Thursday, January 27, 2011

Dave Zadra's Jigging Gizzee



My pal Dave loves to boil water. He's built a steam powered motorcycle. So, of course, I knew he'd bring something special to fish with when he suggested we go ice fishing together.

The column heats the water that drips into the sardine can. A stick on a bent spring pops up from under the reel's handle, signaling a bite.

Dave's next modification will be a small chute that will direct the spilled hot water into the hole keeping it ice-free.

Speaking of sardines, that day Dave caught the only two.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

From the Knitting Needles of The Mayor


A few years ago, in order to combat some strange memory loss issues, I needed to find a way to meditate a bit . . . which sucks. I am one of those people who cannot shut off their brain. I guess I just didn't understand meditation. I found that rather than snuffing my thoughts, I just needed to apply a focused self-pacing task to them. It apply a regulator, if you will.. Well, thanks to my Uncle Ron, who has been knitting for years and is a patient and entertaining instructor, I found that regulator in knitting. I've gotten good enough to actually make gifts for people, and proud enough to order up some labels from the good folks at Miles Kimball. They showed up this weekend.