Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

    Coffee breaks- we all take them. They are an important part of every work day. At some work places they are spelled out- there will be two breaks a day from this time to that time. At other places the time is optional depending on the situation. It's not a good idea to go on a break at a place like, say, the bank, and leave all the money unattended. I have to admit that there have been times when I pulled up to the cold storage to sell fish or get ice and be told that the crew was on a break and I would have to wait until they returned. God forbid that the foreman would have to operate the winch or press the button to start the ice auger. I don't think that's very good business to make your customer wait. However, the options for selling elsewhere or getting ice are pretty limited, so I guess they have the upper hand in that situation.     I'm self-employed so I can take a break whenever I want... and I do. Sometimes multiple breaks. Frankly when I'm out fi...

 I received phone calls from two different friends last week letting me know that the weather was great and the fishing was good out in Cross Sound. It was the incentive I needed to bite the bullet and get my behind out there. I've been dealing with some health issues this year and haven't felt up to spending the night on the boat, which a trip to the sound entails. It takes me six hours to get there, so it's not like you can just turn around and leave if you don't like it, at least not very easily. Anyway, on Tuesday I made the trip. I always have heart palpitations when I get close to South Inian Pass. Years ago when I was on my way through the pass with one of the boys, the placid water built up a wall of tidal disturbance that seemed to be about ten feet high. It's one of those places that you can't very well turn around and go back because the current is really smoking through there. We went through and buried the boat a couple time...

 On my desk in the office I have a sticky note with the words- expanding toilet seats. It was an idea that Jen and I were talking about several days ago; I can't remember why. It had something to do with people who had large behinds and how a standard size seat wouldn't seem to fill the bill. I don't want to get too graphic here, but I would imagine that an exceptionally large person would have a good bit hanging off the seat- thus the need for an expanding seat. It's probably the next million dollar idea. However, the above picture doesn't look anything like a toilet seat- and for good reason. What we have here is a basket of Dum Dum pops. I don't know why they're called pops.  I always referred to them as suckers. I do, however, know why they're called Dum Dums. Back in 1924, I C Bahr, an early sales manager for the Akron Candy Company coined the name Dum Dums figuring it was a word that any child could say. I don't know how well it would go o...