The Bass Pro Shop And Shopping With The Girls

Having the day off yesterday, I didn't know what I was going to do with it. My daughter had been staying with us for Christmas and wanted to go shopping. Usually shopping with the women doesn't interest me. My wife asked me if I wanted to go with them and another friend. Before I could answer she said that they were going to the Arundel Mills Mall. The Bass Pro shop is located in the Mall, and I haven't been there since early summer. So now I am the driver for the 3 women and we were setting up boundries of time and where to meet. No problem, I parked in front of Bass Pro and we used that as and entrance and exit. We had our phones, so communication wasn't a problem. They went their way and I trudged off to get some lunch.

After a little lunch, I was back in The Bass Pro Shop to do some checking out. I first checked out any new equipment in the Rod and Reel depts. They all still look the same to me. I am glad I don't need any new Rods or Reels.I checked out the Plano tackle boxes, as I need a couple of the slide in plastic boxes that goes in them. My box is the 759 model where the front opens and they have 2 slide out trays and 2 of the plastic slide out boxes that come all the way out. http://www.epinions.com/pr-Fishing_G...Tackle_Box_759 They take the slide out box # 7592 and Bass Pro didn't have any. They told me to contact Plano directly. If I remember, I went through this same senerio over a year ago. Talk about deja view! I then checked out the Seaguar Fluorocarbon Leader. Yep, it is still about $20 for 25 yards. I believe I still have enough for fishing this coming year. Something for me to check out later. http://www.anglerscenter.com/termina...er_seaguar.htm The next thing I wanted to check out was the Horny Toads by Zoom. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage-ZF.html They had a color that I haven't seen before. It was a green and white swirl that I will be trying out next year. Next to the Horny Toads was a display of Yum Buzz Frogs. They look the same as the Horny Toads except you get 6 to a pack instead of 5. The one thing that I noticed about the Yums is that they have a lot of salt and scent on them. They call that LPT meaning Live Prey Technology. It says on the package that it imitates what a real dying minnow smells like. I know I will be trying them next year. http://www.yumbaits.com/lures.cfm?d=...1%2F2%22&m=Yum The women checked in on me as they were going to get some lunch and wanted to know if I wanted to join them. I declined as I had lunch earlier. I stayed in Bass Pro to check out the boats. They had a nice Mako 17' center console with a 90 h.p. Mercury on it. It is surprising how big a 17' boat looks out of water. Nice rig, just about what I would be looking for when I am ready to get a boat. Something easy to trailer and 17 to 20 feet. That will be another adventure later on.I wondered through Bass Pro and look at just about everything to do with fishing. I had a good time and was getting tired of being on my feet. The girls then called and said they were done and we all left feeling good about getting out even if it was the day after Christmas. Now on to the New Year!
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Seasons Greetings

Happy Holidays everyone! Tis the season!

History And Word Origins Fun Read

I am sure that some of you have seen or heard about some these word origins before. It is always interesting to find out how these words and sayings came about.

These are quite interesting. There are plenty of things that our origins have come from these are just a few. Today's History Lesson - Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

"Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs.

"There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

"Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."And that's the truth...

Now, whoever said that History was boring ! ! !
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Last Week Was Black Friday And I Was

One of the of the early birds waiting in line at 5:30 a.m. for a good buy on a new refrigerator. My wife and I were in line along with a bunch of other shoppers at the Sears Outlet on York Rd. in Timonium. My wife had the Sears ad stating that all Sears Kenmore products were 1/2 price and the first 25 people in line would get an additional $100 off. The doors were opened at 6 and we piled in and got our certificate for the extra $100.

The fridge we were going to replace was still working very well and we had it for 15 years with no problems. The new one would replace it and the old one will be used as an extra, as our other extra fridge bit the dust last month.

At the Sears outlet they had quite a few fridges to choose from. Many brands along with the Kenmore Sears brand were lined up from one end of the store to the other. Just about all of them had a cosmetic problem and we just kept looking for the kind we wanted. Minor dents would not do unless it was on the side or towards the back which would be hidden in the space under the kitchen cabinets. We wanted one with the automatic ice maker on the freezer door rather inside of the freezer at the top like our old one. Due to the freezer door being against the wall we couldn't pull the ice bin out unless we pulled the fridge all the way out so we could open the door all the way. The ice dispenser on the outside of the door was fine and when I need a lot of ice for a cooler, I kept putting a glass under it and dumping it into the cooler. It was a pain in the ass, but better than pulling the fridge all the way out to get at the bin.

We had measured the place where the old fridge was, and were looking for one that would fit. No luck there, all the new ones were taller. Oh Oh, that could be a problem. I went back home and remeasured to make sure and came back with the exact measurements. I was right the first time. I had checked out the cabinet above the fridge and decided I would have to move the cabinet up about 3 inches. It could be done with a little work and it wouldn't hurt the integrity of the cabinet.

We finally found what we wanted and the goodies that came with it. Sure is a big difference from the older fridges of 15 years ago. It was a Kenmore Elite 2 door with the ice maker and dispenser in the door. Everything is electronic with plenty of little buttons to do what you want it to do. It didn't have any dents at all on it and just 2 tiny scratches which could be touched up with paint. At half price and the extra $100 bucks taken off the price, it was an excellent buy. My wife and I are good buyers and will do our homework on any large purchase before buying. We usually know a good deal when we see it.

On Monday a friend and I removed the kitchen cabinet from its space over the old fridge, cut enough off to accommodate the new fridge. It was surprisingly easy, it just took time. When the job was finished you couldn't tell that the cabinet was moved. I then made arrangements for the Sears crew to deliver the new fridge and move the old one to my laundry room where the old one used to be.

They delivered on Wednesday at 7 a.m. , moved the old fridge and was off to their next delivery. The new fridge being on easy move wheels was a dream to move about. The only thing left for me to do was connect the old water supply. With a part that cost $1.44 at lowes I had that done in no time.

We love the new Kenmore and hope to have it at least another 15 years. I will say this much about Sears. All the people we came in contact with at the store were just delightful to deal with. Very helpful and cheerful they made shopping a pleasure. The 2 men that delivered were just as nice and they sure knew what they were doing. Kudos to Sears! I just wanted to give some praise where it is due. You hear about the bad things that happen when shopping and not the good experiences.

Black Friday for us was not so bad!