Trav

Chief, I think that an entire lifetime, including 5 years as a POW, proves that McCain is devoted to his country. He dont have to prove it. Is that devotion insane? Probably, but you cant doubt the mans loyalties. Nobama has publicly spoke against the second amendment and has very little to show when it comes to public service or american loyalty. All we have is his word. I dont believe the talk, but I can believe the walk. Nobama is all talk and McCain is all walk!

Hey you all! My butt aside Lets play nice. I want this topic to ride until election night. Al, I dont care. As an Athiast I find all religions to be a threat to America. They tap potential tax dollars away from society. I am in the train of thought that taxes improve our way of life. Since religion was brought up. I feel that million dollar churches should pay taxes! I am gonna write this opinion in a "Letter to the Editor" format, so bear with me. To breach the subjects I want to discuss, I realize as a touchy situation, might go against the crutches society thrives on . All the same…..still has validity. To the guys that make new taxes and balance our government budgets: Why are we ignoring one of America's largest business's when it comes to taxing? I am talking about charities bringing in trillions of dollars a year. Now of course we can't tax donations like food and clothing, but we can definitely tax property and cash income. Right here in Missouri the governors can't meet a budget. Our kids will have to suffer in our public schools and our elderly will be hindered again by high prescription costs for another year. If we taxed charities like churches, charitable fund raisers, and cash donations given to charities we would have all the money we need to meet a budget. It should be charity for all. Even a penny on the dollar would help our country. I don’t mean to beat up on charities. I know the arguments. "Money given to charity goes back to the community". Still, How much is going into the community? Everywhere I look I see million dollar churches. Sure….need to have a place to congregate….but the money spent to build the church changes the word "charity" into a business. Taxable property and income. Do we really know if our donations are used to help people in our community? Over a third of all cash donations to charities are given to people outside of America. Or so that some preacher can go on a missionary. Either way it is a business and all cash income as well as property should be taxed. Separation of church and state should include taxing. I live in Branson Missouri. Churches here are multi million dollar facilities. All tax free and making money. Sure…there are the small churches that barely get by….but their faith keeps it going, not money. I'm stating right now that any congregation over 500 is a business. No different than organized crime. Business transactions to fellow parishioners is no different than keeping it in the family. Pure nepotism. Not based on relations but faith. No one can say it isn't a practice. And money made by charities and churches shouldn’t be exempt to taxes. People are making money and as a government we have right to tax income and property. Fancy churches or school books?…to me the decision is easy. Why do we tax cigarettes and alcohol so much? Is it really fair to cleanse society's bad habits with taxing and not tax religious organizations and charities? Charities and religious organizations double the income of what is currently taxed by those industries. The Red Cross alone can bring in millions of dollars of taxable income. Granted…the tax could fund charitable government programs but it is money that could be used to meet a budget and save some teachers jobs as well. I'm just a regular Joe. Call me stupid…I don’t always have the right answer but I do think common sense. Business is business and whether its charity or religious, it shouldn’t make the business exempt to taxes and taxes should be considered charity. Taxes educate our youth…pave our roads and pays for the police and fire protection we have now. It just makes me sick that charities help everyone except America. Our government might not be perfect but this is a flaw that we could correct. Society will complain but its revenue that will help us as a country. America is charitable and if we want to continue to be that way, we need to impose taxes on all revenue. Including charities. I have a whole Willie Nelson approach as well when it comes to taxing Cannibus as well. The income will be enormous! Legalize it and there is a recource! The united states gained a 15% increase of tax recource after prohibition. The idea that taxes are bad is such a farse. Our government would not exist without it. It wouldnt exist without it. Our independence in 1776 was to get away from it, but that was only because we wanted to keep the taxes for ourselves. Grrrrr......Sorry guys. As a writer I tend to go on and on. Believe it or not, I rapped this whole thing in 15 minutes. I am going to bed.

Whats white, hairy, and has little red bumps?

I pasted this article off of BassMaster .com SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kevin VanDam made ESPN's SportsCenter "Top 10 Plays of the Day," last Saturday morning. He was No. 3 on the list, based on winning the $250,000 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title the day before, during the Bassmaster Champion's Choice tournament at Oneida Lake. In a SportsCenter video clip showing VanDam swinging a smallmouth bass in the boat, it was noted "they call him the Tiger Woods of bass fishing." That comparison is both unfair to both men and getting a bit long in the tooth. But it's not entirely off-base, either. VanDam and Woods represent the singularly-dominant figures in their respective non-team sports. The problem is that golf and bass fishing aren't really comparable. But the fact the latter is a sport — a physically and mentally challenging sport — has become increasingly apparent. That's good news for professional bass fishing, which has long lived under the image of good ol' boys swigging beer until they feel a tug on their line. Jerry McKinnis, now 70, was in Syracuse last week when VanDam clinched the title. After hosting "The Fishin' Hole" show for 44 years and founding a company that continues to provide TV production work for ESPN, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, McKinnis has probably witnessed VanDam at work more than anyone. KVD lets the emotion of winning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year soak in. And McKinnis knows his sports, not just bass fishing. As a former minor league player in the Kansas City Royals farm system, McKinnis experienced that sport as a participant. While fishing became his way of making a living, McKinnis has never ceased to be a keen observer of the major sports in this country. Plus, McKinnis has a couple of pretty good "sports advisors," he counts among his closest friends, including legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight and former Major League Baseball manager Whitey Herzog, best-known for guiding the St. Louis Cardinals to three National League pennants and a World Series championship. So just over a year ago, when McKinnis made that Tiger Woods/Kevin VanDam comparison quoted at the top of this story, it wasn't merely a flippant comment from a know-nothing. As someone who has also fished in bass tournaments and observed every aspect of the modern evolution of the sport, McKinnis can speak with some authority on the subject of sports and the athletes participating in them. Sunday morning, as McKinnis stood on the launch dock at Oneida Shores Park, he noted everyone sees VanDam's competitiveness, and it's certainly an important part of his success. But McKinnis' TV work with VanDam also provided him a view of another equally-important part of KVD's success. "I don't think people can see, or have a feel for, his focus," McKinnis said. "He's extremely focused. I notice that because he's always very open to us sending a cameraman with him. "It doesn't matter what's going on around him, because he's oblivious to it all. His focus is really incredible." If you're watching NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games now — and who isn't? — count the times "focus" is used in describing an elite athlete. No one gets to the pinnacle of any sport without an extraordinary ability to focus on the task at hand. And if you know McKinnis, you know he would never cheer for one angler over another. But you don't work in the TV business for almost 50 years without knowing what viewers want to see. With malice toward none, McKinnis knows VanDam really is the Tiger Woods of bass fishing in that aspect. It's been well-documented how television ratings go up when Woods is part of a golf tournament field. And they go even higher when he's in contention on the final day. "I think Kevin is probably the most valuable asset that bass fishing has," McKinnis said. "Again, I'm not trying to put down all the other anglers. But Kevin is the man. "He's the guy who can take bass fishing to where we want it to go." McKinnis made one more interesting observation about VanDam's ability: his unwillingness to quit — ever — under any circumstances. "All these other anglers talk about not giving up," McKinnis said. "And in most cases, that's just talk. Most of these guys give up at some point. It's human nature. "Again, I don't mean that to be a negative toward the other anglers. But most of them shut down at some point. Kevin doesn't do that, absolutely doesn't do that. "I think those two things — his focus and that he never gives up — are really important to where he is today." Where he is today can be measured by over $3 million in BASS tournament winnings. Only one other angler, 59-year-old Denny Brauer, has crossed the $2 million mark in BASS earnings. A recent mathematical study by Jennifer Brown at the University of California - Berkeley, documented Tiger Woods' affect on the other golfers in a tournament. Entitled "Quitters Never Win: The (Adverse) Incentive Effects of Competing with Superstars," Brown reached the following conclusion: On average, higher-skill PGA golfers' first-round scores are approximately 0.2 strokes higher when Tiger Woods participates, relative to when Woods is absent. The overall superstar effect for tournaments is approximately 0.8 strokes. The adverse superstar effect increases when Woods is playing well and disappears during Woods' weaker periods. There is no evidence that reduced performance is due to 'riskier' play. Something similar could have happened to Faircloth last week. Both he and VanDam acknowledged the enormous pressure they felt going into that final tournament with the TTBAOY title on the line. The first day was literally a wash, as both anglers had a 10-pound limit and stood in danger of missing the top 50, Day Two cut. The two contenders for the 2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title visit backstage before the final outcome is decided. On the most crucial day of the season, VanDam rallied with 13 pounds, 1 ounce and moved into the top 50, while Faircloth faltered with 6-6, his worst single-day performance of the year. The next day, Kelly Jordon, a fellow Texan who has known Faircloth since they were teenagers, still couldn't believe Faircloth hadn't found fish at Oneida Lake those first two days of the tournament. "All I can think is that he got hung up on those smallmouth out here," Jordon said. "That can happen to anybody. But it's just hard for me to believe it happened to him on this pond, the way it's fishing for largemouth. "That was probably his curse, when he found that big school of smallmouth (in practice)." Or maybe it was just another example of "The (Adverse) Incentive Effects of Competing with Superstars." With a fourth BASS Angler of the Year title added to his list of accomplishments, VanDam secured his reputation as THE superstar of bass fishing.

Here the results from Oneida Lake in New York. 1 Dean Rojas 5 15-14 5 16- 9 5 18- 3 5 14- 8 20 65- 2 2 Kevin Langill 5 15- 3 5 16- 1 5 14-10 5 14- 9 20 60- 7 3 Michael Iaconelli 5 12-11 5 20- 1 5 14- 4 5 12- 4 20 59- 4 4 Dustin Wilks 5 14- 5 5 13- 7 5 15-13 5 15- 7 20 59- 0 5 Dave Wolak 5 13-13 5 13-11 5 13-14 5 16- 3 20 57- 9 6 Alton Jones 5 14- 3 5 13- 3 5 15-13 5 13- 4 20 56- 7 7 Casey Ashley 5 13-11 5 15- 2 5 13- 5 5 13-15 20 56- 1 8 Bill Lowen 5 14- 4 5 14- 3 5 13- 6 5 13- 7 20 55- 4 9 Terry Butcher 5 16- 9 5 14- 7 5 11- 5 5 12-14 20 55- 3 10 Bernie Schultz 5 15- 3 5 12- 7 5 13-12 5 13- 9 20 54-15 11 Mike McClelland 5 10- 3 5 17-14 5 15- 0 5 10- 7 20 53- 8 12 Mark Davis 5 13-13 5 15- 5 5 12- 5 5 11-13 20 53- 4 13 Chris Lane 5 15-10 5 13- 6 5 12- 3 15 41- 3 14 Glenn Delong 5 11- 2 5 14-15 5 14- 8 15 40- 9 15 Boyd Duckett 5 12- 0 5 14- 9 5 13- 6 15 39-15 16 Tommy Biffle 5 14- 6 5 12- 8 5 12-15 15 39-13 17 Bobby Lane 5 12- 4 5 14- 1 5 13- 5 15 39-10 18 Fred Roumbanis 5 13-11 5 13- 0 5 12-12 15 39- 7 19 Steve Kennedy 5 17-10 5 12-15 5 8-13 15 39- 6 20 Randy Howell 5 12-15 5 12-10 5 13-11 15 39- 4 21 Terry Scroggins 5 13-10 5 13- 3 5 12- 3 15 39- 0 22 Ray Sedgwick 5 14- 3 5 14-12 5 10- 0 15 38-15 23 Marty Robinson 5 13- 5 5 13-15 5 11- 9 15 38-13 24 Jon Bondy 5 12- 7 5 13- 6 5 12-15 15 38-12 25 Rick Clunn 5 15-13 5 14- 0 5 8- 8 15 38- 5 26 Timmy Horton 5 13-14 5 10-10 5 13- 9 15 38- 1 27 Aaron Martens 5 13- 6 5 12- 5 5 12- 4 15 37-15 28 John Murray 5 14- 3 5 11-10 5 12- 1 15 37-14 29 Cliff Pace 5 14- 2 5 12-15 5 10- 9 15 37-10 30 Greg Hackney 5 11- 0 5 16- 1 5 10- 6 15 37- 7 31 Kelly Jordon 5 14-11 5 14- 3 5 8- 7 15 37- 5 32 Skeet Reese 5 11- 9 5 14- 6 5 11- 1 15 37- 0 32 Russ Lane 5 15-10 5 9-12 5 11-10 15 37- 0 34 Peter E Thliveros 5 10-14 5 13- 3 5 12-12 15 36-13 35 Mark Tyler 5 15- 5 5 9-13 5 11- 3 15 36- 5 36 Ken D Cook 5 11- 0 5 13- 2 5 12- 2 15 36- 4 36 Derek Remitz 5 12- 6 5 11-11 5 12- 3 15 36- 4 38 Kevin VanDam 5 10-13 5 13- 1 5 12- 5 15 36- 3 38 Mark Menendez 5 11- 5 5 13- 1 5 11-13 15 36- 3 40 Brent Chapman 5 12- 8 5 12-11 5 10-11 15 35-14 41 Matthew Sphar 5 12- 0 5 12- 5 5 11- 5 15 35-10 42 Charlie Hartley 5 9-15 5 15- 4 5 10- 5 15 35- 8 43 Ish Monroe 5 13- 9 5 10- 6 5 11- 8 15 35- 7 44 Kenyon Hill 5 13- 0 5 11- 8 5 8-12 15 33- 4 45 Kevin Wirth 5 12- 8 5 11- 5 5 8-15 15 32-12 46 Pat Golden 5 14- 3 5 9-10 5 7-15 15 31-12 47 Mark Tucker 5 15- 7 5 12-10 2 3- 7 12 31- 8 48 Jeff Kriet 5 13- 6 5 10- 7 3 4- 4 13 28- 1 49 Byron Velvick 5 12-11 5 11- 1 2 4- 0 12 27-12 50 Mike Wurm 5 10- 3 5 14- 9 1 1-11 11 26- 7 51 Jimmy Mize 5 9- 4 5 14- 3 10 23- 7 52 Randy Allen 5 12- 6 5 11- 0 10 23- 6 53 Gary Klein 5 10- 7 5 12- 8 10 22-15 54 Jeff Connella 5 10- 5 5 12- 9 10 22-14 55 Edwin Evers 5 11- 6 5 11- 5 10 22-11 56 Jeremy Starks 5 10-12 5 11-14 10 22-10 57 Stephen Browning 5 13-11 5 8-10 10 22- 5 57 Elton Luce Jr. 5 10- 2 5 12- 3 10 22- 5 57 Grant Goldbeck 5 12-13 5 9- 8 10 22- 5 60 Denny Brauer 5 15- 3 4 6-15 9 22- 2 61 Bradley Hallman 5 15- 1 3 7- 0 8 22- 1 62 Jared Lintner 5 9-11 5 12- 5 10 22- 0 63 Ben Matsubu 4 12- 0 3 9-15 7 21-15 64 Jim Murray 5 11- 7 5 10- 4 10 21-11 64 Billy Brewer 5 13- 3 4 8- 8 9 21-11 66 Kurt Dove 5 13- 9 5 7-15 10 21- 8 66 Jeff Reynolds 5 10- 1 5 11- 7 10 21- 8 68 Jason Williamson 5 7-14 5 13- 7 10 21- 5 69 Morizo Shimizu 5 9- 4 5 11-10 10 20-14 70 Paul Elias 5 9- 5 5 11- 4 10 20- 9 71 Davy Hite 5 8-11 5 11-12 10 20- 7 71 Marty Stone 5 9- 0 5 11- 7 10 20- 7 73 Brian Snowden 5 8-15 5 11- 2 10 20- 1 74 Todd Auten 5 8-11 5 11- 4 10 19-15 75 Jami Fralick 5 10- 8 5 9- 5 10 19-13 76 John Crews 5 8-13 5 10-14 10 19-11 76 Bryan Hudgins 5 9- 4 5 10- 7 10 19-11 78 Pete Ponds 5 10- 5 4 9- 5 9 19-10 79 Gerald Swindle 3 7- 4 5 11-12 8 19- 0 80 Clark Reehm 5 10-12 3 8- 3 8 18-15 81 Wade Grooms 5 8-12 5 10- 2 10 18-14 82 Kevin Short 5 10- 4 5 8- 8 10 18-12 83 Yusuke Miyazaki 5 10- 8 3 8- 0 8 18- 8 84 Scott Campbell 5 8- 1 5 10- 4 10 18- 5 85 Shaw E Grigsby 5 8- 5 5 9- 9 10 17-14 86 Matt Reed 4 5-13 5 11-15 9 17-12 87 David Smith 5 8- 3 5 9- 5 10 17- 8 87 Jason Quinn 5 7-11 5 9-13 10 17- 8 89 Takahiro Omori 5 15- 8 1 1-15 6 17- 7 90 David Sherrer 4 7-14 5 9- 8 9 17- 6 91 James Niggemeyer 4 7- 0 5 10- 4 9 17- 4 92 Paul Hirosky 5 7-15 5 9- 4 10 17- 3 93 Todd Faircloth 5 10- 9 5 6- 6 10 16-15 94 Kotaro Kiriyama 5 9-14 5 6-13 10 16-11 95 Britt Myers 5 16- 6 0 0- 0 5 16- 6 96 Preston Clark 5 9- 3 5 7- 1 10 16- 4 96 Rick Morris 4 6- 7 5 9-13 9 16- 4 98 Rick Ash 5 7-14 4 6- 3 9 14- 1 99 Corey Waldrop 5 9- 6 3 4- 9 8 13-15 100 Steve Daniel 5 9- 0 2 4-12 7 13-12 101 Jay Fuller 5 9-13 2 3- 6 7 13- 3 102 Brian Clark 3 3-14 5 9- 3 8 13- 1 103 Guy Eaker 3 5- 7 4 7- 8 7 12-15 104 James Kennedy 5 9-12 2 2-12 7 12- 8 105 Scott Rook 4 6- 3 3 4- 7 7 10-10 106 Zell Rowland 3 7-10 1 2-13 4 10- 7 ESPN.com: Help | PR Media Kit | Sales Media Kit | Report a Bug | Contact Us | News Archive | Site Map | ESPN Shop | Jobs at ESPN | Supplier Information ©2008 ESPN Internet Ventures. 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I can't speak much on the patent, the prototype is still in development, the patent I have is just provisional until it is done. The book is all about death, chaos, murder, and mayhem. About sexy female hit girls and thier troubled minds. "That's all I am going to say about that" Forrest Gump

I thought it was going to be a grand evening of fishing. Started off with a couple of goggle eye the size of my shoe(Size 8.5), then spotted a Largemouth under a laydown that was an easy 30 inches long. Blew my mind. It was all of 8 pounds plus. I threw at her about a dozen times with a few different presentations and there was no way she was going to react. So I moved on down the shoreline. I spent maybe a half hour poking a top water into over hanging trees and was mentally driven back to that fish. I wanted it really bad. Got back to the laydown and there she sat. Right where I left her. I must have tied on 30 different lures and changed plastics 20 times. This fish was like a rock. I could see it like it was in a Bass Pro aquarium. And it didnt respond. I even hit it with a salamander and all it did was move over to give the bait room to pass. I couldnt even spook this fish. It was quite comfy under this tree. After an hour it started to rain. So I put on the frog toggs and continued to figure out a way to get her to bite. I started to talk to it. Making bargains with it. "I promise to let you go", "All I want is a pic." "I will be gentle." I was begging and pleading. She wasn't buying. I pretty much fished until it was almost dark trying to catch this one fish. If I could have let the obsession go, I might have caught more fish. The result turned into the day being just two goggle eye and 180 minutes of poking at a trophy in Lower Taney standards. I went back to my dock feeling like a dork. A dork that got obsessed with one fish. Due to the gas heap, I will only be posting reports from tuesday through thursday. I was running three dollars a day and that has boosted to seven dollars a day. Being on a limited budget, I prefer to eat. Haha, For a skinny little guy, I can put the food away!..Haha You boys probably feel the crunch more than me.. I work from home, Have a patent now and will begin on the guts of my book soon. Haha, Hopefully Quentin T. Will give me a call. Peace OUT!

I was just proving a point. There are only four generators. But when the water is high, it feels like more.

Bull is mostly rock, its the runoff from the construction in the area that causes the fill ins.

Kevin, Nothing wrong with fishing being more important than politics. What is wrong is when the government gets involved with fishing. It just twists a good pass time into an ordeal. Of course people said the same thing back in the day when you had to start to buy fishing licences.

My sentiments exactly.

I paid in thousands to social security. I will get it back. It's not riding welfare until you start mooching for food stamps and housing assistance. Nobama wants to give welfare mommys more money for every pup they produce, Is that right? Actually giving incentive to have children you cant afford? Those of us that own land and have a stake in our tax dollars want a prez that will reward working americans. Not those that ride the system.

It is very possible the brownies moved up to the colder water. The flood water was very warm. It is possible the warm water species follow the cleaner water to the dam as well. It all would be a natural process. To survive. What isnt natural is that I would ever think I was better than I am. Sorry Jeff, I am as good as it gets when it comes to the lower. Don't challenge me, you will lose. BMAN, I kept looking at that pic for clipped fins! I guess they grow them back pretty fast. He He

Well, talk about night and day being the same. Much better water conditions today. Water was clear and they had to have a minimal of 4 or 5 generators running. The lilly pads up Bull were two feet under water. My daughter decided to brave the rain with me. She bought the whole song and dance that she brought me good luck. I really think she went because school starts tommorrow, but anyway, we threw everything in the arsonal at those bass. I caught four and she picked up two. We didnt get on the lake until 5pm and fished until dark. Caught all our fish in the last hour. We didnt want to call it a day either. But hungry bellys and creeping fog with the setting of the sun sent us in.

The floods have definately done thier toll on the warm water fish. At least in the main part of the Lower lake. You can still catch a few back in the coves but they are only the fish that managed to sneak away from the current. We have to face the reality that Taney is a cold water lake and a serious river type fishery. When they do draw downs it forces the fish back into the lake but they dont stay for long. When there is heavy rain they migrate down and go to Arkansas. Not to mention with limited resources for food. Species like Large Mouth and even whites compete for nothing but frye. The majority of the feed in this lake is thier own. Cannibalism. I catch more bass off of bass colors than any thing else. Whites thrive on silver shades, smallies hit brown and Large Mouths bite on all of them. I for one miss the brown trout. I am afraid the really big ones, in the the 3 to 8 pound range have went to arkansas. Dont get me wrong. I am a bass man all the way. But brownies and musky are my true challenge. Back to to the river mentality, You have to work these fish. The lower taney is a monster. I think I have conveyed this before. It is a hard body of water to fish. If you dont live on it like myself, you might be lucky to catch 4 or 5 bass. You have to pick them off the fence posts. The bass that set up are the easy ones. The rest you will have to find in 20 feet of water. MY GUESSES ARE THAT BASS FISHING IN TANEY WILL HAVE FEW PATTERNS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. iT WILL BE ALL HIT AND MISS. Indications with 30 years of experiance on the lake. The Brownies will be defined on this winters ladder crawl. I am almost convinced they washed down with the flood. Time will tell. Nobody knows the Lower better than me!!!

No way liberman will be the choice. Don't give the liberals too much credit. Nobama is going to announce his VP selection via text. Cuts me out of the loop. How many people will appreciate that?

To be honost, you probably hit the nail on the head. The floods pushed them out. Before march, I had tons of gills under my dock, not a one now. I have a feeling the next couple years are going to be rebuilding years. As a Miami Dolphin fan, I am getting pretty used to it. Ha! I will be interested in how many browns make it to the ladder this winter. I have only caught one since the floods in march and it was a little 20 incher. I have pretty much given up on them. The lake should rebound pretty good though. There were alot of fish that dumped in from Table Rock as well. I expect that in a few years, the diversity spectrum should improve greatly.

I use the wire type. I take cornmeal and ball it up inside a piece of cheesecloth and tie it with a rubber band. Works well enough.

Thanx guys. I dont know about depression setting in, but I was starting to have some serious anger management issues. I might have to cut back to three days a week, instead of five with the price of Gas though. Better than nothing though!

I was out from 10:30am until about 3pm today. Focused mainly on bass. Last weekends draw down has the Lower looking like a dirty toilet. The shallow bite is pretty much shut down since all the coves and inlets are full of stained water. So I mucked it on the main lake trying to find clear water. Picked up a couple sports dragging deep divers along bluffs. Got a couple more with a top water off a couple points. Did run into some whites. Picked up a few before they managed to shake me. Seven fish in five hours. I had to work hard for them. Never did quite get a pattern going.

Let me see....that would be number 365 and I havnt worked on number one yet.

As a prior mediocre collegate swimmer, I have to say the Phelps accomplishment has me in AWE.

Jeremy, Shawn told me you were a little unerved. My apologies. Here is a quote that I sent Shawn "I have been attacked by hornets, and wasps in the past. Once when I was 12 and had a full leg cast on and couldn't run away, my gramps fought off the wasps while taking quite a few hits himself. I know first hand how freaky it can be. The worst was when I was living in Panama. I had got a crankbait stuck in a tree and nosed my boat in the bushes to dig it out. Bumped right into a hive of Africanized bees. Got stung 49 times before I could get away. I actually got toxic shock from that." Again, I make jest, but only because I can relate.