Sorry for my absence, it's that time of the year as most of you know.

Sorry for the lack of posts, trust me I have been trying but the days have been late. This is the time of year when my "Boys of summer" continue to play harder and better as Baseball has started back. Current record is 5-0 with a 8-6 win over our rival community team. NW is better than his all-star appearance and state tournment team as catcher last year.  ND is fielding and hitting a lot better and don't see why he wouldn't make it this year on either team, didn't make it last year because he was 8 playing on a 9-10 yr old team.  Bear with me, I shall return as I relive my youth as a father of two outstanding young men.

Still getting things in order and in place, close to cranking up the presses.

    We are still moving stuff around and unpacking our things in the house and also in the storage buildings. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate over the years. The good thing is that all the large items are now in the house, including the safe and piano. We have made two runs to the county dump to get rid of some of my dad's things and stuff we have had. I have started the task of unpacking all my reloading stuff and setting up my presses again to get some production going. As we prepare to move the clocks next weekend, I will start using the extra hour or so to get some things done around the property instead of doing it on the weekends. Speaking of weekends, me and the boys had some work to do in the garden, but before that, we cooked up some breakfast outside with biscuits in the oven.

Sausage from our local meat store

    After breakfast, we headed down to the garden and managed to get two rows of sweet onions in the ground. I used one of the handy attachments I used in my drill when I would change out the numerous flower beds in Florida when I had my business.  It is also great for mixing chicken crap and sand together in a 5 gallon bucket before putting it on the onions.

flower bed auger

Sunday, we did a bit more work til around 1300, the we made a command decision to take the rest of the day off. First stop was to Captain Steve's Seafood restaurant in Fort Mill, SC.

File photo

    We had tried to take JUGM there for her birthday dinner but that happened to be at the time there was some ice and snow in the area. We showed up there but they remained closed for the safety of their employees. I can respect. Word to the wise, better get there early. They open at 1500, by 1600 the parking lot is almost full and there is a waiting list to get inside. They have by-far the best seafood, IMHO, in this area. I have even seen a Safe Harbor Seafood truck delivering shrimp there, Safe Harbor is located in Mayport FL and that's where I bought all my shrimp and the own the docks where the shrimp boats moor. Look at it this way, from the boat, to the counter, to your hands, that fresh.

    After Steve's, we had to go walk off our dinner so we swung over to Cabelas. Of course, the same ole stuff at a fairly decent price. Since I am close to resuming my reloading operations, they have .300 Blackout Brass. Yes, I don't have to make my own from 5.56, which is very time consuming to make. They had 250 count bags and 1000 round jugs.

Came out to .20 cents a case with military discount

     I take numerous routes home from work. I do it for several reasons. First, it breaks up the boredom. Secondly, it makes it less predictable on which route I will take home encase someone wants to follow me for some crazy reason. Finally, depending if I need to stop somewhere or pick up something on the way home I can. I found this Pre-Fab'd portable storage building that someone has made into a home/hunting cabin along the side of the road I travel from time-to-time and is surrounded by pine trees.

    I like the way it is setup; however, I find it a tad bit to close to the road so IMHO it cant be a bug-out location, but I am in SC and anything is possible. It does have a mailbox too, just wasn't able to snap it in the photo. Hey, I give them credit, they grew a set and made it happen. Back to what I said about it close to the road. If I was to buy property to make a bug-out location, I sure as hell would not be within 4 miles of a major interstate. Take for example, I-77, there are service roads that parallel it. What do you think would happen if there was a SHTF situation and a mass exodus people between the major cities they connect? What about a mass mobilization of troops or UN Blue targets? Some would stay on the interstate, some would get off and go the back roads using the interstate as a navigational tool. Anything is possible in a desperate life and death situation. I am proud to say that the nearest interstates to me are 45, 44, 50, and 75 miles. I think I am good.

     Hope everyone has a great week, so far day one went well and is over. Stay safe

Senior
   





    

Moving in, Sun Tzu is poetic gibberish, Baseball starting for the boys, and getting the garden ready for the spring

     As we continue to finish our move, I realize that I do not want to move anymore. As you get older, your body starts to feel every box, Fridge, Couch, etc, etc, etc. At the present moment, I don't plan to move anymore. I took 2 days off from work, and those two days included 3 more with the Presidents Day weekend, so it added up to 5 total which helped me save some days for the future. It is amazing that you live without most of your stuff for 18 months and you think, "Why don't I throw all this stuff away or donate it", but as you all know and have experienced in the past, you sooner or later will need that stuff. So what do you do? I know, I am throwing my hands in the air too.....

     During our unpacking, we come across our numerous boxes of books and uncover this one.

   Now, I was told by a former fellow group member here in SC, and I EXPRESS FORMER, the kind of guy who thinks he is a "Survival Expert" one who cant even tie knots or understand that you have to put wax on your bow string" that his writings are "Poetic Gibberish". Really, are you serious? Now I know that this book has been required reading for both the Naval Academy and Westpoint in the past, and I am sure it is still is, including operators in the Special warfare community but it is gibberish. You know, this is what happens when arm-chair "Survival-experts" who think by reading fiction survival magazines and daydreaming of being a soldier/sailor/marine/airman wake up to reality and find out that you are not a soldier/sailor/marine or airman and just a lonely minion in the real world. I dealt with something similar in Florida early back in 2000 learning survivalism and prepping with Stephen. There was a former group member who was a  marine and who served as a disbursing clerk, only serving one tour at a embassy thinking he had fought in Infantry. We both found that out who he was when he was shooting flare's into the night and bouncing off the ground as he went prone. You had to be there, trust me on this one.

     As I continue, it is that time of the year again when the "Boys of Summer" start practicing and getting ready for opening day. Yes, the boys have started and we had practice Saturday and Sunday. The kids having been practicing during the winter and I personally think they have a leg up on the other players. Both boys are starting their second year in their league and they are both considered veterans as the played in the same division last year. First practice went well with fielding and both tried out as a pitcher, and I have to report they did pretty good on their first look. NW looked like he didn't miss anything during the off season as catcher, except now he has an adult-sized catcher's glove. He took all his Christmas money and put it all toward it. Today they did some fielding, but as we had to leave early because JUGM's uncle came over for dinner, they went on to batting practice. OMG, NW was smacking the crap out of the ball, at 10 yrs old he was hitting the ball over half-way in the air to the outfield. ND being a lefty actually listened to me in the off season and was hitting the ball to third base side, giving him more time to get to first making it a longer and harder throw for the 3rd baseman and shortstop to get him out. If you could see me, I had a big smile on my face today, very proud of them.

     Saturday, I started getting the garden going for the spring garden. We recently did a big clean-out of the chicken coops and moved all the "Poo" down to the garden.

  
    With chicken "Poo" being so potent, I plan to dilute it with some sand. As you can see the disc harrow off in the distance the garden has bee broken up. Today, I hooked the 5' tiller up to the tractor and started tilling one side of the garden up. Current plan is to put yellow onions and cabbage out by March 1st.

  
    Then I took the cultivator and configured it with plows to make some rows. The 1948 IH Farm-all Cub is currently CAT 3 Casrep'd with a fuel bowl leak and just haven't had the time to fix her to properly make some nice looking rows.

    It's after 2300 and I need to go. The morning arrives early. Stay safe everyone and if you ever dream of having your own retreat, grow some balls and put your foot down with your wife and sell you house and move. Pretty easy for most men.......


Senior



    

   


   

Just a quick post

We are in the new house. Still waiting on our modern conveniences to be hooked up and still have a bunch of boxes waiting 18 months to be unpacked, more to follow.

Senior

Post Christmas Blah..... I got the best Christmas gift ever, so please pass my plug onward down the I.P pipe for two organizations

     As Christmas has wound down and things here are getting back to normal, I hope and wish everyone who stops by had a great Christmas. It was also nice to get 4 days off so I could recharge a bit. The kids had a great time. We started them off with a trip to the movies to see the Star Wars, The Force Awakened. They had no clue, we told them we were going to see the Peanuts movie, but thanks to the ticket guy, he blew it and both got real excited. It felt good to take them to the movies to see this, as I was just a bit younger when I saw the original one. If you must ask, yes JUGM and I were both carrying in the theater. There was no sign saying I couldn't and if there was, oh well, I didn't see it and if you want me to leave, I think loosing $30 in tickets is better than loosing any of my family members lives, wouldn't you think? If it is some place like Buffalo Wild Wings, they post a sign at their restaurants, but I don't have to worry because I think their food sucks anyway, so there is no need for me to go there.
      Christmas day arrives and the kids of course woke up before me. We had a great home cooked breakfast and then let the "paper flyth". ND was so excited in the moment with handing out gifts, he opened one of NW's gifts. Almost like hearing the needle on a record player getting ripped off. It was all good though, except NW rubbing it in on his little brother. They each got tablets to play on as their Kindle's are 3 years old now and barely hold a charge. I got a nice craftsman cordless combo pack with a drill and impact tool. There was one gift that hit me in the moment pretty hard and this issue is very dear to me. If you have been following me since the beginning when I started this thing called a blog, you may remember this post:

http://seniorsmess.blogspot.com/2012/09/sometimes-you-look-to-sky-and-ask-god.html 

 We had seen a story for the following organization:

 

 

http://www.mission22.com/

 

 

 

 

      I lost a dear friend and young shipmate due to suicide. As veterans know, we are a tight group of people. When we loose one, well that is too many. It effect everyone in their lives. Go check them out, if you want to buy a T-Shirt or something else, either for yourself or a loved one, please do. I plan on getting a couple of their veteran-made Tomahawk's to put on display in the new home. As you can tell from a few of my recent posts, I like Tomahawks.

    When I opened the package my shirt was in, there was a hand-written yellow sticky saying "Thank You" and a business card for another organization.

http://www.warriorsheart.com/

   
     Go check these sites out and do what you can, whether it's a cash donation, purchase a gift, plug it on your blog or website, or pass it along to a Veteran, Police, First Responder, and Civilian Warriors.

   Hope everyone has a great week.

SENIOR

CRKT WOODS CHOGAN Tomahawk update

I know it has been some time since I had my initial review of the CRKT WOODS CHOGAN Tomahawk, well since October 18th of this year. I thought I would let everyone know where I am with it. I am very pleased with the modifications I did to it. Yes, like I said, CRKT should be ashamed with the sharpness of this product, please revert back to my post on 10/18/15. I have been using it around the property quite a bit. I mostly use it for splitting 10 + yr old stove wood for the fireplace and it has no problem splitting it. After my mod's, this is what she looks like now:

     After drilling a hole in the handle for a lanyard, purchasing some good ole 3M grip tape, sorry reverting back to my youth as a skate boarder, and fishing some 550 para-cord through the hole, it has been transformed to my liken. As I said, it have been using it on some really dry pine stove wood that I start my fire's in the fireplace, so before the house was started, I had a large Red Oak tree cut down and another one trimmed up. This tree was cut down in September of this year, so of course the wood is still a bit wet. Here is the result of the tomahawk on a 5 inch diameter branch section.

   So if you are searching for a tomahawk that can be a great asset in a SHTF situation as a great tool, well with a bit of customization to your taste I would recommend this Tomahawk. I have been pleased with it since I did my mod's. Next piece of equipment I have to review is a German made stainless steel stove I have been toying around with. More to follow.

    You know, I know there are websites out there that claim they are experts on everything on survival, and beg's it's followers to vote for them on some lame ass Top 10, but when you can't even tie a ridge-line over a hammock for a rain fly and rely on others to do it for you and then when you sleep in that said hammock, you are in the 'U" shape, you lost all credibility with me. So here is my challenge to anyone that has the "entrepreneurial spirit" in the American Dream. If you have a product that you would like for me to review, please contact me. My business degree is in supply chain and operations management. All my research for my under-graduate degree was on Toyota manufacturing because they have led on quality for quite a long time, why do you think all the American auto manufacturers are finally catching on? If it wasn't for our efforts to rebuild Japan after WWII and the work of an American named, Dr. William E. Deming, we wouldn't be at Six-Sigma and ISO 9000 as we see today. What do you think is the award for highest global quality, the Deming Prize....

     If you want to send me stuff to review, I would be more than happy to do it. Please explain in detail what your expectations from the testing will be, what do you want to test as far as materials used, functionality, durability, etc. etc. Do you want me to take specific measurements?  After I am done with it, I will let the company who sent it have the choice. I can send it back or what ever is left of it in pre-paid return shipping or I can have a contest and give it away. If I like it, I will pay "Cost" for the product" Pretty simple right? No FREE-BEE's here, I know what it's like as a small business owner,  I had a successful commercial landscaping that I started from the ground up in Florida for 5 yrs. It was my short-term goal and really helped through college after retiring from a stellar 20 yr military career. I have the property to do pretty much any test, even using firearms. See, I am rural, I don't live in suburbia nor have a home owners association to deal with. Drop me a post on the blog with your email and I will get back in touch with you. Hey, if I don't hear from anyone, that's fine too. It just means I have more time for myself and my family.

    Hope everyone has a good week, stay safe, enjoy the time with family and friends and watch your 6.

Senior

Busy, busy, busy. Just a few things

Sorry for my absence as I have been busy around here. We have been in the midst of "Leaf-a-geddon" here with all the trees on the property dropping their leaves, between the Red Oaks, Hickory, and other varieties I have here, now I see why my dad cursed every fall about them. It also doesn't help that when I go to work, it's dark, and when I get home, guess what, it's dark also. Of course we have had some rain, so I have to get them piled up when I can. I also have to do this without my Wright Stander Commercial mower as I have had to replace the second spindle for the blades. I ordered a refurbished off eBay for over half the price off, and it arrives 4 days later than expected, thanks USPS.  Here is a sample of the leaves. So far to date, we have dumped 7 trailer loads in the woods, with more to follow piled up around the property.

     Thanksgiving went well as we had no family members here, which it was nice and quiet. I broke from normal, everyday thanksgiving dinner and cooked a Boston Butt on the smoker. I have slowly grown away from turkey on thanksgiving and like changing things up from the norm. Our local meat shop had a deal on Boston butt that I couldn't turn down, .89 cents a pound, so we bought 4 of them.

Going on the smoker

coming off the smoker

Light smoke ring on meat, garden grown collards and Mac and Cheese

       During my busy schedule, I have done some research on the two schools that I have been eyeing to pursue my M.B.A. The two schools I am looking at are the University of South Carolina and Winthrop College. I haven't had a chance to actually go and see the schools yet but one of my co-workers who is retired Army said that USC has a great M.B.A program for working professionals and could finish the program in about 18 months. So the jury is still out on where I will go. Theoretically, I could quit my current position, go back to school with my Post 9/11 GI Bill and focus full time as a college student and not have to deal with all the stress of a job and school and finish faster by doubling up on classes. This can easily be accomplished by using the equity in my property  The appraisal I had to do for the new house showed that after we are in, we will have $60K of equity when the new house is here, so I plan to go debt-free except for the house payment. I do plan to pay it off early too once I re-enter the workforce while making more money with a M.B.A. So here is my advise to everyone, "Don't be a fool, Stay in School". I quoted that from the movie, National Lampoons Van Wilder

      The new house is still underway, many, many inspections from the county, but you are starting to piss me off. I want to get my house finished before I turn 65. Enough said.


     We also had one loud-mouthed Jersey Giant rooster that JUGM and myself had had enough. Well here is his last picture before he was put in the freezer. He was enjoyed on our table on the 29th of November. I am sold on Jersey Giants, he was a very good meal.

     This past weekend, JUGM and her keen ability to find stuff locally found a great deal on some 55 gallon steel drums. Paid $15.00 each for them. They had a dry compound in them that a national pharmaceutical manufacture uses in their product, so I snatched up 3 of them. One for Gas, One for Diesel, and one will be a Faraday cage for electronics, just have to modify the lids for liquids. Also picked up some Barred-Rock hens as well from the son of the seller who is in 4-H. Good addition to the flock and JUGM will post something on them.

clean as a whistle

      To finish up this past weekend, I was up early Sunday morning and climbed up in the tree stand as I have started to pick up on the activity around the property. Had a Doe show up on the edge of the garden on 11/26/15 @ 0023. Then this past Friday night while walking the property, I spooked a Buck and heard him run across the garden into the woods. Then he commenced to grunting and snorting at me.

     So with my view up in the stand, I heard a total of two shots on both sides of me a mile or two away. One just after 0620 and other around 0700. I know that, yeah, you go hunting with a rifle for deer, yes you see it and shoot it, but how will that look in a survival situation? How much noise will you generate by pulling that trigger to a bunch of hungry or hostile people? I mean really, when you read postings on sites that say a hunting buddy found "5 Doe's and a Buck gathered and took a shot at the buck at a distance of 325 yards", of course you are going to miss. What was the winds and the terrain like? Obvious someone needs to do a better job of adjusting for windage and elevation, don't you think or is it a fabricated post? So as I sat there for 3 hours, here was my view. I would rather hunt in a more primitive way that is more secure and quiet than blasting away and telling the world, "Hey, here I am, come take my food from me". Better yet, I can reuse my ammo. I did get a good chance to see some birds land on the branches around me, and playing in the bushes to the right. Red-tailed Hawk flew right past me heading to the the lower woods.

The edge of the plowed garden is 50 yards, I have sights set-up for 60 yards with 70 lbs of pull. BTW, that's a 1948 IH Cub Farm-all that was my Dad's, yes it still run too.

      With this upcoming weekend,  I may take in a gun-show and do some shopping for the family. Haven't been there in awhile so I figure maybe I will treat myself to a gift fir myself and find the right upper to finish the AR build that I haven't finished. Wish me luck.

Senior