Timestepper

P.M. Sent out to all (I think) who've expressed interest and/or committed to coming. If I missed you, or you're new to the thread, let me know. ...TS...

Look forward to meeting you if you can make it.

Great read! Factually incorrect in a few places where Hickok is concerned, but a great read nonetheless. (Hickok was never "Marshal" of Hays, Ks., but did "lead" a group of "vigilantes" there for a couple of years. The soldiers were not 7th Cav, but infantry stationed at Fort Hays - The 7th was never actually stationed at Fort Hays, but bivouacked for a time on Big Creek, a few miles downstream from the fort and Custer did not allow his troopers to go into town, under penalty of 2 weeks in "the pit" a 10X10X10 hole roofed with cottonwood logs. And the general consensus among historians is that Deputy Mike Williams was killed on purpose and the beef (no pun intended) with Coe just provided the opportunity to make it look like an accident... It didn't work - the townfolk raised a considerable stink and Hickok left town in hurry shortly afterwards by hiding out on a passing locomotive. Don't mean to denigrate Wild Bill - in a lot of ways, he embodied the West - but I don't much care for revisionist history, either.) (Oh, and I know these things because I lived in and around Hays, Ks. for 25 years and spent considerable time volunteering as a living history docent at Fort Hays Historic site. I've also done considerable research on the various "gun fighters" - a relatively modern term - back then they were referred to as "shootists" or "pistoleers." - who frequented my home state.) ...TS...

I'm a professional donkey hurler - on a good day, I can toss my ass 20 feet! Actually I'm a full time truck driver (flatbed), part time writer and semi-professional smart-ass.

Bought a beat up '96 Dodge Dakota Extended Cab with the V-6 Magnum about 3 years ago for $2,000.00. I've pretty much tried to run its wheels off and it's still holding up great - even made two trips to Kansas and back with it with zero problems.

And I'd love to have you there. I'll post here and also shoot a PM to all concerned by Sunday at the latest.

1.The property we live on has been in my wife's family for more than 150 years - we have the last tiny little chunk (4.78 acres) of the original 160 acre grant given to one of her ancestors for his service in the war with Mexico. (The rest of it was either sold off or went to distant cousins as inheritance.) 2. No realtor needed, just a chance encounter which lead me to the greatest gal I've ever known. 3. Yep. We met in January and in March I packed up bag and baggage and moved straight from Walker, Ks. to Claxton, Tn. We were married in our back yard on August 15th of '07. 4. Yes. If I could do it over, I would have liked to have met her 25 years earlier. 5. Pointers? Hmmm... Go through hell on earth, give up, start over, give up again and, when you least expect it, meet the lady of your dreams. Then toss everything you've ever known over your shoulder and move to East Tennessee. (I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it sure seemed to work for me!) On a serious note, the guy from Florida who found the property in/near Cookeville, I think just checked some local papers and did a little homework. I don't know if he used a realtor or not, but somehow I don't think so. Good luck to you! ...TS...

I'll have to keep it mind. I just finished listening for the 2nd time to an excellent book on audio by Juris Jurjevics, called "The Trudeau Vector." Politics, science and arctic preservation (not necessarily in that order), it is an amazingly good book. I hope someday to find the hard copy.

Good enough reason for me not to buy a Honda. My little ol' beat up Dodge Dakota will run on anything I pour in the crank case (up to and including a half gallon of vegetable oil that I used in an emergency - before I changed the rear main seal. lol). I wish you the best of luck!

UPDATE: Things are still on course and several have expressed interest/committed, either in this thread or via PM, bringing the total possible attendees up to 15-20 people, so far. Another TGO'er and I will be scoping things out this weekend. The biggest problem I anticipate is going to be finding a place for everyone to park and that's one of the things we'll be looking at, with the understanding that we may have to change the venue to a different spot (just a few miles away) in order to accommodate parking for everyone. I'll check back on Sunday (the 15th) and send out a PM to everyone who has responded. This would probably also be a good time to point out what is probably obvious, but I'll mention it anyway: I've taken on the responsibility to host this get-together because I know that there are folks who are interested in learning what I and others can teach. That's as far as my responsibility goes. I'll happily give directions, answer questions and provide my cell # to those interested, but everything else is the responsibility of the attendees. Food and/or drink will not be provided (although I might brew up some black Bohea tea), so I would suggest that everyone bring what ever they feel they will need to get through the day. I don't know how long this will last, but I'm anticipating anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. Please plan accordingly. Also please be advised that this will be an alcohol-free event. (Nothing against it, been known to bend an elbow myself on occasion, but this isn't a drinking party. If you can't leave the booze at home, then please feel free to stay home with it.) We don't know what the weather will be doing yet, so it might not be a bad idea to scope out the weather channel so that you can dress appropriate to the conditions - as I think I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the weather doesn't matter to me, I'll still be there. (In a true survival situation, you can't do a darn thing about the weather anyway except cuss a little and keep going.) Have a great day and I'll be back with more info on Sunday! ...TS...

Years ago, while picking gooseberries and digging snakeroot in the Blue Hills of Northwest Kansas, I came upon a momma bobcat and two kittens playing near their den. Momma raised her hackles and growled at me at first, but I just sat down on a tall rock outcropping about 25-30 yards away and lit a cigarette to calm my nerves (I'm not too proud to admit that the reason I sat down is because when she growled, it spooked me so bad that I forgot to run.) and she eventually calmed down and ignored me. I watched them for probably an hour before I realized that I was hungry and it was way past supper time. A few days later I killed a rabbit on the way in and left it near the den entrance for them. After that she seemed to pretty well accept me and I eventually got as close as about 30 feet. I visited them several times and got to where I felt almost a kinship with them. It was one of the most magical times of my life. Never took a single picture - never even thought about it until a few years later - but the memories are burned indelibly into my soul. You're a lucky man, Capt USA!

Might try looking in some of the communities North, West & East of Knoxville, too. Like La Follette, Clinton, Harriman, New Tazewell, Morristown or even Crossville which is up on the Cumberland Plateau. Gave a friend from Florida a heads up on Cookeville and he found a great place on 80 acres for about a third of what he was looking at over in the more "touristy" areas. Moved down here myself from Western Kansas nearly five years ago and love it!

10 years ago I had been out of the Army for 16 1/2 years, looking at turning 41 in a few days and feeling kinda' old. Now... I'm looking at 51 in about 9 more days and realize that I've got underwear that's older than you are, Wyatt. (And I'm feeling like a fossil!)

Prayers & positive energy being sent out from truck #1264 (where ever I'm at today).

Had some friends up home who relocated every couple of years due to his job. 6 kids (5 boys, 1 girl). First name of each was the name of the town they were born in. I felt sorriest for Tallahassee (Whom they called "Tal") and almost envied Stowe and Denver although Ogden and Hays were pretty cool, too. (And I thank GOD for her sake that they were living in Christiana when their daughter was born!)

Looks good! Great age to get 'em started!

Fair enough. FWIW, I'm not really anti-Ron Paul, I just think he's a little too far out there for my own conservative values and so I really take no other notice of him . I guess - since it could be argued that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy - that it could be construed that I am indeed an "anti-Paulian" but I would never identify myself as such. As to Mr. Scheuer (and you and me)... Funny thing about the world - We are all nobodies and all somebodies to other somebodies and nobodies. And just because we and others think we are nobodies or somebodies doesn't change the fact that somebody or nobody may indeed think we are nobody or somebody. We all have one vote. No one's vote is more or less important than anyone else's. Where my vote is cast won't be influenced by someone who is somebody to other somebodies, but remains a nobody to me, just as I'm sure somebody else's vote won't be influenced by a nobody like me even though I may be somebody to someone else, even if it's nobody that anybody else thinks is a somebody.

Why would YOU think that your original statement would hurt "a lot of people who do not like Ron Paul and think he is nuts on foreign policy"? Are YOU a political analysis expert? I don't know you either, except from what I've seen here on TGO, but I doubt it. And I don't see how your post is unequivocal fact that those who don't like Ron Paul would somehow be hurt by your "revelation." I was being somewhat sarcastic and a bit of a smart-ass. If I even had a point it was that your post would NOT necessarily hurt those who don't like Ron Paul because most of us couldn't care less. I seemed to have proved my point because you took offense to it (read "was obviously "hurt" by it") while I, on the other hand, kinda' chuckled when I read your response. By all means continue to support Mr. Paul - everyone needs to believe in something - and I'll continue to be an unapologetic smart-ass and call things the way I see them. Oh, and no I'm not "some sort of political expert that has national recognition like Michael Scheuer" although I am pretty well known - via other forums and outlets and under other screen names - to quite a chunk of the country and have been told that I'd make good a good political commentator. Truth is that I'd never heard of Michael Scheuer before this thread. Not surprising since he's probably never heard of me either, even though IRL we are probably both equally accomplished and well known in our particular fields. Fact remains that he has about as much chance of influencing the coming election as I do. His is one vote, as is mine. And his opinion carries about as much weight in the circles I travel as my opinion does in his. All hail Ron Paul! (Or is that, "Aw hell, Ron Paul?!!") P.S. If you're wondering why I even bothered to comment in the first place, let's just attribute it to boredom. After several hours of pick and shovel work yesterday to dig up and repair a water line buried beneath the driveway, I'm convalescing today in true old-fart manner with with the laptop and spiked coffee and very low DOGAS.

I think Ron Paul is just nuts, period. I'd vote for his son as a write-in before I'd vote for him. I know this hurts a lot of people who like everything about Ron Paul. The only thing I can say is, sorry.

It was originally a joke at my own expense because my Casio flip phone, while virtually indestructible, is the technological equivalent of sending smoke signals. Since then, it's been picked up and used by another member who actually uses Tapatalk. ...TS... Sent from my outdated laptop using smoke signals.

Sheesh! Just when you thought you'd heard every asinine, idiotic, DUMBASS thing to do with a firearm... along comes a "professional" and shows you an even easier way to be stupid!

I have read through this entire thread and watched all the videos and I still find myself completely unable to understand why I should give a damn.

Well, the Liberals seem to hand it out pretty freely. Hell, we've become a freakin' entitlement oriented society thanks to liberal gov't practices. What saddens me is that most conservatives I know would fight to the death to preserve and protect the inherent rights of all people, liberals included. Unfortunately, most liberals would never consider returning the favor. :-\

About as certain as it gets. Barring a complete calamity or otherwise total breakdown of society, I plan on doing this on the 21st and again on the 28th for anyone who wants to come out, but can't make it to the first one (or likes it enough to do it again).

Careful! You may have inadvertently broken the rules and insulted a feminine hygiene product.