Dead dog tired..making progress

[RBeckman]

Here are both Jeeps we took to SEMA, they both have Hemi's with the green one have a the Hell Cat Hemi. We bought them and had nothing but the best put on both of them for SEMA and our marketing campaign on out new Jeep aftermarket line. I can't remember if I told you but I retired from TRW and now work for a company called WEBASTO Thermo and comfort division where we supply heating cooling systems and electric sunroofs for the aftermarket and now into Jeep Aftermarket. It is based in here in Fenton. The ads you were seeing was our online Catalog and the people in the ads I work with. I'm thinking of buying a Jeep now so when I retire full time I have a fun vehicle for Arizonia.

[FlintTony]

Jeeps look mean. Did you go to SEMA?

[RBeckman]

Not this year, I don't know the product line up yet. I went the last 2 years for TRW and it's a lot of work but a lot of fun. I will be there again next year for Webasto.

[Hank70SS]

So we stopped at Tony's on the way down here. Spent a nice day with him and Kathy. They've got quite a spread. You've seen all the pics, well it looks that good and even better in person. Tony took us for a tour of the property on his quad. He's cleared trails all around the place. Very interesting, cypress swamp, higher ground, a little bit of everything. He's cleared a nice spot on the river bank. Nice place to just sit, maybe throw a line in the water. So anyway, it's quite impressive.

Tony, Kathy, thanks for the hospitality. It was good seeing you two.

[FlintTony]

Glad you were here Hank. I even got Hank to help dig some of the palmetto roots out of the ground. Now I'm on a mission to kill all this miserable poison ivy. That shit is everywhere. I couldn't see it when it was dormant, but man, it's like a horror movie now. Almost every tree along the river and almost every tree in the swamp has it. Looks like it's going to be a long fight.

[FlintTony]

Hey Hank, I hit a major goal yesterday. I have ALL the palmetto roots dug up from the bullet trap to the north fence. Every day I have spent at least two hours digging and cutting since you were here. The guy down the road has enough firewood to last him for a long time now. The roots will burn for a long time. We had some in the campfire that burned for two days. I've also got all the trees cut down for the additional fencing. I'm a little over 20 pounds lighter that I was when I got down here.

[Hank70SS]

Tony, you're a mad man! Guys, let me tell you, Tony get's something going and there's no stopping him until it's done. Ric knows what I mean. He had a large area with palmetto roots every where. 7 am he's out there with a reciprocating saw and shovel cutting them and digging them up. I can't believe all the work he's done there. Clearing property, cutting trails through the woods, putting up fencing for the cows. BTW, had any more cows escape? Get the poison ivy under control? You need to sit down and enjoy what you have there Tony.

[FlintTony]

No more escapes. Kathy has the cows eating from her hands, they follow her around when she is near the pasture. I'm putting a whoopin on the poison ivy. I'll never get it all, but the trail through the swamp, the river trail and river bank are getting hit hard. We have another 50 feet or so of the river bank cleared out now and the whole point at the trails end too. You can see the bend in the river both ways now. Kathy painted some lounge chairs camo, so we can leave them at the river.

I'll sit down next year. At the rate I'm getting old, I gotta keep working so I don't seize up.

[FlintTony]

Well, I'm back in Michigan. From the day that I started this project, I couldn't wait to spend a full winter down there in Florida. I will never spend another winter in Michigan again. I hope that I never see snow again. We spent 5 months down there. This winter went by faster than I can believe.

Back here in Michigan, I have a ton of work to get done. My 7 foot tall wooden fence has 4 posts snapped off at the ground, the whole property is covered in downed tree branches, and there are at least 10 ash trees blown down or up-rooted. Everything in the garage is still here, no break ins. The guy that used my tractor all winter to plow snow does not take care of machinery like I do. I have to go over it pretty good now.

The battery in the pick-up finally gave up. Now I did something to the anti-theft engine security thing on the new-fangled piece of shit. I kept trying to get it started, the lights keep flashing the horn kept honking, and something in the dash display kept flashing "service engine theft system"? Now it will do absolutely nothing when I put the key in it . From what I found on the internet, I have to somehow re-set the password. I was too tired to look into it yesterday. I had a total of 4 hours sleep in the last 48 hours. I was dragging ass!

The drive home was brutal. Spent hours sitting on the expressways. People are so stupid, they should not be allowed behind the steering wheel. I need to get me an airplane.

[Hank70SS]

We're back in Michigan too. Got home yesterday afternoon. No trees down but lots of branches. A couple of neighbors lost some trees. I disconnected the battery on the car that stayed here and put it on a maintainer. Got what we needed out of the motorhome yesterday and that was it. Four days of driving it, towing a car, I was exhausted. The stupid people Tony mentioned don't make it easy.