ReeferMac

Good to know (about the tires)! I've been using "Tim's tires" down the road in Harriman. Amazing prices, honest service, not a far drive from there, may be worth checking out next time. - K

LOL! I bought a chunk of land here in Kingston. Paperwork said: 14.5 acres, deeded 17.2 I asked the attorney at close, the seller, the tax clerk, the realtor.... everyone, nobody could tell me what that mean. FINALLY met the GIS guy at the courthouse, he said someone, somewhere in the past sold that land as "17.2 acres", but when we measure it, it's 14.5. Sigh... I did walk the entire property w/ the seller, he showed me the posts from TWRA that define the corners, and said "it is what it is". They've got higher priced lawyers than you can ever afford, but if you want to fight them on it, be my guest. That being said, give me a Private Message jwinter, we're getting ready to start building, and the bank requires a recent survey. Apparently it's cheaper if I do it BEFORE the tree's leaf out (wooded lot near Watt's Bar lake in Kingston). - Kevin

Yeah, ummm... I'm assuming you have a competent real estate attorney working on your behalf (you should, they're cheap). (S)He can answer the question knowledgeably (hopefully), and aid in drawing up any contracts of easements, or other stipulations, to be notarized, and signed at the closing. Personally, I would try to avoid the situation as much as possible (purchase the land, move the building, etc.) Just asking for trouble. That's not to say it can't work out, but... Just my 2-bits.

I've had good luck with "SpiderWire" in the lighter tests. Though I think that may be primarily monofilament.

Man, don't get me started.....

Bah, curmudgeonly old fart like the rest of us!

That's some nice shooting!

Aye, third! Go right down the line, try everything you can. One of them will just feel right. As has been said, it's important that she feels comfortable with it and carries/uses it. Technical and caliber considerations are almost secondary. A 7-shot 380 on her hip is better than a 45 in the dresser.

I've had good luck at Frontier Firearms, and Fighting SheepDog boasts a flat-fee that's affordable.

Going to Cookeville w/ a work-truck, leaving Knox about 11. Call me on the new cell# if you need to, will be out of pocket rest of the morning.

That's great Prag! I grew shell beans for the first time this year, dried them, stored, and used them a half-dozen times cooking various meals. It was a success! This year I plan on planting far more beans, drying and storing again. I may even try a few varieties. I also grew rice, but have run into a roadblock trying to de-hull it. No easy way short of investing in a mechanism, aka grain mill, and I just can't justify the $$$ yet. Would be better served putting up a couple cases of bullets, but I'd digress. It is however great to hear that 6-8 year old dehydrated produce worked will. I probably have some stuff in the back corner of the freezer that age as well! - K

Exactly. How many times is there a shooting in a residential area, cops interviews dozens of people, nobody saw nuthin. The guy that gets shot, didn't see whodunnit. You, me, and officer McGee know that's a crock O' BS. See Something, Say Something! Little Johnny was over there hanging out w/ his crackhead friends the other day, and I saw some other kids breaking into the basement of the abandon house a couple hours before and.... NOW the cop's have a lead.

While not liberally correct, frankly I'm glad to see the situation becoming what it is in those parts of the country. You can make up news stories, hire 'experts', and have all kinds of propaganda, but for the average person, facts are facts, they believe what they see. You are now seeing some elements of these communities (aka Baltimore) coming forward and saying they want more police presence, they don't want the police to step back, and the activists and protesters who pushed for reduced police activity in the community did not represent nor speak for them. I say, you reap what you sow. You stood there in silence when the officer knocked on your door and asked if you knew anything about the gunshots that happened across the street last night. You stood there in silence while neighborhood kids conducted drug sales in the open. You stood there in silence while prostitutes walk up and down your street soliciting customers. You stood there in silence while bands of thugs played 'the knockout game' in tourist parts of your city. You stood there in silence.... until it started to affect you personally. Well, it's about damned time you stood up and said something. Sorry to see it took you so long. You knew what needed to be done to fix the problem before, you just weren't willing to do it. So it had to get THIS bad before you could break your silence. Now stand up and say something the next time someone asks if you know anything. It's YOUR community, YOUR neighbors, YOUR police, YOUR problem, YOUR chance to fix it. ... And hey, show of hands, how many people think the crime situation factored into the decision for Discovery Channel to relocate their HQ to Knoxville, vs. moving the Knox operation to Baltimore?

TDAmeritrade has some great software (LOVE Think or Swim), Sogotrade has the absolute lowest prices I've seen (3-bucks per trade), but no human help. Fidelity is pretty good, my current employer's account is over there.... ... If you're looking for "active" investing, I'd say TDA or Fidelity. Index funds? Vanguard is top-notch. if you're looking for investment advice, you don't need another broker.

Yeah, I can relate. Piled the kids in the car and told them it was going to be a family day today, no X-Box, we're taking a hike in the woods. Brought the dog, was fun (granted, wifey was on board w/ the idea, YMMV).

Man, I do Knox to Johnson City for work all the time, it's nothing! You could make a day of it. Leave early, hit Knife Works in Sevierville on the way back, pick up some Ammo and a new toy! His class is very similar information you could find in a book on the topic, but there's something quite useful about seeing, finding, and touching the plants in their natural environment. I've gone twice, and would like to go again, as the plants change from season to season, and with most skills, fades quickly if not used. Betcha you could find another TGO'er to split the gas with. It's worth it IMO. Having been to the class, I'd drive 3 hours to take it.

As a matter of fact..... If you attend our very own @Highwalker Wild Edible Plants class, he will show you some, and allow you to dig them up and transplant into your area. That's where I got mine, and dug some of them up about a month ago! There weren't many, they're small tubers, but I cleaned them up, mixed them in with the potatoe's I use to make my world famous potato leek soup, and they were pretty good! Reminded me of a cross between potatoe's and water-chestnuts? Slightly nuttier flavor. Might have been because they weren't cooked as long as the tater's, regardless... you don't get quite as much bang-for-your-buck as a plot of spuds, but they do make a nice flower, spread readily on their own, and could easily be planted guerilla-style, without most people even noticing I'd wager. Again though, another one of those things you would have to do months or years in advance. I highly recommend Highwalker's class either way. Besides being a friendly host and good instructor, it's a nice walk in the woods in a gorgeous valley in Eastern TN.

Yeah, what he said.... It's partly why I relocated to a farming community in Eastern TN. It's partly why I practice and train w/ my rifle at 200 yds. Popping a target at 50 yds isn't a problem, for you or me, but I'm not going to let you get that close! It's partly why I've cleared land and put in a fenced in garden area. Before building a house. Heck, I've got 3-4 weeks worth of taters in the ground waiting to be dug up right now! It's partly why I've gardened for years and saved my own seeds and learned what I'm good at growing and what I'm not. It's partly why I'm interested in pursuing animal husbandry (pigs, chickens, cows, etc.) It's partly why I do a lot of the things I do. People that think they'll be able to flip a switch when the balloon goes up, and suddenly become self-sufficient, or see it coming from weeks away, will be the second stage of casualties. Their ignorance and ability to stick their head in the dirt and ignore the reality is a good indicator of their mental capacity to adapt to and understand their circumstances. I've lived through many blizzards and incapacitating snowstorms over my years in the great-white north. You just get an itch 'round about October, and go to the store and buy cases of bottled water, spaghetti'o's, ramen, and propane, and stick it in the corner of your basement. Until you do, you continue to itch. I didn't know when the NE Blackout was going to hit. I was at work and the lights went out and machine's stopped running. My wife was 70 miles away with our children. Thankfully she made it home. via side-roads, in 8-hours.... Some people are incapable of grasping reality, because it makes them uncomfortable. Look at all the snowflakes on Nov. 17th. I wish them luck.

I put some Leeks in this fall, they're still alive, but... only about 3 inches tall. Garlic is doing well, got it tucked into a corner of the fenced-in garden. Carrots are still growing, too, but someone's been nibbling on them, so they haven't gotten big. Daikon Radishes grew well, fortunately the horses like them. I will say, suckers would be good for busting up new earth, they grow deep and fast (make a good green manure allegedly, too). Might scatter some seeds in the pasture just for S&G's. I still have potatoes in the ground from the late-summer planting. Will dig those as needed the next few months. Fingerling types did very well for me, got 3 crops in total by overlapping their planting dates. I've started making notes on the seed catalogs that have been arriving. The corn was well liked by the critters last year. Might try Gem corn this year, if I can get a bigger plot tilled outside the fenced in area (took up too much space, and critters still got in). I did make good use of the dry beans I planted last year (Sulfur beans from Southern Exposure), last of them are going to go into the soup we're making w/ the leftovers from the Christmas ham! I plan on putting in a few more varieties, and planting that variety heavily. With luck I can get 2 crops in by starting early. Want to get some onion sets for the spring, haven't got any room for seedlings in the house right now (and the missus would probably kill me! )

Plausible Deniability!!! Never post, the internet always remembers.

What @CZ9mm said. 20-years in the print-biz as a Prepress Operator. Photoshop _is_ the standard, and Adobe sucks dead Moose Balls, but that's another thread. If you are a casual image manipulator that wants slightly more than just crop, rotate, lighten, I use GIMP on my laptop at home. - K

Welcome to TN and TGO! A transplanted Yankee myself, Rochester/Buffalo area for the first 40-years of this short life. - K

Welcome! Sevierville/Pigeon Forge is very tourist-y. Fine if that's what you're looking for, but worth a trip out here scouting before to commit. East TN. Tri-Cities area along Rt. 81 has pretty mountain views w/o all the riff-raff. - K

Yep, yep, 2 years and counting. And, errr, umm, Welcome! Bought land a year ago, working on the house plans w/ a builder now. When it's all done, I hope to have a modest house on the 15 acre's we bought, for about what you quoted. Having 3 kids, we found hunting for a school district to be the most important thing. If you have/plan on reproducing, and aren't into home-schooling, look very closely at the local district. We initially thought we wanted to live in one area, due to the affordable property and sweeping views. Barbed wire around the schools kinda gave us a hint that all wasn't well. We opted for another suburb, similar qualities, much better schools, and are quite happy. Do your research. The dog grooming thing is going to require you to be near(er) a city. Country folks don't groom their dogs. Heck, most of the time they don't even keep them on their own property! That being said, if you invested in a van/portable grooming facility, it would give you more flexibility. That is likely the key to success - flexibility. I have a Bachelor's and 20-years working in the printing biz. My first job down here was remodeling and landscaping with a local fellow. Then I got to working w/ a tree company (have a CDL license as well), now I'm the Transportation Supervisor and Sales Associate for the Knoxville area with a multi-national produce distributor. So much for the graphic arts! Take a trip out here, drive around, stop at local diners (don't eat at a chain restaurant, find the local hole-in-the-wall). The Eastern half of the state suited us best. Nashville and Memphis were simply 'too big city' for our taste, and there's a radius around each and every big city. We're just about on that bubble where we are, that's a 45-min. commute to downtown Knox. Nashville you're talking 1.5 hours... The corridor between Knox and Chattanooga is a really nice part of the country, as is the Eastern end of the state (Tri-Cities area - gorgeous mountain views, Johnson City is a lot bigger than it looks on the map, ETSU helps with that). Some great advice here, re-read it twice. I've found folks to be very warm and welcoming, even to a Yankee. Having the right attitude helps, and you seem to. - Kevin

Here in Roane County there has been a Sheriff's car and officer posted outside. I have stopped and introduced myself each week, handed them my carry permit, and told them I appreciate them coming by. - K