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Dave,

Great weekend you guys had, Thanks for the pics too. I still cannot seem to find the idea of driving my perfectly good truck onto ice waiting to break though.. After my experience as a boy with ice I'm alittle more aprehencive(spelling).. However I do enjoy ice fishing occasionally yet on a Much Smaller scale of water then you..

Its been a wierd weather weekend here, 60 degrees on Sat and since midnight lastnight hanging in the 20's going down to the teens tonight. We just don't get the kind of cold we did when I was a kid to freeze big water.

I can tell one thing for certain your Boys and I would get along just fine with my favorite mix drink material laying all around, Mountain dew and bourbon doesn't get any better. Heading for the hot coco and peppermint schnapps now just sounds like a good plan to me...

Good luck with the tipups and floaters strippin line for Mr. Big Fish!

I know, I forgot, i had an opportunity to get an outside pictire of the house on the lake with the old plow truck of my uncles sitting next to it, next time i'm out I'll get some of outside the house.

The NDSU shirts & stuff are pretty popular in this area. But I think the boy will be going to a different school.

He wants to be a conservation officer.

thanks Wabo, we currently have -25* & the temp is dropping.

-30 here now. Hope I get to stand in front of a sunny windoow today.

Craig

I saw -34 on the way to work.

nasty stuff isn't it?

Is the boy going to NDSU? Playin' ball?

Nice little eye ballers you guys got there. Those pout's are nice eh? I'm guessing pam likes them as much as I do. Slimly, wigglely little suckers. yuck. I woulda shot that sob befoe it made it out of the hole.

Good ol choclate milk...the drink of choice for 4 yr olds. My little guy drinks that stuff by the gallon.

Looks like a nice weekend.

I put up interior doors in my basement, and don't really care if I ever do it again. I couldn't get those suckers more square and would the shut right....F nnnnnoooooooo. Go down there last night...work like butter. frickin perfect. WTF?

Well they work now.

Wabo,

Up where dave fishes the ice can get up to 4' thick sometimes. Your truck would be pretty safe on that Wabo.

Around here where most of the ice is a frozen river, I'll never drive my vehicle out on it. A 4 wheeler, but not a truck or even a car. Too much moving water and different ice thicnesses. There are people the go through every year. espically at first and last ice.

ND,

Since the boy is talking CO MN state pickings are dang slim to none. CA (i know blasphemy) will be hiring upwards of 500. As well as the feds.

Tell him to get a 4 year Criminal Justice with possibly a minor in biology of some sort.

Alex Tech is probably the number ranked school for the 2 year program and the skills course. Then finish off somewhere for the 4.

The feds are really quality agents for big game division, the waterfowl guys are kinda anal. I also beleive I heard that ND and WI may also be budgeting for more CO's.

Let him know it is a rewarding career but his hunting and fishing may take a hit.

we need to talk

PM on the way.

I can supply any and all info related to the city of Alex and surrounding area. Also, maybe a part time job interview.

ND, UW Stevens Point has a good program for Conservation Officers. At one time Wisconsin and Minnesota had a reciprocity program and your son would pay the same tuition as a Wisconsin resident. Not sure if this is still in place though.

Dave,

If he is serious about being a CO. The UW Stevens Point is a great school for that right here in WI. It is what I was going to go to school for, and that is where I was going to go to do it.

With a little more inquiry(sp?) I went a different route because in that line of work...You don't get to hunt and fish much. At least not durring the "normal" hours.

I know several CO's in this area, and all enjoy their jobs, but all wish they had more time to hunt and fish. Make sure he knows he will not be able to hunt of fish the "openers". Not to dis suade the boy if that is what he really wants. He just needs to figure out why he wants to be in that line of work.

Tom

well I guess us big people have kind of pushed him that way thinking it would be a way to put him closer to the outdoor fishing/hunting activities that he enjoys so much. But I can see where it would cut into your own time fishing & hunting.

not sure what to think now.

Dave, there are a number of other careers in the natural resources area that would give your son more time to pursue his outdoor interests, i.e. Forestry, Biology (Water, Fish or Game). Just tell him that he needs to be willing to move when it comes time to start the job hunt if he pursues a natural resourses career.

Dave,

check your PM's.

Where'd you put that Fish house dave? I wanted to get out but was ill on friday and never did make it out yet. still waiting for a day with the Captain on the ice i think. put some new tires on the fish house as well, my brother-in-law had it out to gull and farther north a couple times last week but he didn't have no luck. I'd like to get out this next weekend if all go's well!!!

Thank you Bill, I wish he were my son. I'm very proud of him & I love him like he were one of my sons, I love his 2 sisters as if they were my daughters too.

But the credit for what a fine young man this boy is today goes to his mother who now puts up with all the shenanigans that I lure the boy into & his father whom we lost over a year ago.

There father was a great man, my best friend & the kind of father that most of us parents could only inspire to be.

I'm just lucky enough to be his dad's cousin. And lucky enough to be able to spend time with the boy as frequently as I can.

He turns 18 very soon.

I remember the day that his father told me that there was a baby on the way. We might not have thought so at the time but we were just kids ourself. I remember that day like it were yesterday. I grew up a little that day, I grew up a lot that day. I shared my cousins nervous butterflies & the range of emotion that came with the idea that we are the "big people" now. We were both 20 years old.

I was home on leave after completing Marine Corps boot camp. It was late in the month of July 1990. Sunny beautiful day, we were riding in his car on the way home from the lake. Just him & me, he was driving. I had a broken foot from a knee boarding incodent earlier in the day. We were both about half full of beer & having a great time & kind of joking about my foot as we drove along.

Suddenly he let off the gas & let the car coast to a stop along side the road. He had something very important to tell me, something he hadn't told anyone yet. But he didn't have to say it. I knew, it's like I read his mind. out of the blue, totally off subject, but I knew exactly what he was going to say. We sat there along side that county road on that hot summer day & we talked about it for quite some time.

That was over 18 1/2 years ago.

It was good news, exciting news, but it was scary too.

There was no way to know back then what a wonderful gift this new baby would be. We knew it was great, a baby yeah that's great. But speaking for myself, I didn't know just how great.

There was no way for me to know of how involved I would eventually become with that baby, this fine young man that we have here today.

For this I am very fortunate and as I said, yes I do love him like he were my own son & like to think of him this way.

But his parents own that honor.

Hey buschy, dnr reef north of springsteel. We did... OK. could have been much beter. waiting for a road so I can pull the house up to south tip or whisky flats.

Dave, I'd say that this young man is very fortunate to have you in his life.

Very nice of you to say that, thank you.