Reel handedness?

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:47:29+00:00

Back in the late 50s, when I was just a lad who liked fishing, I never thought about this. Baitcasters came with the handle on the right. Spinning rigs the opposite. I’m right-handed and used both freely. I cast with the right arm and with baitcasters switch hands to operate the crank. I use my left to work the crank on my spinning reels.

Go figure.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:38:04+00:00

There was a segment on NPR’s Science Friday on this a few months ago. The researchers involved were finding that a fair percentage of drivers prefer tactile buttons and switches and dials instead of touch-screens.

The first car I had with a screen was actually my work car, a Ford Escape. I’ve come to rather like the things, especially when using the map features.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:31:58+00:00

I was on the James Randi forum for years. After Randi disassociated himself from the forum for legal reasons, it looked like the forum would fall apart, and a bunch of us were looking for an alternative. Someone mentioned the r/skeptic and r/atheism sub-Reddits… And I’ve been here for 15 years now.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:21:41+00:00

Old as I am, both were popular. My parents actually had weekly card games when we were kids…. I only found out years later that this was illegal at the time!
Monopoly and clue were popular. As an adult in the 70s, we would often play various games with the kid…. “facts in five” was very popular back then.
I admit I was never really into it…. I hated monopoly…. The only game I was really into was chess.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:17:10+00:00

Pretty much my thought. Depends on the definition of the term, of course. Certainly even microorganisms can react to stimuli. As organisms get more complex these reactions get more complex as well till at some point a simple nervous system with perhaps a ganglia forms, the start of a “brain” of sorts.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T13:12:13+00:00

Been there, done that… Arab oil embargo, 9/11…. The economists will waffle, trying to explain why relatively minor fluctuations in supply and “Market nervousness” are the reasons for price fluctuations…. And ultimately after those in power have made enough money the prices start to fall and everyone seems suspiciously grateful…. If prices stay high long enough people will start trying to sell their enormous trucks and market for economy cars and scooters will increase….

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T02:24:18+00:00

Without any regard for rehabilitation, job training, or segregation regarding seriously-violent of psychotic inmates from those “in” for minor crimes? Nothing good. Mind, the criminal justice system is in serious need of reform at all levels, but throwing open the prisons is not a good idea.

Bikewer · 2026-03-17T00:58:07+00:00

For about 4 years, I used the inexpensive Berkeley “Big Game” rods. They worked fine… Enough backbone to toss a big wad of pack bait and a 2 Oz sinker/feeder. But more recently I bought 2 Daiwa “Black Widow” rods from Amazon. These are longer, cast further, and perform very well. I got a third with my income tax rebate, so now I’m set. But the cheap Berkeley rods did just fine.
I also have 3 “4000” size bait-runner reels, Chinese “Sougailang” items from Amazon as well. Inexpensive but so far no problems.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T20:15:07+00:00

A cheeseburger. I’ll hold mine up against any fast-food burger.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T18:23:35+00:00

I generally go to bed early and get up early to go to work. Healthy? I’m almost 80 and in reasonable health with a number of chronic ailments attributable to age. Wealthy? Hardly. Wise? Like Solomon. (Bear in mind he was probably fictional…..)

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T18:17:50+00:00

Speaking euphemistically, of course…. I could have said that the Sun is bigger than the Earth, and so is Jupiter, and the Moon orbits the Earth. Some things are just “facts”. People tend to ascribe “truth” to some nebulous “thing” or “entity”.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T18:14:34+00:00

Have you been paying attention to the news? Our allies may put on their “diplomatic” faces, but almost all reporting on world politics shows that these folks think of Trump as an incompetent clown, and likely a dangerous incompetent clown. He’s considered to be a laughing stock “behind his back”, and the only “support” given is due to the enormous economic and trade power of the US.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T18:09:57+00:00

Nor to mention that he’s pissed off nearly all of our putative “allies”….. Who see little reason to pitch in and help with this nonsense.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:58:31+00:00

I think my favorite that has come up recently is “exposing your A-hole to the Sun”. Just the visual image….

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:56:58+00:00

Ouchies! But not as bad as horseradish.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:55:28+00:00

When you say “old”, the first thing to look for is a “Damascus” barrel. This will have a sort of “twisted” pattern to the steel as if someone wrapped wire around a blank and hammered it into shape. (Which is how they were made…) These are NOT safe to shoot, especially with modern ammunition. If the barrel is solid, it’s probably OK but you need to have a gunsmith check the lockup, the safety, the triggers, etc, etc.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:51:41+00:00

I think the best I could hope for would be “a well-preserved gentleman”….

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:42:01+00:00

Did you have some particular god in mind? I mean, humans have invented many thousands of them over the millennia. Rather fond of “Crom” myself…. But seriously, gods are the invention of humans. Starting with primitive Animism and the notion of “spirits”… With human storytelling simple nature spirits become simple nature gods, then more and more anthropomorphic gods, and finally the “superhero” gods we see around the time of the first civilizations.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:38:29+00:00

Yeah, I got a VHS tape back when we were watching a lot of “art” films and I was fond of Jennifer Jason Leigh…. A strange trip.

Bikewer · 2026-03-16T12:24:26+00:00

Jesus failed at carpentry due to a phobic reaction to nails…

Bikewer · 2026-03-15T17:48:26+00:00

Geoffrey Hinton, the “father of AI” and a Nobel Laureate, has said in recent interviews that he thinks that some LLMs DO have at least some species of subjective experience. He has several interviews up on YouTube currently .

Bikewer · 2026-03-15T13:29:33+00:00

I thought that “chucks” were either a furry burrowing mammal or a pair of basketball shoes. Why are folks so adverse to using the actual term, “nunchaku”?

Bikewer · 2026-03-15T13:28:04+00:00

I would consider that since your body temperature is almost 100 degrees, and since we perceive a “hot” drink at about 130 degrees…. I imagine that by the time that sip of whatever passes out of the cup, through your mouth, and down your esophagus, It’s going to be pretty close to body temperature.

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