Days Gone By

Almostgunlaker fans, I often wonder if both my and your plans for tomorrow interfere with us stopping and realizing the joy we are experiencing today, and that perhaps we don't realize it until it is the past........

Happy Hillbilly

As I went out to get the mail today, I saw a Barry County Redneck Snowplow rig cleaning out the drive of TEAM T HEADQUARTERS. No, I don't have a snow plow contract.....I just happened to help this guy out this summer as I saw him and his son walking 3 miles home....

I went outside to greet him and offer my thanks....He was hesitant but allowed me to photograph him in his souped up 1982 Bronco II....It wasn't until I said, "Larry, would you mind if I took a picture of you and your snow plowin' rig?" that I saw his pride in this ol' machine beam through. I believe this pride is fairly evident in the bottom photograph....

I would offer to you that the fact this man is happy should be an example to us. I know where he lives and struggles to support his family.....I sometimes feel bad driving by and seeing the conditions they endure but know that it doesn't matter to him. I can still remember his glowing persona this summer as I stopped in and he had purchased this Bronco. He was absolutely glowing like a little kid. As he labored in welding this plow assembly together, it was so apparent to me that he doesn't need fancy cars and things to find satisfaction and to be whole in life.....A testament for us all to consider......A HAPPY HILLBILLY.....

Emergency Epi Fun!

What is Epifun you might ask? It throws some credence to the struggle I deal with here at home. That struggle is my kids wrecking everything, getting into things they shouldn't, and the same pervasive traits I portrayed as a child.......In other words, they get into EVERYTHING! It seems that no matter what type of discipline I use, they are ultra curious and I am tired of coming out to see scenes such as a full box of Honeycomb I just bought poured into my crock pot and 3/4 of a gallon of milk floating inside it being eaten downstairs next to the furnace by one of the little TEAM T girls.

Today was the boiling point for my tolerance of the kids invading all things that were sacred and dangerous in our home......Twas only after seeing my oldest child come running to me with our EMERGENCY "EPI PEN" THAT WAS RESERVED FOR ALLERGIC REACTION EMERGENCIES PROTRUDING THROUGH HER ENTIRE THUMB AND THUMBNAIL (see pic below) THAT I KNEW IT WAS TIME TO "LOCK HER DOWN!"

LOCK HER DOWN is the order of the day.......No more ansering a cell phone call or being distracted only to see 15 freshly bought Twinkies ground into the carpet.....All of our food cupboards including the fridge are now locked down.....We have one great big utility closet that hosts all the guns, knives, medicine, cleaning supplies etc in our home......No more suprises......

For you to understand what happen, I must explain that she came running to me with the EPIPEN with its 1 and a 1/2 inch long needle protruding through her thumb all the way out and extending through her thumbnail........WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I drove in anger to the hardware store and bought so many locks and lengths of chain that the clerk said, "sir, let me help you" as I operated the large metal chain cutting machine which held a placard saying "associates only". I walked out of that place with a sizable bill. Let me show you the progress so far!

We are so relieved that now the camp is no longer overrun! These kids are not in control, we are! And we will stay the course! I must clarify that we love our kids and it may seem that this is all a little overboard, however, I will not continue to watch the groceries I buy be wasted (such as when I saw one of my three foot long $40 rolls of custom made smoked Venison being used as a sword in a Nerf fight) and now the children do not have any access whatsoever to any gun, knife, medicine, cleaning supply, nail polish, scissors, clippers, bow/arrow and THEY WILL NOT BE EATING A CROUTON WITHOUT US ALLOWING IT TO HAPPEN!

Harsh? Sadistic? Nah, just the appropriate reaction to EPI FUN!

TEAM T WIFE and I now have matching ROCK CLIMBER HASP CONTROL KEYS that we wear on our persons 24 hours a day now as well.......

Poop Standoff of Wills!

Well, my son has digressed in his potty training. I had him going outside without a problem and this last week or two he has decided that it was too much to go outside. After numerous times of having him go #1 outside, then come inside and immediately poop, today I finally got him to go outside!

I was getting frustrated that even after being outside with him for over 20 minutes, he would immediately come in and poop. I am happy to report that now, THE STANDOFF IS OVER! After he held it for over a day coming in and out of his cage, he finally LET HER GO! OUTSIDE!

I am starting to wonder why all in my home seem to be testing my will and resolve? I think

they underestimate my veracity and I will prevail.....My son better watch it or he will be finding a hasp and lock on his cage! HA!

Hogs and Dogs!

The staff here at TEAM T OUTDOORS loves to celebrate the harvest and enjoyment of God's creation by other hunters and fisherman.....I offer up for your consideration two recent feats of harvesteriffic beauty.......

Trailer with some private lake Hog PERCH!







Wild Al brings down another beast! The Coyote Man!






Nice job men!

Grand Rapids Pow Wow!

My Indian Name

just was flipping through some of the old posts, lets run this one again as I am feeling real "Indian Like" today!

Tonight was a peaceful relapse partaking in an old friend: The movie "Dances With Wolves". I so enjoy this movie and always get sucked in when I start watching it. As I sat taking it all in with my Aldi's brand energy drink, "Red Thunder", I began to think about what my Indian name would be. You see, "Red Thunder" is the Aldi's version of Red Bull (tm) energy drink. If you look closely at the picture below, all the components are present of my Indian name.

I'd like to introduce you to yet another little known fact about me (which is a very crucial part of my Indian name). As you can see pictured, I have a favorite blanket.....Is it odd that a 31 (almost 32) year old male would have a favorite blanket? Well, seeing as this is my job description perhaps it is a tad off:

"The work is performed indoors, in a vehicle and outdoors during both day and night. The employee may be exposed to inclement weather, infectious diseases and life threatening situations. The work requires the use of protective clothing and devices."

Just to clarify, I don't walk around with the blanket like its a "binkie" and I don't suck my thumb. However, I do enjoy having the blanket covering me up anytime I nap or sleep. It is what it is, my favorite blanket. Growing up, it was called "arfie" but this name isn't used anymore as I'm grown up now.

Gun Lake is infamous for the old Indian population which used to and continues to inhabit the area. The Band of Indians still carries out the fight over land with the white man but not with primitive weapons. The fight for land now is their attempt to put in a Casino not far from TEAM T HEADQUARTERS.

In respect and as a tribute to all the fearsome warrior Indians I present to you my INDIAN NAME:

So what is my Indian name you ask?



RED THUNDER BLANKET DANCER.

(Think "hay-yow hay-yow" Indian dancin' music for the above picture. Can you see the RED THUNDER GLOWING IN MY EYES? click on the picture to make it bigger :)

RED THUNDER BLANKET DANCER dances around the house singin' "hay-yow hay-yow ho-yow ho-yow".