Another Old Guy Hobby...

 It's my hobby to take up old guy hobbies. The latest is shopping around to see how much I can reduce monthly bills for services like internet, streaming, phones and electricity. 

It started a few months ago when crews began laying fiber optic lines in the neighborhood. I had an old Consolidated landline that became a dial up internet line that eventually became a decently fast internet service but seemed to sometimes be less service than I was paying for. My phones had been Verizon service which entices you with nominally cheaper rates as technology advances and though that finally seemed as good as you could do for phones when the door to door Spectrum salesman offered savings on phones and home internet I jumped on it.  

It took several months for the dirty work, which seemed to be done by Anglo and Hispanic guys to be completed and then some kind of Russian dudes showed up to run the wiring to the house and install the modem. We look to be sitting pretty saving at least $30 a month on phones and $10 on internet. Scanning the small print there might be a slight bump in price in about two years but we will cross that bridge in due time.

Next thing was a reduction in the Netflix streaming service by agreeing to commercials which knocked another $10 off that bill. Commercials are ok. It adds time to the show meaning I get sleepy and go to bed before I binge through a whole season in one night. I have breaks to get up and go to the bathroom or dish up ice cream. I see in the financial news there is some big deal brewing with all this streaming TV business with Trump somehow being involved which means this will probably all get broken in a way I won't like so there's that.

In my work with St. Vincent de Paul a part of our charity to neighbors in need is helping with utility bills. Every person almost has a different power company and some I advise to check Texas Power to Choose for cheaper rates. I took my own advice on this and chose Gexa, a company who promises all power you consume to be generated by green sources. My last bill was $264 for a milder than normal winter month. Gexa projects $90 for a house my size. I don't quite believe that but we will see. There is some fine print that says rates might be more if you go over or under a certain kilo hour. My history shows I never go over but there are about four months a year when I'm under but for the savings I might balance out.  

A cautious estimate is I might save $100 a month on these new rates and possibly more. That would make this a better paying hobby than some of the others I currently engage in.   

   

      

I Wear Women's Yoga Pants...

A late friend of mine, Jason Carriger (RIP) wrote a song called Yoga Pants. I've searched the internet and Jason left a pretty good YouTube and Soundcloud footprint but I can't find a performance of Yoga Pants. What caused me to think about my friend's song was the fact that the elastic they put in those old chicken skin long johns is just not what it used to be and though it may be illegal in some  states I purchased women's yoga pants to wear for my own convenience and warmth . 

A resolution I made and it was just before the New Year as I'm always always trying to get ahead of the game was that I was not going to be cold this winter. I also made a resolution that I was tired of those chicken skin underwear sliding half way down my butt. I could have been happy about that and said well the elastic is worn out and I'm just losing weight, they are not fitting correctly  but when I pointed out the decreased load that was my ass my doc busted that bubble by saying, "probably just lost muscle mass."

In this time of my life what with decreasing hormones I probably can't do anything about the loss of muscle mass. An increase in red meat eating and a furious weight lifting regime will only make me have a heart attack. What I did was abandon loose fitting long underwares in favor of women's yoga pants. 

Women's yoga pants are tight fitting and warm. I like them. I must add that I wear them under my outside pants. The are extra large size so when some one says, "pull up your big girl underpants" I actually can. Cathy has forbidden me to wear women's yoga pants as outside pants in public as she thinks I look pretty good in them and might get in some kind of trouble with unwanted attentions. I mentioned this time in my life and since it is that time any attentions is good attentions. 

Of course since I bought a warm garment the January weather has been mild this year and I've only worn it once. I have high hopes for wearing yoga pants though February, March and of course there is that bitch, April. 

Since there are machines that watch the internet for any dissent and I live in a state where who uses what bathroom is more of a concern than healthcare or education or songs about yoga pants they will probably be coming for me and my yoga pants anytime now. 

        

Tuba is a Good Instrument for Protest...

It's the 21st century. Maybe I grew up and kept the imagination of a baby boomer child and thought that this was going to be a magical time. Now that we are here sometimes it seems we are going backwards away from the magic. 

We should have a world where all are welcome, all are fed, all have healthcare, housing and education. A world where we don't hear echoes of 1930s Germany in the politics and the brown shirts on the streets, a world where cities are not bombed, children are not killed and countries are not invaded because they have what someone wants.  

If you don't find these are good reasons to protest I think you may find yourself as part of a machine moving away from human dignity. You are still welcome to have your own beliefs . Don't forget that I have mine.   

 

Just like I may not agree with you I may not agree with the degrees of every protester. It's a compromise that we all need to work on to make something better when we have that chance. 

Yesterday I played a mix of old folk tunes, patriotic songs and gospel standards for the Ice Out for Good rally. This was nationwide. Judging from local reaction most people did not know this. Tuba is a good instrument for protest. It's loud, it draws attention and around the country I was not the only one using this instrument. 

It's not something that worries me, being the only one. What worries me is the loss of magic, the loss of rights, the loss of hope.  

First Fishing Report 2026...

 The first fishing trip went off without a hitch. The new boat seats were comfortable, the motor ran like a top, the new Bimini top and frame kept us shady, the new rod holders stored our gear safely away, the fish bit and I looked around just in time to see someone poop over the side of the boat. I think the last time I saw that was when I was in high school. I won't name names of either pooper but I will always wonder the eternal question of who taught them how to do that? 

Ezra scored the first fish of 2026. 

There was a bit of wind but not too much to be dangerous. A good wind usually puts us to slip corking for fish chasing bait on windblown sandbars and in the backs of coves but with wind comes the challenge of seeing the cork and timing the hookset which can be difficult for younger fishermen so we elected to fish near drop offs in 25' to 30' water with the bait dropped over boatside straight down. The action was just fast enough and we landed 17 fat keepers. 

We also threw back a bucket full of this size blue cats. The Sam Rayburn lake record for blue cat is 83 pounds. This blog notes that by mid April spawning blue cats had moved out of shallow water and were being replaced by swarms of egg laden channel cats. None of the fish we caught this trip had eggs so the question is how old is this fish? Maybe 10 months old. If so that means slower growth than I would expect for a fertile southern reservoir or a more recent birth than last February or March.. Maybe the scads of small blue cat are simply a food base for the big double digit fish that we know are there but we rarely catch on rod and reel.   

The lake is still low, maybe lower than our last camping trip. I like it like this for fishing but be forewarned that if you launch the boat with your compadres backing it off the trailer after you park you will get you feet wet as there are no good pull up spots without grounding the boat 5' from shore around the Hanks ramp.  

I'll put off camping till the lake comes up as there is not good access to my favorite camp spots by water but looks like the fishing year is off to a good start.

Those cats are now swimming in our belly. 

More Boat Modifications...

I've often written about those four stages of outdoorism.

Stage 1 is you want to catch all of them.

Stage 2 you want to catch the biggest one.

Stage 3 you want to have nice gear.

Stage 4 is you just enjoy being in the outdoors. 

As I meditate on these four stages, which can be kind of a spiritual thing, I perceive there can be some going back and forth between each one and sometimes a person, like my wife can become stuck (actually I believe she has moved on for now) in that stage where she wants to catch all of them. Today I found myself in that stage where I wanted my gear to be nice so in continuing with boat repairs and modifications I installed rod holders.  

These were not the kind of rod holders that position your pole for the bite but rack style holders to get the pile of rods we always seem to accumulate off the bottom of the boat and out from underfoot. No one is getting any younger and believe me when I say trip hazards are real. I carry so many rods because I'm a fishing opportunist. If it's biting I'll catch it so I needed equipment rigged for various species. I've given some of that up. See stage four.    

 

I installed holders for 9 poles to travel in upright positions. I also bought a new landing net, see stage three which stored like this is a better ready position than how we kept the old one which was tangled in all the rods we used to just throw about on the bottom of the boat. This does reduce storage to 8 rods but the old net had a couple of holes and if your wife has ever lost a fish because the net was tangled and couldn't be deployed or the fish slipped out the holes I say you, my fine fellow have never had a proper butt chewing.  

I have always considered the measure of a good fishing pole being that you could step on it and it wouldn't break. With this new system and poles no longer under foot I might step the old rod budget ( see stage 3) up a price point.  

Weather looks good so maybe some on the water action tomorrow with fish photos to follow. 

I believe the only repair task left is installation of the stern navigation light. I bought a new one but the base if too wide for the rail. I could modify the old base but I think a couple of C-bolts will serve better. Alos not critical for legal operation but the old docking lights on the front are out and before a camping trip they will be a cheap easy replacement.  

My boat looks so nice I really don't care if I catch anything at all so see Stage 4. 

End of the Year in Photos and the Yearly Catfish Count...

 It was a good year. The fish bit, our health was good, we traveled and the family did great. I tried to capture some of that fun with a end of the year photo collage. There are 1000s of photos to chose from. What with all the grandkids in for Christmas I've probably made 500 photos the past month alone so it would probably be easy to make 10 collages like this one but all different. 

The yearly catfish count is down a bit. I totaled 171 catfish brought to the boat in the past 12 months. That number does not include a handful of largemouth bass and bream, 30 or 40 white bass, various saltwater species of shark, whiting, redfish, Spanish mackerel and speckled trout or the fish we caught in Canada that included smallmouth bass, walleye and pike. I estimate at least 15 different species of screaming beasts were were subdued and eaten by me and my close associates and despite the decline in numbers no one ever said, "wish we had some fish to eat."

There is good reason for the decline in fish counts. In our retirement we have camped more and I think there were 10 Travel Trailer Trips to various states from New Mexico to South Carolina plus one visit to a foreign country, Canada. There was also the fire that damaged the boat and thanks to the kids for that refurbishing job but those things cut down on some lake time as did the trips we took that were purely for tubing and swimming fun. 

Happy New Year. I pray that all have the fun we do. If good weather holds I'd like a local camping and fishing trip but the first reservations on the calendar is for camping at Galveston Island State Park for the downtown Mardi Gras parades. 

          

The Great Christmas Boat Rebuild...

 If you follow this blog you might recall a few months back how my neighbor's workshop and a car caught fire and how all this was across the property line just behind our boat stall and caused scorching and melting damage to my boat. A local boat dealer, Callahan's repaired the motor very well, my neighbor fixed the trailer lights and for the most part we were back on the lake catching fish. The boat is 20 years old (the motor is newer) and it's a catfish boat so in addition to some scorching melting there was some good honest wear and tear to areas of the boat. 

Here is a before photo. Keep in mind this boat has been stall kept it's whole life but thousands of fish have been jerked out on the carport and dozens of girls in swimsuits have sat on those seats.  

I deemed the main carpet as good but there was age related fraying and then scorching to the three back deck panels so those were the only recarpeting done. You can see Morgan and Peter showing off upholstering skills. 

This was a bit of a thorny problem. The gas cap had melted and no longer fastened. I was a bit worried about contamination of the fuel and taking this apart involved removing old, hardened fuel hoses to take the decking off. It was easy to find the spout part with gas cap as Miguel googled the patent number but I don't think that gutter part to protect the carpet from fuel overflows is available on the internet so it was reused.  

Tim, Warren and Katie crawl the boat like lizards. It was nice that this was a dry mild Christmas, good for outdoor work.  

Rose and Morgan assemble the new Bimini top. This one is all hard supports, new cover and a new boot to protect it from the elements when not in use. The old top was aged and a bit melted from the fire and the old boot was totally melted.   

Morgan, Warren and Tim put the new top frame in place. 

Morgan gifted me a pop rivet gun which he purchased to fix the hinges on the front entry gate and Katie purchased a pressure washer to finish off the work with a good cleaning. Here's Mary and Katie giving the boat a fierce washing. 

It was great the weather was good or this part would have been much more uncomfortable. 

The final product. We need some good sun to dry things out after washing but other than age related wear and staining it looks quite a bit better and all the improvements will make time on the lake easier and more comfortable. I think I'll add some rod holders to get the pile of poles that we always seem to have on the floor up in an out of the way position. As a young man I just tossed those rods in there to get to the lake faster but as an old man I spend way more time messing with my stuff  so laying the rods down to fit in the garage and lifting the top for travel should not slow me down anymore than I already have. 

Here's a Christmas Staff photo of the Wallace boat works crew. They do good work and Cathy and I thank them for the gift of their time, talents and treasure. It's very rewarding to see that the things I have valued in life, not just the hobby of fishing but everything that goes with it, fun, family and good memories matter to them as much as it does to us.