Thanks Bill Kiene!

[nightgoat]

A big thanks to Bill for hosting this forum and giving anglers an opportunity to discuss issues that are vital to the continued enjoyment of our passion! I know sometimes things get a little "heated" and it must take a lot of patience to put up with it all.

Thanks Bill!!!! 8)

Joe

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

The 99% good times we have here out-ways any bad times we have.

Thanks to the universities and the military for the Internet and thanks to people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for the PCs.

[jim p]

I love fly fishing and tying and all that goes with it. It is one thing that clears the clutter out of my mind and spirit.

A few things happened this past summer and fall that set me back some. My brother died this past summer. He was 51. His heart just stopped. The funeral was on my birthday. Kind of surreal.

About two months later I was on my way home from fishing and started having chest pains. Ended up going directly to the emergency room. They ended up putting me in the critical care unit. They used the defibrillator on me three times. The first one was a real kick in the chest. The second one I barely remember. I don't remember the third one. The last thing I remember was them putting the breathing bag on my face. The whole experience kind of freaked me out after having my brother die 2 months earlier from heart problems. Also, about a year before that my sister died. She was 54.

That experience earned me a heart doctor who put me on a slew of meds. After being on the meds for about two weeks I broke out in hives and had swelling on about 75% of my body. They took me off the meds and it started to clear up. It took about three weeks after they stopped the meds for the hives and swelling to go away. Then two weeks later I was in the critical care unit with the heart thing again. No defib this time thankfully, just some really serious drugs. Its been about 7 weeks since my last emergency room visit. Yippee!

Throughout this I only used about a weeks' worth of sick leave at work and actually put in about 100 hrs of OT. Needless to say I didn't get much fishing in during this time. I still got several days in but not what I would do normally. Doctor said high attitudes or hard fishing was a bad idea.

Sorry for the sob story but I tell it for a reason. I've always been a loner when it comes to fishing. It has always been my solace. I'm also very reluctant to share any part of my personal life. I just wanted to tell these things so you guys would know, that for those of us who have a passion for fly fishing and tying, these communities are more than entertainment. Although very entertaining and informative, sometimes it's a means of keeping a person connected to the things that offer them respite.

So, Gregg and Bill a Big Thank You for your hard work in keeping this thing going and to the other forum members for letting me share in your fishing and tying lives. I'm going fishing now, got to get one last day in on this license. No better way to say goodbye to this year.

Thanks for letting me hang around.

All in all it hasn't been a totally bad year. I passed my Professional Engineers exam, have a decent job with benies that pays for the hospital adventures, celebrated 28 years of marriage (to the same woman :)), three wonderful kids and one absolutely fantastic grandkid.

Peace and Happy New Year from Fresno

[john]

I want to thank Bill, for a variety of reasons, but especially for the gentleman he is.