SIgned a buysell agreement.
New tag: Beta Site
The expensive part is yet to come
20
Monthly Archives: November 2025
Still sloggin’ along
It’s hunting season in western Montana right now. I was kinda hoping that by the time hunting season rolled around this year I would have a piece of property that I could throw a tent on for a weekend and do little hunting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this is going to be in the cards for this hunting season. I am, however, very much planning on being on my own little hunting area next season.
How’s the property hunting coming? Well, I had a sudden and unexpected financial obligation come up and until I get that resolved I am not comfortable pulling the trigger on a piece of property. I hope to have the issue resolved in a few weeks, but by then hunting season will be in the rearview mirror.
And while Im on the subject of getting this land thing finished, I need to drop some coin and buy an ATV of some flavor and, probably, a snowmobile of some kind as well. Since virtually all of the properties I have been looking at are in places where road maintenance is a quaint theory I need to have the ability to get in and out of the area. And, on this matter, everyone…and I mean everyone….has an opinion. Get a four-wheeler and snowmobile. Get a side-by-side and a track/tread conversion for winter. Get a four-wheeler and a set of chains. Get a side-by-side and a snowmobile. Etc, etc. I mean there’s all sorts of combinations of these and every possible combination has its supporters and detractors. Clearly I need to do a good bit of independent research and make my own informed opinion.
And, naturally, it doesnt stop there. There’s a tremendous amount of things that need to be purchased in anticipation. Most notably tools, implements, and a whole library of how-to, instruction, and technical books. Fortunately, in the circles I travel in I have associates and friends in fields of expertise that can give me some information and ideas. But theres always something that I’m ignorant of and that I don’t know anyone who is well-informed. And although I try to avoid putting the cart before the horse, I can’t see much reason not to have certain materials, equipment, and supplies tucked away. And, of course, theres the other things I need to have lined up that you can’t just order of Amazon….things like sourcing a real estate trust lawyer, finding someone to do a survey and maps, that sort of thing.
But, when its all done, I really really hope it’ll be the quiet little hidden private oasis that I daydream about. I guess we’ll see. Gotta get the finances straightened out first.
Upcoming NFA tax change
As you may know, after the first of the year the $200 transfer tax on certain NFA items (short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and suppressors) goes away. You still have the annoying background check and delays, but at least you won’t be paying $200 for the privilege.
The demand for those kinds of items (hereafter just referred to as ‘NFA items’) has always been tiny compared to the demand for non-NFA stuff. The reason, of course, is because most people don’t want to go through the hassle…this is evidenced by the fact we have ‘wrist braces’.
Since demand is usually fairly mild it’s not too hard to imagine that production rates of these NFA items is also a bit dialed back.
So, what do you think is going to happen after January 1st when theres no $200 tax to deter people anymore? Demand will go up, of course. But production rates my not be able to meet that demand. So when you go to buy a nice shiny Mojave9 or Sparrow, your dealer might say “Yeah, those are backordered.”
It makes sense that if youre of the mind to take advantage of the new rules on January 1st your strategy should probably be to order the the NFA item now, pay for it now, and have the dealer sit on it until January 1st and then do the paperwork.
When you don’t miss the .gov during a shurtdown
Its been, what?, a month of government shutdown and…I haven’t even noticed. But, according to the news that may change when the barbarous hordes that rely on government aid to eat discover that the free money isn’t flowing into their EBT card as usual.
The internet, a bastion of truth and fact, has all sorts of warnings that people buying groceries will be attacked by the EBT crowd for their groceries. And that there will be mass shoplifting. And looting. And….well, you fill in the rest.
Will this sort of thing happen? Probably in some cases as people get fueled by these same articles. But by and large I don’t think so. If youre too lazy to work for food youre probably too lazy to steal it. But, I’ve been wrong before.
What amuses me terribly is that there are organizations and food banks that are rushing to cater (literally) to the poor souls of federal employees who may be going hungry as this nasty and evil ‘shutdown’ goes on. The depth of my absolute indifference for the plight of federal employees simply cannot be measured. How can you work at a government job, with government benefits, at government wages, and government schedules, and somehow not be able to put away enough money in the bank to buy yourself groceries for a month? How does that happen?
If you’re folding shirts for $12 and hour for twenty hours a week at Cabelas….yeah, youre living on a tight budget if you have a budget at all. But working as a GS whatever for Uncle Sam seems to give enough that you should be able to tuck a couple grand into a mason jar in the backyard for emergencies.
But…you know what? I don’t care. It’s not a nice thing to say out loud, but I have virtually no concern for anyone on “food stamps”. I absolutely recognize that there are plenty of people who genuinely are unable to feed themselves for very legitimate reasons. And it’s a shame that those people have to share the moral outrage that is directed at the able-bodied and ambition-challenged parasites that most people think of when food stamps are mentioned.
Do you know what happens if someone I care about winds up in a situation where they can’t afford to feed themselves and they need to run to .gov? I feed them. And I help them get back on their feet. And I look out for them as they get their act back together. It is not a financial hardship for me to feed someone I care about. I’ve been hungry before and as a result I’m always sensitive about food. In fact, I generally refuse to eat in front of other people unless theyre eating as well because I can’t shake the feeling that if I’m eating and the other person isnt, then somethings wrong and I need to get them some food.
But for now, this ‘government shutdown’ only affects me in one way: it makes me more careful and observant around food distribution places like Winco, Costco, Albertsons, and any stop-n-rob I happen to be in. ‘Flash mobs’ seeking ‘food justice’ by looting the shelves at Kroegers isn’t likely to be a thing here in flyover country but you never can tell what’s going to happen.
And we have, as survivalists, heard for years that ‘society is three days of food away from collapse’ and ‘hungry people are dangerous people’. Any violence that occurs now isn’t going to really be out of hunger because short of an absolute societal collapse, it seems, to me, to be pretty difficult to starve in this country. Heck, we’re the only country in the world with fat poor people.
So, as far as Im concerned, the shutdown can go on for as long as it likes.