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wreckatx

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Posts posted by wreckatx

  1. Does anyone have a good source for real-time information on the San Juan wildfire near Durango and other wildfires in Colorado?  Snowpack in southern Colorado was about 50 % normal and rivers are running at August levels.  If they don't start getting some rain soon this could get bad.  Heading up there in July and want to make sure I know what I am getting myself into.

  2. 11 minutes ago, JimmyHoffa said:

     

    I can't rep this fucking post enough (or whatever it's called here) 

     

    It's horrible for developing kids bodies to not get breaks from practicing the same sport over and over again. There's a reason why Orthopedic Doctors are seeing more and more teens and even pre teens with joint and ligament damage earlier and earlier. You have douche bag parents and coaches training their 8 year old like they are an Olympic athlete. Let them play as many sports (fuck that activities) as they want. Once they get older THEN they can decide to narrow it down or not depending on what they want to do. 

    A friend of a friend who son is a great athlete and made the freshmen baseball team at his middle school. He has played "travel ball" since he was 7 and was still going to play even though he made the middle school team. Well playing in a weekend 14U tournament three days after making the middle school team he blew out his elbow and is done for the year. The Doctor said it's serious enough that he probably won't be able to play anything other than 2nd base moving forward because at 14 his arm is shot. 

    It's fucking idiotic that these parents and coaches don't realize they are fucking damaging their own kids by playing year round and think that their kid is going to be the next star in whatever sport.  

    I get all of this, and I actually agree wholeheartedly with the post you're quoting. I was a multi-sport athlete through high school and I have resisted putting my son in any sport more thane season a year for all of these reason, but, I also want to put him in the best position to succeed.  Not to be a professional athlete - I don't have any illusions there - just to succeed at the level where he is and hopefully be able to letter in a sport or two in high school.  I am not one of "those parents" by any stretch.  So, I am torn because I can see the kids playing soccer in the fall and spring and/or baseball in the fall and spring getting better.  My boy usually catches up, but it takes him a decent chunk of the season.  One thing I am going to do is make sure I am working with him to knock whatever rust off we can before starting up a sport he's laid off of again.   

  3. Not sure if it qualifies as classic, but I have a '84 red corvette that belonged to my dad.  It sounds like a Harley.  I don't think I would ever buy a car like it for myself, which makes it even more fun.  That said, I had an '83 K5 blazer in high school that I would trade the corvette for in a minute.  

  4. On 5/13/2018 at 3:02 PM, atomheartbevo said:

    Went to Jenson Fishing Tackle up on Parmer. 

    It’s a fucking time machine that takes you back decades. 

    I mean that in the best way possible. 

    That place is great. Guys know what they are talking about, too. Beats the hell out of going to academy.

  5. 6 hours ago, Ghost of 3:16 said:

    My daughter has played club soccer in Katy since she was in 1st grade. Nothing else besides summer swim.

     She won the 6th grade track meet in the 400 and 800. Also has been the fastest miler each Monday when they run. I think her best was 6:24. She’s 5’6, 118#

     She’s gonna be a team in volleyball and basketball next year. Nothing is final until tryouts, but she’s been basically told.  

    So my advice is if the boy loves soccer, let him play year round. It’s the only sport that needs it from a foot skill development. If he’s athletic, the team sports will come easy in jh. 

    Appreciate that.

  6. On 5/14/2018 at 5:13 AM, Kahuna said:

    The volume of the flow wouldn't be a particular problem for the FlyCraft up to a point.  I don't know how much experience you have on the oars, but I am pretty much a novice and would be hesitant to get on any river large enough to suck the edge of the boat under in a whirlpool.  I've experienced this as a passenger on both the Colorado River (in the Grand Canyon) and on the South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho.  That is spooky water to me and would seem like a suicide mission if I were to try it in the FlyCraft.  An experienced rower might be fine with it, however. On the other hand, the Texas rivers you mentioned would be perfect for the FlyCraft, assuming you aren't getting into a patch that is very technical with lots of large rocks that you need to wrap around.  The great part of the FlyCraft is that even if you hit a spot in a river that looks above your skill level or exceeds the boat's capability, the rig is light enough that two people can just pick it up and carry/drag it around the obstacle.  An even slightly larger raft will require you to walk (or rope) it through he rapids, which is not always a safe alternative.  Finally, the Lake Fork of the Gunnison doesn't sound like an overwhelming river in terms of flow.  Here are some shots of my home waters in Idaho (henrysfork.org) by comparison.  However, I checked out some photos of the Lake Fork online and there are definitely some stretches pictured that would exceed Class II designation, so you would need a broader raft to handle them, if you planned to fish through those kinds of stretches.

    Again, super helpful. I appreciate it. I have some experience on the oars, but there are some canyon portions of the lake fork that I wouldn’t try even in a large raft. I don’t plan on messing with those. Other than those canyons, it is very similar in size and temperament to the Texas rivers I mentioned and actually closest to the Guadalupe below Canyon dam, which I failed to mention. Again, thanks for the tips. I will update if I choose to pull the trigger!

  7. So my 10yo boy has always played soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring. He likes both and so do we, but the kids that play year round in each respective sport are starting to lap him. He always catches up, but I can still see them pulling away. Any advice here? 

  8. On 4/8/2018 at 10:18 PM, Firemans4Horn said:

    I was spoiled at UT for music. 20 years old and I saw a bill at the Parish that was What Made Milwaukee Famous/ Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/ The National (Alligator album). 

    I was at that show. What a great time for good indie music.

  9. On 5/9/2018 at 2:41 PM, Patricio Swayze said:


    Did y’all do karate in the garage? Make bunk beds to free up space for activities?

    That’s so funny. The last time I heard that I fell off my dinosaur.

    • Like 1
  10. 5 hours ago, Kahuna said:

    I've had a FlyCraft for a couple of years.  My wife and I use it for fly fishing in the Yellowstone area, mainly the Henry's Fork.  The narrow beam is no problem whatsoever for casting; the footing up front is adequate and stable.  Moreover, when landing a fish, the side of the boat is within reach without climbing around.  The only problem we've encountered with the narrow beam is that the oars are hard to balance - too much of their weight is outboard.  FlyCraft exchanged our oars for a slightly shorter oar, and that helped somewhat.  We could also counterweight the oars to get a true balance, but that defeats our goal of having a lightweight rig.  By the way, this balance issue is only a problem for my wife; she lacks the upper body strength to row for long without getting tired.  She also could just be playing me so she gets to do all the fishing, while I get stuck on the oars.  Now I'm starting to get pissed off!

    The raft and frame are really well made and assembly/disassembly are a breeze.  We usually just keep it partially inflated in our garage, then inflate it before hitting the road, slide it up on the top of our Expedition luggage rack and strap it down.  I should add that we are both in our mid-60s, so I'm pretty confident that even Millennials could handle this raft.  For really long trips the raft rolls up into a lightweight, compact bundle that I can carry solo.  The frame and oars also breakdown so the whole rig easily fits into the back end of the Expedition.

    We added the  transom and third seat just in case we bring along a kid sometime.  The transom also allowed us to add a small Honda engine, which we really haven't had much success with so far (the prop gets wrapped by grasses in the lakes and loses power, so you get to row back in).

    One criticism I have is that the seats could be lot more comfortable.  They are hard and don't drain or breathe.  There are a lot of much nicer, adjustable mesh kayak seats out there now and I wish FlyCraft would move in that direction.  I would adhere to the Class II rapid limit, but that covers a lot of water in the West.  If you check some of their videos, you'll see that they go through some pretty good rapids, but they sure as hell aren't dropping off waterfalls.  Anyway, I find it difficult to control the drift of my dry fly when screaming like a little girl.  If heading into more difficult/technical water is your thing, I would look for a bigger raft.  The FlyCraft certainly handles big water, just not big rapids.

    I've seen several other folks with FlyCraft rafts on top of their vehicles when driving around the Madison River, Henry's Fork, Hebgon Lake, etc. and always ask how they are enjoying their raft.  I've never heard anything but rave reviews.

    Very helpful. Thank you for posting.  I’m intending to use the raft for a mid-sized river in southwestern Colorado called the Lake Fork of the Gunnison, probably at around 500-800 CFS Andy maybe to bring the raft home with me to fish the lower Colorado, San Marcos, and Llano. 

     

  11. On 4/9/2018 at 3:49 PM, Spaulding Smails said:

    Great thread topic.  We just bought a place in Junction, but I'd like to have a spot to hit during the week.  Junction is just a bit too far for an afternoon hunt.  Curious to see what we can scare up on a few hundred acres (low-fenced).  Setting up three feeders and blinds this weekend, and we'll start feeding protein next week.  

    Back on topic, I'm on the prowl for a dove / duck lease within an hour of ABIA.  I'm looking for somewhere that I can lock in without being plopped down with hunters I don't know.  Would like to have 3-4 gun spots.  This would be for my business partner and me with the intent of taking our kids / employees / clients a few at a time.  Willing to pay $5K+/yr depending on location / setup.  

    I'm looking for something similar.  Within 60-90 miles of Austin. Don't care about deer.  Would like to be able to hunt birds, fish, and camp.  Basically just a place to take my kids and fart around. 

  12. On 3/29/2018 at 9:17 AM, Felix said:

    That's an easy one.  Shot a smooth 111 at Lost Pines in Bastrop State Park before it burnt down.  I lost count after I hit my 10th tree.  I hit random limbs, pine saplings 2 inches in diameter, and plenty of others.  After a while it just got kind of funny.  Good thing I was drinking.

    I also got my ass kicked by Lost Pines once before the fire.  I think I may have quit keeping score.  It was brutal.

  13. 31 minutes ago, Mr.Hovis said:

    A pink collared shirt and ill fitting outfit. This alone is grounds for a good Tarrytown tazing no? 

    The ill-fitting part for sure. Pick collared shirt though, that's de rigeur for Tarrytown in the spring time.  

  14. Ah Tarrytown...

    "Not resorting to judegement here, but a dark skinned man in pink collared shirt and ill fitting outfit soliciting "F2 Connections"?? Polite at first, although he was testy I didn't give him much attention (baby and dinner going on) and smartly rang my doorbell to avoid doorbell camera and stayed 10 feet back. Then scolded me for "looks like someone gave me a chance in life". I was polite as I could be, and hoping this wasn't sketchy, but thought I would give everyone a heads up."

    Actually, you are resorting to judgment

  15. 22 hours ago, krevo said:

    They are really awesome boats.  I dont own one but my friend does.  Easy to haul around and get into spots you can't take a normal raft.  That said - there are plenty of companies making PVC inflatables now with ridgid flooring and swivel seating.  NRS does.   I think there are even a few overseas companies cloning them all now.
    You're looking for a high pressure PVC inflatable that rated around class 4.

    Thanks Krevo. 

  16. On 5/2/2018 at 7:35 PM, dcbc said:

    Look, for all of you on the fence, go see McCartney and David Byrne. 

    I missed several McCartney tours because of my jaded "oh, what's the encore going to be" mentality.  I finally saw him in 2013 and was in tears it was so good.

    As for David Byrne, he's incredible  I've seen him three times in the last fifteen years and he never disappoints or, frankly, repeats what I saw before.

     

    Saw David Byrne recently on this tour and he was awesome.

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