Duane's Favorite T-Shirt

This is his favorite shirt! As soon as it's clean he wears it...In case you can't read it, it says "World's Most Wanted Wiener" and that's a the top of a hot dog at the bottom. He laughs every time he puts it on, it's like he's 5.

For Brittany

Brittany, I know you LOVE camo, so here are a few things I know you don't have, that you might want to add to your collection....

Flying with my Dad

My Dad rode his Harley up on Tuesday to come for a visit. We had a great time hanging out and running errands. On Wednesday we tried to fly him up to Quincey for breakfast, but guess what? The plane didn't start, we tried to take both of parents flying last time they came up but we had to turn around and make an emergency landing when we had and exhaust problem. Everything is okay, but we're beginning to think my Dad and the plane don't mix!

AAA Here I come!

So read below...the dirt road...fire in the trailer...everyone knows I have no sense of direction. Why does Duane suddenly think I figured out the elevation of roads? If I don't know N from S how would I know the elevation of a road in Phoenix, that I have driven on once? I was telling my dad this and he was laughing because he knows that I have NO sense of direction and he informed me that if I have AAA (which I do because a few months ago I locked the keys in the car and didn't want Duane to know so I ordered it real quick) I can go in and get FREE maps! Learn something new everyday. I think more people would may the small yearly fee if they knew they got free maps - my first stop tomorrow!

Lake Roosevelt Tournament - Top Ten

Today was the top ten day! Duane went to win, he didn't want to get second or third so he went for big fish. Unfortunately that didn't work - he only caught three fish and ended up in 6 th. Still 6 th place in his first top ten is fantastic! He was pleased and happy with his decisions. The Chico State team with Spencer (and I don't know his partners name) won the college tournament! They won $10,000 , $5,000 goes to the school, $1,000 to the team and Spencer and whathisname get $2,00 each. Spencer listened to Duane, did what he said and looky here he won! Spencer was thrilled! Good job to everyone! And good luck at Lake Oroville in three weeks!

Lake Roosevelt Tournament - Day 2

Duane went into today in first place. He had a another great day, 11 pounds and 4 or something ounces. He is in second place but has secured his spot in the top ten, he will be fishing again tomorrow. This is a first top ten for him and he is super excited, he may pee! He is going for the win! As exciting as all that is I think the best thing about today was the arrival of the Chico State Fishing Team. They showed up in all their glory! Keystone Lights and chest paint. As Duane walked on stage they ripped off their shirts to show him his name written across their chests! It was great! I can't wait to see how well they fish tomorrow. Good luck Chico and Duane!

Lake Roosevelt Tournament - Day 1

Duane did AMAZING!! He fished his hardest and caught 'em all!! He ended up coming into weigh ins with the largest bag of the day at 16 pounds, 11 ounces! He is in first place going into Day 2. I can't wait to see how he does!

22 Mile Dirt Road

Yesterday I got up at 4 am and went to work and left Vegas for Lake Roosevelt at about 6:30 pm. Granted it was a long day and I was a little tired, but I did listen to directions and I did consult a map. So how did I end up going the Apache Junction way? It is a 20 mile windy curvy road that then turns into a 22 mile, single lane, with bridges DIRT road. I was so scared I thought I was going to get jacked, raped and left for dead out there. So, FYI, don't go that way especially at night by yourself. I did make it, but it was not fun.

No More Purses

My mom and Aunt went on a trip last year and this is what they brought us back, my sister, myself and my twin cousins, a candy wrapper purse. (There were nicely made, zippers and stuff, but...) Next time your on a trip and you see something like this, save your money!

Another Day At Work

Today I spent the day at Bare pool at the Mirage filming a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association commercial. You can tell it was another long day at the office. We sat at the pool, it was cold and windy, and made Las Vegas look like the hip place to be...I think the two guys doing the robot really added to that image. I had a great day with Brittany, laughing at all the people and watching the dolphins in their habitat - do people really pay to see that? I was also able to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was actually a really fun day, hard work, but fun.

I Would Have Walked

We all had to learn to drive somewhere. But I was shocked to be following this over HOOVER DAM! What was the instructor thinking? It was 6:30 pm, almost dark...and the Dam? The checkpoint guy said the girl was crying she was so scared. So I followed this at 10 miles a hour over the Dam...poor thing.

You Learn Something New Everyday

I thought it might be a good idea to add an educational segment to the the blog, don't worry it won't always be here - I will only post when I learn some truly useless information. So we all know what a cactus looks like while it is alive and thriving. Well, how many of you know what one looks like when it is dead? You do now. What happens is a woodpecker, or similar, starts pecking at the cactus and then bugs get inside and start eating it and then it rots away. You learn something new everyday!

New Fishing Rules

I am pretty new at fishing. I have only been doing it for a few years, I have competed in a few tournaments, more on that later... I always pre-fish with Duane and am slowly learning new baits and new techniques. I still get snagged and still need help getting my baits. Well 2 new rules were set yesterday...

1. Always yell "I'm snagged" when I'm snagged.

2. Always yell "I'm free" when I'm free so we don't waste any time or F*up the boat.

Seriously though...this is what I'm trying to fish in, it's all branchy and weedy with trees everywhere, it's better if I just don't fish.

Really?

Do all the people on shore really need their life jackets on? I'm sure by the time that 1 wave runner gets back they will have time to put the jacket on.

Lake Roosevelt So Far

So we arrived at Lake Roosevelt safe and sound, minus a tire but all good. We stopped about 20 miles out at a one gas station town and were told we would find a major grocery store in Roosevelt – you can see from the photo what their idea of a major grocery store was, feed store – market – gas station all rolled into one. It wasn’t really what we needed to buy 10 days worth of groceries, we laughed our way through shopping.

Gracie has really enjoyed her time at the lake. She has discovered she loves baby chipmunks and hates bushes with stickers on them. The issue is baby chipmunks like bushes with stickers on them, so we have removed out fair share of stickers from her feet, legs, bum and face! I always miss getting a photo of it because I get so concerned about removing them and trying not to laugh.

We saw a HUGE pink snake yesterday. It was 200 yards off shore and kept turning on us. Thank god Gracie didn’t see it! What a problem we would have had with that one…come to think of it I can’t believe she hasn’t been bitten by a snake yet considering all the holes she sticks her head in.

Duane has a fishing camera – gay, I know. But he loves this thing. He drops it down on “structure” to see what the fish are doing. He gets me to do it, he says it’s like watching a movie. It is so hard to see things down there, it’s all murky and cloudy and dark and there’s always a glare – just like a movie…sure, right!

Trailer Disaster

We picked up the new boat today where it has been living for the last week getting 2 new cylinders put on. Not common for a new boat, but okay. We took it out to test on Lake Mead before we embarked on the over 4oo mile drive to Lake Roosevelt in AZ for the next tournament. The boat ran well and we decided to go. I was driving behind Duane in my car and I noticed when we were going down the hills the brakes were really stinky and smoking. I called Duane but we didn't have phone reception in the middle if no where so I just continued to sing along with that radio and wait for reception to come back. This stinky, smokey thing happened a couple more times and when we finally got reception I told him what I had seen. We decided it was probably nothing but would look at it when stopped again. Well, when we pulled over in BFE Duane checked it out and realized that the bearing had caught on fire, or I don't know something had caught on fire and melted and burnt everything together, something like that - basically it was all broken. We spent over 2 hours trying rig this wheel/ brake/ tire thing back together, (let's get one thing straight when I say we and fix together it actually means Duane and fix, I am not really any sort of help) and it didn't happen so we drive to Lake Pleasant, Phoenix and spent the night there. We drive on three tires. See above photo. When the dealership in Phoenix opened at 8am they informed us that they couldn't get the parts in until Monday. So off we went to Roosevelt 130 more miles on only three wheels. We made it and the parts are going to be delivered to the lake on either Monday or Tuesday and the actual real dealer guy is going to fix it. Hopefully we will last till then!

Off we go!

For the past two years Duane has fished the pro bass tour out of a Nitro boat. It was super cool and had an amazing paint job. Well for this season an opportunity arose for him to purchase a new boat and become more competitive and qualify him for additional "prizes". He purchased this boat and has had a few issues, but so far they have resolved themselves. The dealers have done a great job of fixing things at the tournament or in their shops. With the boat now out of the shop and ready to go. Off to Lake Roosevelt we go! Wish us luck!

This was possibly one of greatest things I have ever seen at Lake Mead (Las Vegas). There was this guy - pictured above - decked out in his full leather gear to take his boat out! It is a Sea Doo boat and he couldn't launch it and he couldn't back up, that's why it looks so crooked. When he finally decided that the boat was good to go he had to shimmy along the outside of the car, so he didn't get his leathers wet! It was great entertainment!

Sexual Stimulant for Men

Today I worked the Core Mark convention in Reno. It is basically a convention that has everything that is in a convenience store. (Fast food, energy stuff, candy, beef jerky, Slim Jims - my personal fav...) I was working for a company called Maui Mikes, they make the best lip balm, sunblock and hand sanitizer. Anyway, the both next to me was all the energy stuff all the little packets that you see hanging at the checkout. They also had Male Sexual Stimulant - well as a fun joke I took a box to Duane when I dropped off the gallons of ice cream to him at work. Well everyone had a laugh hahaha. Duane took a pack....Did nothing, Doesn't Work. He his happily giving Gracie a bath right now NOT sexually stimulated at all! I know people buy too, because all day people kept coming up to the booth next to me saying how they always sold out, it must be one of those gimmick/mental things - unless everyone gets it for a joke like I did. So moral of the story for all of you out there Don't waste your Money!

I Don't Get It?!?!?

I am a trainer. I train people on the Power Plate machine. It is a fantastic vibrating workout machine that I love. It is an 18 minute miracle. You can fully work out your entire body in 18 minutes, and that time is equivalent to 1.5 hours in the gym...Amazing. So I am a fitness fan. It is not always fun, but it is what it is. I have been an athlete my entire life and understand if I was to stay in shape, toned and somewhat thin I must work out. Why don't people realize this. Most of my friends know that I have an issue with fat, lazy people. Well, now it is at an ultimate high. I can't stand fat people who have every excuse not to work out. I am training people for FREE!!! and they still don't want to workout (too tired, too late, too early, I have kids, my toe hurts, come on!). Yet these are the people who complain about being fat. I don't get it. This is very common in Reno. A lot of the people here just don't care, it is shocking! Anyway, enough of my non-growing business rant. Here is a picture if my machine! Have a great day!

NO EFFING WAY - It's April

It's April and it snowed. I almost cried. Gracie got up

looked out side and went back to bed, I wish I could do that.

My Class Today!

Today I taught a group (16) of teenagers from Reed High School about safe driving. There were terrific. All the other schools had 25 or so students from their leadership class, I had 16 kids that were just trying to get a day off school, I couldn't have asked for a better group. They were worried about messing up their hair, didn't want to sing and put fake blood all over their posters! I had a great day!

Teaching Teenagers To Drive

UNBELIEVABLE!!! I was just hired by a company to teach teenagers how to drive safely. What were they thinking? They didn't check my record, they didn't ask if I had a licence, nothing. Maybe they should have checked into my driving habits a little further, considering this is what I did a year ago......

Monster Jam

Well I never...I have the extreme pleasure of working Monster Jam in Las Vegas last week, Boy was it a shock. Talk about WT. I thought us, living in a motor home and fishing all the time was WT, but I was completely wrong. There was a couple who git married by one of the Monster Trucks, she was in such surprise that they were able to "pull it off" that she was crying. Everyone looked the same. People came from all over the world to attend Monster Jam. I was blown away. Seriously?!?! I didn't know that Monster Trucks were still in existence. Here is a picture of and Danielle and Keri, all working Monster Jam. They got cute little outfits and got the typical WT outfit, too funny!!