Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday Shopping...

Thanksgiving went great. We cooked a wonderful prime rib roast in the oven and a small, 13 lb, turkey the Ronco Showtime rotisserie. This was the first turkey sized thing we had ever done in the Ronco. The key to using it is to ensure that the food being cooked is centered on the rotating frame and that it is tied up well enough to not flop around as it cooks and especially not touch the heating elements as it turns. If either of those things occur, bad things can happen quickly and usually involves calling 911 if not watched closely. Anyway, it all went great. Well, except for the little pop-up turkey timer thing. It had been cooking for over two hours and Pam's mother, Flora, mentioned that 'the turkey was looking great - the meat was about to fall off of the bones'... Which, to me is not good news. So, I stopped the unit and the little timer was still inactivated. I touched it with my finger tip and it popped up... So, the bottom line was the turkey was over cooked and a little dry, but was still very good and I will probably use the Ronco again next year.

The prime rib was awesome as usual. We have this Paula Dean Food Network 'Foolproof Standing Rib Roast' recipe that we use, where you prep the roast, put it in the oven at 375 for 1 hour and then turn off the heat. You then leave it in the oven for three hours without heat and then turn the heat back on for 40 minutes at the end and serve it. The key is that during the whole 4 hours and 40 minutes time you cannot open up the oven or it doesn't work. Its weird because when you turn off the oven, the internal temp of the roast is about 70 degrees. But, over the next couple of hours, it keeps increasing to about 135 or so an then starts to go down until you turn it back on to heat it up for serving. Good Stuff...

Which get me to our favorite time of the Thanksgiving food feast - The leftover French dip prime rib sandwitches... We get the Costco sandwitch sized French rolls and slice up all the leftover roast and Pam makes up lots of "Owl Juice", and we have them until it is all gone. We actually go through this ritual every couple of months, when they have advertised specials on prime ribs, and love it.

Anyway, Thanksgiving went great. We ate in our formal dining room (AKA The Cake Room), used all the Keithley Family turkey stuff, had a turkey shaped butter sculpture, poured the gravy out of the mouth hole of the turkey gravy dispenser (always big fun...), and had great pies from Pam's mother. A good time was had by all...

Then, very early in the morning came Black Friday... And, this year, since she is still off of work until Monday, Pam got to participate, and even got her mother into it also. It has become an annual ritual with me to do the big Black Friday sales. They usually start at 5am, but you have to be there early, and its usually close to freezing tempatures here in DaHo. Lots of the local stores have these unbelievable sales that end before noon and always include items, in small quanities, that 'everybody' wants so there will be hundreds, or even thousands, of people waiting in lines for hours, or even all night, to purchased these things. Most stuff is about 1/2 of the normal sale prices, but some stuff is really cheap to 'bring them in'. I got a 100 pack of DVD-R disks for $5, as an example. I would go into detail, but then everybody would know what they were getting for Christmas...

Pam and Flora went to Walmart and JC Penneys for household and clothes items and I went to Best Buys (our only local 'computer' store here in DaHo), OfficeMax, Sears, Home Depot and Sportsman's Warehouse. After the carnage, at about 7:30am, we met and had breakfast.

Storm, and family, came over Thanksgiving night to visit and dropped off a video about "Giant Sturgeon Fishing". It is a great video that is just what its really like and why I am so 'hooked' on fishing for them. They break fishing rods in it and everything - just like real life... It really bums me out that the sturgeon fishing season is pretty much over until it gets warm again - which is many months away here in DaHo...

I've Got a Tip for You...

About 3 weeks ago, I tracked down and bought a Extra Heavy spinning rod. Most large fishing gear are for the 'conventional reels' which are the ones that have the spool sideways and a big crank handle on the side of them. I have always used spinning reels which have the spool in the front, sit below the rod, and have rods with much larger guides - the little line holders that go up the rod. Anyway, its hard to find very large spinning rods and reels, even though a lot of folks use them.
To continue with the story..., so I tracked down and bought this extra heavy spinning rod and have been using it, and trying to find and catch a large Sturgeon on it every since. So, yesterday, I was fishing at the Bliss Dam and finally got hooked up with a large fish. I had been fighting it for about 15 minutes and had him back to being pretty close and the line went limp all of a sudden. I put the bottom end of the rod down, but was still hanging on to it, trying to figure out what happened and "BAM" (just like Emeril...), the rod almost got ripped out of my hand. And, in the process, the tip of my new 'extra heavy' rod snapped off like a twig and the line broke. I have no idea what happened, but can only guess that the fish must have quickly turned around toward me, or dove down going my way to slacken the line and then decided to turn back away at high speed until it ran out of line...

So, the only good news is that there are at least a few large fish out there, but they sure seem much harder to catch when its cold - for me and them.

I got this rod online and had some 'issues' with the vendor on getting it shipped correctly (they sent me the wrong one first...), but ended up getting it at about 1/2 list price in the end. So, I am assuming this is a warranty situation and know it will probably end up being BIG fun to get resolved.

If they would have had a rod here at Sportsman's Warehouse, I would have gotten it from them, and would have probably already had this whole issue resolved. Just part of the 'Joy' of online shopping...

Pam is not feeling very well today and told me to go fishing again, since she was not up to doing much, and I am just not into it. I was really having big fun catching them on a regular/daily basis. Then, it turned cold, and its been a total 'buzz-kill' ever since. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow, if its not too cold here in DaHo...

Life Goes On...

Pam is healing well. She is not too happy about having to stay home, but it is required for her to recover. She went back to the doctor, actually his assistant, on Thursday for a post-op checkup. The doctor is on vacation. They took x-rays and all looks good. They all seemed amazed that she had actually tried to go back to work on Monday, right after the operation. I don't know what the deal was with the doctor telling her that it would all be OK in a couple of days, because everybody since the operation all seem to agree that it will take some time to heal. The PA we saw said that what they had done was to 'basically break her neck and install internal braces for it to heal with'. I saw the x-rays and also the original MRI images and it is just amazing how bad it really was and how much work they did. She is 'loving' the full neck brace more and more every day...

On the way home from the doctor visit, we stopped at the only Japanese resturant in the area for lunch. The owner was quite interested in Pam's neck brace and bone fuser and they started chatting about it. It turns out that she had the same operation about 6 months ago. She had a very small scar in her neck that you wouldn't even notice unless you were looking. I have been in there many times, she always is there and chats with you, and I never noticed it before. They had the same types of symptoms before their operations and had quite a 'chat fest' about it all. The operation was quite successful with her and I think made Pam feel a little better about it all. The weird thing about it, was that I asked Pam if she wanted to go out to lunch and where, and she said that "I'll bet you want to go to the Japanese place", which I hadn't really thought of, but always like.

It has been raining, off and on, all week, as well as blowing hard, as a series of storms have been passing through DaHo. So, we have been mostly house bound except for short trips to the store, with a couple of exceptions.

I played my pool leagues on Wednesday and Thursday night. The Wednesday night league went great. We played a new team and beat them 16 games to zero. That was the first time that had ever happened that I had heard of. But, Thursday night was a different story. We played a very good team and got whipped pretty badly. I only got 23 out of a possible 40 points for the night, which is by far my worst performance to date. That, coupled with being out last week during the surgery trip, should pretty much put me out of the top awards, but we shall see as time goes on...

I did have a chance to finally go Sturgeon fishing yesterday afternoon for a little while. I went down where the guy from Sportsman's Warehouse said it go in Glenns Ferry. Its 'challenging' to get to, as the road is very rough and the rains had made it extra nasty. There were a number of places in the road that entire sections were under water for a few feet. You could usually start out on the edges, but would slip into the 'ruts' and luckily there were no major hidden rocks that I encountered. I almost got stuck a couple of times which would not have been good, as it is quite a way out in the boonies. But, I did get there and at the end of the road, had to pack all my gear down a steep, and muddy trail a couple hundred yards to the river. It was wet and cold and generally nasty all afternoon. After I got all setup, I casted out my first pole and almost immediately got a strong Sturgeon hit. It took off and about a minute later, I lost it. I reeled it back in and the hook had somehow gotten buried in the bait and was the reason I lost it, I guess. From the way it first hit, I think it was a large fish, but we shall never know... But, after such immediate action, I was excited that the rest of the day would be big fun.

Well, that was the one and only Sturgeon bite I got all afternoon. There are all these nasty weeds floating around and were a constant problem with the lines - just like at the place we camped at a few weeks ago. I am thinking that the weeds were probably under water and keeping the bait hidden from the fish most of the time. The only good news about this place was that I didn't get snagged and didn't loose any tackle or line, as I was told at Sportsman's. Across the river are two train tracks that had almost constant traffic on them, so at least I had something to watch for 'fun'. And after all that fun, having to pack all my stuff back up the muddy and steep trail and drive over that nasty, muddy road to get out of there, I wasn't the most happy camper...

But, that is the way it goes. As one wise friend once said, "That's why they call it Fishing instead of Catching"...

On the way home, I went around the bridge and road, to the other side of the river from where I was fishing. There is this little access road that is actually a train track service road. It was a much better road and much easier to get to the river, but the road was very narrow and was quite close to the train tracks, like a few feet away, and I don't know if that would be a good place to park or not. The river was only a hundred feet, or less, from the train tracks. Any, once you got to the river, there was a 30 foot or so embankment with very narrow 'bank' of mostly bushes or rocks. So, you would have to search to find a reasonable spot, and it would be cramped, but if I do go back there, that is the way I will do it. The other side is just too much fun for me and the Jeep. You could actually 'fish' from the top of the ledge, I guess, but if you ever caught a fish you would have a real problem, and what are we doing there in the first place...

My next fishing outing is going to be back at the Bliss Dam. There are many more under water obstacles and challenges that will cause endless frustration and 'parts', but the roads are good and I think there are lots of large fish there. At this point, I just want to get one hooked and play for a while. After catching at least one a day for a couple of weeks there, before the cold weather set in, I haven't really had one on for long since and its getting pretty old at this point. You can only have soooo much fun sitting in the cold weather for hours here in DaHo...

Monday - When it rains is pours...

Pam got up and got dressed, and went to work today - all major challenges a few days after an operation and with a full neck brace. Her doctor had said, up front, that this operation recovery would only be a couple of days and would be 'no problem'. Which is what she had told her bosses at Dell and that was the 'plan' everybody was on, as it were. So, she was going to be there as scheduled, regardless of some minor 'details'... She worked until lunch and I met her for lunch, since I had to take her car to get worked on. It was obvious to me that it wasn't going very well and to make a long story short, she called in 'not well' and came home. This will probably take another week or so, at least, to heal well enough to work. She is quite concerned about her new training position, since she just started it a couple of weeks ago, but I am sure they, and she, will understand that recovery from this major surgery will take a few more days and result in lasting positive benefits to all...

I have been around that block a few times and it never made any sense to me that anybody could recover from such surgery in a couple of days...

Now to the 'When it rains it pours' part of today's posting...

So, I stopped by the local Sportsman's Warehouse today to chat with some 'experts' about the Bliss Dam and its 'challenges'. I spoke to this one guy that works there about what the marine biologist had told me, and he said that he was also a licensed marine biologist and had done a couple of years of local Sturgeon population tracking while an intern with the USFG. Prior to this, he seemed knowledgeable, but they all do, and I have found most have little real knowledge to backup their 'talk'. Anyway, he said that yes, it is true that a lot of the 'local' fish will go to the Bliss Dam. The large ones are quite old, like 50yrs +, and have been caught enough times that you can bet that they will take your line down the rock canyon, I perceived from my trip yesterday, as a standard course of action, and you will loose them 90% or more of the time. He also said that the super braid line I am using, under the pressure Sturgeon produce, is much more susceptible to the sharp rock edges than mono line, but neither will do well there.

Then he tells me about another hole down the river, by Glens Ferry, the next town down on the Snake, with the best tackle friendly big Sturgeon fishing. He said they use to catch and tag fish there for the USFG because it was the best place to find and land them with the least hassle and damage to all concerned. So, if this guy is right, I may have just found Sturgeon fishing heaven, as it were...

As soon as I can get free and get some good weather, I am there and we shall see how it goes. If he is as knowledgable as he says, I might have to hire him as a consultant, or guide, or something to learn all about these impressive monsters. He says he has caught hundreds of them in the past few years...

I remember long ago, like 45 years ago, my dad and I were going to Lake Mead, by Las Vegas, every few weeks, from California, to fish for largemough bass. We would rent a boat and spent many days and lots of $$ on tackle, out on this giant lake trying to find them consistantly. Then, out of frustration, my dad hired a local guide and boat, for a day. He showed us where to find them, how they lived and how to catch them. After that day, we never came home without our limits... Conditions and lots of 'details' changed each trip, but we knew enough about the 'beast' that we could figure out how to deal with each new situation.

My goal in the recient weeks, or has it been months now..., has been to figure these Sturgeon out and I will do so. They are amazing creatures and a fisherman's dream - and have lived for centuries right here in DaHo, 45 minutes from DaHouse...

Sunday in DaHo...

Last night was much better. Pam slept pretty well and so did I, compared to the last few nights. I got up about 6 and couldn't sleep, so I got up, but couldn't stay awake, so I went back to bed and ended up sleeping until almost noon. The sleep was good for us both...

Pam's mother was coming over for the afternoon and they were going to take a shopping trip out for a big sale at JC Penny and to see how Pam would do being out for the first time since her operation. They found all sorts of good stuff and things went well. Pam is planning on going to work tomorrow, which I still have doubts about, but she is definitely doing much better today than yesterday. So, we shall see...

The weather was nice, so I ended up going out searching for the Sturgeon again. I ended up going to King Hill, a very little community past Bliss on the old road, before the freeway was built. I had hear about good fishing around there and though I would check it out since the fish had left where I usually go when it got cold. I couldn't find anything good, and thought I would just drive through the little community and see if there was a tackle store or something that I might ask about fishing in the area. I didn't see any businesses at all, but happened to drive by a house that had a boat and van in front with someone working in it. So, I stopped in the middle of the road and talked to the couple that were there. It turns out that he is a Sturgeon fishing addict and she was a marine biologist that actually helped 'stock' and track the Sturgeon population in the area. I think I sorta weirded them out at first, but as we got to talking and I brought out my Google Earth maps, they got the idea that I was for real and we had a great talk about Sturgeon. As I was told before, when it gets cold, they head for deeper water where it is warmer. I had assumed that the fish had gone down stream, but actually, they go up stream in the cold. I now understand that its not really deeper, just warmer water they seek, and the warmer water comes from the output from the dams, since their water output, used to produce their power, is the bottom of the lakes they create - which happens to be the warmest water around since it is deep and still. Also, I guess the turbines chew up lots of lake fish while producing all that electricity, that the Sturgeon like to feast on.

My next stop was going to have been the Bliss Dam anyway, but after talking to them, I had a much better understanding of what was going on and how to deal with it. So, I went down to the Bliss Dam for the first time. I had driven past the dam many times on the other side of the river, going to the place I have been catching all the large fish at in weeks past. Its about 5 miles, or so, downstream from the dam toward Kill Hill, but there is no access from that side of the river. I don't even have to go over any really nasty roads to get there. A very nice feature as the weather gets nastier.

I was able to drive right down almost to the water about 150 yards from the dam turbine output. I am not sure that is where to go, after today, but it was very easy to get to and I didn't have much time to check it out. The river is about 50 yards across there, and the first 30 yards or so, closest to me was very shallow water with a visible, mostly flat rock/concrete bottom. But, the farthest side, was very deep and where the fish were. I hooked up with a large one almost immediately after getting there. It was a big one by the way it was running out line. I started to put some pressure on it and after only a few minutes, it ended up breaking my line on the rock ledges. I was only there for about an hour or so, and got lots of good Sturgeon bites and a couple more hookups with the same results. Its in a pretty narrow and deep canyon and the sun goes down there very early. So, what I learned at this point is that I have found the fish, but not the exact right place yet, or am going to need some wire line or something, to deal with the rock ledges there...

Then, I started remembering what those folks were saying and realized that the place where I was at, was where they said they went to land the fish after it got tired - in the shallow water. And, where they caught and fought the fish at was in the deep hole just under the dam, about 150 yards up stream. I didn't go there because it is about 40 feet down very large rocks that were placed there as part of the dam project. I guess you could actually cast from the road above, into that hole at the base of the dam and not have to go down the rocks, but that would really be pretty amazing to conceptualize working without 'issues' at this point. I would love to go back to talk to those folks again after being there and seeing it all, and maybe I will one of these days.

Anyway, I think I have found the BIG fish again, an probably even larger ones than before, which should provide great fun and enjoyment for the fall and early winter. And, I learned a lot of very valuable information that I could have spent years trying to figure out...

Saturday Update...

Pam is doing much better today. She is starting to eat more and gripe, both of which are good signs that a surgery patient is getting better. We didn't get much good sleep again last night, but I have hope for a better night tonight.

Pam's mother came over again today, so I was able to get out to the store and get some food and goodies. Speaking of goodies, Pam's mother baked and brought over a bunch of her famous Cowboy cookies - which are deeply appreciated. While she was here, she made a pot of chicken and noodles which was great stuff and some of Pam's childhood 'get well - health food'...

The neck brace is very restrictive - as it is suppose to be - and she has to wear it full time for a few weeks. I don't see how you can drive with it, since you really cannot turn your head...

The weather has been rainy and nasty the last few days. I hope it clears up soon and I can get some free time for a little while. I would love to try out my new Sturgeon rod I got at Cabela's in Boise while Pam was in the hospital. It's not exactly what I was looking for, but I just couldn't pass it up. It is one of their house brand heavy surf rods that they sell for $90. It's got all good parts in it and would cost lots more if it wasn't their own brand. Someone had broken the tip off if it, which they fixed and were selling it for only $30. A deal too good to pass up. I have been doing some Google Earth map research and reading and think I have identified a couple of new sturgeon fishing spots that I hope to try before it gets too cold. Those fish are out there somewhere, and still eating, so its just a matter of tracking them down...

Well, its past midnight so I am going to try to get some sleep.

Pam Update...

Pam is doing much better today. Last night was not very good for her. She was having severe headaches and we didn't get to sleep until after 2am. But, she has been getting better and better today.

Pam's mother came over last evening to visit and see her while I went to get meds and bring back dinner from KFC. About midnight, she got sick and dumped it all. We had it again tonight and it was hard for me to do it, even though all other options would have been way too much work...

We changed her bandages and got all 'freshened' up tonight and all looks good - no obvious problems of any kind.

I setup an X-10 remote and chime for her so she can 'call' me from anywhere on the 'estate' when she needs something.

The 'recovery results' are more in line with what I was expecting - so far. I would be amazed if she was able to function well enough to return to work by Monday, or even drive there alone. But, again what do I know...

We are Back Home and All is Great...

Pam did great and got released from the hospital early an we are now back home. She is in quite a bit of pain, as is to be expected, but doing fantastic.

Here is a pic of her when she first got to the room after her surgery and recovery section stay. It shows a good pic of her new neck brace that she will have to wear for a few weeks...



Here is a pic of the 'scar'. It has a covering of surgerical 'tape' but appears like its going to not be very noticeable at all. I am amazed that they can do all that work on her spine from the front of her neck. Its on the same side of the neck as mine, so we are now 'twins', but mine is much more narly and rad than her's...



This next pic is as she was leaving the hospital. The little white and gray Japanese looking cartoon thing on her chest is the control unit of a Cervical Fusion System. It wraps around her neck and stimulates the bones to grow quickly. She has to wear it 4 hours a day and she said it cost about $ 4,000. I am again amazed at medical technology.



She is currently sleeping from the pain meds and will probably not be wanting to talk much for a day or two, but what do I know... I just wanted to let everybody know that all went much better than expected, or at least much better than I was expecting, and if the doctor is right about how quick she will recover, she is planning on returning to work next week. If that happens, I will really be impressed based upon all my experience with such 'fun'...

All Seems to Be Great...

Pam had her operation this afternoon and all seems to be doing very good. She got out of the recovery room and into her room about 6pm. She is walking around, "Eating" liquids and has quite a bit of pain - as is to be expected...

She is wearing a full neck brace that limits most head/neck movement.

I am staying at the Holiday Inn Express here across from the St Lukes Hospital. They had free pizza and ice cold soft drinks/beer here for 'dinner' which is nice.

Well, I am not sure what WiFi I am connected to, or who is listening to it all, so I am going to sign out.

I was planning on being able to check the email from here, but I left our mail server going at home and it downloads all new email every few minutes and deletes it off of the server, so I will not get any of it until we get home. Also, my cell battery is probably going to go out tomorrow, so communications will be sketchy. I will try to update this blog tomorrow after I talk to the doctor.

Today's the Day for Pam's Operation...

First, sorry for not posting lately. I have been having a hard time with Pam's operation. Its always been me that they have been carving up and I don't have to worry too much about it - it's just got to be done. I have not been sleeping well worrying about it and ended getting up from 1 to 4 am this morning - again. Big fun...

So, we have to be there at 12:30 for her checkin at St. Lukes hospital in Meridian. I understand she should be back into her private room about 5 or 6pm tonight. And, the plan is that she will be released tomorrow afternoon.

Pam has been doing great at her new job of being a trainer for Dell. They finished one new hire class last week and this week started her first new, 3 week new hire class. She is having to teach new sections almost daily and having to learn all the teaching points of them - usually the night before... So, she has been a busy girl, but she is loving it and that is good.

As far as the usual general topics: The weather has been mild after one cold snap which drove all the Sturgeon into deeper water somewhere. I have been fishing 3-4 times lately and have had no bites. I thought I had it down - catching one large fish a day or more, and now nothing...

My pool leagues are going well, so far, but I will miss them both this week so that should pretty much put me out of the top spots but it just depends on how the other players do and if they are gone much - we shall see...

I am taking the laptop and if I find a WiFi spot, I will keep you all updated on the day's progress. Wish her well...

I just checked the election results - may God help us all...