Wednesday, June 22, 2011

This is a test. Sigh... Fishy biz.


See the picture of the fish? 

That means, I suspect, the trouble I am having getting things to work, is in my computer.  I will check on Husband's computer, later, but I figured this would give me the "for sure" check, that it wasn't Blogger's fault (this time), because now, on top of not being able to write on all of your comments, not being able to respond to MY comments, now... I can't download pictures.  At least not on my computer.  I can UPload them, they just won't go on the blog!  I tried this at the computer at the substation, all is well. 

Snif...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

So, I will check on Husband's computer later.  If it is the case that my computer is dying has some technical problems, I will have to bum off his.  I really don't want to do that.  His computer is for business, and it makes for some interesting dances when we share.  I learned really quickly to hit the save now after nearly every sentence, in case he needed to check emails or get a file download.  He's very nice about it, but still, I am selfish enough to enjoy having my own computer... Eh.

So, I will regale you with non-picturfied stories of Ambassador's doings.  Now that I have actually BEEN an Ambassador...  Ironically, both were my 'fishing' trips, and I did get to fish.

About 2 1/2 minutes...

The first event I didn't do any fishing, and didn't really think I was going to.  We had a game for the kids during the state's "free fishing day", where you can fish without a license. 

There were lots of kids, and they had some NEAT displays and interactive things for them, (which I would love to show you pictures of, maybe later... sniffle...), they had a 50 some odd foot fiberglass fish the kids (and adults, if so inclined) could climb in, with the life cycle of salmon painted on the inside.  Outside it was a mondo huge salmon, on a trailer.  Others included how to tie knots for fishing, which I should really learn. 

There is a limit to how many times you can substitute an overhand knot for all the others...

A fishing game for little ones, where they had a fish pole with a magnet "hook" on it, and they caught wooden 'fish' that had a bolt on the top.  This led to some figuring out you could catch more than one if you swung the pole around just right.  One or two of the older ones were coming up with stringers in one catch!

The Fish and Wildlife people had a question and answer session and showed off a self-inflating life jacket, sort of like this one.  I referred to it as a "Mae West", (which comes from her... er... notable attributes...), and the Fish and Wildlife guy was impressed.  He said I was the first one he'd heard call it that that was under 60.  I suspect that females might be a tad less likely to call it that, as well, but I don't know. 

But they inflated the things about 3 or 4 times.  I thought it was fun, and wondered why they didn't do it several times, as it got a big crowd, and they were able to give out a lot of information.  He told me the canisters were about 80$ to replace, and the only reason they could do it at events like this, they saved 'expired' canisters, because they couldn't be safely used (I guess there's a chance they won't work after a certain period), and they need to dispose of them.  They just chose a flashy method of disposal, is all!

One neat thing from the Fish and Wildlife guy...  I had found a feather while walking on the place, have it on my hat, and he asked me if I knew what it was from.  I told him that no, I joked that it was an Aardvark feather, because I had been asked so many times.  He told me it was a flight feather from a great horned owl

He then asked if I had taken it from roadkill.  I was rather shocked by this, and said, nooo, it was from my property.  He then explained, owls are symbols of wisdom, but they are really kind of stupid.  The great horned owl is prone to chase small vermin, especially when they are in good light.  That is, sadly, when said vermin is running in front of a vehicle's lights.  The vermin gets by, but the owl... Usually doesn't.  And then folks take the feathers.

Oh. 

Urk.

Please let me be clear, all of the feathers I have had on my hat have been found on my place, from when I have been walking.  Just so you know... 

Our thing was for younger kids, we asked safety questions, and then they could toss a ring into a bucket for a prize, being a Junior Deputy star sticker, a pen or pencil, balloon, or mints.  The kids seemed to enjoy it, and we found out that some kids in this area have a dang fine pitching arm!  I think my favorite question of the whole day, though...

Little girl, 3 years, according to her fingers, and we asked a safety question. 

"Do you listen to your Mommy and Daddy?"

Beautiful, big green eyes, and she very seriously responds, "No..." 

Dad pipes up, "Dam*, Truth hurts!", while nearly busting a seam laughing.  She also tossed pretty well!  We all had a good laugh with it, and she seemed to gather she was not in trouble, so it worked out...

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I will put up the great 2 and 1/2 minute fishing adventure tomorrow. 

2 comments:

Louise said...

Sounds like you had a great time.

You may have heard or figured this out by now, but, many people are having the same problem you are having. Madi and Mom told me to clear my cookies. I did that, and, ta, da! My pictures would post again. I'm on Firefox, but she is on IE so it apparently works for both browsers.

The folks on Google Chrome are having no problem, so I am deep in a conspiracy theory, with my tin hat firmly on my head, wondering if they are purposely doing this so that we all switch to Chrome.

messymimi said...

One of the good things about being so tech challenged, i guess, is that i don't have to fight with my account about pictures.

It sounds like you had a great time with the kids, and they had a great time with you.

As for the feathers, i always wondered how owls ended up getting struck by cars. It would seem that scavenger birds going after road kill and not getting out of the way quickly enough would be the more likely victims, but i seldom see any of them on the side of the road. Now i know the sad reason why.