I use those as doggy treats!

Excerpts from a letter from a US Army General officer



There are two points the President and the Secretaries of State  and Defense may want to keep in mind as they evaluate future problems in the Mid-East and how to successfully address them. Both are easiest illustrated by real life happenings.

 Point 1

 Many years ago I attended the Infantry officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia.
 Probably ten percent of the students attending that ten month course of instruction were from foreign
 countries. For about half of the course my table-mate was an Arab. We studied together, completed homework assignments together, got to know each other's families and generally enjoyed each other's company.
 Part of that time we students were immersed in reading about, researching and discussing wars and problems of the Middle East. By this time my Arab classmate and I had, I thought, become close friends.

A question popped into my mind and without evaluating it I said, "I have a question to ask you, but you may find it a little impertinent, or perhaps, offensive."

"That's quite alright", he replied. "We know each other well enough to be
 honest with each other. So go ahead and ask your question."

"Well," I began, "Each time you Arabs start a war with Israel, they beat your socks off. Why don't you learn your lesson and quit making war on them?"

 The words hadn't passed my lips before I felt that I shouldn't have asked that particular  question. But I was wrong. My Arab officer friend didn't get angry. He didn't even think
 before replying. "My dear friend," he said in his British accent, "You are absolutely  right. Each time we attack the Israelis they whip us.  But have you noticed that with each loss we get better.  We get whipped not as badly as in the war before."


 Then he got a faraway look in his eyes, pounded on the table and said, "Sometime in the next thousand years, we will win!"

Up until then I’d never thought in terms of a thousand years, and I don't think I'm very good at it today. But for those formulating foreign and defense policy for the nation, it is worth making the
 effort. For it’s difficult to think in terms of the immediate future while negotiating with a nation  whose leaders are thinking in terms of hundreds or thousands of years.

 Point 2.

 During the 1st Gulf War, US and Arab forces fought side by side and some of the officers became
 close friends. When the war ended in victory there was a celebration in the Officer's Club with congratulations all around. A lot of handshaking and hugging was going on. It was a time of displaying real brotherly love.
 

Seeing this, one of the senior Arab generals felt the need to set the record straight. "Look," he  said to a small cluster of American generals.  "We’ve fought together and some of us have died
 together. I know you feel that makes us brothers. But that’s not the way it is in my world."

 He looked around the circle making eye contact with all of them. "I don't want to see you  hurt, so I need to share this with you. There will be no tomorrow for us jointly. No matter how
 much you have helped my country and you came and helped us when we desperately needed your help and no matter how friendly you feel toward us, we are still Muslims and you are still Christians. That means that in our eyes, we can never be brothers. I'm sorry, but to us, you will always be Infidels!"

 Yes, we Infidels have liberated Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’ve not made their countries, nor  their people, depositories of freedom and liberty.  No matter how hard we work to rebuild their govts,
 infrastructure, educational and medical institutions, and no matter how desperately they need our help,as the Arab general noted, we can never be brothers to each other.

 Also, I learned what Kipling meant when he wrote: "East is East, and West is West, and never the  twain shall meet". He was pointing out to the western world that to Muslims, we Christians will always be Infidels!

Danka!

I know, ugly weld...Had a large opening to fill in and know what? I don't care, will cover it with something and it can spend the next 50 years being strong like ox!

So you can see the stiffeners tucked up nicely and even though that bumper is largely still just tacked together, it just got very rigid

After some more tweaking and fitting, both sides were ready to be welded in

The first cuts were made and I had this piece which was already tucking up very nicely, maintaining the high ground clearance built into this bumper design

And just like that, the module was mounted.

Next up, It was time to find a place to mount the winch control module.

But first I disassembled it so I could remove the factory bolts and replace with my longer stainless screws so I could more easily and sturdily mount it

The clevis mount was first welded to the back plate. I used a lot of heat and fast wire speed. There's a lot of metal joining the two parts!

Here is where the cleaned up stand-offs will be fitted:

So, right off the start I welded those on and know what? That box never saw any shelf time!

Speaking of did something, I did something today.

The mail man delivered the 1" D-rings so I knew they were getting glued up

Here they are, I purchased 4 of them

Quote from: Sammconn on May 11, 2015, 01:31:55 PM

Quote from: Flyin6 on May 11, 2015, 12:09:22 PM

Hole

3' X 3' X 3-4'

lined walls with PT lumber

Lets let the boys hand dig it...builds character!

Weekend a no-go me thinks cause of the weather (Rain)

Food for thought. That is not a real deep hole. Not sure on intended duration for use, drainage and soil makeup.
If it's just a short term thing it will probably suffice, but for long term I'd want to go deeper. Also if you keep paper products out of it, the natural process is more efficient and effective. Septabs I think is what I put in mine a couple times a year to get it working, probably other variants to do the same.
These are not something you want to deal with too many times, I need to redo the original at my cabin this year. No idea how deep it was, 20 years old or so. I'm planning on 4 x 4 x 7-8 deep.

And yes, character building project.  :D

Trust the man that does this on the regular. I've also done these along the pacific crest trail as part of an Eagle Scout project. for long term staying power, 6' min is my recommendation. We had to help each other out of our holes.

6 feet!

Holy crap!

^ that was a funny there^

I don't know Troy industries (Or Pro-Mag) but here's a bunch purty darn cheap

http://www.cdnnsports.com/email-specials/ar15-range-bag-of-10-30rd-troy-battlemags-fde.html#.VVye47zbIfg

It's definitely trying...on the back...on the patience...well you understand.
Pushed on again tonight and have most of the welding done.

I have a dilemma, created by not wanting a fat lip bumper, I'm not sure what to do with the center portion. I've been in conversation with couple buddies and had suggestions to leave it open, hinge a lid, or extend the free spool handle. I'm scared of a hinged lid for a variety of reasons. Can't extend the free spool handle as it is beneath the grill. In these chats, had the idea of a 20 something inch light bar to fill and leave open in the rear for access to the handle. I was planning on two or four lights like Don and Ken have used, but with the real estate I now have, I am leaning to a pair of 7-8 inch bars if they can be found in a flush mount.
I'm open to thoughts and suggestions.
Will update some more pics tomorrow I hope.

This perhaps:

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R1863.html

Quote from: Flyin6 on May 19, 2015, 09:55:06 PM

Quote from: Dawg25385 on May 19, 2015, 10:59:02 AM

I will check this out this evening.

This was my cousin Bobby FYI... NSDQ
http://nightstalker.tendenciapp.com/media/files/files/677f989a/SPC_Lund.pdf

Kyle, what happened to him?

He passed in a training accident in the keys Don

Trying to place him...At Key West at a place called "Shark DZ"  Sound familiar?

US Army Special Forces Underwater warfare folks are there. I went down there several times to support parachute of water infil/extraction training

Not sure if you have decided on a house yet but I found these guys http://www.amishcabincompany.com/. They have off-grid cabin kits and have cabin displays in Kentucky if you wanted to check them out. Not a shop and home combo but a nice little living quarters. I didn't check the prices though so I'm not sure what it would run or what exactly you want.

I do know about them, not all that far from me, here.

Spoke with them and got a quote for a "T" arrangement at 90K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three is the number that thou shall count, and the number shall be three

I went off and cut 2 acres of lawn while they got some paint on the structure. They also got it all over each other, later under intense interrogation I got the little one to crack. They had a paint fight! Yep, all over them. And all over that new black haired shepherd, all over the red dog, all over the sled dog who managed to rub some on my Toureg, and of course all over the patio. Did I mention they were wearing clothes we had just bought them?

Anyway I made them use that orange pumice to scrub themselves in their skivvies while I hosed them off with cold water (Building character) and went back myself to finish the first coat and paint on a second one

Quote from: Flyin6 on May 19, 2015, 10:14:54 PM

Quote from: akraven on May 19, 2015, 01:52:13 PM

Or put a basement under a slab.

Kentucky has lots of caves...

That would be great to have on your property!

Sure would!

Actually, walls

Here's the wall framed out

Continuing to use the plans Nate found we bought a bunch more lumber, which puts me a bit over $300 at the moment and started cutting and framing out the walls

One structure that I seem to keep coming back to is a Monitor style barn. Versatile, roomy, interesting spaces, some lofted spaces which I like to be able to look out from a high vantage point and a pole barn which is pretty economical to construct

Or put a basement under a slab.

Kentucky has lots of caves...