Twice in my life I have been standing on a lakeshore when the ice was breaking up. A gentle breeze making a million small shards of ice tap against each other. Each tap makes a sound like a little bell. A million little bells. You stand there taking this all in knowing it will be gone in a matter of hours.
SR
Scott Hunter and I have been ON the ice when that started. Sounds awesome until the moment you go through
Nay. Absolutely nothing that is vinegar based. Rub with garlic, salt, and preferred peppers. Indirect heat until about 95-100 internal.cover with peach or pear slices and continue to 130-135. Wrap In foil with a splash of squirt soda and let rest for 5-10 minutes. I prefer to place on heat rack holding 150 degrees. Serve with a glass of good bourbon and enjoy
Haven’t watched late night since Johnny went off the air.
X2
Why?? because he can.
Jeff a troller??? Thats hilarious. If there is anything you need to know about sending one two miles, Jeff is the MAN
Clean rig. I was checking it out a couple weeks ago.
A small tribute to my dad’s dogs. In the last days struggling to be comfortable and at peace before his passing, the touch of the remains brought his final comfort.
Chester, Lady, Payton, and Patty – deceased and Lily who never left his bedside
IMG_1054-scaled.jpeg
IMG_1055-scaled.jpeg
Thank you everyone! Time to sleep for a couple days
So sorry for your loss Randy.
I imagine you feel about 12 inches taller right now. Partially from the loss of the tremendous weight on your shoulders the last few years, but more so you should feel incredibly proud of what you did. Stand tall today Randy, you deserve it.
Thanks everyone! So many people here that have grown close, became awesome friends, and share so much. But I need to repeat this. Its not what I did, its what WE did. A bridge doesn’t carry a load without the solid foundation and all the supporting members.
Matt, I’m sorry I failed to include this. Thanks again for hooking me up on that stair lift and the hours you spent driving to meet me. Dad got miles of use on that and it really helped with giving him extended independence within our house. Additionally, it would have been impossible without it to transport him to a vehicle. Thank You!!!
Fantastic tribute Randy, you are a good man with a big heart, I know your folks are proud of you.
I never got the chance to meet your dad or mom in person, but I did meet them through you and the experiences you have shared with me and I appreciate everything the three of you have taught me.Thank you Randy for allowing me to see into your life these last few years, I am honored.
I wish I could of been there to see the gathering of those he fed all those years the day he passed.
God bless you Randy.
Sheldon, no one would ever believe the “Dr. Doolittle Twilight Zone”. it was so surreal. We’ll just keep that amongst the few.
Thanks again for checking in regularly in the last days. I can only say that it was the people in the dot that gave me the stregnth to live on 10-15 minute naps and carry on another 5-10 hours at a time. The human body is amazing when we need to dig deep and run that marathon. I appreciate the time you gave me away from Lucy, the shop, and Sheryl. Those talks put some fuel in the tank. Thank you
He’s in a better place, RIP. You did a great thing Randy Taking care of him. Now after things settle down, get out and enjoy the woods and water, much deserved.
I think dad planned this some how. For 50+ years he believed walleyes and moon phase was BS and they just stage in the river and feed when they feed. Not quite 2 months ago, he asked me when the moon was right for walleyes to pile up in the river.
Tentative date for funeral March 22 / New moon for here is March 29
He told me many times in the last month that is wasn’t suppose to be like this and death shouldn’t take so long. He assured me I would be fishing this spring. I laughed because I thought he would never die. His last mission in life was to drive me nuts 
I’m referring to a specific instance. Nothing to do with sponsors
46” graphite rod made from a 2wt fly rod blank
Most of mine are 42-46″ I have an assortment of different blanks, but most are graphite flyrod tip sections from 2 and 3wt rods
Just as long as I never hear “get me another Pabst”
B – you slept away prime time being in bed by 11. Last year we were on fire from 11-3. Most nights we headed out about 9.
Boat goes back to the dock late April. By late May we strip all the trout/coho stuff out of the boat and just chase kings for the rest of summer.
IMG_9621.jpeg
IMG_1408-scaled.jpeg
IMG_0185-scaled.jpeg
Just my opinion and you know your kids ability better than me. No way in heck I would waste my money on a 110cc atv. Especially knowing they will out grow it in 1 year. We took the mower deck off of a garden tractor and put a 24 or 27 hp engine on it, made wood block extensions for the pedals, and my daughter out grew that in 1 month. I ended up making a throttle restriction for my artic cat 500 and let them rip on that. by age 9 or 10 the restrictor was gone and they had free reign of the trails here on my farm. At 11, she was doing mountain forestry roads out west. Again, you know your kids better then I. Just hate to see money p’d away on something out dated in a very short period of time
Looks like it was rebuilt. My dad had a similar one that’s a Garcia rod
Ever wonder how sharp wood can be? Add this to you can’t make this sht up
Dad pulled the cord for his electric blanket into his recliner. Wood rails sliced it clean
image-1-scaled.jpg
Nurse we had with my mother said something to me that really stuck.
When they are at a stage when life expectancies are minimal at best, don’t you think they deserve to pass being happy and doing something they love?
That gave me a different mindset. Mom was bedridden at the end, so didn’t have these experiences. But if dad dies going out and filling a bird feeder, I’m ok. I intervene when it’s thing that would cause severe injury or destruction.
When my dad’s cancer got bad he needed meds every couple of hours. He was pretty much out of it but you’d be surprised how strong an 81 year old with terminal cancer can be when they want to be. His girlfriend and I did what we could but he needed more care and equipment than we could give. We got him into an end of life care home where he lasted 5 days. It was two weeks of hell. I couldn’t imagine what you’re dealing with. God bless you Randy
That is similar to my mother, she needed meds every two hours. I grew accustom to it. Ironically, so did Ruger, my lab. 5-10 minutes before the alarm going off, 110 pounds of chocolate lab standing on my chest and licking my face. Hospice nurse ordered care for me around the two clock for two days. that recharged the batteries and I went another 3 weeks until she passed.
Goal is to adjust his nightly anxiety meds to tweek his sleeping pattern and get him sleeping again through the night. For anyone thats never been through this, sense of time is one of the first things to go. He’s not been out of the house for 5 years. For anyone one of us that lives life outdoors, you can’t even imagine how insane this is. 75% of the time he does’t know day from night. 90% of the time has no clue what day it is. 100% needs to ask me time/day because he’s confused.
I’ve thought this many times, but days are numbered. His water retention in the legs and abdomen/chest would have killed any of us years ago. Now it is in his arms and his hands look like sausage links. Last month has had some labored breathing. But this is a man that has frequent blood pressure of 60-70/40. Hell, I know I would be dead. Nurses say I take too good of care of him. He’s been my best friend. We mended life differences and grew a friendship that’s indescribable. Other than frustrating moments, wouldn’t change a thing. He deserves all I do and more and I’ll be dammed if he ever steps foot in a facility.
We don’t believe in putting them in a facility. Home is home, and that’s where mot mother took her last breath, and so will be the same for my dad. Dad’s just too dam stubborn to die. End of March makes 5 years of this with him. Moved in here full time for 24/7 year ago. Prior I was here with 4-5 days and home 1-2 days. Was driving 140ish miles each way for work. Now I just home office from here.
Diagnosed- anxiety, diabetes, congenital heart failure, lung failure, crones, had 32 inches of intestines removed from botched surgery in air force, chronic loose bowl syndrome, hearing 85% loss, vision is about down to 3 feet on a good day, sun downers syndrome, restless leg syndrome, chronic low blood pressure and much more.
Things are manageable until the human side of me kicks in and I fall asleep. I am the only one in family, so options are
Limited
Matt, doing in home hospice for the last year. Nurse every week and two half days of respite. Currently working on med changes again. It’s when he’s alone for a hour or two he gets fidgety
Watched gold rush episode while he was sleeping. He got up in dreamland and was tearing the house apart looking for a bag of gold lol
Son in law just put COOPER ENDEAVOR PLUS on his. I think he said the were about 160 each and he’s happy with them
Getting old has taught me something special – Don’t give a rats azz about what’s in the rear view mirrors. Like I told Iowaboy, I’m blazing a highway to either heaven or hell. My circle of friends has become a dot and I’m embracing becoming that grumpy old man.
Back in the banking crash in 2009, I had a few customers that defaulted on their construction loans and ultimately I got shafted on nearly a half Million. My pride kept me from filing bankruptcy and I personally paid every sub contractor and vendor. Unbelievable now what that would have been worth for retirement. I missed updating my liens and lost it all. Was going to kill them. I regret carrying that anger, but the consequences for making coyote bait out of them would have been worse.
The good and bad is what makes us who we are today. Couldn’t imagine life as a flat line
It will be at certain times of year, and different species will relate differently. If you have 50 degree water trickling or pour into 90 degree or 33 degree , the plume will have its moments.
Weed structure? Healthier weeds by the spring or blank habitat?
I grew up fishing private ponds that were spring fed as a kid that were just a few blocks from my house. Great flashbacks
Randy for president!
(No, seriously)
That’s a death wish. Ild be assassinated
Happy V-day
Screenshot-2025-02-14-120309.png
GY Endurance has been the best trailer tire for us. Late 90’s through early 2000’s I I went through a set of tires (or more) on every one of our trailers. We switched a car trailer and my boat trailer to run a test. That summer I put almost 30K miles on the boat trailer chasing all over the country and they were in awesome shape. The car trailer was about 10K miles and very good. We changed all our company trailers over to them and couldn’t be happier with the longevity. Currently 7 trailers here in WI and 6 more trailers in Colorado. Earned my trust
