peejman

Excellent advice! A local camera store (not a big electronics store) should be able to recommend classes. Sometimes the local community college offers night classes in photography. Two friends who I consider good photographers are currently taking classes at UT and they've been very happy with all they've learned. I have no experience with that one, but I'm sure it's a good camera. The point/shoot cameras tend to be more "plug and play", but for the same money, you could get a very nice, used DSLR which is much more flexible and upgradeable. Don't be lured in by huge MegaPixels... that won't make bad pictures look good. All it does is take up space on your hard drive. 5-8MP is good enough for "photo quality" 8x10 prints. A single 10MP jpeg image can be 5+ MB in size. Do the math and you'll see it adds up quickly. 12+MP is needed only for poster sized prints. If you get fancy and start shooting in RAW format, the files can get positively huge. This is a good resource for comparisons... Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review, News, Reviews, Forums, FAQ Nice used stuff: Used Nikon D3000 SLR Digital Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens 25462 Used Canon EOS Rebel XSi SLR Digital Camera Kit 2756B003 B&H

Love my Yugo.

I know a few folks who live out in the boonies and use Hughes satellite internet service. They say it's a little pricey, but reasonably reliable. With no other options they'll take what they can get. I believe Dish and Direct simply partner with other web/phone providers and offer you a package deal. Who they partner with depends on what's available where you live (which in my case, is none). I have Dish and ATT DSL. The cost is competitive (which is still too much IMO) but the service has been good. My only other option is Charter and I've already stated my opinion on them.

$14k for that conversion van/RV? I don't think so.

The Pancake Pantry, Smoky Mtn Brewery, Calhoun's, Dixie Stampede if you like dinner & a show, Howard's Restaurant. I've been to the Copper Cellar, Park Grill, Peddler, Cherokee Grill, AppleWood, Bubba Gump, Hard Rock, etc. and found them all to be mediocre at best, especially for the price.

+1 Charter will get no more of my money.

Wow. Unless they're giving it away, I'd say keep looking. That's a lot of very expensive work to be done to correct everything.

Interesting. I'm not a turkey hunter, but listening to those I work with, you'd think nothing short of the 12 ga 3.5" super ultra mega magnum shoulder dislocater special will bring down a turkey.

What they said, and it's against the law to kill snakes... edit... Educate yourself on snakes, it likely wasn't even venomous. http://www.tn.gov/twra/pdfs/snakesposter.pdf

Thanks for the offer but we're already there and back again. We stayed on 192, a mile or two from the Disney entrance.

A 12ga. If he's recoil sensitive at first, you can load it light. I think hunting turkey with a 20ga wouldn't be easy.

Agreed, find a local range with rentals available. Try lots of guns. Try some you don't think you'll like. Carrying one is not something to be taken lightly. Be sure it's what you want to do.

Thanks for the Dixie Crossroads recommendation, it was excellent! We had a great trip and walked the requisite 900 miles around Disney. I was also able to knock one thing off my bucket list, but I'll post up about that later.

This may be a little late, but this guy did mine several years ago. I was happy with his work: Alan Chase Chase Home Inspections P.O. Box 18345 Knoxville, TN 37928 Chaseinspection@mindspring.com E-mail (865) 688-7638 Office (865) 688-7638 Fax

I can't imagine owning a rifle without iron sights. I know the newer rifles don't come with irons to save a few $$, but that's a few $$ well spent IMO. I presume your best bet is to find an older used rifle. It'd prolly widen your search if you're a little flexible on caliber.

It's been many years, but I've toured the Jack Daniels Distillery. At the time, I recall being shown the entire process from mash to barrel.

I think IDPA sounds like great fun as well, but I simply don't have the time. I've heard from others that they welcome spectators, though I can't point you toward the proper contact person. I feel sure there's a few ORSA IDPA'ers here. I have two little ones as well and I'm doing good if I get to shoot every couple months.

My experience with ORSA is limited, but all good. I'm not a member but would like to join when time allows.

This book is along similar lines and written by my uncle. It provides an interesting perspective. It's intended to be a group discussion guide, but is a good read. Amazon.com: The Truth You Know You Know, Jesus Verified In Our Global Culture (9780974319797): N. Kenneth Rideout, Karyn Henley: Books

I believe it's a .577 T-rex. .577 Tyrannosaur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks all for the suggestions. Love me some mexican food too! Honestly, I'm still somewhat on the fence whether to just carry my OC/bear spray or take the gun too. Also can't carry into Disney or Kennedy.

Had mine removed years ago in high school. All 4 of mine were impacted, coming in at 45 deg, well below the surface. I had it done in the hospital and have a few interesting memories... After the nurse gave me the sedative shot in my butt, I was laying on my back in bed. The room had the standard tile ceiling. I floated up above the bed to within a few inches of the ceiling. I reached up and touched the tiles and the whole ceiling rippled as if it was liquid. I recall being completely fascinated. The remainder of the experience was less fascinating. As mentioned, change the gauge frequently. If you don't it'll stick and begin to scab. So you pull the scabs off when you finally decide to change it. That's.... unpleasant. The combination of drainage and meds made me nauseous so I didn't eat for a couple days. Barfing with 4 rather large, fresh holes in your mouth is ... unpleasant. Gargling/rinsing with a very mild, warm salt water solution helps keep everything clean. I had them removed on a saturday morning. I was not ready to go back to school on Monday, so I stayed home. Weekday morning TV got boring very quickly. The dr. gave me percocet for the pain. They told me to take half a pill first, then the other half an hour later if it still hurt (if... ha!). I'd taken a whole pill when my parents left for work. I took another whole pill about an hour later. The next thing I remember is Mom opening the front door, home from work 8 hours later. I was still sitting in the recliner with the TV remote in my hand. After that, I decided one pill was enough. I know people who had much worse experiences than me (dry socket, infections...) and some who played basketball the next day. YMMV.

The wife and I are taking a belated 10th anniversary long-ish weekend in Orlando. We'll be doing Disney and the Kennedy Space Center among a few other things. We're simple folk who like seafood. Posh surroundings don't really impress me, good food at reasonable prices does. Where should we eat?

Sounds like you need to figure out what's rubbing and fix that before you refinish the gun. Else you'll be back in the same place again.

I assume it's not exceptionally dirty and general gunk is slowing it down. I'd take it down and look very carefully for any burrs or high metal on the sliding surfaces. How many rounds through it? The recoil spring may be dying.