Del_R

"The bullet went in just here and luckily missed all vital organs!" Derek ps Not being a regular reader of AT, what's the fuss about over Des? I've always quite enjoyed the columns of his that I've read.

Took me several sessions before I had any success with the lure. For a while back there I thought it was never going to happen and the whole world was playing a practical joke on me! All of a sudden it clicked and I started to catch a few. There have been plenty of blanks since, though ;-(

The rod that needs urgent attention i.e. the whipping has come away totally on one of the rings, is a plain dark red whipping. I bought half a reel of red whipping from my local old-timey fishing shop. I'm not sure how close the match will be once it's been varnished. As grumpy aluded to, the only way to get a total cosmetic match will be to do the whole thing - which I might do one day, as some of the actual rings could do with being replaced. Still, the plan is to get the rod into working order to save my buying another!(*) When I told the shop-keeper who'd sold me the whipping this he became the first person in my life who's actually used the phrase "hoisted by my own petard" in actual conversation! The second rod has that lovely yellow and black whipping (not orange and black). I think when I come to do that one I shall definitely be on the look out for that colouring (the rod, except for the top piece) is black. Still, one step at a time... (*) Not tight, just broke. And I like old stuff anyway. Kind regards, Derek

Title says it all. Never caught one before. Excellent looking fish, IMHO. Like something from prehistoric times. It was on a lure from the local canal, 'twasn't big, but still made me chuffed ;-) Del

Cheers, grumpy. That sounds a little more involved than I'd thought so I'm glad I posted the question. I know just the shop in town to try. I'll probably just replace the dodgy whippings for now - I want to use the rod rather than look at it - but depending on how it goes I might attempt the whole thing. Thanks, Derek

This may be a silly question but then why change the habits of a lifetime... Some of the bindings on my old rods (early 60's Sealey's) now need replacing. Can I just use normal cotton and normal clear varnish or should I be using something more job specific? I'd like to get hold of the same colouring of thread, too, as 80% of the bindings are still fine and it'll be nice if they match. The original thread is that nice yellow with flecks of black in it. Reckon I'll be able to get a close match from a sewing shop or will I need to be looking at some stuff designed for rods? Cheers, Derek

I don't know much about football (being from Gloucester where the oval ball is king) but I never had you down as a Darkness fan, Peter. Mind you, I did read somewhere on the web about the perceived image of pike fishermen... and the description did have shades of the rocker about it ;-) Kind Regards, Derek

Just had a wander down the above mentioned tow-path for the first time in a couple of weeks. The pegs (previously grassy banks with well trodden flat bits) have now each been furnished with small concrete flat areas on which seats will be much more steady. The grass and hedges have all been cut back and each peg has a nice neat number in silver embedded in a concrete square. It all looks very plush. Apparantly they're now doing the same for the next section along the canal as well as improving access along the towpaths. Regards, Derek

Cheers for the tip, Kleinboet. If I can persuade my boss to let me have a day off on Thursday then I might get down there. Regards, Del

Well, that's my new licence purchased. Quite tempted to have a dabble down the canal (which doesn't have a closed season restriction) or maybe a couple of BAA lakes that are quite close next week, especially as it now stays light until about 7:30. But I did promise myself I'd leave the fish alone for a few months as they'd paid me the same respect over the last few months ;-) Cheers, Del

the old Cadbury's flake adverts...

Jaws. Maybe it hasn't had any favours done to it by the sequels and impersonators. But what a great film. Del

Nice to see John Wyndham getting some mentions here. I re-read Day Of The Triffids in one sitting about two weeks ago. Brilliant! My favourite book, like my favourite music, changes quite often. I am a real big fan of Elmore Leonard, and James Lee Burke these days. I also have an on-going project of trying to get hold of all of John D MacDonald's novels. In the past Graham Greene's books really did it for (The Quiet American springs to mind). Other favourites over the years include Len Deighton's Bomber, and also his Goodbye Mickey Mouse; John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat and also the immense East Of Eden. I also have a soft spot for Stephen Kings novella The Body which I think is his best work. Then there's Hemmingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, Mailer's The Naked & The Dead, a great vietnam war book called The Thirteenth Valley (sadly I can't recall the author), Peter Straub's Ghost Story and Mystery, Lord Of The Rings is pretty good, too. Currently reading a history of 18th century London, Danny Gatton's biography, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Brilliant! Del

Today, and for the past few weeks, I've been listening to Danny Gatton, and also Roy Buchanan. Two amazing guitarists who sadly both took their own lives. Also been playing Cannonball Adderley's Cannonball Takes Charge when I needed more mellow music to work by. Regards, Del

Actually, you're right as far as access on the industrial estate bank is concerned, but the tow path bank is available for angling all the way along. It's never fished particularly well for me. I struggle to catch anything. Mind you, I struggle to catch anything anywhere! There have been some good pike catches, plenty of zander, and reputedly in the summer some excellent bream fishing to be had. So we shall see... The big plus about it is it's about five hundred yards from where I work so it's easy for a lunchtime or afterwork sess'. Regards, Del

You can access the entire canal if you're prepared to walk ;-)) These improvements are taking place on the stretch between Sims Lane and Elmore Lane. There's a small British Waterways carpark at Elmore Lane Bridge which has now been taken over by construction vehicles. Lord knows what they're doing. So far it seems to be mowing the verges and cutting back trees, butby the look of it there's some construction to be done somewhere too. Del

... so says the sign down at the canal, by all the builders' wagons. Can't wait till they've finished and I find out how much my fishing has improved. It certainly needs it. Del

It's edging forwards. Got the modem up and running now. Tried to download the audio drivers but they're 6Mb and it timed out... Still, things are definitely looking up! Thanks to you guys, of course. Del

I've unzipped the files on this PC and re-zipped them into two smaller archives... and was thus able to copy them across. Now I just have to load Winzip on the other machine in order to unzip them... that's tomorrow's job. Getting there... Appreciate all the help, chaps. Del

Hee hee! There's blood everywhere now where I sliced open my finger trying to get the modem out!! This is like "Fixing PCs with Stephen King". Anyway, it is an MR2800 and I've downloaded the driver to this machine, but of course it's too big for a floppy disk even zipped up. Time for a relaxing bath and a ponder... Del

Grrr. The modem isn't recognised, consequently I can't dial up to download the drivers (I don't have CDR on this PC and by the looks of things the drivers are all bigger than 1.44 Mb). So I need to go back a stage... I believe the modem is a Aztech MR2800 MR (*). How can I get this to appear in the list of modems on the ADD Modem list in control panel(**). My thinking is, once I can get this added, I can then download a driver (which hopefully won't be bigger than 1.44 Mb) and maybe get the modem going... (*) Simply because that's the only reference I can find on any paperwork from way back... (**) Or can I just call up any modem name and attach the Aztech driver to it? Del... slowly getting closer to the edge

Seems like I have lots of options ;-)) I've managed to identify the MB as a GA-6WMM which has led to various pages listing driver downloads. At the moment it's the sound that I can't get up and running. Seems like it's a Yamaha PCI driver that I need so I'll have another look this evening and see if I can download something that'll make it work... When I put in the new HDD should I have "run the BIOS" or something similar? Everything worked, but only after a fashion. PCs, eh? Never catch on! Derek

Cheers guys. I'm all PC'd out at the moment. I'll have a good poke around close to the MB tomorrow... Regards, Del

Just put in a new hard drive in my folks' PC on account of a total failure of the old one. Got it all up and running to a fashion, but now I've got the task of finding the drivers for all the odds and ends. The motherboard is an Intel i810e (circa 1999) with integrated sound and graphics - but there's no manual to tell me precisely what chips are on there, and hence what I need to be searching for on the web. The display is working within reason, but so far I've had no joy at all with the sound. Any ideas how I might figure out what driver I need? Cheers, Derek

-------------------- You get more bites on Anglers Net ... but not from Del, this time... :-)