Recovery in Progress...

I am recovering well from the operation. It was quite painful for a few days, but is getting much better. Every time I swallow something, my throat freaks out, but is recovering quicker as time goes on. Tomorrow, we have to go back to the doctor in Boise for a post operation visit, so I will keep everybody posted on how that goes.

I was trying to put new fishing line on my vintage Garcia Mitchell reel, after catching the large sturgeon on a couple of weeks ago. Line wouldn't go on right and I ended up realizing that the fish had broken the reel in the process of being caught. I wonder what would have happened if it had been the fish's big brother... I now have a new, and larger reel on order.

Tonight, we went to a 'Big Bands' concert at the local college. It was suppose to be like an old radio show with the commercials and all. It wasn't my 'Thing', but it was as close to real 'culture' as I have been too here in DaHo...

Big Ones, Little Ones, New Ones and Old Ones...

For the Big Ones, I finally caught a reasonable sized sturgeon in the Snake River. It was over 5 feet long and, per the charts, weighed about 75 lbs. It took about 20 minutes to bring in, stripping off line 3-4 times in the process. And, it jumped clear out of the water once, which was quite a thrill. It was big fun. While I was fishing, this local guy came by and we talked. He showed me a lot of stuff about sturgeon fishing and it paid off immediately. He owns a restaurant and tackle shop in Buhl - where Pam's mom lives. I mentioned him to her and she called him an "Old Drunk"... All I know, is that he is a great fisherman and makes his own weights and general nice guy and I hope to have him help me some more on learning the 'details' of the local area.

In the Little Ones category, yesterday, I had the little 'pouch' removed from inside my neck during my operation in Boise. It was about a 2 hour operation, I am told. We had to be there very early in the morning and it was a very long day. And, I am realllll sore - ouch. But, my throat seems much more open now, as much as I can feel/use it. Time will tell, but I am very hopeful that it will be a major improvement.

On the New category, I started a new pool league on Thursday that will last until February. Its a handicap 8-ball league with 4 player teams and should be big fun. I am playing for a long haired, tattooed, car racer named "Budman", who drinks Jack and is a great guy. We got to be friends during the summer tournaments and it should be fun to play on his team.

Also, in the New category, Pam has been trying to get this new job at Dell. There were 8 people that were all trying to get this very coveted position and she ended up getting it. It is called a VTF, which is a member of the "Virtual Training Force". Basically, she is a trainer for all the new hires and new procedures within Dell. She is very happy and excited that she got it and she deserves it for all her hard work. This will allow her to have 'normal' hours, maybe some travel, and not be so micro-managed on the phones constantly.

And, for the Old ones category, I received an email from one of my oldest friends today - Kenny Cothern. We have not seen each other for years, but were great friends during high school and long after. He is living up in Washington state now and hopefully we can get together again soon.

Well, I am feeling pretty sore and am a little worn out from all the medical fun so I am done and plan on spending the next few days recovering, here in DaHo...

Dell Top Performer Awards Ceremony...

Last night was the big Dell Top Performer Awards Ceremony at the Ballroom in downtown Twin Falls. It was quite an event - especially for the local Dell organization. We have been to a couple of the 'Company Picnic' type of events and were completely underwhelmed, but this was quite nice.

The 'theme' of the event was the David Letterman Show. They had constructed a very nice stage complete with backdrop of the city skyline, desk and guest chairs and even had an 'orchestra' made up of Dell employees. They had all the usual Letterman skits with the Top 10 list and funny videos and monologue. The main 'guest' was Oprah. "Her" hair was nicely done and she was wearing a dress. "She" began the evening as a bald headed, football player sized, male black manager type. It was quite funny and She/He had no idea how to sit on an elevated stage in front of a large crowd...

The meal was suppose to be a Mexican chicken and beef plate that wasn't too bad considering this is DaHo...

With each of the three major groups being awarded, all the managers would go up on stage and then would introduce their employees that won the awards who would then also go up on stage to receive the awards and shake everybody's hands.

Pam's introduction was one of the best given. She was not only one of the local Twin Falls award winners, but also placed in the top 5 techs worldwide, and had done it for both fiscal quarters. She received a award certificate, suitable for framing, and a lucite Star documenting her achievements.

There were a number of Dell corporate types there for the event from Round Rock, and they all knew her name and chatted with her about her good fortunes.

Throughout the night, they had 5 or 6 drawings to win a pack of Dell branded items as door prizes. And, Pam also won one of those - It was just her night here in DaHo...

I Have Found Some Big Ones, but...

So, I yet again went searching for the big Snake River Sturgeon today. I took both of the favorite sturgeon baits, morts (dead hatchery trout) and full squid. I set up shop an put squid on both pools and casted them in to the very narrow river - at that point it was probably 50 feet across but very deep. I stated getting bites almost immediately and consistently - but they didn't seem like sturgeon bites. So, after messing with it for a while, I finally figured out that it was mostly little squaw, or trash, fish chewing down on my squid. So, then I went to the morts an that took care of the little trash fish problem. I was getting almost no fish interest with the morts for hours. I did see a couple of the large ones surface again and they were inspiring, but again I just wasn't doing something right. I wonder if it is one of those you got to hold your tongue the right way type of things...

Anyway, I spend all day at this place and didn't get a good sturgeon bite - Again... And, I was trying all my best stuff. Tonight, at the pool tournament, I talked to Pat, one of my fishing and pool buddies, and he gave me some more info and guidance on catching them. It is just a matter of time - but so is life...

The good news is that I did finally find a whole bunch of "Big Ones" across the street from where I was fishing today. Not the big sturgeons I have been searching for, but big alligators. There is this alligator farm there. They have a bunch of them and raise them in facilities much like they do fish. They sell the alligator meat and various parts to resturants and manufacturers that serve or sell alligator stuff. They seem pretty securely kept, which is good, as it would really be nasty to have them loose in the Snake River... Oliver and I have eaten meat from that farm in a resutrant in Hagerman a couple of times.

Speaking of Oliver, he has been working all summer on getting ready for the freshman High School football team. He went to football developomental camps at the first part of the summer and trained all summer and then went through Hell Week to prepare all the players and mold the team to be ready for the season opener when school started. Then, during his first real high school football game, he was trying to recover the ball - he's a defensive end - and ended up getting his wrist broken. And, too all that, we give him a 'Total Bummer Dude' salute... The only up side to breaking bones playing football is that 'Chicks did scars and casts'...

We have a new front yard 'pet'. Its a very large weird spider. It has a body shaped like a black widow but is yellow and redish brown striped. Its about twice the size of a large black widow and is doing a good job of dealing with the wasps and bees that hang out there in the bushes and trees. I really don't feel comfortable with it close to me, so I have been giving it a wide berth.

The garden is cranking out lots of peppers and tomatoes and herbs. The corn is also starting to get ready. So, all in all, its been a good little garden. Pam has given most people that come here some amount of garden bounty which is better than letting it all rot from our lack of use.

I did go to the weekly handical pool tourament tonight. It sucked and I lost from having to spot too many balls to good players that haven't played much in the tournament and therefor had very low handicaps. Enough said about that. I was home real early.

Tomorrow night, we are going to the Dell Annual Top Performers Award Banquet for the first time. It will be interesting to see how Dell does going 'all out'. We have been to some of their other 'events', for the masses, and I have been terminally underwhelmed. I will report back on how it goes.

Well, its late and I have to install my new Handicaped motorcycle license plate tomorrow. There is always fun stuff to do here in DaHo...

Exploring for the Big Ones...

The fishing boat trip on Saturday didn't happen. Doug, Pam's workmate, ended up with a bad back and canceled the trip. I was bummed out big time. But, maybe we can go this weekend or sometime soon. I am really looking forward to checking out the river from the water after seeing most of it from the banks.

My new best tool for exploring the river for potential sturgeon fishing spots is Google Earth. It is an amazing program with great maps. I use it all the time to track down good spots - with some type of road accesses. The key is being able to get down to the river and it shows all the little trails and 'roads' less traveled.

Yesterday, I went to the other side of Box Canyon, where they have this very large fish hatchery. You can fish from their grounds, if you are old, disabled or a kid. Since I fit a couple of those, I am good to go, but you have to sign in first. I ended up talking to one of the workers there who gave me lots of good info on fishing there and about big sturgeons in the river. He said that people catch 6-10 lb. trout in the river there all the time where the output water from the hatchery flows into the river. I have sorta gotten away from fishing for trout, but 6-10 lb. ones perked me right up...

He goes out on the river in a canoe all the time around there. He was saying that last week, he was cruising along in the middle of the river and hit something solid. He said he checked it out and it was a 10 foot, or so, sturgeon that had surfaced and almost knocked him over. He also showed me where he has seen lots of them and I will be going there in the next day or two to check it out. I am going to find them one of these days...

Recovery and Quest for the Big One...

After my 'exploratory' operation, I was down hard for a few days. It felt like I had been beat up - all from just being put under a general anesthesia. I could barely get out of bed I was so sore, then, it all sorta went away and I was all better.

Soon thereafter, I started focusing on my next quest - catching the big Snake River Sturgeon. I have spent three days this week fishing for one and have not gotten a good bite yet. I am obviously not doing something right or not in the right places or something. I will figure it all out soon. I have seen a couple of large ones 'surface' on the river and they get very large. They stick their heads out of the water a foot or two. I am not sure if they are 'breathing' or what, but they seem to do it frequently. I have seen them do it in the past, but didn't know what it was and was just left wondering what the "Heck" that was.

Sunday, we went to the Twin Falls County Fair and later to the 'feature' concert. It was Trace Adkins, who I had not really picked up on before. But, it was a good show and we had lots of fun there. He plays a combination of country/western and rock and is worth seeing again.

On Wednesday, I played in the weekly handicap 8-ball tournament. There were lots of good players there and, as usual, I had to spot most people I played lots of points. I ended up placing in the money again after being beaten by a mother/daughter 'team'. I had to spot both of them 15 balls in a race to 30 and almost won both times. But, in both cases, I ended up beating myself by doing a dumb shot. I only really hate being beaten by one person - me...

Tomorrow, I am going out with a co-worker of Pams, on his boat to again search for the big sturgeons. This will be the first 'boat' fishing experience I have had since breathing out of my neck, and should be big fun.

The 'real' operation has been scheduled for Friday, 9/22, in Boise to fix my neck plumbing. Always big fun here in DaHo...

Operation Cabela's...

Pam and I went down to Boise on Wednesday for my pre-op appointment with my ENT. It went well. He told us that he was going to put my out and dilate my whole throat area so he could check out my 'plumbing' with a scope and evaluate what was going on and how it could all be resolved. He also gave us a very good recommendation for a restaurant in downtown Boise, called the Milky Way.

Then, after the appointment, we visited the new Cabela's superstore that just opened in Boise. Its the size of 3 football fields and is quite a place. They have two very large aquariams full of game fish of all sizes and a central 'mountain' full of every type of stuffed game animal that exists. They also have 'specialty' shops and areas, that extend off of the main floor all around for a variety of stuff - Fly fishing, Archery range, Gun sighting range, etc. I must say that the store is very impressive in the way it is built and furnished. I also must say that they are really high priced and having only been open for a week, were pretty depleted of a lot of stuff. I was basically looking for four items I had seen in their catalog and only found one there in the store, which I got. I actually like our local Sportsman's Warehouse better...

After Cabela's, we tracked down the Milky Way restaurant and had a great dinner. It was very much like a San Francisco type of place and the food was exceptional. By far, the best meal we have had in DaHo. The doc's recommendation was a good one.

We stayed in the Econo Lodge, which was a good price but severely lacked in overall quality. The room was nice, but the whole place was pretty shabby. We were kept awake by a barking dog that was staying down the hall...

We had to be up and at the Surgery Center by 6:30 so it was a short and restless night. It was a nice place and we were in and out by 10:00. Pam said that the doctor told her that it all went well. He said that he now knows why I am so bothered by the pocket in my throat, and now knows all about my anatomy. He is scheduling the 'real' operation in a couple of weeks at another hospital with more 'toys' to resolve this 'pocket' issue once and for all with a laser tool of some type.

Since the operation, I have been feeling very abused. I guess he had to dilate my whole throat area quite a bit which continues to feel painful, and my mouth and muscles all around my neck are also very sore. This morning, when I tired to get up, I couldn't lift my head up because of my sore neck muscles. Ouch!

Anyway, its all temporary and will go away in a day or two. We really like the doctor and hopefully, all my current problems with my voice and swallowing will be resolved real soon.

The tile and granite work is finally all done and our housecleaners came today so the house is finally all updated and clean. Pam spend most of yesterday, after we returned from the surgery, spiffing up the new bathroom and it is really looking awesome. The fair is this weekend and we have tickets to see the headliner act. All in all, it should be a good weekend here in DaHo.