I received a very nice email and photograph from Trevor Northan, Business Development Manager of Total Sea Fishing Magazine.  Trevor writes,

“I just came across your article (ed. Snowbee Classic Junior Fly Rod) purely by accident, and I gave the same Snowbee rod to my Granddaughter who started fly fishing at 7 years of age. Having been a keen fly angler myself for many years I was amazed at how quickly Poppy took to the sport, and not only managed some effective short range casts, but landed 3 fine rainbows on her first outing. I have attached a picture for your perusal.

As you say this rod is light and very easily put to great use by a young beginner to the sport, and casts beautifully. Like you I agree that it is best suited to a 6wt line. Whenever a product is aimed at the “ child market “ there is always a huge shortfall in it’s usefulness: not so with this gem of a rod. To an adult, as you say, you are restricted by its’ length: but a child is not. This is the finest rod that you could ever give a young fly fisher and 100% fit for the purpose!”

The image Trevor sent:

Trevor’s granddaughter Poppy caught the fish in the photo with the Snowbee Junior fly rod at Heathcote Lakes near Warwickshire, UK.  Warwickshire is located in the West Midlands region of England.  Trevor writes that the area has some hard fighting fish that take savagely and provide good sport.

I’m looking forward to posting some photos of my son David with some fish caught on his Snowbee Junior rod – crossing fingers he’ll be into some later this spring.

Thanks for the note and photo, Trevor! And congratulations, Poppy! I hope you continue to enjoy fly fishing with that rod your grandfather gave you.

As I wrote here and here, I recently purchased a 2006 Jeep Liberty that ended up having window regulator issues.  Turned out there were three window regulators that needed replacing. After some research and discovering that this seemed to be a very common problem with Jeep Liberty vehicles, and the fact that to me, it’s a safety issue, I called the Canadian Chrysler Customer Service line.  To me, having my son in the backseat while driving through a major snowstorm or driving rain with the risk of the window falling down is not just an inconvenience – but a safety and security risk.  And not just my son – it would be a safety risk if Colleen was driving with me in such conditions and the window fell down.

Chrsyler Canada didn’t offer me much at all.  They advised that because the warranty was expired (60,000 km – my vehicle had just under 64,000 when the first regulator let go), there was nothing they could do.  The told me that because I did not buy it from a Chrysler dealer, I wouldn’t be entitled to any “goodwill” even though the person I spoke with agreed that it could be a safety issue having windows fall down.

I was advised that I should have tried to have a “relationship” with a Chrysler dealer – then maybe some “goodwill” could be provided.

So I walked into the service department of Wellington Chrysler in Guelph last week.  Walked up to the first service consultant, introduced myself, shook his hand and said, “I’m here to begin a relationship with you.”  After his quizical look, I told him the story of the window regulators, my conversation with Chrysler Canada, and gave him the opportunity to see what they could do.

I have to give it the guys there – they did understand the issue and managed to work out something for me that was agreeable and helpful.  They did a fantastic job, and I’ll certainly not hesitate to take my Liberty into them for service.

Thanks to John and Neal and the manager at the service department of Wellington Chrysler.

The other day, I wrote about my purchase of a 2006 Jeep Liberty.  I wrote about the fact that I had a problem with the front driver’s side window not working – the window regulator apparently needing replacement.

I also wrote that I had discovered that this was a common problem apparently with Jeep Liberty vehicles.

Well, guess what? The rear driver’s side window now seems to have suffered from the same defective design – and it is now useless.  The front passenger side is showing signs of degradation – the window seems to have a bit of a jump when it is down and then when it is being closed.  It seems to go off it’s track and needs a good whack to close it properly.

So that’s three windows that probably need a new window regulator, at $350 a pop.  Not including labour.

That’s nuts.  I wonder if the person(s) responsible for the design and approval of the Jeep Liberty window regulator are proud of the design.

And why the heck does a power window motor along with a few other parts that guide a vehicle window open and shut cost so much?  Three hundred and fifty dollars??  To open and close a car window?

Something is wrong with that  picture.  Especially when apparently, I need to replace the entire unit – including the motor, even though the motor works fine.  It’s just the design of the other working parts that are defective.

Three hundred and fifty bucks because a piece of plastic broke.

Chrysler, that’s insane.