ness

You're fighting a losing battle there, Trav: technology will advance, price will come down, more people will buy it, repeat. Add to that competitive fishing for money, and well -- you get the picture. I guess it's all about what 'floats your boat'. Some folks are driven to catch the most fish, have the best stuff, etc. Some folks just enjoy being outdoors and catching a fish or two with their trusty 303. And most folks are somewhere in between. I suppose I don't really care what the others are up to, as long as they don't mess it up for me.

We've owned 4 Dodge Caravans. Can't complain too much about the first 3, but the last one was a POS. Most of the big stuff blew up under warranty (steering, brakes, lift gate, sliding doors, AC, electric windows), but it was one problem after another all it's life. So we went with a Mazda this time. I was driving a 2002 Ford Explorer. Don't have my total, but it had a new transmission at 110k miles, and needed a new read-end. Guvmint paid me $4,500 for it and crushed it. I decided I'd get a rock-solid Toyota for a change. My mileage is up about 50 percent, but it feels 'cheaper' than my Ford -- fit and finish isn't great, things rattle a little. The plastic strip in the slot on the roof blew off last week. I work with a guy who's driving a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He added up his repair bills and it totaled $14,700. No sh*t. I'm trying to get the best car I can for the money that meets the needs of our family. Personal experience and research lead me to where I am.

+1

It's always been that way ALWAYS! Not just the last 14 months. yawn.

A few weeks ago I wheeled my Toyota into a convenience store and stopped. I leaned over to the right to reach something that had slid off the passenger seat and I heard my engine rev and the car lurched forward a couple inches, but fortunately I had the brake on. It stopped revving when .... I took my foot off the gas. My foot had slid to the right and caught the edge of the gas pedal when I was reaching over. Now, if I had run it forward into the corner of the building, and had been of a mind, I'd have been a prime candidate for a little face time on TV, and maybe even some compensation -- especially if my bionic neck had been jerked in the collision. The thought actually crossed my mind. No, not that I considered doing that -- but that there are a lot of folks that would have looked at that as an opportunity.

Read my post Eric. I didn't say "GM", now did I? And I didn't say 'assembly workers' earlier. If you want to discuss this, how about you respond to what was said, not what you wish was said. It's a fact that, in general, Japanese cars rate higher for reliability and resale value. What -- you're calling me out because you know some and think I don't? What difference does that make, and why make it personal? It's well-documented that a major cause of Chrysler and GM's woes are the out-sized labor costs. Sh*t happens, man. A great income, retirement and lifetime health care were never a sure thing. Sorry for the individuals that are affected by that, but it's narrow-minded to think this is purely an auto maker thing, or the result of unpatriotic citizens. Take a look around you -- I'd bet from your lofty perch upon the soapbox, you could see some other folks that didn't hit the jackpot. I'd venture a guess that 'unrestrained capitalism', or even slightly-restrained capitalism, has, on balance, been pretty good to you.

Freedom to choose is at the very foundation of our country. A car buying decision and patriotism are pretty far removed. You may have a soft spot for American workers, and that's just dandy -- I like us too. But selecting a crappy product with a Made in USA sticker on it is just a bad decision. There are far too many variables in the equation (parts, distribution, sales, etc.) to even come close to knowing whether your purchase of a Chrysler over a Toyota helps more Americans. Patriotism is not even in the equation. BTW -- I didn't blame assembly line workers for anything. I said the companies were poorly run and produced a product that didn't sell well enough. And the wages are too high and the benefits and pensions are far too generous. Those things (and others) broke Chrysler and GM, and they're still broke despite billions in cash infused, and billions of obligations erased. So we just kicked the can down the road with that one. We took their failing businesses, wiped out the investors (which is as it should be) and then made the rest the taxpayer's burden. Nice. Ford managed to steer through this without a bankruptcy or taxpayer dollars, so maybe it is they just know how to build and sell cars better than the others? Maybe that's the guy you pick if you want to buy American? BTW, if 'corporations' are the problem, I wonder what the alternative is. To the original issue, and to steer this away from politics (which is hopeless, I know): Why the hell can't anybody figure out that you just pop that bad-boy into neutral and pull over? How can it be that this guy needs a highway patrolman tell him over the loudspeaker to put on the freakin' brakes to slow the car down, which is the wrong approach anyway? Unfortunately for Toyota -- there are millions of folks out there, and a few are gonna try to milk this thing.

I didn't have the patience to read through all the posts, but to answer an early question: yes, I love to fish from a tube. It's a relaxing and comfortable way to get around on smaller water. Lotsa times the best water is out of reach from shore, so a tube gets you in there. Also, since you're driving with your feet, your hands are always free -- unlike a canoe or pontoon. I've got the v-shaped Force Fins, and I use the straps to keep from losing them. Yep -- they're a pain to walk in, so I just minimize the walking. No matter what, it's never pretty when I enter or exit the tube though. The trick with a tube is to just take it slow and fish as you go. If you hop in and immediately try to head a couple hundred yards over to your spot, you won't enjoy it too much.

Wrong -- times two. The auto companies essentially got an equity infusion, and they have returned only a small portion. Don't forget, the finance arms of Chrysler and GM got massive bailouts too. Oh, and the auto suppliers. Oh, and they also went through bankruptcy and wiped out billions in debt. The reason they ended up in such horrible shape is the way they ran the business. Paid far too much to workers -- current salary, benefits and through their pensions -- and produced inferior product that didn't sell well. You might be thinking of the banks -- the big ones have almost all paid back the money. BTW -- many of them were forced to take the TARP money. So, before you tag anyone else as 'silly', and to prevent yourself from looking silly too, you should check the facts yourself here: CNN Bailout Tracker I'd like to see the statistics that backup up your quality claim. The number of incidents is minuscule compared to the number of cars and miles driven. Not saying there isn't a problem -- just saying the number of incidents doesn't appear to be a widespread issue. Which, you couldn't tell by the amount of press it's receiving. BTW -- patriotism doesn't have anything to do with what kinda car you drive.

Hey Trevor, RMNP is a pretty good place to catch fish and build confidence. There are a lot of streams in the park that are just brimming with brookies (stupid brookies, but you don't need to tell your wife that), also rainbows, browns and even cutthroats. They're all opportunistic feeders and will hammer about anything you throw out there, if you go it about right. My first bit of advice would be to hire a guide. But, if that's not in the budget, there are a lot of opportunities where beginners can do well. First off -- all the streams (all!) have fish in them. The lower elevation, slow-moving streams will have the largest and most wary fish. The farther up you go, the skinnier the water, the more desperate the fish and the better chances for lots of action. Put a bushy dry fly into any still pocket of water you see in a rocky, fast-moving stream, and a fish will see it. To get him to strike, you'll need a fairly fine tippet (5X or less), and keep the line and most of the tippet off the water. It helps if you're not standing in the pocket too This means a lot of stiff-armed reaches with just the fly on the water -- not your long, beautiful, 'River Runs Through It' casts. It's also helpful to have a nymph dropper -- about 8-18 inches below the dry (depending on water depth). A pretty sure thing is a #10 Stimulator with a #16 Hare's ear or Pheasant Tail dropper. It's not so much about matching the hatch, or picking the right fly, as it is presenting it right. These fish have just survived winter and runoff, and they're gonna eat anything close. You just can't spook them and expect them to eat. Keep the top fly dry and floating high with Gink and an occasional dry-shake and you'll have them busting it. Let it get wet and you'll miss strikes -- which, by the way, will be lightening quick -- much faster than you're used to in MO. A good general-purpose rod would be an 8-1/2 foot 4 weight. That would be long enough to clear streamside vegetation if you fish lower elevation meadows, or give you plenty of reach if you're stretching and hitting pocket water higher up. I have a great guide to recommend -- PM me if you're interested. It would be money-well-spent to get your wife off on the right foot, and no matter what your level he would teach you something -- he's a master at fishing the small creeks and an excellent teacher.

15 is better than 12 and halfway to 18. 1 is one-third of 3 and really close to zero. Somebody wanna check my math? Seems like this is a good thing, but I might be missing something.

You're just making that up, fozzie. C'mon -- this is serious!

Dan -- I read though your exhaustive posts on what the MSA, and especially its Blue Ribbon panel, are doing to help move the MDC toward more protection for SMB. Seems like an extremely well thought out approach to the issue, and designed to get the best possible results in the shortest period of time. I think avoiding the overlap with the White Paper is a good move -- no sense going down that path again. While everybody's special interest may not have been specifically addressed, it's important to note that this is movement in the right direction, and sets a precedent for future improvements. If nothing else is accomplished immediately but a statewide 15 MLL we're still far better off. All movement in the right direction is good movement.

Oh -- there's mountain lions out there, bears too. Remember Gregor from the old Conservation Cafe? He went in there one March and has never been heard of since. Ray from Crane told me they found a pair of hemos in a steaming pile of bear scat down by the dairy farm a couple days after he went missing. Anyway, I trained bears and lions for the circus in the summers during school, so I'm comfortable with them. And, I've been bit by all kinda snakes at church, so they don't really bother me none neither.

Looking at this whole thing with a healthy dose of skepticism is probably best. It's a one-sided story that frankly seems pretty hard to believe as told. But, I can't really see too many other explanations, and there are certain facts that appear certain. The fact that's indisputable is that the dog was shot. Apparently, it had a collar and the guy had been looking for it in a fairly small area, for a relatively short period of time -- the same day. I would think the ranger wouldn't even consider killing a collared dog, especially a dog typically used for hunting rabbits, during the rabbit season. As for a beagle harassing a deer -- well, I just don't buy that. Of course, I don't know the particulars, but it seems to most likely the deer could have gotten away -- it certainly wasn't a life-or-death situation. But, what if that beagle had the deer pinned in somehow? Does that warrant killing a collared dog? Nope -- and it never will either. Facts are, there are too darn many deer as it is, and he killed a guy's pet. He needs to keep that darn gun in the holster unless there's imminent danger to humans. The law clearly was written to allow killing feral animals, or ones that are consistently a problem for the wildlife. Seems like this idiot felt he had authority to kill whatever he wanted to, as long as he could claim it was harassing wildlife, so things obviously need to be tightened up some. As for the argument that the guy didn't have control of his dog and he got what he deserved -- that's nonsense, and frankly cold-hearted. The only way to completely assure control is to put the dog on a lead, and that's not required or even expected. Sometimes a dog will run, get lost, whatever. That's just the nature of it. If you've got your dogs trained well enough that you can always get them to do what you want, that's just great. But, people legally hunt with dogs and dogs don't always listen, so there needs to be some room in there for this situation. So, I still don't know all the facts, but I'm glad this thing got some press. These rangers need to held to a very high standard, and keep those darn guns in their holsters. I think I know enough to call the ranger that shot the dog a cold-blooded SOB, no matter what the rules say. And, we don't need cowboys like that roaming around with sidearms. I hope his $^&%*^ gets fired, I hope they get enough bad press that they have to admit this was wrong, and that they sit those rangers down and tighten up rules governing when they can shoot -- and that ought to be darn close to never.

I don't remember the particulars, but the Crane Cafe has pretty limited hours. I remember I had to adjust my plans because they closed at 2PM or something like that.

I had the same meal, same place last October. Pretty good eats, and I always try to patronize the local businesses!

Words to live by right there. Great post Phil.

I see they gave you computer privileges. Welcome back.

They're very easy to miss because they strike soooo fast. You gotta recalibrate your strike timing because a slow, steady one won't cut it most times. It always takes me a little bit to adjust.

Same stuff going on on the west side, but less people. There are places where you can catch brookies all day long, or you can try for a native Colorado River cutthroat -- first cousin to the Greenbacks mentioned earlier. Your chances of seeing a moose are greater over there. We also saw a cougar once. You should be able to find spots where you can jump over the Colorado, or you could fish bigger water for bigger fish downstream. And, don't forget to pee on the divide on your way over.

Man -- that's a pisser. Lost a fly box once, and did the math. Even though a lot were self-tied, it was a big hit. Hope he gets it back. Zip them pockets, boys!

Wow -- that's an early start. I've got a bunch of flats going under lights -- lettuce, maters, peppers, tomatillos, spinach, herbs, flowers fer the missus. But I've still got snow in the garden, and the nice weather just means mud right now. But, the nasty winter sure has me itching to get going outside.

I think we should have a Head-Butters Ball out on a stream somewhere. Once we see each other face-to-face we'll probably all get along famously. Or there could be a brawl. Wayner, in all seriousness, you summed it up nicely: