No Runny Eggs

First things first (and added to as they roll in and I pick them up); there’s some more instant and not-so-instant replay over here, here, here (complete with some people I missed initially below; you’re not the only forgetful one, Patrick) and here (at least that’s all I had as of 9:50 pm Saturday night).… and here (as of 10:22 pm Saturday night)… and here and here (with the first Dennis York sighting in a couple months (through 7:38 am 6/4)… and here and here (updated 12:30 pm 6/4)… and here from the host and my blogfather and here (I should’ve waited a few minutes; these 2 came in by 12:50 pm 6/4)

Sorry about being a bit (well, an hour) late. ‘Tis what happens when your brain is still operating on fishing time :-)

Enough of that. The weather outside could not have been more delightful, and we had a gaggle of bloggers and family and even a pol or two Let’s see how many I can remember as I’m terrible with names (so if I forgot you, remind me); Chris with the Gruppenfuhrer, the Tsar and the Prince of Darkness, James and family, Owen with Wendy and their brood, Jib, Steve, the Asian Badger, Tom McMahon, Nick, Sean, Aaron (side note; Charlie, he’s dropped the “blogspot” from his address and Blogger gave his old BlogSpot.com address to somebody else), Tee Bee, The Western Chris, Bob Dohnal, Patrick, Fred and Mrs. RealDebate, Peter, Mike (or at least I thought he was there; he wasn’t able to leave his zip code), Phelony Jones, Kate (time to add to the roll again), Rep. Joel Kleefisch, and I think we had a Dennis York sighting (it’s a good thing he didn’t come as Pork this time; the grill was fired up again and again). Slipping my mind initially (thanks for the refresher, Patrick) were Kevin (who took time from being with the family as his father underwent heart transplant surgery), Elliot and Mrs. “Stearns”, Dean and Dad29.

As I said, I got in late, so the coals from round 1 were cooling off a bit. I got my brats on and just started to really get cooking when the host refreshed them. Meanwhile, I started socializing and downing the Spotted Cows and Mountain Dews. I got a couple shots in (sorry, I seem to be missing my USB cable, so they’ll be stuck on the camera until tomorrow at the earliest), got my brats done, and dug in. A Mark Green guy started passing out petitions (yes, it is time to get those signatures to make the fall ballots, and the last I heard, nobody was running against Nobody’s Senator), and Dohnal took his leave. Joel commented on how he liked even this humble little corner of the Cheddarsphere, a few others noted that I have been a bit less than regular with the posts. I had to apologize for the erratic nature of my postings (I did mention a while back when I tested the BlogFather™ Cement Overshoes that “Erratic” was my middle name). We got a group shot or so for Joel (of course, I avoided the other side of the lens like the plague ;-) before he left. The conversations and drinks continued non-stop.

Here’s an interesting tidbit from Steve for those of you not around (or at least not within earshot); back when he was flying jets for a company that charters jets for those with money, mainly rock/pop/country entertainers. Most of the folks that he flew around were great people (Jimmy Buffet came up as one of those), but there was an incident with a certain pop diva who will remain nameless. Seems she and her entourage chartered this company to fly her around on a tour, and one of the trips was from New York to Chicago. The flight was originally scheduled to leave New York at 9 am Eastern and get into O’Hare (that fact is key to this story; mash here for a taste of ORD ATC) to be greeted by the local press at 10:30 am Central. 9′ o’clock rolls around and no passengers. 9:30, same thing. There’s something important to know about going into O’Hare; you don’t just show up in the airspace and ask to land at one of the busiest places on the planet. You have a slot, and if you miss it, you’re screwed. The Citation X is a fast plane – in fact, it’s the fastest subsonic jet made today – but if he had to wait much longer, he wouldn’t make the slot he had. He finally got a hold of the hotel where this pop diva was at, and was told she left instructions to not be disturbed before noon. He told her people that she would be flying to Chicago commercial if that were the case, told his boss, and started to head to Chicago. She (or her people) got a hold of the boss (a fine Italian who, if he didn’t have that company, would have been a mob boss), who told her to meet him, Steve and the plane at the company’s home airport in New Jersey. Once there, he told her that if she ever did that again, she would be flying coach on United the rest of her tour, and that if Steve said the plane was leaving at 5 am, it was going to be wheels-up at 5 am. He then pulled some serious strings to get a new slot at O’Hare. Steve finished out the tour, and just to tweak her some, he did say they were leaving at 5 am at one of the stops.

Things didn’t start to slow down until somewhere around 4:50, when our host donned his throwback away Brewer jersey and tried to change the Brew Crew’s luck (unfortunately, Turnbow turned into the human gas can again). He turned things over to Jib, who left shortly thereafter. Eventually, it went down to Fred and his lovely wife, Patrick, Peter, Steve and me, and we broke things up shortly after 7.

When I find that USB cable, I’ll have my couple of pics up. Until then, I’ll continue to try to catch up on the shooting gallery that is Milwaukee, the hutzpah of Dane County Persecutor Brian Blanchard (who is so afraid he’ll lose on appeal he wants Jensen in prison while he appeals), and various other things I missed like the homegrown Canuck Islamokazi terrorist-wannabes that were picked up in southern Ontario as I was leaving the northwest part of the province.

Before I get to the BBA Spring Fling after-action report, I need to do some quick surgery to my roll to correct a glaring oversight. Sorry about missing you before now, Tom.

The 1st Annual BBA Spring Fling starts in about 50 minutes and ends whenever the last person leaves. In case you forgot the details, they’re over here, though it’s probably too late to RSVP Chris as he’s undoubtedly busy setting things up. So just come on out to Waukesha County’s Naga-Waukee Park’s Picnic Area #3, bring your own food and beverage (beer and wine coolers allowed), and $5 for the Waukesha County Parks, and have a good time. We’ll have the coals, Waukesha County will have the grills and electricity, and the weather couldn’t be better.

Sorry about not either letting the 2-3 readers I have know here (I think I mentioned it in a few comments elsewhere) I was going to be gone for a week hunting walleyes in the Great White North at the more-or-less fabulous North Shore Lodge or setting up some things I wanted to have pop up over the course of that week. Last-minute preparations and all that good stuff took me right up to the point I had to go. When I get the pics from Oly, I’ll share some. In the meantime…

• The best time to go through Customs is at 3:30 in the morning when all the agents are busy tearing up the vehicle in front of you. That was the first time in 10 years the Canadians didn’t come on to check IDs.
• When the half of the sky that’s coming towards you is black with streaks of lightning, you head in. We got back to the lodge Monday just as the first bits of rain hit. Shortly thereafter came the 70-mph winds and golf ball-sized hail.
• If there’s a country even more stupid about using its natural resources than the US, it’s Canada. Ontario is on track to close its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2009, and depending on whether you believe the government that’s shutting down those plants or an independent power company, they won’t have enough power in the province in either 2013 or 2008.
• 27 1/2″ walleye – need I say more? Actually, yes. 2 of them (mine was heavier), plus a 41″ northern caught by Oly.
• Even though Chris wasn’t saying, “Hurray beer”, we were. Kokanee and Labatt’s Maximum Ice are as good as we remember, and you still can’t get them in the states.
• No matter how bad your day has been, if you’re fishing, all it takes is one cast.
• The Canucks really need a Taxpayers Alliance group. The town of Atikokan is succeeding in spinning a property tax increase as a decrease because of declining property values.
• Required luggage for a long bus ride – a pillow.
• If there’s a crosswind and you’re sitting in the middle or the back, raingear is definitely recommended.
• In heavy seas, do NOT leave your poles in the front of the boat. We lost one that way.
• If your prop is slightly scarred on Sunday, it will be FUBARed by Friday.
• Same with seats, especially with a captain that knows only full throttle into heavy seas.
• 27 1/2 inch walleye. Can’t quite say it enough, even if it isn’t quite big enough to have been mounted (29 1/2 is my starting point).
• In a cabin full of heavy snorers, it pays to not be the last one asleep. If you can’t manage that, the next best thing is enough spiced rum and Coke to get you blasted (but not enough to make you puke).
• Sinus headache plus incoming weather multiplied by already-choppy waters does not equal a happy stomach.
• Buffet breakfast – all fishing camps should use them to maximize time on the water.
• Aluminum cooks fish a lot faster than cast iron.
• The fishing might be better in Canada, but there’s no place like home.

Guess I better start catching up while figuring out what I’m taking to the BBA Spring Fling.