Frist off, I'd like to thank everyone for everything. How's that for a blanket statement? The NERBs couldn't have asked for a better time at the show, before the show, after the show. Everything was great....until we (Seane & I) set foot in New York pavement. We hit a pohole, and broke the ball & socket joint on teh front left wheel. Fortunately, we made it off the bridge, and almost to teh toll plaza. Teh NYPD towed us off the bridge & tunnel pavement, probabyl savign us a $200 tow for literally 75 feet, but we did have a $65 tow to Pep BOys. Seane, who lives in Connecticuit 2 hours away spent the night at my house, and has been sittign in Pep Boys in Staten Island for the past 3 hours. Another $60 tow charge to move teh truck from the parking spot in the Pep Boys Lot, 25 feet into the garage. Hopefully they have the parts in stock, or Seane will be spending another night at my house. What a way to totally ruin a great weekend at teh Show.

On a good note: I had an absolute BLAST. Meeting Hiro was the hilight of my show. I also enjoyed getting my chops busted on of the very few times I left teh NERBs booth and scurried behind the Wonder Weaver. Hiro, Jim Upton, Dennis Papike, John from Penslyvannia (PAtriot Rod), and whoever was standing behind me working the Renzetti booth, it may have been Andy (sorry I forgot). After completing 2 steps in completing a weave...I realized I never turned the blank. What made it better was I just asked why is it a big deal to pay attention, weaving is easy. lol.

Andy Dear & Emily as well as Jenny - I had a great time laughing with you guys. At the show, in the Hotel Lobby, packing up - thanks for a great time. Steve from CTS, Nick Brunetti & his girl Cindy - I think we shared some good laughs FRiday night, Saturday night, and mid-day saturday at teh Lamar booth. Sam, any questions please ask Nick. lol! Sammy Mickel - it was a real pleasure speaking with you this year. You're really a nic guy, with one of the best Southern NYer accent imitations around. lol.

Tom K - I realy appreciate you letting us stop by your shop on teh way home. Seeing teh pics behind your desk, and teh NY/DC stories - are truly classic. It was great to see your non-Rodbuilding side & hear your sense of humor. It was also a pleasure to see RAlph outside of the show, he's also a funny guy. I hope y'all (lol) enjoyed the time we spent as well.

Billy,
The talks we had over the weekend made mine. I really enjoyed meeting you. Thanks for everything, Randy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2006 12:26PM by Randy Search.

Billy, It was great to put a name with a post. Thanks for all the valuable info you and your fellow NERB'S provided me. See you on the Web. Scott Parsons

Billy~ I had no idea you were my age. I thought somebody doing wraps like that would be an old dude. Congrats. Wish I could have gotten with you guys more but the booth was crowded most times I came by. My wife got sick Sunday morning and I couldn't come back by on Sunday but it was nice to say hello on Saturday if only for a moment.

Scott, it was great to meet you & your wife as well. It was nice to speak with her, as she seemed to really enjoy & appreciate the work we put into our rods. I'm glad you picked up some info and we were helpful, as that was the main reason we were there. Your sailfish weave pic & internet pic were really nice, keep up the good work. Fortunately, we sold enough books & wine glasses to cover teh cost of the booth, which will make next year a definte. Thank you for supporting us, we all really appreciate it.

Randy, please post pictures of your weaves. I picked up a wonder weaver, and when I get around to it, I'll figure out how to make some off the wall weave patterns. I'm not a dragon or fish man myself, so expect some Rated R+ weaves to be sent around via private e-mails. hide the women and children, lol.

Shawn - did I shake your hand? If you were there when it was crowded, I apologize, as I did my best to speak with everyone and remember names....but I didn't see enough name tags, lol.

I did notice there were quite a few guys from the North East who made the trip down. Otehr hot areas were minnesota, and the Chicago area. It was nice to speak with people with semi-normal accents, I couldnt' take any more drawls, twangs, or y'all's.

Billy,
My weaves can't hold a candle to Jim, Doc's or Hiro's. But, I'll post a couple when I get a moment. Randy.

Billy,

Your "water under the bridge" comment, when we talked, made me realize all people from NY aren't always the way they seem. It really renewed my faith in humanity. You are truly an artist in you're own right. I hope SOMEDAY I can be at that level, even though like I told you, I don't have enough patiance right yet for closed wraps. Awesome to meet you!!

Bill in WV

billy,
i saw your stuff at the show and i must say it is out of this world!

Bill - The thing most people misunderstand about NY'ers is our bluntness. If I disagree with something, I will tell you. Just because we had a disagreement on a computer screen, doesn't mean anything other than....we had a disagreement on a computer screen. It was nice meeting you, hopefully one day you'll find the time to explore your creative side and get into the closed wraps. And if not, it's not a big deal, just enjoy what you do and always strive to build a better rod.

As I will!! Thanks for the advice!!

Bill in WV

I ended up at Pep Boys for almost 10 hours, and I was not very happy with them. That is a done deal now, so forget them. I finally got home about 9pm last night. Many thanks to Billy and all his help. Thankfully he knew the area which made things easier.

The show was a blast, and I really enjoyed doing wrapping demos and answering questions. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Looking forward to next year already.





Sean Endres
North East Rod Builders
New London, CT

Sorry you had such a lousy ending to the week-end, hopefully next year will be smooth sailing. It was great getting to see Billy again and meeting you , John and Michael Also wanted to say that all you NERBs did a awesome job presenting the art of crosswrapping and how the show would be poorer for it if you didn't do it again next year.

Thanks, Dennis... was a pleasure meeting you also.

Sean Endres
North East Rod Builders
New London, CT