Gilly

Amen to that, boobie. Sooner than later I'm afraid.

Oneshot, we too have been blessed with the fruit of our labors. There is no need to try and justify that to anyone. You will know in your heart when it is time to divest yourself of any or all of your 'holdings'. As we get older it has always been our plan to downsize......and it is difficult to do that when so many great memories are involved. Just last summer we started the thought process of selling our farm which is really the family cabin. The very same evening our five year old granddaughter came over to my wife and I as we sat around the campfire......."oh grandpa, the farm is soooo much fun." Gulp. Ok. Back burner for now.

Peace and comfort to your mom.

Just gotta!!

That'd be a tough driving position....but if the will is there it can be rigged I'm sure! (Probably would look like one of those bug-eyed mad driver models from the 60's)

While you slept? Man, that is scary.

My son got his van broken into, turds stole most of his tools. He called the cops and got a recording...."leave a message, we'll call back" (Omaha, NE.). So while I'm out canvassing the neighborhood he's on Craigslist and found his tools. He calls the cops, again gets the recording. The Craigslist ad had a text contact only, no phone number. My son says "what now Dad?" Text them, see what happens. The guy calls back, gives my son the address, we roll. Just 5 blocks south of my son's home the city/county jurisdiction changes so we knew we were dealing with police who respond when you call. My son and I had a game plan prior to getting to the guys house to see the tools. At no time would we get out of sight of each other. He would signal to me if these were his tools and I would retreat and call the cops. That's how it went down. Turns out the kid's a tweaker and had just gotten out of jail earlier this spring. It was his dad's house that he was living at. This kid actually had stolen my son's stuff but he was also receiving all kinds of stolen items on a regular basis from other thieves and selling it. After calling the cops that evening they rolled 6 cars in within a few minutes, the first showed up as I talked with 911. Because of cross jurisdiction it got kind of confusing....stolen in one county versus found in another. Ultimately my son got back most of his tools and the police dropped off a crap load a few days later that weren't even his. My son told them they weren't his but the cops were in no way going to leave them at the thieves house as that kids dad piled the crap in the side yard and told his son to get the 'f' long gone. Those tools are in a storage unit. Most folks have said they wouldn't have done what we did, "Leave it to the cops to do their job." However, I am a contractor too. I have dealt with stolen tools for 20+ years. Stolen items are a low priority for police to investigate. Heck, there have been times when I've seen our tools in pawnshops, on the shelf WITH our identification on it. Even with a theft report we have to buy them back if we want them. So my patience with that system eroded many years ago. That night when my son saw the tools on Craigslist we knew that at the prices they were advertised at they'd be gone quickly. That torqued us off too. You work hard for your money and these shitbirds have no qualms about selling a worm gear drive saw for 40 bucks. So we rolled. Thankfully it turned out ok.

Done.

Be safe is an understatement......too windy to be on the water on the dam end.

I have to concur on this and add that it applies to quite a few pastimes.......but it is the 'sign of the times', right? Take a kid fishing, shooting, hiking or go bike riding with them!! I spent years as a scoutmaster. It was my policy that no one could bring electronics on campouts. I took the time the other day to visit the old troop at one of their campouts. Good grief.....Ipods and Androids. I didn't hang out very long as the adult leaders seemed to condone it to some extent. "It is what you have to do to keep them engaged....". We all need to be mentors to our children, grandchildren, youth. Take time to say "hey" to the neighbor kids. My grandson and I were standing in the driveway practicing fishing....pitching at Tupperware boxes. Kids from around the corner stopped by, never met them before. They gave it a try. Couple of days later their dad stopped by and wondered what to buy their kids. "Want to meet us at Cabela's?" I was happy to do it and amazed that apparent electronic junkies were so totally clueless. The kids also wanted to buy a small tent and 'camp' in the backyard. Hey, it's a start. We left them at the store as they still had a lot of exploring to do.

My son, daughter and son-in-law were out last night and just headed out again. Some success. I will try to post a picture from my phone. Couple of nice 'eyes

Grandchildren are, well, grand!...... we have four. The oldest, is a monster. Must have been something in the water when he was conceived. He towers above his classmates and peers. Just started baseball last week and they want him to play catcher. The coach told my daughter he needs a nut cup. "He's only a second grader!" my daughter responded. Explain that set up to a second grader. Nice article. I truly appreciate entrepreneurs, Phil.

We fished Tuesday. My grandson had a blast, I froze. Must be the dang meds. No fish but caught a bunch of quality time!

Do you remember water rockets? They weren't very big, maybe 6"tall. You'd put some water in them, attach them to the hand held pump, pump air into it, release the trigger and whoosh....up it'd go! Haven't seen those for a long time either.

Sitting on the crapper and calling geese.......thought I'd seen it all!