The Band

What is sure to eventually be a “Behind The Music” documentary, Saturday night I witnessed the band that, in their time, have put together quite a few verses of some of the world’s more popular songs. Completing an actual song, well…is another matter for the Leechbombs. I’m not sure who is classified as the lead man for the group. Roger seems to be the glue but Keith appears to have the gift of unleashing the fury on lead guitar. Tommy made a cameo appearance arriving from his recording studio in northern Michigan. Also attempting to work their magic were Jim on drums, Greg on keyboards, and Eric on guitar. The three have a thirst for rockin’ the house but have some work to do on their craft.

After getting a call from the manager upstairs (Roger’s wife), the Leechbombs unplugged the amps and settled in to work on some of their new material. One song that is sure to get some serious air play this summer is “Mitchell Sucks At Fishing.” The anger/intensity in Roger’s vocals for the piece really shows through. One would think after listening to the song that Mitchell does in fact suck at fishing.

The summer tour schedule for the group is in preliminary discussions. We’ll keep you updated on any news here.

Trail Head

Feel Like a Number

Some of you may have read the attached that my company is going under a restructuring (read: downsizing) process.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802200354

We pretty much have been restructuring since 1995 but this one is a biggie. The previous moves

were handled within each state where multiple local offices were merged together. Some employees had longer drives and dealt with it while some said goodbye and moved on. This was how the downsizing process previously worked. They never had to lay off anybody; they just absorbed the work when employees chose to leave. Well, this latest move has field offices in 16 states moving to four regional offices. The company is looking to drop 900+ jobs. The employees with families and homes that they have lived in for some time most likely will choose not to move. This is how the reduction will more than likely be handled. Some might not be given an offer, ever if they were open to the move. What was lost in the article that in addition to the field offices being restructured, moves are being made at the central office here in Detroit; my office. All that was relayed to us is that in 30 days, we will know who stays and who goes. They didn’t mention much as far as if seniority (17+ for me) or other factors will help our cause. A total number wasn’t mentioned. As Tom Petty says, “the waiting is the hardest part…” Needless to say, morale isn’t too high here at the RenCen lately.

With that, in about 30 days, I am having a party. It will either be an “I’m still employed another year” party or a job fair party where you all can tell me where to work. Is there a job out there for sports knowledge? Everybody will have fun either way. There will be no bitterness. It was a good run if it is the end.

Trail Head

Flag Up!

On a calm, gray Sunday morning, the annual Super Bowl morning ice fish outing took place on Dunham Lake; and what a day it was. While we normally fish the northeast side of the lake, due to open water in that area we fished the northern side. With a cast of Al, Darren, Eric, Greg, Jim, Lee, Roger, Tim V., and a crew of kids, the day was taking shape. The grill was in attendance with some nice food and beverage choices among us. I honestly was ready to catch my usual ten or so fish that normally qualify as glorified bait and be happy with that in addition to hanging with the friends. I occasionally put a tip up out and decided to give it a try today rather than just jigging for bluegill/sunfish. I normally just leave the tip up out and pay no attention to it but yesterday, I moved mine after deciding the water was too shallow where I was at. About an hour later I am jigging along and someone calls out “flag up.” I look behind me and there is my tip up with its flag up. I walk over there expecting it to be a false alarm but the line was moving on the reel. After some fine coaching from my fishing friends, I gave the line a yank and started pulling the line in. There was some resistance there and the mystery began. What was going to be at the end of the line? About ten seconds later, a big old mouth reared its head at the hole opening. Wow!!!! I gave it one last yank and this large fellow came up flopping on the ice. Being the fishing expert that I am, I had to ask what kind of fish it was. It turned out to be a walleye; a very large walleye. I’m not much into the “high five” scene but was so giddy along with the group that I threw out a few.

After a few celebratory cocktails, I calmed down and got back to my jigging world. About an hour later, Al walks by and calls out “flag up” but wasn’t sure if he accidentally kicked my tip up. I walk over and the line again is moving on the reel. I pulled the line up and a decent size pike greeted me. Two tip up fish in one day!!! I kept the walleye but put the pike back in hopes it will grow to be a larger fish. Glory days!!! The food and beverages never tasted so good after this conquest. A super Sunday it was.

Trail Head

News?

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently. I've been doing some home improvement jobs and honestly don't think anybody cares about those pictures besides the homeowner.

The annual Super Bowl morning ice fish celebration this Sunday should have something to share, ice permitting.

Hey, ho, the Detroit Mayor's got to go!!

Trail Head

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

On a foggy, misty, slushy, and mild afternoon, Doke and I took off to fish Pontiac Lake on Sunday. Not that I’ve ever been there, but it was like London out there with visuals limited to about twenty yards. It was a pretty wild scene when a plane would be heard in the distance from Pontiac Airport and ride right over you but you couldn’t see it. You weren’t sure if it was going to come out of the fog and land on you.

This was my first opportunity to see Doke’s new fishing gadget, the Aqua-Vu. I must say, I need to get me one of these. It basically is a small television with about fifty yards of wire connected to a camera that looks like a fish. You lower the fish/camera down and boom, you see
what is lurking near your lure and whatever else is showing up. The view is incredibly clear. He had quite the setup in his shanty with the Aqua-Vu next to his portable television with the football game on. Besides us two, there were three other people out that we could see. With the fog, there could have been a hundred others out and we wouldn’t have known. It was a surreal scene visually. I caught a couple of small perch and that was it for production for the day. It was good to get out, however.

Cheese Country - Happy New Year? Not so fast.

It was off to Wisconsin last week to take part in the Damrow Festival, a collection of Amy’s family and one Michigander, me. The actual location was Bailey’s Harbor and Egg Harbor within Door County, Wisconsin, north of Green Bay. The area, to say the least, is an outdoor enthusiast paradise. There are many parks, rivers, and lakes to choose from in addition to some beautiful forests. I took the train into Milwaukee on December 27th and met up with Amy. While heading up north, I couldn’t visit Wisconsin without hitting one of their Supper Clubs. We stopped at a place north of Manitowoc called Machut’s Supper Club. My chicken dinner was outstanding! I love the whole Supper Club concept and I wish Michigan had more of them. You get your orders in at the lounge area, have a few cocktails and mingle. They call you a bit later for your seats and boom, your meal is there. From there we headed up to her dad’s “Cabinette” in the woods at Egg Harbor. It is a cabin but a manufactured one so someone was driving behind this wide load on the freeway at one time. The place resides in a complex called Heritage Lake. I would classify it as a manufactured home/trailer park in the woods. Each house is surrounded by mature trees and a majority of the homes are manufactured with a few trailers mixed in. The nice part about it is you can call ahead and advise the management that you are arriving and they will plow your drive and turn your heat on before you get there. It was VIP treatment all the way. The clubhouse has a pool and hot tub so that was another bonus for Saturday morning’s activities. We took our cross country skis out to Peninsula State Park just north of Egg Harbor and hit some beautifully groomed trails in the woods. No deer to report but I did come upon six or seven turkeys. With the size of the park, the camping facilities, Green Bay (the lake), and the many trails, I would have to guess this place really packs them in during the summer. After skiing, we got a bite to eat at the Shipwrecked Brewery in Egg Harbor. It was a pretty cool place with good beer; but if you go, avoid the burgers. Amy had one and about three hours later was down for the count for the night. The Michigan State bowl game was on television so I had my football fix while she rested. She rebounded well on Saturday morning so all was not lost.
We met up with Amy’s family at a rented house in Bailey’s Harbor Saturday afternoon/evening. There were twelve of us total so I got to meet the entire posse and their siblings in one swoop. They were all good people. The house was great with quite a bit of space in addition to woods in the back yard with a location far enough from the main roads and neighbors to enjoy some serenity. Each family had cooking duty designated each day and the meals were outstanding, even for a picky eater like myself.
Amy and I headed out to Whitefish Dunes State Park on Sunday morning for some more cross country skiing (more on the skis later). The park is situated off of Lake Michigan. With the four or so inches of snow the area received on Friday evening, the trails were groomed and in great condition. Right off the trail is a quarter mile or so walk up to a point called Old Baldy. From there you can see Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other. It was worth the hike up there.
Amy’s niece and nephew put on a Christmas play for the group Sunday before dinner. It was quite a 20 minute or so performance. There is no way I could have remembered so many lines when I was in 1st and 3rd grade. Those are two talented kids, and quite well mannered. After dinner, it was gift exchange/stocking stuffer time. Everybody bought something for each stocking. I am assuming Amy at one time or another advised the family that I eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch every day. I got four jars of organic peanut butter and five jars of jelly, locally produced. No complaints here though. They will be put to good use. All in all, it was a great time spent with some good people.

The trip home, however, was another story. My rental car had to be returned in Milwaukee on the 31st by noon and my train was leaving at 3:00 pm. I made the rental car return with no problem and headed to the train station with my luggage, lap top, and skis in tow. I was hungry and had to catch up a bit on some work so I asked the ticket desk if I could leave my skis and luggage there while I headed off for lunch prior to my train leaving. No problem and I was off. So 3:00 pm rolls around and I have everything ready to board the train. I walk past the train attendant who advises me that the skis can’t be carried on the train. They would need to be checked as luggage but it was too late to check them in at this time. I had a choice of waiting for the next train or leaving the skis. I advised the attendant that I came to Milwaukee with the skis on board and nobody at any stop, including the Milwaukee ticket counter, made any mention of it. I had a connecting train in Chicago so waiting for the next train was not an option. What to do? Me or the skis? I bought the skis used awhile back and was contemplating getting a new pair so while I was pretty mad, I left the skis and boarded the train in a bit of a huff. A few minutes later, another attendant stopped at my seat and advised the ticket desk has my skis and they will ship them to me. My guess is I have to pay for the shipping but an e-mail and a letter have already been sent to Amtrak so we’ll see how that all plays out.

The fun didn’t stop there. The train got into Chicago with no problems and I got on the connecting train headed to Ann Arbor without a hitch at 6:00 pm. The train made stops in Niles and Kalamazoo and was at the Battle Creek stop at around 10:00 pm when everything stopped. The train was dead. I don’t know anything about trains but there was no power whatsoever; only the emergency lights were on. The conductor came on and advised of the problem and said they were looking into it. Two hours later, it was determined that this train wasn’t going anywhere tonight and buses would be called to get us home. Everybody (about 100 of us) got into the station and waited for the buses that we all expected would be arriving shortly. Three hours later at 3:00 am, here come the buses. All set, right? As everybody is leaving the station for the buses, the two drivers had a little pow wow and said the roads were too bad and that it wasn’t going to happen. The Amtrak folks then told everyone that we would be put up in a hotel for the night and would get us home tomorrow, somehow. It’s 3:30 am now; tomorrow is already here! I had my lap top and a wireless calling card so I Googled “Battle Creek cab” and hoped for the best. I got in touch with a company and was lucky enough that they had a driver willing to make the trek to Ann Arbor with the way the roads were. I-94 was pretty much a two track so kudos to Scott the driver for getting me there. It

did cost a bit but was well worth it. I got home at about 7:00 am on Monday morning. Happy New Year to me!

Bus Rider

I am fortunate in that the Renaissance Center and General Motors have a bus service available for employees. With my house roughly 30 miles from downtown, it saves immensely on gas and wear/tear on my truck not to mention the relax time during the ride. At $75/month, it is quite a deal. It also is key that I have a boss that will allow me to work from 7-4 each day. If a conference call or meeting from hell is dragging on too long, “sorry, I have to catch my bus.” It has saved me a few times.

For those that are wondering if I’m actually riding the “short” bus, I’ve attached a few pictures of the bus and my driver, Nosh, who I believe has only been in the U.S. for a short time. He may have a thick Russian accent but damn can he haul some ass during rush hour weaving in and out of traffic. My only gripe at him is that he waits for every last person to arrive in the morning (patience isn’t one of my strengths). When that clock strikes 6:25 a.m., it’s time for the bus to go! I know things can happen for someone to be late but when you are consistently late, I have a problem with you. I give dirty looks to the chronic stragglers and sometimes will look at my watch while they walk by. One time last year I even printed out the schedule with a note attached to it saying something to the effect of “I know you don’t mean to be late every day but it’s not fair to the roughly 60 other people on the bus who have to wait for you.” It worked and a few others on the bus told me thanks.

The bus makes stops at Milford Rd, Schoolcraft College (my stop), and Telegraph/I-96. The same people ride each day so you get to know all of their habits. The front of the bus is a pack of ladies who jibber jab the entire ride. The back of the bus are the sleepers. I’m usually somewhere in the middle with my radio headset going, blocking out the world (sounds about right, eh?). We have one lady who will change seats three or four times when she first gets on the bus. There are two ladies who must have knitted enough items to clothe a small country. There is one guy who stares at his lap top the entire ride, another who ties fly fishing lures, and a few who absolutely must lean their chairs back into my legs even though they are only five feet all. All in all though, the whole experience is not too bad.