fishinwrench

For quite awhile I thought it was just me becoming an old curmudgeon, but NO it isn't ME. We've been hitting several area hotspots lately, either having dinner or stopping in for lunch or a drink.....and the parade of feral humans is obnoxious and sickening. In the past 12-14 days out in the open IN PUBLIC I've seen 3-4 people projectile vomiting....then just standing there like that's normal behavior while others around them carry on, never missing a beat, and even walking through it. A dude in a speedo had a bout of explosive diarrhea at a pool bar......and 15 minutes later everyone got right back in. A seemingly sober gal reaches in her pants, pulls out a bloody pad and sticks it to the windshield of a Mustang in the parking lot. Numerous people docking their boats or parking their cars, dropping their kids off at the kiddie pool, then walk up to the bar and proceed to get absolutely hammered, then collect the kids, load them back into the boat/car....and away they go. Me and my friends did a good bit of partying in our younger days.....but we always managed to reasonably keep our composure. These people nowadays are a totally different breed, and they walk among us. How do they manage to stay out of jail ? If you mention to the bar/restaurant owners anything about it they just shrug and say... "Yeah this is the way it is". It's truly SCARY ! After a week or so of mingling around I truly don't even want to leave the house until these people leave this area. These aren't people from HERE, these are people from STL, KC, Omaha, ect. I think. I mean the ignorant hillbillies from around here will leave, or at least go OUTSIDE if they are gonna puke or poop. Good grief! 😳

I'm in favor of rather high labor rates. If you want to have a place fairly close to you that can do quality work on your stuff then you should pay them WELL or be capable and willing to do it yourself. Places that do Auto/Marine service at what most people consider "reasonable rates" won't be in business very long, and won't have employees that show up everyday to do quality work. It's ok to charge 70.00 to change a valve stem in a wheel/tire if you do it RIGHT. I'd rather pay that then to pay 20.00 and have my daughters wheel fall off a week later.

I freakin'hate Christmas. I know, big surprise right? 😅

I just have to disagree with that. I witness less reliability and shorter usable lifespan. And I witness it every single day. A 38.00 control cable will outlast 5-6 279.00 throttle position sensors. Today's example: The gas station where I buy fuel, cigarettes and beer.......Closed for the 3rd consecutive day because they are updating cash registers, and card readers. Plus just a month or so ago business there was slowed to a crawl for almost a full week because they had some lottery program glitch they were dealing with. Oh, and how did we ever manage to travel in an automobile without a TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR? @76.89 a pop. 🙄 I bet I'm not the only one here that has THIS staring them in the face everywhere they go My tires are all at 48psi, and if that changes I can feel it and hear it. But thanks anyway 😠

It kinda seems to me that big-time competitive fishing is on its way out. It's like it grew in popularity rapidly for a decade or so........but now is kinda crashing suddenly. The most interesting thing to me is the number of guys that have quit fishing tournaments........so now they don't hardly fish at all. It's as if that was the only reason that they loved fishing. 🤔 I run into them now occasionally, driving a cheesy little SUV without a trailer hitch, and they are all into golf, pickleball, or have buried themselves into their business, or real estate. And some even have gotten heavily interested in politics and are running for some political office. Lots of nice bassboats out there just sitting covered in cobwebs and bird crap, with 2 year old fuel in the tanks.

Excellent example! My wife's friend installed one of those 3-4 years ago, and has had to replace it at least twice since then. I've had the same thermostat in my house since the day it was built in 2006. Works just fine, and will undoubtedly keep working fine for many years.

Is that really so much less stress on you than the old mechanical shift lever and key switch that you grew up with was? Improve the quality of your driving experience that much? In my view the biggest problem with any computer controlled object is it's usable lifespan. The ECM/PCM/BCM systems in your vehicle or boat is no different than your laptop/desktop/ or cell phone.......They are great for a couple years, then what happens? Gotta replace it, because it just won't perform properly anymore, and nobody can fix it. That wouldn't be such a deal breaker for me if new cars/trucks/boats weren't priced like real estate, and the purchase of them didn't require 10+ year loans. I can easily make a 20+ year old outboard perform just like it did when it was brand new. But NOBODY can make a 8-10 year old one run right. And that's a fact. 🙄 The addition of all this "technology" has inarguably shortened the usable lifespan of the machines it is used on. Plus it has inflated the cost to manufacture them. How freakin'stupid is that? 🤔

Ya just never know. Might be the church of the bladder spray taints. 🤷‍♂️

Nope.

Yeah, what do you suppose the profit margin is on a single popsicle? Adding an extra stick might put them in the red. These DG popsicles have a little plastic cover on them that is tougher than anything I've ever seen. They should upholster furniture with that material.....or use it to house nuclear weapons. Scissors won't even cut it.

The very first thing you are supposed to show a kid is a boob. What's the problem? 🤔

This is the kinda BS you get when computers control everything. Can't even consistently make a popsicle right.

They know RPM of the 3 outboards (from key ON to CRASH)......thanks to the ECM data. The word in my circle is that they suspect DTS runaway failure (not all that uncommon on computer controlled outboards.... believe it or not). DTS = "Digital Throttle & Shift". All males that were onboard are highly experienced operators sponsored by Mercury Marine Racing. Of course the law will immediately blame the Margarita's, but I am gonna lay most of the blame on Mercury's fantastic digital technology. They need to reel that crap in.....This ain't the first time, or the second, or the third, or the forth, or the......you get the idea😳 I darn sure won't work on them. NooooWaaaaay! Give me CABLES and LINKAGE, or take that Stepford bastard elsewhere. 👉 No Bluetooth/servo controlled throttle/ignition and kill switch for me, thank you ! Watch the prices of those POS go up even more substantially after some forthcoming litigation.

We are finding out more about that powerboat accident late Saturday night at 1.3-mile mark of the Osage Arm that sent eight people to the emergency room. Lake Ozark Fire Chief Marc Carr says, based on preliminary information received during the 9-1-1 call, emergency personnel weren’t real sure about the magnitude of the incident. “On that initial call…..They didn’t know for sure how many there were. They were just awakened by a loud bang and then stepped out to literally find (boat) parts scattered all over their backyard.” Upon arrival, it was discovered that the boat hit the shore before going airborne and striking the house, then ejecting all eight of the people on board when it overturned. As of Monday afternoon, it was reported that five of the injured had been released from the hospital with the other three, including the driver of the boat 47-year-old Adam Ramirez of Huntington Beach, California, still listed in critical condition. One of the passengers seriously hurt was also identified as 28-year-old Alex Pratt, of Pratt Racing and the “Good Boy Vodka” boat out of Niles, Michigan. The driver of the boat, according to the highway patrol, is being charged with boating while intoxicated causing serious and other physical injury.

Ahh, running a Mercury are ya? Then yep, you're probably right. 😅 Most Mercs don't outlast their original set of spark plugs

A Step-hull Nordic is not the type of boat that you can just casually cruise around in. You've gotta be going at least 47mph just to keep the nose down. The "Property Barron's" are steadily taking each other out. It's actually very interesting watching this play out in real time. 🤔

They will just lay the blame on the EPA. Back in the day when it was ok for outboards to smoke a little bit, a hotter plug reduced fouling...... but now that engines are designed to run as lean as possible, in order to reduce emissions, a plug that runs hotter than it needs to is a bad thing. They'll recognize and rectify the issue eventually, but more powerheads will be sacrificed along the way. My heads-up here was intended to keep YOURS from being one of them. 👍 (cuz I'm a cool guy like that) 😁

It can be rebuilt as long as it doesn't throw a connecting rod through the block. Either the damaged cylinder(s) will cleanup at .030 or they will be sleeved.

Yet again......It appears to be an ongoing epidemic. Catastrophic detonation/pre-ignition. Uncommon on a lower cylinder (the coolest running cylinder of them all).....but nevertheless.

Nearly every outboard that comes in to my shop has brand new spark plugs, mostly because that's what many folks do when their motor starts acting up. Truth be told: The spark plugs are the last thing subject to be causing running problems.....but folks know how to change spark plugs (or at least they THINK they do) so that's where outboard diagnostics always tends to start at home. 🙄 Issues arise when people go to the Auto parts store, walk up to the counter and say "I need spark plugs for a John/Rude 150" and the person behind the counter pulls up their page of info containing everything they think they need to know about spark plugs.....and then cross-references it to WHATEVER THEY HAVE IN STOCK. This is the result of running NGK crossovers in an Evinrude 150 Intruder. The correct plug is a Champion QL77V for a reason. The NGK crossover does not have the proper heat range.....So the kid behind the counter at O'Reilly's, or whoever trained him, should have to buy this powerhead !

I remember "climate change" back in 1972 also. Funny how it changed back.

I got so used to us not getting any rain that I quit pulling the plug on my boat. Today it dumped on us......and I sunk the boat on the trailer. 🙄 Been drying out storage compartments all day. It was sure nice to get some water on this ground, and it soaked up every bit. Not a drop made it to the ditch.

Luckily Tylenol and Advil do, since 3-5 sips of any imported beer gives me an instant headache.

It's all good. Even the areas that are heavily trafficked. The lower stretches have more wood cover. The upper areas have more rock structure.

Absolutely! That's why if I see one more giant wolf spider in my shop..... I'm cashing in my chips & going out of business! I sprayed one right in the face with carb cleaner, and he still kept coming towards me. I'm freakin' DONE !!!