Chairmen of the Politically Incorrect

[OldWin]

Just got back in from cleaning up. We got 22 inches. Doing it last night around 6 helped with my driveway, but dad's hadn't been touched I went over there first. It was light snow but it was over the blower housing so it would fall off over it. Had to do it twice a lot of places. Had to get all his walks and around the trailers. Had to get the blower up on the deck and clean that off. It's going to warm up and rain later in the week so that weight would be insane. Then it was back over my place and get all of mine. I'm wiped, and soaked with sweat. Now for a 3 hour nap and work all night.
Then a 3 hour power nap in the morning and I gotta get my butt to camp and clean off the sheds. There's gotta be a ton of snow up there. Between last week and yesterday, I figure there's 3 feet. I'm debating whether I will mess with the sled or just snowshoe in.
Springtime in Maine boys!

[Sixgun]

You won! I award you the prestigious “Snowman Award”………If I dealt with that much snow, I’d get a front mounted snowblower for the big Kubota…….pricey but Lordy, you’d have fun………they make them for your Deere…..maybe not now but that’ll change as you age. I’d even get the cab with a heater…….Man! You’d be “the S” in your neighborhood.

5 years ago I couldn’t tell you the difference between a Hellcat and a B-29 but with retirement I’ve learned a lot. Would love to take one of those Pratt & Whitney double wasp 18 cylinder engines and stick it in a lawn mower…….mount it upside down and replace the prop with a 60” blade…..yea, people do that stuff…or did when the engines were available…….

Still cold here…40 and sunshine for a change….2.8” of rain yesterday….

[OldWin]

I was hoping I'd get 250!

Anyway... we've toyed with all that. Blower for the 240, 570, and now the 770. Plow on the Jeep.
Here's the problem.....all those things work great, but they are too big and unwieldy. If I had a driveway that was a 100 yards long and all straight going it would be good. But, our actual driveways are about 100 feet. Then we have to do walkways, around garage and house doors and steps, paths across the lawn, or to the oil fill pipe. Dad's deck, and years ago we had to go down and do my grandparents places so we had to haul.
With a tractor mount you're looking at something 10 feet long. You'd spend all your time trying to turn around and packing down the snow your trying to blow. Can't fit a lot of places. Have to worry about getting stuck. Bigger engine to start in the cold and more moving parts to break or freeze when wet. Plus, it's hard on your tractor and significantly shortens it's life.
In the end, you'd still need a walk behind to get everything you couldn't with the tractor or a plow. Some dooryards are well set up for a tractor and blower, but ours just aren't. I can keep my blower all ready to go in the garage between the vehicles. I'd need another building for the tractor.
Sorry for the long winded explanation buddy.

[Sixgun]

Jay,
You’re not thinking straight……don’t we all need different guns for specific uses??……like, how many screwdrivers do you have??…….…mmmmmmm…a big fancy blower for the Deere AND a walk behind…….this all adds up to more toys and more toys equals more fun…….

Chain saws? Sure, one will do the job but I have 5 with different bar lengths, power, electric, battery, and gas….

You tell Kristy that you’re getting old and need more than just one tool for a specific job…….

The neighbors will say, “that Jay character over there sure has lots of tools, he must be rich and sure don’t come from Maine, as he must know some encourager from Pennsylvania”……..you could become mayor of your town with the only potato garden…….. THE man on your street.……

I’d rather leave my kids a bunch of used tools than I would money as their wives will find a way of spending money like, “hey Jay Jr., let’s take a month off and go to Italy”, so in essence, you will be paying for the trip and struggling to remove the snow…..

You know what they say, “the guy who dies with the most toys is the winner.”

[OldWin]

Oh, I got no problem with toys.....or tools. But now, anything with an engine is a PIA to keep up to snuff and running right with our garbage fuel. I have plenty of engines already. Holy smokes, we got everything from outboard motors to brush saws, and everything in between.
I just used up a bunch of my perfect attendance points at work and got some more free power tools. I have a bunch of duplicates now. I never shy from buying tools. When you've grown up with sleds, motorcycles, and Jeeps, you better be handy.

Besides, I don't want to be town manager (and I'm sure they wouldn't want me), and I surely don't want anyone thinking I'm from somewhere else.
They already look at me suspicious cause I got so many teeth.

[Walt]

Oh boy, those power tools.... My wife wanted me to buy a generator to run the house in case of a power outage so I bought a 13,000 watt unit despite the fact that we very rarely have outages and when we do, the power is usually back on in less than an hour. In fact, this community has underground power lines which further reduces the probability. Okay, so I bought it knowing that I was going to have to hire an electrician to do the hookup properly and as everyone knows, electricians charge an hourly rate exceeding that of brain surgeons. It was taking up space in my garage and I was thinking of convincing her that our son and his family needed it worse than we did because he has an all-electric house in an area prone to outages near Ft Worth. We were just a week from going down to visit them when....you guessed it, the power went out. It was out for 5 hours as the result of a construction crane hitting a transmission line (I hope the operator didn't get cooked). There's no way out of it now. I'm gonna have to give that electrician a call. sigh

[OldWin]

Yeah, we NEVER lose our power either. Like you, if we do its only for a few minutes.
However, as our country continues to spiral down to 3rd world status, these things are going to get worse. I'd like a stand by setup on propane between both my parents place and mine, rigged to run both houses. But yeah, that's laying out some scratch for sure.

[Sixgun]

During the 2019 tornado we lost power for 8 days and the only thing I did was add gas…….Walt….yes, the proper way is to have the auto power switch………I made a heavy duty 4 prong plug for 220 with male ends..one for the generator and one to plug in. I hit the main breaker when the power goes out and fire up the generator and back feed………

We lose power every year several times and most are 2 minute ordeals with a day long one every other year or so…sometimes 2-4 days when an ice storm or other calamity hits.

It’s a must for fuel stabilizer…….ive encountered probably zero problems with gas engines in a long time..15 or more years…..93 octane with stabilizer…..run everything 15-30 minutes every couple of months whether I use it or not……I have 15 engines to maintain. All of my equipment is housed in the garage, barn, the little barn or under the hood. Everything stays dry and always with a full tank of gas to the brim…….if I go a year, I’ll dump the gas and replace it. Old gas is fine for weed control, cleaning paint brushes, degreasing parts, drinking, and fertilizing someone’s yard who gave me the finger. Fill a balloon and just wing it out the window. Military dye markers work great in other peoples swimming pools….makes them pump it all out, clean and refill….Ive never done any of that stuff preferring to go face to face.

I’m going to bed….nighty night and don’t let the bed bugs bite.

[Sixgun]

Yea…those full set of teeth are a dead giveaway you didn’t come from there. Even the clothes you wear…clean etc….Your boots have soles on them, with laces that are not knotted up,, and probably cost more than the car they drive. Plus, you probably wear underwear……Man! What do they think of Kristy?..a queen from Europe?

[OldWin]

Haha yeah, she takes a lot of heat. Well, she used to. When she managed the office she wore high heels every day and looked all classy.
Now she oversees the night crew at the store. Way less stress and BS. She wears jeans and work boots. I call her Rosie the riveter. She's still pretty cute though.

[Sixgun]

Yea…..you do have a trophy wife who also appears to be very mentally stable, which to me is very rare in a woman…….not everyone is so blessed, you lucky dog!!!!!! I’d ask, “can I have her?” but that’s disrespectful……..so I’ll ask, “can I have all of your guns, even the Colts you took from me?”

Well….first day in a couple of weeks without 40 mph winds or heavy rain…Im headed out dude…—00

[OldWin]

Yup. I'm a lucky dude. What's more, I know it.

So after a 2hr nap this morning, I threw a shovel, the roof rake, and my snowshoes in the truck and headed for camp. I'm here to tell you boys, even going downhill was tough going breaking trail. After the first 100 yards, I was questioning my wisdom in this endeavor. A rifle was out, and I knew better than to carry a heavy handgun. I stuffed my old Colt LW Commander with hardball and called it good. I was sinking almost to my knees, even with the snowshoes. I really hoped that the way back out would be a lot better with a "float" and the sun settling the snow a little.
By the time I got there I was soaked with sweat. I took a short break with a sip of water and then started in. I pulled the snow off the camp over the door first. Not worried about the camp, but I didn't want the snow sliding off and packing on the deck in front of the door. That deck is almost 3 feet off the ground and I had to shovel the snow up off it. There was a lot of snow on the shed and outhouse so I was glad I came and got it. Rain would be bad on that. The tractor was buried. Remember, this is one storm. The yard was pretty well bare last week. Once the snow slid off the tarp, I had to pull it up into a pile around it. It looks like a dug in tank during the war.
After that, I was drenched, and pretty well wiped out. It was really nice, so I put a chair on the deck, had some water, and dried out a little.
The walk out was better, but still work. Got sweaty again.
When I got home I roof raked the house a little. Then went o er and pulled the carburetor off dad's snowblower so he can clean it.
Thats enough for today boys.

[gamekeeper]

Did ya see any interesting tracks while you were there sure looks like a lot of work when you've just finished a night shift.
Thanks for talking the photos

[OldWin]

Just rabbits buddy. Everything has come to a screeching halt. Poor deer have to be bumming.

[Old Savage]

Great snow pictures. Here are tumble weeds.

[gamekeeper]

One country with a so varied climate....

50f here and cloudy.

[Sixgun]

Snow and tumbleweeds! We don’t have nothing here exciting except maybe leaves in the fall….I noticed you bought another shed…..one for the Winchesters and one for the Colts…….nice self portrait and boots in the snow

I give it about 6-10 years and you will have a snowblower up at camp…..right now you’re all young, strong, and mighty…….”Mighty Jay!” I used to be semi mighty but when you hit near 70 you tend, without choice, to “let the “old dude” in. Really sank in the other day when I took a long look at myself in the mirror, “who’s that old m.f.?” Can’t believe it all came that fast.

I did manage to climb a wild cherry tree a good 20’ to lop off some overhanging branches where I’m putting the shed

I started on the shed last night…..half the work is all “pre-assembly”. I can’t comprehend instructions like I used to…got confused a few times. I long for the days when I could take engines and guns apart working at breakneck speeds with no instructions…….I did say, “take apart” with nothing about “putting them back together again.”—-00

[OldWin]

The small "shed" is the outhouse. The bigger one is the one my middle son bought at Sam's to put his four wheeler in. I have a solar battery tender in a tree beside it. I keep some diesel fuel, bike ramp, and other odds and ends in there too.
We have an old Honda snowblower at my dad's he wants to put up there. He is tinkering on it some over the winter.
I see it some now. I ain't as tough as I used to be. I figured I'd be pretty lame today, but I'm not at all. Kinda surprised.

[Sixgun]

An outhouse? Man! You be uppity. From the looks of the picture it seems big like the other one…….

On BLM land in Colorado the Forestry people sink a tube about 2’ in diameter and I’m guessing about 6’ deep with 2’ of it above the surface. A simple toilet seat sits on top.

Worked on the shed today…maybe 3 hours. It’s done except for some some odds and ends like shelving………

[OldWin]

Mine is made kinda along the same lines. I scrounged a piece of 12" PVC municipal sewer line, cut a round hole that it just fits through in the floor of the shed and base, and put a toilet seat on it. It's held by L brackets between it and the floor. It's all on the outside, so if it has to be removed, it can be done easily and clean.
With this setup, it's more like a regular toilet instead of a "bench style" outhouse you basically have to fall onto.
Makes a great outhouse. It's on a pallet base, so the whole thing can be picked up and moved with Forks on the tractor.

[Sixgun]

No doubt…no doubt….YOU are the master of all things redneck…….a simple shed, a pipe in the ground, toilet seat, toilet paper hanger, AND a tile floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What bothered me most of all during cold weather was the cold seat…takes you another five minutes to get into the mood……….if I was a rich guy like you, I’d get a solar powered heated seat…….(no laugh) I have a small heating pad (maybe 12” x 16”) that I use during those very cold nights that I’ll put under the dogs little beds…….our basement is unheated and the floors get cold……..this thing will get very warm almost to the point where you need to keep the cover on it…….the label says it draws 4 watts.

Never looked into it but it’s a good guess someone makes a solar powered toilet seat that padded……..

[OldWin]

The plastic shed for the outhouse was actually Kristy's idea. The cool thing is it's really warm if the sun is out it warms right up in it. I have a padded seat, so it warms up in 2 seconds.
I put up a coat rack so you could hang a coat or pistol belt. I have a small table in there with hand sanitizer and stuff. Also a place to set a pistol or anything else you do t want to lose down the hole.

[gamekeeper]

I was going to say Kristy had something to do with the design..... you said something about an outhouse palace ..

My son gave me a video tour of two properties to rent next door to him and just down the road a piece, just waiting for them to be renovated and a new log burner installed.

Rain and back to 40 + temperature.

[OldWin]

Haha you're right GK!
We called it the "Poo Palace".

That's good news buddy. I'm really happy for you.

[gamekeeper]

s-l1600.jpg

[Old Savage]

High style outhouse. We had one in the property growing up but unused.

[Sixgun]

You guys don’t know what class is……..we had class at deer camp……you had to bang on the door to scare away the mice, rats and spiders, it was never cleaned out as evidenced by Ritchie pushing the poo around when it reached the top of the seat.

GK headed to NZ? At least their gun laws are a bit more relaxed…….

[OldWin]

Haha yeah I been in some sketchy ones over the years. Most times, I'd just rather go in the woods. Done it so much over the years I don't even think about it. My pet peeve is the "bench type" outhouses. Hate em. That was the one thing I was NOT going to have in this one.

[gamekeeper]

High winds and thunderstorms today, makes a change

[Old Savage]

Pay attention there Six. Gk is not headed to NZ, his son is coming back to Jolly Olde and Gk is going to live next to him on some sort of game preserve or estate.

[Sixgun]

At the Pa. State Championships for levergun silhouette held up at Bradford, pa….extreme hillbilly land…..there were a half dozen porta potties there and on the second day they were filled to the top….disgusting………I opened the door and gagged, then went back to our tent, grabbed some paper and out to the woods…….looking around others had the same idea as I could see toilet paper here and there…..the only problem was this little patch of woods didn’t have much concealment and people would walk by me from 5-10’ away……….00

[gamekeeper]

A photo of where I'm hoping to move to in Northumberland this is the boss's house it's been his family's home since 1260, mine will be a lot smaller...

about-us-capheaton-hall@2x-2200x1100.jpg

Viewed from the back

[OldWin]

Holy smokes! Well I think that should be your digs buddy. You deserve it.
You could fit everyone in Cornville in there. You got room for an indoor shooting range!

[gamekeeper]

Jay that photo doesn't show the east and west wings to the house, it is much bigger than it looks, the estate at one time was 55,000 acres but it is much smaller now.

Cro&Kow_CapheatonHall_wedding1.jpg

Viewed from the front.

[Sixgun]

That’s amazing……having a place that big would bring constant headaches and would draw enemies……..I’d like to have the land and put up what Jay did for a hunting camp. There would have to be several dozen people there 24/7 so you’d never have the place to yourself. I’d take my peon life anyday over that……I live by what Einstein said in that note he gave a waiter in Japan….”it is much better to live a modest and comfortable life than it is to seek fame and fortune which brings constant turmoil.

I finished the shed today……just a couple of hours each day taking my time with lots of breaks or the same way I used to work at the plant. What takes all the time are the glitches……I could do the next one in 2-3 hours………the last part to put on is the roof and took the longest. It’s a flat 2 piece roof with a million tabs that lock in to the walls. What they don’t tell you in the instructions is the flex and if everything is not 100% square. I didn’t know it but I was off by 2” and nothing fit proper on the roof. Measurements told me different then it was pounding stakes at specific corners and pushing for all I was worth (and that’s only about $12)

[gamekeeper]

I agree Six, a small cabin in the woods is all I have ever wanted but over the years this estate will be the fifth one I have lived on and have had unlimited hunting free of charge, unlike now renting a tiny place from an anti gun anti hunting ordinary person.
Most of the folks I have had as landlords are mega rich but have not been at all snobbish, infact they treat poor country bumpkins like me pretty well and my time as a Gamkeeper has been a blessing as it proves I ain't no city slicker and sometimes can even be useful to have around.... The new landlords family has owned that estate since 1260 so he knows no other life, my son has known him for a few years and says he is a good bloke.

As a side note when I was a Gamekeeper the local Toffs would keep me in free beer as I held certain powers when it came to hunting with Hounds on the estate plus the knowledge of what was where......

Glad you finished the shed Six, projects like that are always nicer when completed...

[OldWin]

Glad you got it all done buddy. I hate doing stuff like that. I always fear I get it 2/3 done and realize some little part is missing.

Pretty good deal GK!
Nice place to stay.....all the huntin you want.....AND free beer......!?
You got a better gig than the guy that owns the place.

[Old Savage]

Gk, this fellow clearly needs an introduction to Blair chiropractic with an on site clinic.

Here is a picture of the shower valve that was replaced.

A new radiator cap solved the issue with cooling and the heater in the Jeep. Dealer price $55, I went with O’Reilly’s for $11.

[gamekeeper]

Another view of the estate. Sorry to be boring but this is the photo I tried to use yesterday but it wouldn't work.

a1d48d88159d462c95b8f1785200ade1.jpg

[Old Savage]

Wow!

[Sixgun]

Yea, I’ll say “wow” too. I always picture the UK as being all built up with not an acre of ground untouched……I can see your point GK.
The year 1260? You have to think of all of the human misery it took to hold onto a place like that in order to keep it in the same family. Kingdoms fighting against other kingdoms…..then the lowly Irish always trying to steal……… bet there’s all kinds of nooks and crannies in that building that hold precious artifacts. Probably even people buried on the grounds. Using a metal detector the only things I’ve found are pull tabs and empty beer cans that all say, “Pabst Blue Ribbon”, my favorite beer for many years………

Plumbing is one of my worst skills…..it always winds up with me going to the hardware store and asking questions….but…..I’ve managed to never have a paid plumber here in 49 years….in my early days plumbing was my best skill but I limited my expertise to just “laying pipe”.

1260..amazing……wonder if any of the original inhabitants are still alive.

Windy as heck here…better to check to see if the shed is still where I put it.

[Sixgun]

I just decided……when our “views” reach 1 million, I’m quitting Leverguns and going to spend my time on Truth Social.

[OldWin]

Views? I don't even see that. Oh well....
Last day. I got tomorrow off for Easter. That's a 2 day week, 2 weeks in a row. Wish it was like that every week.
Well, no. I wish I didn't have to go at all.

Pretty nice digs GK! There's a place like that in West Athens, but it's a little nicer.
Holy smokes that's something else. To think (like 6 said) that people managed to hang onto that since 1260. That's a lot of lifetimes.

[Sixgun]

Lots of activity…..the fox and the cat were just staring at each other. This fox is an old boy as you’ll see in the next picture he has something on his eye like a cataract and it’s not the picture. This guy has been coming to eat for many a year.





Lovers spat….the cat don’t think the fox sees her behind the tree



So yesterday I’m at Costco and I bought a couple of shelving units…..these babies will hold a car engine….they are 6 shelves high this too high for the shed so I made 2 units out of the one and added “legs” to store gas and diesel underneath. When I open the wheelbarrow museum next month I decided to have a shed museum too…one shed and I’ll tell people there are bad people buried underneath the shed…bad people most likely liberals.

I can’t wait to unload a mess of junk out of the garage……I want nothing on the floor except the workbench. After it’s all cleaned out I’ll power wash da flow and everything will be new again like it was in 1974.

[OldWin]

Hey! Nice work with the shelves. I could use a couple too but don't have the room in the garage. Having to put the Jeep in the back in the winter puts a kink in a lot of plans.

It's obvious that fox eats well. Otherwise, you'd be missing a cat. Up here, that's a fox delicacy. A cat can put up a good fight, but if a fox is hungry, or has kits, all bets are off.

[Sixgun]

You know how many times I’ve seen the fox and the cats together……yea, every night. The foxes here don’t bother the cats that I’ve ever seen….they probably eat the kittens though. But they are not getting enough of them as there must be 10-12 semi feral cats roaming around…..

Foxes up your way are most likely much tougher due to limited resources……

Hey! What did the teenage bro get on his SAT’s?????


Barbecue sauce.

[OldWin]

Yeah maybe. That's what I figure anyway.

Haha hard telling......
Hopefully not better than me.

[gamekeeper]

Nice job on the shelves and new shed, it should make finding stuff easier..

Funny how Cats and Foxes will tolerate each other but become prey and predator when food is scarce but a feral Cat is a tough critter to take on.

I see today is thanks to Mr Biden Transgender Visibility Day...are you of you guys celebrating ....

[OldWin]

I'm trying to decide on my pronouns as we speak.

Strangely enough, tomorrow is also my wife's birthday. I ask her if this had anything to do with that.
Obviously, I was quite worried.....and afraid of her answer.
For obvious reasons.

[Sixgun]

Thank you gentlemen on the congrats for me doing a job an eight grader could do but probably a little neater……..funny thing, I never, could EVER imagine paying close to 3 for shelving (have another unit still in the packaging) when wood planks are everywhere…..yea,…..I’ve had it, the “old man” snuck in and I realize life ain’t forever, plus, I’ll be dammed if those kids of mine are going to exotic islands on my dime. Yea baby, I’m splurging, man made shelving probably from China…..I be rich…..sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

GK on the move and Kristy getting another year older…..”April 1st”????? Guess who also has a birthday on April 1st…….. Tommy from Targetmaster………Aries are the sign of world leaders…….complete dominance over their subordinates……you got really lucky with her….tell her happy birthday. That old war buzzard in the other room is hollering for me to do something for her…..let her wait….

Pronouns?…I’ve never changed from four letter words or ethnic derogatories…..

Mom’s cooking a ham today big enough to feed 20 people and it’s just me and her…….more food for the foxes….and cats….my in-laws, as usual told us to come over but there must be 10 screaming kids with little to no supervision……can’t deal with it anymore….

Your right GK on the toughness of a feral cat…….Ive snuck up on a few and they are strong along with claws that will rip your eyes out. Just a few weeks ago I grabbed a semi-kitten while he was eating and that cat “exploded” into a fight, jumped straight up and out and was gone in a flash……………