Whew! pretty long dry spell here is ASA

e got anything going on that's worth talking about?

ter another. Everybody want's to control their alarm s ystem with their phones. They like the text messaging. Especially the businesses. They can see who's coming and going and when. JUst wish I could integrate some v ideo with it. The IBridge has video and Zwave capabili ty but their video is only with Napco cameras ---- and they suck.

half a dozen more coming up in the next couple of wee ks along with some 3G to 4G upgrades. Most of those di dn't have messaging when I installed them so I expect I'll be able to up sell some of them on the messaging for a little bump up in the monthly RMR.

Dunkin Doughnuts got held up with shots fired next doo r to one of my alarm accounts. So - - - - now I've go t a 12 camera installation I'm working on.

y have already mentioned this but one of my long time customers whom I've moved with for about 30 years is t his time moving into a 60,000 square foot building. It 's going to be a gradual move wo I should be able to k eep up with it by myself. Although this time I was abl e to get the electrician to run my wires while he had is crew and man lifts. Only partial system in now but I installed the Napco 255 zone panel and a huge wiring cabinet with lots of wiring terminals. I also put a k eypad in the wiring cabinet so I don't have to keep ru nning (seems like) 1/4 of a mile to see what the panel is doing. I put in a humongus Altronix aux power supp ly that can be monitored of course got a Starlink radi o. Used Bosch's ceiling motion detectors because of th e height of the stringers in the warehouse. They seem to work pretty good now but I'll have to see how it go es when they start to move in some of their equipment. I ordered some armored sheathing for the door wiring and put all the contacts on the tops of the overhead d oors. Seven of them so far. More to come as they modif y the building over the next couple of years. The owne r is making a space to park his 720S McClarin so he do esn't have to leave it outside when he comes to work. If you've never seen one go to the website. Whatta ca r !!!

y of a home of someone who wants to upgrade their 30 y ear old DSC residential alarm system. With the brief l ook that I took the system has alarm screens and most of the pull plugs are broken off and the wires just tw isted together. I didn't get to go through the whole h ouse (which is why I'm going back) but I think they ha ve a motion detector in every room of the house. Only the front door has a contact on it the rest of the per imeter doors don't - - - - I guess dependent upon the motion detectors but of course only when they aren't home. I've gotta go back and look in every room to see what kind of conglomeration they put in this home. Th ese folks are getting ready to become snowbirds so the y want to be able to control the alarm from Florida an d they want cameras too. They asked me for a ball park and I just threw $5000.00 at them and it didn't seem to raise and eyebrow. so we'll see how it winds up.

d to borrow an installer from a friend to run the wire s to the back of the warehouse and wire in the overhea ds and exit doors. I installed the panel and did the f ront doors and glass. Took 1 day with me and the insta ller and one day me alone.

stuff is just replacing contacts on new doors or windo ws. Installing Ring doorbells. Replacing window foil w ith glass shock sensors

n a BIG ranch house with an apartment. I did everythin g --- Alarm system ,partitioned, TV'x, Arlo Cameras. S urround sound speakers in ceiling in living room. Inte rnet network for their home, his office and for the ap artment. Set up two WiFi networks with bridged routers . Wiring for internet telephone and landline for fax. Installed pull down TV bracket over the fireplace and set up a Denon receiver for their sound system. I enjo y jobs like that where I do it all. I don't have to wo rk around someone else's work.

I can think of right now.

d of stimulus to get this thing moving again.

Topic: Adventures On The LOWER Lower River

Topic: The Lower Lower River - REVI SITED Sorry, not alarm related other than I turn the alarm on in the shop before I go. Its a little more metal working related since I use a lot

of lures made in molds I machined in the shop.

My wife is having back surgery next week, so even my time in the shop may be limited for a while.

I am correcting a WHOOPS!! It is not fixed!!

On 9/21/2020 9:39 PM, Jim Davis wrote: > Hasn't anyone got anything going on that's worth talking about? >

Hi Jim,

Well, you certainly had something to say. Thanks for the interesting side note into your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual work load.

The truth is you beat me to the punch. I was thinking the same thing over the past few days that ASA has been quite for a while. That being said, my input will be a bit smaller in reading.

I have been taking care of small service calls and minor upgrades. Refused a couple of jobs that just didn't fit my desires.

Got a call from a guy that was thinking his daughter should have a system in the house she just purchased. Rather than spending the time doing a full proposal I just sent her with a cc to daddy that the estimated cost would be about $1800. Got a email back from him saying that the number was double what a DIY system would cost!! And then he asked me to do the full proposal. What she got was my "Sorry I am too busy letter!!" I got the feeling that the whole working relationship was going to be a challenge with daddy pull'n the strings.

What I am working presently on is the 3G to LTE upgrades. I used your draft with a few minor adjustments and sent out a batch last week. Have started to call customers to set up an appointment for the upgrade. Had one when I called I first asked if he received my letter?? He said, "Oh yea I did, didn't open it, was just going to throw it in the trash." Some people just live on different planets.

Below is my final draft. And yes, it is about 99% identical. ===================================================================== Dear customer,

As we all experience now days, old technology is constantly being replaced with new, Seems like we just get used to our new cell phones, laptop or Ipad and a new one is being advertised.

Likewise, in the alarm business, we are also subject to the advances that the cell phone providers make with their technologies.

You presently have a cellular radio installed at your home/business using Third Generation (3G)cellular technology that is being replaced with Forth Generation (4G), (LTE) and soon to be 5G cellular technology.

As evidenced by the history of their past performance, the cellular service for your device will become less and less available as they transition to the newer 4G (LTE) technology. At some point around the end of 2020/21, the 3G service will no longer be maintained and your alarm system will no longer be able to communicate with Central Station.

I will be contacting you over the next couple of months to make an appointment to change your system over to the new 4G(LTE) cellular service.

As always, thank you for your business and loyalty through the years. It's been a pleasure serving you.

Please call if you have any questions.

Sincerely, ====================================================================

Ok, so now my posting is almost as long as yours so I will have to stop typing.

This morning it was 36 degrees on my deck. I am now going into my winterization mode of stuff. The weather is something that we can never control but certainly have to adjust to in many ways.

Thank Jim for cranking up ASA!!

Have a good rest of your week.

Les

On Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at 2:07:21 PM UTC-4, Bob La Londe wrote:

want's to control their alarm system with their phones. They like the text messaging. Especially the businesses. They can see who's coming and going and when. JUst wish I could integrate some video with it. The IBridge has v ideo and Zwave capability but their video is only with Napco cameras ---- a nd they suck.

next couple of weeks along with some 3G to 4G upgrades. Most of those didn' t have messaging when I installed them so I expect I'll be able to up sell some of them on the messaging for a little bump up in the monthly RMR.

my alarm accounts. So - - - - now I've got a 12 camera installation I'm wo rking on.

m I've moved with for about 30 years is this time moving into a 60,000 squa re foot building. It's going to be a gradual move wo I should be able to ke ep up with it by myself. Although this time I was able to get the electrici an to run my wires while he had is crew and man lifts. Only partial system in now but I installed the Napco 255 zone panel and a huge wiring cabinet w ith lots of wiring terminals. I also put a keypad in the wiring cabinet so I don't have to keep running (seems like) 1/4 of a mile to see what the pan el is doing. I put in a humongus Altronix aux power supply that can be moni tored of course got a Starlink radio. Used Bosch's ceiling motion detectors because of the height of the stringers in the warehouse. They seem to work pretty good now but I'll have to see how it goes when they start to move i n some of their equipment. I ordered some armored sheathing for the door wi ring and put all the contacts on the tops of the overhead doors. Seven of t hem so far. More to come as they modify the building over the next couple o f years. The owner is making a space to park his 720S McClarin so he doesn' t have to leave it outside when he comes to work. If you've never seen one go to the website. Whatta car !!!

ts to upgrade their 30 year old DSC residential alarm system. With the brie f look that I took the system has alarm screens and most of the pull plugs are broken off and the wires just twisted together. I didn't get to go thro ugh the whole house (which is why I'm going back) but I think they have a m otion detector in every room of the house. Only the front door has a contac t on it the rest of the perimeter doors don't - - - - I guess dependent upo n the motion detectors but of course only when they aren't home. I've gotta go back and look in every room to see what kind of conglomeration they put in this home. These folks are getting ready to become snowbirds so they wa nt to be able to control the alarm from Florida and they want cameras too. They asked me for a ball park and I just threw $5000.00 at them and it didn 't seem to raise and eyebrow. so we'll see how it winds up.

er from a friend to run the wires to the back of the warehouse and wire in the overheads and exit doors. I installed the panel and did the front doors and glass. Took 1 day with me and the installer and one day me alone.

s. Installing Ring doorbells. Replacing window foil with glass shock sensor s

rything --- Alarm system ,partitioned, TV'x, Arlo Cameras. Surround sound s peakers in ceiling in living room. Internet network for their home, his off ice and for the apartment. Set up two WiFi networks with bridged routers. W iring for internet telephone and landline for fax. Installed pull down TV b racket over the fireplace and set up a Denon receiver for their sound syste m. I enjoy jobs like that where I do it all. I don't have to work around so meone else's work.

Hey Bob, you tell a good story. I'd bet there's a sports fishing paper, new s letter etc/ around that would pay for those kind of narratives. Even an o nline blog would get you a lot of followers, I'd bet. When I was a kid, I used to go up state NY every summer where all my relati ves are and my Uncle Joe would take me fishing. He wasn't a pro or anything but he sure knew his fish and the waters of the St Lawrence River. I remem ber that he could tell the difference between what kind of fish was biting at his bait. We didn't do too much with lures. mostly worms and live bait. I was 8 years old when I caught my first small mouth bass. Probably weighed a couple of pounds. Maybe not but it seemed like it to me. I remember I w as so proud when I came home to show my mom. He had a 14 foot wooden rowboa t and a 10 horse Johnson outboard. This was before the St Lawrence Seaway a nd the river had some really big rapids. He'd take that little boat just up to the edge of the rapids and throw out what was his anchor overboard ( he had a big heavy duty metal wash pail filled with cement for an anchor, I h ave no idea how much that thing must have weighed) We had to put out a lot of anchor line so the rapids wouldn't pull the bow down underwater. The anc hor would always drag until it caught on a rock. We'd put anywhere from a 1 to 6 ounce lead sinkers and a worm or minnow on a leader tied about a foot or two above the sinker and drop it over into the rapids. These are not li ttle rapids now. The water is about 20 feet deep and the water is right nex t to the boat, running about a foot or two higher than the gunnels. Now whe n I think about it --- it was crazy but we did it dozens of times. Pulling in small mouth bass, pickerel, pike and REAL BIG perch. And every once in a while a small muskie. Never had a bad day at that spot. I loved the perch. Coat them with a little bit of flour, drop them in a cast iron fry pan ful l of hot oil on a charcoal grill and the meat would just fall off the bone. Especially the big ones. I really loved my Uncle Joe. he had 3 girls so I guess I was the son he never had. He had to work obviously but sometimes he could sneak away. He'd tell me the day before so I'd go out and water the lawn that day and pick a couple of tin cans full of big juicy night crawler s with a flash light till 10 o'clock at night. Then he'd come in my room be fore dawn and whisper to wake me up so we could sneak out of the house with out waking anyone. It was real exciting for a kid at that age. Getting down to the landing where he kept the boat tied up and rowing away the shallow rocky bottom water, in the dark. Starting the engine and letting me handle it until we got close to which ever spot he'd chosen for the few hours we c ould spend until he had to go to work. I think he lost at least a half a do zen pair of glasses from knocking them in the water when he'd try to snag a fish. I can still see him with the Camel cigarette hanging from his mouth, with the embers blowing in the wind while he's cranking the reel trying to pull in a fish. And as old as he was, he was always excited with a big gri n on his face when he was reeling in a fish. I never got a bigger fish then he did on every trip we took. And you have to remember, these weren't fibe rglass rods and spinning reels either. Can't tell you how many hours I spen t untangling the back lashed lines on those reels. I'd take more than one r eel, just is case. For a few years when the kids were young, we'd go fishing off the local doc k for blow fish and snappers and when I finally bought a boat, we'd go for flounder, black fish, fluke and my all time favorite Weakfish. But as the k ids out grew fishing, the boat and me, I stopped salt water fishing. I'm pr etty much a loner so I didn't fall in with the beer drinking fishing crowd. So that's when my wife and i started taking some of out boating trips to N antucket, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Newport. We took some really grea t boating trips up the Hudson river, Atlantic City, and too many other plac es to name here. We have a lot of great memories. Anyway, where I live now there's not much fresh water fishing and besides, now days you have to stand in line to do anything. Or fish a stream or lake with 5 other fishermen within a hundred feet. Very few, if any places left to go to just be alone and fish near me. And although there's the ocean, m ankind just like everything else, has ruined it. It's just plain old dirty gray, brown or black water that I wouldn't eat anything I caught anyway. An d fishing off the back of yacht with what amounts to a stiff broom handle a nd busting my ass trying to crank the winch-like reel on it to go blue fish or sea bass fishing is not my idea of fishing.

30 some odd years ago I tried to do some fly fishing and i tried it for a c ouple of years. Reading and trying to practice in the back yard but just co uldn't master the cast on my own to my satisfaction and I didn't know anyon e that I could learn from. I didn't even know anyone who did fly fishing. S ome people said I did ok but they weren't fishermen and it just didn't feel right to me and it usually took me 3 or 4 tries to get the fly where I wan ted it. There was never a trip that I didn't whip snap a fly off. I was goi ng to try to find someone to give me lessons but I just never did and gradu ally gave it up. I still have the rig somewhere down in the basement but it 's probably turned to dust by now. I gave my waders to my wife's cousin who does surf fishing. Now days, every once in a while I go down and open my f ishing box when I need a piece of nylon line for some project or to hang up one of my wife's chimes or climbing flowers on the patio. So that's the end of my fishing story. Yours obviously is still in progress . Cherish it.

Best wishes for your wife's recovery

On 9/22/2020 5:48 PM, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

sday, September 22, 2020 at 2:07:21 PM UTC-4, Bob La L onde wrote:

talking about?

tarlink radios one after another. Everybody want's to control their alarm system with their phones. They lik e the text messaging. Especially the businesses. They can see who's coming and going and when. JUst wish I c ould integrate some video with it. The IBridge has vid eo and Zwave capability but their video is only with N apco cameras ---- and they suck.

led last week alone, got half a dozen more coming up i n the next couple of weeks along with some 3G to 4G up grades. Most of those didn't have messaging when I ins talled them so I expect I'll be able to up sell some o f them on the messaging for a little bump up in the mo nthly RMR.

p with shots fired next door to one of my alarm accoun ts. So - - - - now I've got a 12 camera installation I 'm working on.

this but one of my long time customers whom I've moved with for about 30 years is this time moving into a 60 ,000 square foot building. It's going to be a gradual move wo I should be able to keep up with it by myself. Although this time I was able to get the electrician to run my wires while he had is crew and man lifts. On ly partial system in now but I installed the Napco 255 zone panel and a huge wiring cabinet with lots of wir ing terminals. I also put a keypad in the wiring cabin et so I don't have to keep running (seems like) 1/4 of a mile to see what the panel is doing. I put in a hum ongus Altronix aux power supply that can be monitored of course got a Starlink radio. Used Bosch's ceiling m otion detectors because of the height of the stringers in the warehouse. They seem to work pretty good now b ut I'll have to see how it goes when they start to mov e in some of their equipment. I ordered some armored s heathing for the door wiring and put all the contacts on the tops of the overhead doors. Seven of them so fa r. More to come as they modify the building over the n ext couple of years. The owner is making a space to pa rk his 720S McClarin so he doesn't have to leave it ou tside when he comes to work. If you've never seen one go to the website. Whatta car !!!

y I've got to go and do a survey of a home of someone who wants to upgrade their 30 year old DSC residential alarm system. With the brief look that I took the sys tem has alarm screens and most of the pull plugs are b roken off and the wires just twisted together. I didn' t get to go through the whole house (which is why I'm going back) but I think they have a motion detector in every room of the house. Only the front door has a co ntact on it the rest of the perimeter doors don't - -

- - I guess dependent upon the motion detectors but of course only when they aren't home. I've gotta go back and look in every room to see what kind of conglomera tion they put in this home. These folks are getting re ady to become snowbirds so they want to be able to con trol the alarm from Florida and they want cameras too. They asked me for a ball park and I just threw $5000.

00 at them and it didn't seem to raise and eyebrow. so we'll see how it winds up.

omer moving to a new location. Had to borrow an instal ler from a friend to run the wires to the back of the warehouse and wire in the overheads and exit doors. I installed the panel and did the front doors and glass. Took 1 day with me and the installer and one day me a lone.

lacing contacts on new doors or windows. Installing Ri ng doorbells. Replacing window foil with glass shock s ensors

house with an apartment. I did everything --- Alarm sy stem ,partitioned, TV'x, Arlo Cameras. Surround sound speakers in ceiling in living room. Internet network f or their home, his office and for the apartment. Set u p two WiFi networks with bridged routers. Wiring for i nternet telephone and landline for fax. Installed pull down TV bracket over the fireplace and set up a Denon receiver for their sound system. I enjoy jobs like th at where I do it all. I don't have to work around some one else's work.

of right now.

ulus to get this thing moving again.

TED

r than I turn the alarm on in the shop

. Its a little more metal working related since I use a lot

p.

o even my time in the shop

ile.

d bet there's a sports fishing paper, news letter etc/ around that would pay for those kind of narratives. E ven an online blog would get you a lot of followers, I 'd bet.

every summer where all my relatives are and my Uncle J oe would take me fishing. He wasn't a pro or anything but he sure knew his fish and the waters of the St Law rence River. I remember that he could tell the differe nce between what kind of fish was biting at his bait. We didn't do too much with lures. mostly worms and liv e bait. I was 8 years old when I caught my first small mouth bass. Probably weighed a couple of pounds. Mayb e not but it seemed like it to me. I remember I was s o proud when I came home to show my mom. He had a 14 f oot wooden rowboat and a 10 horse Johnson outboard. Th is was before the St Lawrence Seaway and the river had some really big rapids. He'd take that little boat ju st up to the edge of the rapids and throw out what was his anchor overboard ( he had a big heavy duty metal wash pail filled with cement for an anchor, I have no idea how much that thing must have weighed) We had to put out a lot of anchor line so the rapids wouldn't pu ll the bow down underwater. The anchor would always dr ag until it caught on a rock. We'd put anywhere from a 1 to 6 ounce lead sinkers and a worm or minnow on a l eader tied about a foot or two above the sinker and dr op it over into the rapids. These are not little rapid s now. The water is about 20 feet deep and the water i s right next to the boat, running about a foot or two higher than the gunnels. Now when I think about it --- it was crazy but we did it dozens of times. Pulling i n small mouth bass, pickerel, pike and REAL BIG perch. And every once in awhile a small muskie. Never had a bad day at that spot. I loved the perch. Coat them wi th a little bit of flour, drop them in a cast iron fry pan full of hot oil on a charcoal grill and the meat would just fall off the bone. Especially the big ones. I really loved my Uncle Joe. he had 3 girls so I gues s I was the son he never had. He had to work obviously but sometimes he could sneak away. He'd tell me the d ay before so I'd go out and water the lawn that day an d pick a couple of tin cans full of big juicy night cr awlers with a flash light till 10 o'clock at night. Th en he'd come in my room before dawn and whisper to wak e me up so we could sneak out of the house without wak ing anyone. It was real exciting for a kid at that age . Getting down to the landing where he kept the boat t ied up and rowing away the shallow rocky bottom water, in the dark. Starting the engine and letting me handl e it until we got close to which ever spot he'd chosen for the few hours we could spend until he had to go t o work. I think he lost at least a half a dozen pair o f glasses from knocking them in the water when he'd tr y to snag a fish. I can still see him with the Camel c igarette hanging from his mouth, with the embers blowi ng in the wind while he's cranking the reel trying to pull in a fish. And as old as he was, he was always ex cited with a big grin on his face when he was reeling in a fish. I never got a bigger fish then he did on ev ery trip we took. And you have to remember, these were n't fiberglass rods and spinning reels either. Can't t ell you how many hours I spent untangling the back las hed lines on those reels. I'd take more than one reel, just is case.

oung, we'd go fishing off the local dock for blow fish and snappers and when I finally bought a boat, we'd g o for flounder, black fish, fluke and my all time favo rite Weakfish. But as the kids out grew fishing, the b oat and me, I stopped salt water fishing. I'm pretty m uch a loner so I didn't fall in with the beer drinking fishing crowd. So that's when my wife and i started t aking some of out boating trips to Nantucket, Cape Cod , Martha's Vineyard and Newport. We took some really g reat boating trips up the Hudson river, Atlantic City, and too many other places to name here. We have a lot of great memories.

s not much fresh water fishing and besides, now days y ou have to stand in line to do anything. Or fish a str eam or lake with 5 other fishermen within a hundred fe et. Very few, if any places left to go to just be alon e and fish near me. And although there's the ocean, ma nkind just like everything else, has ruined it. It's j ust plain old dirty gray, brown or black water that I wouldn't eat anything I caught anyway. And fishing off the back of yacht with what amounts to a stiff broom handle and busting my ass trying to crank the winch-li ke reel on it to go blue fish or sea bass fishing is n ot my idea of fishing.

d to do some fly fishing and i tried it for a couple o f years. Reading and trying to practice in the back ya rd but just couldn't master the cast on my own to my s atisfaction and I didn't know anyone that I could lear n from. I didn't even know anyone who did fly fishing. Some people said I did ok but they weren't fishermen and it just didn't feel right to me and it usually too k me 3 or 4 tries to get the fly where I wanted it. Th ere was never a trip that I didn't whip snap a fly off . I was going to try to find someone to give me lesson s but I just never did and gradually gave it up. I sti ll have the rig somewhere down in the basement but it' s probably turned to dust by now. I gave my waders to my wife's cousin who does surf fishing. Now days, ever y once in a while I go down and open my fishing box wh en I need a piece of nylon line for some project or to hang up one of my wife's chimes or climbing flowers o n the patio.

Yours obviously is still in progress. Cherish it.

You aren't to bad a story teller yourself. Maybe brea k things up a little to make it easier to read. I b et using the spoken word in person you would be tell it pretty well.

Ok so now we are firmly on to telling FISH STORIES!! LOL

So with that I will share one of mine. Although mine will be much shorter.

As a kid I spent a lot of time at my Grandma's. She lived downstream from the state trout hatchery. A local kid my age named Derwood and I would chum around quite a bit. We would go up along the creek past the hatchery. There was a dirt service road between the creek and one of the trout ponds. We would sit on the bank of the creek with our lines in the creek. We would sit there a while looking around for any of the hatchery employees. Then we would throw our baited lines over our shoulder across the dirt road and into the pond. With a few thousand very hungry 8" to 10" trout it only took a couple of seconds to get one hooked. We would then start reeling in, drag the trout out of the pond across the dirt road and into the creek. It was at that point we would yell "Got One!!" It was a lot of fun getting away with it and taking some good trout back to Grandma!!

Another time a different story. It was trout season and as always the creek was full of others trying to get their limit. I happened to be a one point standing under a bridge. While standing there and fishing down stream I noticed a line with bait floating past me. As stupid as kids are I decided to give the guy on the bridge a thrill. So I reached over and grabbed the line and gave a quick jerk. Well he was very very quick in his response and pulled back to set the hook. He did just that right into my thumb!!! Needless to say I started screaming!!! Ended up going to the doctor who used his surgical needle nose pliers with a quick twist and flip and pulled it out. Put a band-aid on my bleeding thumb and sent my Grandma and me home. I tried my best not to be stupid any more. Didn't work, but I never had another hook in my thumb again.

Presently I have a stream in my backyard. It is stocked every year with trout by the fish commission. Been living here for about 43 years and have never fished in my creek. I have my old poles and tackle box in the basement. Over the years I have had issues with cleaning up after all those disrespectful individuals among the fishing community. They are few but cause a large amount of frustration with landowners. So about 3 years ago I put up No Trespassing signs to make a point. Even so, there have been those that have just walked right past the yellow sign and decided to do what they do. When I approached them and ask them "Didn't you see the sign??" They all say "Sorry, where is the sign??" *%#%#^(@^^##)@ Recently it has been cleaning up the creek with a more that enough storm damage with a variety of floating trees, railroad tie, lawn furniture, firewood, etc. Presently my portion of the creek is looking good. Can't say the same for neighbors.

Ok, enough typing about fish and water. Need to go take care of a customer that the one way drive will be about 1-1/2 hour trip.

Have a good day guys!!

Les

Yeah, I just started typing and kept going. When I got done I saw it all bunched together but it was late and I was beginning to nod off so I just left it. Sorry.

The two links I posted earlier were recent fishing trips. Last Friday and a couple weeks before. I'll probably get out again this afternoon or Friday afternoon. Besides making parts in my machine shop its what I am up to these days.

If you were to follow some of the on-line fishing forums, you would find most anglers are just as frustrated with the assholes among us. I've hauled off bags of other people's trash more than once. Its the number one reason land owners close private land to anglers and hunters. Second is reckless disregard for property and safety or outright vandalism. I was always taught if you find a gate open leave it open and contact the rancher/farmer. If you find a gate closed, leave it closed when you pass, and don't shoot any equipment no matter what. There are no accidents.

Which reminds me of a story.

Growing up I was always told White Wing Ranch was 100% closed to hunting to anybody who did not live on the ranch. That was actually quite a few people. As farms go its decent size. When I was a young man working for the phone company I decided to ask the ranch manager. Nick Condora. I explained what I wanted to do was drive the perimeter road of the farm and catch quail leaving the fields headed back into the desert, so I would not be shooting into the fields. I had known him since I was a little kid, and he said "Yeah sure Bobby. You can even shoot over the fields if you need to. Just don't shoot any green Deere."

Hey Bob,

"Green Deere" That's Funny!!!

Yes, I understand that there are a lot more good respectful anglers than the other. MY creek is about 200 feet long. I keep in as clean as possible. It is rather appealing. As for fishing holes there may be maybe 2 or 3 in my area. The other side is not mine and the guy that owns it could care less. But from that side it is a little harder to fish from give the high bank. When the fish commission stocks the trout they stock from the bridge which is about 600 feet down stream and maybe another 600 feet below the bridge, as well near another bridge that is another 1/4 mile lower. Everyone that comes to fish has plenty of space to give it their best shot and as is normal some get lucky and other.................... don't. I have far too many incidents over the years with debris and blatant vandalism. At one time had a rope swing from a Willow Tree limb. My wife saw one of the local kids (to far away to ID) doing something at the swing one day. When I went down to take a look I found that he had cut through the rope under the seat enough that if my wife had sat on the swing it would have broken and she would have been injured. I took the swing down and never put it back up. The Willow Tree had reached the end of it days so it came down last year. I have a long (maybe 7' or so) rock along the creek. I call it our sitting rock. Found that someone decided to scratch in some graffiti. Used a wire brush and some sand paper to remove the crap.

Needless to say I have my issue and have found it minimized since I put up the signs. I say "minimized" not completely removed.

I spend a lot of time and money maintaining my little chunk of real estate. What I have been trying to explain to those that I find do not understand is the following. "You need to respect other's property more than you do your own property or your parents."

Sometimes it sinks in................ sometimes it doesn't...........

It is part of the world we live in!!

BTW all the fishing stories are great!! Some difficult to understand give the local jargon. But, I can read between the lines. :-)

Les

Why I am not an outdoor writer

I may simpley not be that good. I've only ever submitted a couple things for publication and they have all been published, so maybe with practice I could be, but I had some experiences that made me quit trying.

This is a little bit of a rant so feel free to skip it if you want

I took a shot at outdoor writing a number of years ago. One article was submitted to a regional rag, and they published it. After I rewrote the article a dozen times, and butchered it removing most of the useful content to fit their idea of how short an article should be. The agreement was I would do that in exchange for so many months free advertisement of my fishing website in their rag. I spent a lot of time on the article, and when it was done it was useless, but my goal was to get my name out there and show some writing credits to show other rags. They might have known how to publish a magazine, but they didn't know shit about a useful and helpful fishing article.

I expected to get a copy of the magazines that carried my advertisement. I didn't. When I asked about it I was told if I wanted a subscription I could buy one. I asked that if they do that to all their advertisers. Make them pay to see their ad was published. Then I was told I was not an advertisers and if I wanted a subscription I could buy one. I reminded them of the deal and mentioned I still had all the original emails. The chief editor then claimed that my emails were forwarded to them with out that information. I finally told them that under fair use I could publish expose' articles on outdoors websites showing their magazine if it was for the purpose of supporting an argument. That I had proof they whelched on a deal. They could sue me, and I could counter sue, and in the end they would lose, but I would rather they just honor the agreement. Especially since I had reworked the article at their direction more like an employee than a free lance writer. Finally they capitulated and the next month I received a copy of their rag. In the classified section about 1/2 an inch tall was a badly pixilated url for my website. Just YumaBassMan.com stretched and distorted so badly it was barely readable

That magazine didn't last another year. They went to an online presence that was so disorganized and chaotic as to make it less useful than the article they made me butcher.

I was so disheartened by the whole process I never submitted another article to another rag. Not even the local newspaper who had in the past published some of my short essays unedited.

I was smart enough to retain ownership of my work so that I could republish it if I wanted to. They had limited rights to publish it in their magazine and I agreed not to publish it elsewhere for a limited period. Here it is. (my version) Back then I thought it was the Opus, but now I see it was just another so so article as I reread it.

The Stick Worm Phenomenon

After all of that I still wrote and published a few articles on my website. Then one day I got a heads up that a commercial bass fishing website had stolen one of my articles word for word including typos. I contacted them and said they either needed to remove my article or give me credit with a by line of my name and website url. They responded by telling me it was a shitty article, and they were in the business of building a website and they weren't going to let me steal web traffic from them or profit off their works so they were going to remove my crappy article. I was a little shocked. Those thieving bastards stole from me, and then accused me of trying to steal from them?

I thought that was the end of it. Until many years later a friend of mine qualified to fish the Classic. He did it through the Federation structure. Its quite an ordeal to make it up to the classic that way. I posted a congratulatory message on his Facebook page. A simple short sentence like, "Congratulations on qualifying Steve." I received a nasty message from somebody I didn't know demanding to know why I didn't give them credit for saying that sentence first. I didn't even know who they were. It took me a while to figure out who they were and why they were being a jackass over me congratulating my friend on his accomplishment. Yeah he was one of those guys from the paragraph above. It turns out he had posted that sentence on a web forum I hadn't even seen, but now he thought because I also congratulated Steve it was the same as being a POS thief willfully and blatantly stealing other people's work.

I think this was the article they stole. I could be wrong. It was a long time ago.

Getting Started On Popper Fishing

I can't see trying to be in the writing business again. It think it would totally ruin my enjoyment of writing.

Special credit to Sarah Sneed who was the only English professor who ever TAUGHT me anything about actually writing. English 102 Writing Research Papers.

Now I just hack out something when I feel like it. I often don't bother to proofread or edit anything.

I should add that through out the 1990s I was very active in the local motorcycling community. I am a life member of ABATE of Arizona, HOG, and the American Motorcycle Association. I had begun assembling a list of "motorcycle games" and various other short articles on a subdomain website on the old GeoCities site.

Last tiem I checked about 30-40% of my work was still available on The Way Back Machine.

I was approached by White Horse Press with the messages, "Please let us know when you are ready to write your book." I didn't have the confidence to commit to something like that back then. I also didn't have the time as I was working long days often 7 days a week building up The Security Consultant as a business. Still, it was in the back of my mind that a real (if small) publisher recognized my work.

Bob,

Good story telling. I can't imagine the frustration you were having trying to get someone with that attitude to do the right thing. Would certainly poo poo my thoughts about going down that path as well. I am guessing you have no regrets in going another way??

Kinda reminds me of the president of a company I use to work for where I was the assistant shift supervisor.

Very long story short, but he said to the following to me.

"Anything you say can by mouth can always be taken back, but, if you put it in writing you never can."

It was in response to me writing up a petition that everyone on my shift signed requesting what was the status of the company going forward after a few paychecks had bounced. After the conversation and his statement he said "I will make a notice to the employees by the end of the week." Well that never happened and with in about a month on a Thursday when 2nd Shift was to get their pay checks we were told that the checks were delayed and we would have them on Friday. Showed up Friday for 2nd Shift and I was told that there would be no paychecks since the company had declared Bankruptcy and was thee asked to go ahead and finish out the shift. To which I said. NO!!, we will shut down the machines now and be out of here in about 30 minutes.

Ended up going to the Bankruptcy Court with another guy to find out what we could do. Was explained that the employees were 4th in line to get paid if there was any money left. But if you don't apply for it you will never see it.

Requested 100 application forms and instructions on how to file. Returned and called a meeting of all employees. Explained what we learned and handed out the applications. It was 20 years later, received a call from a paralegal asking for information about certain employees. She gave me names and I had to say she/he was dead. She explained that the pay would be given to their heirs. I said what pay?? She said that the employees would be receiving their final paychecks in about a month.

My final paycheck was $398.00........................

I went to the bank to cash the check. Signed it and gave it to the clerk with $2.00 and asked for $100.00 bills.

Placed those bills on my desk waiting for something special that I thought I could use it for. Sat on my desk for 2-1/2 years until I saw this beautiful Radio Controlled Glider for sale. Bought it and still have it!!

End of Story!!

Les

There are always regrets. Women I didn't think were in my class (and they weren't) until I found out years later they liked me. Opportunities I didn't take advantage of. Moments of clarity that came long after the opportunity to apply them. Angry moments that have kept a stronger place in my memory than I would like. Sometimes I obsess over things long gone like an 8th grade teacher who had it out for me, and I promised myself one day I would break his knees. (It was pretty bad.) Then sometimes I can let it go. If I run into Billy Gilmore in a dark alley today he will be perfectly safe from me. I'll just walk away. A decision I made in my early 20s after I whupped a guy in a bar fight probably saved his life... or at least his knee caps.

Often things I've done have been reactionary rather than directed. I got in the contracting business primarily because Jack Houchin tried to stiff me. A customer came to me and told me they wanted me to run their job. I actually refused several times, but they insisted. Then I thought why not. It will cost them more than they are stiffing me for.

I got into machining for fun, but I started mold making because another mold maker went on a rant on one of the forums I read about how much it takes to do. I walked out in my shop and didn't go back in the house until I had made a useful and successful mold or three.

Ultimately though I have a good life. Nice house, great workshop, cars, truck, jeep, motorcycles, boats. A fantastic wife. Good kids. More debt than I would like, but money is always coming in. Regrets? Sure if I think about it. Happy most days anyway? You bet. Regrets about that magazine publisher? No not really. Anger if I think about it, but no regrets. If I was serious I would have written more articles and submitted them to more magazines. I just don't like getting ripped off. Nobody does.

On a more positive note. I think I rediscovered my new/old tire service shop.

I have always tried to support other local businesses, but not at the expense of good service and fair pricing, and definitely not at the cost of exposing myself to dishonest practices. As a result I have wound up getting most of my tires from a national chain. Discount Tire. They are mostly ok, but I have to check my tires myself when I get back to the shop just to be safe. If buying tires service is decent even if I always wind up waiting to get the work done. Fixing a flat is usually free, but they kind of make it a pain. If I don't sit there and wait it doesn't get done. I can't drop off a loose tire and pick it up when they say. Never. If they say an hour, what they mean is an hour after I get back after taking care of other things for two hours. I get it. Servicing a guy who is buying $2000 worth of new tires and rims gets prioritized over the guy who bought his tires from them six months ago and just needs a flat fixed. Anyway, I don't like going there to get a flat fixed.

Recently I had not one, but two flats on two different vehicles, and my son picked up a nail in a tire on his car. I decided to go to one of those little open air fenced in tire shops out on Avenue B. Yuma Tire. I used to go there when I was a young man living paycheck to paycheck and often couldn't afford new tires. They were a little busy, but somebody came over to me right away, and in short order they had my tire off and on the machine. No bullshit. No up sells. No scams. They quickly fixed my tire and in 20-25 minutes I was headed out the drive. Ten bucks.

I sent my son over there a few days later to get his tire fixed, and he had the same experience. No bullshit. No scams. No up sells. 15 minutes. Ten bucks. I had to ask him about it.

In the past it seemed like every tire shop my son went to tried to scam him or up sell him. I guess folks think its ok to take advantage of a kid. I would get a call while he was at the shop or in one case walking to the bank to get $30 to pay to fix a flat on a new tire we had bought at that shop. He didn't pay for that repair, but I had to call the shop and tell the owner it was pretty unethical trying to rip off a kid.

Anyway. Yuma Tire. No bullshit. Quick service. No Scams. Ten bucks.

Yesterday I decided I needed to get the slow leak fixed on my Jeep, so I headed back over to Yuma Tire. Before heading over I threw a fishing rod and a small box of baits in the back, so I could hit the canal bank for a few minutes on the way home.

The lot was empty when I got there. That concerned me. Where they closed? Was business falling off for them? I would sure hate to lose my new tire service shop right after rediscovering them. Nope they were there and a guy came out right away to take care of me. By the time he had my tire off there were five more vehicles in the lot being serviced. Might have taken fifteen minutes, but it felt like ten. No scams. No upsells. No bullshit. Ten bucks.

On the way back I stopped off and hit a few spots along one of the canals. I had lots of chasers on a small swimbait, but no bites. All small fish though. In the next spot I tried a worm on a weighted swimbait hook and get bit right away only to break off on the hookset. I tried a little in a ground water recovery ditch that parallels the canal and hod a blow up on a buzz frog, but it was a little guy. I think my frog was bigger than he was. Still didn't connect.

Finally swimming a heavy salted curly tail worm on a weightless swimbait hook I stuck one. He was just a little 8-10 inch small mouth, but in the current below a lock on a light rod he was fun to catch. I released him and headed for home.

Picture at this link.

On 9/26/2020 12:06 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:

Wow!! If a "YUMA TIRE" were to try and set up shop around here it would be shut down very quickly. LOL Across the river not so much. Speaking of tire dealers. A number of years ago our Dodge Caravan (since gone) needed a new set of tires. I checked the Merchandizer Paper and looked for sales on the size we needed. Found one that was good so I called and made sure they had them in stock and set an appointment for the install. Told my wife to stop in there and get a new set installed. She called me a little later saying that the manager said there was a problem with the car that needed attention. I was about 2 miles away at the time and said I would be right there. When I got there the car was up on the rack. Met with the manager and took me out into the shop to show me the problem. He pointed out that both of the CV Boots were torn and need to be replaced. *#$%@*#^%^(#& It wasn't that they had blow apart and had grease splattered all over the under carriage. They had taken a pair of needle nose pliers grabbed the fold of the CV Boot and yanked, it which tore it open. Saying it was weak. I just stood there and looked at the guy!! What I wanted to do was rip his face off, but I didn't!! Since I had no real proof all I could do is DEMAND that the lift be put down and the car be moved to the lot. I then told my wife to write a check for the tires. The manager kept saying the we should not drive it in its present condition. Bla! Bla! Bla!! Told my wife to drive it to the shop that I have been using for years and I will pick her up there. I wanted to do a lot of bad things to the place but about 6 months later they had closed up shop.

Since then tire buying is more of go to my shop tell them to put this size Michelin's on and get out of there.

The shop that I use is also a customer and the owner is a neighbor. We respect what each of us does and I like it that way.

Les

Funny. I had two tire shops as customers at one time. One I was warned about by a government contractor who was also a client. They said they had a vehicle gone through from end to end by their own guys and then took it over to that shop and were told several things were wrong including the old shoot some oil on the shocks and say they are leaking trick. I took that with a grain of salt until that shop tried to sell me my own rims.

The other was the guy who was going to charge my son $30 to fix a flat on a tire we bought from them.

Both decided they were going to go elsewhere for their alarm business after their respective incidents. I was happy to let them go. One actually called me back to work on their phone system. I was to busy that day... going fishing.

I think when I first started using Yuma Tire they would fix a flat for three bucks. They wouldn't break down a motorcycle tire, but if I broke it down myself they were glad to patch it for me. Back then I rode a motorcycle more than I drove my truck, because it was better on gas. Kinda wish I had never stopped using them, but like many folks I got sucked in by free flat repairs, and put up with a lot of bullshit because it was "free."

Hey Bob,

You are a big boy now. You know that nothing is for "free".

No will ever get something for nothing until someone somewhere gets nothing for something!!

Have a good week!!

Les

On 9/27/2020 6:07 PM, ABLE1 wrote: > On 9/27/2020 1:35 PM, Bob La Londe wrote: >> I think when I first started using Yuma Tire they would fix a flat for >> three bucks. They wouldn't break down a motorcycle tire, but if I >> broke it down myself they were glad to patch it for me. Back then I >> rode a motorcycle more than I drove my truck, because it was better on >> gas. Kinda wish I had never stopped using them, but like many folks I >> got sucked in by free flat repairs, and put up with a lot of bullshit >> because it was "free." > > > Hey Bob, > > You are a big boy now. You know that nothing is for "free". > > No will ever get something for nothing until someone > somewhere gets nothing for something!! > > Have a good week!! > > Les

Discount Tire and lots of other tire stores do flat repairs for "free" or very little to try and make sure they keep your tire business. Most do for folks who bought the tires from them. Even without road hazard, although I always get the road hazard. If you happen to get a flat fixed cheaper somewhere else you might go there for your next set of new ties. They can't have that. Most businesses understand its better to keep the customers you have than to HAVE TO get new ones everyday.

I paid for those free patches at Discount Tire. Then they made me pay again in wasted time and other headaches. I use them for the most part because it is easy to find a Discount Tire store (They have a different chain name also) anywhere in the country if I have a piece of debris slice a tire side wall. (I've had it happen a couple times.) Discount Tire stores are also mostly honest or in the cases where they screw up are responsive to commands from their corporate masters.

Most independent tire stores now are part of an organization or are part of a commercial program to offer a broader range of road hazard service than just thier local store, but it can be a pain to find the participating dealer in an unknown area.

P.S. Here is a story about a local DT store. When they are done they always ask me what tire pressure I want in my vehicle. On my big crew cab 4x4 turbo diesel I have off road tires. Well dual sport tires. When they ask I say 55 in the front and 45 in the rear. With these tires this has consistently given me the best average tire wear. When I need to haul a load I'll bump the pressure so they ride normally for the load. One day I had to drive to Phoenix to pick up a pallet of marble tile. As soon as it was loaded I drove over to a gas station to bump the tire pressure before driving back. Imagine my surprise when I found there was 70PSI in both rear tires. Then I looked at the tire treads and could see that the center had started to wear faster because they had been over inflated. I complained to the main corporate office (through Facebook), and the local manager contacted me offering me a complete set of new tires for my truck. I actually refused the new tires. I told him, "I just want better quality service. If you destroy a lug bolt by driving an acorn nut over it and busting it out or over inflate my tires again I'll let corporate know your store has a history of this. When I say what pressure I want in my tires I expect to get that pressure in my tires. In order to make sure I don't have another bad experience you will have to take a little extra care with every customer, because you don't know which one is me and you know I will complain about it." I'm still running those tires, so I don't know how its going to go next time I need a set, but they didn't actually cheat me. They just made a stupid and 100% avoidable mistake. I guess its possible they over inflated the tires on purpose to wear them out faster, but I think its unlikely. If that was their intent they wouldn't have asked me what pressure I ran. I'm not above buying tires from Tire Rack, and having Yuma Tire mount and balance them for me if I have to.

No. Nothing is free. You pay for free and convenient, but if its not convenient then its not really (paid) free either. From their perspective you can't really complain because its free. Except I can complain about anything. LOL

To illustrate my point, I just got a message from a customer this morning:

"All I can say is Wow, this mold is amazing. Exactly what I was looking for..

Thank you again, ________"

This guy will certainly call me first next time he needs a mold made. That's one more customer I won't need to find a replacement for to keep the machines running.