Let's analyze this message for a moment, Mr Ancient,

"Wow, we Canucks seem to be taking over! Just to balance things a bit, I'm from the center, humble little ol' Ontario."

Nothing humble about Ontario, lots of excellent water there to paddle. First crime is not quite telling it the way it is.

"Yes, seems like you have the bug, although you can probably stop right now if you haven't bought the wood - the worst of the symptoms usually stops after a few years."

The symptoms never heal. Second crime is not quite telling it the way it is

"Once you get plans and buy wood and epoxy the condition cannot be cured: sun or shade, warm or cold, night or day, you will drag yourself to the computer to check the forums, check the roofs of passing cars to see if they're carrying kayaks, every vacation will be by the water, and you'll search for wood and epoxy bargains while scribbling boat ideas on little pieces of paper that you will leave all over the place, finding them days or weeks later and being unable to understand them."

Tsk! Tsk! He already has the bug, that is obvious. The only thing that can be cured is a properly mixed batch of epoxy. You got the rest right, obsessions are tough distractions. Third crime is not quite telling it the way it is

"You'll keep a diary of where and when you paddle, noting the mileage and waiting for that special warm winter so you can check off the last of the months that are normally unavailable for kayaking due to hard water . . . "

Ooooh this is a bad one. Kayaking is always possible, you just have to prepare to do insane things. Go read my post in the Trips Forum, then as penitance, head out, find a semi-frozen river and paddle the kayak around for 1 1/2 hours. Fourth crime is not quite telling it the way it is.

"Well, you've got the idea. I've got to go put the studs on the paddle . . ."

No crime here, we know what we do when we are not online. I get into trouble sometimes just mentioning a build to Linda (my wife). She thinks the kayak is more important. I insist that it isn't but she claims that I think about it more than I think about her. Bah! It ain't true, not entirely true, pretty much not quite the truth but there is always some true in each person's perceptions. Sometimes she is right. Not always but lately, maybe more than usual. Oh heck, I am proving myself by working on setting up a christmas tree instead of working on my ice runner...isn't that proof that I am not obsessed? How did this get turned on me anyway...I know Linda is wrong sometimes.

Robert N Pruden