Timestepper

Depends wholly upon the evidence presented. My faith, like my life, while very real to me, is (also like my life) constantly changing, adapting and evolving. It is also becoming stronger (which also appears to be yet another tenet of evolution). I'm not the same person I was 20 years ago. Or five years ago. Or even one. But that doesn't make me any less real (at least to myself and those whom I interact with). And the memories I have are still mine and they are still of real events. And while I haven't consciously looked for ways to strengthen my personal faith, it has happened nonetheless and it also is still very real to me. Of course we all know that even reality is subjective. The amusement park ride that one finds fun and exciting may be either terrifying or stultifyingly boring to another. But it is still an amusement park ride. And the very real experience of one rider does not automarically negate the existence of the equally real experiences of others.

I reckon I'll have to respectfully disagree with your respectful disagreement. Close minded thinking that says a thing either is or is not can be dangerous. Black is purported to be the presence of all colors while white is purported to be the absence of all colors, and yet very few subjects are black and white. Yes, I realize that I've mixed metaphors, but I did it on purpose. To say that "belief in a creator in no way depends on the science of evolution" is to negate the previously assumed omnipotence of said creator. Don't get me wrong - I understand what you're saying. But I respectfully submit that, contradictory to your statement that "the happiest among them understand and respect the boundaries." the happiest among them realize that there are no boundaries.

Don't feel bad. I've never been able to teach mine not to eat the seatbelt.

The trooper claimed I was doing 95mph, but I still thought I had a chance of being able to talk my way out of it... until he looked in my back seat.

Nuh-uh. In the words of her Majesty's Special Agent 0081/2, "Shaven, not furred!"

Morals? Love 'em sliced up and fried with butter! ...Wait, that's morels. Actually, I'm pretty sure that the ratio of morality is still about the same as it always was. And the biggest reason we seem to be noticing a lack of morality in <modern> times is that there are simply more people to notice. Four years ago, I planted an equal amount of tomatoes, potatoes and pole beans in a tiny 4'X16' garden and everything looked pretty equal. Last year I planted an equal amount of tomatoes, potatoes and pole beans in a 20'X30' garden and dumbly wondered why I seemed to have so many more tomatoes than I'd ever had before. As to the whole creation vs. evolution thing, well... I dunno... I guess I'm just so damn dumb that I don't see them as being mutally exclusive. In fact, the older I get and the more I see and observe, the more I become convinced that neither could exist independently of the other. I don't know everything there is to know about God and I certainly don't know everything there is to know about evolution, but the things I do know about each seem to compliment the other - at least in my simple little brain. There are so many things that neither science nor theology can explain that sometimes we just have to take them at face value. Yesterday my wife and I went to a memorial service for her ex-husband - my "husband-in-law" and dear friend, Dr. John Baird - and his wife asked that we each take a daisy from a bowl and, when the time felt right, amble down to Spivey Creek and toss the daisy in the water and say our own personal goodbye. Well, I went - as I am wont to do - upstream. Quite a long ways. Finally found a spot where the water flowed over a couple of big boulders then down a tiny waterfall into a pretty little pool. I was standing there looking at the water and trying to think some profound and meaningful thoughts and wondering just how best to place the daisy in the pool, when - and I would swear to this before the Supreme Court - over my shoulder I heard John say, "Screw the flower, give me a cigarette!" So I stuck the daisy in a crack in the rocks and tossed a Marlboro Menthol into the pool. And I was still chuckling when I got back to the cabin. Now, I'm not given to wild flights of fancy and I'm just as skeptical as the next guy when it comes to hoodoos and haints and hearing voices and such. But I know I heard John just as plain as I can hear the click of the keyboard keys as I type this. Science can't explain it (neither can science explain how a bumblebee can fly or just how aspirin works) and most Pastors I've talked to tell me that ghosts don't exist (except, of course, for the Holy Ghost!), but neither changes what I experienced yesterday afternoon on Spivey Creek. Guess I'm just too damn dumb to know better... and to tell the truth, I kinda' like it that way.

Like 10-Ring, I grew up limblining and trotlining for cats (jugging is illegal in my home state of Kansas, although I've done some in other states). We always used stout braided nylon line with a heavy duty swivel and a good 2oz weight to hold the bait (usually bluegill goldfish or small carp or suckers) down. Tied with a slip-knot to a good stout limb with the bait anywhere from 3 to five feet under the surface (depending upon the depth of the water at that point) and hooked just under and slightly to the rear of the dorsal fin. We generally set our lines just before dark and checked them just before first light. Biggest I've ever caught was a 48 pounder that my cousin and I got in the Verdigris River in Southeast Kansas many years ago, but most have run from 6-8 pounds on up to the low 30's.

Wouldn't be able to see the dam. BINGO! We have a winner ! (Almost - See MattCary's reply below.)

I go past Shelbyville quite often on the way to L-ville - sometimes even deliver to Lowe's in Shelbyville. From what I've seen of it, you've made a good choice. Maybe I'll hit one of the nearby truck stops sometime and offer to buy you a cup of coffee if we've both got time. Glad you're happy and congrats on the new job!

93 years old. After the career he had I don't reckon he had many regrets - hope I'm that lucky someday. RIP Mr. Wallace.

Found some other stuff at Lowe's called "Home Armour Flexible Sealer" that I decided to try on the keel of my canoe. Besides being a little cheaper than the aerosol Plasti-dip, it's designed more for external outdoor uses (sealing rain gutters, etc...) Once it dries I'm going to mask off a slightly wider area and over spray the Flexible Sealer stuff with a spray-on pickup bed coating for some added abrasion protection. I like the clear coat idea and if drag was much of a consideration, I'd probably give it a shot, but for right now all I want to do is stop the leak and hopefully keep it from recurring. Thanks for the thread, GDT, you finally forced me to get off my butt and use some brain cells to fix the darn thing! :up:

(Lost this for a while. Found it again this morning.) Tie some of these to your car then drive fast and watch people freak out! I would LOVE to have some of these!!!

And to you as well, friend! Hope everyone enjoys this marvelous day no matter what your faith or lack thereof.

Been thinking about this for a while and may finally get around to trying it on the keel of my canoe where I have a couple of pinhole leaks from scraping waaaaay too many rocks over the years. Everything else I've tried either won't seal the leaks or won't hold up to the admittedly rough treatment I put it through.

You need to take another geography lesson - going to Vegas from the East, Hoover Dam is on the left and the Grand Canyon is on the right. Going to Vegas from the West neither come into play unless the plane makes one heckuva' big circle. (Love the pilot speech, though!)

Well, she helped me finish the fence yesterday afternoon, as I knew she would, then made a dinner for me that I'm still recuperating from. This morning I'm gonna' take her for a canoe ride down on Bull Run Creek to look for morels and wild asparagus. Then this afternoon I'm gonna' hit Melton Hill in the canoe by myself and try for some crappie. Dunno' what I ever did to deserve a classy broad like her, but whatever it was, I sure hope I keep on doin' it! Happy, peaceful Easter everyone!

Look at it this way: Buy another fuse to put in your glove box and you now have a complete set of damn near everything for the next time something actually goes bad or you need to wire up a new trailer.

My lovely wife told me this morning that all I had to do this weekend was buy and install a new washing machine and put up a fence around our lower garden to keep the goats and chickens out. For once I put my foot down and told her that after the week I'd had, I'd sooner sandpaper the @sshole of an alligator in a phone booth than do either one of 'em. She just smiled and hugged me and said she understood and that I could do whatever I wanted... The new machine is running it's first load of laundry now - guess I'll put the fence up after lunch... (Hey, how can I say no to a classy broad like the one I got?!!)

Yep, boot camp is for young men needing to learn life's lessons. Memories are for us old farts who've proved, through surviving, that we learned them. Pretty much enjoyed Basic training at Fort Sill, Ok. (only place in the world where you can stand butt deep in mud and still get dust blown in your face), but there's a reason that it only lasted 8 weeks. The fact that,32 years later, I can still recall those 8 weeks like they were last week is just proof that the learning process was at least as important to me as the lessons.

This has been around for quite awhile, but I still like it! Dear Reyer School, God bless you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizen's luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the county home for the aged. All my people are gone. It's nice to know that someone thinks of me. God bless you for your kindness to an old, forgotten lady. My roommate is 95 and always had her own radio, but would never let me listen to it. The other day her radio fell and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful. She asked if she could listen to mine, so naturally I told her to go f*ck herself. Sincerely, Edna Johnston

Still doesn't tell me anything. Are we supposed to be awed or something? Well, okay, I will be. Awwwwe, who is this guy and why are we supposed to be impressed? Did he cure world hunger, run faster than a speeding bullet or at least leap over a tall building in a single bound? (You know, inquiring minds and all that.)

Calm down, Mike. Maybe "choking" wasn't the right word. I'm as big a fan of Fred Couples as anybody and I'd love to see him win it, but I also would have loved to see him win all the other tournaments where he had a really good shot but somehow managed to find a way not to do it.

Wouldn't a' made it if I wasn't serious. Saturdays work best for me, but once in a great long while I can sneak in a Sunday. Just give me as much notice as you can so I can plan accordingly and we'll get 'er done!

Congrats to both of you! You need to bring him and your canoe and float the Clinch with me (no jet skis!) and let him catch his first trout. (And if you'd rather have a good stable vessel then he can ride with me or we can swap for the day - my canoe's 36" across the beams and makes for a good platform for fidgety anglers.) Again, congrats and happy birthday to the future master angler! :up: