Pyme Fisher

That's the way it is now, for sure. I tried to be nice, and reach a compromise to help somebody out. The first time, I took it as a one time occurrence. The second time? Nope, I'm done.

I was selling something about a year ago on Craigslist. Back and forth over a few emails with plenty of pictures and questions, we agree on a price and a meeting place. I drive 45 minutes to "meet in the middle", the guy starts to look it over, and starts in on the "Well, it's not quite what I thought, it has a scratch here, it looked different in the pictures, yadda yadda yadda. Would you take less?" I simply took it back, didn't say a word, got in my truck, and drove away. I could hear him as I was getting in the truck saying, "Hey man, that's just part of the game! Come on, we can still make a deal!". Nope, no games, you're just wasting my time. As I drove away, I could see him in my mirror with his mouth hanging open, just a stunned look on his face. Another guy, same sort of situation. I agreed to meet him partway. He texted, "I'm leaving home now." I drove 30 minutes to our agreed upon meeting location, only to never hear from him again. I sent him a couple texts, and actually tried calling him. Of course, no answers. So now, if I'm selling something, you come to me. That way, when you change your mind, or decide to play games, I'm not out anything. People are idiots.

If I had to guess, I'd say you are having a fish fry tonight.

That's easy. Prepare my wife's coffee, as I'm always awake and going before her. Do that, and it's a harmonious day. Fail that one small task, and it can be a bad day for me.... 😲

"You ain't got a hair on your azz if you don't do ....." "Well, I didn't do ....."

Steve, are the caps, comma and period keys broken on your keyboard/phone? Man, that's hard to read. I actually had to go through it a few times, trying to figure out where the breaks were. Not trying to be the grammar police here, but.....

I'm happily retired, but if I wasn't, I couldn't work from home. One, my job physically would not have allowed it. It just wouldn't have been possible. More importantly, I couldn't stand the thought of having to do it. When I was off, I was OFF. My home is not my job, and I never wanted to mix the two. When I was at home, it was my sanctuary AWAY from work, and the last thing I wanted to do was to think about my job while at home. I was fortunate in that when I left work, I actually was able to leave it behind, physically and mentally, until I went back. I didn't have to "take it home with me" in any sense, and that was a huge bonus. I know some people enjoy working from home, but I know it wouldn't have worked for me. There was a hard line between work life and home life, and that line didn't get crossed.

I'm not going to guess. I'm afraid I'd get it right, and then you'd send that "thing" to me. I'm not taking that chance! 😜

The power to our house comes in aboveground through one of our pastures. For appearance sake mainly, but also to avoid cutting around the poles, I wanted it moved underground and called the electric company about it. The guy on the phone actually laughed. He said "We don't do it, but you can, at your expense, but it ain't cheap." When I asked how "not cheap", he said hold on. He took a look at our place on a satellite image, measured it, and said, "Oh, looks like about $20,000 should get you there." Needless to say, the poles are still there...

I've often said that in today's world, a young person would be wise to think about getting into a business that requires hands-on doing, and can't be provided by Amazon, eBay, or China. Mike Rowe touts going to trade schools rather than traditional colleges as a better fit for lots of people. You come out with much less debt, and an immediately marketable skill that pays better than entry level (and often much more advanced) "college degree" jobs, that you can often parlay into your own business after a few years. I have to agree. And it correlates here as well. Amazon can't provide mechanic work on my truck, or electrical work on a new house, or plumbing repair work (all of that type of work will never go away), but I can buy flies cheap from dozens of places with just a few clicks of a mouse.

As Mark said, lead with the positive. If you go negative, it just casts a downer shadow over everything. I hate selling, but know enough about it that you have GOT to stay upbeat and positive, no matter what. Find a way to turn any potential negative that you see into a positive selling point. Instead of "just a kid", you are a "fly tyer with a passion for the sport starting at an earlier age than most". See how much better that sounds? I also agree though that $12 for four flies is steep. You better be offering something exceptional if you are marketing at that price level. Best of luck with your venture!

I did that with my very first fly rod, an old fiberglass Shakespeare WonderRod. I wrapped red sewing thread, and covered them with clear nail polish. I thought I was a genius doing that at about 8 years old. They were more like 6", 9", and 12" though. 😉

I'm the opposite. I have a great library of physical books, complete with paper pages, ink words, and everything. As for online learning, I can't. I just can't. It doesn't work for me. I was fortunate to retire from the military when I did. Everything in the required education field was starting to switch from physical studying and learning to moving more and more online. I was SO happy to have gotten all of mine in before, and during the switch, while I still had some options. If I was still in now, I'm sure I'd be falling behind, and suffering promotion-wise because of it.

http://www.wholesaleflycompany.com/ https://www.flytyersdungeon.com/ I'm sorry, but the "Ali" companies mentioned above are both under the same corporation and based out of China. I am doing my best to avoid doing business with China right now, and keep my business right here in the US. Not always 100% possible, but when it's this open and obvious it's easy enough to avoid.

If you ever get the chance to meet Tom in person, it's even more impressive when you can hear him personally explain a fly. Every feather, every wrap, pretty much every "everything" is there for a purpose, and has a certain significance. He doesn't just tie for visual appeal, his flies tell a story.

So there's no other place that makes t-shirts huh? 🤔

That's one reason I don't tie "show" or "tribute" type flies. I whip up quick and simple stuff, then go drown them in front of fish.

Tungsten beads, streamlined profiles, and smaller sizes to get them down fast, and keep them down. I love a nice juicy buggy looking nymph, but for pure euro style days, I lose the legginess, fuzziness, etc.

Absolutely. Get anywhere in sight, and the entire herd will trot 400 yards to come see what you're doing! And then just as quickly lose interest and go back to whatever they were doing. Again, kinda like the cat thing.

That's awesome! And I can *SOOOO* picture the dog's expression! 😅

Yeah, they are like my wife's pets. The dogs are the indoor pets, the cows are the outdoor pets (at least I'm winning that fight, for now.....). I'd much rather deal with mower clippings being tracked into the house than the cow "mulchings"!

If that is what you manage to do with "more metal, stouter blades", may I recommend that you consider grooming your lawn with a bulldozer, and just skipping any sort of mower? 😜 And after a bend like that, I'd spring for a new blade, and forgo any straightening.

I haven't bagged grass in probably 40 years or more. Using a good mulching mower, with sharp and *proper* mulching blades (yes, there is a difference), there is very little residue after cutting. Of course, if you allow the grass to grow too long between cuttings, you'll have clumping, but otherwise, mulching is clean and tidy. I currently cut six acres, and we have two dogs that are free to go in and out as they please. We never have a problem with cuttings being brought in on their feet. If done properly, the cuttings are chopped up into fine pieces that fall back down between the standing blades of grass. Mulching is definitely the way to go.

A few years ago, a guy near us planted exactly *one* corn stalk. He tended to it like it was the finest of roses. I would've loved to have been there to witness the dinner that he had when he finally picked his "harvest". I bet it was luxurious. 😀

I miss Utah. There is so much to love about that place. I just got the annual "You're a loser, AGAIN, in the elk tag lottery, but thanks for playing" email, but I might need to plan a trip for this fall anyway, with fly fishing gear instead.