Good morning, afternoon or evening faithful readers.
I must say the hardest part of any good weekly blog is deciding what to talk about. I love fishing. I love video games and I enjoy an intelligent politically charged discussion. But more than all those things I love a good, vivid story. If I read your story, book, post etc. I want your words to actually put me there next to you as you are reliving the event/s. This is the main reason why I have not posted in a while there is plenty to talk about but no one wants to listen to rambling. so let's begin.
First let's get the "Colin Kapernick" discussion out of the way. First I have never understood why people get so frustrated with things like this when we (the general public) have all the control. I am a soldier, a sailor (an airman in fact). I served during Desert Storm and would serve today if needed. I did 6 years active and 2 years inactive (I was a reservist) and I am proud of my service. I fought and had friends/brothers who died in that service. But .... and you may not like this but it is a fact.... we did so for the freedom to sit, as protest, during the national anthem. Colin Kapernick (and others who follow) has/have a right to sit during the national anthem. He is not a soldier, he's a football player. I think it was despicable and it disgusts me to think of anyone doing this however he has that right. But see here is the thing. I earn my own paycheck and guess what, I have a right too...... The right to NOT watch any games that include any player that would do this. The right to not buy any merch. that those organizations produce.....see if enough people choose this path then the teams will have no choice but to cut these guys. It's all about the money and if these guys cost the owners money they will get removed from the team. I will not comment on the fact that this was incredibly hypocritical, here sits a man that makes literally millions of dollars a year to play a game and he wants to pro....... I said I wasn't going to comment. Point is the best way to make your voice heard if you disagree with someone is with your money. ok ok enough of that :)
So over the past 2 to 3 weeks I have purchased several items off of FB groups (many of which my readers are a part of) at incredibly good prices. Further, I have been helped or given things when I really needed them and this blog is in honor of those folks. First a gentleman GAVE me a fish finder and GPS unit back a few months ago, I believe it was. Although I have not used it as it does not fit well with my boat (no room to install it yet) this was an awesome thing and I want to say thank to him, however, I cannot find our messages and I don't remember his name. I then purchased a FF and GPS unit all in one from a gentleman locally and it was awesome unfortunately the GPS head unit did seem to work for me, now here's the big deal with this, when I reached out to him and explained my problem he very graciously agreed to give me my money back. THAT IS HUGE TO ME and I just want everyone to know what a great guy this man is. Say howdy to Mr. Joe Witherow he is a good man and I am honored to say I know him. I also received a set of boat seats this last weekend and they will work great on our catfish boat from Mr. Rick Peters who stayed up late on Saturday evening so that I could come get them.
I regularly receive minnows or bait while on the water from folks that are done fishing and don't want to waste the bait. I (and my father and a friend) have been towed back into the marina several times when our outboard was malfunctioning. When dropping my boat solo I almost always have someone offer to assist me. All these things I have listed are to show that there are great people out there that are willing to help out others with no concern for personal gain. I have heard a saying that "the true character of a man can be told by what he is willing to do for others when he knows he will gain nothing for himself". I believe we have a responsibility to those in need (no matter the circumstances) but I believe that we also have a responsibility as those who are in need, to be gracious and understanding of the position we put these folks in while they are assisting us. For this I say thank you to all of you who are reading this for any help you have ever provide not only to me but to anyone, knowing they could not pay you for your time and/or trouble. I promise to reach out to anyone who needs my assistance knowing that I too will not gain anything beyond the knowledge that I helped someone when they needed it.
If you would be interested to read a series of interviews featuring local guides on Truman Lake and Smithville lake please vote on the survey above.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, until next time:
Cast a big net and keep tight lines.
