The world is not flat, it is not round, it is just a dream. Quantum mechanics proves this out.

Crawdaddy – lived through that texting madness. When I crossed paths with others that knew the demon side of this person all experienced the same thing. Seems like some of us would be trying to reach out while others were cutting him off completely.

All too personal for me as I have had several men close to me (family and friends) follow this exact cycle. It is extremely exhausting to watch and try support.

The person has to own it and want to get better or there is little hope for change. You can encourage change but it is not easy. My main press point is your children will forgive if you recover.

Rock bottom is a myth … it is a bottomless pit!

Unfortunately for some the only escape is death. Again all to close … in the situations close to me it was alcohol induced chronic health failure but death none the less.

Bringing fish up slowly out of deep water improves the odds they will swim back down the hole faster than when they came up. That has solved our problem on LOTW on hot bite days.

A long time ago … I had a woman trooper pull me over for about 53 at the start of the St.Paul 45 mph zone. I could see she was going to write me a ticket. She said 53 in a 45. I said if you would have pulled me over past the next exit/on ramp I would have been going faster. She did not like my joke.

Currency values (which does impact inflation) are often manipulated by countries to make their goods cheaper in the USA (largest economy). China is very good at keeping the value of their currency lower than it should be which further magnifies the cost differential of their products (keeps them artificially low). Many industries are also partially or fully government owned and the goal is primarily employment. China routinely “dumps” goods into the western countries at costs that often only cover their raw material inputs. These issues can be handled on a case by case basis.

Counties that manipulate currency values should be subject to high tariffs.

I have been to China and I have been in some of their manufacturing plants. Yes – they do have low labor costs which helps in assembly line made products … but countries like Vietnam are now the lower cost assembly countries. Many newer China production plants (set up in the past 25 years or so) are fully modern with robotics and state of the art automation.

When it comes to boarder protection, the US still owns it whether it is people or goods entering the country through boards, airports, or ports.

Trump is great at smoke & mirrors. Fentanyl issue is certainly real but lumping Canada into this with China and Mexico is crazy.

A good share of Ram and GM/Chevy pickup trucks are assembled in Canada and Mexico. Mostly Mexico.

Only the Ford F-150 is 100% assembled in the USA. All other brands “domestic” and foreign owned are not. That said, Ford gets 45% of their parts outside of the US and Canada. Data available typically combines US and Canada parts together …

So even US assembled vehicles will have cost impacts on parts.

A couple of the largest refineries in the US located in Texas run on heavy Canada crude because it is dirt cheap vs. the higher quality grades found across much of the US. They actually move solvent to Canada and mix with crude oil so that it can flow decent.

Mine does it on occasion. I have had a 24V SM for several years now and it has been a great light weight auger. I have both a 6″ and 8″ flight … use the 6 most of the time in the metro. You can pull a 20″ bass or a 19″ walleye through that hole diameter no problem.

You did check your mail box ? USPS is notorious at our house for jamming anything they can fit into our mailbox vs. walking it up to the door.

Once the shipper marks the package as delivered, the seller is typically no longer responsible. The actual change in ownership (location, etc) would be part of the purchase agreement in most cases. Rarely is anything shipped anymore where a signature is required upon receipt.

In this day of front door cameras, it is pretty easy to determine if the package was actually placed (delivered) where they said it would be.

If you look at the independent contractors delivering for Amazon, they almost always take a photo of the package at the delivery site. I will share that in one case the photo was of my package at my neighbor’s front door.

Standard package insurance with the USPS (priority and ground advantage) is up to $100. Coverage above $100 is available at an added fee.

The Watson hunting camp possessions were just auctioned off too. Apparently that camp has closed. Watson was a hunting outfitter in the LQP area. I think I drove by once or twice, but never stopped in. Seems like they tried to extend their operations to renting ice castles, being a regular bar and grill, and becoming a wedding reception venue the last few years based on FB (looked at via wife’s account).

Instead of Elk MN should go all in on Woodland Caribou in the Superior Old Growth Forest.

There were some around a decade ago:

The last few Lake Superior woodland caribou may be on the brink of extirpation thanks to the freakishly cold winter of 2014 and hungry wolves decimating caribou herds in their last two holdouts

Seems like reason enough to delist wolves to protect the woodland caribou

WI DNR has some good links on dogs and pets … and wolves. I tried posting the links but this forum is blocking them. I suppose they will all show up later and be redundant.

July-September and December are the worst months for wolf attacks on dogs. Many dogs killed in July and August in WI are bear hounds.

I’d never shoot one minding it’s own business, but if I ever see one get close to my dog and kids I’ll go to court over it.

How would anyone ever know unless you had to kill one near your family.

Doesn’t have to be a bullet, but in discriminant techniques are risky to much more than a wolf.

Great time for sure.

SS is in trouble because of the boomer population bubble and people’s longevity. Too many people living longer. The workforce that works for a traditional payroll is shrinking and their combined payments cannot sustain what is being paid out. They probably need to continue to push out the trigger point ages and $$/age based on new longevity data and actuary tables.

SS is somewhat of a redistribution of wealth but that said those that pay in more certainly get more upon retirement. It is certainly a tax on workers in the lower and middle class. It is also a safety net retirement income for many, too many.

There is a max threshold limit which has increased quite a bit over the past 10 years. In 2015 any income over 118K was exempt from SS tax. That number is $176K in 2025. You pay income tax (Fed and state) on any income no longer pulled into the SS tax so you don’t retain 100% unless you channel it into a traditional 401 plan or an HSA account if those are not already maxed out.

As much as it painfully hurts me to say … I want Barkley to get his ring. He helped me get one in FF awhile back. Love to see the pundits say … wait a running back can make the difference in the SB >…

The canoe charter that runs out of Wild River drops people in above Sunrise, MN and you float to the park landing area. That part of the river can be pretty shallow. We have beached our canoes and had lunch on a sandbar on that stretch. Very few fisherman the days I have floated that stretch. I did not fish it.

I think Dutch is thinking more of Interstate Park and Taylor’s falls. There is multiple canoe outfitters and indeed a large boat that traverse the stretch of river below TF. I would say that area is a bit deeper stretch of river

I have also been on the St Croix south of Marine and have walked stretches along the river in Pine County. That area is very remote …

I am familiar with area on both sides further north, but have not fished that stretch even though I have the right small boat and friends that want to fish it. They have done well on smaller smallmouth bass and an occasional walleye … other river fish will bite live bait.

Get BearCat to share with you via PM.

Go Fund me page links should be an offer to support a sudden tragedy or event that puts a person or their family in jeopardy. An ask for money to have fun should be deleted.

My advice is build a reputation and earn your sponsors. Not easy.

The Riverwalk has become more commercial over the years with chain restaurants replacing the locals

Boudro’s Texas Bristo is phenomenal. Start with table side quac. Reservations recommend.

Biga on the Bank. A bit more eclectic but food is excellent. Can be pricey. Reservations needed.

Andrews is one of the best TE in the business. He had not dropped a pass since week 6. It was about a certain a play (Jackson to Andrews open in the endzone) until it wasn’t.

Bills move on.

I am an Allen fan and don’t dislike the Bills … never sad to see a Harbaugh team lose.

Glenn57. I heard that too. One of Brady’s better analogies this year in the booth.

We have been out twice in the last week or so. Just 1.5 and 3 hours. I would say on the slow side but five 12 inch crappies and six 12 inch perch made it worth it.

Should have had more crappies but most were hitting minnows with a very slow bobber drop. Nothing there on a hook set. Caught two jigging a spoon but they hit it when it went stationary. A lake I only fish one in awhile. Last year they crushed a tungsten jig and waxie but were one size smaller

I am not so sure I can relate ice fishing with “slobberfest”:???:

Never had a problem until this thread started. Bands loose on a rod this afternoon Going to tape.

Most of my rods have conventional reel holders. They have no less sensitivity than the higher end rods that rely on bands or tape.

slipperybob wrote:

depends on how fast the bobber goes…fast down, fast hook set.

slow submersion…well I wait for like it the move about 16-20 inches or so. No guarantee but always on a prayer.

Agree.

Deep basin crappies hugging the bottom are not usually in the mood to eat.

Somone mentioned this on another thread and I believe it is relative if not pretty true: Crappies can have a 20-30 minute bite window in the afternoon which is often right around sunset to dusk. I have found dark 30 crappies are very catchable, but the follow and catch rate goes down compared to the frenzy bite just before dark.

I have found minnows vs. grubs is often day to day. Sometimes a tungsten jig and waxie/spike/etc… is fantastic and other days only minnows seem to work.

The other night bobber and minnow seemed to be the best … a few bobbers went down fast and furious and the crappie essentially set the hook. But most the bobber sent down slowly … you could see they took it maybe 2-3 feet. When you tried to set the hook many were misses. They were holding the bait but not really eating it.

Interesting.

The Minnesota Vikings made the playoffs after going 14-3 in 2024. Although their free-agent acquisitions made significant impacts, the same couldn’t be said about their rookie class. According to Pro Football Focus, Vikings rookies took 464 combined snaps on offense and defense, the fewest in the NFL. For comparison, the Los Angeles Rams rookie class took 4,864.