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The Weekly Diatribe…
May
13, 2012 - Howdy everyone! It's been a long couple of weeks since my last real post and I've been a very busy little beaver! Been to Philly and back, attended Fish Camp 2012, and probably worked a zillion hours... Other than that, not much to report!
First off, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! To all you mothers out there, I hope you've had a great day. There are a few somewhat manufactured holidays out there, but this one is much deserved!
Next up is Fish Camp 2012! As always, IT WAS AWESOME! The weekend started Friday and I was up early, did my grocery shopping, packed up and hit the road. When I pulled into Kingsbury Kottage a little after 10am, the owners had just arrived. You could tell they just got there, because they didn't have a beer yet. But we rectified that shortly and then got camp ready... Slowly but surely the rest of the crew arrived and the arrivals and departures kept up pretty much all weekend. The crew was pretty much the same, but there were some notable additions including a couple sons-in-law and a future brother-in-law. It was a great bunch!
The weather was pretty decent Friday and Saturday, but Sunday and Monday were not so hot... Pretty much affected the fishing adversely, but that didn't matter. The cocktail hours certainly made up for that! The highlight of the weekend was pretty much the food. Fish Camp has become a culinary extravaganza! Friday night's Fish Boil and Saturday night's Prime Rib rank right at the top of the best meals of the year. Others may compete, but as far as pure food enjoyment, both nights are pretty hard to beat. In fact, I still can't decide which of the two is better! To top it off, the breakfast fare by none other than the FDA Chairman cannot be beat. No one make better biscuits and gravy and Egg's Bob is one of a kind! I think I'm still full...
The only bad part of Fish Camp (much like Deer Camp) is shutting down. It’s always a little sad pulling out of the driveway and taking the long drive home thinking it'll be another year before we get to do it again. But the memories live on... Thanks to all that attended or contributed in some way. It was great, and I can't wait until next year! Well, at least after Deer Camp... :-)
Since the fishing up north was spotty, I did head out to Way-Mor Park a couple times this week to try for some Northerns. My expectations were VERY low based on the strange spring we've had coupled with the recent heavy rains. My expectations were met... The water looked OK and I didn't see a single carp, but I caught zero fish and had zero bites both times out... But it is a time honored tradition and I really enjoy it for some reason. I had the added pleasure of my lovely bride attending and maybe that's what jinxed the fishing... Doubt it, but you never know...
Made some progress the last few weeks on Skipper's planer boards. I've got 4 coats of paint on them, but I think I'll put on one more just to be sure. Then I'm gonna try painting one set with a red stripe across the top and for the other set I have a reflector strip I'll try. Before they are done I'm gonna try sealing them with outdoor polyurethane and see if that helps them hold up. At the pace I'm going, they should be done in the fall of 2014...
Got the bike out today for the second time this year. I think temperature-wise, it should be out for good now, but you never know. I was a little worried about the carb before I started it up but it fired right up with no problem. I geared up and hit the road for a nice 50 mile trip. Not a problem on the road. It ran GREAT... Until I hit Denville on the way home. At almost the EXACT same spot it happened last time, the carb kinda fouled. VERY weird... I got home fine but that last mile it ran a little rough. It may just be that first tank of gas that sat over the winter that needs to be burned off, but I'm gonna avoid that stretch of road into Denville from now on anyway...
May is a big birthday month! Last week young Amber Lynn celebrated her birthday. Yesterday the Chief Inspector celebrated his birthday. This week, the Sturgeon General will be celebrating his birthday. Whew!!! Amber, Jake, and Tony, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you had/have a great day and many, many more!
Well, back to less interesting topics... Work... As always, busy as heck! But it's been good too despite how hectic it is. The trip to Philly went really well and I arrived home safe and sound and pretty much everything got done. The only bad thing was for some reason I slept really poorly there, so I got home exhausted. (Fish Camp didn't help me catch up either) Then with Fist Camp the next weekend, I had 10 days of work to get done in three days... Dang near did it too... When I returned from Fish Camp, things were just as wild... But this weekend we completed a pretty major milestone and I really hope that means the end is in site... Not of work, just the crazy hectic schedule... But even when these big projects are done, I'm sure there will be more on the horizon... Better busy than out of work...
So on that note, what's to drink?
13 Word “cocktail” first used in print (1806). Replaced the less toothsome term "bittered sling."
As many different cocktails as you can stand.
14 Anniversary of Geronimo’s Corn Liquor Rebellion (1885). Apaches rose up against a ban on reservation moonshine.
Firewater.
15 Las Vegas founded (1905). Took the mob to make it fun. Ten High Whiskey.
16 Animal Day. “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”—Dr. Johnson.
Road Dog Ale.
17 Anniversary of the first Kentucky Derby (1875). “It’s a fantastic scene—thousands of people fainting, crying, copulating, trampling each other and fighting with broken whiskey bottles.”—Hunter S. Thompson.
Mint Julep.
18 Largest Margarita ever made (7000 gallons) was assembled in Orlando (2001). Stand back, boys, I’m going in.
Huge Margarita. Huge.
19 Orphan Day (Spain). Provide a nice, warm home for any abandoned drink you come across.
Potluck.
20 Last episode of “Cheers” airs (1993). Who shall remember our names? Draft beer.
Yeah, that's a list of eight days. I included today for obvious reasons!!! Funny, as last night after a long day with a lot of work stuff, my lovely bride was out of town in Milwaukee visiting the weatherman and sidekick for Mother's Day, so I poured myself a BOB-sized cocktail... Of course, one wasn’t enough, so I had another... Let's just say I slept well... :-)
Oh, and the "HUGE MARGARITA" on the 18th? I think the Comptroller was carrying that thing around during his sister's wedding... LOL!
Needless to say, The President has been at it again...
He is a thinker, isn't he?
Well, I just checked out my schedule, and other than work, I have nothing going on. I do see that I go back on call Wednesday for two weeks straight. That should be fun... Otherwise, hopefully things just get back a little closer to normal. I have a LONG list of stuff to get done around the house, so I hope I hope all my time isn’t taken up with work stuff. We'll see...
Well, you'd think after three weeks, I'd have more to say... I'm sure there's lots more, but a guy can only talk so much... So I'm out... But I go, a few words of wisdom for our junior members...
"Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend." ~ Zenna Schaffer
SOOO TRUE!
As Red would say, "Keep your stick on the ice"!
curtamous
PS. Monster TV has been moved to the garage... It may be there a LONG, LONG time!
