10-Ring

The Patriot Guard Riders do a great thing. I have a friend that is a PGR. He told me about Westboro showing up to a soldiers funeral in Algood. PGR intercepted Westboro's plans and arrived in the Walmart parking lot where they were supposed to convene. The sheriffs department told Westboro that they didn't have enough man power to protect them if the PGR decided to attack them. Westboro quickly got back on their buses and got out of there.

Yes Kruchnik that's how it seems with the gnats. You can not enjoy being outside. If you are moving they aren't bad, forget sitting on the front porch in the morning and drinking some coffee though.

Or tape it to a brick.

I had thought about getting an antenna before, I only have time to watch a significant amount of TV about 2 months out of the year so I refuse to pay for satellite. Unfortunately I live in a very remote area. The antennaweb site had this to say about my location. Sucks, I clicked the mountain top right behind my house that is about 1/2 mile away (the way the crow flies, probably a 3 day hike, LOL) there's about 10 stations available up there.

Link doesn't work, I think this is what you were talking about though. http://www.antennaweb.org/

I work outdoors in the mountains. Lately among other insect pests such as mosquitoes and ticks I've been bombarded with gnats and biting flies. The gnats are so bad at the house they form clouds and constantly fly into your nose, ears, eyes, mouth, and anywhere else that they can get. Oddly enough at work just a few miles away they are not much of a problem. It is not due to anything rotting or whatnot in the yard, this has always been a problem at this house. They started in February this year. I read to mix vanilla extract and water, I tried this, put it in a spray bottle, with only minimal results. Smoking a cigar seems to help but I'm not much of a smoker and really don't enjoy having to light up every time I need to do something outside. The flies I don't have an issue with at home but they eat me up at work. They look just like house flies but they bite. Hurts when they bite but as soon as they are done there is no pain or welp, itching or anything. Bug spray works temporarily to keep them at bay but it seems to quit working after 30 minutes or so and must be reapplied. I really don't want to be soaking myself in DEET based repellant several times a day every day. Anyone got any good remedies for either of these problems?

I moved out of Cookeville 4 years ago for the same reason. Great place to live but there are zero decent jobs. My cost of living expense was very good there though. I was staying in a decent house that cost around $350 a month for rent and utilities and knew several other people that were paying about the same. Looked at a place in Mt. Juliet at the same time that was $700 a month rent for a run down single wide.

Don't forget that you can hunt small game with a rimfire. I can't think of many long guns that couldn't be used for hunting, the only thing that comes to mind off the top of my head would be a full auto, and I'm sure that if you are into full auto stuff you have a separate policy for it.

That's a tough one and a very personal choice. There is a lot to be said for being satisfied with your job. I don't earn the income now that I have earned in the past but I absolutely love my job, and even my boss. My stress level is very low and I'm very happy. The situation that I am currently in is rare. Even one person that you don't like at a job can ruin it for you. If you like everything except the commute I would strongly suggest looking into relocation, it seems for me that jobs that I don't mind going to are few and far between.

Ah the comments got my blood boiling. Freaking idiots and their misinformation, such as And since when did it become illegal to carry in a liquor store?

I rarely go to the range but I used to have this problem with a variety of friends that I rode motorcycles with. My thing was always meet at X at 0900, kickstands up at 0930. If you are not there at 0930 you are getting left no excuses. I have spent enough of my life waiting on people and I do not do it anymore if I can keep from it. If someone is supposed to meet me at 1200 and they aren't there and don't answer their phone I leave. Seems harsh but I've gotten a reputation for departing abruptly if someone does not show to meet me, they are getting better. So, how about you meet your buddies at the range? That was you can shoot while you are "waiting" and if they don't show then oh well.

Another +1 for Larry's. My brother lives in Huntsville and we always stop by Larry's when I visit.

Tucker Max is great stuff, not "G" rated by any means, heck it would be pushing for an "R" rating but if you can tolerate raunchy humor it's primo. I've read his book "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" several times, yes it was good enough to read several times. Haven't read any of his other books yet but he has a couple other out, most of the stories from IHTSBIH are on the webpage.

"Is that a gun?" Haha, reminds me of one, not really an open carry story but... A friend and I were hanging out at my place one Sunday afternoon. It was nice outside, we had been doing some shooting, had put the guns to the side and were hanging out on the porch. Then another friend stops by with his two young sons, maybe 8 and 10. Now this guy isn't a gun guy and neither he nor his boys have been around guns much, if at all. While we are talking a crow flies up and perches in a tree. My first buddy grabs a 12 gauge and kills the crow. About the time it hit the ground the 10 year old boy shouts "Is that a real gun?"

Ole Basil cracks me up every time! Probably did give Tennessee a black eye when he appeared on the Tonight Show or whatever it was a few years ago.

When I was in college my roommate had a bad habit of going to sleep with the TV and his surround sound on. His speakers were mounted on the wall that adjoined our rooms. It was so loud that I could put my TV on the same channel as his and mute mine and still hear what was going on perfectly fine. One sleepless night it occurred to me that the breaker box was in my room. After that I would flip the power off to his room for a second when his TV was keeping me awake. He never did figure it out. He just kept saying things like "Man I think the power in my room went out last night but the rest of the house looks fine, no clocks blinking or anything."

I like it here. Great forum! We have a good balance between not too strict (some forums I have been on) and not too lax either. Too strict and people get bent about everything. Too lax and no one can stay on topic and all the information on the forum is scattered about and useless to everyone. TGO maintains a very nice balance.

Last box of .22 mag I bought was about $10 for 50, and like others have said it really doesn't do any more for me plinking than .22 LR. I have to suggest the Mosin as well, best bang for the buck in the gun world with spam cans of 440 rounds going for under $90.

Do they ever really go into hibernation? I've seen them on warm days in December before.

After getting a doc's go ahead you can try P90X, just do what you can. Max yourself out on each exercise and don't quit. As the others have said get on a nutritional plan. You don't want to diet, you want to change your lifestyle. Pass the fried chicken, have grilled instead. Cut out the potatoes. Have turkey burgers instead of beef. Two things that I've found that make eating healthier easier are 1) Don't eat out, it's hard to get good nutritional food at a restaurant. This might be especially difficult with your occupation. 2) Let's face it healthy food is not usually tasty food. But, you can use a variety of spices to make it taste better. For example I will grill turkey burgers and season them with McCormick grill mates hamburger seasoning. Yes, it does add a little sodium but it's still not as bad as all that fat you would have gotten from a beef patty. Don't be tempted to jump on the Atkins bandwagon either. Yes, excessive carbs are bad. But the Atkins diet is bad for you and certainly not meant for long term use. Do try to cut out carbs to an extent. Some carbs are good for you but don't over do it. To get you started I would suggest daily... Breakfast- Oatmeal or cereal. Midmorning snack- Granola and fruit or yogurt. Lunch- Turkey sub or sandwich but watch the dressings, condiments, etc. Maybe a few pretzels or fruit on the side. Or a salad instead of the sandwich. Afternoon snack- Try something like peanut butter and crackers. Supper- grilled chicken, steamed veggies. Any meat that is lean and grilled is good. Pass on desert. Other considerations... Have a bigger meal at lunch then a small one in the evening, the earlier the better, no need to load your body up on calories right before bedtime. A salad or something light would be good around 6pm. Beverages, cut out the sodas, period! Home brewed green tea is a good alternative, if you can't drink it without sweetner add 3/4 cup of sugar per gallon. Cut the sodas, chips, desert foods, potatoes, fried food, and just make good choices and you will notice a difference both in your weight and how you feel within a couple of weeks. If you decide not to go the P90X route, just do something, anything, physical, for 20 minutes per day. Don't count work related activity, we'll count that as bonus points. Walk, swim, just whatever to get the blood flowing. Best of luck!

I think the neighbor had a point. If the conversation that you posted was verbatim I believe you came off as confrontational and she took it that you were challenging her and she meant to stand her ground. Knocking on the wall might be appropriate if you already know your neighbor but I think that it is rude to do that to someone that you don't know. Why not go over and introduce yourself, at least act like you are a friendly person, something like "Hi, my name is Chris, I live next door, how are you tonight?... Well I was trying to watch a movie with my family and I'm having a hard time hearing my TV over yours. Do you think maybe you could turn it down a little bit?" If you make the approach as a friendly neighbor instead of the excessive noise police you may get better results. If you don't want to get to know your neighbors that's fine, but don't expect them to go out of their way to please you? Honey attracts more flies than vinegar.

6. That reminds me of a similar incident to where I learned that not all straight trees without limbs are suitable for climbing stands. I was about 19 or 20 at the time. I took a younger friend maybe 15 hunting. I had a good permanent stand and I was going to put my climbing stand in the tree right next to it so we would be about an arms length apart. I don't recall now what kind of tree it was but it had smooth bark. It was really cold that morning and it was sleeting. Once I got a good ways up the tree I realized that the tree was covered in ice on the back side, more like frozen rain really. I figured the cleats on the stand would hold it in place. I take another push up the tree and the bottom portion of the stand slips, when it does I cut my right hand on the top portion of the stand, it's dark, I'm not wearing gloves, and it's so cold I can't really feel my hands anyway. I'm oblivious to the injury. I finally get situated in the stand and the sun comes up. At this point I realize that my hand is bleeding profusely. Didn't require medical attention but it taught me a lesson the hard way. 7. This one is quite funny. For my 18th birthday my parents bought me a climbing stand, I really didn't know how to use it. Against their recommendation I had to try it out ASAP. It was dark and I went out in the back yard and attempt to scale an oak tree. Somehow I mange to get about 30 feet up without realizing that I was supposed to attach my feet to the platform, don't ask how I did this. Well the platform fell away so here I am sitting in the stand stuck. I yell, throw stuff at the house, etc, but I can't get anyone's attention. Finally I manage to shimmy down the tree. I then went inside and watched the VHS that came with the stand and figured out how to do it the right way. Probably a good thing I figured out the harness anyway.

I'm not saying it's alright... But I understand.

You guys have some good stories. 1. A few years ago I'm sitting in a climbing stand about 30 feet off the ground. I drop a scrubby buck and start the process to come down. I had a retrieval rope that had a little plastic clasp on it. I run the rope through my rifle sling and clip the rope onto itself. As I lower the rifle to the ground I get about 5 feet down and the clasp breaks sending my rifle on a 25 foot free fall. Busted the scope. At least I did it on the way down and not the way up. 2. As a young teenager I used to bowfish a lot. One day I was standing on the bow of my jon boat, bow in hand, while my brother was navigating us through the shallows from the stern with a trolling motor. We hit a rock or stump or something, the boat stopped I didn't. Took a head first plunge into about a foot of water and 3 feet of nasty lakebottom mud. 3. In my early 20's I took my friend Mike deer hunting for the first time. He is my age. It was Thanksgiving Day. I killed a deer the night before and we met up and he helped me quarter it out. We then went hunting and used the tarsals out of the buck I had just killed as lure. We went in the woods about 1 O'clock. I didn't expect to see much of anything until around 4 or 5, so I'm sitting in my box blind reading, sleeping, whatever, just not really paying that much attention. About 20 minutes after I sat down I hear a shot and have no doubt that Mike fired. I wait for a couple of minutes and don't hear anything from him so I call him on the radio and ask if he shot. He is breathing very heavy like he's been running and says something like "I shot a huge buck, it's down." I tell him to stay put and I'll be there in about 2 minutes, as I didn't want him trying to chase it if it wasn't dead yet. I go to where he was sitting and he isn't there (but his lawn chair is.) I walk about 20 yards and find a heavy blood trail. I yell but get no response. I call him on the radio again and he tells he that he is almost out of the woods with the deer. Once again I tell him to stay put and he does this time. He tells me several times That he has shot some ungodly buck with something that looks like a rocking chair attached to his head. I finally catch up with him. He's wearing a pair of overalls, no shirt. He's literally covered in blood from his neck to his toes, and there on the ground lies a 60 pound button buck. He was so excited, wasn't the huge buck that he claimed but I was excited that I had helped him get his first deer and glad he was so happy. I decide to go get the truck. Well I sink the truck to the frame rails while retrieving the deer. 8 hours, 4 trucks, and a tractor later we finally got the truck out. Mom wasn't too happy that I came to Thanksgiving Dinner two hours late covered in mud and blood and smelling like tarsal glands. 4. I was about 17. Learning to bow hunt. Had access to land but there was not really anywhere to put stands so here I am an inexperienced bow hunter trying to bow hunt from the ground. I get out of school one afternoon and go hunting. It was about 75 degrees and I'm sitting on the ground next to a hay bale hunting a good sized field. My back starts bothering me so I figure I can lay down and still see if anything works its way into the field. I was hitting a bleat from time to time when all of a sudden a nice doe comes running at me full speed from across the field 200 yards away. I didn't know what to do, I stayed still and kept lying down on my back. She went right on the other side of the hay bale and stopped. I tried to ease up for a shot but she bolted when she heard me draw before I tried to ease around the round bale. Lesson learned, never lay on your back while hunting. 5. About a year later I'm wandering through some woods where I hunted a lot. It was back when TN had that break between the two segments of gun season. I see a great tree to put my climbing stand in and do a little bow hunting. I wonder the whole time I'm hunting why I've never hunted out of this tree before, it's perfect. I end my hunt without seeing anything and head to the house. A couple of hours later my eyes are burning and I start to get itchy. Turns out during early bow season that tree was covered in poison ivy which I am very allergic to and that's why I never hunted out of it. That was some of the worst poison ivy I've ever had, in December none the less.

I'm currently with BoA, I've been very happy with them but I'm going to have to change now. I've been thinking about changing anyway as it is 35 miles to thenearest branch. I'm going to use some sort of local bank, haven't decided which one yet. Or I may go the credit union route.