Originally Posted by tjm10025

Just wanted to say to those who were there how much I appreciate and enjoy my time with this great group of people. Last year, I was mostly a stranger to you. This year I was greeted as an old friend, and I can�t tell you how much that means to me. As one of the more senior members, I probably spent more of my conversational time with the older guys than with the younger. And I know I hardly talked at all to a handful of you, though that was entirely by accident. (HAJ, I was very pleased to meet you, though we didn�t get a chance to chat. My fault, and I was as delighted as any to see what a great time your lovely wife was having.) And some of you A-type personalities may have got more of my attention than others because you�re A-type personalities, but some of you quieter guys (and you know who you are) are equally well worth knowing, too.

I certainly hope to be able to meet up with some of you at other times of the year, and I pledge to make more of an effort to see that happen. My heartfelt thanks to the core group of guys who put this together each year. Steve, Bob and Pat are right there at the center of things, but there were others who put in extra effort to make things go smoothly for the rest of us, too. Steve, especially, deserves a place in heaven. First one there, I think, and I know he was the last one to leave, making sure everything was squared away.

I came home a happier and more serene person. That won�t last, of course, but I�m feeling pretty good right now, wink ,and I�ve got a fine eating-pig in my freezer. Thanks, all of you guys.


+ 1 again for Tom's thoughts.

A great low-key get-together and shoot stuff deal with, to a man, all great people and quite a few real characters. Laughs and good company abound, as are opportunities to stomp the woods or just burn gunpowder and share our stuff back and forth.

Thanks to everyone present (nearing 40?), but especially Steve and Pugs for the coordinating, and Bob, Pat, Dan, and anyone am not also aware of for your special contributions and planning and cooking and generally chill dude statuses. Enjoyed seeing familiar faces and putting new faces to old handles/names; bunch of good eggs, even you screwy ones (if you're wondering, you're screwy). George, thanks for dropping the syrup on my bed before leaving, Jason for the Leinie's delivery and good WI company, and also to Bobby for respecting that "No means no," you sick bastid. To Bill for sharing insights on muzzie ballistics, pretty darn cool. And thanks to an old sow who gave up 55# of meat!

Looking froward to a certain wrastel'd piggy photo showing up wearing Bob's campfire orange t-shirt.

So, the I-40 curse continues. Last year, incurred some nice expensive damage on a TN pothole westbound just over the NC border. This year? REPEAT, but eastbound. A big azz highway construction cone flew off a pickup ahead of me and she took it right on the left chin, blowing the bumper, lights to hell tweaking the drivers quarter panel. F-me, already. crazy

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Golldammed motion detector lights. A guy can’t even piss off his porch in peace any more.

"Look, I want to help the helpless. It's the clueless I don't give a [bleep] about." - Dennis Miller on obamacare.