Masshole Mike

That's awesome. He should have built a whole fence out of cars instead of just 3.

Wow, that part went right over my head. I was under the impression he was a competing athlete. I rescind my previous statement, I now understand why the Chinese gov't wouldn't want him there. Not that I agree with it, but like I said they've got some crazy rules over there.

A childhood friend of mine made the Olympic rowing team and is headed to China for the Games. I've spoken with his mother on numerous occasions and from what she's told me, even just getting a visa to go to China is a task in itself. They actually require a bank statement on professional letterhead showing your account balance. Why I don't know, but that's just one of the crazy requirements mandated by the Chinese government. I can see how they would over-react about something like that, Hookem. It's a shame, really, as the Olympics are all about bringing together people from different backgrounds, different lifestyles and different religions. Obviously the Chinese gov't forgot that.

My point was more along the lines of phone companies and such using the SSN for identification purposes only. There is no need for that. Just make up some other character string for id purposes. I understand why it is required to use for banks. I think some of the new laws post 9/11 are ridiculous, but that's a different topic for a different forum. So, actually I agree with you. One thing to note though is that many of these companies that ask for the SSN can not require you to provide it. The problem is that most people don't realize that and give it freely when the shouldn't. Ah, I see. A simple misunderstanding. I agree that phone companies and such have no need for someone's SSN. That's just asking for trouble. And you're right, a lot of people don't seem to have a problem passing out their SSN whenever asked for it. It's a shame, really. We had one gentleman that got taken for over $80,000 when he was informed that he had won a Canadian lottery. He was withdrawing thousands of dollars a day in one of our branches that is inside of a Walmart, then walking the cash over to the customer service desk and wiring it up to Canada. We explained to him that it was a scam and that he was giving his money away for no reason, but he was under the impression he was going to get his $1.5 million if he just followed the instructions given him by the "Canadian Lottery Commission" or some junk like that. Some people just don't have a clue. And RW, good link. I'm happy to see that our law enforcement agencies are doing at least a little something with our tax dollars! That's the exact incident that I described in one of my previous posts, the one involving TJX. Good find.

The issue that I have with this is that it shouldn't be my responsibility to pay for these services. This information should not be available for use by anyone other than the individual whose ssn it is. There needs to be a much more stringent method of identification for granting anyone credit. It also should be illegal for companies to use SSN's as identification numbers. This is just another aspect of our gov't looking out for business's interests over their constituent's. I completely agree, credit reporting and monitoring should not only be free but given as a benefit to every citizen of the country. Unfortunately they are not, and paying for them is about the only way to gain some semblance of peace of mind that your info is secure. In the same vein, every person in this country is entitled to a free credit check once a year. Check out those two sites I posted in my previous reply. I suggest www.annualcreditreport.com as freecreditreport.com asks for a credit card number and actually charges you monthly fees after 3 months (although all you have to do is make a phone call to cancel your subscription, but still...) I do have to somewhat disagree with your statement that an individual's SSN should only be used by said individual. The reason we ask for a SSN when opening an account or for any other matter, is so that we can verify that you are who you say you are. I understand that you wouldn't want to be giving out that kind of personal info, but it's actually now required by most banks after the events of 9/11. Our bank will not open an account if someone does not have their social security card and another form of valid picture ID in hand with them. After the account is opened, the SSN is used only for identification and tax reporting purposes.

Your honor, I'd like to introduce Picture #14 into evidence. Now there's a prime example of fake. OBJECTION! wait.... never mind

Unfortunately, personal info can be easily attained by anyone these days. Much easier than anyone would care to think. I work for a bank and any one person that is employed by the bank can access any and all personal info for anyone that has an account or has had an account at our bank. In retrospect, we as a bank do everything we can to keep your personal info confidential, and I can't think of one incident where a customer's info was compromised as a result of carelessness on our part. However, the lax security measures that most major businesses employ these days can be directly related to customers info being compromised. Just in the last year we've had major issues with both TJX (the company that owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls and a number of other clothing stores...) and Hannaford's supermarkets compromising our customers personal info. In both instances debit transaction histories were stolen (including debit card numbers) via a stolen laptop (TJX) and a hacked transmission of transactions (Hannafords). Was this the banks fault? Not at all, however we felt the repercussions and thus lost the confidence of our customers that were effected by someone else's carelessness. My advice? Invest in a credit report, if not monthly then yearly at the least, whether through an online company such as freecreditreport.com or annualcreditreport.com or through your local bank if possible. If you feel your info has been compromised, file a report with the 3 major credit reporting companies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. There are a lot of ways to protect your credit and personal info, a lot of people just fail to utilize these tools. They're worth it in the long run, though.

Nice brownie!

my mistake, it was actually the 3:16 real deal perch that i saw. this guy...

looks like a good night all around. congrats on smashin em out with your own handmade bait, that must be the icing on the cake.

you mean kinda like this....? ;D http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1214137095/0

i saw a pic of one of these on another site, they look absolutely killer. i still can't bring myself to pay $40 for a slammer so that $60 price tag is still outta my league, but they definitely look pretty sweeeeet.

sounds like a good day! wayne i'm workin on getting friday the 22nd off so maybe we can head out for a day before the CAST event. you down?

rip em topwater, they're killer on top.

count me in, i just need a little advance notice if it's gonna be a friday night because i work a lot of saturday mornings. electric only?

I actually was using a lip grip scale by Berkley, along with my Rapala multi-purpose pliers, needle nose pliers and hook outs. Just couldn't get the hook out with all that hardware so I tried holding the lure and... well, you get the picture.

Yeah dude, all healed up. Although once in a while I'll hit my finger on something and the nerves that got ripped up inside will send a jolt through my hand. Nothing major but there was definitely some damage done inside.

Holy grave digger batman! 2005?!

Now I KNOW you didn't come up with something that clever all on your own! ;D Internetiquette... could that also be called "e-tiquette"?

I've tried PowerPro, Spiderline and Sufix braid and the Sufix is the best in my opinion. If you decide to get away from the superlines, give it a try. If you're fishing clear water you might want to consider a fluoro leader, but other than that I suggest you tie the superline right to the lure with a palomar knot. The palomar is very easy to learn and is a very sturdy knot. If you decide to use a leader, try to use a line that is similar in diameter to the superline. I've always used a uni-to-uni knot when tying a leader to my main line, but there are others that are just as effective or even better.

I'd like to pose the question of what's worse, all caps or all lower case? Grammar and punctuation aside. I'd rather see a post in all lower case. All caps makes me wonder if the person typing it is really angry at the time.

It seems in this thread alone most of it can be attributed to the latter. At least from the last few posts... I know that I'm usually pretty lazy when it comes to typing, which is why a lot of my posts are all lower case, however my grammar and punctuation are impeccable. Hooked on Phonics worked for me!

I've got the berkley lip grip scale and I love it, and it's only $50 from most major retailers. It's the same as the one you posted but even less expensive (maybe because it doesn't come with that nifty leather sheath ) Yeah, having the barb ripping apart nerves was not fun, and was the only reason I couldn't bring myself to pull it out on my own. Any little movement would send shocks up my arm, it was NOT fun, haha. Lesson learned, though!

dude i saw the photos of your finger and even though i had basically the same thing except with two, i still think yours is much worse. the finger's are one of the most sensitive places on the body and i don't think there are a ton of nerve endings in that part of the head. i had my skull to stop it from going too deep ... Not to say that it didn't hurt getting ripped out with needle-nose pliers... Also those katsuage hooks have the barb on the outside...haha it sucked but i think i'd much rather have it there than my finger... *raises glass* here's to no more sticking anything but fish lips! HERE HERE! haha I can still feel the spot where the hook was ripping apart nerves inside my finger, every once in a while I'll hit it on something and it'll send a jolt through my fingertip. Shorefisher, did it bleed a lot after the hooks came out? Mine leaked a little while the hook was in, soon as they yanked it out it started gushing all over the ER bed. Ugh, just thinking about how much it hurt is making my finger throb! ;D

$78 for a Techna?!? Holy crap is that a deal, good find man!