that there are at least 3 ways to tie every fly.

A few weeks ago, my fly of the day was the Parachute Adams. I posted a link to a site with tying instructions, that was actually pretty good. As I attempted my first 10 or so Parachutes, I thought there must be some form of Zen art form to getting the hackle to wrap around the post. The output of my efforts were more akin to cripples, with a good portion of the hackle fibers getting caught up in the head wrap. In talking to friends of mine who also tie, they have all decided it's easier to buy parachute flies than to tie them. I was about to adopt the same position.

In the course of doing some research on another topic, I stumbled across the Fly Tying Forum. What an awesome find that site is. You can search on just about any topic and find multiple articles, and there are a great bunch of folks there who are more than happy to help you out if you are in a bind.

Once there, I decided to see if there were any tips or tricks to tying a parachute fly. Sure enough, I discovered a video at Hatches TV, that shows a new and much easier way to tie a parachute fly. Here is the link to the video. In the spirit of there being more than one way to tie, the instructor finishes off the fly with some form of adhesive or cement, which I prefer not to use because I really don't want to breathe that cr*p unless absolutely necessary. (I have used the whip finisher around the head, and that seems to work best for me.)

If you have been struggling with the Parachute Adams, take a look at the video, it's a lot easier than it looks.

Tight Lines,

Dave

John Deere Service Videos

Because my grandparents were farmers, driving and working on machinery is something that I learned at an early age. I can pretty much look at a component and figure out what needs to be done. In case of a break-glass emergency, I'll consult an owners, Hayes, or Chiton manual, which will usually give you about 75% of the information you need to do it properly. It wasn't until I was in my mid-20's that I really figured out that not everyone grew up around a pretty extensive set of power tools, benches, vices, and the like. I imagine that the percentage of people who can and do fix their own gear will continue to decrease as the digital age progresses.

Since I wrote my 1-year review on the LA145, I've noticed that readers have searched my site for instruction on how to change oil and perform other basic maintenance tasks on John Deere riding lawn mowers. The other day, I received a marketing email from John Deere, that contained links to videos of how to perform some of these tasks. Included in the email, there were also links to help you buy the filters, belts, blades and other parts useful to perform these tasks. The activities include:

- Changing Air Filters

- Changing Oil and Oil Filters

- Mower Deck Maintenance

- Lubrication

- Removing and Attaching the Mower Deck (probably the most valuable)

Good luck. If you get in a jam, call your local John Deere center. The folks I have dealt with at Longs Peak Equipment, have always been super helpful.

Because the BWO hatch is coming on in the Front Range, the fly of the day is the Parachute Adams, with tying instructions provided by High Country Flies.

Tight Lines,

Dave

Boulder Water Well

Here is the latest installment of: These Guys Rock!!!

On Saturday after doing some basic home maintenance, I was headed out to the annual BBQ/drink up at the Boulder Reservoir, known as the Rez Fest. About half way there, I get a call from my wife, explaining that there is no water at the house, hence I flipped a b*tch to see what is going on. After figuring out that it is not a burst pipe, I called around to see if there is someone who can take a look at this problem. Note, it is about 4pm on a Saturday at this time.

I called the number of the company who put stickers on all the well-related equipment in our basement, and left a number for them to call me back. I also called Boulder Water Well, which I found in the phone book. Boulder Water actually had someone answer the phone, and told me that they could get someone out here in about an hour, and that the serviceman would give me a call in about 15 minutes to get some particulars. In the meantime, I did receive a call from the first place, where a gentleman who may have been stonned called and told me that the best he could do was get there the next morning.

Within an hour or so, Brent from Boulder Water Well showed up at my house, diagnosed the issue as being a dead pump, and started the replacement process. It should be noted that there were two possible issues, a dead pump or a dry well. Needless to say that replacing a pump was the much less expensive of the two. At the end of the day, the pump, which had a 5 year warranty, lasted 21 years. You can't really blame the old guy for finally giving up the ghost.

Three hours later, we had running water, and a high degree of confidence in the work that had been done. Brent had answers to all my dumb questions, (I like to ask those just so that I can make sure that they have been asked), gave us some options for pump and controls, hooked us up with new water service, and even told me about a local pond where you can pull out 3 to 5 pound bass.

If you're in Boulder and you have a problem with your well, I highly recommend these guys.

Tight Lines,

Dave

How Being Married Can Save Your Ass... or at least Your Toes

The other day, I went fishing on South Boulder Creek, up by Walker Ranch. Great day, sun was shinning, mild breeze, a bit of cloud cover here and there to break things up, and the fish were biting on some Stimi's that I tied recently. Because it is August, it is wet wading season in Colorado. Waders have their purpose, but if the water is warm enough for you to go in with a pair of shorts and a pair of boots, it is a far superior day.

The one thing I didn't take into account, when planning this little journey, was that Walker is about 1/2 mile below the dam, and hence, that water is fairly cold. After about 15 minutes in the water, I started to feel my toes tingle, and it had nothing to do with the bite being on.

In my younger and more reckless years, I would have just plowed through, and stood in the middle of the river to keep fishing. On this day, a slightly different thought that went through my head: If I come home with frostbite on my toes, my lovely wife will not be impressed, and I will certainly hear about this for the rest of my existence. With that thought in mind, I figured it was better to spend the rest of the afternoon, fishing from the shore, or perched upon a rock in the stream, with my toes safely out of the water.

I'm not sure that I have become any smarter over years, but I can thank my wife for adding a few valuable branches to my decision tree.

The next trip to the fly shop will include a purchase of a pair of these:













The fly of the day is the Boulder Creek Caddis, provided by Jay Zimmerman over at Front Range Anglers




Tight Lines,

Dave

Name this Fly.... PULEEEEEEEZE

A couple of weeks ago it seemed like a good day to stand in a moving body of water and concentrate of catching some fish. (See previous post) I dropped in at a place on Boulder Creek that we have dubbed the "Naked Hippie" (Funny story, if you're around when two of the three of Deron, BY, or myself are pulling a couple of beers, we'll be happy to tell you how this spot got its name.)

Anyway, after having moderate success with the usual fly suspects of the Elk Hair Caddis, with a Pheasant Tail, Copper John, or Hair's Ear dropper, I pulled this fly out from my box. Sometimes you look at a fly and it just feels like the right choice; the 10-12 fish I pulled in during the course of the next hour or so proved the hunch to be true. Of note, the fly also met the durability benchmark of 10 fish with flying colors

Now comes the conundrum. I have no idea where I got this fly, how to tie this fly, what materials are used to build this fly, or basically anything about how to get another one. The only thing I know for sure, is that I didn't tie it. Don't you hate it when that happens?

As close as I can tell it is a PMX/Royal Coachman/Stimulator/Ant Pattern/???? hybrid. The good news is that I have 2 left, so I can dissect one in hopes of figuring out all the materials, and still fish with one until I figure it out.

If you happen to know the name, manufacturer, pattern, materials, or any other information, please let me know at pbdave2002 at yahoo dot c0m. Any info would be greatly appreciated, and I'd be happy to tie you a couple.

The fly of the day will have to take a rain check on this post... gotta figure out how to make one of these bad boys.

Tight Lines,

Dave

Parting Ways

It's been a while since my last post. There are a handful that I've been wanting to write. Been a little busy lately so they have been stacking up. In keeping with the notion that one should have one theme per post, I'll be delivering the next handful in rapid fire fashion over the next few days.

A couple of weeks ago, Lijit Newtorks and I parted ways. At the end of the day, it was an amicable split and to steal a line from the great Bob Dylan, " Split up on a dark sad morning, both agreeing it was best."

Lijit has some legitimate superstars building their products and keeping the machine running, as well as some of the finest folks I've had the pleasure to work with. I wish them all the best going forward.

The fly of the day is the Elk Hair Stimulator, courtesy of the great folks at Front Range Anglers (check out the new FRA website)












Tight Lines,

Dave

Right Between the Eyes

Yesterday was one for the books. Within two hours of getting out of a 5 hour quarterly review meeting, I found out that two people I have known since high school, if not a bit before, passed away. Both of them had their share of problems, and I can't say we remained close over the years. However, when you go to a small high school, and your brother's and sisters all went to school together, and everyone knows everyone's parents, they are part of your extended family. It is a bit of a shock to hear that two people in their 40's passed away.

My heart goes out to their families and loved ones.

Life is a tenuous thing. Things like this give you a level set on where things are in the priority scale.

Not Telling...

Last week, my wife and I went camping for our vacation, roughly coinciding with our 5th wedding anniversary. It was the first multiple day vacation I had taken since the Boulder Old Boys tour to Chile, which was over a year ago.

After doing some Internet research, looking through some books, and asking around, we selected a campground. This particular campground is pretty much in the middle of freakin' nowhere, does not take reservations, and only has 11 campsites. Because we were taking the whole week off, we figured our chances were pretty good of being able to find a spot to camp. If they were filled, we had some backup plans in the general area, which would have worked, but not nearly as well as this one. As it turns out, we arrived on Monday, and there was one other family camping. That left the other of the two prime spots in the whole campground available, which worked for us just fine. Funny thing about camping, the less people you see the better you tend to like it.

Anyway, we had 3 days of an epic camping trip. The fishing s*cked, but the biking, hiking, and views were awesome. Oh yeah, I spent 4 consecutive days with out interacting with an electronic device other than a flashlight. The weather even held out. During the final 2 days, with the campground beginning to fill in, the trip downgraded from epic to merely awesome... Everyone understood the unwritten rule, be polite, make small talk about what kind of bait/lures you are using and mind your own business. Who could ask for better neighbors.

As to the title of this post, by time we left, the marginal sites were filled up, and people were showing up to find a full campground. The politeness was slowly overtaken by people getting pushy about when you were planning to leave, and how they could guarantee that they got the spot when you left. Needless to say, this was not popular in Camp Dave. When you go somewhere without a reservation, you are rolling the dice. If the dice don't go your way, it's your responsibility to have a backup plan, not to make your problem better by making it someone else's issue. Hence, the fewer people that know how to get here, the fewer people will likely be there the next time we go back. Kind of like a fishing hole, if you find a killer spot, keep that knowledge close to the vest, otherwise the next time you go back, it will be a parking lot.

In honor of the upcoming Independence Day, the fly of the day is the Spirit, courtesy of the folks at Fly Anglers Online.













Tight Lines,

Dave

John Deere LA145 - 1 Year Review

About a year ago, I bought a John Deere LA145 and wrote a post about the new acquisition. Because I have Lijit Search installed on my blog, I can see that readers come to my site pretty regularly after doing a search for for this model. I thought I would provide a post-purchase and actual usage review, highlighting several of the key quality drivers.

Cutting - I live in the foothills with natural grass and weeds making up most of the mowable area. For this purpose it is great. It plows through the most dense clumps of grass and several weeds that resemble trees with no problem. I can't speak to how it performs for finely manicured lawns, but there is no reason to believe there would be a problem.

Reliability - Haven't had a single problem with it yet. It starts, warms up, runs, and mows without a problem.

Maintenance - Maintenance is a snap. Changing the oil is a 5 minute job. Fuel filter, air filter, plugs, belt drive, zerk fittings, etc. are all readily accessible. I have yet to swap out or sharpen the blades, but I can see where that is done, and it will be super simple. It also comes with an attachment for a hose, where you can essentially blow out all the grass from the blade guard.

Drivability - Drives really easy, up hills, down hills, sideways on an angle (which you are really not supposed to do, something about safety). Steering is also smooth. It does not have that zero radius turn feature, but it's pretty close.

Functionality - I'm not sure what else you can ask for. Electronic blade engagement, electronic ignition, blade engagement in reverse with the push of a button, parking break (which actually comes in handy), and did I mention the beverage holder...

Cool Factor - Let's face it, it's a John Deere. Would you rather get on a Deere and fire it up, or fire up that Cub Cadet, ha?

Basically, it's so easy to use, I now mow my neighbors yard for a nominal beverage fee. I highly recommend it for anyone seriously looking at buying a lawn tractor. For the money, it is well worth the investment.

The fly of the day is the Stuck in Shuck Mayfly, courtesy of the folks at the Fly Tyers Page:

Tight Lines,

Dave

Angler's Workshop

This is the latest installment of "Hey look at these guys, their products and customer service rock, and if you are looking for a vendor of X, then definitely call these guys".

I'm in the process of building my 3rd fishing rod, which means I know enough to be dangerous, and enough to know to ask for advice before I piece together the components for a rod.
The first product was a fly rod that I built during a class held at Front Range Anglers, here in Boulder. I bought all the components through the fly shop, and will buy the components for my next fly rod through them as well. The guys are Front Range are great, and always ready to help you out.

The next two rods are for my father and father-in-law. My dad fishes for salmon and my father-in-law is a bass angler, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to build fly rods. Needing expertise in what parts to buy, I started to do some searching on the Internet, using Google, and searching through forums. Angler's Workshop was recommended by a couple of people who posted on RodBuildingForum.com. For both rods, I was helped by a gentleman named Dave. After clumsily telling him about the rods I was going to build, Dave pointed me in the right direction, and helped me pick out all the parts I would need. Delivery took about 2-3 days, and all the parts were labeled appropriately. Angler's Workshop also carries a full line of just about everything you might need to catch a fish, with the exception of luck and skill. Long story short, I highly recommend taking a look at Angler's Workshop the next time you are looking for rod building, or just about any gear.

The fly of the day is the Ice Dub Para-Wulff, courtesy of Front Range Anglers.














Tight Lines,

Dave

Membership has its Priveledges...

...or in the case of USA Rugby, also knows as USNAFU, membership has its disadvantages.

The other day when I got home, there was a message on my home phone. Unfortunately, it was a robocall, from the benefactors at USA Rugby, reminding me of a purchasing opportunity, for me to buy tickets for the upcoming Churchill Cup competition. (The Churchill Cup is an international competition made up mostly of the second teams of some of the better rugby playing countries.) At first, I wasn't exactly sure what the call was for, but since we are on the "Do Not Call" list, we typically don't get many of these calls.

After a few seconds, the voice identified himself as a member of the Eagles (the US national team) and that he was reminding me to buy tickets for the upcoming event, and what a great experience it would be. Personally, I'm a little offended that USNAFU would use the information that they collect during the annual dues collection process, so that they can try and sell me products, or more importantly sell my info to other entities so they can try to sell me products.

As a former officer of my rugby club, there are two things you face on an every day basis. 1) Your organization needs more players/members, and 2) Your organization needs more money. Unless you raise money from outside of your membership, all you are doing is charging more dues. Expecting the membership to fund the international joke that is the Eagles and the other officially sanctioned programs is a model that has not worked in the past, so why would they think it will work in the future?

If growing the sport is the intent of the brain trust at USNAFU, then perhaps their efforts would be better focused on introducing the sport and marketing it to people who do not already play.

The fly of the day is the Papal Purple Indian, courtesy of the folks at Front Range Anglers.













Tight Lines,

Dave

Awesome Customer Service - Fishpond

It's easy to go around looking at all the companies that provide lousy customer service, whether the deficiency is either real or perceived. Periodically, you come across a company that takes care of their customers, despite how lazy we can be.

A while ago, I went on a fishing trip and found that I had broken a zipper on my wader bag. I sent an email to Fishpond with some loose idea of when and where I bought the bag, and asked if there was anything I could do. They gave me an RMA number and told me to send it to their customer care center. About 4 months later, I finally got around to finding a box and sending it off. Having been through this process with other companies, it would not have surprised me if fishing season were over by time I got the bag back. In fairness, I thought, if I needed it that bad, I probably would have sent in the bag earlier, and I'd have it by now.

With less than a week of total turn-around time, I found a box on my porch, containing a brand new wader bag. NICE! The people at Fishpond have earned themselves a lifetime customer and advocate. I've always known their products to be of high quality, and now I have first hand experience as to their customer support. Now I just have to transfer all my cr*p to the new bag. Let's hope I get that done some time before it's time to hang up my gear for winter.

The fly of the day is the Dark Trico Spinner, courtesy of the folks at the FlyFishingConnection












Tight Lines,

Dave

Adios, Cruzador

Last weekend, the time that every pet owner dreads came to pass. It became the time where you are faced with the 'quality of life' decision, as in: Is your dog happy living the kind of life that he is living, and is it in the best interest of the dog to keep him going? Unfortunately, we came to the end of that road, where the mind was still there, the organs were still working, but the legs were just no longer viable enough to keep things moving. It was time to do the hard thing (and the right thing) and say goodbye to Hunter.

Hunter B. Ferro

A.K.A.: The Judge, The Enforcer, The Cop, The Huntman, El Cruzador, Cruzer

While it's easy to focus on the loss, I think it better to describe the life of this truly unique animal through a series of anecdotes and non sequiturs:

• It was not wise to leave a plate of food anywhere within reach, particularly if it had anything tasty. Cruzer has been know to artfully remove all the gravy from an open faced roast beef sandwich, without disturbing a single french fry.
• The dog never met a carbohydrate that he would knowingly consume. Hand him a piece of sandwich, and he would extract the meet and spit out the bread.
• He could be a major pain when it came to administering pills. Hand him a pill wrapped in a piece of steak, and he would spit out the pill, without dropping the steak of course.
• He was an instant alpha dog, no matter what group he was in. Any fight at a dog park was immediately dispatched by the huntman. All he would have to do is stick his nose in the middle, and all combatants would disperse.
• Going for a walk, was more of an exercise in starting and stopping. All information that could be gathered through smell would be examined thoroughly.
  
• Whenever he got tangled in his leash, he would lift the appropriate leg to get himself untangled. Smarter than your average dog.
• He had a keen ability to lodge protests, never really buying into the roles of pet and owner.
  
• So that his people wouldn't get lost in the house, he would leave kibbles around, so that we could find our way back to the kitchen.
• He was a veritable connoisseur of ice cream. Ben and Jerry's being his favorite.
• Jaws of steel. He could grab on to a suspended rope toy and hang in the air.
• Never once let the imminent threat of the approaching UPS truck go unchallenged. The postal service was successfully defended against as well.
• Subjected all newcomers to the rope toy test. He would drop it in your lap. The next muscle twitch you made sealed your fate as one that he either liked or disliked. Not much of a people person that dog, unless you were one of his people.
• If you got a lick, you were in good company. If you got a face lick or he slept on your foot, you were in rarified air.
  
• Incarcerated in the state of Arizona. Cited in the state of New York. Narrowly escaped prosecution in Maryland, Virginia, and several other jurisdictions.
• Could smell fish being prepared a mile away.
• Understood that when humans were having an egg breakfast, his was soon to be prepared. Scrambled eggs with sausage gravy, being the preferred morning feast.
• When presented with his first full time canine roommate, Willie, it took him a little while to figure out that the little black ball of energy was here to stay. Once he got that through his mind, he took the young lad under his wing.
• He was my pal.
  

The fly of the day is Hunt's Hybrid Crayfish, courtesy of the folks at Fly Anglers Online:

Tight lines,

Dave

How Big was the Check?

Every so often you see grown men do something that makes you ask yourself, why? As a semi-retired rugby player, I probably run into this more often than most. This weekend, I was watching the Final Four on Tivo, so that I can catch a 40 minute game in less than 2.5 hours. When Coach K, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, and Bobby Knight all slid across the floor in socks and drawers, doing their best(worst) Risky Business interpretation, I had to stop to figure out what was going on.



Not one of these guys looked like they were having a good time. At this point in their careers, you have to think that they are set enough in their careers that they don't have to do things they don't want to do. It must have been one really freakin' big check for each of them.

The fly of the dayIs the Heavy Metal Spyder, Courtesy of the folks at Fly Fish Ohio





















Tight Lines,

Dave

Time To Fish

I ran by Boulder Creek this afternoon at lunch. There was clear water, it had risen about a foot since the last time I went by, and I saw a trout waiting patiently behind a rock.

Last year, a buddy and I decided we were going to shoot for 50 days, with at least some portion of time spent standing in a river, stream, or creek. Needless to say, we fell far short of that goal. I spent most of the off season, building a couple of rods, (one for me and one for my dad), tying flies, and learning more about tying flies.

The time for the academic portion of this program has now concluded. I've been out 3 times already, but let's face it, fishing season is upon us, and it's time to get on the river.

There will be no fly of the day, today. It's time to go fish.

Tight Lines,

Dave

Only In Boulder

The title of the article about says it, Only in Boulder. It seems to me that some folks have too much time on their hands, if they have the time to come up with a new way to define the relationship between owners and pets. The woman at the center of this movement started out with great intentions, yet somehow, I think lost the plot, in trying to alter behavior through a naming convention.

To paraphrase Dennis Miller, as soon as my dog starts following me around with a plastic bag to pick up after me, we will start talking about how we are going to redefine our relationship.

The fly of the day is the, PMD CDC Dun, courtesy of Bob Bush, and the folks at Front Range Anglers.












Tight Lines,

Dave

Tweetle Dee and Twitter Dumb

I know there has been a lot of twitter bashing on television, e.g. John Stewart, and in other places, but I stumbled upon this yesterday, and it is truly funny.



Admittedly, I don't tweet, because I'm pretty sure nobody cares to know when I'm having a sandwich or I'm heading out to rugby training. I do know others who feel that twitter helps them keep in touch with their peeps. Based on the popularity of the service or medium, sardonic backlash was probably inevitable.

The fly of the day is the WD40, courtesy of the folks at Front Range Anglers. It may not look like much, but when it's midge season, this one comes in handy. I've used it in greens, greys, and black.

Tight Lines,

Dave

0 for 3

SKUNKED AGAIN

I've been out on the water 3 times so far. All I have to show for it are a couple of nibbles; no fish in hand yet for '09.

Rather than get discouraged, I'm trying to figure out the next time I can get out there and see if I can coax a fish into biting on a fly. It's a bit of a humbling experience, yet with a little luck, a temporary one.

One thing I did see that was a bit perturbing was watching a couple of morons from the tackle box crowd kill a couple of fish that could not have been more than 8 inches long. I have to ask what is the point. You might be able to make a couple of hors d'oeuvres that you can put on a cracker out of an 8 inch fish. Based on the size of the guts that these guys were using for leverage to pull in those monsters, they haven't been missing any meals lately... Anyway, I digress.

The fly of the day is the Flash Western Coachman, courtesy of the great folks down at Front Range Anglers and guest fly tier Paul Prentiss.











Tight Lines,

Dave

Why Colorado Rocks Part III

Ok,
Admittedly, I was having a bad day when I wrote my last post. Speed traps do tend to do that to me. Since then, I've noticed, that I've gone silent. We'll now it is time for my latest installment describing why it is so freakin' cool to live in Colorado.

The reasons today are the Fire and Sheriff Departments of Boulder County. On January 7, at about 2:30, my wife got the evacuation order from the fire department. A couple of fires started almost simultaneously, because of the interaction between high winds and power lines. Somewhere in about a 12 hour period, 3,000 acres of grassland went up in smoke. According to our neighbor, if a fire is going to get to our houses, it will start in the same are that this one did. The canyon configuration in our area will apparently cause a suction effect, and become a tunnel for the fire.

Thanks to the fire departments of Boulder, Left Hand Canyon, Jamestown, RockyMountain, Boulder Rural, Lafayette, and I'm sure others, only two structures were damaged, one of which was at ground zero of one of the two initial fires.

Driving around the area, it looked like a moonscape surrounding houses. The fire departments went into structure protection mode, and defended all the houses that were threatened. At one neighbor's house, you can see the scorched ground go all the way to the house.

Thankfully, the fire was stopped approximately 300 yards from our kitchen. Comparatively, the fire did not get that close, yet it's a lot closer than one wants to have their home come to a fire. Without the courageous and coordinated effort of the Fire and Sheriff's Departments, this could have gone a lot worse.

There was a pot luck Thank You gathering at the Altona Grange, the following Saturday, and the firemen I spoke to were appreciative that we showed up, but I don't think there is an adequate way to thank people who save your home. Below are a few pics.

Smoke on Horizon

Closer than you want it to get...

The fly of the day is Steve's Firefly, courtesy of the folks at Fly Anglers Online.

Tight Lines,

Dave

Why Boulder Sucks

Speed Traps on Broadway

I should fund raise for my latest ticket. I'll create a bumper sticker:

Welcome To Boulder
Home of the Speed Trap

The police must all make of their parents so proud, knowing that they hide from sight so that they can write up tickets.

Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat (fill in blank)

Years ago, I witnessed an argument that I found quite astounding. Two of my co-workers were arguing whether the new guy was a moron or a pinhead. Each brought up valid points about why one description was more accurate than the other. While the debate was held mostly for entertainment purposes, it also demonstrated that pejorative adjectives each have their own unique application.

More than once, I've had the discussion as to whether an action made the guy who perpetrated it a dick or an asshole. That one always seems to be decided by perspective than denotation. Of course there is the age old argument about the absence of the female equivalent to being a dick. Bitch doesn't quite make it, and we will table the c-word argument, as well we should.

The purpose of this little diatribe is to provide an example, and leave it to you, as to what term most accurately applies to Rush Limbaugh. In reference to President Obama, Rush Limbaugh breaks it down to 4 words, I Hope He Fails. I guess it is lost on Mr. Limbaugh that if the President fails to clean up the current mess that he inherited, then we all fail as a country. Rush's sense of team play an patriotism are astounding. I will leave it to you to determine which favorite adjective of yours most aptly applies. Should you have any good ones, please leave a comment.



The fly of the day is the Conehead Bonehead, provided by the awesome people over at Front Range Anglers (Seemed like the most applicable fly name I could find on quick notice)

Tight Lines,

Dave

That About Says It

I've never referenced someone else's post before, but here goes. Michael Shedlock absolutely nails it with his analysis of the current economic crisis entitled Open Letter To Congress On Sharing The Pain. Somewhere along the way, people figured it out. If you are going to F* up, F* up in a big enough way so that others will have to bail your A** out.

The fly of the day is the Golden Furnace Streamer, courtesy of the nice people at Fly Anglers Online



Tight Lines,

Dave