A Liability Insurance Plan is Good for Fishing

Couple of years ago, believe I arrived at Round Valley shortly after the snow stopped. A scene like this one always suggests a distant hope.

To access my new website, try www.bruceedwardlitton.com for now. Soon the address without the www. subdomain will do. And of course, you'll figure out how to access the specific Fishing blog page. 

Insurance is the chief subject of this post, and I can hear the groans already. It's worthwhile to consider, though, because it answers happens-chance with security. And things do happen out of our control. Most of us by far never get into serious trouble, but it could happen. 

My suggestion is the insurance plan of New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, a good one for the cost of membership. You're automatically enrolled. A good price, especially given that the publication you get every month, New Jersey Federated Sportsmen's News, is worth the price alone if you value excellent outdoor writing. 

I'll get to more about insurance and the publication in a moment. First, a little to catch up on. 

Last I wrote, I said I might have the new website up by Monday. It's Wednesday now, and I don't want to leave anyone hanging. I paid the subscription on Monday and connected the domain to my website today, since I had some questions I needed answers to first. And though I ran behind of schedule, as I had suggested in the previous post might happen, I hadn't accounted for the Domain Name System having to propagate. Even before I go public with the website, the domain has to also connect to DNS servers worldwide, and it can take 48 hours or more. I should have remembered that from when I connected a custom domain to the blog you're reading now, but I'm far from perfect at being the "webmaster" my wife now says I am. 

Have to get it right, though. And after I do go public, it can take another 48 hours or more before the website is accessible on Google and other search engines. So hang in there. We'll be on new ground soon. At least I sure hope so! I have invested a lot of time, and more often than not, it all feels worthwhile. I will provide that website address on this post and on the previous, as well as try and figure out a way to put it on the home page. That way, at least those of you who use the web version (for laptops and PC's) can see the address there.

I did fish on Monday. This past Friday, too. I haven't posted on either event, because I plan on doing that on the new website. It's possible I'll post about the fishing I did Monday, here. Wait and see how long it's taking for the new website to become visible.

About today's subject, four or five years ago, I felt put off by New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs having raised the price of membership from $25.00 (opting out of the insurance offered for an additional $15.00), to $40.00 and insurance mandatory. That insurance, I imagined, is mostly for hunters, and I don't hunt. A friend of mine tells me it's mandatory for management hunts. 

But speaking of imagination, there's not only a lot I can imagine going wrong when fishing with friends, how many times has a friend--in fact--nearly taken the side of my face off by casting too close? I might end up doing the same to him. I pride myself on being a caring and careful sort, but you can't be too careful, and part of it is having yourself covered in case something does go wrong you just couldn't have helped...but are liable for. 

So for the low price of membership in NJFSC, the insurance is a deal. 

I'm not a public relations guy. I'm not making money on an affiliate link or in any way whatsoever, I'm just sharing with you my epiphany, my going from having no interest in insurance, to seeing why it's good for peace of mind. Peace of mind, after all, lends itself to care.

I believe in NJFSC, too. The club has a down-to-earth, fact-centered attitude connecting thousands of us. And the writers you'll read in New Jersey Federated Sportsmen's News are noted outdoorsmen. Vin T. Sparano, for example, is Editor Emeritus of Outdoor Life magazine, having served as Editor-in-Chief 1990-1995 of that magazine. He writes "Woods & Waters Notebook." Rick Methot writes humorous stories based on fact in "On the Road," having also written the outdoor column for The Trentonian many years and sometimes winning Outdoor Writers Association awards. John Toth is a noted conservationist and officer of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance. His articles having to do with a wide panoply of conservation issues fascinate me because they are so well informed and detailed. Marty Boa writes the "The Sporting View," and I don't believe there's another writer on the planet who can offer you detailed, practical outdoor advice as well as he does. Lou Martinez we haven't heard from in awhile, but his articles have a spirit of comradery that is valuable for fishing and hunting. 

When Oliver Shapiro served as editor, on one occasion, he asked us who write for the newsletter to create "thought pieces." As I've suggested, it's substantially more than a newsletter. One I came up with, "The Iron Bridge," is my favorite. Talk about distant hope. The piece concludes on us sportsmen possibly being the Iron Bridge to the future. 

I doubled the length of that piece and include it on my new website as my first Literature and Philosophy blog post, the title expanded. "The Iron Bridge: An Essay on Necessity." 

I hope it will go places out there in the world of the internet. But especially, better than cyberspace.

New Website and NJFSC