New Rules of the Road

It had to happen. If you're away from home long enough, you have to do laundry.

I haven't been in a laudromat for decades and I was blown away by the audacity of the new payment method. You shove bucks into a machine that then issues you a laundry debit card. Each washer and dryer then deducts its fee from the debit card. Since the card can only be loaded with dollars and the washer and dryer cycles are $1.79 and $.59, respectively, any remaining balance on the card essentially becomes a donation to the absentee laundromat owner. A pretty nice racket.

Next time we may just buy new clothes.

The Whinery Is Now Open

Room trading was fun, but participation was pitiful. The official show hotel was a bit scuzzy and offered club members a "special rate" that was $20 or so above their norm. That, combined with the distance to the show hall, had people scattering to different hotels. We stayed at a more tolerable place for about half the price.

We stopped by the show hall during setup. No show sign outside, no air conditioning, no food service, terrible table layout, very few chairs. It doesn't look good for the home team.

On the Road Again

We've holed up at a dive somewhere in the Carolinas. Still too far away to pick up the fine aroma of tackle, but there's an energy in the air. Tomorrow there will be in-room trading. (Well, okay. There may have been some today. But does it count if we're not there to enjoy it?)

Sure, shows are fun, field finds can be thrilling and auctions have an excitement all their own, but little on the planet can get a collector's blood racing and heart pounding like room trading. When you fish in an aquarium, the odds are in your favor.

Not-So-Great Pretenders?

So, we have yet another outcry about tackle fakes, in this instance wood boxes for Heddon lures. Typically, when we're shown a "known" original and a fake, the difference is easy enough to spot; it often involves something as simple as a typo. But the question really is: Why would anyone bother to make a bad counterfeit?

Boogie's Primary Pet Peeve

Maybe it's not so patently obvious: A patent date is not the date of manufacture. Are you listening, ebayers, auctionistas and other potential disseminators of misinformation? Nice try, though.

The Big B

In memory of Boogie,
a true tackle hound.