Quiet and productive weekend around the house. Canned some Bacon

    As Christmas and New Years are over with we are back to the everyday norm of school and work. This weekend brought the kids and I a three day weekend. I get to enjoy another three day weekend this Friday as I have a VA compensation and pension appointment to go to so they can check one of my service connected disabilities, ONCE AGAIN!!!! I have a strong feeling that they think I will get better when there is no cure. I am sure the oil smoke of the Persian Gulf  during Desert Storm contributed to the condition as I have been surveyed several times regarding Gulf War syndrome.
    We did some early spring cleaning around the house with loading the trailer up for a run to the dump this coming Friday. We have almost got all out storage buildings in order and getting the last few boxes out and throwing away stuff we haven't used in a few years. I did get started on the grading for the garage that I have planned for late spring. The area of the property is somewhat level, but I do need to go down around 3-4 inches on the end closest to the house as I am wanting a 5 inch slab for the floor
     I did a search of the Internet Thursday during lunch and I was looking for dehydrated and freeze dried food as with each upcoming month I will start transitioning to them with a limited stock of canned goods in storage. We just cleaned out some canned goods that dated back to 2012, which I am sure they would still be good to eat, I would rather not until I really had too. I called another one of my neighbors who has pigs and told him to come get them.

 So as I am searching I run across Yoder's canned Bacon, holy crap that stuff has gotten expensive, $144.00 for a case before shipping. I told JUGM about this and we have been wanting to can Bacon for some time so she went to out local meat store and bought 5 lbs to start with. Well here it goes:

1 of 5 packs of Bacon

Masking paper cut to 18 inch's

Thick sliced Bacon placed on masking paper

Second sheet of masking paper placed over top of Bacon

Bacon is folded in half before its rolled up to go in wide mouth quart jar

Rolled up and going in jar

5 quart jars of Bacon pressure canning for 90 minutes

after the Canner

     Sunday morning, one jar was opened and consumed at breakfast.

Bacon unrolled

 Withstood the pressure canner pretty well

In the pan

The finished product

    The bacon went well with eggs, grits and toast. The FDA has discouraged people from canning bacon so pressure can Bacon at your own risk. I have only demonstrated that I accomplished this and have consumed the bacon I pressure canned. Please do your research before attempting and if you are new to canning, please use the Ball Blue book and learn canning of other food items before attempting.

    Well this will be a short week for me, only a few days till our 45th President is inaugurated and the other one is sent packing. I find it ironic that the Rep. Lewis from the Atlanta area said the same thing about G.W.Bush when he took office back in 2001 calling him illegitimate too. Makes you wonder of his racial tendencies...... Take care all.

Senior

Buy a Shotgun Song and Video, just for you Harry

Just for you Harry!!!!!!

Hardly any Snow, headlight upgrade for the Fouled XJ, get-home bags and Harbor Freight tools.

    Well this Friday was supposed to be the first winter storm of the year for our area. All week, the two largest television stations in Charlotte touted this storm as to some big snowfall. Well let's sum this up real quick, "YOU GOT IT WRONG!!!!" Thanks for getting my and many other kids hopes up for some sledding, snow ball fights, and making snow men. I have seen for many years, meteorologist's have worked their way away from making a forecast by reading raw weather data only to rely on computers to make it for them and they dance around with their clicker while looking all pretty in front of the camera. I think I will do my own weather report for my family, I have been around enough AG's in the Navy and looked at enough satellite and radar data to make you look like amateur's. Hell, I cant do no worse than you guys and gals. Sorry, just my two cents

 
     I have been looking at doing a headlight conversion for the "Fouled XJ" for some time now. When we purchased it from a guy who works at Daniel Defense in Statesboro, GA, it had came with Sylvania Halogen sealed beam headlights, which the sealed beam are standard on the Cherokee. I don't know how many of you out there have the Sylvania Silver-star headlights on your vehicles but I have them on my other two and these things are awesome. They really light up the road and if you live in the country, they really help you out with deer and other critters running out in the road.
     There are many aftermarket kits out there for the Cherokee, specifically the HID/LED kits that cost over $100 and take possibly several hours to install. So after doing some research, I found that Sylvania has the Silver-Star headlights in sealed beam. I went to out local auto parts store to order some but luckily they had a pair on the shelf. So I had them cross referenced them as the store book only went back to 2000 on vehicles. They were the right ones and I was out the door at $53.00 with my rewards card. Once we got home, I went to work.

 

 
  The Cherokee headlight bezels have two phillips head screws to remove at the top corners. The bottom is held in place with plastic slots that fit in the headlight housing.

 

    The gray tab on the back, push toward the bulb to loosen the tension and disconnect from the bulb.

    With new bulb ready to install, place a small amount of bulb grease or silicon grease on the connectors. It makes it easier to slide the plug back on. The previous owner didn't apply it so they were a bit hard to get off.

     Total installation took around 20 minutes with me snapping pictures. So I waited till it got dark and this is the result.

Low Beam

High Beam

     Since the Cherokee lights have to be manually adjusted with two screws in the headlight assembly, I adjusted them as good as I could and went for a drive. I figure I have them adjusted right so if I pass cars on the road and nobody flashes me thinking I have my high beams on. Well no body did, I had great vision on the road, so it's parked for the night.

     As I mentioned in my post Christmas post, I was planning on making a second get-home bag, well here it is. Notice how much more room you have in the back of a Cherokee vice a Wrangler. I don't know how many of you out there troll Craigslist and see what used wranglers cost. OMG, these sellers have been smoking some serious pot. Go look for yourself.

Bag, boots, fouled weather jacket, first-aid kit

     How many of you out there have thought having a tool kit or box in your vehicle for those cases when you cant get your car started or have to change a belt/hose. I have two Craftsman brand tool boxes and if you have them, you know they cost quite a bit. Yes, they are awesome tools with a great warranty on them, but I chose to buy a set from Harbor Freight. Hell, it was only $37. All my specialty tools for working on cars is from Harbor Freight. Why would I go by a Craftsman torque wrench in 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 sizes, that would be several hundred dollars when I got all 3 sizes from them for about $50 from Harbor Freight. They might not be a fraction off on torque specifications but what difference does it make? LOL, like we haven't heard that before. . I don't use them everyday like a auto mechanic would so why spend all that money? Once again, just my two cents......

     Well until next time, buy a real safe, not a thin-ass gun cabinet from Stack-on.

Senior

    

     

Happy New Year to all, Stereo install in the Fouled XJ, New Hennessy Hammock, and review of De Santis Mad Max IWB Holster

    Happy New Year to everyone out there in Blogger land. I thought I would take a break from posting part III of the survival buckets and write up a post. I was in much need of a break from work so with the Christmas and New Year holiday, I took 4 days off to get 10 days off with weekends and observed Federal holidays. Let me tell you I really enjoyed the time off and I need to hurry up and pay stuff off so I can make this a more permanent lifestyle.

    A little over 2 months ago I went out to the XJ on my lunch break to listen to talk radio and eat lunch. I turned the radio on and I have no FM, and AM would play for 3 seconds or so, then cut out and come back on. The previous owner had installed a DUAL brand stereo and it had finally started to die. Christmas day comes around and I had a new Pioneer stereo with Bluetooth and remote under the tree. Later Christmas day, the install took place

Old Stereo

I was lucky because the previous install used Crutchfield's mounting and wiring harnesses

Factory wiring harness with old stereo harness. Also, my Connex 10 meter died so I have a Cobra CB w/ kicker now

New stereo harness and Crutchfield factory harness. Just match the colored wires up and you are good to go.

Stereo installed. Notice Bluetooth mic on top of dash.

     This Christmas I also upgraded to the Hennessy Hammock with side zipper entry and camouflage rain-fly. I felt I may need a new one as my bottom entry Hennessy hammock is pushing 10 years old. Worst case, I don't have to move my "Get-Home Bag" from different vehicles, I can just build another bag. This year, Hennessy Hammock had good deals on hammocks, including free-shipping, snake skins, water collection/Rain Fly tension system and a free "Leaf" day hammock.

     For many years, I have carried my Glock 23 in a De Santis Mad Max IWB holster. I had two Kydex based holsters prior to purchasing my first Mad Max holster and I started to notice wear on the finish so that's when I switched to strictly leather holsters. This holster has been through a lot over the past 8 years, specifically 5 years of dirt, sand, rain, and sweat in the Florida heat when I had my landscaping business. I have been really pleased with the comfort and condition after all this time. One of the features I like the most is this holster, like many others, as it accepts other Glock models, so my 17 will also fit. I have placed JUGM's 26 in the holster and it fits good but barrel length doesn't quit reach the bottom of the holster. There is also plastic clips included for those who want to carry without a belt. I will continue to wear the old one only when I do work around the house. Here are some photo's

23 in Black (New), 17 in natural (old)

Notice wear on backside.

 

     I figure 8 years is long enough to do a review of my De Santis Mad Max holster. I am not the type who will purchase an item, drop, kick, pour water over it, turn it on/off a few times and then write a review, that's not me. I also do this with no compensation from any company which is fine by me, I don't have to do a good write up for a piece of shit to make good graces. Would I recommend De Santis holsters from my experience? YES!!!!  

    Well as we start a new year, I hope with the change that is coming in the executive office will turn out to be good, I am praying that it does. Look at it this way, can it be any worse that the last 8 years. I'm sure Obummer will be a pain in the side of everyone as he takes his "Russian hack" message nationwide on his 2017 community organizer tour. I hope everyone has a great year and more to follow at a later time.

Senior