Question:

A few months back I shared the news about having found another job, after losing one just a few months prior. Things are going pretty well as far as the actual work part goes, not too difficult from a physical standpoint and enough weekends to save my ass before it falls off. The really good news is that I got a fabulous 6 month evaluation (public employment..) and I am now a permanent staff member. In the summer of ‘98 when I fell apart, it never occurred to me that I might be where I am now. After all by the summer of ‘99 , I was barely walking and most days were about 2 hours long. Things just didn’t look all that promising, if you know what I mean. With a lot of adaptation, some pharmaceutical intervention and a little   luck, I was able to crawl through the process of re-training, and then actually staying together long enough to find a job in a crappy job market. Dang. My ms has basically simmered and not boiled over for some time now. I am convinced that copaxone has made a big difference for me, as well as a lot of other stuff. A good marriage, I can still can ride a motorcycle (in fact just got a new one see http://colevalley.net/photos/bikes/03yam/yam.02.jpg), I still can fly-fish, and even go for walks in the park. Not that I haven’t had  few days here and there where I felt like I had been dunked a vat of novacaine and beaten with a dead salmon, but overall I just have to say that I will probably look back on this time of my life as the good old days. Of course things won’t always be this rosy but for now , I will take it. — Jim S

Response:

In <news:wQvTd.599$C47.305@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>, jim s said: > Not that I haven’t had  few days here and there where I felt like I > had been dunked a vat of novacaine and beaten with a dead salmon,

Dude… some people would pay good money for treatment like that.  :-)

Response:

Michael wrote: > In <news:wQvTd.599$C47.305@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>, > jim s said: >>Not that I haven’t had  few days here and there where I felt like I >>had been dunked a vat of novacaine and beaten with a dead salmon, > Dude… some people would pay good money for treatment like that.  :-)

Don’t most of them live with their elderly mothers, on a lonely highway somewhere south of Austin, Nevada? — Jim Stinnett R1100Rs VTR1000 YZF R1 http://moto-rama,com

Response:

In <news:10wTd.602$C47.216@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>, jim s said: > Michael wrote: >> In <news:wQvTd.599$C47.305@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>, >> jim s said: >>> Not that I haven’t had  few days here and there where I felt like I >>> had been dunked a vat of novacaine and beaten with a dead salmon, >> Dude… some people would pay good money for treatment like that. > Don’t most of them live with their elderly mothers, on a lonely > highway somewhere south of Austin, Nevada?

They only call those old ladies "mom" for the benefit of police and social workers.

Response:

We are all very happy for you and hope things continue to go well It sounds like good things are happening — may they continue Do not pass any around, but to cover all bases I have included — some cyber smoked steelhead — some cyber salmon jerky — five cyber pounds of dark chocolate because everyone on this newsgroup knows that dark chocolate is healthy for you You can be sure that we all recognize and appreciate where you are at now from where you used to be and everything that goes with it Congratulations — thanks for keeping us informed — may things continue to go well for you we all are all sharing in your good fortune — Larry Rather than building character, adversity tends to reveal it written using voice recognition software "jim s" <elkab…@colevalley.net> wrote > Of course things won’t always be this rosy but for now , I will take it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> — > Jim S

Response:

"jim s" <elkab…@colevalley.net> wrote  I can still can ride a motorcycle > (in fact just got a new one see > http://colevalley.net/photos/bikes/03yam/yam.02.jpg), > Jim S

Jim, youre in far to poor a condition to ride a motorcycle like that, I think you need to hand that over to someone like me who can take care of it for you.  ;^) Thats a sweet looking ride my man.  Nice.  Very nice.  I must have dropped my Sporty 50 times before I finally bought crash-bars for it, and, of course, havent really droped it once since.  Aint that how life goes though? Rob

Response:

hi jim, may the dead-salmon-and-novocaine days be few, and the tires-hitting-the-road days many! continued good fortune, rose

Response:

"Rob Duncan" <robdun…@gbronline.com> wrote in > Thats a sweet looking ride my man.  Nice.  Very nice.  I must have dropped > my Sporty 50 times before I finally bought crash-bars for it, and, of > course, havent really droped it once since.  Aint that how life goes

though? Yeah…what’s up with that? Maybe it’s a karmic insurance policy! vroom. Jim S

Response:

"white.lynx" <white.l…@shaw.ca> wrote in message > Do not pass any around,

but to cover all bases I have included > — some cyber smoked steelhead > — some cyber salmon jerky > — five cyber pounds of dark chocolate because everyone on this newsgroup > knows that dark chocolate is healthy for you > You can be sure that we all recognize and appreciate where you are at now > from where you used to be and everything that goes with it

I love chocolate, enough that it rivals some of the other rather important things, like breathing…:) Jim

Response:

Question:

You want skeeters?  Try Western Montana.  Mosquitos are their state bird!  After they drained me, they even offered me a glass of orange juice! Gus Weber

If the Red Cross could train them, they wouldn’t need volunteers.

Response:

I didn’t want to explain the cause of my injuries to the attending physician, if Angelfire has such a thing.

Hahahaha!  Those flies are deadly…… nothing compared to the skeeters in Bismark, ND though. Did you go to the Vietnam Memorial? Hunter

Response:

Thanks again Bob. On my recent trip to CO this past August we were going to stay at The Spa because they now have a small RV park with hookups for about 6 or so RVs, but alas only for fully self contained units and they don’t allow pets.  The massages across the street are excellent BTW. We ended up right outside town at a RV park right on the San Juan River (I think it’s called Riverview, it’s on the left as you are leaving town on Hwy 160 going toward Wolf Creek Pass) with a nice little pond of their own. Very friendly and helpful people.  I’ve been there before. The other thing I might mention is that just before you get to Wolf Creek Pass there is a turnout on the right that lets you take a nice hike up to the headwaters of the San Juan River.  It’s a nice (uphill) hike and the falls at the top are beautiful. — Peace, Love and Serenity, Madeleine

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – A few notes of passing interest…. Chama, New Mexico I stayed in the Rio Chama RV Park, a nice piece of cottonwood bottom right along the river, next to a trestle bridge for the Cumbres and Toltec steam excursion train.  The Station is about a half mile west. While watching the horrible news on TV that evening, I heard a couple of loud spaced reports, like shotguns going off nearby.  I thought, "It’s black powder season – but in town?" I went down to the tracks and met one the guys who ride around in golf carts helping people park their houses.  He was walking back from the woods along the track. "Somebody shooting down here?" "Nah.  That was me.  Firecrackers.  Them bears are tryin’ to climb the fence again." It turns out that a sow and 2 cubs had been getting into the garbage cans, and apparently tore up a screen door the day before.  One of the weapons used by the Forest Service to control them is rubber bullets, which are packed with a light powder charge into a 12 gauge shotgun shell.  On request, they pass them out in small numbers to residents. I heard one fellow laughing about his "doofus" neighbor who picked up a few and then realized he only had a 20 gauge to shoot them with. Pagosa Springs, Colorado I have been coming to Pagosa to ski for 20 years.  I always stayed at the Spa Motel, to make use of the hot spring baths, the swimming pool, and the occasional massage.  One of my favorite memories of this place is the year it snowed so much the ticket office at Wolf Creek was buried, and the whole enterprise was shut down for days.  I eventually escaped to Purgatory, pointing my Bronco carefully down the middle of the white space between the humps of the fencing along the buried highway, hoping to stay on the road.  But the night before I left, I spent an interesting hour in the warm swimming pool, watching those big heavy flakes crowd down out of the black sky, plopping into the pool around me.  I’m sure they didn’t really hiss as they hit the water, but that’s the way I remember it. The swimming pool is still ok, but I am sorry to report the indoor soaking pool is not being maintained properly.  This may be just one bad day, so check it out if you come through.  They give out flannel sheets to wrap up in when you are steaming, and you can lay back on benches and drift off till you cool down and go back in.  The water is still 108 degrees, or maybe more, but when I went it hadn’t been cleaned in a while.  There was stuff floating on the surface, and it had an oily feel, and the whole room smelled like some sort of nasty soup or old dish water. The good news is that the place across the street (The Springs) is greatly improved from my last visit.  These are a series of outdoor pools (bathing suit required) in tiers down to the river, going from 110 degrees down to tepid.  If I were just a little bit younger, I’d have to say the babes in string bikinis ain’t so hard to look at, either.  $12 for the day.   I’m talking about the pools. Creede, Colorado I was wandering desolately down the main street, beseeching complete strangers for access to a phone line so I could e-mail you guys, when I saw a large orange tabby limping across the street.  She was collared, tagged, and belled.  Her left rear foot was held up high, and it looked like something red stained the paw. I ducked into the Kentucky Belle, which is a grocery store, and told the clerk it looked like someone’s cat was hurt. "Big orange cat?" "Yeah." "That’s the town cat.  She don’t belong to anyone special.  She got froze to a bridge." The girl was checking out groceries and talking over her shoulder. She was obviously busy, so I didn’t press her, though now I wish I had.  This was a healthy animal, with an imperious air only slightly spoiled by the her legged gait.  On closer inspection, the red stuff on her paw looked like some kind of medicine. The Town Cat.  I guess if you’re going to get stuck to a bridge, this is the place to do it. Between Mora and Angelfire, New Mexico I’ve noticed the black flies here are bigger and slower than the ones I’m used to in Texas.  And louder.  If you happen to leave your door open during your nap, they’ll make you dream in black and white, of old war movies.  Spitfires and B-29s.  Since I never know when a nap is coming at me, I am apt to do this. I bought a fly swatter at the Wal-Mart in Las Vegas, N.M.  Actually they came packaged in pairs, which I took as an omen.  Never know when you might need back-up. In all fairness, though, I have to say they are a tough, tenacious bunch.  I was particularly impressed with a certain Sampson of their lot.  I decided to skip Taos on the way up.  It’s a good town for walking, but finding a place to park the Behemoth I’m living in just didn’t seem attractive to me this time round.  The traffic is crazy there around the square, and you can’t avoid it. So I took a winding narrow road out of Mora, past Coyote Creek State Park.  When the road opened up a bit approaching Angelfire, I stopped in a turnout, arranged a nice view of the Sangre de Cristos, and made a sandwich.  A few flies got in, so I lay about with the swatter till they granted me a funereal peace. After I got back in the truck and started off down the hill, I noticed through the windshield that one of these smug odious vermin had made himself a perch exactly where the hood ornament would be, if I had one.  I sped up to 30 mph.  He was unconcerned.  40 mph.  He couldn’t care less.  50 mph.  If a fly could yawn, he would.  As I approached 60 mph, I saw him hunker down a little on the slick surface of the paint.  Got you now, sucker. But as luck would have it, a car slowed down in front of me, approaching a curve, and I had to let up.  I didn’t want to explain the cause of my injuries to the attending physician, if Angelfire has such a thing.  As I slowed down to 30 mph, the devil flew away.  But I cannot say blew away.  He left calmly, at a time and place of his own choosing. And that’s it for now. Bob

Response:

You want skeeters?  Try Western Montana.  Mosquitos are their state bird!  After they drained me, they even offered me a glass of orange juice! Gus Weber – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I didn’t want to explain the cause of my injuries to the attending physician, if Angelfire has such a thing. Hahahaha!  Those flies are deadly…… nothing compared to the skeeters in Bismark, ND though. Did you go to the Vietnam Memorial? Hunter

Response:

No, I’ve been before, and this week I just didn’t need the depression it brought on.

full of Harleys. Their owners were mostly pretty scary looking…. ……there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. I had to leave I was a mess, I can’t take it when other people cry….. it was heartbreaking to be there…. Hunter

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks again Bob. On my recent trip to CO this past August we were going to stay at The Spa because they now have a small RV park with hookups for about 6 or so RVs, but alas only for fully self contained units and they don’t allow pets.  The massages across the street are excellent BTW. We ended up right outside town at a RV park right on the San Juan River (I think it’s called Riverview, it’s on the left as you are leaving town on Hwy 160 going toward Wolf Creek Pass) with a nice little pond of their own. Very friendly and helpful people.  I’ve been there before. The other thing I might mention is that just before you get to Wolf Creek Pass there is a turnout on the right that lets you take a nice hike up to the headwaters of the San Juan River.  It’s a nice (uphill) hike and the falls at the top are beautiful.

Thanks yourself.  I am going back through Pagosa this weekend.  They are having a big festival and balloon ascension, and besides it’s on the way to the fleshpots of Durango.  I give Riverview a look.  I went to the falls years ago, and I think I’ll revisit. Now I’ve got to go unload my wallet and get some flyfishing lessons for tomorrow.  Hectic pace out here.  :) Bob

Response:

I didn’t want to explain the cause of my injuries to the attending physician, if Angelfire has such a thing. Hahahaha!  Those flies are deadly…… nothing compared to the skeeters in Bismark, ND though. Did you go to the Vietnam Memorial? Hunter

No, I’ve been before, and this week I just didn’t need the depression it brought on. It’s a good display, though.  There’s another in California with a lot of good sculpture.  It’s off IH5, but right now I can’t look it up, I’m stuck in a phone booth.  Later. Bob

Response:

A few notes of passing interest…. Chama, New Mexico I stayed in the Rio Chama RV Park, a nice piece of cottonwood bottom right along the river, next to a trestle bridge for the Cumbres and Toltec steam excursion train.  The Station is about a half mile west. While watching the horrible news on TV that evening, I heard a couple of loud spaced reports, like shotguns going off nearby.  I thought, "It’s black powder season – but in town?" I went down to the tracks and met one the guys who ride around in golf carts helping people park their houses.  He was walking back from the woods along the track. "Somebody shooting down here?" "Nah.  That was me.  Firecrackers.  Them bears are tryin’ to climb the fence again." It turns out that a sow and 2 cubs had been getting into the garbage cans, and apparently tore up a screen door the day before.  One of the weapons used by the Forest Service to control them is rubber bullets, which are packed with a light powder charge into a 12 gauge shotgun shell.  On request, they pass them out in small numbers to residents. I heard one fellow laughing about his "doofus" neighbor who picked up a few and then realized he only had a 20 gauge to shoot them with. Pagosa Springs, Colorado I have been coming to Pagosa to ski for 20 years.  I always stayed at the Spa Motel, to make use of the hot spring baths, the swimming pool, and the occasional massage.  One of my favorite memories of this place is the year it snowed so much the ticket office at Wolf Creek was buried, and the whole enterprise was shut down for days.  I eventually escaped to Purgatory, pointing my Bronco carefully down the middle of the white space between the humps of the fencing along the buried highway, hoping to stay on the road.  But the night before I left, I spent an interesting hour in the warm swimming pool, watching those big heavy flakes crowd down out of the black sky, plopping into the pool around me.  I’m sure they didn’t really hiss as they hit the water, but that’s the way I remember it. The swimming pool is still ok, but I am sorry to report the indoor soaking pool is not being maintained properly.  This may be just one bad day, so check it out if you come through.  They give out flannel sheets to wrap up in when you are steaming, and you can lay back on benches and drift off till you cool down and go back in.  The water is still 108 degrees, or maybe more, but when I went it hadn’t been cleaned in a while.  There was stuff floating on the surface, and it had an oily feel, and the whole room smelled like some sort of nasty soup or old dish water. The good news is that the place across the street (The Springs) is greatly improved from my last visit.  These are a series of outdoor pools (bathing suit required) in tiers down to the river, going from 110 degrees down to tepid.  If I were just a little bit younger, I’d have to say the babes in string bikinis ain’t so hard to look at, either.  $12 for the day.   I’m talking about the pools. Creede, Colorado I was wandering desolately down the main street, beseeching complete strangers for access to a phone line so I could e-mail you guys, when I saw a large orange tabby limping across the street.  She was collared, tagged, and belled.  Her left rear foot was held up high, and it looked like something red stained the paw.   I ducked into the Kentucky Belle, which is a grocery store, and told the clerk it looked like someone’s cat was hurt. "Big orange cat?" "Yeah." "That’s the town cat.  She don’t belong to anyone special.  She got froze to a bridge." The girl was checking out groceries and talking over her shoulder. She was obviously busy, so I didn’t press her, though now I wish I had.  This was a healthy animal, with an imperious air only slightly spoiled by the her legged gait.  On closer inspection, the red stuff on her paw looked like some kind of medicine. The Town Cat.  I guess if you’re going to get stuck to a bridge, this is the place to do it. Between Mora and Angelfire, New Mexico I’ve noticed the black flies here are bigger and slower than the ones I’m used to in Texas.  And louder.  If you happen to leave your door open during your nap, they’ll make you dream in black and white, of old war movies.  Spitfires and B-29s.  Since I never know when a nap is coming at me, I am apt to do this. I bought a fly swatter at the Wal-Mart in Las Vegas, N.M.  Actually they came packaged in pairs, which I took as an omen.  Never know when you might need back-up. In all fairness, though, I have to say they are a tough, tenacious bunch.  I was particularly impressed with a certain Sampson of their lot.  I decided to skip Taos on the way up.  It’s a good town for walking, but finding a place to park the Behemoth I’m living in just didn’t seem attractive to me this time round.  The traffic is crazy there around the square, and you can’t avoid it. So I took a winding narrow road out of Mora, past Coyote Creek State Park.  When the road opened up a bit approaching Angelfire, I stopped in a turnout, arranged a nice view of the Sangre de Cristos, and made a sandwich.  A few flies got in, so I lay about with the swatter till they granted me a funereal peace. After I got back in the truck and started off down the hill, I noticed through the windshield that one of these smug odious vermin had made himself a perch exactly where the hood ornament would be, if I had one.  I sped up to 30 mph.  He was unconcerned.  40 mph.  He couldn’t care less.  50 mph.  If a fly could yawn, he would.  As I approached 60 mph, I saw him hunker down a little on the slick surface of the paint.  Got you now, sucker. But as luck would have it, a car slowed down in front of me, approaching a curve, and I had to let up.  I didn’t want to explain the cause of my injuries to the attending physician, if Angelfire has such a thing.  As I slowed down to 30 mph, the devil flew away.  But I cannot say blew away.  He left calmly, at a time and place of his own choosing. And that’s it for now. Bob

Response:

Question:

[ . . . ] "Since his graduation from Princeton summa cum laude in 1983, Walter Kirn ‘83 has studied at Oxford University, worked as an editor at Spy magazine in New York City, published an acclaimed collection of stories, My Hard Bargain, and a novel, She Needed Me, and freelanced for various publications. Six years ago, he left Manhattan for Montana, attracted by the silence and the barking dogs that keep one from going ‘too deep into the verbal jungle.’ He became New York magazine’s book critic and continues to write regularly for several New York-based national publications from Montana, where he lives with his wife, Maggie-the daughter of actress Margot Kidder and writer Tom McGuane-and their 10-month-old baby, Maisie . . . .

[ . . . ] This isn’t real, is it? Are you sure one of the _New York Magazine_ competition writers didn’t do this? E. Penrose

Response:

This is rich. In the May 31, 1999 issue of Time Magazine, featuring a Special Report: How to Spot a Troubled Kid, Walter Kirn, author of the article "Inside Ritalin" wrote a piece titled: "The Danger of Suppressing Sadness – What if Holden Caulfield had been taking Prozac?" Holden Caufield, as I’m sure you remember, was the dropout hero of J.D. Salinger’s "The Catcher in the Rye." In that article, Kirn states: " . . . . I know from my own experience with clinical depression (contracted as an adult and treated with a combination of therapy and drugs) that such diseases are real and formidable, impossible to wish away . . . ." Pshaw. Tom

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I purchased the December issue of GQ today, which because of the really hot pictures of Charlize Theron on the cover and elsewhere in the magazine, wasn’t a total waste of $3.00. The article, "Inside Ritalin," by Walter Kirn is a complete work of fiction, in my opinion, both as it related to Kirn’s ADD status – ". . . . the symptoms first appeared in junior high school . . . ." – and his experience with Ritalin – " . . . . there I am, as jazzed as any speed freak who’s just put his girlfriend in the hospital after an all-night quarrel in a motel room . . . . ," unless he was taking 800 mg. a day. Kirn is a book critic and fiction writer.  His 1999

novel "Thumbsucker" is a – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – cynical coming of age story.  "When young Justin Cobb is finally cured of his thumbsucking habit, his obsessions change to less benign ones that include sex, drugs, fly-fishing, Mormonism, and Ritalin. This comic novel is set vividly in the world of the 1980s." From the Princeton "In Review" November 3, 1999 http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_old/PAW99-00/04- 1103/1103irtx.html "Interview with Walter Kirn ‘83 "Since his graduation from Princeton summa cum laude in 1983, Walter Kirn ‘83 has studied at Oxford University, worked as an editor at Spy magazine in New York City, published an acclaimed collection of stories, My Hard Bargain, and a novel, She Needed Me, and freelanced for various publications. Six years ago, he left Manhattan for Montana, attracted by the silence and the barking dogs that keep one from going ‘too deep into the verbal jungle.’ He became New York magazine’s book critic and continues to write regularly for several New York-based national publications from Montana, where he lives with his wife, Maggie-the daughter of actress Margot Kidder and writer Tom McGuane- and their 10-month-old baby, Maisie . . . . "Q: Do you feel torn between fiction and nonfiction? "A: My primary ambition is to be a fiction writer. At some point I made a conscious decision not to teach-yet-and so the alternative was quote unquote grub street, which I think is an honorable tradition much maligned by the lofty academics of the 20th century. I write for four magazines-Vanity Fair, GQ, Time, and New York-and for each one I try to exercise a different faculty. . . . Being a critic wasn’t an aspiration of mine, but it was something I could do from Montana, where I moved six years ago . . . . "Q: Tell us about your family. "A: I grew up in a tiny Minnesota town of 500 people called Marine-on-St.-Croix. My father actually went to Princeton, Class of 1960, and was a patent attorney at 3M in Minnesota. My mother, like the mother in Thumbsucker, was a registered nurse. In its vital statistics, the family in the book very much resembles my own. But I get tired of explaining: A writer’s like the magpie, he picks everything shiny and brings it back to his nest . . . It’s mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine-it’s not transcribe." "Mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine" fairly describes Kirn’s purportedly autobiographical "Inside Ritalin." Watch out for "literary types" and save your $3.00 for something

useful. Tell us more about those pictures…. — Mark Probert Make sure your vote counts–DO NOT vote from the Banana Republic of Florida!

Response:

I read Vanity Fair regularly, and have never noticed thisWalter Kim……am I missing something?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I purchased the December issue of GQ today, which because of the really hot pictures of Charlize Theron on the cover and elsewhere in the magazine, wasn’t a total waste of $3.00. The article, "Inside Ritalin," by Walter Kirn is a complete work of fiction, in my opinion, both as it related to Kirn’s ADD status – ". . . . the symptoms first appeared in junior high school . . . ." – and his experience with Ritalin – " . . . . there I am, as jazzed as any speed freak who’s just put his girlfriend in the hospital after an all-night quarrel in a motel room . . . . ," unless he was taking 800 mg. a day. Kirn is a book critic and fiction writer.  His 1999 novel "Thumbsucker" is a cynical coming of age story.  "When young Justin Cobb is finally cured of his thumbsucking habit, his obsessions change to less benign ones that include sex, drugs, fly-fishing, Mormonism, and Ritalin. This comic novel is set vividly in the world of the 1980s." From the Princeton "In Review" November 3, 1999 http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_old/PAW99-00/04- 1103/1103irtx.html "Interview with Walter Kirn ‘83 "Since his graduation from Princeton summa cum laude in 1983, Walter Kirn ‘83 has studied at Oxford University, worked as an editor at Spy magazine in New York City, published an acclaimed collection of stories, My Hard Bargain, and a novel, She Needed Me, and freelanced for various publications. Six years ago, he left Manhattan for Montana, attracted by the silence and the barking dogs that keep one from going ‘too deep into the verbal jungle.’ He became New York magazine’s book critic and continues to write regularly for several New York-based national publications from Montana, where he lives with his wife, Maggie-the daughter of actress Margot Kidder and writer Tom McGuane- and their 10-month-old baby, Maisie . . . . "Q: Do you feel torn between fiction and nonfiction? "A: My primary ambition is to be a fiction writer. At some point I made a conscious decision not to teach-yet-and so the alternative was quote unquote grub street, which I think is an honorable tradition much maligned by the lofty academics of the 20th century. I write for four magazines-Vanity Fair, GQ, Time, and New York-and for each one I try to exercise a different faculty. . . . Being a critic wasn’t an aspiration of mine, but it was something I could do from Montana, where I moved six years ago . . . . "Q: Tell us about your family. "A: I grew up in a tiny Minnesota town of 500 people called Marine-on-St.-Croix. My father actually went to Princeton, Class of 1960, and was a patent attorney at 3M in Minnesota. My mother, like the mother in Thumbsucker, was a registered nurse. In its vital statistics, the family in the book very much resembles my own. But I get tired of explaining: A writer’s like the magpie, he picks everything shiny and brings it back to his nest . . . It’s mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine-it’s not transcribe." "Mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine" fairly describes Kirn’s purportedly autobiographical "Inside Ritalin." Watch out for "literary types" and save your $3.00 for something useful. Tell us more about those pictures…. — Mark Probert Make sure your vote counts–DO NOT vote from the Banana Republic of Florida!

Response:

~~~ Words escape me.  Rent "The Devil’s Advocate" for a good gander, and don’t break the rewind button on your VCR remote. _____

Kim……am I missing something?" ~~~ He’s not not cup of espresso.  I did a google.com search on "Walter KIRN" and came up with a lot of stuff he’s written in "New York Magazine" and "Time", each of which have on-line versions, but I had never heard of him before. "Vanity Fair" is not on-line, as far as I can tell.   This doesn’t really answer your question, though. Cheers, Tom

Response:

Magazine_ competition writers didn’t do this?" ~~~ It’s real in the same sense that the writings of Hunter S. Thompson are real. Cheers, Tom

Response:

I purchased the December issue of GQ today, which because of the really hot pictures of Charlize Theron on the cover and elsewhere in the magazine, wasn’t a total waste of $3.00. The article, "Inside Ritalin," by Walter Kirn is a complete work of fiction, in my opinion, both as it related to Kirn’s ADD status – ". . . . the symptoms first appeared in junior high school . . . ." – and his experience with Ritalin – " . . . . there I am, as jazzed as any speed freak who’s just put his girlfriend in the hospital after an all-night quarrel in a motel room . . . . ," unless he was taking 800 mg. a day. Kirn is a book critic and fiction writer.  His 1999 novel "Thumbsucker" is a cynical coming of age story.  "When young Justin Cobb is finally cured of his thumbsucking habit, his obsessions change to less benign ones that include sex, drugs, fly-fishing, Mormonism, and Ritalin. This comic novel is set vividly in the world of the 1980s." From the Princeton "In Review" November 3, 1999 http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_old/PAW99-00/04-1103/1103irtx.html "Interview with Walter Kirn ‘83 "Since his graduation from Princeton summa cum laude in 1983, Walter Kirn ‘83 has studied at Oxford University, worked as an editor at Spy magazine in New York City, published an acclaimed collection of stories, My Hard Bargain, and a novel, She Needed Me, and freelanced for various publications. Six years ago, he left Manhattan for Montana, attracted by the silence and the barking dogs that keep one from going ‘too deep into the verbal jungle.’ He became New York magazine’s book critic and continues to write regularly for several New York-based national publications from Montana, where he lives with his wife, Maggie-the daughter of actress Margot Kidder and writer Tom McGuane-and their 10-month-old baby, Maisie . . . . "Q: Do you feel torn between fiction and nonfiction? "A: My primary ambition is to be a fiction writer. At some point I made a conscious decision not to teach-yet-and so the alternative was quote unquote grub street, which I think is an honorable tradition much maligned by the lofty academics of the 20th century. I write for four magazines-Vanity Fair, GQ, Time, and New York-and for each one I try to exercise a different faculty. . . . Being a critic wasn’t an aspiration of mine, but it was something I could do from Montana, where I moved six years ago . . . . "Q: Tell us about your family. "A: I grew up in a tiny Minnesota town of 500 people called Marine-on-St.-Croix. My father actually went to Princeton, Class of 1960, and was a patent attorney at 3M in Minnesota. My mother, like the mother in Thumbsucker, was a registered nurse. In its vital statistics, the family in the book very much resembles my own. But I get tired of explaining: A writer’s like the magpie, he picks everything shiny and brings it back to his nest . . . It’s mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine-it’s not transcribe." "Mix and match, exaggerate, distort, delete, imagine" fairly describes Kirn’s purportedly autobiographical "Inside Ritalin." Watch out for "literary types" and save your $3.00 for something useful. Cheers, Tom

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Question:

For much of the past decade my family and I have vacationed in North- Central New Mexico (Santa Fe/Taos area). … Historically they’ve been wonderful, since few people fished them.  But that seems to have changed…

I’ll confess to being part of the problem. We were in Taos for a week last October and found it a wonderful vacation spot both for me and my flyfishing and Kristine and her shopping/photography. I was able to find solitude, in October, the further I got from the "Enchanted Circle", FWIW. — Ken Fortenberry

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For much of the past decade my family and I have vacationed in North- Central New Mexico (Santa Fe/Taos area).  It always seemed to offer something for everyone…culture and restaurants for my wife, fishing and hiking for me.  I returned last week after an absence of 3 years and couldn’t believe the increase in fishing pressure and resulting reduction in fishing quality. Exhibit 1 — an small, alpine tailwater (maybe 60 cfm)with a nice population of cuts.  Catch and release.  Fished it three years ago, in the prime water on a WEEKEND, and saw one other rod all day.  Last week, on a Tuesday, had to scramble to find a stretch to fish.  At least 10 other rods on a 1.5 mile stretch. Exhibit 2 — a tiny mountain stream, 2 hour drive from anywhere. Walked in and got no hits.  Started moving quickly, and eventually ran into a fisherman.  I’d been fishing in his wake.  Walked another half mile, same problem.  Eventually had to drive a mile downstream, and walk another mile to get onto virgin water, then had a reasonable time. Unlike streams in places like Montana (or even the San Juan), the streams in North-Central NM are generally so small that they can’t support very much pressure.  Historically they’ve been wonderful, since few people fished them.  But that seems to have changed… Michael — www.geocities.com/yosemite/falls/3363 Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

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Question:

I agree with whoever said test test test. i know testing helps me feel better knowing what my sugar is. I also think it’s an individual matter for each to find. I know it’s been like that for me. I try to raise my blood sugar before my workouts (aerobic classes usually) so that I don’t have to worry about it during and after the wrokout. I usually have juice or fruit and it works to raise it enough so I don’t have to worry, and then i usually have dinner after. When I go out for bike rides alone I do the same thing. If it helps, I kept an article about managing blood sugar that i read in the magazine Diabetes Self Management. I thought it was a very good article that gave lots of examples about blood suagr during exercise and what to do about food and insulin. It was in the November December 1996 issue. The title was Balancing Blood Sugar and Exercise by Richard Weil. I don’t know if this is in the library, but there is a number in the magazine that i guess you could call to request a copy or maybe a back issue. The number is 800 234-0923 (that’s the subscription service). There’s also a number for advertising [212] 989-0200. I would try both numbers. The article really cleared up some things for me so I recommend it to you. I don’t work for the magazine, but I do think the article was helpful. Good Luck, Tina

Response:

There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never.

Much more common are:   Falls causing sprains/broken bones: you lose your mobility, then you’re in trouble. Happens even without ‘cliffs’.   Inadequate clothing and/or shelter (exposure, hypothermia).   Insufficient food intake/food supply (starvation).   Insufficient water. – - – The root cause of these problems is usually foolish overconfidence. The one which is highly affected by DM is insufficient food intake,   which I have suffered a few times. Test often! Take lots of extra food, extra drugs, an entire extra test kit.   Experience is critical. DON’T try a 5-day in the middle of no where until you have a lot of solo overnights and 2-nighters under your belt.

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   Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes    Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer    on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on    vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. Actually you have answered your own question… You said "ALONE" The simple soultion is as follows 1: Always have a ready source of "Quick" glucose (Cake Iceing tubes)    Gluco gell, Gluco Tabs, Regular (not diet) pop,  Orange juice 2: (And this is perhaps the more improtant) always have a partner who    KNOWS you are diabetic and KNOWS the signs of HYPO in you. Now if you happen not to be a diabetic (As many are not) Then #2 is becomes #1 and delete all after PARTNER.  That is right… Man was not ment to be alone, Man was ment to be partnered (No this is not a religious or moral statment)  but there have been many, many, many stories of a couple of people who went out in the woods and one became injured.  The other saved his/her life.  There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never. So the easy answer is DO NOT HIKE ALONE,  Take a main squeze or hiking partner "Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business" A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep. Net-Tamer V 1.08X – Registered

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

When you know let me in on the secret.  Last winter I went out one weekend alone to go hiking and waterfall viewing.  One time I was about 3 miles into a lonely trail when it hit.  I had taken extra carbo before the hike (granola bars), and luckily I had a sack of candies.   The entire walk back it was one candy after another.  I must have injested over 100 grams carbo by the time I got back to civilization.   So what’s the answer?  Eat as you go?  Doesn’t sound fun to me.  Less insulin?  I’ve read that you should actually take a little insulin before you excercise, to make sure your body doesn’t starve of glucose and start keto.  Maybe both…..  Trial and error seems the only way for now.

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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

You are talking essentially about exercise so I have attached my standard exercise answer.  There is tremendous variability in diabetics response to exercise and the response is also affected by your type of diabetes and medication.  Some people can get along with only minor adjustments in their routine and some of us have to do quite a bit of compensation.  The more you learn about diabetes, your particular flavor of it, how the body normally works, and how a diabetics body works, the better you will be able to adjust to abnormal situations be they changes in activity, diet, workshifts or whatever.  Diabetics can do pretty much what ever they want to.  The first diabetic to swim the English Channel was just in the news. That doesn’t mean, however, that it you don’t have to put extra effort into it to deal with the effects of having diabetes.  When I think about doing things with diabetes, I often remember the old joke about Ginger Rogers.  She did everything Fred did, but backwards wearing high heels. — Charles Coughran Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="EXERCIS5.TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="EXERCIS5.TXT" The best way to deal with problems associated with diabetes and exercise begins with understanding of what goes on in the metabolic system of normal people and what the differences are for diabetics. Only with such understanding can you make intelligent choices about pharmacological tactics. Relying on rules of thumb can cause more problems it solves because of the wide variability of individual responses and the wide variety of diseases that fall under the rubric of diabetes. Not to mention, I have seen postings where the rules of thumb were clearly misunderstood. While the following is intended for those who take insulin, it may assist those on oral medications as well. Exercise in this context means extended aerobic activity, say a minimum of 20 minutes of jogging. This is a somewhat simplified account but I think it captures the most important aspects for exercise related bg control. Comments encouraged. When a normal person starts to exercise, the insulin output of his pancreas goes down. At first blush, this seems backward since the muscles are working hard and therefore require more glucose to be transported from the blood into the cells. There are two reasons more glucose can be transported with less available insulin. The first is that during exercise insulin becomes much more efficient. The mechanism of this effect is not fully understood, but it helps overcomes the reduction in circulating insulin. Second, exercise activates non-insulin mediated glucose transport pathways. These pathways are not sufficient to handle the load in the absence of insulin, but do increase the effective insulin efficiency. When insulin levels decline relative to the counterregulatory hormones — glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol — the liver is stimulated to release stored glucose. The blood glucose that is being transported into the cells is replaced by that from hepatic stores. It is this hormonal balance system that keeps the levels of blood glucose in the normal narrow range during exercise. For those of us who inject insulin, the first problem is obvious. Our circulating levels of insulin do not react to exercise. Absent any correction, when the muscles demand glucose and insulin becomes more efficient our blood glucose plummets and we become hypoglycemic. This is the reason for a commonly encountered prohibition to not schedule exercise when your insulin is peaking. The higher the level of circulating insulin, the more pronounced the effect. One solution is to reduce our circulating insulin levels by reducing insulin intake. Here specific advice starts to be difficult due to the wide variety of insulins, regimens, and individual variability. The spectrum spans from a Type II who takes a little NPH to help his beta cells out to a c-peptide free pumper. I have spoken to diabetic runners whose tactics would put me in an ambulance, even though our situations seem to be very similar. You see a lot of advice of the form, "reduce your insulin 2 units for every hour of strenuous exercise". This kind of advice ignores real world variability and is sometimes much worse than useless. Clearly, someone who takes one shot/day has a much more limited ability to adjust circulating insulin levels than someone using multiple injections or a pump. The other approach is to increase blood glucose levels by eating carbohydrates timed to arrive at the blood stream in the form of glucose when it is needed. The easiest way to do that is usually to eat fast acting carbohydrates during or immediately preceding exercise. Again, there are rules of thumb around about so many grams of carbohydrates for a particular length of exercise at some defined level. Again, they seem to be swamped by individual and circumstantial variability. Some of us do a combination of both and pump up our bg levels somewhat before exercise and reduce insulin levels to keep things on an even keel. The bottom line is to make careful adjustments and test, and test, and test, to find out how things work for your particular body. So much for too much insulin. What happens when the circulating insulin level is too low? When levels are so low that even the increase in insulin efficiency doesn’t overcome the defect, glucose isn’t transported into the cells. Worse, since insulin levels are low the liver continues to pump glucose into the blood. The result is bg levels rise with exercise. The muscles get stressed due to lack of fuel and the metabolism of fats kicks in, ketones start being produced and the danger of ketosis or ketoacidosis looms. This is the basis for another rule of thumb which is often misunderstood. The rule is usually stated "don’t exercise when your bg is above 240 mg/dl (13.3 mmol/l) and ketones are present in the urine". This makes sense because those are signs that you have inadequate insulin supplies — that’s how many of us got diagnosed. Exercise in those circumstances will make things worse, not better. On the other hand, if you are 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/l) because you just drank a large regular cola by mistake with lunch, exercise is a great way to bring that bg down in a hurry. Why your bg is elevated is just as important as the fact of the elevated level when deciding whether or not exercise is contraindicated. The 240 is also a somewhat arbitrary number. Some people start throwing ketones at significantly lower levels. In short: avoid exercise if your insulin level is too low. Do exercise if you are sure your insulin level is adequate but your blood glucose is too high. Exercise also produces effects at longer time scales. Sometime after exercise, there is often a take up of blood glucose by the muscles to replenish depleted stores. This most often occurs an hour or two after exercise, but has been reported in the range of 1/2 hour to 48 hours. Again, as is the case during exercise, artificially high insulin levels will lead to hypoglycemia. The last rule of thumb is to watch for hypoglycemia after exercise. *SPECULATION BEGINS HERE* A problem some of us encounter from time to time is a post exercise bg spike. Blood glucose readings will be reasonable after exercise but sharply elevated a few hours later. It is my speculation that this represents circulating insulin levels that were adequate to deal with exercise induced blood glucose demand with its attendant insulin efficiency increase, but too low to deal with the post exercise demand when insulin efficiency has lowered somewhat. It has been my experience that post exercise elevated bg levels respond to much less insulin than would be required in a more normal situation. It appears that insulin efficiency falls off after exercise at some rate and you can be on the correct side of the curve during exercise and the wrong side after. This hypothesis is the best of a couple I have come up with. *SPECULATION ENDS HERE* Regular exercise over time scales of weeks or months can reduce overall insulin requirements. In addition, as muscles become trained and improve their internal storage, it feeds back into the amount of glucose demand present during exercise, and thus into the entire control cycle. Diabetes makes exercise, and almost everything else, harder. But, hey, if it was easy it wouldn’t be any fun There are two very good, readable books from which you can get more information. The better is Campaigne and Lampman, _Exercise in the Clinical Management of Diabetes_. Almost as good is _The Health Professional’s Guide to Diabetes and Exercise_ edited by Ruderman and Devlin and published by the American Diabetes Association.

Response:

Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"??

Frequent testing is not necessary.  I engage in all types of strenuous and active things (skiing, hiking, bicycling, snokling, rock climbing, etc.) with no testing at all during the activity. My method is this:  take into consideration your level of activity, adjust your insulin accordingly, and bring along lots of sugary things to compensate.  Of course, this only works if you are relatively good judge (like I am) of when your blood sugar is low. For example, when I go skiing, I’ve found that after eating a regular breakfast and taking a normal dose of insulin in the morning, that I can eat lunch without taking any insulin during the day’s activities. Then I eat dinner and take a normal dose.  It so happens that the decrease in my blood sugar corresponding to my increased activity is almost exactly balanced by the lunch I eat (usually it is not a very large lunch, though, because the ski food prices are so high). I should say that I am on an ultralente/Humalog regimine (I split the ultralente dose into morning and evening, and then just take the required amount of Humalog right before I’m going to eat something). Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

When I do something like this, I just don’t take any of the regular insulin (but keep the ultralente the same).  Often I still go low and need to eat something. If you can’t tell when you are getting low, then you are screwed and this easy method (make sure you have enough insulin so you don’t go hig and just eat when necessary to prevent lows) won’t work. keith

Response:

Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

Response:

You got it test test test…. experience experience  you can do anything if you are willing to do what it takes to know your body every step of the way.  Include your wife in everything…this should boost her confidence that you as a team can handle anything.  I have been diabetic for 20-years and have never let it stop me from anything I really wanted to do.  it just takes work. Good Luck, M.H. Moman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

– The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.                   -Frances Willard

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Question:

fish?  What dry fly catches the most? In an attempt to settle that debate and raise money for Trout Unlimited conservation efforts in Vermont, the first-ever Green Mountain Dual Fly Duel will be held June 28,1997 on the Winooski River in Bolton, Vermont. The Duel is open to all fly anglers.<< While I salute and support the cause for which this is being staged, I must ask why it’s being limited to only fly anglers? TU is NOT a group for fly flingers only, as evidenced by the most recent issue of TROUT magazine. Don’t outings like this falsely indicate to the public that TU is an elitist group of snobbish fly anglers, when in truth it’s a cold water conservation group open to all (even worm dunkers and non-anglers)? I’m constantly battling the image that we are a fly fishing only group within my own TU chapter, and wish others wouldn’t work so hard to undo the efforts some of us have performed. Fair winds and following seas, Pat in Pawtucket  RI Board member, Narragansett Chapter TU

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  What wet fly catches the most fish?  What dry fly catches the most? In an attempt to settle that debate and raise money for Trout Unlimited conservation efforts in Vermont, the first-ever Green Mountain Dual Fly Duel will be held June 28,1997 on the Winooski River in Bolton, Vermont.     The Duel is open to all fly anglers.  A morning of fishing will be followed with an awards ceremony and a catered barbecue at Bolton Valley Resort where a bevy of door prizes – rods, tackle and guided trips – will be given away.    The premise behind the Duel is simple.  Anglers – two to a boat – float the Winooski from sunrise to noon.  Each flyfisher chooses their favorite two flies and only that pair of flies (one wet, one dry) may be used during the Duel.  Break off your dry on a 22-inch brown trout? Then you’ve still got the wet fly to use.  Snap off the wet on a submerged log? Well then your Dueling Days are done.  You will, however, be able to fish the rest of the morning for pleasure.      In addition to the door prizes, merchandise awards will be given away for the angler or team of anglers catching the most trout and the largest trout.  Money raised from the Duel’s entry fee of $150 per angler (there are corporate team spots available) will benefit Trout Unlimited’s conversation and restoration efforts on Vermont rivers.  A portion of the entry fee is tax deductible.    John Merwin, the well-known fly fishing author, will be one of the Duel’s guests of honor.      There is a limited number of entry slots available. For more     Uncle Jammer’s Guide Service – 800 805 6495     Vermont Outdoor Guide Association 800 425 TRIP     Fly Tiers’ Heaven 802 879 7304. Bring the family for a weekend of fun on the river and in the mountains and feel good contributing to this noteworthy conservation fundraiser.

GO WITH THE GOLD-RIBBED HARE’S EAR AND A BORCHER’S SPECIAL DRY FLY. You’ll win. Mr. G.

Response:

 What wet fly catches the most fish?  What dry fly catches the most? In an attempt to settle that debate and raise money for Trout Unlimited conservation efforts in Vermont, the first-ever Green Mountain Dual Fly Duel will be held June 28,1997 on the Winooski River in Bolton, Vermont.     The Duel is open to all fly anglers.  A morning of fishing will be followed with an awards ceremony and a catered barbecue at Bolton Valley Resort where a bevy of door prizes – rods, tackle and guided trips – will be given away.    The premise behind the Duel is simple.  Anglers – two to a boat – float the Winooski from sunrise to noon.  Each flyfisher chooses their favorite two flies and only that pair of flies (one wet, one dry) may be used during the Duel.  Break off your dry on a 22-inch brown trout? Then you’ve still got the wet fly to use.  Snap off the wet on a submerged log? Well then your Dueling Days are done.  You will, however, be able to fish the rest of the morning for pleasure.      In addition to the door prizes, merchandise awards will be given away for the angler or team of anglers catching the most trout and the largest trout.  Money raised from the Duel’s entry fee of $150 per angler (there are corporate team spots available) will benefit Trout Unlimited’s conversation and restoration efforts on Vermont rivers.  A portion of the entry fee is tax deductible.    John Merwin, the well-known fly fishing author, will be one of the Duel’s guests of honor.      There is a limited number of entry slots available. For more     Uncle Jammer’s Guide Service – 800 805 6495     Vermont Outdoor Guide Association 800 425 TRIP     Fly Tiers’ Heaven 802 879 7304. Bring the family for a weekend of fun on the river and in the mountains and feel good contributing to this noteworthy conservation fundraiser.

Response:

While I salute and support the cause for which this is being staged, I must ask why it’s being limited to only fly anglers?

‘Cuz it’s a bitch to cast a dry fly with a level-wind?

Response:

Just a quick fact: In Colorado, this competition would be illegal… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

Response:

Just a quick fact: In Colorado, this competition would be illegal… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

Can you check the regulations there closely for me Tim, and apply your best legal and ethical judgement as to whether it might also be illegal for a fisher to count his fish and tell me his fish count?  I believe the de facto intention for counting fish is for competition purposes. Also check as to how many points one might be dinged against their license for each infraction. Mark Vinsel — http://www.lanminds.com/local/vinnie/gallery.html

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just a quick fact: In Colorado, this competition would be illegal… — TimW Halfordian Golfer Can you check the regulations there closely for me Tim, and apply your best legal and ethical judgement as to whether it might also be illegal for a fisher to count his fish and tell me his fish count?  I believe the de facto intention for counting fish is for competition purposes. Also check as to how many points one might be dinged against their license for each infraction.

I just reread the entire Colorado State pamphlet…probably the first time in 10 years.  Organized competition for any reason is expressly prohibited in all *rivers*.  You can hold one on a lake, but not a river.   Damned good thing too.  It’s hard enough to simply get a decent beat anymore, much less with some frikken one-fly- superman-contest going on… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

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Question:

I went fishing for Stripers last Friday on the Sacramento River between Decker Island and Rio Vista.  I didn’t have a boat, so I fished off of the banks using blood worms.  I had a few bites, but didn’t catch any fish. Does anyone have experience fishing the Delta for Stripers from shore? What baits, presentations, locations, tides do you fish, and has fishing been good off of the banks recently?  I drove quite a bit on Friday, and only saw a handful of fisherman fishing from the shores. Thanks, KenP

Response:

It’s really frustrating to fish stripers in the river with a boat, much less off the shore. You’d be better of in the Amercian river. There are more "hole" where the fish stop and concentrate. Some of the fly fishing shop in Sac are good resources to tell you where to go, as fly fishing for stripers is becomming really popular.

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Question:

: When your guides ice-up and so you try to pee pee and that’s iced up too. : Then it’s too cold to fly fish. I submit it is too cold to fly fish, when the wings on those buggers start to ice up.   — Rick T. Rick Fletcher   –   http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/~fletcher/ Assistant professor of chemistry  |  That’s Idaho, not Iowa.    | ad hominem University of Idaho               |  Upper Left Hand Corner.    | ad hominem Moscow, ID 83844-2343             |  No, I don’t grow potatoes. | ad hominem

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: When your guides ice-up and so you try to pee pee and that’s iced up too. : Then it’s too cold to fly fish. I submit it is too cold to fly fish, when the wings on those buggers start to ice up.   — Rick T. Rick Fletcher   –   http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/~fletcher/ Assistant professor of chemistry  |  That’s Idaho, not Iowa.    | ad hominem University of Idaho               |  Upper Left Hand Corner.    | ad hominem Moscow, ID 83844-2343             |  No, I don’t grow potatoes. | ad hominem

You wouldn’t be much good for steedheading in the Northeast then.  There are several "tricks of the trade," to try to eliminate ice.

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must do wonders for the guides and the rod…

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That stuff is mostly isopropanol, toxic to fish, not good to be spilling in a stream. In fact, probably illegal in some states with stringent regulations (like California.) If you must use stuff like that onstream, be sure to filter it through a loaf of bread first. — Ken Clark Ft. Lupton, CO

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Try using windshield de-icer to keep your guides and flies free of ice.

Research reveals that 9 out of 10 guides prefer BOURBON to keep lubricated.

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Ghillies prefer Scotch, though.

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When the thought of tying flies near a fireplace sounds better’n flying ties in an ice storm.

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Try using windshield de-icer to keep your guides and flies free of ice. Research reveals that 9 out of 10 guides prefer BOURBON to keep lubricated.

IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS THE TEMPERATURE GETS DOWN TO -20/30 C IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY AND MOST FLY FISHERMEN COULDN’T BE BOTHERED TO CHISEL OUT A 40′X 1′ TRENCH THROUGH THE ICE IN ORDER TO LAY OUT A FLY NICELY.

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When your guides ice-up and so you try to pee pee and that’s iced up too. Then it’s too cold to fly fish.

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depends on how pissed off the old lady is…

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Try using windshield de-icer to keep your guides and flies free of ice. Research reveals that 9 out of 10 guides prefer BOURBON to keep lubricated. IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS THE TEMPERATURE GETS DOWN TO -20/30 C IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY AND MOST FLY FISHERMEN COULDN’T BE BOTHERED TO CHISEL OUT A 40′X 1′ TRENCH THROUGH THE ICE IN ORDER TO LAY OUT A FLY NICELY.

Haw! you think that’s bad,come down here to Texas for a week. 80 degree lows will make you shiver from head to toe!(well,maybe a little colder)                 Aaron Zee

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Try using windshield de-icer to keep your guides and flies free of ice.

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Question:

I’m just starting the sport of fly fishing and would like to know where I can fish in Arizona. I would appreciate information on productive fly fishing locations and places to stay also in the area.                        Thank you for your time,                                     Adam

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I’m just starting the sport of fly fishing and would like to know where I can fish in Arizona. I would appreciate information on productive fly fishing locations and places to stay also in the area.                       Thank you for your time,                                    Adam

Hello Adam, Welcome to flyfishing!  I think you will find many enjoyable opportunities to flyfish in the state of Arizona.  I upkeep a web page which is devoted to fly fishing in the state, which is not so surprisingly called Fly Fishing in Arizona.  On the page are several lists of fishing locations and resources, along with current fishing reports.  The location is listed below. I hope this information is of use to you.  Please feel free to e-mail me with any additional questions. John Shannon Fly Fishing in Arizona http://www.indirect.com/user/jshannon

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 I’m just starting the sport of fly fishing and would like to know where I  can fish in Arizona. I would appreciate information on productive fly  fishing locations and places to stay also in the area.

Try  http://www.indirect.com/user/jshannon

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Adam, Try http://www.indirect.com/user/jshannon/, it is the AZ Flyfishing WWW home page.  I don’t know your location but the page has locations all over AZ.  I would recommend the lower Salt River (below Saguaro Lake) and Lee’s Ferry (if you can get there. Regards, Steve.

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(Filthyfly) writes: I’m just starting the sport of fly fishing and would like to know where I can fish in Arizona. I would appreciate information on productive fly fishing locations and places to stay also in the area.                       Thank you for your time,                                    Adam

Adam, Please check out www.kinghill.com/adventur/ambass.html and see the packages for fly fishing at Lee’s Ferry and the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon package is one of a kind…. Tom

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Question:

I guess little things in life please me; last weekend while tying some flies with a friend, his father showed us the trick of how to tie the head of a Muddler Minnow. I had always marvelled at these seemingly intricate flies and wondered "How in the world do you tie this?".

Pete,      Cool, huh?  As Scott indicates in response to this same posting, spinning deerhair is a basic technique that’s been around a long time. You can also spin other materials such as wool (woolhead sculpins) tow yarn (glow bugs) or any hollow animal hair.      Back in high school I reluctantly began tying commercially for local fly shops and a large mailorder firm.  I tried to stick mostly to custom tying because it didn’t get as boring (I would tie dozens of a pattern and color rather than grosses) and I made better money. Excellent spending (fishing) money for a teen by the way.  Anyway, I tied tons of muddlers.  Popular fly.  To form the head on a muddler you shouldn’t need to spin more than one clump of hair.  First, always use a heavier than normal thread when spinning hair.  Cut a suitable sized clump and stack the tips (even the hair tips).  These tips will form your muddler’s collar.  Make two loose wraps of thread around the hair and hook with the tips of the hair positioned to form the collar (usually about half way down the hook shank).  Begin to tighten your thread to flare the hair and wrap through the flared deerhair. Tie off and trim the flared butt ends and some of the tip ends of the deerhair.  The muddler should take less than 5 minutes to tie plus it’s a great fly.  I think you’ll find this method for muddler heads quicker, easier, and neater.  Have fun tying! John

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I guess little things in life please me; last weekend while tying some flies with a friend, his father showed us the trick of how to tie the head of a Muddler Minnow. I had always marvelled at these seemingly intricate flies and wondered "How in the world do you tie this?". The trick is that you take deer hair and wrap it to the hook near the head, splitting the length of the hair in 2.  As you let go of the deer hair, it fans out in a perpendicular fashion to the hook.  After wrapping several bunches of deer hair to the hook, the previous bunches get pushed backwards.  Then you just trim away the bulk of the dear head and sculpt the head of the muddler minnow. Its quite simple !  What a revelation!  I tied my 1st muddler and it looked AWESOME.                                                         pete                                                                            |_    

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Its quite simple !  What a revelation!  I tied my 1st muddler and it looked AWESOME.

The "trick" you describe is pretty much standard practice (its called hair spinning and is described in many fly tying books).. You did say in your original message that you were just trimming the hair to shape the head..  After you trim, you can use a match (or lighter if youre careful) to further refine the head’s shape.. Scott —             |                UUCP: ..!uunet!plains!wilken       |               | WWW page -= http://www.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/~wilken |

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