Another Year In The Books

Always have been a big fan of Gary Larson. 

I just hope 2023 is a better year than 2022. 

If it ever stops raining in Northern California I just might go fishing again. 

We've had flooding everywhere.

Stay tuned. 

On This Christmas Eve

 I want to wish each and every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Magnet Fishermen

I want to mention I got a new Magnet. The previous one was a 500# and the new one is a 1000#. It's just the grabbing power not what you'd be able to pick up. Hercules I'm not. 

I've been eyeing Middle Bar Bridge ever since I got my 500# Magnet. The last 5 months have been a bust because of the surgeries. Monday, after a weekend of heavy rain, I drove over to the Highway 49 bridge to check out the flow of the river that eventually runs under Middle Bar Bridge. It was moving pretty fast and I opted to pass.  

So this morning I drove over to the bridge. Ran into a couple guys fishing and mentioned that I'd like to do a little magnet fishing. They said I could go to the far end (see the picture) and fire away although there have been several magnet fishers in the area and they have gotten NOTHING. 

And here I thought I had the corner on magnet fishing in Amador County. Damn those people on YouTube. Now everybody and their brothers and sisters (don't want to seem sexist) is in the game. 

I then went with Plan B. I always have a Plan B. Back in the truck (actually I never got out of it) and off to Electra Road. Keep in mind as I'm driving up Electra that we had a fire this past July. I planned to go to the "swimming beach" about half way up the road. When I got there, it was gone. The parking lot, the beach, gone. They did leave the stinky vault toilet though. 

I could have probably walked down to the water, but I also could have been butt deep in what looked like some really mucky dirt. I also noticed that there have been several mudslides in the burn scar. The road was a mess. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive although I really didn't need it. Better safe than sorry. 

The only other place on the river that "might" have something is right under the 49 bridge, but the water was moving so fast, I probably would never have gotten the magnet to the bottom. 

Scratch Middle Bar Bridge, Electra Road, and the 49 bridge for magnet fishing. 

FYI, the two guys fishing didn't catch anything either. Had I brought my gear, that would have been a bust also. 

So I'm home packaging Chicken Tenders from Sam's Club with the Food Saver. 

My next plan for magnet fishing is in the seedy part of the city of Stockton, California. There is a really cool area where I just might find something. I'm also taking a couple other people for safety.  

Stay tuned   

December 7, 1941 "A date which will live in infamy"

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

These words spoken by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

This morning while my wife and I were having our morning coffee I mentioned that I wondered how many of the younger generation know the meaning of this date. 

The more and more I watch the news and see our history being removed from statues in parks and military bases being renamed etc. makes me wonder what is being taught in school as American History. I suspect I could ask my grandchildren, but they are past school age and my great-grandchildren are a few years away from school in general. 

Makes me wonder if we will have a December 7, 1941 in the near future with the angst we are experiencing with Russia, China, and North Korea. 

Russia seems pretty much benign since Ukraine "opened a can of woopass" on them. 

China, all they want is Taiwan but the US is not keen on giving up our relationship with this INDEPENDENT country that China seem to think they own. 

North Korea: They seem to think we're planning to invade them for some reason. For the most part, from what I've seen, the US is keeping an eye on them, but basically ignoring them. Seems the Supreme Leader has some sort of feather up his ass about the US. His sister is a whole nuther ball game. She seems to be nuttier than him. 

OK, that said, let us not forget Pearl Harbor Day and remember those 2403 US personnel who gave their all for our freedom.

Let's also remember the hero's of that day. If you've seen the movie 'Pearl Harbor" with Ben Affleck, Josh Harnett, and Kate Beckinsale then you know that Cuba Gooding Jr. played a hero named Doris Miller who was only allowed to be a cook because he was black, but then the attack started manned a 50 cal. machine gun trying to take down Japanese planes. He got 4. For his valor he received the Navy Cross. He was on the escort carrier Liscome Bay on November 24, 1943 when it was torpedoed off Butaritari Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. He didn't survive. 

   

The most famous Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Quote about the sleeping giant may not even have been said by him. “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

They certainly did and should it happen again by someone (like Osama Bin Laden did), the sleeping giant will once again rise.

Let's not forget this day. 

Stay tuned