Well fall is coming quick. In like a blink of an eye the summer is over. I don't know what it is about getting older and time, but it does just fly by. Speaking of flies yesterday on the way home from work I
stopped and made some casts into the river. The river is up from normal and temps in the mid to low 70's. I got one bite and landed a small smallmouth. It worked for me. But back to work for a second. It's the fall and that means it's a fresh class of students entering the RN program. Over 55 in this cohort, that's a lot of kids. That's all just a reminder that the fall is here. Last week I got a pic last years graduates sent over to the staff.
It's them posing with their new work ID's during the new hire orientation. They graduated in May. Soon took the NCLEX licensing exam. Found a job and started working as Registered Nurses. I am honored and proud to have been just a slice of the pie of the fantastic staff at Essex County College that helped them fulfill their dreams. And now this year we'll have a graduating class and then this bunch will be good to go in 2025.
So back to fishing, kind of. I had put my pick up truck bed cap on Facebook Marketplace. A few years back Theresa and I found it and made the drive down to Pleasantville (next to AC) and purchased it. Well, the buyer drove from the next town over from to buy it from me. They were a nice young couple who rolled in to what I thought was my sister truck. His was a 2006 (two years older) Chevy 2500 Silverado, a diesel, that he just drove down and bought, like the same time we were there, in Hilton Head. He said he would never buy a northern truck again due to the weather, salt, and rust. His truck is sweet and clean. 140,000 miles, on a diesel, is nothing and for 19,000 a steal.
The hundred the cap bought in will go to good use. I took that cash and the coin cash and went and saw my man Andrew over at Orvis. I exchanged that for a $200 gift card that will go to the purchase of the Orvis PRO bootfoot waders I have my eyes on. I'm almost there and anticipate ordering them up in the next few weeks. There's no better feeling than buying stuff with gift cards collected over time. I just feel like I'm not "spending" our real money. I know that's incorrect, but it's how I justify things.
So I've been involved with Orvis for about 10 years. Being friends with Andrew and Rob, from Orvis in New Jersey and Manhattan, I was able to attend and then present seminars at their stores. Here in New Jersey we are down to one Orvis store, and that is in Princeton. Since Andrew became store
manger a few months ago he and fishing manager Bruce have worked hard to increase the amount of activities they offer at the shop. It's more than just a store. Above is a partial lineup of things to come. We talked about doing a saltwater/striped bass seminar and outing this fall. If you go let them know you saw it here. And if you need any advice or gear give them a shot, they are straight shooters and honest.
And then there's my tractor. The story of the tractor has been on these pages before. A month or so ago I trucked it to PA to a sweetheart of a guy who absolutely loves working on these tractors. So a few weeks later Theresa and I went and picked it up. Below is the test ride at his house.
After I got it hopme and taking about 4 hours to figure out how to install the mower deck and belts I was off to the races and mowed my yard, which had got away from me between all of the rain and the week in Hilton Head. Are you wondering why the lead pick is it behind my pickup?
I'm not sure if it's good when the spark plug blows out of the top of the engine while you are mowing with it, but it happened. Luckily I didn't have the hood on or else it would surely have a big ding in it when this thing took off. The only thing that held the spark plug from entering the atmosphere was the threads from the block. I don't know how to proceed further with this thing, it might be time to put it up for sale and get it in the hands of someone who loves these things.
